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Chapter Text

It had been 14 years since Wei Wuxian, Yiling Laozu, the scourge of the world died in Burial Mound.

Today was the 14th anniversary of the encirclement and suppression of the Burial Mound. Previously, every year and every anniversary, all the cultivation sects would hold a banquet, commonly held in Jinlintai, and occasionally held in YunmengJiang, the two greatest victims of this despicable scourge. All the cultivators would spend the night, drinking, eating, laughing, and telling hundreds of stories about the evil deeds of that Wei Dog. 

But today, no one held a banquet.

No one had the time to celebrate the anniversary.

Or actually, no one even had the time to remember that today was the supposed big day of winning against evil at all.

The cultivation world had exhausted themselves. 

It all began a few months ago. 

Mo Xuanyu was originally the person who had chosen death to avenge his grudge to his family, the Mo. To do so, he had sacrificed his soul and body to summon the Great Evil Yiling Laozu back to the living.

Nie Huaisang, the secret master behind the scene, had been anxiously waiting and monitoring the hut from morning to the next morning and waiting to see any change at all. 

On some afternoon, the young master of Mo Manor came to Mo Xuanyu's hut to bully him as he usually did.

But once he opened the door, what awaited him was the strong smell of blood and the gruesome scenery of a mangled body lying in the pool of still freshly dripping blood. 

Mo Ziyuan was a spoiled brat.

Never once in his life had he seen something as terrifying as he saw that day. He never even once saw how a person killed a pheasant or a cow, not to mention a real person bathed in blood and gore. 

He had fainted on the spot, while A-Tong and the other servants were also scared shitless looking at the situation in Mo Xuanyu's hut. They could only bring Mo Ziyuan back to the Mo Manor and didn't tell anything about Mo Xuanyu's condition at all. 

His subordinate whom Nie Huaisang commanded to secretly monitor the hut took a peek inside the hut and quickly checked the situation. Inside, Mo Xuanyu's body had started to grow cold. He died from the excessive loss of blood. It seemed like Mo Xuanyu originally had cut 3 slices of wounds in his arm for the contract, but when the ritual turned out to be failed, there was no sign of the appearance of Yiling Laozu, neither did any sign his body was taken by another soul at all, Mo Xuanyu eventually grew desperate and cut his body all over in order to produce more blood to strengthen the array.

A pity, it's not the blood or the array that was wrong, it's just...the soul he intended to call had already been scattered 13 years ago, dissipated with time, and got erased from existence, unable to go back to the earth nor enter the reincarnation circle. 

Nie Huaisang was at a loss.

The plan to resurrect Wei Wuxian was the perfect plan, but also the most desperate plan he had in his sleeves.

On the bright side, if it succeeded, then Nie Huaisang's plan was guaranteed to succeed as well, while the processes onwards would also be a lot easier with the assistance of Wei Wuxian.

But the downside of this plan was, it was a big gamble with only 50% of possibility. Thus, although this plan was Nie Huaisang's grand plan, he actually still arranged another plan in case this plan was thwarted. 

Though, he himself knew, his other plan consisted of many worst-case scenarios...

Right now, when his subordinate reported to him of Mo Xuanyu's death, it was clear that Wei Wuxian's soul was unable to be called, either by the mass soul calling array made by the cultivation's world, even Hanguang-Jun's inquiry had never heard an answer. And now, the most brutal method to forcefully drag the soul to the living world was proved to be failed as well. 

In other words, once lost it will be eternally lost. Once died, Wei Wuxian truly could not be back to the living.

Sighing helplessly, Nie Huaisang could only close his eyes and went forward to the next plan. 

The next day, Gusulan disciples went to Mo Manor to deal with the low-level corpse's problem. 

At night, Mo Ziyuan who was still shivering and could not forget the gore sight in Mo Xuanyu's hut was dragged out by his mother. Madam Mo had always wanted to promote his son to the big sect, she wanted Mo Ziyuan to linger around Gusulan disciples and make a big impression in their nighthunt. Mo Ziyuan who was already scared was even more scared to go around at night while still remembering the bloody sight of Mo Xuanyu. Thinking that Spirit's attraction Flag was a precious artifact, he took one of them for his self-protection....and the result was, what everyone think it would be.

Not long after, the scream of Madam Mo was heard from everywhere. 

The servants were ordered to drag Mo Xuanyu to the courtyard, because in the Mo House if something happened it must be blamed on Mo Xuanyu. Unfortunately, the person whom they used to throw all the blame onto was not there anymore. Thus, what happened was exactly another series of screams from the servants who went and found the mangled corpse of Mo Xuanyu and the blackened pool of blood painted everywhere on the Hut's floor. 

Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi hurried to check the hut and were also horrified at what they found there.

It's not like they never saw a bloody scene. It's just, they're used to dealing with a walking corpse and evil spirits. When faced with regular dead people especially in a gruesome manner, and seeing the ominous array that was obviously drawn from blood, they did not know what to do. A distress fireworks signal was then shot to the sky, asking for help from the Seniors nearby.

They hadn't gotten any time to take care of Mo Xuanyu's case when they heard another series of screams from the courtyard. Helpless, both of them quickly went back to the courtyard only to see that the situation was even worse, because Madam Mo was currently strangling her servant, and at the side, her husband's body was slumped, dead in the same manner as Mo Ziyuan. 

In fact, all Gusulan disciples were top class in theory and cultivation abilities. But still, when it came to the real world and real cases, their flaws were especially glaring. They're after all still 15 and 16-year-old disciples who hadn't gone into many night hunts to gain experiences.

The situation at hand was already chaotic, they could not think straight and analyze better. They were distraught and could not find the evil spirits, not until Madam Mo who was possessed attacked Lan Sizhui and grabbed his body.

The sudden turn of events had shocked the Lan Juniors. Lan Jingyi quickly drew his sword to attack Madam Mo's hand. 

Unexpectedly, Madam Mo's body slumped down and die quietly just like any other corpse before her. Meanwhile, on the side, Lan Sizhui had been the one who screamed painfully instead. His left arm shot out to the sky with blue veins tensed visibly as if it was about to burst out from under his skin. It was clear that Lan Sizhui was trying so hard to prevent the arm from strangling his own neck or strangling other people's neck.

Lan Jingyi was panicking and tried to grab Lan Sizhui's left arm, "Sizhui, hang on!" 

"Arrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" An almost inhuman scream came out from Lan Sizhui's throat. 

The "arm" had sucked Lan Sizhui's, and Lan Jingyi's life essences at the same time after Lan Jingyi made a contact with the left arm.

Though they did not immediately die like the Mo family before them, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi were in unimaginable pain and their left arm was devoured bits by bits. Both their complexion was pale, black veins intruded on their skins and coloring their neck and face,

...it was the scene Lan Wangji saw when he first arrived at Mo Manor. 

Even if at the end the left arm was suppressed and got retracted from Sizhui and Lan Jingyi's body, the two young boys still lost their left arm. Their spirits were sucked thoroughly by the evil arm. For Lan Jingyi even if he stayed alive, he was no different from a disabled mortal human.

While Lan Sizhui....he was in a much worse state.

Lan Wangji fell to his knees with a blank look on his face.

His hands were trembling when he took Lan Sizhui's body in his arms.

"Hanguang-Jun....I, I know you will come," Sizhui opened his eyes and tried to speak, "I, I'm glad the others were not hurt," he sighed and smiled in the end before he lost consciousness.

"A-Yuan...,"

the words could not contain how much grief Lan Wangji felt at this moment. 

He arrived as fast as he could, and he was just late for a mere one minute. 

Mere minutes....and many things could happen in that mere one minute.

His face distorted, his eyes were bloodshot, and his whole body that was hunched in the ground while cradling Sizhui was quivering all over.

Lan Wangji seldom cried.

The last time he cried was 13 years ago when he knew Wei Ying's death and the months after. 

3 years after his seclusion was over and his body was healed, Lan Wangji finally shut his heart and never shed any tears ever again.

But right now, as if the dam was broken, his tears flowed continuously, drenching the agonized look on his face.

13 years ago he had failed to protect Wei Ying,

and now he had failed to protect the last legacy of that person as well...

The journey back to Gusulan was gloomy. 

Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi were rushed to the medical center as fast as they could. 

After the Gusulan Cultivators who were proficient in medics tried their very best, at the end of the day, Lan Jingyi was rendered in a disabled mortal human body.

While even though Lan Sizhui did not die that day, he just had a few more months left with this kind of body and injury. 

The evil arm had not only absorbed his spiritual power, but also sucked out his life essence from his soul. 

Originally, Lan Xichen had intended to visit Jinlintai to discuss the upcoming Cultivation Conference. But when Lan Sizhui was in his death bed, another Gusulan disciple was crippled, and Lan Wangji was grieving, he decided to cancel his plan, and assisted his uncle to study the evil arm harboring a heavy resentment inside. 

Calling out the soul with Evocation had failed.

Not only did it fail, but even Lan Qiren and the other Gusulan elders were also injured and bleeding from their 7 Orifices due to the backlash. Lan Xichen was the only one holding on until later Lan Wangji was called and helped Lan Xichen to suppress the arm.

They realized that the soul of this arm was cut off in pieces along with the body. 

Lan Xichen knew that Lan Sizhui was Lan Wangji's bottom line after Wei Wuxian's death. Looking at the boy lying in a death bed, a young boy full of possibilities was rendered to mere flesh and bone, and his life was counted to a few more months, Lan Wangji kept blaming himself for not coming faster. He kept blaming himself for his failure to protect Sizhui. He didn't want to leave Sizhui's sides, not even an inch, and he was determined to take care of Sizhui in his death bed. 

Lan Xichen was also sorrowful to see the state of his younger brother. 

The least he could do was investigate this evil arm and bring the problem to light to appease Lan Sizhui's sacrifice. 

Lan Xichen went to Qinghe as the arm had pointed at.

In Qinghe, he directly came to the person in charge, QingheNie. He came to meet Nie Huaisang and enquired about any strange evil place or strange occurrence that had happened recently.

Nie Huaisang, "Er-ge, I don't know, I don't know, I really do not know anything." The young Sect Leader was still as clumsy and hopeless as ever. 

He continued helplessly, "The only problem I know is still about the saber tomb. It seems like some thief went to our tomb curiously and disturbed the tranquility of the tomb not long ago. The tomb is restless recently. Er-ge please accompany me, please, I do not know what to do!"

The Headshaker was after all still deserving of his title. Shaking his head continuously, wailed pitifully and asked for help instead, when he was asked for help by others.

They went to the saber tomb, and the spirits inside the tomb were indeed restless. The reason was finally revealed to be some thieves who were swallowed by the tomb's wall. Though disappointed for not finding any lead about the Evil arm, Lan Xichen still helped Nie Huaisang to solve his Sber Tomb's problem.

It was the least he could do to make his Sworn Brother, Nie Mingjue, who had died 10 years ago to be at ease in the underworld...

Unexpectedly, in the process of digging out the thiefs' body, suddenly the evil arm in Lan Xichen's possession was agitated. Feeling suspicious, Lan Xichen decided to dig out more of the Saber Tomb's wall. Finally, when one of the corpses was dug out, the arm acted even fiercer, and voila, the mismatched pair of legs was found!

"Er-ge, what is this!? How could this thing end up being here? I do not know, I do not know anything. Er-ge, there should have been no one who knows about this tomb, really, what should I do, Er-ge??" Another wailing, another panic, another distressed expression, another horrified look, was let out by The Infamous Headshaker.

Truly, only a Headshaker, that when others found a problem in his area, would he wail and ask their help and what should he do instead of giving them an explanation. Truly befitting of someone who knows nothing even to his own area----Or so what the people had always thought him as.

Lan Xichen was helpless and was left to try his best to find the answer himself. But first, he needed a confirmation,

"Huaisang, aside from you, do any of your subordinates have access to this tomb?"

"My subordinates? Huh...? No, I don't think so?" QingheNie's Sect Leader frowned in bewilderment.

He added quickly, "It's true that they can come to this tomb, but they need to go with me in order to pass the mass array. Only me, Er-Ge, and San-Ge have free passes, Naturally, I would not go here every day if there weren't any disturbance. Besides, who wants to plant an evil thing in a sacred Burial ground?" Nie Huaisang complained sullenly.

Lan Xichen fell into silence.

It was not like he didn't know it himself. As Nie Mingjue died, he and Jin Guangyao had been like the other owner of QingheNie, as they tried to support Nie Huaisang who at that time knew nothing and was unprepared to be a Sect Leader.

Nie Huaisang's answer was already there in his mind...to be honest.

At this time, Nie Huaisang who was crouching on the tomb's floor and buried the other corpses back to the wall suddenly muttered, 

"...San-Ge,"

"No!" Lan Xichen felt like his heart was almost jumped out and unconsciously raised his voice.

Nie Huaisang looked back at Lan Xichen and cowering, "Er-Ge, why did you shout so suddenly? You scared me~" he whined. "I wanted to tell you, let's ask San-Ge and ask for his help. San-Ge is smart, he must know what to do at this time," Nie Huaisang blinked innocently at the end of his speech.

Lan Xichen didn't even realize that he had held his breath a while ago. As he looked at Nie Huaisang and heard his explanation, he finally let out a relieved breath.

"Huaisang...this matter, let Er-Ge check about it for a while. A-Yao, your San-Ge, let's not bother him too much."

At this time Lan Xichen didn't know why but his heart was heavy.

He went to Yueyang as the arm pointed at next.

In Qinghe, there's QingheNie Sect who's responsible for the area and could be asked for help. But Lan Xichen knew that the Chang clan in Yueyang was destroyed and even the last descendant had died a few years ago. That way, he had no choice but to ask the Civilians to investigate.

He went to the Chang Manor after he knew that a strange haunting case had been happening for years. Though he had slightly suspected that it was just the Remaining Resentful souls from the massacred Chang Clan, but the event in Qinghe Burial Ground had taught him not to brush off any chance.

And, it was the right choice. Because later, he had inexplicably encountered a gravedigger and even went to fight with him. It seemed like this grave digger wanted to take the body parts Lan Xichen was looking for. 

The grave digger's face was clouded with black mists, and his sword was hidden in the same manner as well. Lan Xichen and the other senior cultivators he brought with him quickly surrounded the person, cutting off his retreat. Never in his mind would he think that the next thing the gravedigger did was, attacking them...with a Gusulan Sword Style! 

In a moment of surprise and confusion, Lan Xichen's move faltered for a second. But it was in that second that the grave digger ended up taking advantage of. He had quickly activated a teleportation talisman and went in a flash with the body part.

Lan Xichen had lost the opportunity to arrest the person as well as losing the body part from the Evil arm he had been pursuing.

His heart that was already heavy a while ago grew even more restless. 

It was because he knew the Evil arm was not just a mere Evil creature, but there were other people behind them controlling the situation. Either they were the people who had killed and caused the Evil arm to harbor intense malice...or they were experimenting with corpses and Demonic Cultivation to cause havoc.

In addition, the Gusulan Sword Style used by the Gravedigger had given him a big blow. While he didn't recognize the person's personal sword style, the thought that Gusulan might have been consciously or unconsciously involved in the appearance of such a malicious being...was a serious matter.

Thus, he quickly sent one of the senior cultivators who were with him back to Gusulan to enquire any Gusulan member who was out within the days.

While waiting for the report, Lan Xichen went to Yi City, another point the evil arm had pointed at.

In the city that had been transformed into a dead city, he encountered no ghost or ordinary corpses, but many living corpses! That was a corpse who was originally made right from a living human. The most shocking thing was he finally met Xue Yang who commanded a giant horde of those living corpses using the Stygian Tiger Seal. 

Once he saw Xue Yang, Lan Xichen felt like fainting.

Around a decade ago, Xue Yang was kicked out of JinLintai by Jin Guangyao. A-Yao said at that time that he had already killed Xue Yang. After all, the boy not only massacred the whole Clan, mortal or cultivators in the Chang Clan, he had also massacred the whole Baixue Temple, just because the one who had caught him previously was Song Lan!

With the saber tomb, and now the appearance of Xue Yang, Lan Xichen did not know what to think anymore. 

Xue Yang didn't even try to entertain himself to fight directly with Gusulan cultivators. 

Lan Xichen couldn't chase the young man and tried to ask many things he wanted to find the answer for. He and several Gusulan senior cultivators were preoccupied with the endless living corpses spouting corpses powder as well as trying to find the remaining body part.

When suddenly a fierce corpse Song Lan appeared, they fell into more disadvantage. F

The fierce Corpse Song Lan was truly fierce. It reminded them of the time where Ghost General Wen Ning went rampaged at the trial in Jinlintai after looking at Wen Qing who was burned alive in front of him. Between the attack of thousands of corpses, Song Lan, and Xue Yang, even Lan Xichen got injured seriously, while the other Gusulan Senior Cultivator fell to death one after another. 

In the chaos,  a masked man quietly and suddenly came, he grabbed Lan Xichen, and as quickly as he appeared, Lan Xichen had also transported away with the teleportation talisman. 

Meanwhile, the Gusulan senior cultivator who was sent to enquire about the in and out of Gusulan cultivators, within the days they had encountered the gravedigger, was still in frenzy to interrogate many Gusulan cultivators who were out during that period. He intended to report the current finding to Lan Xichen and asked for further command. 

But a few days later, Gusulan had suddenly lost contact with Lan Xichen and several senior cultivators who were with him.

The last time they knew was Lan Xichen said he'd go to Yi City. 

Again, just when they're about to go find Lan Xichen in Yi City, suddenly they heard more news, 

Yiling Laozu is back!

And now the Feared Demon had kidnapped many young sect heirs to the Burial Mound for revenge!

All the sect leaders in cultivation sects had almost gone crazy. After all, it was their sons and heirs who were kidnapped!

They quickly went to Jinlintai and amassed the forces for the second siege of Burial Mound. 

Gusulan was helpless.

They had lost contact with their sect leader and the other senior cultivators who were supposed to investigate the Evil arm.  And now, new trouble was already brewing! They didn't ask for this!

Lan Qiren informed Lan Wangji about the matter, asking him to lead Gusulan cultivators. But the Uncle was faced with an answer,

"Forgive me, Uncle, Wangji must refuse. Wei Ying is dead. Just how far do people intend to smear Wei Ying's name for their own problem? Wangji has faith in Wei Ying's character. This is not something he would do, not before, and not in any way."

After that, he went back to care for Sizhui.

Lan Qiren knew it was no use to pester his younger nephew any longer. 

In the end, he could only begrudgingly go and led several Gusulan cultivators to join the second siege in Jinlintai. 

He had also hoped that the reason Lan Xichen had been missing was due to this case. Perhaps the Sect Leader of Gusulan had already come to Jinlintai, visiting his sworn brother, Lianfang-Zun, as he always did.

Unfortunately, Lan Qiren was bound to be disappointed. There was no news of Lan Xichen or any other Gusulan senior cultivators. But since he had already come to the Siege meeting, Lan Qiren couldn't just go back to Gusu and ditch the other Sect Leaders whose heirs were kidnapped.

The second siege of Burial Mound went with this formation,

YunmengJiang and LanlingJin as the main force led by Jiang Wanyin. As Jin Guangyao was apparently severely injured after Yiling Laozu had attacked LanlingJin and kidnapped LanlingJin juniors, thus LanlingJin forces were following under Jiang Wanyin.

Gusulan was led by Lan Qiren and QingheNie was led by Nie Huaisang for the flank, and the rest consisted of the smaller cultivation sects and rogue cultivators for support. 

Several months ago, or precisely a week after the tragedy in Mo Manor, LanlingJin lost its heir, Jin Rulan, Jin Ling.

It was the reason why the banquet that was supposed to be held in Jinlintai was also canceled. 

At that time Lan Xichen was already out from Gusu and didn't hear the news. He just got the news after he arrived at QingheNie saber tomb, told by Nie Huaisang. But back then, when he knew that Jin Ling apparently had also died in a night hunt, he was even more determined to solve the evil body parts that had taken Sizhui and Jingyi's life.

Lan Xichen didn't know what kind of strong evil spirits could take the life of Jin Ling who was always followed closely by Sandu Sengshou. Even so, the case of Sizhui and the evil arms was already clear evidence. If out there, other strong evil spirits were to be let out in the open, they would take more lives aside from Jin Ling and Sizhui! That's why, Lan Xichen didn't immediately go to show his condolence, but tried to solve the problem of Evil arm first.

Jin Ling, Jin Rulan, had died after encountering a soul-devouring Goddess in Dafan Mountain. Though, no one alive actually knew about the real cause of his death. 

In Dafan Mountain, because Gusulan disciples had hurried back to the Cloud Recesses, aside from YunmengJiang cultivators, there were no other cultivators from the big sects. 

After all, it was known far and wide that whenever LanlingJin's heir went into a nighthunt, he'd go to dominate and monopolize the whole night-hunting area. The young boy was even followed by the fearsome Sandu Sengshou. No other cultivators aside from the fearless Gusulan who keep coming to where chaos is, dared to offend the little Heir by hunting the same target.  

The young apple maiden and her family who were trapped in the net were still kept to be trapped by Jin Ling, with the saying of I'll let you out later after I caught my prey.  

And yet because more and more people got trapped, their families continuously begged Jin Ling and clamored around him, attracting Jiang Cheng's ire.

In his rage, he had scolded Jin Ling with,

“Why are you still standing there after wasting hundreds of Spiritual nets? Waiting for the prey to come and throw itself onto your sword? If, today, you don’t catch the creature hunting Dafan Mountain, don’t come to me ever again!”

Jin Ling had grown up being spoiled by both of his uncles, from his maternal and paternal family.

His temper was by no means lesser than his uncle's, and his pride was even more difficult to coax, as he was still a 14 or 15 years old teenager.

After he got scolded by his uncle because of several unimportant third rates cultivators' families who foolishly got into his trap, he had run away in displease. Thus, when he discovered the Guanyin cave where the Malicious Guanyin Statue was placed at, he had arrogantly said, 

“These rural villagers don’t work hard when they face difficulties, but instead pray to the Buddha and other things every day. There are thousands and millions of people in the world, but gods and Buddhas are already hands-full with their own matters, so who would care about them? Let alone a powerless goddess without status, like this one. If it’s really that effective, then I’m gonna pray for the soul-consuming creature in Dafan Mountain to appear in front of me right now. Can the statue do it?”

The soul-consuming Goddess truly appeared. 

During the chaos of the Statue suddenly attacking, eating the cultivator's flesh and blood, and the shock that the Statue could not be hurt by their sword or talismans, Jin Ling was instead determined to stay and defeat the stone statue.

He did not light up any distress signal at all. After being scolded by Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling was unwilling to let go of the Guanyin Statue and seek help. 

With a solemn face, he set three arrows onto the bow at once. Although she was shot in the head twice, the soul-consuming goddess was not angered, and advanced toward Jin Ling with the same smile plastered on her face. Although she danced while walking, her speed was terrifyingly fast, decreasing the distance between them by half in just a few moments. A few cultivators appeared from the side and fought with her, hindering her strides. Jin Ling shot each arrow as the goddess took each step, probably intending to use up all of the feathered arrows first, before fighting in a closer range with the soul-consuming goddess. His arm was quite steady, and his shots were accurate, but all magical weapons were useless against it!

In the battle, three or four of the cultivators who were fighting with the soul-consuming goddess had lost their souls. Jin Ling pulled out his sword. He was already less than two zhang away from the soul-consuming goddess. His heart thumped like crazy and all of the blood in his body went toward his head, if I can’t slice off her head with this blow, I will die here—death it is, then!

He was after all a mere young hotblooded teenager, still reckless, and his temper had affected his decision greatly...

The battle between the Goddess and the cultivators created a big chaos in the small mountain. 

The trees and grasses were chopped down and burned by many spiritual weapons. 

All the cultivators' bodies were scattered around with gruesome wounds and missing body parts here and there, and their souls were missing, absorbed by the Malicious creature. 

Among those bodies, one lone golden robes, a bright peony like a spark amidst snow, was even more dazzling with large dots of fresh blood. 

The body was still holding onto Suihua. 

....It was the sight that Jiang Cheng saw when he came to Dafan Mountain just a few minutes after the chaos that was originally heard from the foot of the mountain died down. 

There was no leftover evil aura anywhere, not even one speck of resentful energy to be detected. 

There's no trace of what entity killed all the cultivators including Jin Ling here. 

Little did Jiang Cheng know, the stone Guanyin statue had already gone back to her cave, smiling elegantly like before, with no sign of having feasted to dozens of cultivators' body and soul...

In rages and full of grieves, Jiang Cheng whipped out Zidian to all of the ghosts and souls within the scopes of Dafan Mountain. 

Needless to say, with all the scattered souls wiped out, all the evidence for the Smiling Goddess existence was also wiped out.

Even the smallest speck of resentful energy from the newly corpse in the graveyard at the foot of Dafan Mountain had become the target of suspicion and ended up being ravaged by Zidian.

Even cultivators and humans within the scope of Dafan Mountain were all whipped by Zidian in his blind anger, to make sure they were not possessed by the evil entity. 

In the end, not even one resentful entity was found.

One of the cultivators was scared to death, and in a desperate attempt he said, 

"Sect leader, sect leader, It's Yiling Laozu! It's that Wei Dog!"

Once one person planted an idea, other people who were desperate to escape Jiang Wanyin's wrath followed suit.

And who was the perfect target they could turn all blames into asides from the Boogeyman Yiling Laozu?

Besides, when it came to Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng would immediately lose all reason and logic, and it's easy for him to turn all hatred and resentment towards that scourge, Wei Wuxian!

So another person added more, "Yes, yes, It must be him! Who in the world could command an evil spirit as malicious as this aside from him!?"

And more people chirped as well, "It's true! He must have come to the world and wanted to take revenge on you, sect leader Jiang! Yes, he must have resent you because you are the one who led the siege 13 years ago, now he took revenge and killed Young Master Jin!"

"Hmphh! That Wei Dog! Pei Pei Pei," this person quickly spat on the ground to express his disgust.

"It's not enough that he killed young master Jin Zixuan back then along with his wife young Madam Jin, and now he killed young master Jin Ling!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"That Evil Wei Ying!"

"It must be him!"

"Yiling Laozu!"

"Wei Dog!"

Listening to this talk, Jiang Cheng's face distorted in more hatred and rages, Zidian went sparkling on his finger, his eyes bloodshot, his teeth gritted in anger.

"Wei. Wu. Xian!" he let out a low growl brimming with fury.

So on, and so on happened afterward. 

In those months after Jin Ling's death, Jiang Cheng was like a rabid dog.

If before his arrests of demonic cultivators made him famous enough to get the title of the sage of Buddhist 3 poisons or Sandu Sengshou, right now even the slightest sign of similarity between a person and Wei Wuxian, the person would be dragged into Lotus Pier to be interrogated. It didn't matter if it's a cultivator or a mortal human.

Yunmeng was in turmoil.

Even ordinary people were all scared to go out, in fear of attracting the attention of Sandu Sengshou. 

Right now the ones who were still safe to go out were women, old people, and children. 

But people could not make a guarantee if tomorrow or the days onward even a woman would not be dragged into Lotus Pier as well, for reason that they were suspected to be possessed by the Wen Dog, Wen Qing, the person who had close contact with Yiling Laozu before his death.

After all, in the eyes of some cultivators, Yiling Laozu and his Wen Dog armies were omnipotent and able to spread malice even if they were already dead for so many years.....

The small clan and rogue cultivators in Yunmeng still remember the event of 13 years ago in the first siege of Burial Mound. The one who had opened a path to Burial Mound was Jiang Wanyin. And the Wen Dogs living there were killed and thrown to the Blood Pool unceremoniously.

While those Wen Dogs....included, if not most of them, were women and the Olds.

There's no guarantee for a woman or old human to be safe from Sandu Sengshou's wrath and grieves after losing a relative, not before, and not today...

Fortunately, a few months later, the notice about the kidnapping of sect heirs by the supposed Yiling Laozu was out. 

Jiang Wanyin immediately set out to Jinlintai and took command of the forces for the second siege. 

Right now, after they had assembled and managed their line-up in Jinlintai, the cultivators set out to Burial Mound with full of determinations.

The other sect leaders went to this Second Siege to retrieve their children.

Jiang Wanyin went to lead the siege to find Wei Wuxian, sent him to his death for the second time, and sought justice for Jin Ling's death. 

Other cultivators just came for numbers, they were greedy, imagining the later glory for besieging Yiling Laozu. 

After all, the last siege had elevated many small sects and brought them much fame for their righteous win against the wicked and evil Yiling Laozu. 

At the foot of Burial Mound, Nie Huaisang, looking at the gloomy and barren mountain, he tremblingly chirped, 

"E-everyone, w-wait, wait a minute," 

When All the cultivators looked at him, Nie Huaisang shrunk his body even more, "A-ah, you know we were going towards Yiling Laozu, It-It's Yiling Laozu, you know!? If he's truly there, would, would it not be scary?" 

"Hmph! Sect leader Nie, what are you afraid of? Didn't we kill him before?" Sect leader Yao snorted disdainfully.

"That's right! That's it!" Other cultivators nodded vigorously.

"He was once killed by us, why can't we kill him for the second time? Pei Pei Pei" Yi WeiChun spat on the ground. 

"That's true! That's true! Besides, we have Sandu Sengshou here! We have our hero who once before led our army to break Wei Wuxian's corpses' barrier with the powerful Zidian!"

"That's true! That's true!"

Jiang Wanyin looked at Nie Huaisang in contempt, the little old classmate had never changed in his opinion, just a useless and weak young master. "If Sect leader Nie doesn't want to go, then don't go. No one wants to be burdened in saving your ass later!"

When Jiang Wanyin said those words, the others finally remembered that at the previous siege in Burial Mound, the one who led QingheNie was Chifeng-Zun. So, this useless good for nothing Nie Huaisang had never known the taste of Burial Mound, not even one bit. 

Remembering this fact, they quickly threw him a pitying look and ignored this useless sect leader. 

In the end, Lan Qiren arranged for Nie Huaisang to wait at the foot of the Mountain and would only act in an emergency. 

Before Lan Qiren went ahead with the other, Nie Huaisang stopped him for a while, "Laoshi, uh, I mean, Sir Lan,"

"What?"

"Why are you here instead of Hanguang-Jun?"

Lan Qiren didn't answer and just snorted gloomily.

"Do you think this is really the work of Wei-Xiong? uh, Yiling Laozu I mean," Nie Huaisang timidly asked. 

"Regardless it's his work or not, those heirs need to be rescued, "

"Uh, right, right, it's true! Still, I wonder if Wei-Xiong, uh, I mean, Yiling Laozu is truly capable of doing this thing, killing those sect heirs, I mean?"

Lan Qiren frowned, "He had already shown his capabilities in slaughtering thousands of people in the bloodbath of Nightless City 13 years ago."

"Ahhhhh, it's true...how forgetful this foolish me!" Nie Huaisang brought his fan to smack his head, and gave an embarrassed smile to Lan Qiren, "Sir Lan, Nie Mou is weak and useless. This weak man can only stay here and wait for the news. Please be safe." 

Lan Qiren nodded and went ahead to the Burial Mound. 

After the group went to the mountain, Nie Huaisang who previously looked helpless and miserable suddenly erased all the expressions on his face. 

He calmly went to a nearby tea-house and enjoyed a light meal.

His subordinates who were also left with him to wait and act on emergency approached him.

"How is it?" Nie Huaisang whispered.

"It's already been deployed, sect leader."

Nie Huaisang hummed in response and sighed. 

His subordinate looked at him silently. 

"Sect Leader,"

"Hm?"

"Did you originally want to stop Lan Qiren earlier?"

"...Yes." Nie Huaisang sighed. "To pay the debt of teaching this foolish self for 3 years in a row before."

Propping his chin with his left hand, while the right hand was trying to reach the osmanthus cake served on a plate quite far from him, Nie Huaisang sighed once again. "Lan-Laoshi...though, He's too old and too prejudiced. He could not see the bigger picture. Even if I tried hard to prevent him, he will just hate me in return for these unrighteous deeds in his eyes...if he knows later why I tried to prevent him."

The subordinate fell into silence, looking at the gloomy sect leader. 

"Then, when will we go and rescue them?" His subordinate glanced at the mountain top.

"Well...," Nie Huaisang smiled. His hand idly played with the mist coming up from his teacup.

"What will happen if we rescue them on time?" Nie Huaisang threw the question to his subordinate.

"They will be thankful?"

"Wrong!" Nie Huaisang chuckled. "They will throw the blame on us, supposedly because we are not there, they were almost dying, so it will be our fault in their logic."

The subordinate kept silent. He didn't refute it because it was true. Those people who could only talk and talk, throwing blame on here and there and were greedy for fame and recognition, would throw the blame on people who could be blamed. 

In their logic, it was not their fault they went to Burial Mound seeking glory while being ignorant of the risks. It was not their fault that apparently they would later get deceived by just a single mention of Yiling Laozu. It was not their fault that they put their faith in the two-faced devil named the Chief Cultivator who could throw their life in a heartbeat after being threatened by a mere letter to expose his sins, a threatening letter to desecrate his mother's body. After all, in their Chief Cultivator's eyes, those hundreds of fools were worth nothing compared to the remnant of his mother.

"Let's wait for a while. Tonight, in this mountain, in the siege they orchestrated themselves towards their imaginary Yiling Laozu, all the retribution will come in due. Those people will die according to their karma...."

Chapter Text

Previously, Nie Huaisang and his QingheNie disciples were left at the foot of the Mountain to wait and acted only for emergency.

Meanwhile, in the mountain, hundreds of cultivators were marching bravely. They defeated corpses and resentful beasts left and right using swords and music cultivation on their way. The hymn of war was sung in high spirits, and the brawny men shouted louder and thumped their chests in the act of showing their conviction and bravery.

Once they got into the Demon Slaughtering cave, they finally found the sect heirs who were kidnapped and were currently tied and crying messily. 

Jiang Wanyin quickly checked on the whole cave and interrogated the heirs, 

"Where is Wei Wuxian!?"

The junior who was asked was scared to death and could not even speak, 

Ouyang Zizhen at this point hurriedly spoke, "We do not know. It's people with masked faces who kidnapped us. It was not corpses or ghoul,"

"What!?"

"Several People!?"

"Wei Wuxian has already amassed people for his army!?"

"It is bad news!"

The cultivators were in chaos, Jiang Wanyin was screaming and whipping every stone bed, every crook and nook in the cave with a crazed look. " Wei Wuxian! Go out now! Look at what you did! A-Jie died! And now Jin Ling died! My mother was right! You're the scourge of the Jiang family! Wei Wuxian! Wen Dogs! Come out now!"

The situation was very lively, on the one hand, the kidnapped heirs and disciples were crying in their parent's bosom, on the other hand, the cultivators who came expecting grand fighting could only turn the cave upside down, searching for something, anything.

In this chaotic situation, Lan Qiren felt like he had regretted so much for coming here. 

The situation in Gusulan right now was already in a mess.

Their head disciple Lan Sizhui was in his death bed. 

Lan Wangji was grieving and Lan Qiren was afraid that once Lan Sizhui passed away, Lan Wangji would lose all things that tied him in this world and followed Sizhui and that Wei Ying to the afterlife.

His other nephew, Lan Xichen had lost contact with Gusulan for many days along with several other Gusulan senior cultivators. 

And in this kidnapping case, Gusulan didn't even have one junior who was kidnapped, since all of their young juniors had not come out these days, they were grieving for Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui.

In conclusion, everything about this supposed second siege was unnecessary, wasting time, and foolish!

He vaguely wondered if Lan Wangji's indifference regard and his remark earlier was actually the best action to deal with these fools. 

Suddenly,

many roars and growls were heard from the outside of the cave! 

Hundreds of corpses were marching towards them!

If previously Lan Qiren and some people were starting to doubt whether there was Yiling Laozu or not, right now all of them immediately thought :

"Sure enough this must be the work of that Wei Dog!!"

"He wanted to besiege us with his corpses!"

"Curse that Wei Wuxian and his 8 generations prior!"

The cultivators started to confront the corpses hordes,

...and yet they also suddenly realized that there was no trace of spiritual energy in their body!

The swords were turned into ordinary iron, a heavy iron at that, hard to even swing it out!

The musical instrument lost their spiritual echoes and turned into grating sounds.

All magical artifacts were rendered useless.

The cave was turned into a hell incarnate in a flash.

The hundreds of people were running in a chaotic manner, trampling each other, and pushing each other to avoid the corpses. 

Lan Qiren gritted his teeth and led Gusulan cultivators to fight fearlessly. 

Even so, they were no different from mortal humans now.

The only difference was just their body was slightly sturdier.

One by one, they fell down rapidly and were devoured by the hundreds of corpses. 

At this moment, every God and Goddess was shouted out in a desperate manner.

Even "Mercy please mercy, Yiling Laozu!!" were shouted out among those chants.

When in despair, humans truly would really try to search for even the faintest and ridiculous hopes....even to their supposed enemy they were about to besiege earlier~

And in this hellish situation, the blood pool in the deep caves stayed stagnant without even the slightest stir or ripples.

The creatures that nestled deep down in the pool since they were thrown here unceremoniously 13 years ago were undisturbed.  They held no sentiment towards those who were standing and crawling on the ground currently.

There's no tie between them...neither grudges nor gratitudes.

Eventually, when not even a single person was excused from wounds and injuries, the corpses suddenly turned their attention and ran to the exit. 

Right now, these people had already exhausted their bodies and soul, when they saw Nie Huaisang waving anxiously at the cave entrance, it felt like they saw a deity.

"Everyone, my disciples have attracted the corpses using spirits attraction flags. Quick now, before they will go back here again sensing the gathered yang energy, let's evacuate!"

Nie Huaisang and several Nie disciples quickly went to check the people and helped them out. 

"Thank you, sect leader Nie!"

"Sect leader Nie is kind!"

"I, from Lin clan will have life-saving grace for a lifetime to sect leader Nie!"

"Me too!"

"Thank you sect leader Nie!"

Nie Huaisang didn't answer any of those shouts and just showed them his usual meek smiles. 

After those who still retained their life were evacuated to the outside, Nie Huaisang looked at the scattered dead bodies across the cave floor. 

The people from the Yao sect, Fang Sect, and Jin sect died horribly.

They did not die due to the fight with the corpses, but because they fought each other and trampled each other, forcing each other to be the meat shield. In the end, they died because of their own selfishness. 

The MolingSu disciples were cheap imitations of Gusulan. Even with their spiritual energy intact, they were still far much inferior and useless. Furthermore, their sect leader, Su Minshan, was the most loyal, and the running dog of LanlingJin. So, their disciples were also used firstly for the meat shield for LanlingJin disciples and Young Masters. Now, when their musical tools were rendered useless, they could only use their guqin, pipa, or erhu to smash the corpse....and the result was exactly what was thought of, completely useless and quick to be obliterated.

Sect leader Ouyang was grieving, his only son, Ouyang Zizhen died bravely protecting one of the younger disciples from his sect who were kidnapped with him before. 

Sect leader Jiang Wanyin was in a bad state, but he did not die. 

YunmengJiang was the main force at this supposed siege.

Naturally, they brought more than 100 capable cultivators. 

Even though there was no Yiling Laozu to defeat, all those disciples did not come in vain. They became the perfect meat shield for their sect leader. 

While Jiang Wanyin, despite his many wounds, he did not die in the end, his golden core was strong after all. Once his spiritual energy was rolling back in, it's easy to heal.

Right now, among the glaring red from the blood and meat chunks scattered everywhere on the cave floor, the white from Gusulan robes were the most glaring...

Gusulan Clan was filled with brave and gentleman cultivators. They fought fearlessly to protect everyone. 

Lan Qiren took 30 disciples with him,

They fought first in the front line, and they fought till the end.

Right now, there were 30 bodies lying on the floor aside from the old man Lan...

Nie Huaisang closed his eyes for a moment before approaching Lan Qiren's body. 

"Old man Lan...Nie-Mou is sorry. I do not know, I really do not know anything..." He whispered while closing Lan Qiren's eyes, his own eyes were blank devoid of emotion.

Nie Huaisang truly did not know. 

Even though he did not forcefully let out his brother's arm, in the end, all his body parts had been drowned in resentment, and the more it was set aside, the more malicious it would be. 

If not today, it would become a more difficult problem in the future days. 

In the end, his best bet truly lied with Wei Wuxian's help.

Only with the help of the demonic master and the peerless Hanguang-Jun would his brother who was turned into a fierce ghoul could be solved and suppressed. 

And yet...

Wei Wuxian's soul truly disappeared from the world. 

And yet...

Hanguang-Jun was grieving. 

Regardless, Even if there's Hanguang-Jun who came to this siege, looking at these cultivators freely cursing and swearing Wei Wuxian, and looking at Jiang Wanyin who blamed the death of Jin Ling on Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang doubted that even if Hanguang-Jun was there the situation would be even better. 

Worse bet, Hanguang-Jun would be deeply infuriated. 

Worse turn, these fools would instead think that Hanguang-Jun was possessed or had allied with that Wei dog. 

The worse ending, these fools would end up making the siege turn completely into besieging Hanguang-Jun, after they didn't find their target, Wei Wuxian.

After all, one less strong cultivator would weaken Gusulan and if Gusulan's reputation was soiled, these fools' reputation would soar. 

Nie Huaisang sighed and gazed at the night sky while trailing the roads down the mountain.

"I really do not know anymore..."

After the bloody siege, those cultivators went to Lotus Pier, the closest place to recuperate.

They did not even have the energy to curse, not to mention to think. 

So, when one no-name cultivator spoke up, they did not have the energy to refute and just listen,

"Say...There were a great bunch of corpses, honestly. And they were really so fierce,"

"Yes..yes," another no-name cultivator responded. 

"Actually, I did not hear any flute sounds at all, just how could they come so suddenly?" another no-name cultivator chirped.

"What?? Didn't Yiling Laozu control his corpses with his flute?" Still a no name cultivator gasped.

"Heh! You are so young! That Wei Dog could control the corpse using his Stygian Tiger Seal as well!" One of the older cultivators from the Ouyang Clan could not help but respond.

"Ahh..." the first no-name cultivator hummed in understanding.

"So that was it..." the second no-name cultivator also nodded in understanding.

"Stygian Tiger Seal, huh..." the third no-name cultivator thought out loud.

Some other people who listened to this conversation started to murmur one after another, remembering the legendary seal that was able to turn heaven and earth. They couldn't help but continue the talks by themselves.

"Speaking of Stygian Tiger Seal, didn't that Xue Yang from Jin Sect back then was captured for reforming the seal?"

"Eh! what? is that true!?"

More and more gasps were heard once this topic was finally brought up.

"Now that you mentioned it, it is true!"

"The Jin Sect also has their Stygian Tiger Seal!"

"Wait! Didn't Lianfangzun say back then he has killed Xue Yang?"

"Hmphh! He might have killed that Xue Yang, but would the seal also die with him? nonsense!"

"Right, right, it's true!"

"A prostitute's son really can not be believed!" someone sneered.

"That's it! A prostitute's son will always be a prostitute son!"

Eventually, 

all those cultivators had their enlightenment and quickly turned the pot of blame to the Jin Sect and Lianfangzun.

They were all in a helpless moment and in despair.

They had lost many disciples, son, brother, father, martial siblings, and many others in vain....without any gain at all. There's no glory or even grand fighting. What they got and remembered was only despair and despair, being so helpless, so scared, so afraid of death.

Being stripped off of their spiritual energy. Being unable to use their spiritual weapon and artifacts. Being surrounded by hundreds of corpses. Those feelings were truly far from a glorious war they imagined earlier. 

They wanted to blame Yiling Laozu, but the said villain never once revealed himself. 

There's not even the sound of his farts to be heard!

Much less the real person to vent onto!

People's hatred after all were difficult to ease. 

Right now, what they needed the most was a target.

A target to turn all hatred and blame onto.

A real target they could vent their anger into. 

Jin Guangyao, LanlingJin Sect, was the perfect target....

They rested for a few days, recovering their spiritual energy and treating their wounds. 

Nie Huaisang along with several Nie disciples sent the body of Lan Qiren and the other Gusulan cultivators to the Cloud Recesses. 

When they arrived at the foot of the Mountain, the situation in the Cloud Recesses was already gloomy. 

They had already draped white linen in their sect, they were mourning. 

Just when Nie Huaisang reported the death of Lan Qiren and 30 other Gusulan cultivators, Gusulan also reported the death of their former head disciple Lan Sizhui, and also the sudden death of the second Young Master Of Lan, Lan Wangji, Hanguang-Jun...

Now with Lan Xichen missing, the Gusulan direct lines were doomed.

Gusulan as a sect was still standing tall and straight in the mountain, 

But Gusulan as a Clan that was found hundred years ago by Lan An was wiped out.

Meanwhile, other cultivation sects in Lotus Pier aside from gathering and recuperating, they were also preparing for another siege. 

A siege to dig the gold(Jin) out!

All of the people gathered here were full of murderous intent. 

They had full determination to turn Jinlintai into the next Nightless City. 

Gusulan had lost all of their direct descendants, therefore one of the Elder temporarily took charge of the sect.

In order to avenge the death of Lan Qiren and the other 30 Gusulan cultivators who died in Burial Mound, Gusulan deployed their strong manpower consisted of 10 elder, 30 senior cultivators, and 50 Gusulan disciples to Jinlintai. 

On one of the fixed days,

the forces marched into LanlingJin and found...nothing.

There were only LanlingJin Elders, LanlingJin cultivators, and servants.

There was no Jin Guangyao in sight. 

Even though there was no Jin Guangyao, there were many golds and treasures within Jinlintai!

Having lost their target, those cultivators decided to destroy Jinlintai. They were pillaging the majestic Golden Carp Tower like a bandit in the mountain. 

Their eyes were full of greed looking at the priceless treasures, gold coins, and beautiful women amassed inside.

As for Jiang Wanyin, he was roaring and screaming between Jin Guanyao and Wei Wuxian's names.

Apparently, he was confused on which one to shift the blame onto right now...

At least not until suddenly there was a tinkling sound heard, and a roar matching of a fierce corpse was heard from Jinlintai underground prison. 

It was Wen Ning!

The corpse's pupil was white.

And his body and clothes were tattered. 

While his hands and feet were tightly cuffed with heavy enchanted iron chains.

Wen Ning was originally kept in LanlingJin dungeon. 

Even though Xue Yang wanted to control him, either Wen Ning was too loyal and refused to obey another command, or Wei Wuxian's ingrained command was too strong. No matter how much tinkering Xue Yang did to him, even after inserting the enchanted nails inside his head, Wen Ning still couldn't be controlled.

In the end, he was left hanging uselessly in the dungeon after Xue Yang gained Song Lan as his perfectly controlled fierce corpse.

Even today, Wen Ning was still there, being completely forgotten by Jin Guangyao when he fled not long ago.

When the hundreds of cultivation sects came to besiege LanlingJin, they carried a lot of resentment and exuded a lot of resentful energy from within themselves. 

Those distorted resentments disturbed Wen Ning's consciousness. It was so noisy and annoying, thus he broke his chain and went out. 

All the people present who saw Wen Ning were terrified and quickly get their asses as far as possible from the fierce corpse.

After all, the memory of their siege turned self-massacre in Burial Mound, being surrounded, looking at others being devoured by fierce corpses right in front of them, while they could only shivering in fright, waiting for their turn to die, those memories were still fresh in their mind. 

But, seeing Wen Ning, Jiang Wanyin was like turbulent water that finally found a pit to throw onto. In his mind as long as there's Wei Wuxian or Wen Dog, there would be a target to throw blame and hates into.

"Wen Dog!!!!!!!" Jiang Wanyin roared fiercely, and Zidian was turned into a blazing electrical current, whiter and much whiter from the original purple color, indicating the unimaginable power surged to the spiritual tools from the holder. 

"So you were alive! No wonder, It was you after all who killed Jin Ling! DIE, WEN DOG!!!!"

With a strong wave, Zidian landed on Wen Ning's body. The fierce corpse was thrown out to the opposites wall, crashed, and caused the wall to crumble. 

There was a deep gash in the front of his body from Zidian's whipping.

Wen Ning was sluggish and had no consciousness.

But that didn't mean he have no instinct at all. 

Previously, before his consciousness went out completely, he heard many talks from the people who had visited him, namely the Jin Cultivators.

He heard that the Burial Mound was encircled and suppressed.

He heard that Jiang Wanyin led the siege using the weakness of Wei Wuxian, in which the fierce corpses barrier at the foot of the Mountain might attack all other people but when it was Jiang Wanyin who approached, they stayed calm and opened up a path instead, making it easier for Jiang Wanyin to open the way and destroyed the barrier Wei Wuxian had set up.

He heard that Wei Wuxian had died. Along with 50 other Wens who lived with him.

Before Wen Ning lost consciousness, what he remembered and grieved most was toward Young Master Wei, Wei Wuxian.

He wanted to cry and apologize to him.

He wanted to cry in sorrow for the life Wei Wuxian had ended up with.

And now, confronting the completely mad Jiang Wanyin controlled fully with resentment, and hatred, what Wen Ning saw was not Jiang Wanyin, but the sign of a golden core spinning in his lower abdomen. The shining golden core was being corroded by resentment and blackened by the three poisons (greed, anger, ignorance) which the holder of this Golden core had been committing in more than 15 years, right from the moment this golden core was placed in his dantian until today.

All Wen Ning could feel at this point instinctively was sadness.

Once upon a time, Wen Ning admired a chivalrous and brave person. 

That person was like the sun, so dazzling to look at, whether his looks, his personality, his talents, and his cultivations.

That person sincerely praised his meager ability. 

That person defended his honor and had faith in his ability in front of all the cultivation sects.

That person smiled and pat him even when Wen Ning had just embarrassed him and made him lose face in front of all the cultivation sects.

That person encouraged him and prevented his self-esteem from crumbling down after he had failed his expectation.

The day when Wen Ning had assisted his sister in cutting out Wei Wuxian's golden core for two days and one night, the three people were exhausted, both mentally and physically.

It was not only Wei Wuxian who suffered, enduring the pain and holding on for two days and one night.

Wen Qing needed to stay focused for two days and one night, exhausting her mind and her body. There could be no wrong move in her hand or finger movements, otherwise, the surgery would go in vain.

Wen Ning had cried silently, holding on to Wei Wuxian's limbs and preventing him from fainting, not even a second, for two days and one night.

Those two days and one night were not only painful for Wei Wuxian, it was painful for both Wen Qing and Wen Ning, painful for their body, and painful for their hearts...

It was painful, knowing that he had participated in ripping off the dazzling light from his sun. Wei Wuxian, with his golden core being ripped off, he was also robbed out of every opportunity. 

It was the first time Wen Ning saw a golden core in a physical form, such a blinding sphere, even though it was called a golden core, the color was not golden at all, it was a bright and glowing white sphere...As if it was the sun itself that was shrunk and condensed.

Wen Ning's ability as a fierce corpse was able to sense resentful energy and sense yang energy. 

The bright and dazzling golden core he saw a long time ago, once again brought up a deep sentiment inside him.

Without knowing when, suddenly he went and pierced Jiang Wanyin's lower abdomen and ripped off his golden core.

'Master...Young Master, Young Master Wei. Young Master Wei...your golden core was ruined and corroded now...It is no good...you said, you wanted to give it to Young Master Jiang, so it should not be corroded...I shall help you to save it..."

Yes, the muddled Wen Ning could not differentiate past, present, or future. 

He did not even recognize Jiang Wanyin whom he ripped the golden core of.

His sentiment when seeing this familiar mass of spiritual energy inside the golden core was only, "I Must save this golden core! So that Young Master Wei can give it safely to Young Master Jiang..."

The siege in LanlingJin ended.

The Jinlintai was turned upside down. 

All the Jin senior disciples or elders were killed, the remaining disciples and servants were captured and ready to sell into slaves.

Jiang Wanyin died of excessive blood loss from the pierced abdomen. 

After all, he was ripped out of his golden core, he was unable to sustain the injury afterward.

Wen Ning, the ghost general who suddenly appeared in Jinlintai was gone as mysteriously as he appeared.

But the hundreds of cultivation sects could not care less about him, they were thoroughly exhausted and were licking their wound in retreat. 

Meanwhile, in Yunping City, Jin Guangyao and his members were busy digging out in the backyard of the Guanyin temple. 

Lan Xichen was caught back then in Yi City, and his spiritual energy was cut off. 

He was injured and exhausted. Jin Guanyao did not tell him anything about the situation in the outside world. 

What he knew right now was :

"Yes, it was A-Yao who killed Da-Ge. A-Yao knew he was at fault. But, A-Yao was helpless. A-Yao has no choice. He was forced by his father. Da-Ge has never believed in A-Yao and insulted A-Yao as a prostitute's son left and right even after A-Yao saved him in Nightless City. A-Yao has no choice. It was not A-Yao who made the evil hands or body parts to be free. A-Yao has no choice. Da-Ge died from Qi Deviations and his resentment was also affected by Baxia making his corpse even more murderous. A-Yao has no choice but to separate Da-Ge's corpse to avoid him immediately waking as a murderous ghoul. A-Yao has no choice. Xue Yang is too evil and controlled Stygian Tiger Seal and many fierce corpses. A-Yao could only let him be free so that he would not harm other people. A-Yao has no choice. And right now, Jiang Wanyin has put the blame of Jin Ling's death onto his imaginary Wei Wuxian and led a second siege to Burial Mound. If he failed to find his imaginary Wei Wuxian, A-Yao is afraid this Jiang Wanyin will turn the blame for Jin Ling's death onto A-Yao. So, A-Yao has to get away and put Er-Ge as a hostage. A-Yao has no choice...."

On the rainy night where Jin Guanyao was impatient with the long digging and digging, Su Minshan suddenly brought a useless Nie Huaisang. 

Once this person was thrown on the ground, he quickly wailed towards Lan Xichen. 

"Er-ge, Er-ge, finally I find you! I have commanded Nie disciples to search for you and Gusulan cultivators have even used Inquiry to search on your whereabouts!"

Seeing Nie Huaisang wailing pitifully, Lan Xichen sighed,

"I'm alright, Huaisang. What do you want to chase me for?"

"Er-Ge, Huaisang wanted to ask for forgiveness." Nie Huaisang suddenly kowtowed towards Lan Xichen.

Even though Nie Huaisang was like his younger brother, and was weak and pitiful, he was still a sect leader. Seeing him like this, Lan Xichen was really uncomfortable.

Jin Guangyao saw Nie Huaisang and immediately glared at Su Minshan as if asking 'why did you bring him in!?'

Su Minshan could only shake his head helplessly. 

This person was caught lingering around Yunping, when he was about to catch him, who knew that this useless sect leader apparently was really skilled in escaping, he wailed and screams all the way in the streets attracting people's attention, Su Minshad had no choice but to gag him and took him to the temple for the time being. 

"Huaisang, you must be tired. Please rest first. Er-Ge is also tired, let's chat about later, alright?" Jin Guanyao smiled meaningfully. 

Who knew, from where the courage came out, this useless nobody became even more determined to kowtow towards Lan Xichen, without being afraid his head would roll suddenly from the guqin strings technique Jin Guangyao possessed.

"Er-ge, Er-ge, Huaisang is useless! During this siege in Burial Mound, someone has used the Stygian Tiger Seal to control hundreds of fierce Corpses. Even our spiritual energy was suddenly cut off as if it was blocked by some evil enchantment. Sir Lan...Lan Laoshi...Lan Qiren, and 30 other cultivators passed away in the front line to protect the other cultivators. And when Huaisang went to Gusulan, Huaisang got another news, Wangji-Xiong...Lan Wangji...Hanguang-Jun passed away along with his disciple Lan Sizhui..."

Lan Xichen fell silent.

He wanted to slap Nie Huaisang for spouting such unreasonable jokes!

...But the person in front of him was still kowtowing. 

There's no trace of laughter or smiles to indicate any jokes. 

Wangji, Lan Wangji, A-Zhan, his little brother...

Deep down, Lan Xichen already knew and had always been afraid since months ago of this inevitable ending. Once Lan Sizhui fell into a death bed, it was the same as counting the days for his brother. 

But his uncle,

The two people he grew up with, his two relatives he had...

They were....gone?

All because of...what?

Nie Mingjue's arm.

Stygian Tiger Seal.

The forbidden song stolen to assassinate Nie Mingjue, causing his ghoul to rise.

The forbidden song stolen to lock his Uncle and Gusulan cultivators spiritual energy, rendering them in a vulnerable state against the fierce corpse driven by the reformed Stygian Tiger Seal.

And who stole those songs?

...Jin Guangyao.

Who gave Jin Guangyao the chance to steal those techniques, to cause the death of Lan Xichen's own families?

It was Lan Xichen himself.

Lan Xichen felt his body cold all over. 

Right now, even though the sound of heavy rain outside was noisy, he felt like the world was muted. 

The world had lost all colors. 

He slowly turned towards Jin Guangyao, and the person was still standing while smiling bitterly at him.

Jin Guangyao understood that once Lan Xichen knew about the passing of his two relatives there's no way out for him. 

It was a dead end. 

Tonight, it was the third bloody hell formed on earth that happened this year. After the bloody siege turned into a self-massacre on Burial Mound, and the gold-digging campaign on Jinlintai, now it was Yunping City Massacre turn...

A few days later, Nie Mingjue's fierce corpse who got his whole body intact went rampaged. 

The cultivators were all exhausted and had no power to suppress it. 

In the end, Nie Huaisang, using the weakness of the corpse, in which when it came to Nie Huaisang the corpse suddenly turned less murderous, he baited the corpse into one coffin in Qinghe Burial ground.

The rest of QingheNie's disciples went to suppress and sealed Nie Mingjue's corpse along with the still alive Nie Huaisang in one of the Burial Domes, and later guarded it fiercely while also purifying it day after day...

In the coffin.

"Da-ge...Huaisang did many bad things and has wronged many people. Huaisang took advantage of many people and caused many deaths...Da-ge. If you were alive, I'm sure I'll be dead under your saber with this kind of deeds." Nie Huaisang felt the resentful energy rapidly intruding his veins, his internal organs, and deteriorating his whole body.

He grimaced...It's painful.

"But Da-ge, what should I do? What can I do, Da-ge? Huaisang is weak...it is true. Huaisang did not want this. I never wanted this...."His voice grew weaker as his pale face was distorted by bulging black veins streaming with tears.

"Da-ge, your body parts grew vicious day by day, it did not weaken but grew stronger instead. Even if I have the heart to forgive that person's deeds on killing you and forget any revenge, in the future your body parts will still cause trouble."

"If that day will ever come, it will not escape his notice. If he ever knows about it, he will treat you, your body, as if you're an evil entity that deserved to be destroyed. He will amass other cultivators to suppress you....he will smear your name, the name of Chifeng-Zun, Nie Mingjue, will always be remembered as someone who died and still caused troubles after dying. He will be escalated as a hero once again..."

Nie Huaisang stopped. He was already in difficulty at breathing, and yet he forced out another series of pillow talks with this brother's corpse.

"That, if only they could suppress you at all, Da-ge." Nie Huaisang let out a wry smile,

"In this world, I wonder if there are people able to tame you, Da-ge. That person will probably harm Hanguang-Jun by sacrificing him to suppress you...he would never hurt Er-ge, but able to hurt or kill Er-ge's family. That person will take advantage of the situation and suppress QingheNie even more under the pretense of asking the explanation from us who has let out such an evil ghoul who caused trouble....and would definitely swallow QingheNie right under his LanlingJin."

"And I? what can I do if that time ever come...?" He laughed weakly,

"If he didn't kill you back then. If he didn't make you die under Qi Deviation. If he didn't cut off your body into pieces. There won't be any fierce ghoul Nie Mingjue. I can even pretend to forgive him. But Da-ge...your state right now, I can't help it...it's already been decided once he killed you under the guise of a Qi Deviation..."

Right now, Nie Huaisang felt that there's only one more speck of his life remained.

"Da-ge...I don't know...I don't know how everything becomes like this...I really don't know anymore..."

The last of his tears fell, as Nie Huaisang's body and soul were completely broken by the resentful energy exuded from his brother's corpse.

Nie Huaisang died as a hero. 

His name was not only mentioned as the savior of the Siege turned into self-Massacre in Burial Mound, but he was also a hero who had saved everyone from the rampage of a fierce ghoul who was created by Jin Guangyao. 

People praised this previously good for nothing relentlessly.

...Or as far as they thought as praises would be.

"Even though he's a wastrel, young sect leader Nie finally did a great merit!"

"Yeah! His brother was killed and transformed into a murderous corpse by Jin Guangyao! Even then, young sect leader Nie sacrificed himself to protect everyone!"

"It's true! it's true! Such great merit, I'm afraid that good for nothing can only get this kind of great merit using this sacrifice!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Finally he has some use!"

"Sigh...a little brother killed his big brother. Then, another big brother killed this little brother for the killing. While another little brother ended up dying as well in the aftermath of those 3 big brothers' tragedy..."

"What kind of big brothers are they?"

"Yeah, yeah. Brothers who ended up killing another brother in the name of revenge!"

"Might as well had never been brothers at all~"

So on, and so on.

In the later years, Jin Guangyao and Jin's name was cursed for 8 generations. 

Gusulan sect had a rule carved in their stone wall "Do Not Associate with Evil".

It was one of the rules that made Gusulan condemn Wei Wuxian as immoral, disrespecting the death by using their corpse, and a heretic who used resentful energy.

It was the rule in which Lan Wangji 13 years ago broke and was punished with 33 discipline whips after he had insisted on protecting Wei Wuxian and defied the 33 Gusulan elders for it.

Nowadays, Lan Xichen as the person who always supported Jin Guangyao when he was alive was condemned thoroughly.

Right now, the Gusulan sect was called a sect that supported a scum, a villain, and an Evil.

It was such an irony to the rules carved deeply on their stone wall!

Apparently, they all forgot that Lan Qiren and 30 other Gusulan disciples died heroically to save their sorry ass in the Burial Mound.....

After all, just like how easy Wei Wuxian's deeds as the exalted hero in Sunshot Campaign was forgotten and turned into condemnation,

it was even easier for Lan Qiren's sacrifice that was mixed along with the deaths of other sect heirs and leaders to be completely disregarded. 

YunmengJiang sect?

Well, people forgot about them even more.

After all, what Sect Leader Jiang did was scream, "Wei Wuxian!" left and right, whipping people left and right, suspecting people for being possessed by the Yiling Laozu, and trying so hard to search for a target to throw the blame for the death of his nephew.

In the end, YunmengJiang suffered a heavy loss and lost many great disciples in the Burial Mound. 

Jiang Wanyin died in Jinlintai.

Lotus Pier was abandoned. 

Later, the people of Yunmeng who grew resentful after months of being suppressed and unable to go out from home in fear of attracting Jiang Wanyin's suspicion went and pillaged the Lotus Pier. 

The building was left in tatter. 

Not even a grain of rice was left behind. 

Even the building was also taken down, people were quick to collect the high-quality logs and building material.

In the end, they were forgotten and left in the dust.

On the day of the 14th anniversary of Yiling Laozu's death, no one had the energy to remember nor celebrate. 

What they told about nowadays was only the scourge of LanlingJin and Jin Guanyao, the sudden and final bravery of a Good for Nothing Nie Huaisang, and the condemned Gusulan. 

In the mountain top of Burial Mound, even though the body of the cultivators who died there were taken away, they had no chance nor power to purify the place.

Their generation lost every single of their strong cultivators. 

There was no Hanguang-Jun who went out to take care of every chaos and every trouble. 

There was no other Baoshan Sanren's disciples who fought evil gallantly regardless of the risk or glory.

2 of the major sects were desecrated.

2 of the leftover major sects were rapidly in decline.

Once, Burial Mound was called a hell on earth. Even The Wen Sect back then at their full glory weren't able to do anything about Burial Mound. A place where nobody could enter safely and once entered both body and soul were ready to be devoured.

Only after Wei Wuxian being thrown down there that he cleansed the resentful energy. In the end, he even made it habitable to live for even non-cultivators.

Burial Mound at the point after Wei Wuxian's death was a gift to the cultivation world. It's already cleared, suppressed, and habitable. For the cultivation sects at that time to build more suppression array was much more easier and a piece of cake. 

Right now, Burial Mound grew heavy in resentful energy once again. In the day time, the air was already dark. The resentful energy was strong and thick. At night...every, and any thing started to go active. When a living person went here, their body would be devoured by the low level evil that eats meats, and their soul...would go the the high level dark entity. 

But nobody could do anything.

They lost many heirs, elders, parents, and strong disciples in two bloody wars (they started it themselves).

Being able to take care of their own family, clan, and sect was already a good thing,  don't mention a behemoth case like Burial Mound. 

Besides, after Jin Guanyao and Jin's ruined, Xue Yang was still left alive.

He went rampaged in many places, turning many cities and villages into living corpses. 

He went desperate and more desperate. The soul in his qiankun bag could not be mended. 

The only thing he could do was commit evil, again and again, hoping the more he commit evil, Xiao Xingchen who had always despised his evil act would come alive once again. 

The world was in chaos...

But nobody had the strength to take care of it at all. 

At least not today.

Who knew, perhaps a year, a decade, or a century later, perhaps there would be people who realized and had the same thought, a thought similar to the courageous boy 20 years ago in Dusk Creek Mountain in Qishan, who said it out loud:

“People might hate me, but I don't hate them. I will help them for it! First, this isn’t a triviality. Second, things like this, somebody will have to care about them, sooner or later!”

 

Perhaps, if someone had the same thought like this,

they would be able to gather their strength and save each other from this chaos...

Today in the 14th anniversary of Yiling Laozu, Wei Wuxian's death, In the Demon Slaughtering Cave, one fierce corpse walked in stagger to the blood pool. 

The surface of the blood pool suddenly stirred, many pairs of bloodied hands of the deformed bloody corpses from the blood pool quickly welcome the new corpse. They had been here. For 13 years. They're still waiting for the "familiar" people to come...The bloody hands from the Blood Pool grabbed the fierce corpse, as if saying. 

'finally, you came, we have always been waiting for you...'

The fierce corpse jumped down to the blood pool, and the pool surface soon back to its calm state, as if there's no disturbance at all prior.

Chapter Text

They said one day in heaven was equal to one year on earth. 

It was true. 

The God of Fates had merely taken his share of absence from work after 1000 years of Heaven's time in continuous working. He went on a vacation and visited the Ghost city to greet Hua Cheng for merely 40 days, or 40 years on Earth.

The work of God of Fates was not that hard. He just needed to guarantee the flow of fates. Even when he's on leave, the wheel of fates would still roll on and on. However, who knew that at those times when the God was on leave, the new Son of Heaven was thwarted, exiled, and now even his soul had disappeared from existence.

Speaking about the Son of Heaven, it was a person, a human, whom from when he/she was born was destined to reach great heights in life. This human would be the pioneer and lead the generations in which he lives to break the old customs and create a new glorious era. 

Usually, since every Son of Heaven was born with extraordinary aptitude, he would become the apple of the eye for every other human and would be placed on a high pedestal. There was no need to worry about the fate of Son of the Heaven. The only work God of Fate needed to do was observe what kind of new era this Son of Heaven would create. 

Alas, who knew what kind of devil had worked their hands in, but the world was suddenly in disarray in a mere 40 years period on the earth.

Not only did the Son of Heaven was condemned by the world, but he was also driven into his death, and his soul was scattered, dissipated, and finally disappeared from the world for eternity, either in present times, in the past, and absolutely in the future. 

Without the Son Of Heaven, of course, the world fell stagnant. 

There was no era coming up, there were no new achievements, no better life, no better generations, no nothing. 

And instead, the world was plunged into a dark era.

The God of fates was dumbfounded.

From ancient times, there was no precedent that the Son of Heaven was kicked out far, far away to Neptune, by the generations he was supposed to bring into a new great height!

This was truly something...One of a kind!

God of Fates: What should I do when the people kicked away the hero who was supposed to help them????? *anxiously waiting online!*

Author's note

About Lan Wangji's suicide

I feel complicated about this, and I hate myself for writing it QAQ. That one is probably my biggest OOC to boot in this fics.

But from what Lan Xichen said in the novel at chapter 99:  

“Thirty-three whip scars! He was punished in one go, once for each person. You should know how much it hurts when it lands on your body, for how long you have to rest to recover! ...... They say those years were him reflecting on his mistakes, but in reality he was entirely bedridden. Even so, when he knew of your passing away, he still dragged such a body to Burial Mound to take one last look, no matter what!"

I wonder what was Lan Wangji's intention for coming back to take one last look in Burial Mound back then.
There's no guarantee for anything to survive.
And if there's no A-Yuan who was in high fever and in need to be treated as soon as possible,
Would Lan Wangji had enough wills to go back to Gusulan with such a battered body after knowing there's nothing left and Wei Wuxian was truly gone forever?  

When it comes to heavy injuries or death threatening sickness, sometimes what matters is not how good the medicines or the doctors are.
In times like this, what was more important and had the biggest deal on the recovery is a person's will.
Even a person who is already on a deathbed could recover like magic when they have a strong will to live and vice versa.

In this case, if there was no A-Yuan,

Will Lan Wangji have enough WILL to go on living?

Will Lan Wangji have enough REASON to go forward?

Even so, I also do not think that if back then Lan Wangji didn't find A-Yuan, he'd just go follow Wei Wuxian by committing suicide. 

Perhaps, the only thing that would be different is, if in the original there's A-Yuan who becomes Lan Wangji's motivation to heal faster, perhaps if there's not even A-Yuan left behind, the time for Lan Wangji to heal will be longer. Like, more than 5 years or something, instead of 3 years. 

I have a conviction that Lan Wangji will at least keep on living on behalf of Wei Wuxian.

This conviction comes from the way Gusulan disciples in MDZS have little prejudice towards Wei Wuxian. Instead of condemning Demonic Cultivation, they'd go curious at it and felt fascinated by it. Sizhui even has the doubt in his heart about the so-called FACTS they always learned about Yiling Laozu and the incidents concerning himself.

What does it mean?

That meant Gusulan had a reform on their teaching during those 13 years. 

And who was the one who erased the prejudice of demonic cultivation and Yiling Laozu? 

Of course, it's Lan Wangji, the one, and only Hanguang-Jun, that has been their senior and their teacher. 

There's no way old man Lan Qiren had the idea of letting go of his prejudices. 

So, even though there's no A-Yuan back then, I think Lan Wangji will still keep on living.

People say a dead man can only live in the world by living in the memory of the people who were left behind. 

In the MDZS world, aside from Lan Wangji, which person has no prejudice, knew Wei Wuxian's true personality, knew the behind story for all of those rumors, and was willing to rectify his reputation to the next generation little by little?

Who?

NO ONE!

Even Jiang Wanyin the so-called "brother" and the so-called "tsundere brother" and the so-called person "who love Wei Wuxian because he holds on ChenQing for 13 years", what that person doing is even blackening Wei Wuxian's reputation even more.

So, Lan Wangji who loves Wei Wuxian won't let himself die as well and then left no one in the world who can remember Wei Wuxian's true person...

Even so, in this kind of scenario, the reason I finally let Lan Wangji die in despair was that Lan Sizhui had died in front of him. The fact that he's unable to even protect Wei Wuxian's last legacy is the trigger that could probably end up making him, fall in despair.

I think if only Lan Sizhui was still alive and well, I don't think Lan Wangji would commit suicide.

Even though he never be able to meet Wei Wuxian once again in his whole life, or even though he finally knew every single tragedy in the past was never Wei Wuxian's fault, and even though Lan Wangji finally knew all of the villains who took part in killing his beloved, I would not think that Lan Wangji would kill himself in despair. 

As long as Lan Sizhui was still alive and well.

As long as Wei Wuxian's last legacy was still well-protected. 

What Lan Wangji might do was probably rectify Wei Wuxian's name, and clean up his reputation, and then continue to erect justice and bear righteousness in his heart, just like what Wei Wuxian always do in the past, continuing his beloved's beliefs on righteousness. 

Until dozens of years later when perhaps he died naturally. 

I also won't think that Lan Wangji would take the chance to ascend to immortality.

Immortality was a lonely thing. 

Especially when someone he loves was not there. 

MoXiangTongXiu in the original work seemed to portray Lan Wangji to resemble Gusulan's ancestor so much, that is Lan An, whether it's from his faithful love, his living style, and his deeds. 

While we all know that Lan An in the past, after his wife died, he had given up immortality and chose to die naturally following his wife. 

Lan Wangji then, would also prefer natural death and go into the next reincarnation, hoping to see Wei Wuxian once again in the next life. 

That was if Sizhui was still alive and well...

While in here, Lan Wangji has failed to protect Sizhui. Seeing Sizhui die right under his eyes, seeing that he, once again, failed to protect Wei Wuxian's legacy, I think it'd broke Lan Wangji's heart greatly. 

Thereafter, I didn't say that Lan Wangji would be easy or being so quick to commit suicide, but I am afraid for Lan Wangji, he's more vulnerable to go into suicide when the hopes of his life were snuffed out. Added with how suddenly the cultivation world "promotes" that Yiling Laozu has come back and kidnapped the juniors, I think Lan Wangji would feel extremely ridiculous and lose all hope in the world he lived in.

To quote what Wei Wuxian said in Nightless City, "I felt that the world loathe me, and I loathe them as well.", perhaps that's the same kind of feeling Lan Wangji had when seeing the world still enjoyed scolding and throwing every blames towards Wei Wuxian.

Even though Lan Wangji stayed alive in this scenario, I think he will either go into seclusion to question and contemplate his life or perhaps just leave Gusulan.

Either way, there's a lot of "scenarios" for his end, and I only chose one of them.

It's OOC, not in line with Lan Wangji's famous forbearance, but I can't bear to let him shoulder the aftermath of Gusulan being condemned, that's my selfishness, hahaha.

Just like how MXTX in the canon made Wei Wuxian die in the siege due to the backlash of Stygian Tiger Seal; rather than leave him alive and being imprisoned in Gusulan, and then having an angsty or dog-blood drama with Lan Wangji, repeating the same old mistake of Qingheng-Jun,

I as the author of this fic have that kind of selfishness. Rather than making Lan Wangji bear the effect of someone else's greed and mistakes and being abused and sad, alone without his family, without Sizhui, without Wei Ying; I'd rather put him to death and continue to live in another world. That's my heartfelt OOC  :)

Nie Huaisang is the MVP here~

In fact, his trademark "I don't know 3x" is somehow really interesting.

At one point it was used to paint "the useless sect leader persona",

at another point, perhaps, Nie Huaisang really didn't know deep down inside his heart, what was he doing, and what's happening anymore.

Why did I make his ending miserable here?

Honestly, it was one of his karma. 

Nie Huaisang is a smart person with a brilliant mind. 

Even so, 

A great tactician without the support of a KNIGHT, his plan would be useless and rendered to a mere theory, there won't be people who can execute his plans perfectly and flawlessly. 

WangXian was originally made to be the Knights who execute Nie Huaisang's plan.

In the case where the tactician was left alone, his plan could only be done by relying on manipulation of people's hearts, desires, greed, anger, and ignorance.

It was destined to be full of holes.

In the end, Nie Huaisang could only achieve his revenge by sacrificing others. 

It was no different from Jin Guangyao. Thus, I made his ending in replacement of Jin Guanyao's role in the original work:

trapped in eternity with Nie Mingjue inside a coffin.

Jin Guangyao had sacrificed many people to achieve his goal in life that is, "become a respectable cultivator, accepted and recognized in the Jin Sect as one of its heirs".

He succeeded in the end. But at what cost? He sacrificed many people, trampling their corpses to be the stepping stone to gain his goal.

Now, it was done exactly by Nie Huaisang. Without the help of WangXian, he could only use others as a stepping stone to achieving his goal, that is revenge. 

Jin Guangyao had killed Nie Mingjue by driving him into a Qi Deviations. 

It was a good move, a way to avoid any suspicion of an assassination attempt.

But, he didn't expect the aftermath would be so troublesome. A human died under Qi Deviation, moreover, at the point of the death this human clearly had deep resentments; would of course wake up as a murderous ghoul. 

He cut off Nie Mingjue's body and separate it away, throwing it to all the places with heavy resentment to cover it. His move when it was seen as a tactic, was indeed a good choice, It was like hiding a leaf in the forest. Hiding an object of heavy resentment in a place that already has thick resentful energy in the first place.

But, what Jin Guangyao did is not, solving the problem, but instead just "swiped it under the bed", out of sight out of mind. 

Nie Mingjue's body parts couldn't help but grow heavier with resentful energy day by day after being drowned in a place with heavy resentment like this.

And Not even once did Jin Guangyao make an attempt to purify, appease, or suppress it. 

What does it mean, and what did he want, if not just waiting for the body parts to free themselves from the place and go rampaged?

Even though Nie Huaisang didn't make any revenge plan, in the end, Nie Mingjue's body will become a problem, a much bigger problem if left aside for a longer time in the future, and will still plunge the world in chaos.

The problem was already decided from the moment Nie Mingjue was killed with Qi Deviations, and his corpse didn't get any purifying attempt at all but instead thrown in a place with heavy resentful energy~

In the original novel, Nie Mingjue's fierce ghoul could only be baited and trapped successfully in a coffin by the duet of WangXian, the joint work between strong spiritual energy from Lan Wangji, and strong resentful energy from Wei Wuxian. 

Without them, what else Nie Huaisang could do aside replace WangXian's part and become the bait to trap his brother in a coffin? 

About the discussion whether Lan Xichen is a GOOD person or a BAD person?

First of all, let me say, Lan Xichen is fundamentally, inherently, a good person.

What is a GOOD person, Or what is a BAD person, In the context of MDZS? We all took Wei Wuxian as the role model for a GOOD person, and Lan Wangji as the other role model for another GOOD person.
Even so, does everyone aside from WangXian a BAD person? I'm afraid this is not the case.
If I classified their Goodness in a class, Lan Xichen is perhaps a B+ or A class good person, and WangXian is S Class-good person. In a way, both WangXian and Lan Xichen are good people, but they have different qualities.

Lan Xichen is an opportunist, Yes, I believe so, he weighted his clan and his sect's interest first before everything else, including righteousness.
Lan Xichen is a failed case of a judge, Yes, this is undeniable.
Lan Xichen is the same as the rest of his sect, holding on "a righteous face" rather than "be righteous", Sadly I also say this is true as well.

Those 3 are the glaring flaws of Lan Xichen that rendered him into "an average good person", rather than an "extraordinary good person" like WangXian are.
When we talk about ordinary people, then I must say that Lan Xichen is the personification of "ordinary good person" in the MDZS world. 
Lan Xichen is good, but not an especially very good person.

A GOOD person can not be classified simply by "a person who helps Wei Wuxian", and then the person who doesn't is BAD.

So, let's talk about WHY Lan Xichen was considered as a good person, even when he didn't help Wei Wuxian back then, or even though back then he was swayed by LanlingJin's media campaign and kept silent, and didn't investigate Wei Wuxian's supposedly first evil deeds, that is the killing of Qiongqidao's supervisor from LanlingJin, and helped the jailbreak of the Wen remnants. 

Firstly, Lan Xichen saw his little brother was worried about Wei Wuxian, but! instead of being thankful and accepting the offered help, this Wei Wuxian even arrogantly rebutted his little brother, quarreled with him, and rudely rejected him everywhere.
What kind of big brother Lan Xichen is if he would not be dissatisfied looking at his little brother's kind attempt being rudely and arrogantly rejected?

This is the first discord Lan Xichen felt towards Wei Wuxian.

Secondly, Lan Xichen is just the same as Lan Wangji. Just like how Lan Wangji saw Wei Wuxian and think that his "EVIL" way is damaging his body and mind from what he had learned in Gusulan books and teacher, Lan Xichen had the same thought in the matter looking at Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation. If Lan Wangji the person who loves Wei Wuxian is prejudiced towards his cultivation, what's more about Lan Xichen a person who barely knows Wei Wuxian?

Of course, his disapproval towards Wei Wuxian's cultivation is greater!

Thirdly, Lan Xichen saw Wei Wuxian's temperament as truly different and "has changed". He is arrogant, flaunting his might everywhere. He is rude, never brought his swords, when for a cultivator or a swordsman a sword is like their soul, it was very important and a sign of formal courtesy. He saw Wei Wuxian being rude, arguing here and there with many people including his little brother. It's totally different from what he saw as a "cheerful" and nice boy when he's studying in the Cloud Recesses.

Of course, Lan Xichen can't help but think this person has changed.

Fourthly, in the first incident at Qiongqi path, where Wei Wuxian rescued the Wen remnants, what Lan Xichen knew from LanlingJin's report is: "Wei Wuxian killed many supervisors from the Jin sect and helps the Wen Prisoner to do a jailbreak".
From the 3 points I mentioned above, Lan Xichen had already felt dissatisfaction and disapproval towards Wei Wuxian. And now, when this thing happened, how could Lan Xichen have any good feelings left towards Wei Wuxian to even think to investigate the matter clearly?

Lan Xichen can't help but subconsciously think "Wei Wuxian is capable of doing these villainous deeds".

At this point, Jin Guangshan and Jin Guangyao reported that Wei Wuxian had harmed his Jin supervisors and had liberated the Wen prisoner.

Lan Xichen had no obligation nor rights to speak for Wei Wuxian and this incident since it's LanlingJin and YunmengJiang which this incident involved with.

But, Lan Xichen as a sect leader has a right to help investigate the matter, but in ONE CONDITION. What is the condition? That is when the party involved requested a thorough investigation and stated a defense.

Then, who is qualified to do this? Of course, it's Jiang Cheng, as the sect leader of YunmengJiang whom Wei Wuxian is affiliated with.

But, what was Jiang Cheng said in this case? Instead of investigating the case first and defending the "said brother of his", he said this instead the first time he came in Koi Tower:

Jiang Cheng only spoke after a few moments, “What he did was indeed a bit too much. Sect Leader Jin, I apologize to you in place of him. If there’s any way at all to help the situation, please let me know. I’ll definitely compensate for things however I can.”

 

Lan Xichen is an outsider.

He neither has any good understanding towards Wei Wuxian to be able to defend him informally just like MianMian and Lan Wangji, nor he has any right to speak for him formally like Jiang Cheng who is Wei Wuxian's direct boss.

If Jiang Cheng, the supposed to be brother and the Sect Leader whom Wei Wuxian affiliated with has already admitted that Wei Wuxian IS IN THE WRONG AND WWX IS A BIT TOO MUCH, how could Lan Xichen think otherwise? How could Lan Xichen propose for the matter to be investigated?? HOW???

Jiang Cheng’s brows were knitted. He rubbed the vein that throbbed at his temple and soundlessly took in a deep breath, “… I apologize to all of the Sect Leaders. Everyone, I’m afraid you don’t know that the Wen cultivator whom Wei WuXian wanted to save was called Wen Ning. We owe him and his sister Wen Qing gratitude for what happened during the Sunshot Campaign.”

Nie MingJue, “You owe them gratitude? Isn’t the QishanWen Sect the ones who caused the YunmengJiang Sect’s annihilation?”

 

NieMingjue had asked what was the gratitude? But Jiang Cheng did not say anything.

He didn't mention that he owe the Wen Sibling HIS LIFE for rescuing him from Wen Chao's lair.

He didn't mention that Wen Sibling had hidden him in their home, had given him medicines, had treated him, and had given him food for days!

He didn't mention that Wen Ning had helped him take back the remnant of HIS PARENTS and took back ZIDIAN, the very Zidian he proudly wears in his finger right now!

When Jiang Cheng didn't even mention this, how could Lan Xichen understand that Wei Wuxian's intention is merely paying the debt? If Lan Xichen Knows that Jiang Cheng had owed the Wen Sibling so much debt, even though he could not stand up for him for a good relationship, but the life-saving grace that Wen Sibling had extended towards Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng is not something to be brushed off so easily.

Especially the matter involving the retrieval of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu's remnants. It's a big thing to help someone retain their ancestor's body!

After all, if Wen Ning didn't help them retrieve their body, who knows what will happen to their body? Whether their heads will be separated and hung at Lotus Pier for a triumphant gesture, or whether their body will be dumped to be fed by dogs to humiliate them further. Who knows???? After all, just like Wen Xu's head who was beheaded by Nie Mingjue and was displayed for provocation, it's really common for people to use the body of their enemy to be wrecked and humiliated like that. 

If those kindnesses were brought up, how could Lan Xichen as someone who was brought up in a righteous place not stand up for them in the name of retaining gratitudes? And Nie Mingjue, no matter how much he hated the Wens, if he knew those kindnesses, as someone who is so upright and can't stand any sand in his eyes, he would not brushed off such a big debt like life-saving grace and helping to retrieve one's parent bodies.

This is why, I want people who complained about why did Lan Xichen didn't help Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnant even though he's a sect leader and a member of a righteous sect, I have told you all of the reasons why Lan Xichen did not pursue this matter. 

Nevertheless, even when Jiang Cheng didn't mention anything about Wen Sibling helps, Lan Xichen was still trying to clear Wen Qing's name, here in the conversation after:

Lan XiChen responded a moment later, “I have heard of Wen Qing’s name a few of times. I do not remember her having participated in any of the Sunshot Campaign’s crimes.”

Nie MingJue, “But she’s never stopped them either.”

Lan XiChen, “Wen Qing was one of Wen RuoHan’s most trusted people. How could she have stopped them?”

Nie MingJue spoke coldly, “If she responded with only silence and not opposition when the Wen Sect was causing mayhem, it’s the same as indifference. She shouldn’t have been so disillusioned as to hope that she could be treated with respect when the Wen Sect was doing evil and be unwilling to suffer the consequences and pay the price when the Wen Sect was wiped out.”

We can see clearly, that Lan Xichen initially wanted to help the Wen Sibling, and understand that Wen Qing is a GOOD person.

But, just because JIANG CHENG NEVER SAID ANY GOOD WORDS AND DEFENDS TOWARDS WEI WUXIAN AND VERY EAGER TO ADMIT THAT WEI WUXIAN IS INDEED GUILTY,

then, Lan Xichen as the outsider of his sect could do nothing and ended up not knowing about the real situation! 

Jiang Cheng pretended to stand his ground, “That probably isn’t that case. Wei WuXian has been like this ever since he was young. Even my father couldn’t do anything about him.”

Here, Jiang Cheng,

the supposed brother,

the person who was supposed to grow up with Wei Wuxian,

the person who was supposed to understand Wei Wuxian's character,

HAS NEVER UTTERED A SINGLE DEFENDS, AND INSTEAD SAYS THAT WEI WUXIAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN SOMEONE WHO ALWAYS CAUSED TROUBLES THAT EVEN HIS FATHER COULD NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT HIM.

How could Lan Xichen, the outsider, the person who didn't know about Wei Wuxian, have anything to say about this matter?

HOW?

from those precepts, we could see, if only Lan Xichen knows WHAT KIND OF DEBTS does Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian have towards Wen Sibling, he would definitely help them!

After the incident, Lan Xichen had also had no rights, and he couldn't become a busy body to pursue this case.

He's not Wei Wuxian's leader, unlike Jiang Cheng, to visit Wei Wuxian for professional business.

Nor he someone who's close to Wei Wuxian or love Wei Wuxian, unlike Lan Wangji, who can visit Wei Wuxian for a personal reason.

And of course, he could not be a busy body who pursue a matter that had been resolved so quickly with this kind of announcement to the whole world by Jiang Cheng:

Three days later, the leader of the YunmengJiang Sect, Jiang Cheng, arranged for a duel with Wei WuXian.

They fought quite a fight in Yiling. Negotiations failed. Both resorted to violence.

Under Wei WuXian’s command, the fierce corpse Wen Ning struck Jiang Cheng once, breaking one of his arms. Jiang Cheng stabbed Wei WuXian once. Both sides suffered losses. Each spat out a mouthful of blood and left cursing the other. They had finally fallen out with each other.

After the fight, Jiang Cheng told the outside that Wei WuXian defected from the sect and was an enemy to the entire cultivation world. The YunmengJiang Sect had already cast him out. From then on, no ties remained between them—a clear line was drawn. Henceforth, no matter what he did, they’d have nothing to do with the YunmengJiang Sect!

Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian's SUPPOSEDLY closest person who grew up with him and was also known as brothers before,

The sect leader whom Wei Wuxian affiliated with, 

The person who SUPPOSEDLY knew everything about Wei Wuxian's real nature, personality, and intentions,  

HAD LET OUT THAT KIND OF ANNOUNCEMENT!

What obligation or reasons does Lan Xichen has for him to pursue the matter further???

This is why I say that LXC is a good person.

If he has a chance, he's someone who will help others. If he has debt, he will repay the debt and express his gratitude, unlike a certain someone who only remembers grudges but forgot gratitudes. 

But, he still has flaws, and it can't be helped~

He's an "ordinary good person", who still has flaws and faults.

What makes him fall under a good person in my opinion is because Lan Xichen has never hurt or schemed on others for his own gain. He separates grudges and gratitudes properly in his life. He never bears jealousy nor drowns in resentment. And of course, he never coveted others' power for his own benefit.

As a leader, Lan Xichen indeed has a big flaw by being biased toward the wrong person that is Jin Guangyao. 

His flaw as a leader might implicate his whole clan and family precepts and dignity, dragging his hundreds of years of good reputation family to bear the sins of assisting a villain. 

This is why he's not qualified in an S-class good person like WangXian in my opinion.

But, perhaps it's also because Jin Guangyao is just too good at pretending and becoming a white lotus. 

After all, aside from Nie Huaisang who know his real face after Nie Mingjue's death, and Lan Wangji who prove it with his act of never stepping up to Koi Tower after Wei Wuxian's death, who is aside of them knows the treachery hidden behind Jin Guangyao's kind smile?

No one!

In the end, Lan Xichen indeed has sins and flaws. But he's not the big villain or the source of the misery. 

Most of his sins were done indirectly and were not out of his own personal greed and malice.

But, let's see that out there, there are characters who DIRECTLY become the perpetrator of this one big tragedy, due to their jealousy, envy, greed, malice, and stupidity.

all of this precepts are taken from https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/gdc-chapter-73/

Chapter Text

Alright, there are some things I need to clarify before you step your foot into this fics further.

First of all, 

The characters and story are MOXIANGTONGXIU'S, while the OOC are mine. 

Bold, italic, underlined, indicating this is an extremely important notice, haha.

Well, to be honest, this kind of warning is not that important, right? As long as I never claimed as "no OOC". 

After all, the way I posted this work on a fanfiction platform is already tantamount to proof that the story might have an OOC somewhere. 

Only the real author of MDZS, MoXiang's mom, who can write a MDZS without OOC.

But, just in case, just in case there are people who don't even understand how fanfiction works, I need to state this warning then, lmao~

Afterward, Read this fic with a cool head :)

Also:

I did not deliberately make the characters worse, Neither do I deliberately make the characters better, Just to suit the premise of my fic. 

I think I have said it in chapter 2, so if you forgot and didn't notice the early notes in chapter 2, I will repeat it. 

I will not deliberately beautify or worsen the characters who have been written and depicted in MDZS. 

For example, Wei Wuxian is:

1. Someone with a good-looking face

2. Someone who mastered the Six Arts

3. Someone who knows gratitudes

4. Someone who can't stand an atrociousness that happened in front of him

5. Someone who has a compassionate heart and sensible

etc. 

Where can you get a list of those "WWX's character settings"?

MDZS NOVEL. 

Did it get directly said and listed by the author?

Nope. 

It was written and depicted throughout the hundreds of thousands of words of the novel, in the form of "conversation, monologues, and narration", in many scenes.

Only when we properly see and read the novel that we know WWX's character setting in the MDZS novel, created by MoXiangTongXiu.

According to those set of characters, I won't LIE and FAKING Wei Wuxian as someone who is weak, stupid, rude, clueless, etc, just for the sake of my premise,

for example, "I want to make an angsty fic", thus I write a stupid, helpless, and weak WWX just so that I can make a sad plot. 

If I write that kind of thing, then I'm not HONEST, either to myself or to you the readers.

I won't make a character who should be a good person turn into a bad one, and vice versa. 

For example, I won't make Lan Qiren into a delusional Evil Mother in law who abused Wei Wuxian, because he has never been depicted as such in the original novel.

I won't make a character who should be clever or wise turn into a stupid one, and vice versa. 

For example, I won't make Wen Ruohan who is clearly depicted to have a clear and logical judgment in the novel, to be stupid. Neither do I will make QishanWen who is clearly said to have LOTS of cultivators with high ranking and high cultivation, to be a sect full of fools and weak, easily to be defeated.

Because they are not.

I won't make a character who should be clearly bad turn into a good one either. 

For example, I won't ever write Yu Ziyuan as a mere helpless, kind, smart, and good mother, who is unloved by her husband, because she is not in every part of the novel. 

Those who accuse me of writing "fake ideas", just because their favorite character was written to be "bad" here,

I refute you that I'm just writing the HONEST one. 

The proof? 

I have put a lot of proof where I based it from the novel, scattered throughout this fics, you can see it in the chapters.

Whether you can see my point or my logic, is up to you. 

Whether you can see the basis of my argument, is up to you. 

There's no need to say this actually, but in case someone still doesn't understand how fanfiction works, I have to say this after all:

I never write the REAL MDZS, because you should have known that no one can write the REAL one aside from MoXiangTongXiu herself. 

However, I tried to be HONEST and didn't stray far away from the characterization of her MDZS, based on how what was depicted in the novel. 

One more thing, 

The KARMA spoken here is NOT about SIN or RELIGIOUS karmic. 

You should have already read the first notice in chapter 1, but just in case I need to repeat it:

Karma (/ˈkɑːrmə/; Sanskrit: कर्म, romanized: karma, IPA: [ˈkɐɽmɐ] ( listen); Pali: kamma) means action, work or deed; it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect).

The karma we are talking about here is about the EFFECT or what someone DID. 

Karma could be good, and could be bad, depending on the CAUSAL.

Lastly,

Just because I said character A is naive, character B is ignorant, 

that doesn't mean they are bad. 

Almost everyone in MDZS has flaws and mistakes, having one of them did not mean the character is EVIL and the BAD GUY.

So, please read this fic carefully, and see it properly, so that you won't get any misunderstanding as to which characters are the real bad ones, and which ones are just simply flawed due to their naivety.

Happy reading~

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian's soul had disappeared from the world, either in the past, present, and of course, wouldn't exist in the future.

The God of fate was helpless to see those fools who insisted on walking their own foolish way even after they were plunged into a dark era.

In the end, God of fate could only rewind the time, make them live out their past life once again, ba~

But this time without their memories of the future, and this time there was no Wei Wuxian, absolutely without the Son of The Heaven in their generations. 

Later on, after they were done living out their life, then God would once again awaken their memory with Wei Wuxian in it. 

Let them see if what they always believed about "the scourge of the world" was true or not. Let them judge it themselves, did their life has become much better without this "scourge of the world", or so what they always scorned the Son of The Heaven with before...

It was one of God's punishments for them in order to finally reflect on their own sins and flaws. 

Don't always blame others but justify yourself under the guise of pity. 

First and foremost, you have to understand and admit your own flaws and mistakes in order to grow up and advance.

Wei Wuxian did not exist in the world, but it didn't mean that Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze did not exist as well.

Both of them still existed in the world.

Cangse Sanren still went down from Baoshan Sanren mountain. She still met Wei Changze and fell hopelessly in love with the silent and cool man. Wei Changze was still originally Jiang Fengmian's most loyal servant. And Jiang Fengmian had also still been swooned by Cangse Sanren's beauty, bright personality, amazing talents, and cultivations. 

The wheel of fates still worked like they were before. 

Wei Changze still left YunmengJiang and marry Cangse Sanren.

Both of them still ran happily towards the sunset and roamed around the world together. 

It's just that... even when both of them had been married for years, there was still no sign they would be blessed with a child.

Not even until someday they suddenly died in a nighthunt in Yiling. 

Today was just another day in Lotus Pier.

The disciples of YunmengJiang Sect were practicing their swordsmanship in the training hall under the scorching sunlight in the middle of the day. While not far from there, in a dais, a woman with a beautiful face, sharp features, and a lip that was always curled in half sneer half-smile, sitting elegantly while sipping her tea and watching the disciples practiced. 

The woman was the mistress of Lotus Pier, Yu Ziyuan, or was more familiarly called as Madam Yu. She was the third lady from the Meishan Yu sect. A fierce woman who refused to bear the name Jiang or called Madam Jiang, and instead retained her previous title as Sanniang (Third Lady) or Madam Yu.

While the disciples were in the middle of practicing, a commotion suddenly was heard from the gate. 

The sect leader had come back home!

Hearing the commotion and knowing that Jiang Fengmian had finally come back, Madam Yu quickly left the disciples and immediately went to greet the master of Lotus Pier. 

All of the disciples could not help but breathe a sigh of relief and started to take a short break, massaging their numbed arms after weight lifting practice in the morning, and massaging their sore butt and bruised knee after being told to kneel all the way yesterday afternoon, being punished after they were running around in the market.

Finally, the tigress had changed her sight of another target!

"What are you stopping here for!? Quick, went back to practice. If my mother comes back later and sees we're slacking off here, she will punish us again!" Jiang Cheng could not help but frown. 

"Aiyooo, Dashixiong, my arms are numb, and my butt are sore...let us take a break for a while."

"It's so hot~"

"I want a drink," 

"I craved watermellon~"

"Cold Jelly~"

Another disciple could not help but chirp as well, joining one after another.

Jiang Cheng frowned in displeasure. 

In his opinion, those disciples truly didn't learn from lessons at all!

Even if his mother had punished them so many times, they still dared to slack off.

And when the disciples were slacking off, it's not only them who were scolded and punished if they were discovered, Jiang Cheng would also be scolded viciously.

Jiang Cheng was YunmengJiang sect heir, and also the Head disciple, or Da-Shixiong in  Lotus Pier. 

His cultivations and talents were indeed the best among YunmengJiang's disciples. 

But, that didn't mean that he was let off from Madam Yu's scolding on day to day basis.

Meanwhile, in the front gate, a loud yelling could be heard even from the training hall 100 meters away from the source!

Whether the person who yelled had used any spiritual energy to amplify her voice or not, no one knew. What's clear was the quarrel could be heard perfectly word to word. 

"Jiang Fengmian, you finally remember you still have a home. 1 month of going out from the sect, one is afraid that Sect Leader Jiang does not have a home to go back to," was the greet Yu Ziyuan spouted out the moment they saw face to face.

"Sanniangzi... what are you doing here?" 

Jiang Fengmian had just finished his business outside, taking care of many problems around Yunmeng, from corpses and evil threats, until the day-to-day business of the civilian within Yunmeng and other areas under the jurisdiction of YunmengJiang sect. 

He indeed, often went out ranging from a few days, and even like this last business trip, 1 month away from home. 

He was tired, and still had many things waiting for him to take care of, the Sect's affair and ledger that was waiting to be checked after he left them for 1 month, and yet here he was suddenly being stopped by Yu Ziyuan, the person who actually was responsible to the disciple's daily training, right on the gate, before the Sect Leader even went inside his home, drink tea or even plain water.

"Why am I here? You're asking why am I here!? What a joke that I am asked of such a thing! Sect Leader Jiang, do you still remember that I’m also the leader of Lotus Pier? Do you still remember that every inch of the earth here is my territory? Can I not go everywhere in this Sect!" 

"Sanniang... you know this is not what I mean," Jiang Fengmian sighed helplessly.

"Heh, Jiang Fengmian. Don't think that I don't know where you're going on this business trip of yours! What kind of business do you have in Yiling?" Yu Ziyuan sneered. "Oh, I'm afraid Sect Leader Jiang is still trying to search the remnant of that Cangse Sanren!"

"Sanniang! Please pay attention to what you're saying! I went to Yiling because this area is also under our jurisdiction. Because even Wei Changze had an accident in Yiling, of course, I need to check this area for fear any other malicious spirits remained and disturbed the civilian!"

"Jiang Fengmian! You even dare to raise your voice on me?! Oh-ohh, I'm afraid that if you find any remnant of that WOMAN you will even dare to put her into our Jiang Ancestral Hall! Heh, with how vigorous you're searching for that WOMAN remnants, it seems like what other people gossip about is true after all, that Sect leader Jiang has still not moved on from a certain Sanren even after so many years."

"Sanniang! What nonsense are you talking about? Wei Changze is my close friend and Cangse Sanren is also my old friend, of course, if I find their remnants I will pay respect to them and make a burial site to give them what they deserve."

"Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Fengmian, how good a person are you! How good as a saint are you! You ran around outside and taking care of that WOMAN, and forgot about your son! Look at A-Cheng! He's your son! Have you ever taken care of your son!? Do you care about your son at all!?"

"Sanniang..., of course, I know A-Cheng is my son! But I have faith for the teacher in Lotus Pier to teach him well, furthermore, I have faith in you to teach him well alongside other teachers," Jiang Fengmian sighed and his hands went up massaging his forehead, he's tired of this similar conversation, again and again, repeated day and night. 

"Forget it, I'm tired, and I'll take care of another matter in my Study." Jiang Fengmian finally left Yu Ziyuan in order not to prolong this ridiculous quarrel. 

"Jiang Fengmian!!! Don't you run away now! Jiang Fengmian!"

The YunmengJiang disciples who had clearly heard of this quarrel was left feeling awkward once again.

In fact, this kind of quarrel and argument between Madam Yu and Sect Leader Jiang was already a common thing for them.

But every time they were caught in the middle of their quarrel while there's their Da-Shixiong Jiang Cheng among them, they couldn't help but still felt kind of awkward. 

They secretly took a peek at Jiang Cheng who obviously had a dark face right now. 

But they dared not do anything, not to console this shixiong of theirs, nor even tentatively soothe him to forget about it. In the end, they kept being awkward and were afraid of saying or doing wrong things, in fear that it'd offend their shixiong right now. 

Of course, Jiang Cheng heard about their quarrel, but the thing that he ended up picking out from the quarrel was the fact that his father didn't answer his mother's question whether he cared about his son or not.

In all the years, his father had never cared about him.

In his childhood his father had rarely hugged him or picked him up, rarely praised him, and often went out from their home for a long time. 

Even though he gained the position of a Head Disciple, his father just gave him casually, like it couldn't be helped since other disciples were less talented or lesser in cultivation level.

Jiang Cheng even suspected that if there was one other disciple who had even slightly better results than him, his father would put that person to be the Head Disciple instead of his own son in a heartbeat.

Jiang Cheng had always heard how his mother scolded his father and heard her mother scream out the reason why his father was out so often, it made Jiang Cheng couldn't help but resented this Cangse Sanren!

If only this WOMAN did not exist, his father would spend more time with him and pay more attention to him!

This WOMAN was indeed a slut, a homewrecker, who seduced his father!

---Or so from what he always heard when his mother yelled out, and couldn't help ingrained in his brain as the fact.

On the other hand, asides from the disciples who had their daily intake for the quarrel between Sect Leader Jiang and Madam Yu, other people, civilians, and those who lived or accidentally passed near Lotus Pier couldn't help but know the situation in the Jiang house as well. 

Lotus Pier was a big manor, closely opened to the outside world. Merchants, civilians, and other people were freely passing by near the gates of Lotus Pier. Unlike the other Major sect that had their home base secluded in the mountain, or LanlingJin that even though their home base was placed in the middle of a city, they had built hundreds of stairs encircling their manor and their gates.

So, the quarrel in the gate, the quarrel in the Pavillion, the quarrel in the training hall, and every other quarrel held in Lotus Pier, was often heard not only by the resident of Lotus Pier but also other people who just passing by, people who had just arrived at the dock near Lotus Pier, merchants around the manor, and other civilians who lived near the manor. 

Naturally, this situation of Jiang's house brought up many juicy stories shared around the tavern, in between meals and drinks, either by cultivators families and even civilian.

After all, who could resist gossips when the material had been kindly offered by the object of the gossips in nearly every day?

The entirety of the cultivation world knew that third lady Yu had cultivated together with Jiang FengMian when they were young. Jiang FengMian’s character was gentle, yet Yu ZiYuan’s personality was harsh. The two didn’t share too many interactions. Thus, although their backgrounds matched, nobody associated the two as a pair. Later, ZangSe SanRen came from the mountains, passed by Yunmeng, and happened to become friends with Jiang FengMian. They had even night-hunted together on multiple occasions. Both thought highly of each other. People supposed that it was very likely for ZangSe SanRen to become the next mistress of Lotus Pier.

However, soon afterward, the MeishanYu Sect proposed an alliance through marriage to the YunmengJiang Sect.

The leader of the Jiang Sect back then was quite interested, but Jiang FengMian had no such intentions. He didn’t like Yu ZiYuan’s conduct and felt that the two wouldn’t be an appropriate match. He had politely refused the offer a handful of times. However, the MeishanYu Sect set about multiple factors, putting pressure on Jiang FengMian, who was at the time still fairly young and had nothing to lean on. Along with the fact that, not long later, ZangSe SanRen had become cultivation partners with the most loyal servant at Jiang FengMian’s side, Wei ChangZe, and rode off into the sunset, roaming around the world, Jiang FengMian finally gave up.

Although Jiang and Yu were married, they had ever since been a grudging couple. They had always been living apart and held the most disagreeable of conversations. Aside from the strengthening of their sect’s powers, nobody knew what other benefits they had attained.

The founder of the YunmengJiang Sect, Jiang Chi, was born a rogue cultivator. The ways of the sect were honest and unrestrained. Madam Yu’s manners were the exact opposite. And, both Jiang Cheng’s looks and personality took after his mother. He hadn’t ever been to Jiang FengMian’s liking. Since birth, he taught him in many ways, yet he still couldn’t change, which was why Jiang FengMian had always seemed as though he didn’t favor him too much.

 

The outside world knew everything about the Jiang House, but the ones who lived under the roofs were completely clueless. 

Such as Madam Yu, never thought and understood that the reason why Jiang Fengmian refused her at the beginning was that he respected his ancestor's wish, the founder of YunmengJiang's wish. And the reason why their opinion had always crashed towards each other was that the way of their thinking was totally the opposites.

It was not because Jiang Fengmian deliberately refuted her words for the reason that he didn't love her. It's because all of her decisions in matters were completely the opposites of what YunmengJiang had lived as a sect since it was first founded.

Jiang Cheng had also never understood nor thought that the reason why his father finally gave up teaching him was that no matter how much Jiang Fengmian tried to make him act and thought the way a Jiang cultivator should be, Jiang Cheng who inherited the narrowminded and selfishness from his mother still failed to implement his father's hopes. 

Which kind of father, which kind of leader, who wouldn't be disappointed when his heir was unable to carry the clan's essence from their ancestor? 

If it were kept to be let off, Jiang Fengmian was afraid that in the future under Jiang Cheng's guidance, the YunmengJiang sect would completely abandon all teachings from the YunmengJiang ancestor, and instead take the domineering and selfish way of MeishanYu. 

Of course, even Jiang Fengmian himself had never clarified the rumor. All because he thought the rumors were never something big, to begin with. So, the rumors were still flying around freely. 

In addition, what kind of clarification did Jiang Fengmians have to do? Did he need to clarify that;

"Ahh...what my wife has always screamed about is actually wrong. I really didn't have any special relationship with Cangse." 

----Clarifying it just like that so suddenly? 

What a joke...Rather than finally dying down, the rumors would go wilder instead! After all, why did a Sect Leader suddenly need to clarify such a relationship with someone who was already dead many years ago? This is suspicious, right....?

In the end, Jiang Fengmian didn't have a choice aside from trying to make Madam Yu stop throwing such an accusation....and the result? Well, just like what had happened today....no results at all.

So, today was unfortunately still the same as any other restless day in Lotus Pier~

Chapter Text

Second Shidi was one of the disciples in the YunmengJiang sect. 

His parents were a pair of farmers who owned a few plots of land in the outskirt of Yunmeng. Second shidi was born a farmer, and even though he didn't do anything he would later inherit his parent's farm and might lack nothing in all his life. 

Nevertheless, his parents admired the cultivators who could fly freely in the sky and beat up evil creatures with their spiritual energy. His parents were saved from a Snail turned into a beast by a beautiful female cultivator who just went down from a mountain decades ago, when Second shidi had not even formed in the womb much less existed in the world. From then on, his parents had decided Second shidi future to be a cultivator.

They heard that the female cultivator who saved them married someone from YunmengJiang Sect. That's why, a few years ago when YunmengJiang opened the Entrance Examination for their new batch of disciples, Second shidi was brought to the sect and joined the test. Fortunately, he turned out to have some talent in cultivation. Thus, began the life of Second shidi in Lotus Pier...

In Lotus Pier, there was one person that was spoken in high frequency, especially by their mistress, Madam Yu. 

It's Lan Er Gongzi, or the Madam usually called it Lan Er.

Why do you think this name was spoken in high frequency rather than the heir of the YunmengJiang sect itself, Jiang Wanyin?

Duh, of course, it's because Lan Er Gongzi was the recently up and down celebrity in the entire cultivation world!

He was the role model of this current generation of disciples.

He was extremely good-looking like a fairy, extremely powerful, extremely talented, both in Six Arts and Cultivation, and his family was extremely rich!

Which disciples and sons hadn't heard the name of Lan Er Gongzi being spoken by their parents or teacher for their motivation in training and learning?

Everyone had already heard his name and knew his infamous reputation.

Unfortunately...when it came to Lotus Pier, this name was spoken too many times, Let Second shidi repeat, TOO MANY TIMES!  That somehow along the way this name was demoted from being the motivation into something poisonous and was banned to be uttered. The person who uttered this name deserved to be beaten black and blue and thrown to Lotus Pond fully naked! 

---well, except the main instigator who made this name become so nauseous that is, Madam Yu.

This person, Lan Er Gongzi, was uttered first when the YunmengJiang Sect heir, Jiang Wanyin, or back then before he got his courtesy name and still called as Jiang Cheng, was 7 years old. 

He was playing with his three puppies, Jasmine, Princess, and Love. 

Madam Yu who just came back from a nighthunt, looking at her son being silly with his three dogs couldn't help but explode,

"A-Cheng! What are you doing playing all day long with dogs! Have you finished your training!? Have you finished your study!?"

Jiang Cheng was so scared hearing his mother's sudden shout, and couldn't help but cower, 

"A-Niang, I have finished my training, and I have finished my study,"

"What is today's result then?"

"A-Niang, I have succeeded in breaking the 5th and 6th steps of Qi Condensation! The teacher praised me today!" Jiang Cheng excitedly informed his mother, waiting for praise.

Qi Condensation is the first stage of cultivation. And it was divided into 15 steps. In fact, the 5th and 6th steps were one of the bottlenecks a cultivator needed to face in cultivating.

Jiang Cheng, who was able to clear the steps in his 7 years old was actually quite something. It's usually an achievement deserving praise or two from teachers and parents.

Regrettably, he didn't have a usual parent, and unluckily, Madam Yu had just come back from a nighthunt and had just heard another earthshattering news from the cultivation world, so this accomplishment ended up being a joke in her ears...

"What are you looking proud for! A month ago, Lan Er Gongzi has broken into Golden Core Formation Stage and has begun to form a golden core! Look at you now! You have been cultivating since you were 5 years old, and look at what you got today!? You haven't even passed the first stage of Qi Condensation!" Madam Yu couldn't help but yell.

She was so envious and resentful during the day. 

Wherever she went, in the woods nighthunting and met the other cultivators, in the inn and heard the rogue cultivators talking in the lounge, in the streets, and everywhere, all she could hear was the amazing and the blessing of Twin Jades of Lan!

The first Young master of Lan had started to form a golden core 3 months ago in his 11th-year-old. And then a month ago, his little brother, Lan Er Gongzi who was a mere 8 years old brat had also formed a golden core!

Everywhere she went she heard about Lan this, Lan that, and no words at all about the Jiang Family achievement. 

It's infuriating! 

And when she came back, she saw her son playing like a fool with puppies!

Her blood pressure couldn't help but soar.

Madam Yu thought that her son was so silly and playing around with dogs every day, and ended up wasting time and slacking off. Thus, she took the 3 puppies and gave them away. No matter how hard Jiang Cheng was crying, wailing, and rolling on the ground, Madam Yu didn't budge at all. 

Jiang Cheng ran to his father to ask for his help, alas, his father just said:

"A-Cheng, be good. Your A-Niang is right. You can't play around with dogs all day long. You're a sect heir, you need to learn more and mingle with other disciples."

Jiang Cheng ran to his sister to sulk, 

"A-Cheng, don't cry... A-Niang is just in a bad mood. Don't take her words to heart. She is just knife-mouthed but tofu-hearted. She loves you and wanted you to learn well. Come here, Jie has just cooked Lotus root and pork rib soups for you. You can have extra ribs this time..."

In the end, Jiang Cheng had to swallow his tears and go back to train and study. 

A few years later, Jiang Wanyin finally had formed his golden core at 13 years old. 

It's truly good!

On average, cultivators who trained from they were children formed their golden core at around 15 years old. 

Even the prodigy First Young Master of Gusulan, Lan Xichen, had only formed his golden core at 11. 

It meant Jiang Cheng had quite a good aptitudes and talent to be able to start forming the golden core at the age of 13. 

The teacher in Lotus Pier praised him. After all, among the other disciples in his generation, including Second shidi who was already 14, they had not gotten into the Golden core stages. 

And yet what Madam Yu said was;

"Hmph, You finally come to Golden Core stages! How many years do you need to form this core? You go outside and listen to what people are talking about. That Lan Er has taken his spiritual sword 3 years ago when he was 10, and have gone to many night hunts when he was still 13 years old. And what about you!? You are YunmengJiang sect heir! You are different from other people who don't know in which gutter they will end up. You will be the sect leader of YunmengJiang in the future. You can't just lazying around!"

1 year later Jiang Wanyin took his spiritual sword and named it Sandu, or in Buddhist was known as "Three Poisons (Greed, Anger, Ignorance)", it's in hope that the wielder will slay the 3 Poisons corroding the Human's heart.

---And was yelled once again;

"What are you being proud of? You heard what people are talking about nowadays!? That Lan Er has hunted a deformed beast in Moling, That Lan Er has hunted a Bat King along with his brother, That Lan Er has established a respectable position in Gusulan as a disciplinarian! Look at you! Running around in town, picking out Lotus seeds all day long! What have you accomplished!? This is why your father never praises you! Heh, after all, your mother is not good enough like a certain Sanren! Of course, my son will only be a mediocre person."

Later on, Jiang Wanyin finally began to go out and went into night hunts with other disciples. In one of the nighthunt, the group of disciples was able to corner out a Yao, from a haunted tree in Yunmeng that received the villager's worship for many decades and began to form consciousness as a Yao. Unfortunately, the Yao was formed into a malicious spirit. 

The joined effort of the disciples finally succeeded to suppress the Yao and freed the villager from a future calamity.

The villagers were grateful to them and gave them a lot of pickled fruits and pickled vegetables, the specialty of this village. 

They went back to Lotus Pier in triumphant and high spirits. 

Jiang Wanyin and Second shidi as the two disciples who were responsible to guide the group and were the top two strongest cultivators in the current YunmengJiang generations had to report the successful mission to the sect leader.

"Good job, A-Cheng, Second shidi and all of you...You should work together more often in the future and train your cooperation skill better. Only when the YunmengJiang disciples are together that we are able to reach great heights, " Jiang Fengmian lectured them in his office. 

Jiang Wanyin and Second shidi swelled with pride after their effort was praised and acknowledged.

---Well until suddenly a sneer was heard from the direction of the door. 

"Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Fengmian. Do you finally remember to praise your son? I thought Sect Leader Jiang have forgotten the fact that he has a son. Heh, or are you finally remembering after your son gains some achievement? Or perhaps, you want to praise your other disciples and had no choice but to praise your son as well?" Madam Yu sneered and looked at the 3 of them from the office's door. "A-Cheng! Look at you! Just a mere Yao from a tree, what are you being so proud of? It's not even your achievements alone. Let you slack off more and you will also be left in the dust by your shidi!"

Yi!!!!

Second shidi's heart felt like it wanted to jump out from his ribs.

Carefully, he peeked at the sect heir beside him,

Sure enough, his complexion had become so bad and he glared at him as if looking at a new threat!!!

Whyyyyyyyyy?????? 

Why are you looking at me like this, Dashixiong-ahh.....

Were we not brothers in arms a while ago? Were we not fighting shoulder to shoulder, sharing and execrating the same blood, sweat, and tears a while ago???

Why-ahhhh~

---Second shidi was wailing inside.

What is so good in his self for him to be compared to the Jiang Sect heir!???

In fact, if Lan Er has 100 points in cultivations, Second shidi has only 40-50 points in talents!

Absolute mediocre and average!

Unworthy to be envied at!

In the end, Second shidi could only cower and tried to erase his existence so as not to be noticed by either the Madam or the sect heir. 

Right now, he really wanted to be everywhere else but here!

"Sanniang...Just how many times do I need to say? A-Cheng is my son and I know it. We should give a person praise only when in due, and shouldn't get excessive to prevent arrogance..."

"Arrogance!? Do you think A-Cheng is arrogant!? Oh, you think that I am Arrogant, and of course, the son I birthed will be arrogant! Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Fengmian, I know you never liked me! But A-Cheng is your son!"

"Sanniang, I am...-,"

So on, and so on, the quarrel broke once again in the afternoon. 

In conclusion, not only Jiang Wanyin but also all of the disciples in Lotus Pier had always heard Madam Yu's scolding all day long. 

Right now, if they were to be picked and participate in a Quiz about Lan Er, they'd be totally confident to win the competition!

They had remembered it clearly after being repeated so many times, at what age Lan Er had formed a golden core, at what age he took a spiritual sword, what was his sword named as, at what age Lan Er went for the first time to a nighthunt, what kind of monsters and Evil spirits he hunted, what kind of accomplishments Lan Er had, etc, etc, everything had been embedded in the disciples' mind that they would be able to recite it word by word in their sleep!

When the YunmengJiang disciples suffered, Of course, the one who suffered the most damages was inevitably Jiang Wanyin.

Nowadays in his own home, he heard his mother scolding him all day long and comparing him with That Lan Er. 

When he went to one corner of the market he heard the maidens giggling bashfully and talking about how handsome and how ethereal That Lan Er was. 

When he went to another corner of the market, he heard another group of maidens giggling and gossiping about LanlingJin sect heir, Jin Gongzi, how dashing he was, how beautiful the cinnabar on his forehead was, how luxurious his daily clothes were, etc etc. 

When he went inside a tavern, he heard the men talking about Nie Mingjue, the newly appointed sect leader of QingheNie sect, how brave the man was, how great his body was, how amazing his strength was, how gallant when he wield the saber was, etc etc. 

Everywhere he went he heard about those 3 people!

It's absolutely infuriating!

Those 3 people's names had become the ban of Jiang Wanyin's life!

His mother had not only compared him to That Lan Er on daily basis, but his mother had also ridiculed him for his zero accomplishment! Among the 4 major sects, forget about the Wen Sect, the only heir who had no fame nor accomplishment was only Jiang Wanyin!

The twin jades of Lan were the most popular, worshipped among man and woman alike.

LanlingJin's only son, Jin Zixuan was worshipped among the woman a lot, because of his delicate appearance and amazing talent, like a prince in a fairy tale.

The former sect heir who currently had become the sect leader of QingheNie, Nie Mingjue, was worshipped among the man for his chivalry. 

Where was YunmengJiang's placed at?

Nowhere!

It made Jiang Wanyin feel resentful towards the 3 other people!

Especially That Lan Er!

He was the biggest obstacle in Jiang Wanyin's life!

He was the reason his mother took his puppies and gave them away. He was the reason why Jiang Wanyin had suffered training and learning day to night for years, but never got any recognition, neither from his mother and of course not from his father!

Jiang Wanyin had never even seen the shadow of the said person, much less saw the real person in a flesh, so why did that person had become the source of misery in Jiang Wanyin's life!?

Obviously, Jiang Wanyin had trained really hard since he was young!

Obviously, Jiang Wanyin had never had time for playing around and dedicated himself to studying and cultivating!

Obviously, Jiang Wanyin had never taken a rest even on a holiday, and kept studying and practicing!

So why did That Lan Er keep becoming a 50 meters tall wall that Jiang Wanyin was never able to destroy nor pass from!?

It was That Lan Er's fault! It was all because of him! The source of all problems!

If only That Lan Er didn't exist, Jiang Wanyin's life would not be so miserable!

---was what he thought after so many years living under the ridicule that "he will never become as good as Lan Er"

In fact, Jiang Wanyin was pretty popular in the cultivation world. 

After all, Jiang Wanyin was still a sect heir, the only young master in one of the major sects, YunmengJiang. After all, Jiang Wanyin was someone who, even though was not considered a prodigy, was still someone with a high cultivation talent. He was able to go into a golden core formation stage at the age of 13. After all, Jiang Wanyin was someone who had a good-looking face and sharp features. 

He was still popular and gained fourth place in the most sought-after Young Master.

It's just that........compared to the twin prodigy of Gusulan who excelled in everything, and compared to the stunning beauty and SUPER RICH LanlingJin's heir, YunmengJiang really couldn't do anything. 

In fact, Jiang Wanyin actually had some maiden who worshipped him.

Sadly...when it came to romance and the way to a maiden's heart, Jiang Wanyin was completely clueless and ignorant. 

One day there was a young maiden who admired him and couldn't help but try to give him her own homemade sweets,

"I don't like sweet foods"

---was Jiang Wanyin's answer.

Another day, there was a young maiden who admired Jiang Cheng, and after getting some encouragement from her friends, she bravely stopped Jiang Cheng in his way and gave him a scented and personally embroidered handkerchief,

"Why are you giving me this handkerchief? I'm not a girl, I don't have any need to use this,"

---was Jiang Wanyin's answer. 

Still another day, YunmengJiang disciples had just gone back from a night hunt and passed in the streets. Yunmeng maidens were looking at the person in front who had sharp eyebrows, fair face, and tall stature, couldn't help but throw a rain of flowers towards him,

----only for Jiang Wanyin to shrug off the flowers from sticking on his clothes and body. 

All the maidens ended up crying pitifully and didn't dare to approach the little Young Master anymore~

It's really a pity...

This little young master was so caught up with the small world he lived in Lotus Pier and knew nothing about the world. 

His parents, don't mention a harmonious and lovey-dovey talk, for them not to have any quarrel in one day was already considered as a blessing. 

While his sister? If she was a master of love she would not be caught in an unrequited love towards a certain young master Jin. 

Other disciples? This group of jumping monkeys could only talk and shared with him their collection of spring books (porn)! They were equally useless when it came to maiden hearts!

In the end, Jiang Cheng grew up and knew nothing about romance, love, or woman...

He dedicated his whole life, his whole childhood, his whole teenage life, to defeat a certain Lan Er. 

---And always failed in every way.

Chapter Text

The years had passed in a blink of an eye. 

This year, the young master of YunmengJiang had turned 15 a few months ago, and now was preparing to go to the Cloud Recesses, Gusulan Sect home base, to study for one year onwards. 

There was a virtuous and prestigious elder in the GusuLan Sect—Lan QiRen. Everyone in the cultivation world accepted three characteristics which described him: pedantic, stubborn, and a strict teacher who produced outstanding students.

Although the first two points kept a lot of people at a respective distance to him, some even to the point of secret dislike, the last one made them try everything they could to send their children to study under him. He had brought up quite a number of excellent disciples of the Lan Sect. As long as they stayed a few years in his classroom, no matter how pathetically useless they were when they first entered, they would at least seem to be decent when they depart, especially in terms of appearance and etiquette. There were plenty of parents who were so excited that tears flowed down their cheeks when they picked up their sons.

This year, the list of young masters who were sent to learn from Lan Qiren was even more spectacular. Not only the Second Young Master of QingheNie (who was pathetically sent to learn for the 3rd time), even LanlingJin one and only young master, Jin Zixuan, was also sent to the Cloud Recesses. Of course, seeing this line-up, Jiang Fengmian could not let YunmengJiang be left behind and quickly arranged Jiang Cheng who already got his courtesy name as Jiang Wanyin, to learn as well along with Second shidi. 

Was Lan Qiren truly amazing enough for three young masters of the great sect to learn from him?

Did the three great sects (No need to mention the Wen Sect, they had their own world) truly have a shortage of elders who could teach their children properly?

Of course not!

In fact, the other 3 great sects did not have any shortage of elders who could nurture great disciples just like Lan Qiren, either in Six arts or cultivation. 

Even so, being taught by the elders or teachers was only limited to one's sect. 

The real reason why all of the parents were eager to send their children to Gusulan was that IT IS THE PERFECT MOMENT TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONE SECT TO ANOTHER. 

After all, one sect could not go into another sect and build relationships with them so easily. The easiest way to earn the relationship was through the bond of their children. This so-called learning in the Cloud Recesses was only a disguise for young masters to know each other and planted future bonds between sects.

It was all merely a political move.

Gusulan as the host of this young generation's meet up of course held the most benefits. Not only would Lan Qiren's reputation as a great teacher soar, when they finally displayed the famous Twin jades of Lan, it'd also make the other young masters admire the two jades, and when the young masters went back to their sect, Gusulan would be even more popular and branded as truly a distinguished sect.

It's a win-win situation between Gusulan and the other sects. 

As for the real reasons why did the children who were sent to Gusulan gained enlightenment and became a changed people when they went back to their sect, of course, it's a matter of fact!

A young master, no matter if he came from a minor or a major sect, would naturally live a pampered life, and were treated like a prince in their sects and territory. Many of these young masters oftentimes didn't understand the greatness of the world, and their thinking inevitably leaned toward the beliefs that they're the best and special.

These young masters when they were sent to Cloud Recesses, finally met the other young masters as well. After they were out of their nest, they would eventually realize that the sky is high and the earth is wide and vast. Outside of their own territory, it turned out there were many people who were as great as them, and many people who were, even more, better than them. 

After these young masters met each other, naturally the arrogance they had before in their territories was reduced a lot, when they realized they were actually not that great outside of their sects.

Not to mention, with the existence of the famous 3,000 rules of the Cloud Recesses, these young masters who were no different from hooligans and jumping monkeys in their sect, could not afford to do what they were used to doing, in Gusulan. They could only swallow the rules and implemented them during the one year study, in order to avoid the punishment of copying the rules, being flogged by discipline rulers, or kneel in the ancestral hall. 

Some of these young masters were after all born pampered in their whole life, and had never tasted any punishment at all. Of course, after a few times being punished, they quickly became obedient and avoided the one who was in charge of the punishment, that's Second Young Master Lan and his eagle eyes at all cost.

One year was not a short time.

During this time obeying the 3,000 rules of the Cloud Recesses, naturally, when these young masters went back to their sect, many habits they built during their study would subconsciously attach to them. Such as the most basic habit of waking up in Mao Hour (05:00 a.m), had a straight posture when they were sitting (because they had 360 days of experiences sitting like this in the Lanshi while listening to Lan Qiren's lecture for hours), speaking politely and softly, acted elegantly, and many others subconsciously attached habits they had during their days in the Cloud Recesses were brought back to their own sect.

All of those were habits they developed in the Cloud Recesses were due to the 3,000 rules, and the scary punishment arranged by the scary disciplinarian, Lan Wangji. 

Though for how long these habits were attached to them after they went back, of course, it depended on the young masters themselves.

What's important and the irrefutable fact was, the moment they finished their study in the Cloud Recesses they had a great attitude. It's the only thing that would satisfy the parents a lot. If later these habits failed to attach for a longer time, it had nothing to do with Gusulan, and the faults would fall into the local disciples influenced the young masters to be bad again. At the end of the day, Gusulan still maintained their persona of a righteous sect with a great teacher. 

These were all the secrets of why Lan Qiren became so popular, and Gusulan became famous for nurturing great disciples. 

Back again to the current YunmengJiang business, Jiang Fengmian had decided to send Jiang Wanyin and Second Shidi to the Cloud Recesses to learn. 

Why did Second Shidi was sent as well? Of course, as the second only in YunmengJiang discipleship aside from the Young Master Jiang, and in the future would be guaranteed to become the subordinate of Young Master Jiang, Second Shidi needed to go and learn to support the Young Master in the sects gathering.

---or so as what Jiang Fengmian told Second shidi.

While the real reason? 

Of course, Second Shidi needed to be sent as well to become the shield for Jiang Wanyin!

Besides, Jiang Fengmian knew the temperament of his son best. 

His son inherited all of Yu Ziyuan's temperament, and was also influenced by his mother's acts and words for many years. He's the type of person who would be jealous and hated the people who were better than him, while belittling those who were under him. 

His mouth had no control and could not help but spew many hurtful and disdainful words. 

All of YunmengJiang disciples was used to this behavior,

---or actually had no choice but just to let it go since he's the Young Master. 

But, could this behavior be alright towards the other Young Masters who of course had their own pride and temper?

Jiang Wanyin had the weird fixation of who was superior and who was inferior, in which the Meishan Yu Family succeeded in infecting YunmengJiang through Madam Yu. 

If Jiang Wanyin were to be left alone, what's the hope of YunmengJiang to gain any relationship in the future?? It'd become zero chance!

Therefore, Second shidi who had a mild temperament, and was easier to blend with outsiders, was the perfect candidate to make future bonds for YunmengJiang. What Second shidi needed to do was attract other young masters to flock around Jiang Wanyin as well, and at least become an acquaintance with him. 

Jiang Fengmian thought so, but Jiang Wanyin did not think so.

Being sent to the Cloud Recesses meant that he'd meet his enemy for life, Lan Er, Lan Wangji! And also met his other enemy, Jin Zixuan! 

Jiang Wanyin was really unwilling, but he couldn't refute his father's decision. 

Even his mother had also supported this studying abroad idea. 

"A-Cheng, listen to me. No matter what, you are the young master and the heir of YunmengJiang! You must remember your place! You need to show others that you are different and are in a higher place from them! Remember that it is their obligation to cater to you, because you are superior and others are inferior! Remember, don't try to mingle with those who are under your level and get influenced by their trouble-making behavior, alright!?" was what Madam Yu said before Jiang Wanyin went to the Cloud Recesses. 

"And you," Madam Yu turned her gaze towards Second shidi.

"Yes, Madam Yu." Second shidi could not help but straighten his posture quickly.

"Don't lose our YunmengJiang's face and embarrass your young master! Cloud Recesses is not Lotus Pier! You can not swim around, picking lotus, lounging in the markets like an idler, just like what you always do here! Don't mess around!" She finished her lecture with a stern glare. 

"This disciple understands." Second shidi bowed respectfully, and earned a snort from the Madam in return. 

Jiang Yanli who also came to bid farewell to the two people gave them snacks and refreshments for them to eat in the journey using the ships from Yunmeng to Gusu.

"A-Cheng, Second shidi, you will go and learn for one year. I will miss you two so much," Jiang Yanli smiled and pat their heads. 

"A-Jie!"

"Shijie!"

The two exclaimed and were happy to be indulged by Jiang Yanli. 

"Second shidi, take care of A-Cheng, okay? A-Cheng is young, and he sometimes speaks words he doesn't mean to, so you have to help your brother and take care of him, alright?" Jiang Yanli smiled and spoke softly towards Second Shidi.

"Yes, Shijie. I will help and support the young master!" Second shidi could not help but be flustered when given attention from the young lady. 

Second shidi was not an only child in his family, He had 1 older sibling and 2 younger siblings, but all of them were male, so he never had the taste of having an older sister. Jiang Yanli often gave him a bowl of Lotus roots and pork rib soups, or gave the disciples a portion of Watermellon after they finished their practices. After all of the kindness given by Shijie, of course, Second shidi could not disappoint her expectation and would cross water and fire to carry out her command. 

"A-Jie, what are you talking about?" Jiang Wanyin pout in dissatisfaction. "Shouldn't it be me who will guard Second shidi for him not to make a mess?"

Jiang Yanli giggled and pat her brother's head. 

"A-Cheng, be good. After all, Second shidi is older than you by 2 years. It's the responsibility of the elder to take care of the younger, alright. Of course, A-Jie knows that A-Cheng will be a good boy," Jiang Yanli smiled and hugged her brother. 

After the farewell words given by mother and daughter, it's Jiang Fengmian's turn to give Jiang Wanyin and Second shidi a word or two. 

"A-Cheng, Second shidi, it's true that you have to learn well. But you two will meet many young masters who are the same age as you, so don't forget to make a lot of friends and have fun as well, alright?" he smiled gently and pat Jiang Wanyin and Second shidi's shoulder.

---His other meaning is, "don't forget to build future relationships for YunmengJiang!"

Jiang Fengmian thought so, unfortunately, his mistress did not think so.

Madam Yu was unfortunately too...foolish, and too fixated on maintaining a face and superiority, could not think properly about the continuation of a sect, or how to execute political moves in running the sect.

She was too overwhelmed by the respect from other people who called her as the famous purple spiders, and that Meishan Yu, her centuries-old sect was too amazing, and YunmengJiang was a great sect. She thought of herself as a high-born lady, and her sons to be a respected Young Master, therefore other people had to bow down to them, and no need to mingle to those who are inferior to them.

She never understood the political moves of a sect, how to promote the good name of a sect around outsiders, and attracted new disciples. 

What did she think the way YunmengJiang attracted new disciples?

Did their merits in eliminating evil in night hunts are enough to tempt people and send their children to be YunmengJiang's disciples?

Of course not!

Compared to the big and grand night hunts the Wen Sect arranged, 

Compared to the prestigious, elegant, and eye-catching Gusulan disciples when they went into night hunts, and the Every Chaos Must Come Out that Second Young Master Lan was famous of,

Compared to the imposing and full of spirits disciples from QingheNie when they went into Nighthunt in the area that attracted the awe from men,

Compared to the extravagant of LanlingJin disciples during travels or night hunts,

YunmengJiang had nothing. 

What YunmengJiang used to promote themselves was by abiding by their founder's belief, Jiang Chi, that they should be unrestrained and free.

The way to let YunmengJiang be known and popular was by letting their disciples go outside and play around, in the lakes, in the market, in the taverns, and many other places. Meeting young ladies, meeting young lad, meeting many old people, and meeting many foreign people.

Let people see the teenagers with purple-uniformed, being free, happy, kind, and flexible.

When the folks were looking at the dazzling, handsome, powerful, happy-looking, and nice disciples of YunmengJiang, the parents would want to send their disciples to YunmengJiang believing that the sect would treat their disciples well. While the children who looked at those disciples being free and happy while doing their duty as cultivators, they would also want to go and join the merry of those purple-uniformed teenagers as well!

This was the best and easiest way to promote the sect and attract new disciples!

Madam Yu never understood this political move, and instead had always been scolding the disciples who went and play around outside. 

Jiang Fengmian had tried to teach her and told her the need of those disciples to go outside, but Madam Yu was too stubborn and held her own belief, what she said in return was,

"What kind of new disciples will be attracted by that kind of behavior!? Obviously would be the kinds of unruly children! We'll only lose face if we have that kind of disciples!"

Jiang Fengmian tried to retort that "Even though the disciples were unruly, but what's important is talent. There might be many hidden gems in the outside,"

and gain a vicious answer instead, "Jiang Fengmian! Do you think A-Cheng is not talented enough!? Are you so eager to find someone else's child to replace him!?"

"Sanniang, you know I didn't mean that! A-Cheng is talented, of course, I know that. But, a talented A-Cheng is not enough to support one sect. He needs other talented disciples to support him in the future,"

And his answers were twisted to this logic instead, "Other talented disciples, you say? Heh, Jiang Fengmian, Why are you so eager to take another child to our sect? Oh-oh, I'm afraid you'll smuggle one of your bastards to the sect among the recruitment, huh! After all, this mistress is not as good as a certain Sanren whom Sect Leader Jiang loved until now and I can not produce a satisfying descendant for Sect Leader Jiang!"

"Sanniang!"

So on, and so on, the quarrel and their beliefs kept crashing towards each other. 

In this kind of young masters gathering in the Cloud Recesses, this opportunity was also another chance to broaden one's influence and gain future partners.

It didn't matter whether the young masters came from a minor sect, or a major sect, what a young master from one sect needed to do was befriend all of the young masters there, or at least plant an acquaintance state. 

Because a minor sect today could be a great sect tomorrow, and relationship with other young masters was a must thing to do. 

Therefore, between young people, what's the best way of building a relationship? Of course by mingling around and playing together! 

This was what Jiang Fengmian intended for the two to do. 

Sure enough, listening to Jiang Fengmian's words, Madam Yu couldn't help but bark quickly,

"Jiang Fengmian! What good words Sect Leader Jiang is saying to his son! Do you want our son to behave embarrassingly and lose our sect's face!? You hate A-Cheng and can't wait to ruin his reputation to let him behave like an unruly child!?" 

Jiang Fengmian frowned, "Sanniang, what are you talking about? A-Cheng and Second Shidi are still young, and they will also meet other young men. What is wrong with young man befriending and playing with other young men?"

"Sect leader Jiang, what way of befriending young man you are talking about!? A-Cheng is the heir of the YunmengJiang sect! He can't mingle with other people who are less than himself and being influenced by them! A-Cheng!" Madam Yu turned her attention to her son, "Your father thinks that your action is not suitable to his preference of a young man! You learn well from that Lan Qiren, and show your father what a good young man you could turn out to be!"

Jiang Wanyin bowed to both his parents and sister for the last time before going to the boat and sailing. 

His complexion was dark, and Second shidi didn't dare to approach him or say anything at all. 

Obviously, today was the day he would be separated from his family for one year! And yet, his mother and father still could not help themselves, and had a quarrel right on the dock!

And about what his father's said before...Jiang Wanyin got even more gloomy. 

Did his father think his acts were not suitable for a young master?

Did his father think that Second shidi was better than him and...... prefer Second shidi more?

Second shidi felt his nape go cold all of a sudden, he was about to turn around, but his gaze accidentally caught the glare the Young Master Jiang shot towards him.

Wo de tian, Holy Shit!

If a glare could kill someone, Second shidi was sure that he would be stabbed to death right now and fell to Yangtze river!

Young Master Jiang, Dashixiong-ahhhhh~

Why did you always look like you want to stab my abdomen, ahhh~?

Why did you always look at me like I won a hundred million gold in a lottery, ahhh~?

There's nothing in me worth being jealous about!

(Ｔ▽Ｔ)

Second shidi suffered, but the ship kept going on. 

A few days later, they finally arrived at Caiyi Town, a prosperous town under the mountain where The Cloud Recesses was erected. 

They went to the Cloud Recesses using their swords, and stopped at the front gate. 

There were already a few Gusulan disciples who were stationed at the front gates these last few days, they were assigned to welcome the young masters who attended the lectures, noting their attendant, and showed them to their assigned dormitories, while also explaining the basic knowledge about the Cloud Recesses, showing them the wall of rules, and informing the day of the first lecture to begin. 

On the day when the lecture began, the young masters walked in groups from their rooms and went to the Lanshi, officially beginning their study in the Cloud Recesses.

Many of them had not met each other before, some of them were shy to attempt a conversation first, some of them were immersed in their own world, like Young Master Jiang and Young Master Jin, while some of them were easy-going and quick to befriend each other. 

Right now, the one who attempted the most talks and was leading the conversation between the young masters was Nie Huaisang, the Second Young Master Nie.

As someone who had experienced being sent for the third time to study under Lan Qiren, Nie Huaisang was seen as a sage with hidden knowledge for being able to survive unscathed 3 years in a row in the Cloud Recesses!

Currently, he was giving the young master a piece of advice to survive in the Cloud Recesses. 

Nie Huaisang spoke, "Brothers of mine, listen to sincere advice of this one. The Cloud Recesses is nothing like your home turf. On this trip to Gusu, remember that there’s one person whom you shouldn’t provoke.”

Many of the youths quickly flocked over to him to listen to this sincere advice.

While the rest of the youths, even though they showed like they didn't feel any interest, but their ears could not help but perk up in full use, ready to listen!

One of the brothers chirped up, "Who is it, who is it, Huaisang-Xiong? Is it Sir Lan Qiren?"

Nie HuaiSang replied, “Not that old man. The one you need to be careful of is his proudest disciple, named Lan Zhan!”

Second shidi, as the disciple of YunmengJiang was not a stranger of this name! He didn't need to be reminded that this name was a nightmare and the ban of the disciples in YunmengJiang due to the excessive use in scolding by Madam Yu!

Therefore, as the master who knew every single achievement of this specific Lan Er, Second shidi automatically responded to Nie Huaisang's statement,

 “The Lan Zhan from the Twin Jades of Lan? Lan WangJi?”

The respectable title of the Two Jades of Lan were given to the two sons of the GusuLan Sect’s current sect leader—Lan Huan and Lan Zhan. Just after they passed fourteen, they were deemed by the elders of each sect as exemplary models to compare with their own disciples. They were exceptionally famous among the juniors, so it was only natural that everyone recognized the names. 

Nie HuaiSang spoke, “What other Lan Zhan is there? Yes, it’s that one. Oh gosh, he’s the same age as us, but he has none of the energy of a teen. He’s stiff and strict, even worse than his uncle.”

The other youths were shuddering when this name was mentioned. 

Whose parents and teachers had not mentioned this name as an example when they're lecturing their child?

Twin Jades of Gusulan, and especially Lan Wangji was already regarded as out of the world specimen by these young masters. 

He's someone who was out of reach, and no need to be bothered, it's no use to compare oneself to this kind of jade-like perfection!

The other Young Masters thought so, but Jiang Wanyin did not think so. 

He had already regarded that Lan Er, Lan Wangji as his biggest enemy, the person who made his life full of hardship! Of course, he could not help but sneered full of contempt when Nie Huiasang gave out his advice,

"What is there to be afraid of him? What is there to be proud about of being strict and giving out punishment?" 

Jiang Wanyin had never thought that this kind of achievement was something to be proud of. 

His mother had always scolded him for Lan Er's respectable position, but Jiang Wanyin did not understand at all.

What's so good about being a disciplinarian?

What's so good about that Lan Wangji?

He's just a second son!

Compared to Jiang Wanyin, who was the HEIR of the YunmengJiang, Lan Wangji was only a second young master. 

In the future, when Jiang Wanyin would become A Sect Leader Jiang, Lan Wangji would still and only become Lan Er! He's forever a spare heir!

Obviously, he's superior towards this inferior Lan Er!

Nie Huaisang who was currently being surrounded by the other youths could not help but quickly turn his head toward the person who said those words, full of surprise and wonders. 

He quickly brought his fan and covered half of his face while taking a sneak peek towards the young master, Jiang Wanyin. 

The reason was not because of the words spoken by him, but because of the tone this person used to spout out the words, full of contempt, hidden anger, and jealousy.

It's not an exaggeration that Nie Huaisang looked at him full of wonder. After all, in the 3 years of repeating these words of advice towards the young masters who attended the lecture in Cloud Recesses and warned them about Lan Er Gongzi, most of the young masters responded with being trembled in fright, some of the young masters had confidence that as long as they didn't provoke Lan Wangji they'd be alright, and the rest was so-so. 

Even though their parents used to compare them with Lan Wangji, they all understood that Lan Wangji was truly an unreachable perfection, and just didn't care to compete with him. After all, aside from Lan Wangji, weren't all the other young masters actually in the same states and abilities, or only slightly better and slightly worse between each other? So, one abnormality in Lan Wangji was not enough to shake one's self-esteem. 

In conclusion, all of those young masters' responses had never been coated with this kind of deep hatred and jealousy.

It's truly a wonder....

Quietly, Nie Huaisang noted to himself that he should not stay too close with this Young Master Jiang. 

After all, their older brothers Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were close friends. Even if Nie Huaisang was afraid of Lan Wangji and didn't have a close relationship with him, however, Nie Huaisang did not hate Lan Wangji.

Even though Lan Wangji was indeed scary and unapproachable, he's a good person in the end. He had never said nor acted arrogantly, and had never harmed others.

So, when someone hated this good person, Nie Huaisang needed to pay attention to this someone's character and his reasons of hatred towards Lan Er Gongzi.

It seemed like for one year onwards, Nie Huaisang would not be so boring in his third time of repeating...

There might be some exciting "shows" in guarantee to be presented by this Young Master Jiang~

Chapter Text

The groups of teenagers continued to walk to the Lanshi. Just before they entered the room, the group walked around a wall with a hollowed-out window, from there they could see that someone had already stayed in the room. 

A white-clothed boy sitting in a rigidly upright position in the room, with long hair tied up and wearing a white forehead ribbon with blue drifting cloud-pattern, emitting an aura of ice and frost. He swept a cold look at them.

One of the youth whispered, "Uh, is that Lan Er Gongzi, Lan Wangji?"

Nie Huaisang nodded frantically from behind his fan. He quickly found a seat far from the front seat where Lan Wangji was seating, and of course far from where Lan Qiren would be standing, perfectly hidden behind all of the other students!

Jiang Wanyin finally had met face to face with his enemy for life!

What exciting news!

Would they have a showdown sooner or later!?

What a fart!

Who would have a showdown?

Obviously, Jiang Wanyin would not provoke other people and lose YunmengJiang's face~

Who do you think Jiang Wanyin was? Jin Zixun?? Heh! Of course not! As long as it's about YunmengJiang's reputation, Jiang Wanyin was the first person who would do anything to maintain the face or reputation of YunmengJiang, and would not cause trouble for the sect at all cost!

Jiang Wanyin had also picked a front seat, far from Lan Wangji, but enough to observe him. 

Lan Wangji's face was extremely handsome. His lashes were long, appearing to be extremely delicate and elegant. He looked like someone who was carved out from jades. Though his expression was very cold, rigid, and solemn, completed with his white clothes, he looked like someone who was in mourning.  His posture was also very upright, looking straight ahead. 

The enemy turned out to be overkill in a real person!

So angry-ah!!!

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Jiang Wanyin was so unwilling to accept defeat and admit that what the ladies in Yunmeng said about Lan Er was indeed very true and was not exaggerated.

But that didn't mean the hatred in his heart was erased.

If anything, looking at this cold and aloof Lan Er, Jiang Wanyin just thought that this person was really arrogant, It made him resent Lan Er even more. 

Jiang Wanyin had always thought that the rumors about Lan Er were full of exaggeration. 

Obviously, he also worked hard in Lotus Pier. It's just because his father didn't love him, so his sect had never promoted his reputation to the outside, unlike this Lan Er!

---Or so what Jiang Wanyin thought to be the case.

So, after the lecture finished, Jiang Wanyin quickly approached Lan Wangji who was about to go,

"Lan Wangji," 

The person in question glance at him and nodded. 

Because Jiang Wanyin had called Lan Wangji's name quite loud, all of the students were surprised to see this Young Master Jiang who bravely approached someone who shouldn't be approached.

Was he seeking death!?

Regardless, the students couldn't afford to lose any gossips, so they deliberately lounging around a little longer in the Lanshi and sneaked a peek towards the two people.

"I challenge you for a spar." 

As soon as this sentence came out, the other students had abandoned all of their pretenses and the sounds of gasping were heard around the room. 

Even Jin Zixuan who didn't want to care about others was hanging his mouth in an "O" shape.

This...this Young Master Jiang, did he take the wrong medicine?

Other people were panicking and gasping, while Jiang Wanyin himself lifted his chin toward Lan Wangji in a provoking manner. In Lotus Pier, he had always been number 1, either in cultivation, knowledge, talents, or looks. There's no such person who suppressed him in all corners. Not to mention that Jiang Wanyin himself had always been devoting himself to progress further, not slacking off in the slightest. Both due to there being no one who dared to bring him out to play, and also due to his mother's constant berating. Therefore, it was inevitable that Jiang Wanyin had never tasted any defeat. His mother's constant reminder that "he has a different position/status" as a sect heir, unlike any other wild child who wouldn't know in which gutter they'd end up to, had also boosted his arrogance. He didn't believe he was actually lesser than this Lan Er. Hence, his proposal to prove this in a spar.

But the person in question didn't even glance at him twice other than his nod earlier. 

He was busy piling up his scrolls and brushes while answering, "It is forbidden to fight without permission in The Cloud Recesses," calmly.

Jiang Wanyin gritted his teeth, "I didn't ask you for a fight, I asked you for a spar!" 

Lan Wangji, "Having a spar is reserved for Gusulan inner disciples or under the acknowledgment of the Master."

"Heh, Lan Wangji, how arrogant can you be? Do you mean to tell that no one is qualified to spar with you?" Jiang Wanyin sneered.

In Lotus Pier, Jiang Wanyin had had his fill, 15 years full of his parent's quarrel. In every quarrel, his mother used to twist every single sentence his father said into something else.

It couldn't be helped that this habit was attached to Jiang Wanyin, and Lan Wangji's refusal was automatically translated into Lan Wangji being arrogant and looking down on him. The way Lan Wangji didn't even spare him more than one glance was truly grating on his self-esteem. 

He felt that Lan Wangji was too arrogant and contemptuous to act like this! 

He's just a second son, damn him!

What was he being arrogant for!?

Lan Wangji who had finished gathering his scrolls and tools then stared right back calmly without any change in his face, "Sneering is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses. Copy the first chapter from Book of Conduct once and send it tomorrow morning."

With that, Lan Wangji walked out. 

"Lan Wangji!!" 

"Loud noise is forbidden in The Cloud Recesses. Added one more copy of the first chapter from Book of Conduct to the punishment."

Just when Jiang Wanyin wanted to retort once more, Second shidi quickly grappled on Jiang Wanyin and muffled his mouth.

Everyone else: This big brother, just speak no more! You're just going to accumulate more punishment!

Jiang Wanyin: .....

His attempt of wanting to prove his theory that Lan Wangji is not that great by defeating him in a spar was thwarted. 

Jiang Wanyin was unwilling to truly follow the etiquette of arranging a spar, by asking both disciples' Master acknowledgment and held a fair and square game.

Jiang Wanyin's Master was obviously his mother and father. If he ever asked his parent's acknowledgment to challenge Lan Wangji, and if in the end, he ended up losing, wouldn't it be like seeking death for himself?

He'd be scolded thrice as much as he usually was scolded, for causing trouble, losing the sect's face, and being an embarrassment!

Of course, Jiang Wanyin's only gamble was by challenging Lan Wangji in front of a crowd, thinking that with this move Lan Wangji would take consideration for the spirits of a warrior, who would not shirk away from a challenge, especially when it's thrown in front of many people.

Alas, Lan Wangji was indeed not a warrior~

He's just an old-fashioned teenager, a total stick in the mud!

He didn't care about maintaining pride or anything, and didn't think much when brushing off a challenge to him in front of many young masters.

For this little stick in the mud, rules were rules, upholding the rules came first and foremost!

Lan Wangji in the end was Lan Qiren's prized disciple. If Lan Wangji ever told something unpleasant to his uncle, Jiang Wanyin was afraid that Lan Qiren would have lesser thought on him, and would later make the reputation of YunmengJiang become bad. So, after being thwarted, Jiang Wanyin didn't pester him anymore. 

But, that didn't mean Jiang Wanyin's resentment toward this Lan Er stayed dormant. 

It's just, Jiang Wanyin had changed his method from openly challenging him, into secretly making other people follow his belief that Lan Wangji was arrogant and was not that great. 

His first attempt was when Young Master from RunanWang Sect, a small sect near the border of QishanWen, Wang Liyin, was punished after he got caught smuggling a spring book (porn!). Lan Wangji had not only confiscated his prized book and showed it to Lan Qiren, causing Lan Qiren to blow his beards and punished the young man to copy the whole volume of Conduct. 

Wang Liyin was very miserable. His attention was divided into two important things. On one hand, he should copy the obviously-not-a-thin-book, while on the other hand, he should also review the material for the weekly test that Lan Qiren had never failed to give them. 

Tonight, many students were gathering and reviewing the lectures together in one of the dormitories' rooms, or basically, they're just sharing their own confusion and rubbing off their stupidity towards each other since no one was actually diligent or smart among them.

The only slightly smart person like Jin Zixuan, was too prideful to help them study, or actually, Jin Zixuan was just bad at tutoring others. He had once tried to teach them, but his words were twisting here and there, he spoke in a roundabout way, that the simplest theory became too complicated after being explained by Jin Zixuan. After the incident, Jin Zixuan got mad, his face went red, and didn't want to tutor others again. In the end, being smart didn't mean the person was also good at teaching as well.

While Jiang Wanyin...he's quite knowledgeable. After all, he wasted no time in Lotus Pier, learning and training, trying to satisfy his mother, and earning praise from his father. But of course, teaching these worthless and stupid young masters was beyond Jiang Wanyin's level. Why should he share his hard-earned knowledge? Just let them continue being stupid and Jiang Wanyin would snatch the high scores himself.

So, these confused and stupid young masters continued being confused and stupid~

While others were busy arguing and asking questions, Wang Liyin was left alone copying the rules while crying tears and snots.

What he cried about was the fate of his spring book!

The book was of high quality, rare in edition, and really expensive! 

He had not even taken a peek at the content! The book was sent immediately to the Old Man Lan! 

So miserable-ahh!

"Lan Wangji is too unreasonable. Obviously, the book was bought using your money, and not in a small amount at that, he didn't even give you compensation for snatching it," Jiang Wanyin who sat on the corner while holding his notes of the lecture glanced at Wang Liyin.

Wang Liyin, hearing someone understood his misery (it's his pocket money that he used to buy the book damn it!), he quickly responded to this comment,

"That's right!!! How could he be like this, my booook, ahhhhhhhh, my pretty fairyyyy, the shopkeeper has told me that the characters in this book are especially pretty!!!!" Wang Liyin couldn't help but wail louder. 

Seeing that his provocation was caught, Jiang Wanyin quickly stroke while the iron was hot, "What kind of disciplinarian is this. Isn't this no different than hooligans who snatch other people's things!"

"Right, right, right!!? He should have at least let me take a peek, or let me read the book once before confiscating it!!" Wang Liyin totally stopped copying the rules and being more immersed in letting out his misery. 

The other youths who heard the conversation laughed, "Why don't you tell Lan Wangji this way when he confiscated your book?"

"I won't dare~" Wang Liyin quickly wailed once again. 

"Yeah, if you dare to tell him this, wouldn't you just like asking for one more addition to copying the rules?" 

"That's right!"

"Hahhaa!"

"Don't worry Wang Liyin, the more you copy the rules, the more you will memorize them. In the future, it'll be easier for you when you get another punishment,"

"What's the use of memorizing the rules? We're just gonna use it during this one year, and not for life. Do you want to marry the Lans by memorizing the rules?"

"Hahhaha!"

"Hey, I don't want to marry to this stuck-up place!"

"Yeah, yeah,"

Nie Huaisang who was also in the room quietly reviewing his notes, while actually, he's hiding something else that was obviously had nothing to do with the lecture's material behind the book's cover, suddenly spoke up,

"Wait! Brothers of mine, are you sure you don't wanna marry to the Lans? Remember that Gusulan has standard in appearance for accepting disciples, just look at those Gusulan sect members we met!" 

Once Nie Huaisang, the Wise Sage of Gusulan guest disciples mentioned this topic, the other youths automatically remembered all of those good-looking and elegant-looking Gusulan disciples they had met. Not even a single one of them was average-looking! 

If the male members were already fascinating for people to look at, what about the Gusulan female cultivators???

They must be extremely pretty and fairy-like!!!

"Goddamn it! Let me memorize the rules now!" Wang Liyin fired up immediately and went back to copy the rules full of vigor! Completely forgetting his misery about the confiscated spring book.

"Should I memorize the rules as well?"

"Ehh...but which one of the rules should we memorize?"

"Errr,,, we're frequently being punished with copying Conducts, so it must be this one, right?"

"Didn't Book of Virtue the one that has something to do with Cultivation partners and marriage?"

"Ah...now that you mention it-,"

So on, and so on~

The previous dissatisfaction towards Lan Wangji's punishment was quickly forgotten once the mention of pretty maidens was brought up!

Jiang Wanyin: "...."

Jiang Wanyin could only resent the iron for not becoming steel!

His attempt to make people realize the same feeling as him that Lan Wangji was arrogant and needed to be hated had failed miserably!

After finishing his punishment, Wang Liyin was quick to cheer up again, completely forgetting his supposed misery of the lost treasured book!

This was not the only time Jiang Wanyin had tried to popularize his belief of Let's hate Lan Wangji and his unreasonable arrogance.

And yet, not once have these young masters ever agree to him for more than one or two conversations.

The moment they finished their punishment, they had forgotten all of their misery. After all, the pain was forgotten when the wounds had healed. 

In the end, these young masters were only 15 and 16 years old, they were all still full of naivety and innocence.

Their mind had not been dirtied by Sect's politics and was still full of playful minds. 

For teenagers at this age, whining once or twice was already enough to complain about their grievances. 

No need to build any enmity or grudges. 

Their naivety and positive-minded were totally different from the way Jiang Wanyin was brought up in Lotus Pier by Madam Yu. It's really incompatible. No one seemed to think much about the way Lan Wangji was upholding the discipline and punishing them. They're just wailing, whining, and complaining, and they were quick to forget. The only thing they did was just avoid Lan Wangji as much as possible, far from his reach, either by his eyes or his ears! 

Why!

'Why didn't they realize that Lan Wangji was too contemptuous!?'

---Jiang Wanyin's muttering was heard by Second shidi who always accompanied him, but he could only keep silent.

After meeting the real Lan Er, Lan Wangji, the real person, and not just the banned words in Lotus Pier, Second shidi had spent quite some time observing the boy himself.

In his opinion, Lan Wangji was truly deserving all of the rumors about him that were flying around. He's indeed good-looking, elegant, and graceful, truly like an immortal coming down from the Heaven.

Even though he had never seen Lan Wangji's display of swordsmanship or cultivation, but only by looking at how many students he had caught flawlessly without any slip-up when they're breaking curfews, it proved how strong this person was! He was too alert and vigilant! His sense worked to the height of its abilities, able to catch even a single movement or signs by the rule-breakers! And of course, able to catch those students in a single move and threw them to the Ancestral Hall like a sack of potatoes.

Too overpowered!

---Was what Second shidi learned about this Lan Er.

But Second shidi didn't think that this Lan Wangji was contemptuous or arrogant.

He's just....too out of reach for us mortals to compete with!

Could we just leave him alone, please...?

After all, if they're not being caught breaking the rules, Lan Wangji didn't do anything to them either. 

So, the best thing to do was truly...avoid the area under Lan Wangji's radar at all cost!

It's really the best thing!

Good for us, and good for Lan Wangji!

A win-win situation!

Even so, Second shidi couldn't just blurt out his thoughts toward Jiang Wanyin. 

The Young Master was really easy to think of another meaning when someone said something to him...

Who would know when Second shidi suggest this thought to him, Jiang Wanyin would not get mad, thinking that Second shidi was trying to curry favor toward Lan Er instead? What if the Young Master resented him for this and thought that Second shidi didn't support him? Or worse, what if the Young Master thought that Second shidi had betrayed him, the Young Master Jiang, and that meant Second shidi had betrayed YunmengJiang sect!??

Who would know??!!

Of course, Second shidi didn't want to try and gamble on it either!

He could only stay silent~

Today, there's something extraordinary happened in Gusulan Ancestral hall.

Last night, there was a sudden pour of rain in the Cloud Recesses and Caiyi Town area. It's truly amazing that on this kind of night, there's still a student going out and breaking rules.

The reason why the other students were stunned when seeing this round of punishment was that there's not the only guest student being punished by discipline rulers, but also one Direct Clan member of the Gusulan sect!

The punishment was not merely copying the rules this time, it's flogging on the back using discipline rulers for a few dozen times!

The guest student who was being punished was...unfortunately still Wang Liyin. 

The other youths quietly lit a candle for this guy the moment the rulers came to his back and the howling of Wang Liyin started to be heard. 

This guy was indeed so courageous to continue his adventure of breaking the rules! Or perhaps this guy was indeed too unlucky for being caught every time...?

Nevertheless, the addition of the direct clan member of Gusulan in this punishment truly evoked an astonishment among the guest disciple.

The moment this Gusulan clan member finished his punishment and walked outside of the Ancestral Hall, with his back straight, posture upright, and expression calm, the other guest disciples stared at him as if wanted to approach but were also afraid to approach.

Who do you think this Gusulan direct clan member who was being punished here as well? Lan Wangji?? What kind of joke do you want to hear? How could our perfect Lan Er-Gege be punished? Of course, it's not him!

╮(╯∀╰)╭ 

Nie Huaisang who knew this person from being a classmate with him 3 years ago at his first time being sent to the Cloud Recesses, quickly approached him.

"Lan BaiChen-Xiong! How could you be punished here?" Nie Huaisang asked him in a low voice, full of gossip mode on.

Other students were quick to surround this new species as well, eager to listen to his heroic deeds!

This Big Brother Lan bent down and lowered his voice, "Last night I met with this fellow brother Wang near the wall,"

"Hm, hm, and?"

Lan BaiChen, "Well, at first both of us were surprised when we accidentally crossed with each other."

"Uh-uh, and?"

Lan BaiChen sighed, "Both of us had a few moments of panic. Neither of us is expecting to meet someone on this rainy night after all..."

"Mn, mn, then?"

Lan BaiChen pulled up his serious expression again, "Then, we spent a few moments in silence, standing under the pour of rain, feeling the rainwater soaking our body without any cover, we stared at each other...panicking and thinking of excuses if the other were to ask," 

"Ohhhhhhhhh~" 

"Alas... at that moment we spent standing and thinking, suddenly a third party came between the two of us!" Lan BaiChen said morosely.

"Ahh!?"

Back again to his serious face, Lan Baichen continued his story, "This third party was no other than Lan Er Gongzi! Using an umbrella for himself, he stood on the wall while looking at me and Brother Wang who was drenched from head to toe, and said,  It is past curfew, you are forbidden to enter. Lan BaiChen, Wang Liyin, Bringing alcohol, knowing the rules but keep breaking it, stay outside until 05:00 a.m and go immediately to Ancestral Hall to receive punishment tomorrow."

"Ehhhhhhhhhh~"

The other youths were feeling remorseful as well to this ruined moment between brother Wang and this Big brother Lan.

Lan BaiChen just grinned afterward, "Well, that's it, now you know our story,"

"But, big brother Lan, the one who brought alcohol was Wang Liyin after he lost in our game and was punished to buy alcohol. What about you?" One of the youth couldn't help but be curious as to how this Lan direct clan member was breaking curfew. 

"Aiyaaa, why didn't I want to go outside? Obviously, I went outside to buy Chicken wings!" Lan BaiChen proudly pushed out his torso, feeling confident. 

"Chicken wings...?"

"Well of course? After all, when it's rainy it's easy to go hungry, and I can only eat 3 bowls of rice at dinner, I can't help feeling hungry again at night and craved Chicken wings,"

"Big brother! You just went outside and bought Chicken wings, but look at the punishment, you're being flogged! I repeat it, it's flogging!" Nie Huaisang who already complained his fingers are numb after copying couldn't imagine the pain of being flogged. 

Nie Huaisang thought so, but Lan BaiChen had different views.

"Why? I'm just a growing boy like you guys! It's necessary to eat more meat. For chicken wings, what are a few dozens of flogging? I will cross water and fire just to eat Chicken wings!" 

The heartfelt conviction by this Big brother Lan made the other young masters look at him as if seeing a God, truly someone worthy of worship! 

From then on, the guest students had the same convictions, 

for the sake of alcohol,

for the sake of spring books,

for the sake of romance books, 

for the sake of better-seasoned foods,

for the sake of happiness,

what were rules-copying and flogging amounts for??

It's nothing!

The rule-breakers kept appearing one after another.

No matter how much Lan Wangji caught and punished them, they thought what they got in exchange for the punishment was worthy!

At this point, because of the sudden appearance of this Cheap Big Brother Lan, Jiang Wanyin's plan to make others hate Lan Wangji for punishing them ended up in a great failure.

Sure enough, the guest disciples quickly reformed their thought, it turned out after their fear of being punished was erased, Lan Wangji was not that scary in the end ~

After the mantle of scary Lan Wangji was pulled down, what remained was just a cold and silent young master. Still unapproachable, but not someone who was scary and hateable even though Lan Wangji punished them again and again.

Lan Qiren really wanted to beat this traitor within the sect!

Lan BaiChen!!!!

Alas...in the end he's also one of Lan Qiren's nephews, the cousin of both Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen. 

What to do-ahhhh~

Lan Qiren was grieving for this boy, the only Lan who was the most un-Lan!

Chapter Text

In the world where Wei Wuxian existed, there's an incident where a Gusulan disciple had almost gotten sucked in by the Waterborne abyss. 

In this world, Lan Xichen went back to the sect and looked for Lan Wangji to assist him in investigating the matter in Biling Lake. 

But, the only difference was, this time, Jiang Wanyin was not picked up as well. The only one who went this time was Gusulan double Jades and a few Gusulan disciples. 

Why did Jiang Wanyin was not picked up?

Well....Don't forget that in this world, Jiang Wanyin's personality was totally different, totally resembling to what Madam Yu wanted her son to be like.

Without the assist of Wei Wuxian, this person had not made any friends in Gusulan. Thus, when Lan Qiren went to Qinghe and they had a few days off, those jumping monkeys quickly went down the mountain and have fun in Caiyi Town, and of course, in order to be safe, they would avoid the path where they might cross with Gusulan Twin Jades. In this way, both Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji didn't meet any other disciples. 

And where was Jiang Wanyin, you say?

Well duh, he didn't have any friends and disdained the actions of those jumping monkeys as something that caused troubles, so of course, when they had a day off, he would stay in his room all day long, practicing or reviewing cultivations, trying so hard to earn a good place in this learning and defeated that despicable Lan Er.

Back again to the Waterborne abyss. 

Do you think that without Wei Wuxian, Su She will stop imitating Lan Wangji?

Of course not!

This little villain was still imitating Lan Wangji and threw his sword away confidently, without thinking that the situation was unknown, his sword was not a top-grade sword such as Bichen, and his cultivation was meager thus he couldn't call the sword back after it was thrown out. 

And the result was still the same, Su She lost his sword, and still wanted to blame Lan Wangji because he saw Lan Wangji throwing his sword to the lake.

In any case, there's no Wei Wuxian here who noticed that Lan Wangji's boat was sinking, so Lan Wangji had an accident where suddenly there's many water ghouls who appeared and threw themselves at him. 

Though, don't forget, that our Lan Er-Gege is still strong, has a keen sense, and possesses a high skill to detect any danger.

These few water ghouls had indeed caught him off guard, yet he was still able to quickly fly away and avoid their attack. 

Nevertheless, this action had alarmed Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji.

Thus the moment Lan Wangji realized they were led to the center of the lake deliberately, they flew out quickly back to the shore.

This time, there's no Wei Wuxian, so both Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji's hands were full with suppressing the tentacles from the waterborne abyss in order to let other disciples fly safely. 

Only after they came back to the shore did they realize that there's one person missing, Su She. 

What can they do at this time? Nothing. 

A cultivator who died in night hunts was not a new thing. From the first time they decided to be a cultivator, it meant they were ready to throw their life away in a dangerous situation. In a nighthunt, a moment of recklessness might endanger one's life and even a whole group's life. 

Su She was just an outer disciple with a foreign surname. 

However, Gusulan gave his family much compensation in condolences. Even though Su She's death was counted from his own recklessness, he's after all still a disciple of Gusulan. His life and death were still under the responsibility of Gusulan.

After they dried the Biling Lake in the way of eliminating the Waterborne abyss, they found Su She's sword and gave it back to the family. 

At least, in this world, Su She died in a dignified way.

His family was left with many compensations, and his death made Gusulan even warier and hated the QishanWen who drove this waterborne abyss into their territory.

Good for him, right?

There's also one more thing that happened in this time of learning in Gusulan. 

The broken engagement between Jin and Jiang. 

Though, at this time, the moment was delayed until the 6 months of their learning. 

Of course, it's because Lan Qiren was so busy taking care of the waterborne abyss and Su She's death. 

He's so busy, that he could not spare the time to smooth out his beard properly, and there's even one or two suspiciously white hair peeking out from his beard now.

Sometimes, he just wanted to knock frantically on the cabin of his older brothers' and shout,

"Big brother, please just come out! Qiren has not married yet, and my hair has already turned gray and I'll look like a grandpa before I know it! All just from overworking in Gusulan's affair!"

Though in the end, it was only his own wishful thinking, poor Qiren-gege.

(Ｔ▽Ｔ)

Anyway, in this world, the moment the topic about Cultivation's partner was brought out, it was inevitable for those jumping monkeys who was still young and in their brain was still full of pink bubbles, where they could only spend their time by discussing about maidens and porn, Jin  Zixuan who at this time was actually the most popular young master among these Jumping Monkeys, would, of course, receive the question, 

"Zixuan-Xiong, what kind of cultivation partner you'd like to search for?"

and the reprimand of, "Hushhh, Zixuan-Xiong already has a fiance,"

and then the answer of, "Forget it, no need to mention anymore",

all of those were still happening in this world.

Jiang Wanyin himself held an old grudge towards 4 young masters.

Gusulan twin jades who was famous among women and men,

Jin Zixuan who was famous among women,

and Nie Mingjue who was famous among men.

Those 4 young masters were brought up to be compared with Jiang Wanyin almost every day by his mother. 

It was always the words,

"How could I give birth to a son like you! Look at the other young masters in your generation, they already had so many achievements and become famous. What about you?? Heh, after all, your mother is not as good as a certain Sanren, how could the son I gave birth could be satisfying. This is why your father doesn't like you!"

How could Jiang Wanyin have any good feelings towards those 4 young masters who became the reason he was scolded and ridiculed every day?

After all, in Jiang Wanyin's mind, if only those 4 young masters didn't exist, his life would not be so miserable!

His father would love him!

So on and so on~

However, Jin Zixuan was his sister's fiance. His mother also liked to praise Jin Zixuan as the future husband of his sister and would assist Jiang Wanyin in the future as his brother-in-law.

Not to mention, Jin Zixuan was the one and only son of a super-rich LanlingJin. Of course, his fame was something that couldn't be helped. Even if Jin Zixuan didn't do anything he can still be famous just relying on his position as the heir of one rich and big sect.

So, Jiang Wanyin reluctantly pressed his hatred towards Jin Zixuan, and shifted all of his hatred towards Lan-Er instead. A stranger who only had the status of "a second son" or  "a spare" in Gusulan, and yet was praised and more famous than anyone in the cultivation world. 

Nevertheless, in his mind, Jin Zixuan should be grateful to be paired with his sister. 

His sister was the only eldest lady in the 5 great families after all. 

He should be praising his sister right now. 

Yet this Jin Zixuan was so shameless and ungrateful, saying that his sister was not worthy of mentioning. 

His hatred that was pressed before surged up quickly. 

Thus, ended up with him brawling with Jin Zixuan.

Lan Qiren was already in a haggard state taking care of Gusulan's affair, and now these two young masters from two other sects causing a problem in his class. 

You could imagine how many headaches this caused Lan Qiren. 

When Jiang Fengmian and Jin Guangshan were called, unlike in the previous world where Lan Qiren tried to mediate between the two sects, this time Lan Qiren just let these two people have their own way.

'It was your own family, go take care of your own family matter!'

'Don't involve me and my sect!'

'My own family is already in shamble, I don't have any more patience left to take care of other families!'

---was what Lan Qiren thought at that time. 

Even so, the end game was still the same as the previous world.

Well, after all, Jiang Fengmian himself was a person who had tasted the bitter fruit of forced marriage. He himself knew how unpleasant it was to be in a marriage he didn't want. 

What's more, Jiang Yanli took over his personality a lot, passive and silent. 

This time, the young master of LanlingJin blatantly smeared Jiang Yanli's virtue in front of the dozen young masters from other sects, and ridiculed her reputation, a woman who had not come out from her boudoir. 

What about in the future when they finally marry? Would this Young Master Jin treat Jiang Yanli with enough courtesy? With Jiang Yanli's mild temper, she would not complain and speak up, and would only burry everything in her heart. In the future, would his daughter have to bear sadness and be insulted by his husband every day? 

Of course, Jiang Fengmian didn't want this kind of fate for his daughter.

On the other side, Jin Guangshan was actually very happy when Jiang Fengmian proposed to break the engagement. 

Why, of course, the matter of engagement was brought by his wife before, and Jin Guangshan dared not to interfere with this.

Jin Guangshan himself was actually dissatisfied with Jiang Yanli. She was a mediocre lady, average in looks, and even had low cultivation, neither had any outstanding talent in the 4 arts (Guqin, Go strategy, Calligraphy, and Painting) aristocratic woman should excel at, nor was she a particularly smart lady. 

In any case, Jin Zixuan was the young master of LanlingJin, the future Sect leader of LanlingJin. His wife would naturally become the mistress of LanlingJin, who would take care of LanlingJin affairs along with her husband. 

If Jiang Yanli who neither had any talent nor smart mind became the mistress of LanlingJin, what could she do aside from being a decoration? Even for decoration, she was not particularly attractive. Her only worth was only that she had the backer of YunmengJiang. 

Even so, YunmengJiang itself was already declining and had no real power, and even controlled under the hands of MeishanYu. After all, who in this cultivation world didn't know that the wife of Jiang Fengmian refused to bear the name Madam Jiang, blatantly trampling his pride as a man and a sect leader. Who didn't know that Yu Ziyuan had arranged a courtyard for herself and even brought many subordinates from MeishanYu to reside in YunmengJiang? Who knew that perhaps many years later YunmengJiang would be changed into YunmengYu?

There were still many pretty and talented maidens from the second-rate cultivation sects that could support Jin Zixuan in the future. 

In other words, Jiang Yanli had no value at all in Jin Guangshan's eyes. He had only agreed to this engagement because his wife had a friendship with Yu Ziyuan, and he didn't dare to deny his wife's decision outright.

So, when Jiang Fengmian proposed the break-up, Jin Guangshan pretended to be reluctant for a while, and finally in the end relented, as if he was forced to do it by Jiang Fengmian.

If later Madam Jin scolded him, he could defend himself by saying he had no choice because Jiang Fengmian pressed on him, hha!

Once Jiang Fengmian came out from the Elegant Room of Gusulan, he met with Jiang Wanyin who was punished to kneel at the ancestral hall. 

"A-Cheng, you did a good job protecting your sister." With these words, he pats Jiang Wanyin's head.

Jiang Wanyin who rarely gained his father's praise felt like he received thousands of praises. 

It was worth it. 

Pufff, so his father also thinks that his move to teach the ungrateful and arrogant Jin Zixuan was right!

In the end, both Jin Zixuan and Jiang Wanyin were fined for copying the Book of Conduct and Book Of Virtue, neither of those two was expelled from Gusulan.

After all, expelling a young master was a heavy matter. Gusulan was famous for their education, if there's a young master who was even expelled from Gusulan it would indirectly paint this young master as someone with a bad reputation in the future.

1 year passed.

The listening in Gusulan had finally ended.

As for who got the highest result?

Why are you still asking me?

Of course, no one can surpass Lan Er-gege!

The person who was like a walking Wikipedia that could answer what monster you encountered accidentally in the deep of some unknown cave, was after all someone who had finished his education early and read the thousands of books in Gusulan's superb library.

He was sent to learn as well to monitor the young masters and to try having a friend among his peers.

Even though the first intention was achieved, the second intention was forever unable to be realized.

Nonetheless, Why are you still anxious to ask who'll get the highest result, hm?

Years passed once again.

The time for the QishanWen conference had finally come.

The archery competition was held just like in the previous world.

And needless to say, without our Wi-Fi who teased our Lan Er-gege, this person ended up being first, Lan Xichen second, Jin Zixuan third, and........Wen Chao fourth, hha!

Why did this greasy villain become the fourth?

Well, we have to remember that without Wei Wuxian who blatantly pointed out Wen Chao's shamelessness of robbing other's prey and even refused to get out after he shot a wrong prey, no other person would dare to point this out, and Wen Chao ended up accumulating quite a prey worthy in the fourth place.

Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen himself hunted together with Gusulan disciples, Wen Chao could not provoke them because it was not good to beat the bushes and alert the snakes. QishanWen had a plan to burn the Cloud Recesses. In order not to make them raise their guard, QishanWen could not make an openly hostile act towards Gusulan. 

This complicated strategy, of course, Wen Chao didn't know.

The only thing he was told repeatedly by his older brother Wen Xu was, don't provoke Gusulan!

Simple and short.

This idiot could not be given difficult reasoning, it's a waste of time. Just gave him the general idea.

In the winning ceremony, the 3 upper winners were treated like some additional winner, while the fourth-place Wen Chao was treated as if he won the grand prize!

Though....everyone tacitly understand and didn't complain about it.

Then, what about YunmengJiang?

Well, this time we have to understand again, the similarity between this competition in Qishan and the games Wei Wuxian in the previous world often played, the kite shooting. 

Shooting the kites was something to train the disciples in archery but in a relaxed manner, treating archery as something fun and enjoyable.

This game was actually training for people to shoot something far and high above, absolutely good for long-distance shooting for a moving object. 

However, this time there's no Wei Wuxian.

Both Jiang Wanyin and the other disciples in YunmengJiang took the training of long-distance shooting as something hard and serious. Archery in their training was treated strictly with standard style in archery training. Therefore, the time they spent on the long-distance shooting was also limited. After all, there was also much training they should complete in their learning.

This way, Jiang Wanyin, and the other YunmengJiang disciples, aside from having low cultivation and having difficulties in detecting the evil spirits and locked the target using their spiritual energy, they couldn't even shoot properly.

So, the result for YunmengJiang was.....unfortunately not very satisfactory among the 5 great sects. 

Not to mention, with Wen Chao's stay in the field, QishanWen robbed the top 10 rankings. 

The rest of the upper ranking aside from the top 4 was taken by Gusulan who of course had a series of good disciples aside from the twin jades,  LanlingJin whose sect was famous for their archery, and QingheNie disciples who actually didn't have good archery skills and yet they owned a brave hearts, no matter what, just shoot! Hit it or not, don't care, just do it! Their bravery ended with them gaining quite good results.  

While YunmengJiang?

It was placed among the second-rate families ranking...far from the other 4 great sects.

No need to say more, Jiang Wanyin's face turned into an ugly expression at the end of the game.

In his heart, thousands of curses were thrown towards the arrogant Wen Chao.

He didn't dare to confront Wen Chao directly, for fear it will attract trouble to YunmengJiang, but he hated this person so much for robbing the preys by himself and being so shameless and disregarding the rules.

His hatred had no outlet, and the only ones left to blame were the Second shidi and the other shidi,

"Look at you! This is the result of your slacking off! Every day doing nothing but rowing the boats, picking Lotus Seeds, and playing around! Look at how you lose our Jiang sect's face!"

The other shidi stayed silent. 

They dared not refute.

After all, the more they refute, the more unreasonable this young master became. 

After he finished venting out his hatred and temper towards the Shidis, Jiang Wanyin left them alone. 

Once Jiang Wanyin was out from the hearing range, a series of complaints from YunmengJiang disciples were thrown out one after another,

"Why did he scold us!? Is it our fault that YunmengJiang was left behind? Is it our fault that QishanWen was so shameless? Is it our fault that Gusulan, LanlingJin, and QingheNie are so amazing? Is it our fault!?" the Third shidi spat on the ground in rages.

Fourth shidi quickly agreed with him and added another complaint, "The young master himself had seen Wen Chao's shameless act, and he didn't do anything. Why now he blamed us when Wen Chao had robbed the top 10?? Is it possible he expected us to confront Wen Chao before? While in the end, if we got into trouble with Wen Chao he would still blame us for causing trouble?"

"He's a coward! And yet he blames others when the result got bad. What about us being lazy? Didn't our Er-Shixiong here win the ranking right behind him? So, the so called-not lazy-him was actually had no satisfying result, while the lazy-us actually is not far behind him. And he's still so shameless calling us lazy and blaming us!" The Third shidi really had a grudge towards this young master who had a bad face all year round towards their Er-Shixiong.

"How could this be??? He's so unreasonable!" Sixth shidi frowned and kicked out some gravel to vent his frustration.

"Er-Shixiong,  now he scolded you like this, do you still want to get close to him?" the Fifth shidi elbowed the silent Second Shidi.

Second Shidi himself was actually full of complaints in his heart. He never wanted to be close to Jiang Wanyin. It was the sect leader, Jiang Fengmian who always pushed him to be close with Jiang Wanyin.

Nevertheless, as a sensible person, he could not throw his dissatisfaction carelessly, and could not fan the other shidi's rages towards the young sect heir even more.

If when they're young the relationship was already like this, what about in the future when Jiang Wanyin took the mantle of sect leader???

Second shidi could only sigh. 

He really wanted to go rogue!

Whatever! 

His parent's wish was only for him to be a cultivator, helping others to eliminate evils. Whether he was in a sect or not, it was not important.

Besides, the only reason his parent sent him to YunmengJiang was that Cangse Sanren had saved their parents before, and they heard that Cangse Sanren married someone from YunmengJiang. 

However, after spending time in YunmengJiang, listening to Madam Yu's unfiltered words of despise towards Cangse Sanren, how could Second Shidi still be able to tolerate more? 

In the end, he stayed in YunmengJiang just to complete his training. 

His loyalty had not been placed into YunmengJiang at all. 

If he had finished his training he'd quit the sect and gone as a rogue cultivator.

Still, he could not mix up his own dissatisfaction with the other shidi. 

Second shidi could have these kinds of thoughts to quit YunmengJiang, however, that didn't mean other shidi must have this kind of thoughts as well.

Thus, he should not aggravate the dissatisfaction from other shidis towards Jiang Wanyin, because in the future when Second Shidi quit the sect and left, these shidi of his would not have anyone to rely upon aside from their direct leader Jiang Wanyin. He didn't want these shidis facing difficulties in YunmengJiang in the future by antagonizing Jiang Wanyin right now.

"This kind of scolding, why are you still complaining about? We still have to go home and meet Madam Yu. Let's just take it as training to receive Madam Yu's scolding later,"

In the end, Second Shidi just said these words and slapped the other Shidis' shoulders to ignite their low mood again.

Once Madam Yu's scolding was mentioned, the other Shidis groaned and sighed.

No one can be compared to the ugliness of Madam Yu's words when she scolded other people...

Extra Scene in Gusulan :

It was one month before the study in the Cloud Recesses ended.

The twin jades of Gusulan, Lan Xichen, and Lan Wangji were drinking tea under the magnolia tree in front of their Library Pavillion. 

"This tea is really good." Lan Xichen smiled after finishing his first cup of tea, and was pouring his second cup.

Lan Wangji just nodded. He was still in his first cup. 

"I don't know what kind of blend did this tea go with...hmm."

Lan Wangji frowned while holding his teacup.

"Mn? What is it, Wangji? Do you recognize the tea?" Lan Xichen sipped his second cup. 

"Cherry blossom."

Lan Xichen tasted another sip for his third cup, "Oh. It's true." his eyes lit up." But, why do the taste is quite different from the usual cherry blossom tea we have?"

Lan Wangji put down his cup of tea and started to brew another batch of tea, after all his brother seemed to like this tea very much.

"Dongyin."

Lan Xichen blinked, and then a realization came after him, "Ahhhhh...no wonder. It was brewed from a different kind of Cherry blossom."

"Wangji, how do you know it was different Cherry blossom? Have you tasted this tea somewhere?" Lan Xichen thought that his brother seldom go into a banquet to enjoy some tea out there. While the tea in Gusulan of course the two of them had known all of it without exception.

Lan Wangji nodded. 

"Qinghe."

Lan Xichen smiled, "Ahhh, so that was it. You tasted this tea when you went into a nighthunt around Qinghe last year. Well, this tea was given by Mingjue-Xiong when I visited him last month. Apparently, the merchant who came from Dongying shared this tea in Qinghe, huh...."

After a few cups around, Lan Xichen finally asked his little brother what he wanted to ask actually, 

"Wangji, how about your study?"

Lan Wangji blinked and looked at his older brother, "It is alright."

Why did his older brother ask him about his study? Didn't his brother know that he has already completed this curriculum many years ago? Of course, there would be no problem in this year of study. Lan Wangji was actually puzzled when Lan Xichen persuaded their uncle to let Lan Wangji listen to the study session this year before.

"Wangji, do you have the chance to be acquainted with the other young master?" Lan Xichen didn't give up and continued to ask.

Lan Wangji paused, he thought about how his studying went along, and how the other young masters all knew about him, while Lan Wangji, after 1 year of spending the time in the classroom, and after punishing many young masters so many times, he, of course, remembered their names and their face. 

So, this meant, they got acquainted.........right?

Yes, it seemed to be like this. Lan Wangji nodded inside his head. I know your name, You know my name, so we are an acquaintance.

Thus, Lan Wangji nodded, "Mn."

Lan Xichen was so happy and excited after knowing that his brother had build some relationships with the other young masters, 

"Oh, So you have made a friend? Tell Xiongzhang, who are they?"

"Nie Huaisang, Jin Zixuan, Jiang Wanyin, Wang Liyin, Xie Changyu, Nie Huaimin, Nie Huai-,"

---And so Lan Wangji started to mention the name of all young masters who went to Gusulan this year.

"Stop, stop, Wangji! Xiongzhang knows. Stop it, please!"

Lan Wangji stopped his recites for the young masters' names and looked at his older brother in bewilderment.

Lan Wangji was confused, but Lan Xichen here was having a sweat drop.

Lan Xichen wanted to burry himself to the ground now. 

Of course!!!

Of course, his brother will think everyone as an acquaintance.

You know my name, I know your name, this level of acquaintance! Of course!!!!

But, Wangji......, what this Xiongzhang wanted to ask was not this kind of acquaintance.

I want to know your friend! Friend!

F-R-I-E-N-D.

Sigh....

It seemed like Lan Xichen's attempt to make his brother enjoy his youth and built a friendship was doomed to be failed as well this year...

God, please tell this Xichen, is there someone out there who is able to break my little brother's thick defense????

I beg you, please come forward!

Lan Xichen is anxiously waiting online~

｡ﾟ(*´□`)ﾟ｡

Chapter Text

A few months after the talks in Qishan. 

Gusulan's sect main building, The Cloud Recesses was burned.

Wen Xu, the eldest son of Wen Ruohan from QishanWen brought a series of QishanWen's disciples to the door of Gusulan, accused the Lans of the disobedient and presumptuous acts, judging them for acting high and mighty, harboring thoughts of being in the top and dare to educate the whole cultivation world.

Therefore, in order to prevent the Lans from being presumptuous and more arrogant, QishanWen ordered the Lans to burn their treasured Library Pavillion. 

In the midst of the confrontation between Gusulan and QishanWen, Qingheng-Jun, the registered patriarch in Gusulan had to come out from his seclusion and face the QishanWen elders who were brought by Wen Xu.

While Lan Wangji, in order to buy time and prevent the library to be completely burned down before his brother ran with the collections of books, he faced off with Wen Xu and a group of QishanWen cultivators. In the end, Lan Wangji's leg was forcibly broken and the Library Pavillion that the Lans was proud of the most was burned to the ground...

Needless to say, the reason for calling people as arrogant had hidden intentions and was just an excuse. 

But every single person who could barely use their brain would understand the real reason.

Gusulan was the most influential sect among the 5 great sects that existed currently. From the cultivators' strength, the sect's wealth, the sect's knowledge, and the sect's reputation, it could be said that Gusulan was a sect that was the most well-rounded in every part or direction.

Be that as it may, what's actually the most frightening account about Gusulan?

What made Gusulan an enemy that could not be underestimated?

Was it the strength of their cultivators?

The wealth of their land and properties?

The amazing double jades of Lan?

Or the famous teacher Lan Qiren?

None of those was considered a dangerous factor in the eyes of QishanWen.

What's the scariest was something unknown. 

The library Pavillion of Gusulan possessed thousands of books and scrolls handed down from hundreds of years ago, since it was founded by Lan An. 

Even the direct Gusulan descendants didn't know what kind of hidden techniques and secret knowledge rested deep inside the library. 

QishanWen couldn't just rob the library and confiscate the books for themselves.

Gusulan was a sect with the style of Confucian Scholar. The books and knowledge were their most precious treasures. If it was snatched away forcefully, Gusulan would retaliate fiercely, and would go down along with their sect rather than the books to be snatched away. 

This was the thinking of 'you can't have one, I can't have one, precious thing better to be destroyed rather than exist but owned by others'.

Annihilating Gusulan was not something QishanWen wanted to do. After all, wanting to stand on top didn't mean that you have to erase everyone on the bottom. Gusulan was a place full of hidden gems in their generations. If those gems were obliterated, what's left in the world were trashes.

What's the use of commanding on top of a whole bunch of trashes?

Thus, the move of burning down the library instead of snatching their treasures was played out.

This way, Gusulan would still have to consider many things.

QishanWen was just so kindly reprimanded them for their arrogance and just so kindly wanted to burn the library to stop their ambition of educating the cultivation world based on their whims.

If Gusulan refused, then it meant Gusulan was offending QishanWen.

Gusulan's might could not be compared to the gigantic QishanWen. They would be crushed to dust in a direct confrontation.

Qingheng-Jun, Lan Qiren, as the two direct leaders of Gusulan must have a lot of consideration, either destroying the sect that was carefully handed down from hundreds of years ago, or burning the library but saving the sect and the disciples. 

And the result? Everyone knew about it...

The Cloud Recesses was burned.

The whole cultivation world was shocked. 

Of course, a person who could think even a little bit would be able to see this threat that QishanWen had blatantly shown towards the whole Cultivation world. 

The burning of the Cloud Recesses was not just a personal grievance between Gusulan and QishanWen, nor was it just an enmity settling between the two sects.

It was a warning,

a threat,

given out by Qishan to the whole cultivation world.

A blatant and open announcement to QishanWen's ambition and a disguised declaration of war.

Either you willingly bend to bow down to me, or I break you in two with force to grovel in front of me.

Everyone knew the importance and worth of the Library Pavillion for the Gusulan Sect. 

For scholar-like people, burning their books, the source of their knowledge, was the same as destroying the sword for a swordsman, crushing the bow for an archer, breaking the legs of a runner, or pulling out the canines from a tiger.

It's an act of dismantling their weapon.

Rendering their defense and offense.

Then, for QishanWen to openly do this, and for Gusulan to suffer this blow silently without a retaliation, what else could it mean if not a show of power from QishanWen?

Even the most influential sect of the 5 great sects, they had to bow their head down in front of the might of QishanWen.

Thus, other sects who heard about this news were quietly starting to plan on saving themselves. 

What a joke!

Even Gusulan could be crushed, what are you still dilly-dallying about, and don't start planning for your sect!?

However, there was still some who....apparently still dilly-dallying about...

Lotus Pier

Lately, QishanWen assigned all of the nighthunting grounds under their jurisdiction. Everywhere you went, you would meet with QishanWen cultivators. It was not like they were openly preventing people to go into the nighthunt area, but no normal people dare to go into a nighthunt together with QishanWen cultivators and snatch their prey.

Who dared to offend QishanWen? 

Since the result of the competition in QishanWen, Madam Yu's temper was getting worse day by day, either she ridiculed Jiang Wanyin's cultivation for not improving, or she scolded other disciples for lazying around. 

At dinner time, the four people in Jiang's family of Jiang Fengmian, Madam Yu, Jiang Wanyin, and Jiang Yanli, were having their meals silently. 

Both Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu had unpleasant expressions on their face. 

It turned out that the QishanWen Sect had ordered for envoys to pass out messages. For the reason that other sects taught badly and wasted talent, the Wen Sect demanded all of the sects to each dispatch at least twenty disciples to Qishan within three days, so that they could let experts teach them.

Jiang Cheng was shocked, “The Wen Sect’s people really said this? They know no shame, do they?”

Of course, Jiang Cheng resented Wen Chao's act of robbing prey in the archery competition before, and his shameless deeds of refusing to go out after shooting the wrong target.

Jiang Fengmian sighed, "Pay attention to your words, A-Cheng. Let's eat first and discuss it later."

Yu ZiYuan spoke coldly, “Eat? A few days after this, when they’re at Qishan, we won’t even know if they give them any food. Why not go a few meals hungry starting from now? Let them get used to it!”

Jiang FengMian replied in a lukewarm voice, “Why fret over it? No matter what comes in the future, today’s meal should still be eaten.”

Madam Yu was out of patience. She slammed the table, “I’m fretting? Of course I’m fretting! How can you still be so indifferent? Did you not hear what the person from the Wen Sect said? A mere maidservant dares to hold up her head before me! The twenty disciples that are sent must include a disciple from the clan. What does that mean? It means that between A-Cheng and A-Li, one of them must be included! Sent there to do what? To be taught? How each sect teaches their own disciples—since when is it the Wen Sect’s turn to meddle?! This is sending people for them to play with, for them to hold against us!”

"A-Niang, I'll just go." Jiang Wanyin quickly said.

"Of course you go! Or else, you let your sister go?!"

Yu Ziyuan turned her head towards Jiang Fengmian, "Jiang Fengmian! You're still able to calmly eat here. Your son is about to be sent to do God knows what. Don't you want to speak something here!?"

"Sanniangzi, you also know that it's something we can not refuse." Jiang Fengmian put down his chopstick and stared back at his wife.

Countless precedents could prove that if any sect dared to defy QishanWen's orders, it would be accused of strange things such as being ‘rebellious’ or ‘dangerous.’ And, with these as reasons, they would wipe it out fair and square.

He continued, "What's the use of fretting? The disciples of the YumengJiang Sect aren’t as weak as to crack under just one of the outside world’s waves." 

Hearing the last sentence, Yu Ziyuan's rages were like being ignited once again, "Not as weak as to crack in the outside world!? Do you remember how shameful their performance was at the previous competition!?"

"A-Niang...,"

Jiang Wanyin's face was ugly when the last competition was brought up. 

It was always a thorn in his heart, the other 4 young masters from the 4 other great sects were one after another in the upper ranking, and yet Jiang Wanyin was squeezed together with the other second-rate family's young masters. 

"What!? What are you going to say!? " Madam Yu grew even more agitated now.

"You really are an idiot. I’ve told you long ago that you’ll never in your whole life be able to surpass the other young masters in your peers. Not over cultivation, not over night-hunting, even over shooting some random evil spirits, you can’t surpass them! It can’t be helped. Who could change the fact that your mother is worse than another’s? Worse it is, then. Your mother feels injustice for you, tells you countless times not to fool around with other shidi, there isn’t any improvement in your cultivation at all. You’re seventeen already, yet you’re still like an ignorant child. Are you the same as others? Who knows which sewers other people will be splashing in, but you’re going to be the leader of the Jiang Sect! Just how did I give birth to a son like you?!”

There was resentment within her heart. She simply wanted to let out the rage, even if it made no sense. All the rest were quiet as they endured her temper.

Jiang FengMian, “Sanniangzi, you’re tired. Why don’t you go back and rest?”

Yu Ziyuan snorted heavily, and simply left the 3 of them in the dining hall, swiping her sleeves, and walked out with her complexion turned into a colorful state.

Jiang Fengmian also ended his dinner and stood up, approaching Jiang Wanyin who was looking down and hiding his distorted expression right now. 

"A-Cheng, I'll arrange Second Shidi and other 18 disciples to go with you tomorrow. Now, you rest first." He pats Jiang Wanyin's shoulder. 

The next day, Jiang Wanyin, Second Shidi, and the other 18 disciples went straight to Qishan.

Within the time that the Wen Sect had set, they arrived at the appointed sector of indoctrination located at Qishan.

A number of disciples came from each sect, whether large or small. All of them were juniors. Among the hundreds of people, quite a few of the boys knew one another. 

Wen Chao came out and stepped on a high platform, showing off his wise speeches, and confiscated their swords. 

All of the young masters, including Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan, silently gave their swords to the disciples who circled around to collect their swords. 

After all, there's already one precedent whose golden core was melted just because he tried to refuse. 

Every day, those young masters who were like a prince in their sects were driven around by Wen Chao comparable to livestock.

Neither their meals were savory, nor their resting area was comfortable. 

Other young masters were ridiculed every day by him, especially Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan. 

Lan Wangji was in the state of complete Zen, full of indifference, as if his soul had risen out of his body, deaf and mute, neither listening to the mocking attempts nor refuting it with any words.

Wen Chao thought it's boring like punching on a bag of cotton. 

Jin Zixuan who was the most spoiled in his sect was someone who couldn't endure hardship and never heard any scolding in his life, ended up eating the bitter fruits and became Wen Chao's favorite in his scolding.

Day after day, they went into some night hunts, and then when the prey was almost dead, Wen Chao would go and snatch the prey, while the other QishanWen's disciples were boasting the might of Wen Er-Gongzi.

Today, they went into some mountain, Muxi Mountain (Dusk Creek Mountain). Wen Chao just commanded them to search for an entrance, neither giving them more information what kind of entrance or where should they search at. 

The young masters and the disciples were grumbling quietly, but they dared not raise their voice, in fear they were heard by the patrolling QishanWen cultivators and the vicious bed-climbing maid under Wen Chao, Wang Lingjiao.

In this world, the situation was still the same in this event. 

However, in this world, Lan Wangji's facial expression kept getting worse day by day the more they spent in this ridiculous training held by QishanWen. 

There were 19 other disciples who were sent with the young masters from the sect. Took Jin Zixuan for an example, those 19 disciples were brought to protect and serve him.

Nevertheless, the difference between Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji was, the Jins disciples were used to cater to the young master Jin Zixuan at daily basis, so in this training, Jin Zixuan was also protected and served by the Jin disciples he brought. 

While the disciples in Gusulan, they were trained to respect and obey the young masters, but they were never trained to serve nor cater to them. Completely the opposites, Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were seen as someone the Gusulan disciples could always rely on. In their night hunts, Lan Wangji had always silently strived forward alone and stood at the forefront.

Not to mention, Lan Wangji was someone who didn't let out any of his thoughts on his face. 

Aside from Lan Xichen, and unless someone paid attention especially to Lan Wangji, they would not realize there's something wrong with Lan Wangji at this time.

So, in this world, Lan Wangji spent his day alone, gritting his teeth and bearing the injury on his leg, worrying over the state of his father who was injured and bedridden, worrying after his brother's whereabouts, and worrying about his sect that was burned down.

There's no single thing that could at least make his day better in this training. 

There's no one whose laughter he subconsciously always followed the source at. 

There's no one whose smiles could incite the weird feelings at the bottom of his heart and lighten the heavy feelings in his chest.

There's no ridiculous nor funny act from someone who kept a cheerful self even in this worse place, who can make Lan Wangji secretly slandered and smile inside his heart.

There's no one who persistently came at him and wanted to talk with him.

There's nothing that could make Lan Wangji's days slightly better in this world...

The pain in the heart was preserved at his heart without any chance to be healed or let out,

The pain in the body kept getting worse....

These hundreds of young masters and disciples were finally forced to go down into a deep cave in this Muxi Mountain. 

After searching around, there's nothing in this cave aside from a large lake and a huge stone island in the center of the lake.

Wen Chao was impatient and suddenly thought of an idea to pick some baits. 

What's the best bait to lure a monster out? Of course, it was blood.

There were no animals he could use at this moment, but wasn't there hundreds of readily used disciples he could get...?

"Let's take someone and bleed them,"

Wang LingJiao answered and immediately pointed to a girl. She ordered, “How about her?”

The girl was ‘MianMian’. Suddenly having been chosen, her mind went completely blank. 

MianMian realized that she really was the one who had been chosen. With a face brimming with fear, she staggered a few steps back. Seeing that this girl was the one Wang LingJiao chose, Wen Chao remembered that he never had the chance to have her yet and felt that it’d be a pity, “This one? How about someone else?”

Wang LingJiao looked as though she’d been wronged, “Why someone else? I choose this one. Don’t tell me that you’ll miss her?”

She let loose her coquetry, and Wen Chao was over the moon with delight, half of his heart having already melted. Then, turning to look at the way MianMian dressed, he was certain that she wasn’t part of the sect’s clan. She was at most a disciple, so she’d surely be the perfect bait, as even if she was gone the sect wouldn’t come pester him, “Nonsense. Why would you think that I’ll miss her? Do whatever you want. Everything is up to JiaoJiao!”

MianMian knew that if she was hung up, she probably wouldn’t be able to come back down alive. She tried to run away, but wherever she fled, the people dispersed around her. MianMian suddenly noticed that two people remained still. She hid behind their backs at once, shivering.

The two were Jin ZiXuan and Lan WangJi.

As the Wen Sect’s servants that were about to tie MianMian up saw that the two didn’t intend on moving, they shouted, “Move to the side!”

Lan WangJi was silent with indifference.

Seeing that the situation wasn’t good, Wen Chao warned, “Why are you standing there? You can’t understand human speech? Or do you want to save the damsel in distress?”

Jin ZiXuan lifted his brows, “Is that enough? It wasn’t enough for people to be flesh shields for you, and now you want live humans to bleed for you to use as bait?!”

Wen Chao pointed at them, “Are you rebelling against me? Let me warn you, I’ve been tolerating you for a very long time. Right now, hang the brat up with your own hands! Or else none of the people from your sects can expect to return!”

Jin ZiXuan sneered and refused to budge. Lan WangJi also looked as though he had heard nothing, so motionless that he seemed to be meditating.

Second Shidi was anxious, but Jiang Wanyin held his arms down the whole time, preventing him to make any moves.

Jiang Wanyin clenched his fists, thinking not to offend QishanWen.

However,

In such a situation, it was almost impossible to care for oneself only and hope that no blood would be lost!

 

Wen Chao was enraged, shouting, “How dare you! Kill them!”

A few of the Wen Sect’s disciples unsheathed their swords, rushing toward Lan WangJi and Jin ZiXuan.

The ‘Core-melting Hand’, Wen ZhuLiu, stood behind Wen Chao with his hands folded behind him. He never attacked, as though he thought that he didn’t need to do so.

He was right,

seeing that the two boys were at a loss in terms of both weaponry and sheer numbers.

Even more, after the past days of being constantly on the move, they were in quite a bad state, not to mention that Lan WangJi had been injured.

They definitely wouldn’t be able to last long.

What Wen Zhuliu thought of course came true, the skirmish between the two forces quickly died down. Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, and other LanlingJin and Gusulan disciples were held down to the ground, unable to move. 

They were beaten up and some sword wounds were inflicted on some parts of their body. 

Seeing them being subdued in a quick motion, Wen Chao laughed happily and quickly looked upon the other young masters, saying in a mocking tone, "Heh! This is what you got if you still dare to deny my order."

Before, during this fight, all of the other young masters and disciples were taking many steps back, isolating LanlingJin and Gusulan disciples, they were quietly watching these two sects disciples being beaten up. 

The smell of blood hung heavily in the air from the aftermath of the skirmish.

In the midst of the skirmish itself, some disciples were thrown to the lake, gravels and stone were kicked to the lake, and of course, the blood flowed and dripped to the lake, hence, before Wen Chao tried to do some more, suddenly the cave shook, and the island on the lake grew larger and larger.

The ‘stone island’ rose into the air. The large, coal-black head of a beast, atop it the couple of maple leaves, soared out of the water!

Under the screams varying in pitch, the beast slowly turned its head around, staring with its massive eyes to the hundreds of humans on the shore.

The round head of the beast appeared rather strange, similar to both a turtle’s and a snake’s. Simply looking at its head, it’d be more like a gigantic snake, but looking at its body, which had largely risen out of the water already, it seemed more like a…tortoise.

The moment this beast appeared, Wen Chao grew excited and extremely happy. He quickly commanded, "What are you looking at!? Quick, go and besiege the beast!"

The Wen Cultivators were equipped with swords, they quickly abandoned their post and attacked the beast at once, the young masters lifted their bows and attacked the beast as well. 

Even so, the sound of steel hitting steels was heard with every hit. 

The skin, or the scales of this beast's body was extremely hard, even the spiritual swords of Wen Cultivators were unable to penetrate into it. 

Meanwhile, among the chaotic mess, no one would care about what happened with a lowly female slaves' condition in this cave. MianMian's screams were muffled along with the other sounds from the fight with the beast. 

Of course, it didn't mean that there's no other people around her at that moment. 

There were many young masters and disciples who were around MianMian's standing place. 

Even when she was about to be bled, they didn't want to stand up for her, what's more just a mere branding attack from Wang Lingjiao. Between offending the mighty QishanWen and defending a mere slave girl, those young masters understood which one to pick, and they tacitly understood to ignore the scene.

They pretended to be deaf and blind....my ears didn't hear your screams, and my eyes didn't see your miserable state....

The fight between the beast and the cultivators bore no fruit at all. 

The beast was not hurt or receive any damage, and even calmly picking out the cultivators in front of its eyes one by one, swept down its long neck and huge head, bitten several cultivators at once, and dragged them back into its shell. 

Wen Chao was of course standing far away behind, far from the beast's attack range. But the more he saw the horrifying scenes and the more he listened to the desperate screams from the cultivators who were bitten and dragged to the beast shell, the more he grew anxious and scared. 

"Retreat!! Retreat!!! Quickly Retreat!"

He shouted and commanded to the Wen Cultivators, while he himself quickly stepped on his sword and busily called on Wang Lingjiao, "Jiaojiao, come on, we go back."

Wang Lingjiao who had succeeded in pressing the iron brand onto MianMian's face smiled cruelly in satisfaction.

Now, the face of a teenage maiden was forever ruined.

Her screams were resounded by the cave ceiling, the more she cried the more painful it became from the tears, in the end, MianMian couldn't bear the pain and couldn't bear the damage it caused in her meridians, and finally slumped down on the ground, fainted.

Wen Chao and the other Wen cultivators quickly ran to the entrance and flew outside.

Jin Zixuan was in a bad state, there's a few broken bones and ribs, a few sword wounds, and his body was beaten at many places, however seeing Wen Chao's move he still gritted his teeth and shouted,

"Go back, quick, retreat!"

The young masters and other disciples aside from LanlingJin and Gusulan were all in quite a good condition, so they had a quick move and ran to the entrance desperately, while Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji were left behind, dragging their battered bodies. 

Nevertheless, those young masters were still one step too late. 

Wen Chao and other Wen Cultivators had all flown outside, cut the vines that they used to climb down before, and sealed the entrance completely. 

At last, the hundreds of young masters were sealed inside the cave along with a huge man-eating beast.

Fortunately, the beast was somehow satisfied with its harvest on dozens of cultivators it dragged back to its shell earlier. The beast currently retracted its head back to its shell, and the lake surface looked calm once again. 

Those young masters didn't dare to go close to the lake anymore. They huddled up together, curling up at the ground.

"What to do? We're stuck here." One of them cried out. 

"I don't know either. But, if we were lost for days, mother and father at home will come and save us, right?" the other trying to soothe his own anxiety.

"Why are you so stupid? How long do you think we have been in this shitty training? And yet not even once we got any news from outside nor can we send out something from the insides. Even if we were trapped here for days, our parents will still think we're all fine in this training." while the other one quick to pour cold water towards their own selves.

The young masters fell silent. 

They were all in fear and anxiety. 

"He, he, Wen Chao, he could not just leave us here, right? Perhaps he will come tomorrow?"

"Yes, yes, they can not just offend all of our sects at once, right?"

These two questions, however, neither of the two was answered by any of them. 

None of them was sure, whether Wen Chao still had any humanity left to liberate them, or whether QishanWen still wanted to give a face to their sects. 

Well...because at this time they quickly glanced towards Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji who were slumped on the ground, beaten up, and wounded. 

The rest of LanlingJin and Gusulan disciples were no different from their young masters, thus no one had any strength left to take care of others. Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji were left to take care of their own wounds and broken bones.

If Wen Chao had dared to treat the two young masters from two great sects this way, then what about them whose sect was far weaker and less influential than those two?

This thought, everyone understood but tacitly didn't say it outright. 

At this time, Jiang Wanyin sneered. 

He had held grudges and hatred towards these two people, Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji. Before, he had pressed his hatred towards Jin Zixuan, but since the engagement between his sister and him was broken, he was finally free to hate him as he liked. 

"Heh! Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, look at our condition now! Because of your heroic disease, you involved all of us here!"

Lan Wangji was originally someone who never listen nor refutes any mocking words, thus he stayed silent. 

While Jin Zixuan whose body was in pain, he could not tolerate being blamed unreasonably and quickly glared towards Jiang Wanyin.

"Jiang Wanyin! Watch your words!"

Jiang Wanyin was even more dissatisfied when Jin Zixuan responded to him, "Why!? Did I say something wrong? If it's not because of you and Lan Wangji who angered Wen Chao, how could we be dragged to receive the brunt of his anger as well!?"

The other young masters quietly watched the quarrel between the two. 

But the way they moved their body, alienating LanlingJin and Gusulan, and the way they stared at Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan stated their opinion clearly, 'it was all your fault!'

Jin Zixuan looked at their reaction and was stunned for a while before refuting, "Wen Chao wanted to bleed someone to be a live bait, and you still blame me for opposing him!?"

"If he wanted to bleed someone then let him! If someone was bled it was all because of their bad luck! It has nothing to do with us!" Jiang Wanyin shouted back at him. 

"You!" Jin Zixuan felt incredulous, his chest rose up and down, and his breath heavy, suppressing his rages at these shameless remarks.

"How could you still dare to call yourself a cultivator if you let someone injured and tortured in front of you! Where is your morality?!"

"Jin Zixuan! Don't speak about morality with that arrogant attitude of yours! Do you think you are qualified to speak about morality after letting hundreds of us be trapped here!?"

The other young masters also looked at Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji with condemning eyes. 

Jiang Wanyin looked at their reaction and felt that his logic was even more right.

"If one slave girl could be sacrificed to save hundreds of others, then just let her go die!" Jiang Wanyin shifted his sight towards MianMian who fainted at the ground, "Besides, what's the use of keeping this female slave? In the end, she will just become baggage, dragging us down!"

Jin Zixuan was astonished at this guy, at this man, at this cultivator, a cultivator who was supposed to help the weak and eliminate evils, at this young cultivation's sect heir who will later become a sect leader, the leader of many other cultivators,

---who was not embarrassed and even proudly stated this kind of remarks. 

He wanted to laugh in rages and wanted to strangle and kick some sense into this Jiang Wanyin, but he could not find any words to refute.

To begin with, Jin Zixuan had never been scolded or reprimanded by everyone before. Of course in this kind of playing words and arguing Jin Zixuan was defeated completely by Jiang Wanyin who had exclusive training for more than a decade on how to scold someone and twisting logic, taught specifically by his mother. 

Jin Zixuan turned his head towards Lan Wangji and Gusulan disciples,

.....but they were equally useless at arguing. 

Lan Wangji was originally a person who didn't like to speak, not to mention how to argue, while the other Gusulan disciples were people who were trained with their 3,000 rules of not speaking behind people's back, don't speak too much, don't argue, or even just don't everything,

in conclusion, they had no ability to refute verbally!

If it was a written argument...well, perhaps Gusulan could scold back Jiang Wanyin with thousands of words of defends, however, there were not many people who could argue and speak up directly.

Jin Zixuan ended up sighing in despair at this situation. 

Suddenly, Lan Wangji who was silent all along speak up, 

"Maple leaves."

The confrontation between Jiang Wanyin and Jin Zixuan stopped for a while.

"What? Do you want to reprimand us for not arguing and forbid us to fight here as you punished us mercilessly in Gusulan, Lan Wangji?" Jiang Wanyin sneered, "Don't forget, this is not Gusulan."

Lan Wangji ignored his malicious words and continued to say, "There's an entrance below the water."

Jin Zixuan felt that he should just ignore this mad Jiang Wanyin and better to think about their situation first, "Lan Er-Gongzi, How could you know there is an entrance in the pool?"

At this time Lan Wangji was already suppressing the pain in his leg, the addition of broken ribs and sword wounds he accumulated from the skirmish earlier, not to mention how stuffy his chest was from the blood stasis that was being kept so long since the burning incident in Gusulan until today.

He was already in a haggard state and yet neither of these people took the initiative to think clearly first here, and kept blaming others, so he had no choice but to explain it himself towards these people, 

"There are no maple trees atop the entrance we entered earlier, yet there are maple leaves in this lake. It must be washed here from another entrance, and most probably the entrance is in the lake."

These young masters finally understood Lan Wangji's meaning, and their hopes started to surge once again.

However, at this point, someone poured cold water at their hopes one more time,

"Lan Wangji, you are an idiot. Even if there are maple leaves here, who can guarantee there's an entrance underwater? Whether the entrance could accommodate a person or not, who knows?"

Jiang Wanyin was called to be an idiot by his mother before he went to this Qishan training because he was compared towards this Lan Wangji and others, thus he could not wait but wanted to vent his resentment at this time. 

However he didn't know that Lan Wangji was someone who didn't care whether people called him handsome or ugly, stupid or smart, people's judgment was never his concern.

Not all people were like Jiang Wanyin who was so obsessed to get praise, reputation, and acknowledgment.

Thus Lan Wangji only glanced at him indifferently and calmly said, "Check first."

Jin Zixuan was tired of hearing the malicious words Jiang Wanyin kept spouting out continuously, hence he quickly spoke to stop that horrible mouth from moving again, "Yes, yes, let's check it first. There will be people who will go inside the lake and check, while there will also be people who guard and attract the attention of the beast on the shore."

And yet, even though Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji had given them this solution, neither of these young masters spoke or moved, none of them was willing to risk themselves diving into the beast's lair.

Besides, who could guarantee them that the person on the shore will successfully and faithfully attract the beast's attention?

No one could willingly put trust in others for their life and death here.

Second Shidi had been quiet since he was gripped and prevented to move at the skirmish earlier by Jiang Wanyin. 

At this point, he just couldn't bear to let this situation continue to be like this, and his dissatisfaction towards Jiang Wanyin was almost reaching his bottom line now, thus he moved forward regardless,

"I will go and check."

Jiang Wanyin just looked at Second Shidi with an ugly face but he didn't want to say anything as well.

He just snorted and looked away. 

In his mind, let these bunch of people who had heroic diseases throw their life away.

At last, Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, and a few of LanlingJin and Gusulan disciples who were still able to move dragged their bodies near the lake, and started to attract the Beast out of the lake first.

And of course, the 6 people wide-hole in this pool was still there just like in the other world. 

Thus, Second Shidi quickly informed this finding towards the young masters. 

"Stop, stop, don't recklessly go down to the pool!"

At this time, Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji were busy attracting the beast, therefore when the other young masters heard about this finding and quickly pushed one after another to the pool,  Jin Zixuan's shout was ignored. 

Besides, at this time they were in the state of blaming and looking down on Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji, of course, they would not listen to their command.

The scene ended up in a chaotic mess. 

After all, don't forget that there were hundreds, HUNDREDS, of teenagers who were trapped in this cave. 

The moment they pushed one after another and tried to dive first, it was destined to end up in a mess.

Not everyone was able to swim, but at this time no one cared about someone else, what's most important was their own self.

After the wise and eye-opening lecture, Jiang Wanyin spoke earlier, that the action of helping someone else (MianMian) ended up making them trapped, right now people's minds were automatically turned into self-care mode.

Their logic automatically turned into the thinking of "don't care about other's business, whether they can survive or not it is not my problem if they can't swim and escape then blame themselves for being unlucky."

This mess was of course attracted the beast's attention more than the meager effort Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan did.

The sound of peoples' screaming, begging, crying, howling, and desperate pleas were heard one after another as if in perfect harmony.

The crunching, wet, and dull sound of a body being bitten was heard continuously accompanying the scenes of how the blood and chunks of meats being splattered either in the pool surface to slowly sank to the bottom of the lake, or splattered to the shore and painted the cave ground and the cave wall into deep red shades.

This scene was much more chaotic and horrendous than the scene prior where they first confronted this beast.....

In later years, this scene would be remembered as "The Massacre of Muxi Mountain".

Chapter Text

Let me repeat this once again, this is not an update, it's just how I put my stance and my views in Sunshot Campaign, with, and without Wei Wuxian, for the basis to the next plot. 

If you're interested to see what kind of view I have when I write the next chapters, feel free to read. But you don't have to read it to understand my next chapters either, so feel free as well to take a detour and go to the next chapter directly.

Yesterday, someone asked my opinion in a comment about this matter :

Знаете вот недавно я наткнулся на утверждение, что победили в войне Не Минджу и Мэн Яо. Что кланы побеждали в войне до того как Вэй Усянь присоединился к ним и победили бы в войне и без Вэй Усяня. Что Цзян Чен отвоевал Пристань Лотоса самостоятельно. Мне интересно ваше мнение? Как считаете это так? 

(Recently I came accross a saying that said Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao could win the war, that the cultivation sects were actually in the winning party before Wei Wuxian joined them, thus they should have been able to win the war even without Wei Wuxian. Not to mention, Jiang Cheng took back Lotus Pier on his own. What do you say about this matter?)

--- from the very wonder @Хедин

First of all, I have to say that my immediate reaction when I saw this was, frowning and snorting heavily. 

Dear reader, just where did you stumble upon this statement? I'm really wondering where or how did this...ridiculous statement come about?

I'm not only talking about Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao's overestimated ability there, but also talking about the last statement, Jiang Cheng took back Lotus Pier on his own???? 

To simply answer and argue those statements, I can actually just simply ask them these questions back,

Sunshot Campaign was the important point to determine the FATE of the cultivation world,

whether they'd end up living in a world where the Wen Sect ruled upon them from above,

or whether they'd be able to hold onto their own sect.

This war, Sunshot Campaign was also an important point where it could determine the life and death of many people. 

This war, Sunshot Campaign, was a pivotal plot point in the whole MDZS world, where it could affect the ending of the MDZS by more than, perhaps 80%?

Then, for this kind of important event, to be said that this war could be won without Wei Wuxian, I need to ask you then, what's the use of Wei Wuxian? Did MoXiangTongXiu create Wei Wuxian just for fun? Did she create Wei Wuxian just for an accessory? 

If such an important and pivotal plot in the whole MDZS could actually go forward without the protagonist, If the war could be won without Wei Wuxian, then MDZS's protagonist won't be put into Wei Wuxian's hand!

Then, the protagonist of MDZS would be changed hands into someone else!

Then, MoXiangTongXiu shouldn't have bothered writing dozens of chapters to introduce Wei Wuxian in her novel, if such an important plot could actually be moved forward without the existence of the protagonist!

There, simply looking from the angle of how a novel, a work, fiction, or a story worked out, those statements were already dubious and outrageous. 

It was like simply saying, without Harry Potter, the war with Voldemorts could be won, simply. 

Without Eren Jaeger, the titan problem in Attack On Titan (Shingeki No Kyojin) could be solved, as easily. 

Without The Avenger the world could be saved from Thanos, no matter what. 

Without Aang the world of Avatar could win the Fire Nation, with ease.

There...

Aren't those statements simply true ludicrous jokes?

I have to say to that person who gave the statement :

Dear sister/brother, Isn't this simply confusing the roles of PROTAGONIST into a CANON FODDER who can simply be replaced and erased?

*Face palmed*

Isn't this simply saying that Wei Wuxian was an unimportant character in MDZS?

Isn't this simply an indirect saying to complain and replace the protagonist either to Jin Guangyao or Jiang Cheng?

If you want to elevate other characters to be the protagonist, then why are you reading MDZS? Why are you watching the donghua? Why are you reading the Manhua? Why are you watching the untamed?

MoXiangTongXiu had set Wei Wuxian to be the protagonist, why are you so anxious and so envious, feeling eager to disregard his existence and to replace his protagonist's status with someone else?

Like, really dude???

If an Author put someone to be the protagonist, then it meant the whole PLOT, the whole EVENT, in that work, REVOLVED HEAVILY towards that protagonist. 

No author will create a protagonist just for fun, just to add the numbers for the characters!

*roll eyes*

But of course, I also have A LOT of CANON FACTS to refute and slap the reality check to those statements :)

After all, as the Z generation with an advanced civilization, we should not talk about groundless ideas ~

First of all, I think the idea that Nie Mingjue, JGY, and JC, were actually able to win the war was probably taken from this passage:

Everyone who stood on the Wen Sect’s side took the Sunshot Campaign as a joke. However, three months later, the circumstances didn’t turn out the way they expected them to at all!

Many places in Hejian and Yunmeng had been taken over, but that wasn’t the most important. Today, even Sect Leader Wen’s eldest son had been beheaded.

The statement that the Sunshot Campaign could be won without Wei Wuxian perhaps took this passage as their proof, that Hejian and Yunmeng area had been taken over, and even Wen Xu was beheaded by NMJ. 

But, I have to remind you there,

Does this timeline happen DURING the 3 months of the Sunshot Campaign? 

The answer was NO!

Look at this sentence properly:

However, three months later, the circumstances didn’t turn out the way they expected them to at all!

The timeline, blatantly said, 3 months LATER, not DURING the 3 months.

I have to ask you, for people who have even a bit of literature or linguistic knowledge, the words of 3 months later, and During the 3 months, Isn't it a completely different meaning???

If it was written DURING THE 3 MONTHS, then it may be true that the Sunshot Campaign party was indeed winning even without WWX.

BUT!

What was written was 3 MONTHS LATER. 

What does it mean then?

It means, SOMETHING HAPPENED, an UNEXPECTED FACTOR suddenly showed up after 3 months of the war.

Needless to say, who came out after this 3 months' time was...WEI WUXIAN!

Then, we will analyze the second part of the statements:

Many places in Hejian and Yunmeng had been taken over,

From this passage we can see two areas were winning, that's Hejian and Yunmeng. 

First, where was Hejian?

It's the war front of QingheNie. 

It's a place where Nie Mingjue had beheaded Wen Xu. 

That means, the winning was indeed achieved by Nie Mingjue and QingheNie Sect. 

Looking at how QingheNie was praised to be a strong sect, it is something that indeed not an unsurprising result. 

But, the winning in Hejian was also due to the fact that QingheNie battlefront was in this region, their whole manpower was focused here.

What about the other place? Can the winning in Hejian be said as an overall victory? If QingheNie later dispersed their manpower to other places, can this victory also be repeated in other places?

The answer was NO.

Let me remind you that previously, The Wen Sect had conquered many sects and regions, and had erected many supervision offices even before they came to Lotus Pier. 

Then, let me remind you again, after they conquered and erected those offices, would they just let it rot and abandoned, and let one or two people take care of them??

Would they?

Of course not!

Those dozens of supervision offices needed manpower, there must be enough Wen Cultivators stationed in every Supervision Offices to guard them, I repeat, EVERY. 

The reason why did QingheNie was able to win a victory in Hejian was because, it's just ONE, I repeat, ONE battlefront, and more importantly the battlefront that was at the region of QINGHE. 

So, if QingheNie was not able to win back Hejian it would instead be a joke and proof that their sect was weak, if they can't even win the battlefront in their region.

Then, why did Nie Mingjue was able to behead Wen Xu?

Is that proof that Wen Xu is weaker than Nie Mingjue?

Is that the proof that the Wen Sect is weaker than QingheNie and Sunshot Campaign could be easily won by just the 3 Sworn Brothers?

Well, I have to remind you again that, Hejian was just one battlefront, ONE. 

Hejian is just one region where the Wen Sect had erected their supervision offices. 

The power amassed in Hejian was just a...what? perhaps 1/dozens of the real power of the Wen Sect.

Let's say that the Wen Sect owned 50,000 cultivators, and were spread to EVERY supervisory office they conquered. 

Take Yiling for example, for a remote place perhaps they'd just give around dozens or hundreds of cultivators to take care of one office. 

Then in the major battlefronts such as Jiangling (Yunmeng), Hejian (Qinghe), or Jiangsu (Gusu and Lanling), they must place more manpower amounted to thousands to guard. 

Then, if one of those battlefronts were to be defeated, can it be called that QingheNie was stronger than the Wen Sect overall?

Then, if those few thousands of cultivators were to be defeated, can it be said that the other 50,000 Wen cultivators were nothing and defeated as well?

If QingheNie is stronger than the Wen Sect, there's no need to wait until Sunshot Campaign to form an alliance to defeat the Wen. Nie Mingjue could just go and defeat the Wen Sect himself before then, since he had a grudge for Wen Ruohan who was said to tamper with his father's saber and triggered him to die.

There's a reason why did Nie Mingjue had never acted before...and should I say the obvious reason why he didn't go to challenge the Wen before allying with the other sects? 

So, the winning in Hejian was indeed the proof that the QingheNie sect was strong and hard to defeat (Very much unlike YunmengJiang who got quickly massacred after just one blow under the command of the so-called waste, Wen Chao).

But this winning could not be said to be the result of the overall war. 

One event, or one battlefront in the war could not conclude the overall situation in the war.

Next, let's take a look at Yunmeng

Many places in Hejian and Yunmeng had been taken over

This passage, perhaps, this statement was taken as the proof that Jiang Cheng TOOK OVER LOTUS PIER BY HIMSELF---or so some readers might think.

In this case, I have to remind you again about the timeline,

When did the Sunshot campaign start?

It happened soon after JC got his golden core, and then joined the Sunshot Campaign. 

When Wei Wuxian had finally come out from the Burial Mound, the battle was around 3 months after the start of the alliance, it was taken from this passage:

For this, three months ago, the sects Jin, Nie, Lan, and Jiang formed an alliance and led the revolt. 

Then, what kind of state were these participants of the Sunshot Campaign three months ago look like?

The answer was exactly this harsh and arrogant statement from Wen Ruohan, but also very true :

Sect Leader Wen spoke up back then. Among the four sects, the LanlingJin Sect was on the fence—watching how all of the sects were angrily going on some expedition, it wanted to take part as well, but if it suffered more defeats than victories, it’d soon realize that there was no good in it, perhaps even coming back to hug the Wen Sect’s leg and worship it once more;

the QingheNie Sect’s sect leader was so stiff that he’d easily snap in half—soon afterward, no need for others to move and he’d die in his own people’s hands sooner or later;

the GusuLan Sect had been burnt into ruins—although Lan XiChen was here to inherit the position of sect leader after he had moved the Library Pavillion, he was only a junior and couldn’t do anything much;

the most laughable one was the YunmengJiang Sect, the people of which either had been killed or had scattered, leaving only Jiang Cheng, who was younger than even Lan XiChen and was still a child born yesterday, who had nobody in his hands but still dared call himself sect leader, holding up the banner of rebellion as he recruited new disciples.

It could be concluded with two words: unpromising and overconfident!

 

Next, look at this passage:

Two months ago, the Two Jades of Lan cooperated in a surprise attack with Jiang Cheng. They took back the swords that had been gathered from each sect’s disciples at Wen Chao’s ‘sector of indoctrination’, bringing them back to their owners.

Jiang Cheng, and even Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan, had only gotten their weapon back 2 months before WWX joined the war, or 1 month after the war started. 

Jin Zixuan perhaps had a spare spiritual sword from LanlingJin treasury.

Even Lan Wangji still had his WangjiQin and perhaps a spare spiritual sword from Gusulan treasury.

After all, those 2 sects were still erected in their place and were still occupied by their own clans.

What about Jiang Cheng?

What he owned was merely Zidian. 

Is Zidian comparable to spiritual swords when used in a war? Don't forget that Zidian's main use is to contend against evil spirits, such as to dispel possession.  

Perhaps Zidian could be used as a main offensive weapon in a war, in a large battle, not just one on one, if the person who wielded it is proficient and skilled with the whips!

Perhaps, if the wielder of Zidian was Madam Yu who had used this weapon for almost 20 years, it might be a fearsome offensive weapon in the war.

Then, I ask you, when did Jiang Cheng get his Zidian?

It was less than 3 months ago. 

I ask you again, what kind of talent Jiang Cheng is?

Is he particularly amazing and talented to be able to MASTER completely a weapon he's unfamiliar with in a short time?

Well...then I have to remind you, again and again, there must be a reason why Madam Yu kept scolding Jiang Cheng so much for being inferior to Wei Wuxian. 

If Jiang Cheng is particularly talented and smart, he won't be facing an inferiority crisis towards Wei Wuxian.

Only people with less ability would envy those with abundant one.

Thus...have you realized now what kind of performance Jiang Cheng might have had during this 3 months' war? With only a  batch of newly recruited disciples to boot.

Newly recruited disciples could be strong and could be weak as hell.

There might be strong people who wanted to join a young and inexperienced leader, if, IF, the leader was someone who was charismatic and have good leadership, able to attract the STRONG to follow him.

But, Do I need to remind you again what kind of leadership ability or charisma Jiang Cheng have?

If he's a person who had an exemplary charm, he would not wail and complaint so miserably in Guanyin Temple, when he was already almost 40,

"You are better than me in everything, personality, and cultivation, you all know this, and make me felt like a clown, etc, etc"

With his kind of character, would there be STRONG people who wanted to follow him for his own charisma?

Then again, no need to speculate more, because the real situation has already been written clearly in Canon. There's this passage of :

Wei WuXian, “I just got out, hey? I heard that both shijie and you were fine, and you were rebuilding the YunmengJiang Sect and forming an alliance, so I went to kill a few Wen-dogs first to lighten up your burden, and do some contributions. 

 

What was said here was rebuilding the YunmengJiang Sect, NOT taking back Yunmeng/Lotus Pier.

Then, what does it mean by rebuilding YunmengJiang Sect? Of course by amassing new disciples, just like what Wen Ruohan said earlier:

YunmengJiang sect,the people of which either had been killed or had scattered, leaving only Jiang Cheng, who was younger than even Lan XiChen and was still a child born yesterday, who had nobody in his hands but still dared call himself sect leader, holding up the banner of rebellion as he recruited new disciples.

This was what it mean by rebuilding the YunmengJiang sect. 

There's no mention that at this time, JC had taken back Lotus Pier and Yunmeng!

No mention at all in the whole novel.

I really do not understand where did that person get this source of confidence from.

I'm surprised that people take this statement and think Jiang Cheng had taken back Yunmeng and Lotus Pier by himself. 

Therefore, let's see who actually took back Yunmeng region.

Look at this passage by Wei Wuxian:

so I went to kill a few Wen-dogs first to lighten up your burden, and do some contributions. 

And then look at this passage :

Lan WangJi, “Were you the one who has been killing the Wen Sect’s disciples?”

Wei WuXian, “Of course.”

Then, I ask you, what does Lan Wangji mean by killing the Wen Sect's disciple?

The answer is at this passage:

Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu’s corpses couldn’t be found within the supervision office. Speculating that they fled toward the direction of Qishan, Jiang Cheng immediately led the people out of the abandoned supervision office and chased after them on their swords. Lan WangJi, however, returned to Gusu first.

The second day, Lan WangJi had finally caught up to Jiang Cheng. 

Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng first were assigned to kill Wen Chao. 

But, the moment they go to the supposed hiding place of Wen Chao, the whole office had already been killed....by whom? Of course Wei Wuxian. 

But Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu were not there, so they go to the north. 

For this, I advise you to look at the MDZS maps ( source : MDZS Maps : Rui on Twitter ) and see that Yunmeng and Qishan were a neighbor with each other, the direction from Yunmeng to Qishan was NORTH.

Then, look at this passage :

The two went up North according to the information. Everywhere they went, they heard talk of strange corpses appearing there. All of the corpses were cultivators of the Wen Sect, dressed in sun robes. All of them were high in both rank and cultivation. In spite of so, all of them died in gruesome yet diverse ways, and all of them had been left in the public where many could see.

Do I need to repeat it again, Everywhere they went, they heard talk of strange corpses appearing there.

Whose corpses? All of the corpses were cultivators of the Wen Sect, dressed in sun robes.

At what place? Everywhere.

What does it mean? It meant from the region of Yunmeng to Qishan, all the Supervision Offices that were erected by the Wen back then was slaughtered. 

Then , need I say it again WHO KILLED THEM?

Wei Wuxian!

Who was killed?

All of the corpses were cultivators of the Wen Sect, dressed in sun robes. All of them were high in both rank and cultivation.

There!

I have said it clearly.

Then, after reading those passages, do you still feel confuse of WHO conquered the land of YUNMENG back????

And I have to repeat this,

All of them were high in both rank and cultivation.

This statement was to remind people that the Wen Sect was entitled as the behemoth, as the number one sect in the cultivation world was not because of just a mere rumor or hearsay. They are indeed strong! Stronger than the other 4 great sects combined!

Do you think the cultivators in the Wen Sect are all people in the likes of Wen Chao????

If you think so, then I have to present to you those statements written clearly from the original novel. 

The cultivators in the Wen Sect are not just vast in number, but also possessed many cultivators with high cultivation.

High cultivation.

Should I repeat it once again?

So that people could realize that the war of Sunshot Campaign is not just a play.

The war IS NOT just a mocking battle. 

The Wen Sect are not just a bunch of monkeys that could easily be killed.

Do you know that the battle of the Sunshot Campaign lasted for around 2 years even after Wei Wuxian have joined the battle?

There's always a reason for everything. 

Answer 1 : The Wen Sect was a gigantic tough mountain, hard to topple down, vast in numbers, and had many cultivators with high cultivation. 

Answer 2 : There were many lazy and reluctant hypocrites in the Sunshot Campaign party, LanlingJin is the biggest one, Fang Sect, Yao Sect, and others, can you imagine those hypocrites fight seriously? They were reluctant to give their best, thus the burden of the war was shouldered between these people : Nie Mingjue, Gusulan clan, and of course Wei Wuxian.

So, have you understand now, why did the war still last for years when Wei Wuxian actually was able to kill thousands enemy by himself?

And when this very important variable that could defeat thousands enemies by himself was erased from the equation, Do we still need to think what's the outcome of the war?????

Let's add one more conclusive evidence to back the answer of WHO WIN BACK YUNMENG AND LOTUS PIER.

Look at this passage taken from MDZS chapter 48, in Nie Mingjue's flashback:

The timeline was shortly after Nie Mingjue beheaded Wen Xu, it happened along with the event when Lan Xichen who was traveling back and forth in various battlefronts was stopping in Hejian for a while:

Lan XiChen, "Brother Mingjue, I will have to stay at your place for the night. I am departing on the next morning, then meeting with Wangji."

Nie MingJue, "Where to?"

Lan XiChen, "To Jiangling"

Nie MingJue frowned, "Isn't Jiangling still in the hands of the Wen-dogs?"

Here, I have to remind you again, where is Jiangling? Jiangling is a region where YunmengJiang Sect was placed.

Continue to the previous passage:

Nie MingJue frowned, "Isn't Jiangling still in the hands of the Wen-dogs?"

Lan XiChen, "Not since a few days ago. Currently it is in the hands of the YunmengJiang Sect."

Let me repeat it again, Not since a few days ago. 

A few days ago...

Needless to say, WHO SUDDENLY CAME a few days ago and slaughtered all the Wen Cultivators, both high in rank and cultivation from Yunmeng region up to the North to Qishan, right?

Wei Wuxian!

Next, still in the same scene:

A sect leader spoke, "Sect Leader Nie, I don't think you've heard yet. Yunmeng's sect Leader Jiang is quite powerful in the area."

Another person added, "How can he not be? Wei Wuxian alone can face millions, so who'd he be scared of? He can just sit in there controlling his area, unlike how we're always running for our lives. With such luck..."

Someone noticed that his words weren't in a good tone, "Well, good thing that Zewu-Jun and Hanguang-Jun are helping everyone. Or else, I don't know how many sects and innocent commoners would fall into the hands of the Wen-dogs."

There, from those passages we can see clearly who took back the area of Jiangling (where YunmengJiang and other subsidiary sects belong to).

So, are you still wondering who win back Yunmeng and Lotus Pier after all this???

Lastly, let's talk about Meng Yao's part in the Sunshot Campaign and the idea that Meng Yao might become the replacement of WWX to win the war.

This is even more laughable actually. 

First of all, I asked you, why did Meng Yao dare to assassinate Wen Ruohan?

Or even, If Wen Ruohan were to die, did the Wen Sect will fall apart and be defeated in an instant?

For this answer, you have to go back upstair and see again how I dissect the condition of the Wen Sect. 

The Wen Sect had many cultivators with high rank and high cultivation in the sect.

What does it mean?

It meant, even if both Wen Xu and Wen Chao died, Wen Ruohan died, as long as the Wen cultivator's vast numbers are still there, the sect would not fall apart. 

They could easily elect a new leader from the main clan members.

Besides, if Wen Ruohan die, do you think Meng Yao could still walk leisurely in the Wen Sect and then still leisurely waited to kill another leader of the Wen Sect?

*snorts*

However, first and foremost, I still have to ask you, do you really think so lowly of Meng Yao's intelligence and his skill to detect risk and benefit???

How could he risk his own self for just a.....unpromising and overconfident Sunshot Campaign party?

In the Wen Sect Meng Yao was truly respected, acknowledged by Wen Ruohan without care of his status.

What about in the other sects?

Even in the QingheNie, there are still cultivators who mocked him for being a prostitute's son. 

Even after being Nie Mingjue's deputy, people still looked down on him for his status.

What about LanlingJin?

Heh, no need to say about what kind of treatment Meng Yao had in this scummy place. 

Then, without Wei Wuxian's power that could weaken and decrease the Wen cultivators rapidly, do you think Meng Yao would have the thought to betray Wen Ruohan?

Let me remind you once again, the Wen cultivator whom Wei Wuxian killed in the war was not just accounted in the number,  but also their high cultivation. 

Take Wen Zhuliu for example. 

This person was able to overwhelm the whole YunmengJiang cultivators by his terrifying core melting technique and cultivation level. Even Yu Ziyuan, the famous Purple Spider was overwhelmed by him. Jiang Wanyin back then was tossed like a bag of rice by him. Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan altogether was not worthy of his attention in the Xuanwu Cave.

However, this person was EASILY tossed to play by Wei Wuxian's demonic entities and Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation. 

Do you know what does it mean?

It means, when Wei Wuxian killed the Wen Cultivators, whether they had high cultivation or not, it doesn't matter in the eyes of his demonic cultivation. 

BUT!

In the eyes of normal cultivators, those people with high cultivation were of course DIFFICULT TO DEFEAT.

So, Wei Wuxian's importance was not only DECREASING the Wen Cultivators in great numbers but also ERADICATING The cultivators who had high cultivation, easily!

Without Wei Wuxian, do you still think that they could easily decrease the Wen Sect's power?

Oh perhaps are you thinking that they could recruit Xue Yang to replace Wei Wuxian?

Heh. what a super funny joke. 

Xue Yang was only able to cultivate demonic cultivation USING WEI WUXIAN'S MANUSCRIPT.

Xue Yang, even after he had 13 years of practice and time advantage, when he faced Wei Wuxian in Yi City, his talent in demonic cultivation was still FAR BEHIND Wei Wuxian.

Even Xue Yang himself admitted it and say "As expected of the founder!"

So, who else do you want to replace Wei Wuxian with?

Perhaps if you say, Baoshan Sanren, I would agree to it. 

Though, it must be another series of laughable jokes to see this immortal coming down to bother helping THOSE HYPOCRITES.

But of course, perhaps some Xiyao fans would fight tooth and nail and said Meng Yao would still betray for the sake of Lan Xichen...

But, will he?

Are you truly Jin Guangyao's fans?

Do you truly understand him?

Don't forget that both of them had just known and interact with each other for mere months. Even after the war ended and he had a closer relationship with Lan Xichen,  in Jin Guangyao's eyes, Lan Xichen was not as important as his business and his own benefit.

No, even after they have interacted for 10 years later, Lan Xichen's true happiness was not as important as Jin Guangyao's ambition. JGY still had the heart to take advantage of LXC's kindness and trust, use his trust to kill LXC's own sworn brother and friend, NMJ!

He would not kill or hurt Lan Xichen directly, that's true, it's because Jin Guangyao, unlike a certain sect leader, Jin Guangyao knew gratitudes. 

But, do you think Meng Yao would risk his own life and his own benefits just for Lan Xichen and risk himself to kill Wen Ruohan? When the situation was clear that the Wen had no sign to collapse.

Nah. I don't think so. 

At most what Meng Yao would do was just persuading Wen Ruohan to spare Gusulan as much as possible, let them be hurt as little as possible when the Wen Sect wins in the end. 

Honestly, I didn't hate Jin Guangyao. I do admire him a bit because for a person to be able to climb from the bottom to the top like Jin Guangyao, is not as easy as saying it. 

I do admire his brain and his cunning mind. 

For a villain, he's a charming one. 

BUT!

The problem in this MDZS fandom, the problem in JGY's fans, is that the fans are divided into 2 factions,

that is people who like JGY just like what I said above, for his cunning and charming sides of a villain, 

And....those people who simply got brainwashed by the STEREOTYPICAL novel. Where the protagonist is always people who climbed from the bottom to the top with a DRAMATIC journey, full of tears and snots, and pitiful stories, from weak to the strongest, etc, etc.

While Wei Wuxian, as the protagonist, was set to be someone who had everything, either in looks, talent, cultivation, brains, lover, and friends, simply a winner in life.

Then, for those people who got too brainwashed with the stereotypical novel, they felt dissatisfied, and they'd go and search in MDZS, for someone who suits their taste of protagonist...and that person was...Jin Guangyao. 

Some of Jin Guangyao's fans honestly love him for his cunning and charming villain character. 

While the rest of those brainwashed people earlier, they got anxious and ashamed to admit that Jin Guangyao is a villain. 

Then, they used every single excuse to cover up Jin Guangyao's deeds, and painted him into a person WHO HAS NO CHOICE. 

For me, that action was really hilarious!

The charming and cunning villain JGY was rendered useless and lackluster into a stereotypical character, then what makes him different from another cannon fodder villain?

Jin Guangyao's fans who justify JGY's actions were simply dragging his character downward and erasing his charms as a villain. 

I don't understand, why are you so shameful and afraid to admit that JGY is indeed a villain and try so hard to justify him?

Why do some of (not all of) JGY's fans are eager to justify and paint JGY into a miserable, and vulnerable character, defending everything he did was due to helplessness, and then deny or justify every single villainous deed he owned?

Isn't this actually downgrading the character's charm?????

I don't understand~~~

Chapter Text

The Massacre of Muxi Mountain. 

This event would be remembered by this generation of cultivators, crisp in their minds, no matter how long it passed, the horrendous scenery they saw that day would still be fresh and clear in their memories. 

Back in the day, Xuanwu Of Slaughter got his name after slaughtering a whole town, with more than 5,000 people eaten and dragged to its shell. 

It was back then when the Xuanwu itself was not as big as its current self. 

Right now, hundreds of disciples in the cave were just like a mere dessert compared to its main course 400 years ago.

Jin Zixuan, Lan Wangji, and other LanlingJin and GusuLan disciples were frozen, speechless. They could only look blankly at the bloody scene a few dozen feet across.

Was it their retaliation for earlier?

No.

They were frozen because right now they could not even move their body to save themselves and run farther from the beast, don't expect them to be able to move their body and try to save the already...messy scene.

Those LanlingJin and Gusulan disciples were full of fear, shocked, muscle numbed, and brain numbed to even think about retaliation. 

But, perhaps it was a God-given miracle?

One of the glaring traits of this Beast was...it possessed bad eyesight, similar to snakes, but have a good smell sensory, and sensitive skin in its territory, the underwater. 

Therefore, the reason the hundreds of other disciples were leisurely eaten by Xuanwu was that they moved around frantically and because they dived carelessly into its territory. 

As for both LanlingJin and Gusulan disciples who were shocked speechless, their body was unable to move, they were actually lucky. Xuanwu of Slaughter could not detect the object that didn't move, and was not in its territory.

Meanwhile, the other disciples and young masters who were facing the big crisis of Xuanwu, were wailing desperately.

The high pitch of their screams and wails was even more spectacular than the screams that MianMian , a maiden, let out earlier. 

"Mercy oh mercy, Help help!!!!"

"Oh, Buddha, Oh Guanyin, Help meahhhhhhhh"

"A-dieeeee, A-Niaaaaaaaang"

"Ahhhhhh! My leeeg, my leeegs, help  heeelpp my legs, where is my leeeeg"

"Wooooooo I don't wanna dieeeee~"

So on, and so on. 

Be that as it may, no matter how they screamed and wailed, the Xuanwu kept diligently swiping its neck back and forth, diligently collecting the "Hors D'oeuvre" It finally had after 400 years of hibernating.

Before, when the God of Fates had started this world, it was all meant to punish the evildoer and let them get their karma properly. 

What's the biggest karma one hypocrite could have?

Realizing what a great life you had in the past compared to this hellish nightmare, was the most suitable karma.

At this time, Yi WeiChun was just a small disciple under one small sect in Lanling.

He was sent to this Qishan Indoctrination as well to be cannon fodder, to protect the young master of his sect. 

Currently, his abdomen was pierced under the sharp, huge, and strong fangs of Xuanwu of Slaughter, almost separating his body in two. Half of his lower body was already swallowed in the beast's mouth, while his upper body was dangling back and forth, following the movement of Xuanwu'e head as it swiped its neck once again to smash a group of disciples who tried to run back to the cave's inner area. 

Yi Weichun was used by the Xuanwu to swat the group of those disciples...

No need to say, how much damage that collision resulted in Yi WeiChun's body. 

At this time, when the beating of his heart almost stopped, and his brain had almost stopped functioning, suddenly it felt like the world was slowed down, or it's almost like the time itself was stopped. 

In Yi WeiChun's mind, suddenly, countless images, and countless scenes were played.

Starting from he was born, from when he was a child, when he go to his sect and applied as a disciple and forward. 

However, it turned out something was different.

The divergence in Yi WeiChun's life started from when he went to participate in Qishan's conference. 

In this world, Wen Chao stayed in the archery field, he and the rest of the Wen Sect robbed more than half of the preys, even the 4 other major sects, aside from topping the winner, the rest of their disciples were barely able to hunt the preys. This interference by Wen Chao affected the small sects even more. As a result, at this conference, the sect where Yi WeiChun was in, did not even shoot one target.

However, in the images in Yi WeiChun's mind, there should have been someone, the head disciple of YunmengJiang, Wei Wuxian there, who confronted Wen Chao, attracting Gusulan's Lan Wangji's attention who later stood beside Wei Wuxian as well, and in the end, drove Wen Chao out from the field.

In those images, Yi WeiChun's sect had succeeded to shoot a little portion of the prey, and got quite a result to brag in their hometown, resulting in their sect attracting more new disciples who joined after hearing their (actually meager but got told bigger) accomplishment.

The scenes move forward, forward, and forward, and Yi WeiChun looked at "himself" in those scenes, was safely transported out without any injuries from the Xuanwu cave, leaving behind Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji who later were famous for killing the beast that turned out to be Xuanwu of Slaughter together. 

He saw "himself" go back to his sect, met his own parents, crying snots and tears.

He saw "himself" later joined the LanlingJin battlefront in Sunshot Campaign. 

He saw "himself" actually enjoying his time, walking and sleeping in leisure even in the battle, because LanlingJin's main battlefront, Langya, had the help of Wei Wuxian, the fearsome ghost master, so there's no need for LanlingJin cultivators to work themselves hard, because isn't there already a thousand fierce corpse army under Wei Wuxian?

He saw "himself" marry a beautiful woman in his hometown, and have a few children. 

He saw "himself" got his leg broken by Wei Wuxian after he got caught insulting Wei Wuxian by the man himself.

He saw "himself" later went to the Burial Mound, just simply shouting vigorously, but actually doing nothing, looking at Jiang Wanyin diligently work by himself to destroy Wei Wuxian's corpses barrier at the foot of the mountain, then they proceeded to the mountain top, and easily killed "the old the young and the weak" who stood guard using hoes, pan, and even branches as their weapon. 

He saw "himself" got the prestige for "killing the big demon Yiling Laozu" and was famous in his hometown.

He saw "himself" bragging about his broken leg while condemning Wei Wuxian's evil deed in every tavern he visited, no matter if people asked him or not, or if people were interested in hearing his broken leg story or not.

In conclusion, he saw himself living in a fairy-tale-like world and future in the scenes inside his mind...

marrying the famous maiden in his hometown, 

having a few children, 

got famous and earned much wealth from his prestige.

Yi WeiChun was shocked, he envied "himself" in those scenes, and he resented "himself" in those images who got those beautiful endings.

'Why, why, why, why, why can he get his happy ending and I don't!!!! Why did I got eaten by Xuanwu here!!!'

Those resentful feelings corroded his heart and his mind, until finally, he realized something, 

'In this world, there's no Wei Wuxian.'

After that realization came, Yi Weichun was full of complaints, full of regrets, and wanted to go back to the world where Wei Wuxian was in.

Even so, his plea, his regret, was nothing of importance. 

The Xuanwu still dragged him right to its shell, piled him up along with other muddy and bloody corpses inside.

His resentment when he was on the verge of dying was consumed by "the black iron sword" inside the Xuanwu's shell.

Yi Weichun resentful's soul was absorbed and trapped inside the thousands of other resentful souls inside the black iron swords, unable to reincarnate, and was tortured by resentment for eternity....or until someone actually idle and ABLE to purify the sword's resentment...

Outside of the Cave :

Second Shidi surfaced from underwater with great difficulty.

In both his arms, two young disciples from Ouyang Sect, the subsidiary of YunmengJiang's sect in Yunmeng, were brought by him.

After his appearance, YunmengJiang's disciples surfaced one after another, each of them carrying one or two other sect's disciples in their arms. 

Those were people who could not swim, and were still young, even younger than themselves. 

YunmengJiang's disciples were brought up in a watery area. They spent their childhood and their days swimming and diving back and forth in Lotus Pond, thus their swimming skill was indeed among the best compared to the other sects. 

Before, amid the chaos with how the Xuanwu suddenly turned its attention to them instead of Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji, Second shidi had grabbed two people at once and immediately dived outside. Looking at their Er-Shixiong who was helping the other sect's young disciples with him, the Third Shidi and others without thinking were following Second Shidi's move, quickly grabbed young disciples who were timid on the shore and dived outside quickly. 

After the appearance of YunmengJiang disciples, other sect's disciples who were proficient in swimming, like the TingshanHe sect who lived near the sea, or other small clans in the Jiangsu region who were close to Yangtze River or lived near the sea as well,  they appeared one after another.

Those people also had great swimming abilities. 

Those people surfaced with pale faces and weak limbs, many of them had surfaced but had no energy to grab onto the shore and climbed to the ground, Second Shidi quickly helped those people to go to the ground first. 

Who wouldn't have weak limbs after battling against time and luck when they compete to dive outside, under the eyes of Xuanwu?

There were a lot of other disciples who could swim but still got caught by Xuanwu underwater...

They lay on the ground for a time around one cup of tea (10 minutes), engulfed in silence.

But after waiting for this long, there were no other people who surfaced aside from the people who were lying here in wait. 

Second Shidi took a glance at his surroundings and his heart sank.

YunmengJiang accounted the most of the survivors, among the 20 disciples it sent, 15 of them survived.

From the Hundreds of disciples and young masters who were sent to this Qishan Indoctrination, the ones who could escape the cave were only these several dozens of people...

No one knew, or perhaps they knew but were afraid to acknowledge it, what happened to the other Hundreds of disciples...

After waiting for another one cup of tea and still could not see any more movement from the waterway, they finally decided to go back to the sects and reported this event to their sect leaders.

After all, they could not go back to QishanWen, wouldn't they just ask for a free beating and their life to be killed as well otherwise?

YunmengJiang's disciples went back to Yunmeng in silence. 

No one had the energy to talk...or actually, everyone was immersed in their own thought at this moment. 

After 5 days of walking, they finally arrived at Lotus Pier. 

Jiang Fengmian was currently in the sect, and Madam Yu was also in the sect.

The other disciples who looked at the appearance of Second Shidi and the others were shocked and quickly clamored towards them, asking for what, why, and how.

Madam Yu was the most shocked of them all when she looked at the embarrassed and disheveled state of Jiang Wanyin. 

"A-Cheng! My Son, what happened with you, quick, go and call physician over,"

Jiang Wanyin was quickly ushered to his room,

the servants were quickly told to boil warm water for him to wash up,

the cooks in Lotus Pier were quickly told to cook easy-to-digest foods, something like warm porridge with clear chicken broth, boiled eggs, boiled fish, or ripe bananas.

Jiang Wanyin had just undergone a difficulty in Qishan where his food was scarce and unpalatable, his body currently was starved and the condition of his stomach was still in a delicate state after 3 days of continuous fatigue with random food stuffing on the journey back,

of course, he should not eat something greasy.

The other disciples were ushered back to their dormitories, bathing and changing their clothes back by themselves, and got a simple meal from the kitchen. 

Second Shidi was called by Jiang Fengmian to his study right after he washed up and ate his meal. 

When he went to the study, there's not only Jiang Fengmian, but also Madam Yu was there.

"Second Shidi, Have you rested enough?" Jiang Fengmian first greeted him with a smile. 

In the face of a senior, in the face of your leader, when you were asked whether you had worked hard enough or whether you had rested well enough,

there's this tendency in Asians from ancient times to the current time;

they would immediately say they hadn't done their best, and would say they had a satisfactory rest, it's to make themselves in a humble state and for being grateful and polite in front of their boss.

Thus, Second Shidi could only answer respectfully, "This disciple had rested enough, Sect Leader."

Jiang Fengmian hummed,

"I want to ask A-Cheng but he's still resting now. Thus, I have to bother you by asking what actually happened in Qishan. Is it alright to talk about it right now?"

"Yes, Sect Leader."

Therefore, Second Shidi recounted all events that happened from their first day in Qishan Indoctrination, to the very important moment in the Xuanwu Cave, without any addition or subtraction.

The face of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu were turned rapidly in a colorful manner, from pale to red in rages, and went back to calm.

When they heard about their experiences in those months they were driven around similar to the livestock, Madam Yu went red in rages, 

"Wen Chao!! Wen Sect!!! How dare they let a mere slave treat A-Cheng this way!!!!"

It was a great insult to Madam Yu's pride listening to the way the precious YunmengJiang's sect heir was treated in Qishan. 

"Sanniang...calm yourself first. They were in Qishan's territory, they could not do anything to complain," Jiang Fengmian soothed Madam Yu's temper not to flare wildly.

When they came to the Xuanwu cave incident, however, those two people showed a totally different expression. 

Madam Yu's complexion was unchanged when she heard how Jiang Wanyin acted in the cave,

but Jiang Fengmian's face grew worse and his eyes turned gloomy listening to Jiang Wanyin's conduct. 

Looking at Jiang Fengmian's expression, the indifference Madam Yu was triggered to scold,

"Jiang Fengmian! What kind of expression do you have right now!? Heh, are you thinking that what A-Cheng did was unsuitable for the way you want YunmengJiang sect heir to be!?"

"Sanniang. They were all comrades in the cave, how could A-Cheng behave as such?"

"Jiang Fengmian! I know that you never like A-Cheng, but he is your son!! How could you be so unfeeling and prefer to let him rot and die in that cave, helping other people's child?!"

"Sanniang! I never said I want A-Cheng to die. Only when people are joined together and stand shoulder to shoulder they would be able to face any problem. If A-Cheng stands his ground and supports Lan and Jin's heirs, other disciples will join them as well, the Wen Sect would have to think twice to insist on the living bait idea."

"Jiang Fengmian! Do you think it's better if your voice is louder!?" Madam Yu shouted back at Jiang Fengmian.

"A-Cheng is YunmengJiang's sect heir! He can not act recklessly and implicate his sect! He has heavy responsibility! If others want to seek trouble by themselves then let them solve the consequence alone. If others want to die so badly then let them die alone and don't drag others with them!" Madam Yu quickly bit back towards Jiang Fengmian viciously, and in the end, she sneered,

"Besides, Could Wen Chao really have dared to do anything to two Young Masters of LanlingJin and Gusulan? Even if he did, it'd meant those two were running out of luck. Since when it'd be our problem to play the hero?"

"Sanniangzi! You, you!" Jiang Fengmian was perplexed listening to those series of words. 

So on, and so on.

Soon, both of them were immersed in their battle of the tongue, though it was easy to look which one of them actually had their voice louder, and which one of them had more vocabulary to twist logic.

While Second Shidi could only stand silently with his head down.

'It's not a matter of whether Wen Chao dared or not. Clearly, Wen Chao had no hesitation to beat the two Gusulan and LanlingJin young masters to a pulp. Does Madam Yu still think that the power of 4 other major sects actually had  value in front of the powerful Wen Sect?'

But of course, Second Shidi could not speak out this HARSH and yet TRUE fact. Why did he bother to attract Madam Yu's ire towards him? Just stay silent and let this woman have her own fantasy for being respected and powerful, that even the Wen Sect would not dare to move them an inch. 

The quarrel between the two leaders in Lotus Pier of course lasted for a short time.

It was always like this. Jiang Fengmian was not proficient in arguing, while Madam Yu owned so much vocabulary to scold and complain, thus Jiang Fengmian in the end always chose to run away with his tail between his leg, and Madam Yu chased him from one hallway to another hallway in Lotus Pier, until Jiang Fengmian truly could not bear it anymore and go outside of the sect ground.

Second Shidi was dismissed informally, because the two leaders were too immersed and forgot the existence of Second Shidi.

Therefore, after waiting for a stick of incense, and when the sounds of their quarrel could not be heard anymore, Second Shidi quietly went outside and went back to his room.

On the way back he met Jiang Wanyin who had an ugly expression. 

Needless to say, he must have heard and listened to his parent's conversation about him. 

At this time, everything about the talks was thrown far away outside of the window in Jiang Wanyin's mind. 

The only one that was left out was "His father never answered or refute his mother's accuse that He didn't like Jiang Wanyin".

Among the dozens of sentences, only this logic was filtered and embedded in Jiang Wanyin's mind....

The days passed by. 

Nothing was happening in Lotus Pier. But it's also because they didn't go out during this time. 

Everyone was restless, everyone was like sitting on pins and needles, the atmosphere was tight and heavy, and even speaking was spoken in low volume as if afraid something might happen if they spoke freely. 

The people in Lotus Pier had no clue that at this time a scandal about YunmengJiang broke out. 

It started right after the Massacre of Muxi Mountain. 

The disciples of LaolingQin Sect, and a few other subsidiary sects in Langya were people who lived near the sea. They had a great ability to swim, thus a few of the survivors were their disciples.

Those disciples went back tremblingly to their sect and told the whole event to their sect leader.

Needless to say, what they said was altered into something like;

"Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan were bravely stopping the Wen Sect from using a living bait. They were beaten up and left trapped in the cave. However, Jiang Wanyin blamed those two for playing heroes and make them pay for their mistakes by attracting the beast's attention to cover others who escaped. In the end, the injured LanlingJin and Gusulan disciples could not hold long and the beast still went and killed the escaped disciples. Right now, both Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan were left in the cave, no one knows about their well-being."

Madam Jin was someone who loved her son Jin Zixuan more than anything. Listening to how her son was blamed for being a righteous person, was driven to be the bait of Xuanwu while others were escaping, and then was left to rot in the cave in the end, how could she not go mad!!??

"Jiang Wanyin!!!!! What YunmengJiang!! What a cultivator!!!"

Between the friendship of her and Madam Yu, and her son's life, what do you think she weighed more?

No need to answer this unnecessary question. 

Of course, Madam Jin as the friend of Madam Yu, she also knew best the character of Madam Yu herself who was selfish and vicious. How could she not understand where did Jiang Wanyin's despicable conduct was inherited from?

Listening to the disciples retelling, Madam Jin almost fainted, but she hold on to herself, gritting her teeth, and quickly assembled a group of senior cultivators from LanlingJin and went to Muxi Mountain to save her son.

The cultivation sects lost their heirs in the Massacre of Muxi Mountain. 

Some of them lost their one and only heir.

Some of them lost their second son, third son, or their spare heirs. 

Both from the Sect leaders, and from the parent of those disciples in the cave.

But it couldn't deny the fact that their relatives were dead. 

The disposition of the cultivation world, in general, could be concluded with this saying: 'fearing hardship and bullying the weak'

The death of their heirs and their disciples was actually directly accounted to Wen Chao's viciousness which trapped them in the cave. 

But, did they dare to accuse the Wen Sect?

What jokes are you talking about? Of course, they dare not!

Then, the one who was left to be their target of fury and resentment was,

...the person who started to be shameless, blaming Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji for playing hero, instead of helping the two, and using the other heirs and disciples' life as a meat shield while they ran away and went back to their sect, without even having the initiative to send help to Muxi Mountain.

Shortly after this moment, Madam Jin and other sects spared no effort to spread around YunmengJiang's "ugly face" and "shameless deeds".

The sentences of,

"Jiang Wanyin is a scourge of the cultivation world"

"What YunmengJiang? They're just a bunch of traitors!"

"YunmengJiang cultivators had no feelings to help people!"

"Shameless!"

"Ungrateful!"

"Coward!"

"Selfish!"

"Murderer!"

"Hypocrite!"

"What 'achieve the impossible! What Sect's motto! Heh, it's true! the Jiang really has achieved the impossible. After all, their deeds were UNBELIEVABLY, and IMPOSSIBLY shameless, scummy, vicious, and utterly despicable!"

"Perhaps they colluded with the Wen Sect to kill our heirs and disciples..."

"What!? They could be the case!"

"Traitor!!!"

"A bunch of dogs!!"

"Jiang-dog!!!!"

"Go die in the sewer!"

So on and so on.

Apparently, they forgot that the disciples who were rescued from the cave were also brought by Second Shidi and other YunmengJiang disciples.

They tacitly forgot the fact that when Jiang Wanyin ignored Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan and even accused them later, neither of the other sects' young master and disciples helped those two people when they faced the Wen cultivators, nor did they defend those two under the accusation.

In the end, just like in the past life, no matter how their lives were saved by Wei Wuxian, they had no gratitude, and neither did they have the spare brain to remember Wei Wuxian's kindness in saving their life.

The cultivation world was already like this, why are you still being surprised for?

After all, you have to understand those people...

Those people are in grief...

They were sad when their sons, friends, family, brothers, sisters, and lovers died...

They could not help but utter those malicious words...

Please don't blame them....

They really didn't hold any bad intentions at all...

After all, didn't Jiang Wanyin back then was excused from his curse towards Jin Zixuan, Lan Wangji, and other sect heirs, cursing them to die, because it's not YunmengJiang's sect business....because Jiang Wanyin had just lost his parents and was unintentionally speaking bad words due to grieve...

So, The God of Fate let those condemnations continue and hoped the Jiang Sect to just be understanding...

The cultivators of YunmengJiang hadn't heard of this since they didn't go out from the sect ever since the heir came back from Qishan, and they could not go into nighthunt since the Wen had seized many hunting grounds.

Yesterday, Jiang Yanli was sent to visit her grandmother in MeishanYu.

Since the event in Xuanwu Cave,  Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan had always been in a constant fight no matter what the reasons or triggers.

Today, Another fight broke out and Jiang Fengmian decided to go out, and went to Qishan, asking for the Wen Sect's responsibility for what happened in Muxi Mountain, and also asking for the Spiritual Swords of the disciples who were confiscated back then.

He brought around dozens of disciples with him.

This time, there's no Wei Wuxian, there's no kite shooting, and there's no playing outside. 

YunmengJiang's disciples are huddled inside Lotus Pier.

Therefore, Wang Lingjiao, Wen Zhuliu, and a series of Wen Cultivators and servants went directly to the gate of Lotus Pier.

Their appearance alarmed the disciples who were practicing in the martial arts field.

Looking at the Wen Sect cultivators, they quickly reported their arrival to the only leader left in Lotus Pier, Yu Ziyuan.

Wang Lingjiao wore colorful robes, complete with a lot of accessories all plastered on her robes and her body. 

She was a female slave, her status had not been elevated yet, thus she could not wear the blazing sun robes of the Wen Sect, no matter how much Wen Chao favored her. In order to make her look grand, she could only make her robes more profound and added a lot of jewelry to emphasize her bearing. 

"Madam Yu, I come again," Her voice was full of sugar and with a lulled tone.

She was the one who came to YunmengJiang before, informing them about the indoctrination in Qishan. 

This was the very reason Madam Yu's pride was poked even before they went to Qishan, because a mere slave dared to command her to send her son.

Even Gusulan, it was Wen Xu who announced the indoctrination in Qishan right after the burning of the Cloud Recesses. 

It was unknown about the other sects, but the very fact that YunmengJiang was told by Wang Lingjiao was undoubtedly a show of "looking down", that their sect was not important enough for any high-ranking Wen Sect cultivators to grace their presence to its Lotus Pier.

Wang Lingjiao was ushered into the reception hall. 

This time, there's no Sixth shidi she could get the opening reasoning for shooting the one-eyed kite, thus what she said was,

"Madam Yu....I was leisurely playing and having a good day in Yunmeng. But, who knows, I saw the vendors in Yunmeng treated the Oranges cruelly, squeezing them more than necessary, What a surprise. Therefore, I have to come here to ask for an explanation."

"What explanation?" Madam Yu lifted her chin and looked at Wang Lingjiao coldly.

Wang Lingjiao herself still happily played with her nails and didn't give her any look at all while she was speaking, 

"What explanation is there if not for YunmengJiang's rebellion?"

"Nonsense!!! What connection do those orange vendors and YunmengJiang!?"

Wang Lingjiao lifted her carefully manicured eyebrow and finally looked at Madam Yu as if in surprise,

"Madam Yu....errr, I think you didn't know this yet. So, I have to tell you here about what has been talked about in the outside world. Then let me tell you, it was said that YunmengJiang Sect was shameless. They dared to accuse the two heirs of LanlingJin and GusuLan and even used the heirs of other sects to be their meat shield to escape from Muxi Mountain.  Those vendors who squeezed the oranges cruelly, a round and bright yellowed thing, isn't it similar to the Sun? Therefore, This Wang here is afraid, the people in Yunmeng had malicious thoughts towards the Wen Sect. After all, looking at how people talk about YunmengJiang recently...."

Madam Yu snorted, "What can they know to talk about this matter? From which sewers those rats who dared to accuse YunmengJiang about right or wrong."

Wang Lingjiao looked even more gleeful now, 

"Madam Yu, do you really not know who speaks of those words? Well, well, well, Because I am kind, let me tell you the one who speaks the loudest, it's your best friend, Madam Jin~"

Madam Yu was taken aback.

She quickly refuted, "What nonsense are you talking about in my sect!? They're just rumors! Which kind of fool who dares to believe those baseless rumors!"

Wang Lingjiao laughed, "Madam Yu, you are right, they are just rumors. But didn't Madam Yu is someone who trusts the rumors a lot? Just like how about Sect Leader Jiang and....a certain woman was rumored about back then?"

Madam Yu would actually have a little more patience left to confront this Wang Lingjiao, however, once her sore point, her inferiority complex towards a certain Sanren was addressed, she threw all logic out of the window quickly, and she almost couldn't bear to slap this female slave to death. 

However, before she took any action, Wang Lingjiao actually had the guts to poke more sore points in her.

Smiling, Wang Lingjio continued to provoke Yu Ziyuan, "Oh, the orange matter was just the first thing. The most important matter about this Wang to come here was something else."

"What important matter does someone like you have in my Sect!?" Madam Yu gritted her teeth and rubbed the Zidian on her finger, letting out a few sparks from the whips to come out. 

"Well, it's about punishment," In this, Wang Lingjiao turned her head and pointed straight towards Jiang Wanyin who was also in the room, "Young Master Jiang actually has dared to let other sect heirs be killed in Muxi Mountain. The Wen sect is questioning YunmengJiang's tutor now. Therefore, we ask Madam Yu here to punish Young Master Jiang with discipline whips."

Discipline whips.

It's a whip specifically created and used to punish disciples and cultivators in every sect when they commit a heavy mistake, or have wrong conduct. 

Every lash from this whip embedded deep inside the cultivator's flesh and bone, down, right to their meridian. The scar from this whip was unable to be healed either by medicines or natural spiritual power recovery. 

It was made in order to let the cultivator who committed wrong conduct remember their mistake in their whole life. 

A young master like Jiang Wanyin was punished with a discipline whip, if it was known outside, it would be a great blow to his reputation. 

After all, only cultivators who commit a heavy mistake were punished by this whip. 

Needless to say, if a young master had this kind of scar, people would have a lot of speculation about this young master's conduct and even....virtue.

How could Yu Ziyuan let her son, her precious A-Cheng, her hopes, be punished and ruined in reputation???

Of course, right after Wang Lingjiao uttered this idea, the sound of slaps was heard in the entire room. It was crisp and loud, no need to imagine how much strength was put in this slap and how much pain it resulted in. 

Everyone in the room was all shocked speechless.

Wang Lingjiao was rolled on the ground, her cheeks instantly went red and swollen, even her lip was cracked and bled. 

"You, you, you! You dared to slap me??? Young Master Wen Chao won't let you off for this, my YingchuangWang Sect won't let you off for this!"

"You dare to come to my sect and ask for my son, the young master of YunmengJiang to be punished!!??? You dare to question YunmengJiang's tutor!!!?? Let you all come, am I afraid of this YingchuangWang who don't know which gutter it crawled from!!? Are they full of people like you, huh?? My MeishanYu has been in the cultivation world for one hundred years! Let me show you about superiority! You are inferior, I am superior!" 

Madam Yu grabbed a portion of Wang Lingjiao's hair and lifted her up forcefully, looking down from above, as she continued to slap her face with great fanfare.

This time, she had no time to let JinZhu and YinZhu close the window and the doors when she did this. 

Thus, it was only a short time before the other Wen Cultivators heard the wailing of Wang Lingjiao and quickly went inside the reception hall.

The sudden arrival of Wen Zhuliu made Madam Yu finally stop her move from slapping Wang Lingjiao. 

Both of them were quickly engaged in a battle. 

Madam Yu used her Zidian to confront Wen Zhuliu. Wen Zhuliu's large hand waved. He grabbed Zidian without any concern!

When Zidian was in its whip form, it was covered in the flow of spiritual energy. The energy's power could be either strong or weak, fatal or insignificant depending on the control of its master.

Madam Yu had been holding an intent of killing since long ago, not only wanting to destroy all of the Wen dogs but also in caution of Wen Zhuliu. Thus, the energy flow was at more than maximum power when Wen Zhuliu grabbed it without any difficulty!

Within the years of its being in use, Zidian had never met such an opponent. After it had been grabbed, Madam Yu paused for the slightest moment. 

Wang Lingjiao took this chance to scramble out. She took out a cylinder of firework from her lapels and shook it a few times. A light shot out of the cylinder. Along with a sharp whistle, it rushed out of the wooden window and exploded in the sky outside. 

Then, she fumbled for the second one, third one, hair tangled she mumbled, "Come...come...come here....Everyone, come here!"

Jiang Wanyin quickly stopped Wang Lingjiao's act from sending out the firework, and yet at the same time Wen Zhuliu was closing in on Madam Yu. 

He looked as if he was about to knock her down. Jiang Wanyin hurried, "A-Niang!"

He immediately gave up on Wang Lingjiao and threw himself into the battle between Madam Yu and Wen Zhuliu.

And yet, it turned out Wen Zhuliud didn't even turn his head as he struck his hand, "Not even close!"

Jiang Wanyin's shoulder suffered from the attack. Blood immediately burst out from his mouth.

Meanwhile, when Jiang Wanyin carelessly let off Wang Lingjiao and wanted to be a busybody towards his mother, completely underestimating his mother's ability, and totally failing to judge the situation at the battle properly, it made Wang Lingjiao's attempt to let out every firework signals she had on hand successfully threw out in the sky, brightly lit the gloomy sky with the Wen Sect's symbol.

If one or two fireworks could be ignored or could be accidentally not be seen, then those dozens of fireworks were impossible not to be seen!

When Madam Yu saw Wen Zhuliu had struck Jiang Wanyin, and Wang Lingjiao had let off the fireworks signal, she immediately let her maximum power to throw Wen Zhuliu to the walacrossss them. 

She picked up Jiang Wanyin and called Second Shidi over, 

At the training hall, many disciples were still in there, she commanded, "Get dressed and armed, now!"

After giving out the command, she quickly threw the two of Jiang Wanyin and Second Shidi into the boat. 

"You!!! Look at the trouble you bring to our sect! You should have let YunmengJiang disciples be saved alone and let others rot in that cave! If not because of your heroic complex who let the others know the existence of the underwater entrance, would they condemn us and give the Wen dogs excuses to judge us!?"

She viciously scolded Second Shidi while throwing him to the boat. 

Second Shidi's face was gloomy, he didn't refute and he didn't say anything either.

"A-Niang, what are you doing? A-Niang, let's go together,"

Yu Ziyuan didn't answer Jiang Wanyin's anxious wails, she just looked at the face of her son she loved so much. 

"A-Cheng, be well, alright. A-Niang loves you so much."

She tenderly kissed Jiang Wanyin's forehead and hug her son. 

Jiang Wanyin was overwhelmed, thus he couldn't react on time when Madam Yu tied him and Second Shidi with Zidian which had turned into purple ropes.

After that, she jumped from the boat to the shore, turning back to glare at Second Shidi,

"You, protect A-Cheng with your life!"

These words were like a curse. 

An unreasonable command from a superior to their subordinate.

If a wise leader usually had the pledge from their subordinate to voluntarily protect the heir with their life as a sign of their loyalty,

in this case, when there's no wise leader, then the leader had to order the subordinate to protect the heir with their life...forcefully.

"A-Niang, A-Niang, let's wait for A-die to come back, A-Niang," Jiang Wanyin kept anxiously wailing towards Madam Yu. 

"So what if he's not coming back!? Can't I do anything without him!?"

With these words, finally, Madam Yu pushed the boat towards the center of the river, and went back to the sect herself.

The boat went further and further from Lotus Pier.

Jiang Wanyin struggled fiercely on the boat, trying to shake off Zidian,

"Why won't it break!? Why won't it break!? Break! Break!"

The boat was shaken, and Jiang Wanyin's cursing get onto Second Shidi's nerves, so he quickly said, "Calm down, first. Didn't Madam Yu throw Wen Zhuliu before she picked us up, who knows if she wins after she comes back in?"

It was comfort words.

Second Shidi just wanted to stop this Jiang Wanyin to stop moving around and being nosy. 

He himself also had an urge to go back to Lotus Pier.

There are third shidi, fourth shidi, fifth shidi, and others who were still there!

They were commanded to dress up and pick up any swords to confront Wen's attack.

How could Second Shidi here be calm and leisurely, thinking about their condition and fates!? 

How could Second Shidi here calm down knowing that many disciples' life in Lotus Pier were sacrificed by every minute they went further from Lotus Pier!?

But, they could not act recklessly, everyone should know this. 

And yet this Jiang Wanyin kept cursing, and kept moving,

what if they fall down towards the RIVER? Being tied up together, how could they swim and save themselves if they fall? 

Did this Jiang Wanyin wanted to be sent away with great fanfare by Madam Yu and sacrificed the other disciples who were even younger than them to buy them time,

...only to fall in the river and die!?

But, how could Jiang Wanyin accept any command now?

The more someone reprimanded him, the more he viciously bit them back, 

"How do you want me to calm down!? How could I calm down!? That's my mother who was in the sect! Even if Wen Zhuliu is killed, that vicious woman had already sent out the signals! What if the Wen dogs saw them and rushed to lead cultivators to siege on my sect!?"

"Then, why didn't you stop Wang Lingjiao earlier!?" 

Second Shidi was not Wei Wuxian.

If Wei Wuxian might just shut up under Jiang Wanyin's complaints, Second Shidi was not a person who could stay silent under unreasonable complaints. 

"Why didn't you come and stop her then!?" Jiang Wanyin shouted back.

"I was in the martial art field! Who was it who let only you and your mother to accept the Wen Sect envoy and left out other disciples outside!?"

"You! You ungrateful piece of shit! My mother saved you and you dare to blame her!? It's all your fault at the beginning for creating trouble for our sect!"

"You still dare to blame me!? Jiang Wanyin! What do you think is the reason why YunmengJiang falls under suspicion if not for your jealousy and careless accusation towards Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan!? Who was it! Tell me! Was it me!? Huh!?"

"Who cares about rumors and gossips! Is it my fault for pointing out their faults!? Huh? Even those people in the cave all agreed with me!"

Second Shidi wanted to rebuke some more, but a calling stopped his act, 

"A-Cheng, Second Shidi, What are you doing here?"

It was Jiang Fengmian and the dozens of disciples he brought out earlier.

Needless to say, their trip to Qishan and their inquiries about their sword were fruitless. 

"A-die!!!" Jiang Wanyin was overjoyed when he saw his father.  "A-Die, you have to save A-Niang quickly!"

Second Shidi told him what he knew, and Jiang Wanyin told him what he knew as well, though for the credibility of those words Second Shidi actually doubt it very much, knowing the fact that Jiang Wanyin loved to twist the truths so much....

Jiang Fengmian's expression was solemn after listening to both of their tales.

The Zidian that once was released from their body by Jiang Fengmian went back to wrap around their body.

"Second Shidi, you have to take care of A-Cheng."

After finishing his last words, Jiang Fengmian quickly went back to the boat and went in the direction of Lotus Pier...

Chapter Text

After Jiang Fengmian tied back both Second Shidi and Jiang Wanyin in the boat, he left and went in the direction of Lotus Pier, along with the rest of the disciples who were with him.

Meanwhile, Jiang Wanyin didn't know whether he was finally rested assured because his father went back to assist his mother, or perhaps he's just tired after thrashing around earlier, complete with how he was blown away by Wen Zhuliu before, he finally fell silent. 

The boat drifted down following the river's current, without the need to be rowed at all. 

They didn't know how long time had passed when the boat drifted near the shore. 

But perhaps looking from how Zidian had finally loosened, it meant quite a long time had passed, and they were already quite far from Lotus Pier. 

Second Shidi and Jiang Wanyin didn't speak with each other, but in their hearts, they had the same conviction, wanted to go back and look at the situation in Lotus Pier. 

Second Shidi was anxious for his other Shidi, while Jiang Wanyin, he's anxious for his parents. 

So, even though it's a rare thing that they had the same act, but both of them silently rowed back the boat desperately, back to Lotus Pier, with different thoughts...

Not long after, they arrived near Lotus Pier, the gate was shut tightly, and at first glance it was no different than normal days.

Jiang Wanyin was gloomy and silent. 

Second Shidi said, 

"Let's not enter using the gates now..."

He tugged Jiang Wanyin's sleeves and directed him to use another path. 

"This way"

Jiang Wanyin didn't respond but he just followed Second Shidi's direction.

Second Shidi had lived in Lotus Pier for around a decade, it's easy to sneak into the place using an unusual path. The place near the old Willow tree was a secret place used by Second Shidi and other shidi to fish and swim, hiding from Madam Yu. They were used to climbing the wall when they sneaked away from Lotus Pier. 

Jiang Wanyin had almost no sense of direction. He could only following Second Shidi movement through the wall.

They climbed the wall and looked at the situation in the manor. 

On the training field of Lotus Pier, row and rows of people were standing. All of them wore the blazing sun robes of QishanWen.

At another corner of the field, a pile of corpses wearing the purple YunmengJiang uniform were thrown unceremoniously. 

Jiang Wanyin desperately moved his eyes and scanned among the piles of body searching for Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu. 

Second Shidi however felt his eyes teared up at once.

Among the piles of people, there were many people he recognized and saw many familiar shilhouettes.

They were the YunmengJiang disciples he knew and had played with on daily basis...

Some of the Wen cultivators were patrolling in the field, asides from the piled bodies on the field, there's no YunmengJiang's disciples or the master in sight. 

They couldn't stay longer in Lotus Pier, sooner or later the Wen cultivators would also go patrolling around the perimeter of Lotus Pier, especially if they noticed the heir of YunmengJiang was missing. 

Between a boat or on foot and the flying swords QishanWen cultivators used, needless to say, which one was faster.

Second Shidi tugged Jiang Wanyin to go back to the boat.

Jiang Wanyin looked at him fiercely, "I have not seen my parents! A-Niang, A-die!"

"If you can't see them here then they must not be here. Who knows if they have fled earlier, don't stay here any longer. If your parents have fled and you were captured here, imagine how useless their effort would be!" Second Shidi fiercely whispered back. 

Perhaps the thinking of his parents had probably fled earlier made Jiang Wanyin's temper to calm down. 

He obediently followed Second Shidi to go back to the boat and drifted away from Lotus Pier once again.

However, Before they went back, suddenly they heard the conversation between Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao;

That Madam Yu was killed, by Wen Zhuliu.

No need to say anything about Jiang Fengmian's fates.

Perhaps both of them had not gotten the time to confront each other for the last time...

One of the Wen cultivators reported to Wen Chao, "Wen Er-Gongzi, all of the buildings have been searched already. Over 2,400 treasures have been counted. They're being categorized at the moment."

That's right. 

All of them were treasures from YunmengJiang Sect.

None of them had the chance to be brought up outside. 

Why?

What was the difference?

Wen Xu back then brought the Wen Cultivators up the mountain to confront Gusulan, forced them to burn their own precious treasures and their source of knowledge and power, the Library Pavillion. 

And yet, there were no casualties among the Gusulan cultivators aside from Qingheng-Jun who was injured in a show of power from QishanWen, and Lan Wangji whose leg was broken for his stubbornness to protect the Library Pavillion.

And yet, they still had time to let Lan Xichen ran bringing many precious and sacred books away with him.

The Gusulan was also caught off guard. 

Not to mention, the Wen back then didn't dilly dally their time and Wen Xu directly showed up to their sect.

So.....why did YunmengJiang suffer so much loss here?

When the Wen actually didn't come to their sect so suddenly, only sending a few cultivators, Wen Zhuliu, and a few servants at first?

Why did they couldn't even save one treasure from YunmengJiang and couldn't even save one disciple other than the heir and the one other disciple commanded to protect the heir???

Second Shidi was wondering, and kept wondering while he walked away and followed Jiang Wanyin who ran quickly from Lotus Pier after listening to the news of his parent's death. 

He couldn't find the other shidi's bodies, third shidi, fourth shidi, fifth shidi...all of them, perhaps their body was piled in the bottom, or their body was thrown somewhere else, but Second Shidi couldn't even see their silhouettes for one more time...

It felt like just a few hours ago they were laughing, chattering together...and suddenly all of them were gone, like a puff of smokes, dissipated quickly, and Second Shidi couldn't grasp any of them to stay.

After they ran for quite some time, suddenly Jiang Wanyin who was in the front stopped his running.

Second Shidi automatically stopped as well, and yet when he saw Jiang Wanyin turned around towards the direction of Lotus Pier he quickly shouted, "Jiang Wanyin! What are you doing!? Don't go back there!" Second Shidi quickly grabbed Jiang Wanyin to prevent him from running back.

Jiang Wanyin shook his hand away, "Don't go back there!? Are you serious!? You're telling me not to go back there!? My parent's body are still in Lotus Pier, Can I just leave like this!? Where could I go if I don't go back!?"

Second Shidi's grip tigthened, "What could you do if you go back now? Even Sect Leader Jiang and Madam Yu were killed, if you go back what's waiting for you is death!"

"Death it is then! If you're scared of death, then get lost! Don't block my path!" Jiang Wanyin shouted.

"Jiang Wanyin! Stop being so stubborn! Your parents have sacrificed their life and the life of other disciples just to make sure you're safe! Are you going to abandon and disregard their life for a moment of impulsiveness!?"

Second Shidi was a mild person. 

It's rare for him to shout and felt rage towards a person so much. 

But right now he just wanted to punch and beat the person in front of him so badly. The person who couldn't even understand the situation properly. The person who couldn't even understand the sacrifice of his parents...and of course the sacrifices of the other disciples...even the other shidi who were even younger than them.

Did he think it's only him who feel despair and sorrow?

Did he think it's only him who just lost "a home" and "a family"?

Second Shidi had regarded the other disciples as his family...knowing they're dead was just like knowing his blood relatives were dead.

After all, can you stay calm and had no feelings when the people who had spent a decade of life together with you were all dead?

"Shut up!! Shut up!! You don't understand! My parents ... my parents are..."

"I know you want revenge. But revenge is never too late. We can collect their bodies , but not now!"

"Shut up!" Jiang Wanyin roared even more, "Why!?"

Second Shidi was pushed into the bushes, and Jiang Wanyin lunged over him, "Why!? Why!? Why!? Are you happy!? Are you satisfied!?"

Second Shidi was shocked...

It's not the way how he was shoved, but the accusations Jiang Wanyin threw at him,

"Are you happy?"

"Are you satisfied?"

What kind of questions was this...?

In which part of the brain did he think this question with?

In which kind of twisted logic did he use to think that Second Shidi was happy? Was satisfied?

What kind of person who can think another is happy and satisfied for a massacre...

As if the destruction and massacre of YunmengJiang were what Second Shidi wanted...

As if the massacre of a whole sect was something that Second Shidi caused and enjoyed the result...

What kind of person who accused someone to have a vicious thought like this?

Probably only a person who had a vicious thought himself....

Second Shidi's shock didn't end up just like that, when Jiang Wanyin lunged over him, he clenched his hands and choked Second Shidi.

Under the grief and fury, Jiang Wanyin had lost his mind. He couldn't control the strength that he used at all. 

Second Shidi felt his air pipe was cut, and he had difficulty of breathing. His face went red from the cutting of blood and airflow in his throat, and yet Jiang Wanyin kept roaring,

"Why!? Why!? Why do you help Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji!? Why !? Why do you have to be nosy and help them find an entrance to escape!? Do you know what that bitch is saying!? It's because other disciples who escaped spread rumors about YunmengJiang that those Wen-Dogs came to our sect!"

Jiang Wanyin's eyes were bloodshot, "Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, all other people, let them die! What's their death has anything to do with us! Why are you helping them and make our sect be condemned in return!? Why!?"

"Jiang Wanyin!"

Unlike Wei Wuxian who was stronger than Jiang Wanyin, Second Shidi was weaker, his physical ability and his cultivation were less than Jiang Wanyin.

He couldn't hold himself anymore and desperation near death of being choked created a desperate strength as well.

He shoved Jiang Wanyin away from his body, and the choke on his throat finally went away.

Second Shidi was coughing and frantically took many deep breaths to relieve himself, and steady his body from the dizziness caused by a strangling.

Jiang Wanyin was slumped next to him, he was crying and sobbing pitifully, "....I want my parents...Give me back my parents..."

He was asking Second Shidi for his parents. And yet, no matter whom he asked about, not one of them could give him back his parents.

Jiang Wanyin actually knew. No matter if Second Shidi helped them finding the entrance or not, no matter whether the people could go out from the cave and spread the rumors about YunmengJiang or not, The Wen would still come to their door. It's just that...he had always think that perhaps everything won't be as fast, and they would have some way to turn things around.

Second Shidi knew that Jiang Wanyin knew, and yet he's still finding excuses to refuse the reality and blame someone else.

It's what made Second Shidi feel hatred in his heart even more.

The life of the third shidi, fourth shidi, fifth shidi, and other shidi...what did Jiang Wanyin think their lives are? 

Just because Jiang Wanyin lost his parents, it didn't mean Second Shidi didn't feel grief and fury as well for losing his shidi.

Jiang Wanyin wanted to blame Second Shidi for finding the entrance in the cave and helping other disciples to get away, so could he stand for his own mother to be blamed as well for not keeping the lives of other shidis? 

Was it Second Shidi who throw their life away, or was it Madam Yu, the master of the sect....?

He wanted to scream and blamed Madam Yu's impulsiveness. 

He wanted to shout and blamed Madam Yu who instead let the younger disciples to run and save some treasures, she commanded them to pick any weapon and confront the Wen. 

He hated Madam Yu for failing to protect their sect yet she blamed Second Shidi for it. 

Which normal person be willing to be blamed for something that clearly not their responsibility?

And yet Second Shidi endured himself.

Madam Yu was dead.

No matter from what angle, either from basic etiquette, morality, or beliefs, It's forbidden to speak right or wrong about the dead, especially ridiculing the dead.

No matter how Madam Yu taught them that ridiculing the dead like how she ridiculed Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze was alright,

and even smearing Cangse Sanren's virtue by accusing Jiang Fengmian time and time again for having an affair with her or even having a secret bastard with her, implying that Cangse Sanren married Wei Changze and yet still slept around with another man,

Second Shidi didn't want to embark on the same path with Madam Yu. 

Other people could be ill-mannered and uncultured, but we don't have to follow their example.

Therefore, Second Shidi could only endure and kept enduring his hatred and fury...

Both of them stayed on the ground in the woods for the whole night, until the day started to brighten, none of them moved. 

Second Shidi was exhausted. He spent the whole night questioning himself.

What am I doing?

What am I doing? 

What am I doing?

Clearly, he went to YunmengJiang because his parents had life saving-grace from Cangse Sanren. 

And yet their family's benefactor was always insulted in the sect...

Clearly, Second Shidi stayed in the sect despite numerous dissatisfaction because he found like-minded people in his other shidi, and were reluctant to part with them.

And yet those shidi were gone...

What was he doing now?

What else could tie him in YunmengJiang?

A sect that smeared the reputation and the name of his family's benefactor,

A sect where the master couldn't even save their disciples and even blamed a mere disciple like him to be responsible for the massacre,

A sect where the heir had almost killed him by strangling his neck under the fury and grief...

What else could tie Second Shidi in that kind of sect? 

Shijie? Jiang Yanli...?

Nah, she's kind, but Second Shidi did not lack familial affection from his blood brothers to understand that the kindness of Jiang Yanli was just a simple kindness because she's simply kind and had no malicious heart,

but not because she treated him as her own brother...

The person who knew the real familial affection, like how Second Shidi felt the affection from his parents, and his brothers, of course, could easily differentiate the kindness between treating a person for a family, or just being kind because they're acquaintance and were also the disciple of YunmengJiang. After all, not everyone was vicious like some certain somebody who never treated others with kindness...

It's normal for people to be kind...even some random stall owners were kind and sometimes gave Second Shidi foods for free just because he speak politely, etc. Even some random girls gave them many foods and things, just because they think they looked nice, without expecting any return. Even the villagers they visited in nighthunt often let them sleep and eat for free and gave them many gifts on the way back. 

It's easy for people to be kind no matter what the reason was...and it's actually rarer to find people who actually had a clear vicious act and sharp tongue.

Therefore, Second Shidi was in gloom for the whole night, his head was dizzy, and his throat was sore. 

He really didn't want to move at all.

Even though he lied on the streets, no Wen Cultivators knew him, since he's a no-name disciple of YunmengJiang, as long as he shed the purple robes he wore, he's no different from another civilian.

In the morning, his head suddenly ached, even more, his eyesight went blur and the muscles of his body went numb and stiff.

Second Shidi couldn't even perceive what's going on around him anymore, he felt his 5 senses gradually becoming weaker and weaker, he couldn't even feel his own breath or whether he's still breathing at all. 

Time passed, the day had begun to brighten. 

Jiang Wanyin waited and waited, he couldn't hear any movement from beside him. 

And yet the person didn't move at all. 

He waited until the sun rose higher and higher in the sky.

In the end, Jiang Wanyin actually knew the importance of being vigilant and not indulging in impulsiveness, such as staying in one place, not moving, and kept mourning, was absolutely not a good move, since the brighter the day, the more dangerous it would be for the Wen-dogs to suddenly come and catch them here.

Therefore, he couldn't wait any longer and stood up. 

He kicked Second Shidi's body lightly to wake him up. "Get up."

And yet there's no sign of Second Shidi to wake up at all. 

Jiang Wanyin was anxious and nudged his body a bit harder, thinking that Second Shidi was in a deep sleep. 

However, the body just rolled away. 

When Jiang Wanyin bent down and touched Second Shidi's hand, it was stiff and cold. Jiang Wanyin's breath become heavier and heavier, and his hands went tremblingly to Second Shidi's nose to check....and find no breath. His other hand went to press on his throat about to check the pulse, and yet when Jiang Wanyin saw the purplish mark resembling two hands gripping on the throat, he scrambled away in panic. 

He ran,

And ran.

Ran away far, far away from where Second Shidi was laid with no breath, cold and stiff body.

He trembled and whispered repeatedly, "It's not me...It's not me...It's not me! It's not my fault, not my fault...Not my fault! Yes, yes, yes, it's his own fault! It's his own fault! It's not me!!!!!!"

Chapter Text

Near dawn, Second Shidi's body went numb, his 5 senses gradually became weaker, until he couldn't perceive the outside world anymore, and the time was like being slowed down and stopped for Second Shidi. 

Then, the surge of memories from the past came like the rushing waves. 

Countless images from the past life came one after another, if Wei Wuxian saw this moment perhaps he'd say this was exactly like "empathy", seeing and feeling the life he had in the past. 

It turned out the past was truly different from what he had in this life. 

He was not called Second Shidi in the past, but was called Third Shidi. 

There's someone, a shixiong, the Da-Shixiong in YunmengJiang was not the jealous and bitter Jiang Wanyin, but someone with compassion and cheerful disposition, Wei Wuxian. 

He was the son of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze. 

At first, because he was the son of Second Shidi's family benefactor, Second Shidi wanted to be close with him to respect the life-saving grace his family had. 

Since ancient times, even to the future, life-saving grace, or even just a simple kindness given by someone to another person, it's more important than any investment. Why? Because the receiver of the kindness would remember their benefactor for life, and would try to help their benefactor if they're in need, even to their children, grandchildren, nephew, or even just friends of their benefactor. 

Was it an obligation? No, it was just the base of morality within humans. When you're given helps, you'll remember it and try to return it in folds.

However, it turned out Second Shidi didn't need to have any feelings of gratitude at all for him to be close with Wei Wuxian. Because Wei Wuxian was just that nice to have around!

Second Shidi back then was always printed on Wei Wuxian's butt, or actually, not only him but every other shidi as well, following him everywhere like the chicks following their mother hen.

No matter where you go, if you're with Shixiong, they were destined to have a thrilling, cheerful, and good life!

Lotus Pond or river in their life was something so trivial that they even made jokes every baby born in Yunmeng would taste the river or pond's water first before tasting their mother's milk. 

However, when it came to Wei Wuxian, the boring Lotus Pond and the river became the most exhilarating playing and battle ground. 

There's always been many activities, games, and competitions they played on the ponds or the river. 

Even when they swam around in the lakes, picking out lotus seeds, got chased by the old man who owned the lake, and were beaten up by the bamboo pole in their hands or feet, they were still laughing and running happily. 

When they went into the market, the stall's owner would greet Wei Wuxian and other disciples, giving them sample foods for free. 

When they're on the streets, many maidens came forwards, throwing them flowers, giving them handkerchiefs, and confectionaries made by their own hands. 

Wei Wuxian was a charming young man. He's not only good in looks, but also good in speaking. His mouth was oily, his words were flowery, in short whenever he spoke, everyone would like him for his easy going and nice-temperament.

Therefore, whenever you went outside with Wei Wuxian, don't be afraid of starvation, because you'll get lots of food just by walking in the streets or strolling in the markets. 

...Though their kindness was actually justified when you're looking at what Wei Wuxian did.

He loved to do even the simplest and small help, like helping some grandma crossing the streets, helping some child get their kites back from the tree, helping the woman from being caught by water ghouls, helping a family from a haunted ghost, helping a middle-old man from a ghost baby who hanged on his back, etc etc.

All of those deeds were done not under a nighthunt. Wei Wuxian just did them when he's strolling outside. Every problem he encountered, he always offered his help.

He did all of them easily, and it taught the other shidi as well, that for helping others you don't need to go far and wide, there're many things you could do even when just going out in the area.

The parents in Yunmeng were competing to send their child to YunmengJiang after they looked at the brave, strong, reliable, charming, and nice-tempered disciples of YunmengJiang who offered helps no matter where they went. They had many other fellow disciples in the past life, and YunmengJiang was not as barren as it was in the new world.

Many people in Yunmeng loved their Da-Shixiong because, he's such a kind and nice young man. Which mother would not be wishful for having a son-in-law like him? Which maiden would not be smitten for having a lover like him? 

...though Every shidi knew something shameful about their Shixiong, Wei Wuxian.

No matter how smooth he talked with the girls, no matter how frivolous he acted, it couldn't deny the fact that Wei Wuxian was a big virgin that hadn't even touched a girls' hand!

The other shidi tacitly never mentioned this sore point of their shixiong~

Their Shixiong, Wei Wuxian, always brought many joys in the other shidi's life. Even the strict and boring training could be turned into an addictive game. 

The night hunts they went always went like a thrilling journey.

YunmengJiang's Wei Wuxian was famous for eliminating many mountain demons, from the whole Yunmeng and the entire Jiangling area, even spread out to the far east to Gusu in Jiangsu area.

Sometimes he went alone, sometimes he dragged one or two shidi, and sometimes he brought all of his shidi to go with him in night-hunting. 

What kind of mountain demons, needless to say, everyone knew that mountain monsters or demons were very tricky and difficult to conquer. 

Bat kings, Fox demon, Basilisk, One-legged demon ape, four-legged lizards, eight-legged spiders, hundreds-legged centipede, and many others.

Sometimes, there're injuries caused in night hunts, but there had never been any casualties in their night hunts. Their Shixiong, Wei Wuxian, had always protected them tightly. 

That's why all of the other shidi not only like him because of his personality, but also admire him for his bravery, compassions, and strength. 

It was like....as long as there's Wei Wuxian, everything would be alright.

Wei Wuxian taught them to play the shooting kites, it trained them in moving objects and long-distance archery.

Wei Wuxian corrected and taught their cultivation or swordsmanship carefully, when Madam Yu couldn't even care less about their detailed condition. After all, Madam Yu only cared about the result whether their cultivation was improved or not, not the process. 

Wei Wuxian was carefree and looked reckless, but when it came to training and cultivation, he actually paid attention and cared to the other shidi more than anyone else. In that world, the other shidi cultivation's levels were all higher because Wei Wuxian helped them face their bottleneck in cultivation. 

Cultivation was not just about power. 

Dao, path, or cultivation was the mirror of someone's heart. 

Only when your heart is free, your mind was unburdened, and your intention was clear, only then your cultivation would also strive forwards. 

....It was what their Shixiong, Wei Wuxian, said towards them~

Second Shidi looked and felt the life he had before.

It was like a whole foreign life he could never imagine.

Even the jealous and bitter Jiang Wanyin was turned into someone else. He's following them to play. He didn't show much of his contorted facial expression. He didn't spout out many poisonous words, and he even smiled and laughed!

Second Shidi was so surprised when he looked and felt his own memories...that...that, that Jiang Wanyin actually could smile and laugh!!??

The memories rotated forward, many events happened in their life, in a different course.

Such as, apparently Second Shidi was not the one who was sent to the Cloud Recesses, or how their shixiong kept talking about Second Young Master of Lan right after he went back from Gusulan.....and also the fact that it turned out in the past life, there's no mention about Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, or any other heirs to scold the YunmengJiang's disciples.

Madam Yu's attention was poured solely towards Wei Wuxian. 

In the past life, the disciples were also rarely been punished...whenever they made mistakes, it was Wei Wuxian who was punished.

Wei Wuxian was considered lucky if he didn't get whipped by Madam Yu a few times, and just send him to the ancestral hall for even the smallest matter to kneel just to keep him away from Jiang Wanyin.

The other shidi felt guilty, but Wei Wuxian always laughed it off and said, it's alright. In the end, he still dragged the other shidi to have fun and enjoyed the training disguised as playing. 

Wei Wuxian had always joked about saying,

"Even though I didn't practice, I'll always be number one."

The other shidi indulged in his jokes and clamored at him a few times, but in their hearts they all knew, there's no such thing as no practicing but could reach the peak easily. 

Wei Wuxian had always practiced harder than anyone else.

It's true that he's talented, but he also trained and learned, observing any weakness or faults in his own training, and observing and correcting the other shidi's training as well.

He trained his physical ability by roughhousing, rowing the boat, swimming, diving, running, and many others. Trained his stealth by sneaking away from Lotus Pier, and sneaking in the mountain, catching pheasants without alarming them at the slightest, etc. Trained his archery using many unusual methods. Trained his cultivation by solving and facing real cases in the outside world directly, etc.

His way of training was indeed different from anyone else and was not textbook-based instruction, but the other shidi could see that Wei Wuxian deserved his fame!

That's why when they asked between him and Second Young Master of Lan, which one was stronger, when Wei Wuxian deliberately bragged,

"It is me of course!",

the other shidi never doubted or jeered on him...because they all knew and understand Wei Wuxian's strength.

The images of past life kept rolling on and on, all of them were full of beautiful memories. Even the Months of suffering in Qishan went smoothly and fun somehow when Wei Wuxian was always there, cheering them up, and lightened up their burden. 

The biggest divergence all started from Xuanwu Cave. 

Second Shidi was surprised...or perhaps no surprise at all, since from the moment they got along with Wei Wuxian, there's always a feeling of everything would be fine as long as Wei Wuxian was with them.

Yes, in the past life, there's no such thing as Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, and other Gusulan and LanlingJin disciples getting beaten up and crippled.

There's no dramatic and frustrating moment of "I blame you, we all blame you, let's see whose fault it was".

There's not even a stick of incense (5 minutes) passed, and they could already find the entrance, ensuring the entrance, and obediently, carefully, and do a well-managed escape. 

Jiang Wanyin and the other YunmengJiang disciples went back from Xuanwu Cave and informed Jiang Fengmian in Lotus Pier, to save Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji who were still trapped in the cave. 

Yes, it's Jiang Wanyin and other YunmengJiang disciples who went back to Lotus Pier and informed Jiang Fengmian. 

It was not only Jiang Wanyin who struggled to go back to the sect alone. 

Don't forget, there're other 18 YunmengJiang disciples who were sent to Qishan along with Wei Wuxian, and those 18 were also with Jiang Wanyin, saved from Xuanwu Cave, and went back to inform Jiang Fengmian. 

In the end, there's no dramatic condemnation and other things. 

Though...the Wen still came to their sect. 

Second Shidi never knew either from the past life, or in this life, what kind of reasons the Wen came to Lotus Pier. 

But, what he knew was, in the end, Wang Lingjiao still sent out the fireworks signal without being stopped, Madam Yu commanded the rest of the disciples to pick out any weapon and started to fight, while sending Jiang Wanyin and one other strongest disciple (in the past it was undoubtedly Wei Wuxian) away using the boat. 

There's no difference.

The disciples were still told to fight, the treasures in YunmengJiang were still left wasted and waiting to be presented towards Wen Chao, without any thinking that for Jiang Wanyin to be able to raise his sect properly again he'd need YunmengJiang's treasures to back him up. 

In the past, Second Shidi died, along with the other shidi and other disciples.

Their body was piled up on the training field, and was abandoned for 2 days, until the smell of decay started to bother the Wen cultivators. 

Their body was burned, and the ashes were scattered carelessly into the Lotus Pond, there's not even a chance for their own family to get their ashes and build their tablet in the family's ancestral hall...

Second Shidi was surprised. 

He was supposed to be dead. 

And yet he still saw many events unfolding in the world. 

It turned out he had become a ghost, his soul was still loitering in the world because he still had many lingering sentiments. 

Second Shidi had his own loving parents, had his older brother and two younger brothers, and had his own home. 

Dying so suddenly like this without any chances to look and meet their parent's and family, the soul was unwilling,

the body was treated unfairly,

the resentment build-up,

and their sentiments to the world made them into a ghost. 

Second Shidi's soul was loitering in Lotus Pier since the moment he died. 

He had witnessed many events in the manor. 

From how Jiang Wanyin was brought to Lotus Pier, his core melted, was whipped once by Discipline Whips, and was thrown somewhere. 

Until he saw his shixiong, Wei Wuxian, sneaking around, met a Wen boy, Wen Qionglin, whom Second Shidi still remembered (unlike the forgetful Wei Wuxian). The boy was the one whom his shixiong defended in front of practically the whole cultivation world, praised his archery, and yet was too nervous and ended up losing Wei Wuxian's face in public. Even so, Wei Wuxian still encouraged him and ensuring his self-esteem wouldn't plunge to rock bottom because of that event. 

He saw the two of them transferring Jiang Wanyin outside, stole the body of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu, Zidian, and any other remnants outside. 

Second Shidi was relieved. 

It turned out in a place like QishanWen, there's still a kind young man, and even many kind cultivators under Wen Qionglin who were willing to help them, and risking their own safety.

However,

A few days later Wen Chao was boasting to his underling, saying "I've thrown that Wei Wuxian down to Burial Mound, after his golden core was melted by Wen Zhuliu! Not even bones or soul of him would remain in this world!'

Second Shidi felt his hatred surged up, his resentment grew thicker, towards those three people, Wen Chao, Wang Lingjiao, and Wen Zhuliu!

They killed Wei Wuxian, his shixiong....

What kind of place Burial Mound was, everyone in Yunmeng or Qishan, the two sects who bordered this hell-on-earth, knew very well about it!

The resentment was thick. Everywhere you went or everywhere you dig, you'd be guaranteed to find bones or even a still rotten bodies. The corpses, and fierce corpses were abundant. In the daylight you'd already be tormented by resentful energy, your body would become a meal for those fierce corpses. While at night, your soul would become a feast for more stronger entity, more evil, and more vicious...

Until there's no bones or soul left.

Either you turned into a fierce corpse, or your soul was consumed clean by the soul-eater.

Wei Wuxian was thrown into this kind of place....no matter how strong or reliable he was, Second Shidi after all knew, there's only so much for a strong person to survive...

And yet, he was proven otherwise, again!

3 months later, suddenly, a person came, the sounds of the flute were heard from the entire Lotus Pier manor. Resentful energy surged up, grieving ghosts, fierce ghoul, and fierce corpses gathered, Lotus Pier was turned into a pool of blood one more time after 3 months.

It was even bloodier than the 3 months ago, because the number of casualties was much higher. 

In only one night, the Lotus Pier that was occupied and one of the strongholds of QishanWen's supervisory office, was massacred, and freed from the Wen's hands!

A person in black robes, his face was clearly handsome, but was full of gloomy aura, there's no laughter or smiles in the corner of his lips anymore. His eyes was cold and fierce. 

It was Wei Wuxian, his shixiong!

The person whom Second Shidi had always thought as dead, it turned out his shixiong crawled back from the hell, and even went back bringing a power much stronger than he used to have!

Second Shidi was ecstatic. 

If a ghost could cry, he probably would have cried snots and tears, hanging on Wei Wuxian's leg, and wailing to him, expressing his sadness and also happiness...

Months passed, Second Shidi was trapped in Lotus Pier, the place where he died. He could not go anywhere. While Wei Wuxian had always gone out, traveling from one battle front to another battle front, snatching back one land to another land from the Wen's hands. 

Why did Second Shidi know about it?

Well, of course, the cultivators after all were no different from market ladies in terms of gossips. 

He heard that his Shixiong, Wei Wuxian, regained back the whole Jiangling within a few days on his return. 

He heard Wei Wuxian had defeated thousands of Wen Cultivators once the ghost-flute ChenQing was lifted on his lips. 

He heard Wei Wuxian kept accumulating battle merits and kept accumulating many treasures, snatching them from the Wens, and bringing them back to YunmengJiang. 

Just like how QishanWen back then, hoarded the treasures of YunmengJiang once they occupied the Lotus Pier. 

The war had always been like this.

The one who conquered the land would have the authority to have the land and also the treasures achieved by the expedition.

This was what made YunmengJiang regain back their land, and even got bigger, accumulating many treasures, used to rebuild their sects, to rebuild the building, to pay the monthly wages for newly recruited YunmengJiang disciples, and pay the necessities for the war. 

If they don't use it, what do you think they use during the war? 

Did they use their own YunmengJiang treasures?

What a joke.

It would not even last for one year, not to mention for 2-3 years of the original war. Furthermore, from where do you think the money came from to rebuild Lotus Pier's grand manor? From where do you think YunmengJiang paid the monthly wages for their new recruits? From where do you think they bought foods, clothes, swords, and carriages, and other trivial daily needs? 

Do you think the mere 2,400 treasures YunmengJiang originally had was enough to last it?

If those treasures were used, then what would YunmengJiang have later on?

Or actually, would Jiang Wanyin be willing to spend "his precious YunmengJiang sect treasures" so much? 

Of course, the merits of the war, the winning expeditions, and the conquered land and supervisory offices, contributed a lot to YunmengJiang's well-being, either during the war, or even became their wealth and foundation after the war ended.

Everyone knew it. 

All the other sect leaders, from minor to major sects all envied YunmengJiang for having such a "weapon".

All of them were drooling and eyeing Wei Wuxian, hoping to recruit him for their own sect. 

Even the newly recruited disciples, mostly came because there's Wei Wuxian in YunmengJiang. 

Everyone were secretly complaining, every disadvantage of their sect would always be said into this kind of saying, "Whose fault it is that our sects do not have Wei Wuxian. If only we also have Wei Wuxian~"

From during the war, until the war ended, it had always been those sayings.

Everyone envied Jiang Wanyin, for a young sect leader to have so much of a backer.

Second Shidi felt proud. 

He had always known it. 

His shixiong was always reliable!

As long as there's Shixiong, there's no need to be afraid when facing any problem.

Second Shidi felt like he could reincarnate at any moment now...

His grudges and grievances were avenged by his Shixiong, his sect was regained back by his shixiong, he felt like his regrets and sentiments in this world could finally settle down.

Yes, if only that was the case. 

After the war, Wei Wuxian had changed a lot. 

Only their closest people could notice the changes in Wei Wuxian. 

Once, the first time Wei Wuxian came and conquered Lotus Pier back, Second Shidi noticed the lack of smiles and laughter on his face, the gloomy air around him, and his aura of "rejecting people". 

It was completely different from how Wei Wuxian had always been back then. 

Second Shidi knew that Wei Wuxian was thrown down to Burial Mound after his core was melted by Wen Zhuliu---according to Wen Chao's boasting. 

Therefore, looking at Wei Wuxian's pretense to stay strong, it made him want to cry for his shixiong. 

Wei Wuxian never brought his sword anymore...the sword, Suibian, that his shixiong was proud of the most. His swordsmanship and his cultivation that his shixiong had always been proud of, he could never use it anymore...

Second Shidi could not go out from Lotus Pier, thus he couldn't see what happened with his shixiong during the 2-3 years of war. 

But, after they ended the war and went back to Lotus Pier, Second Shidi realized something, from how Jiang Wanyin had always reprimanded Wei Wuxian for not bringing his sword, and didn't want to train the disciples, it could be seen that Jiang Wanyin didn't even notice that Wei Wuxian didn't have his golden core anymore...

His shixiong, Wei Wuxian, was always like this....

He was wailing for a small injury, and yet when he's truly hurt, he was silent and kept everything inside him, never wanting to worry others...

Second Shidi could only silently pray his shixiong to be happy and smile once again like he used to be. 

Shixiong had reached the age of crowning, 20 years old, and he was such a handsome young man.

Second Shidi thought, back then Shixiong had already loved to go and travel outside, solving many problems outside, he's not the type of person who could be grounded in the sect as Jiang Wanyin had always scolded him to do. 

Second Shidi delayed his wish to reincarnate, and stayed to see until his Shixiong found someone he loved, and then roamed the world outside, eliminating evils, helping the weak, and erecting justice....just like what his parents, Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren did before. 

And yet, his wishes were bound not to be granted.

Many things happened at once.

From what Second Shidi heard based on YunmengJiang's disciples whispering,

Wei Wuxian suddenly went mad, he killed many cultivators from LanlingJin, liberated the Wen Prisoners, and brought them to the Burial Mound. 

It was a shocking news. 

From just this piece of news, people would automatically wonder, "What the hell this Wei Wuxian is thinking?"

Killing your ally, liberating the enemy's prisoner. 

It was such a bewildering act. 

From those piece of news there're many things that could be speculated. 

First, Wei Wuxian was indeed mad, he's probably hadn't fully come out from his battle mood and was still craving for blood. Those Jin cultivators were killed for opposing Wei Wuxian, while those Wen prisoners would likely be done for....probably was tortured and killed by Wei Wuxian in his demonic nest, Burial Mound, to relieve his hatred towards the Wen. 

Second, Wei Wuxian had hidden agenda. Why did he liberate the Wens? Did he want to resurrect QishanWen again, and this time because Wen Ruohan was dead, he would replace him and become the Second King of Wen? After all, Wei Wuxian had abundant, yes, abundant of battle merits. It was more than enough if he want to use those merits to regain back QishanWen's land under his name, and use the treasures he accumulated during his expedition in the war, to build a brand new sect, while using the Wen prisoner for his subordinates. What a scheming and cunning person indeed!

Third, Wei Wuxian was bewitched by Wen Qing, the Qishan genius doctor! Everyone knew that Wen Qing was a beautiful woman. And everyone knew how frivolous Wei Wuxian's persona was in the world. He was probably seduced by Wen Qing to liberate her clan, and then was seduced again to help Wen Qing to build back QishanWen! What an insidious woman! People in the cultivation world were quickly eyeing their daughter or nieces and seeing which one of them was as pretty or perhaps prettier than Wen Qing. If Wei Wuxian could be seduced by woman, of course those cultivators would not waste any effort and start to throw their daughters or nieces to win Wei Wuxian for their own sect. 

More and more speculation was discussed by this sudden turn out of events. 

But those 3 speculation was the most popular and the most likely to be the case. 

In Second Shidi's impression however, it was all a bunch of nonsense!!!

What madness? What blood thirst? Wei Wuxian did indeed hate the Wen, but he was not the demon whom the cultivation world painted him as! Second Shidi had watched him for more than a decade and knew his disposition! After the war ended, Wei Wuxian had calmly settled down as well. His grudges and his resentment had been washed away along with the downfall of QishanWen.

When he had regained back Yunmeng, and even rebuilt the sect to a much stronger and wealthier sect, had stabilized Jiang Wanyin's position as sect leader, and had ascertain Jiang Yanli's safety, it's already enough for him to quench his resentment. 

Wei Wuxian was such a person...the type who cherished the people he still had in the present, rather than kept mourning the person he had lost, and in turn neglected the people he had in present times.

Therefore, the first speculation was a fart! fart! fart! fart! What kind of bullshit it was!

While the second conjecture?

It was even more ridiculous. All of Wei Wuxian's battle merit was given to YunmengJiang's sect. And YunmengJiang's sect top authority was Jiang Wanyin. Therefore, all of Wei Wuxian's achievements was all owned by Jiang Wanyin.

Wei Wuxian had no lands nor treasures to create his own sect!

What a ridiculous idea!

Otherwise, why did he brought those prisoners to the Burial Mound? Wasn't it because he had no land or anything to brought them to asides from the hell-on-earth where no one bothered to claim ownership of it?

Lastlly, the third conjecture....made Second Shidi went into face-palmed. 

Everyone in the outside world didn't know, but every shidi of Wei Wuxian knew. That Wei Wuxian was a big virgin! What kind of frivolous and sultry persona were they talking about!!!??? All of it was bullshit!

Besides....once Second Shidi heard the mention of Wen Qing, the Qishan genius doctor, he finally remembered, Wen Qionglin, the Wen disciple who helped Wei Wuxian and had a life-saving grace for Jiang Wanyin, even had a grace to the whole YunmengJiang Sect for saving Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu's bodies to avoid the humiliation after death, and even burry them properly and got their ashes back to build into the ancestral hall...

Second Shidi knew because he heard the conversation between the Wen Cultivators back then after the corpses of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu were gone, and Jiang Wanyin was also gone. Wen Chao had interrogated the disciples and asked something unusual , but only got the news that Wen Qionglin, Wen Qing's little brother who came yesterday night, had gone back to Yiling. 

Wen Chao remembered that back then Wei Wuxian had defended Wen Qionglin. Therefore, it must be him who helped Wei Wuxian. 

But Wen Chao couldn't offend Wen Qing.

She's on the same rank with Wen Chao in QishanWen, and was even more favored by Wen Ruohan because she was the best medical practitioner in Qishan, and even in the cultivation world.

Therefore, Wen Chao only arranged his subordinates to wait and loiter around in the area of Yiling, waiting for Wei Wuxian to show up.

After all, they also knew that it's impossible for Wen Qionglin or Wen Qing to keep hiding Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin in their place, and Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin themselves must not wanted to stay silent, and would try to join, either to Meishan Yu, the in-law of YunmengJiang, or to the Central Plain, joining the forces of other sects. 

There was no need to offend and clashed with Wen Qing, they only needed to wait and laid a trap in the region.

The result was...indeed true. They caught a Wei Wuxian in one of Yiling region.

In the end, the moment Wen Qing's name showed up, Second Shidi immediately understood why did Wei Wuxian liberated the Wen's prisoner.

It was the return of gratitudes. 

However, the next news had shattered Second Shidi's whole belief once again!

Wei Wuxian defected from YunmengJiang, and became the enemy of the entire cultivation world. 

Why?

Why did Jiang Wanyin abandon Wei Wuxian and even stated this kind of announcement when clearly the debt of the Wen Sibling was more into Jiang Wanyin and YunmengJiang rather than Wei Wuxian's own benefit?

Was it truly what Wei Wuxian wish or said?

Perhaps, Wei Wuxian's defection was indeed what he did, since he's that kind of person...always shoving people away and faced the problem by himself. 

Second Shidi knew it since in a simple nighthunt, Wei Wuxian had always bear the brunt and shoved his shidi asides. It was his natural reaction since before and even now.

But...would his shixiong, Wei Wuxian, be stupid or muddle-headed enough to announce to be "the enemy of the cultivation world?" 

Wasn't it like admitting he had something dubious to do with the Wens?

Wasn't it like painting those Wens as something "dangerous"?

Based on Wei Wuxian's personality , he would never do something like that!

He would never shirk away from admitting having a debt and gratitudes to people, and instead painted those people whom he had debt for to be like a  bunch of "dubious or dangerous people". 

It was an ungrateful act!

Instead of admitting gratitudes, but paint them into a bunch of "dangerous" existence!

Shixiong would never be ungrateful....

So....why did that kind statement was let out? 

Second Shidi couldn't go out and run towards the Burial Mound to see, and he was extremely helpless. Every news he heard was only from YunmengJiang's disciples, and also something that Jiang Wanyin reported...

Shixiong....shixiong...shixiong....

I want to see you...

Where are you....

Day after day went by.

Months after the defection of Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli married off to the Jins. She finally had her happy ending, marrying the person whom she always loved, Jin Zixuan.

Just as the Lotus Pier was busy, and the sign of happy event enveloped the whole manor, every cook was busy cooking many delicious dishes, confectionaries, bread, cakes, drinks, liquor, it was such a good sight. 

Second Shidi could only smile wryly...

Among the series of disciples, it was only Wei Wuxian who bragged the most about Jiang Yanli. And it was always Wei Wuxian who always said he wanted to give Jiang Yanli's the most beautiful and grand wedding, that everyone would always envy it until the hundred years later. 

And yet...that very person who always went enthusiastic on Jiang Yanli's wedding, he was not there at the real event...

Jiang Wanyin arranged a grand, expensive, and a lot of treasures for Jiang Yanli's dowry. 

A portion of it was undoubtedly the treasures Wei Wuxian won back in the war...

Thus...perhaps, at least, Wei Wuxian's wish for arranging the grandest wedding for Jiang Yanlis' was somehow still granted, in the form of those dowry and money used to hold the wedding in YunmengJiang's sides.

Near the date of the wedding, 

Between the busy kitchen and the many foods preparation, Jiang Yanli was dilligently cooking a pot of Lotus Root and Pork Ribs soup. 

Not long after, she wore her wedding robes, wore a cloak outside, and flew using Sandu, with Jiang Wanyin somewhere. 

Second Shidi looked at the horizon....

Needless to say, Second Shidi knew where they went....

The person who always clamored for Jiang Yanli's wedding,

And the person who always bragged and praised Jiang Yanli's lotus roots and pork ribs soups as the best, 

There was no other one aside from Wei Wuxian. 

The months went by.

The perception of time for a ghost was truly different from human. 

Without Second Shidi realize it, 2 years had passed since the defection of Wei Wuxian.

Second Shidi hoped that after these 2 years, his shixiong would have finally settle down. He hoped his shixiong's was alright in the Burial Mound.

Or perhaps next year, would Second Shidi finally got the news of Wei Wuxian's marriage?

Even though his shixiong perhaps had become a poor young man now, there's no shortage of woman who would still be willing to marry his shixiong.

Perhaps someone out there would be willing to accomodate and pamper his poor shixiong?

(Lan Wangji : Me! Me! ME!  Pick me! Pick me! Pick me up!)

Second Shidi felt excited and giddy.

And yet, his hopes was once again proved forever not to be granted...

In the 1 month celebration of Jin Ling, Jiang Yanli's son, Wei Wuxian was said to kill Jin Zixuan, Jin Zixun, and 300 other LanlingJin cultivators in Qiongqipath. 

3 days after, Wen Qionglin, the sentient fierce corpse ever been made in the world, and the strongest fierce corpse Wei Wuxian had, killed many cultivators of Gusulan and QingheNie in Jinlintai.

1 week later, Wei Wuxian went and caused a massacre for 3,000 or sometimes was told 5,000, cultivators who were in pledge conference in Nightless City.....and even said to kill Jiang Yanli as well. 

 

During the 3 months after, Jiang Wanyin vigorously drew a plan based on the weakness of Wei Wuxian, and finally led the hundreds of cultivators to the door of Wei Wuxian's domain. 

Killed the dozens of Wen-dogs who were with him, and finally Wei Wuxian was said to be dead by having a backlash. 

The half of Stygian Tiger Seal was broken into ashes, and Wei Wuxian was devoured by 10,000 corpses within the perimeter of Burial Mound....

Not even a flesh or bones remain.

Even the soul could not be found using every method the cultivation world have, from minor sect to major sect, from Gusulan to other sects.

Not any of those method was useful to find Wei Wuxian's soul.

Perhaps he was hiding and waiting for the perfect time to retaliate!

......or Perhaps his soul was teared apart, scattered, and dissipated...

The Cultivation world Triumphed!

It was the winning against evil!

The glorious era for cultivators!

The half of Stygian Seal and Suibian was taken by LanlingJin Sect, as the biggest victim of Wei Wuxian's atrocity!

The most dangerous and famous weapon of Yiling Laozu Wei Wuxian, the ghost flute, ChengQing, was taken by Jiang Wanyin, as the token of his bravery for drawing  a plan for the siege, and led the hundreds cultivators to the dead mountain. 

All of the people said, "If it was not for Sect Leader Jiang who drew a plan and aimed at the weakness of Yiling Laozu, we won't be able to win the siege!"

Gusulan and QingheNie refused to take any merits. 

They only took the invention of Yiling Laozu, the Compass of Evil that could help cultivators to direct the position of the evil creatures, and also the Spirit Attraction Flag, that could help cultivators to attract evil creatures in one area, and then defeat them in one fell swoop, saving time and energy greatly.

Many years later, Gusulan disciples were known to promote and use those invention the most, and never shy away for admitting it was the creation of Yiling Laozu.

Many other cultivators, especially rogue cultivators also used them the most, because it's very useful and convenient for a nighthunt.

There were many manuscripts of Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation manual. 

It was distributed between all the sects and rogue cultivators who went to the siege.

This was why...many years later the knowledge of Demonic Cultivaiton was spread far and wide,

and many people who imitated Wei Wuxian were abundant in numbers, they could even found a sect in their own if those people were rounded up!

After the death of Wei Wuxian, and Jiang Yanli, Lotus Pier was enveloped in gloomy and tense atmosphere. 

The expression that Second Shidi had known in this new world, the distorted, hideous, and resentful expression, finally appeared on Jiang Wanyin's face. 

Or actually it had already appeared from the moment the war ended...and had only gotten worse since then.

Since the death of Wei Wuxian, the room where Wei Wuxian was in before was demolished and turned into a completely new place. 

Jiang Wanyin had always gone outside, hunting down every demonic cultivators, and every people who was suspected, yes, suspected, let Second Shidi repeated, for just being "suspected" of possession by evil ghost, those people would be caught on the spot, whipped by Zidian until the supposed evil ghost came out, 

....or if no ghost came out, those people would be dragged back to Lotus Pier, and their fates, no need to say about what would happen with them.

None of them came out once they had been dragged into Lotus Pier~

It was not only one or two and Jiang Wanyin had done this many times.

Second Shidi felt the lingering resentment left by those people who were caught and never let go by Jiang Wanyin. 

The aura in Lotus Pier had changed a lot. 

He really couldn't bear anymore to be in this place. 

He wanted to go and reincarnate, and yet after witnessing those whole events, how could Second Shidi's soul could be settled down? 

How could Second Shidi didn't hold many resentment and sentiments in the world?

He was unable to reincarnate after all...

Fortunately, the God was merciful.

Second Shidi's shackle in Lotus Pier was finally lifted up. 

He finally could go outside and go anywhere he wanted. 

First, Second Shidi went to the so called Burial Mound where Wei Wuxian met death. 

It was a gloomy and barren mountain. 

What was left was just a broken shacks, charcoaled woods, broken stones, and a lonely and gloomy cave. 

There's nothing there.

Not even a single remnant of "glorious and amazing palaces" that Yiling Laozu was rumored to live in.

Every person who was able to think would understand the real life Wei Wuxian and those Wen remnants had, the moment they saw this kind of situation. 

Second Shidi finally went to his hometown, looking back to see his family...his parents, his older brother, his two younger brothers...what happened with them, were they still alive, would they be alright?

Second Shidi finally went there, he saw his mother and father were still tending on their family's farms, he saw both of his younger brother had grown up...the last time they met, they were just a bunch of naughty kids, right now they were already a teenager, and helping their parents' dilligently. 

He wanted to meet his older brother, if he had married or not, or having a child or not, he didn't know. 

However, once he went into their ancestral hall, he saw one more tablet....it's his older brother.

Why...?

Why did his brother die? When did he die??

Second Shidi was mournful. He couldn't even see him anymore, his kind older brother...

Second Shidi spent his days accompanying his family. 

He finally knew that his older brother died in Sunshot Campaign. 

Their family heard the massacre and destruction of YunmengJiang. 

They were crying and sad for their Second Son...who died under the Wen's hands. 

Back then, his older brother was determined to take back Second Shidi's body, and avenged his deaths by joining the war. 

Therefore, even if their parents were all crying and try to prevent him, they could not shake off His older brother's conviction. 

Later on, he joined the Sunshot Campaign party. 

He politely went and meet Jiang Wanyin, the newly appointed YunmengJiang's sect leader, for the death of his little brother. 

What Jiang Wanyin said was, "Wen Chao brought many Wen cultivators to besiege YunmengJiang because Wei Wuxian had offended him in Muxi Mountain."

What could His older brother do after receiving the news?

Blame Wei Wuxian? Hate Wei Wuxian?

It was impossible...

Wei Wuxian was the son of Cangse Sanren. She was the benefactor who saved their parent's life. One life paid to another life. Therefore, his older brother could not blame and hated Wei Wuxian for Second Shidi's death...

However, his older brother still wanted to avenge Second Shidi's death and took back his ashes or his any remnants. 

Thus, he joined as YunmengJiang's newly recruited disciples. 

One determination and one conviction was indeed good. 

However, you have to measure the strength you owned as well. 

His older brother had never touched any cultivation technique, and didn't have a talent for cultivation. 

He could only rely on his brute power to go in the war. 

His older brother died not long after he joined in the war during the 3 months of the start of  Sunshot Campaign.

Many years later, Wei Wuxian's defection from YunmengJiang, and many rumors about Wei Wuxian was spread around, including the rumors of "It was Wei Wuxian who caused the massacre of YunmengJiang"

Yes, the rumors about it had even started before Wei Wuxian killed Jin Zixuan....and was not refuted not even once. 

YunmengJiang was really prone to rumors....from generations to generations, the rumors about YunmengJiang had always spread around freely without any effort to clarify or suppression.

No need to say, what kind of reasons the leader of YunmengJiang sect for not clarifying it...

Second Shidi's parents knew the rumors about the massacre...and their reaction was also the same of his elder brother. 

It couldn't be help...their parents life was exchanged to Second Shidi's life. They couldn't say more about this matter no matter how bitter or sad they were, and could only continue to live.

Many years had passed yet again. 

Without Second Shidi realized it, 9 years had passed since Second Shidi could leave Lotus Pier, and had been with his family, or around 10 years had passed since Wei Wuxian's death.

His parents grew older, and his two younger brothers had grown up, they replaced their parents in tending the farms, and let their parents stayed in their house. 

This year, suddenly an infestation by evil spirits appeared in their village. 

It was a one-legged demonic ape. 

Second Shidi couldn't help but reminisce the past when he saw this particular spirits. 

It was one of mountain demon he had hunted in the past with Wei Wuxian in their teenage life.

The one-legged mountain demon was powerful and covered in black fur. It ate people like munching on vegetables.

The demon appeared on the jungle, where the path between their village to the town where they sold their farm products and bought their necessities was built. It was sighted by one villager who was about to go the town. In the end, because he had some talisman, he threw the talisman and hinder the one-legged demon for chasing him. 

Thanksfully, no one had been killed yet, and the evil had been sighted first, hence no one go and used the mountain path after that. 

Aside from this path, they have to detour and circled the whole mountain just to reach the nearby town. It was many times longer and farther. Not to mention, their farm products could not be sold if the condition was not fresh anymore. 

Therefore, the appearance of this one-legged mountain demon ape was really troublesome and hindering the life in their village a lot. 

Some of the healthy and adult man in the village and their village head, finally went to the sect who was responsible for their region, asking for the help of this demonic ape. The sect who was responsible for their village was of course YunmengJiang. After all, Second Shidi's village was placed in the outskirt of Yunmeng County. 

The villagers spent 2 weeks using carriage to travel from their villages to Lotus Pier and reported the appearance of demonic ape. 

However, what the disciple said was, "Is there any death?"

The Village head was confused but quickly said, "No, there haven't been any yet."

"Go back and come here again if there's a death. Our sect is so busy, do you think we can be idle enough to deal with mountain monster? If it's not important and no death, go back."

The village head and other village's man were herded outside. 

They were so speechless that they couldn't even utter any complaints when they were kicked out. 

They were so confused and tired, and they hadn't gotten any rest during their 2 weeks of travel, they hadn't even got enough foods on the journey. 

Therefore, to rest their brain for a while and think again, they went into a tavern. 

One of the waiter was quite chatty and served them nicely, when he saw that they came from afar and when he finally heard their story about their report to YunmengJiang, the waiter quickly lowered his voice, 

"This Uncle lives far from here anyway. It's understandable that you guys didn't know the rules of YunmengJiang currently."

He looked left and right, confirming there were no Jiang cultivators in sight, he finally whispered, 

"You know that all of the area in Yunmeng was under the responsibility of YunmengJiang, right? However, Sect Leader Jiang has a bad temper. It's almost frightening. His subordinates's said so a long time ago. Only one sect is in charge of such a large area. Each day, there are almost a hundred cases of small ghosts or other creatures pulling prank on the living and all that. If every single small thing has to be dealt with immediately, would there be enough time and energy? Those that don't kill anyone aren't malicious spirits, and we're not supposed to disturb them with trivial matters that aren't malicious spirits," The waiter complained. 

One of the young man from the village was shocked, 

"What is this supposed to mean!? Wouldn't it be too late if we waited until somebody's died to find them!?"

The waiter quickly put his hands on the young man's mouth, "Susshhhhh, don't speak aloud! What if you were heard by any YunmengJiang cultivators!?"

After confirming that no abnormality among the other visitors in the tavern, the waiter quickly whispered again, "You can't say or complain about YunmengJiang aloud again, understand?"

He continued after the young man nodded again and again.

"Lotus Pier itself is truly a scary place. Don't go there anymore, no one ever wanted to go there repeatedly."

The village head hesitantly said, "Yes, we heard some howling from one part of the place."

The waiter was even more excited now, "Exactly! You were lucky to only heard their howling. You know, there's someone who has visited Lotus Pier to report the case like you, he went out pale and was greatly disturbed, therefore he came to our tavern to ask for a drink."

The waiter's face turned serious, "He saw that Sect Leader Jiang was cracking a glowing whip right on the training field! The victim's flesh and blood flew as high as his screams! A servant from YunmengJiang secretly infromed that man that Sect Leader Jiang has caught the wrong person again! He hasn't been in a great mood, and that he definitely shouldn't be irritated in any way! That man was so scared, that he dropped off the gifts he brought and fled at once! He never dared to visit again!"

Listening to the waiter's, the village head and the other young man were paled in an instant. 

The young man stuttered, "What, what, how could this happen? What's with those wrong person or who was it that Sect Leader Jiang caught?"

"Tskk...tsk...you still don't know? Sect leader Jiang was very famous and known as Sandu Sengshou, he hunted demonic cultivators vigorously, and chased any case of people suspected being possessed. Those people he caught would be dragged to Lotus Pier, regardless their reason of cultivation, or regardles there's any proof of the supposed possession."

"How could this be? What if he's wrong?" The youngest man who was brought by the Village head quickly complained. 

The village head slapped his head the moment he finished uttering those complains, while the waiter just shook his head, "Have you been listening on me or not, this young man? I have said it, the fate of those wrongly caught people, their blood and fleshes flew as high as their screams. Those people regardless of right or wrong, had the same ending once they were caught by Sect Leader Jiang!"

The youngest of the young man still couldn't be able to accept it, thus he said, "Sect leader Jiang clearly had so many idle times to hunt down any demonic cultivators and hunt down those possessed people...so why did the disciples said they were so busy that the civillian was ignored? And their sect's responsible area was abandoned?"

The waiter could only tsk-ing, "Young man, Sect leader Jiang biggest enemy was those with surnamed Wen, and Wei Wuxian. Since Wei Wuxian and the Wen Sect were all dead, he turned all his hatred and rages towards those who followed Wei Wuxian's footstep, or suspected to be possessed, thinking all of them was Wei Wuxian, and lastly hated those with Surnamed Wens who were still alive, no matter who they are."

The village head and the other young men finally stayed silent. 

They really didn't know that YunmengJiang sect who was so popular of their friendly and carefree nature for hundreds of years, was turned out into this kind domineering, unreasonable, and this kind of terrifying existence towards civillian...

Second Shidi had witnessed it with his own eyes. 

He didn't realize that the resentment within him grew deeper and even deeper since this moment of time.

He was helpless. 

He was only a ghost that couldn't even gain a solid body in the real world. 

He couldn't help his family and his village. 

In the end, the village head and the other young man spent 1 month for going back and forth , and yet bear no result. 

The villager were all afraid, they were helpless, they couldn't sell the fresh vegetables. And could only sell the hard and dried products, like potatoes, or rices, and other grains.

The large farms full of fresh vegetable field was in danger of being wasted. 

As last resort, they could only grit their teeth and sell their vegetables in a pickled way, and it was hard to sell, because many people preferred the fresh one, and if they wanted to have the pickled one, they would rather do it themselves. Thus, the marketing was not good. 

The price for wilted vegetables was reduced a lot, and pickled ones were difficult to sell, everything was helpless. 

The danger of poverty and starvation were looming on their heads if this was let to go on. 

In the end, one of the older person in the village volunteered themselves to be the first victim of the mountain ape demon...

So that they could report to YunmengJiang that they INDEED have a death case. 

One after another, the old granny and old man were volunteering themselves, because they felt they couldn't burden their children anymore when the situation was already difficult. 

The village was blanketed in a depressing atmosphere...

And yet, when they reported to YunmengJiang, they just said, "Sect Leader will accompany his nephew to his first nighthunt this month. The strong cultivators of YunmengJiang naturally will go with them to ensure the safety of Young Master Jin. Wait until next month and we will send cultivators to your village."

They waited, and waited, and waited. 

And yet no one came!

The villagers were all already anxious, since the first time the demon ape was fed by living person, it finaly tasted the delicious human meats. 

Therefore, when no villagers went to the mountain, this demon ape took initiative to go down the village itself. 

Since then, out of a few days, there had always been people who were consumed by the demon ape. 

Most of them were children. 

Second Shidi never felt in his whole life the feeling of wanted to slap himself for being so helpless. 

One by one he saw many villager died under the demon's ape. 

....Even his father died when he tried to protect one of the children in their village...

Yet still no cultivator came to their village. 

In desperation, Second Shidi's youngest brother who were just selling their products on the nearby town, he also bought a set of Talisman and Array manual who was originally written by Yiling Laozu, and was spread around since the siege in Burial Mound. 

Yes, among the manuscripts Wei Wuxian had written down, there hardly any malicious or harmful technique (Because the most lethal of them was hoard by the Jin Sect).

It was mostly array and talismans instruction to deal with evil spirits.

The youngest brother studied the manuals earnestly and finally found one talisman to repel the evil spirits. 

Yes, it was the same talisman Wei Wuxian used a lot in Burial Mound, in the shacks of the Wen remnants, to repel evil spirits who strayed  into their living place. 

He quickly produced many talismans, and pasted it on the villager's house, and even the cart they used to transport the products. 

It turned out to be useful!

The demonic ape couldn't approach their village and their cart anymore!

All of the villagers shed tears and laugh for sadness and joy.

Sadness because they had lost many people...and joy to be finally freed from the evil creatures. 

Now, they could go back and forth freely, using the usual path, and their farm products would not be wasted anymore. 

Everything was going so well. 

And some villager even shared their experiences in tears to the people they met in town. 

Until not long after, suddenly a group of YunmengJiang disciples came to their village, with Jiang Wanyin who led the group. 

It turned out, the happy stories they shared in town was spoken by one person to another, it became like this:

---This one village was freed from demonic ape using talisman created by Yiling Laozu!

---This one village defeated the demonic ape using Yiling Laozu's technique!

---This one village used Yiling Laozu's cultivation path!

---There's a demonic cultivator in the village!

Thus, from this small town it was shared until it reached Lotus Pier.

Needless to say, Sect Leader Jiang who was very dilligent in collecting his demonic cultivators, how could he let off this kind of news?

Looking at many talismans that clearly not a conventional talisman used by cultivators, plastered on the houses and every place near the village, Jiang Wanyin's face was distorted the more he walked into the village. 

The village head was surprised that Sect Leader Jiang came to their village. 

He thought, oh perhaps he finally had time to eliminate the demon ape?

Thus, he welcomed them warmly. After all, even though they could repell the demonic ape, the talisman couldn't erase its existence. 

The subordinate's of Sect Leader Jiang asked him who created those talismans, and the village head honestly answered him.

There's no doubt within the village head nor within the villagers, after all they didn't do anything harmful, do they?

And yet, once the screams of Second Shidi's mother, the wailing of Second Shidi's whole family was heard from the entire village, they were shocked. 

The youngest son was dragged outside, in his body there was trace of being whipped by Zidian, after all, Sect Leader Jiang had to make sure first if this person aside from being demonic cultivator , did he being possesed as well or not. 

Second Shidi's family were begging, crying, and groveling, asking for the youngest son to be released. 

Even the village's head also tried to explain that the youngest son didn't do anything aside from painting those talisman.

What Sect Leader Jiang said was,

"This kind of demonic cultivators deserved to be killed on the spot and fed to the dogs!"

He answered them with a hideous face."He could paint this talisman today, and could kill a person tomorrow!" 

In the end, Sect Leader Jiang also blasted off the talismans on their house, and dragged the youngest son to Lotus Pier. 

The rest of his disciple quickly dismantled the rest of the talisman plastered everywhere and confiscated the demonic cultivation manual the youngest son bought. 

A few days later, Sect Leader Jiang came back, brought his nephew, Jin Ling, and told him to hunt the demonic ape. 

Jiang Wanyin was a jealous person. 

He scolded Jin Ling and told him that even Wei Wuxian had hunted many mountain demon in his teenage life, and even killed a deformed divine beast Xuanwu of Slaughter in his 17, what are you dilly dally for!

His inferiority complex was first handed down by Madam Yu who felt inferior to Cangse Sanren. 

It was later succesfully inherited by Jiang Wanyin who got jealous and suffered an inferiority complex towards Wei Wuxian. 

And was about to hand down again to Jin Ling,

so that their every descendant would have inferiority complex towards the Wei Family, and so that their evey descendant would never tasted any satisfaction in their life......because they kept thinking it was not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough to by pass Wei Wuxian!

Needless to say, to bring Jin Ling for a nighthunt...of course there must be hundreds of spirits binding net spread in the whole mountain. 

Second Shidi's whole family was ended in this cursed nets....

Back then, his mother was crying and mourning for her youngest son. She fell sick and was lying on her bed all day long.

Therefore, the remaining son she had went to the mountain to pick some herbs for his mother, and fell into the trap of those spirits binding nets. 

He had shouted again and again, but no one came. 

The Demon ape was baited by those spirits binding nets for 3 days and 3 nights. 

And this remaining son was curled on the mountain, without water without foods, felt the biting cold of the night in the mountain, and biten by mosquitos for also 3 days and 3 nights.

At the third day, finally the demon ape was caught and killed. 

Jin Ling and Jiang Wanyin left the area first and left the remaining business to his subordinates. 

The subordinates found a person trapped in the net and casually struck the nets down. 

After confirming that the person still had a shallow breathing, the subordinates left him alone, and let him came back on his own.

After all, it was not the first time this kind of situation happened...

Second Shidi's mother had no other child. 

When the remaining sons never came back, no one took care of her anymore. 

In the day his mother blew her last breath Second Shidi was by her side. 

Looking at her body silently.

Looking at the silent house silently. 

Looking at the barren and gloomy village silently. 

His consciousness was in a blank state since the moment his father died, and his youngest brother was dragged away by Jiang Wanyin. 

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

Jiang Wanyin

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

THIS HATRED WON'T EVER BE QUENCHED FOR A LIFETIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS DEBT OF BLOOD CAN'T BE EXCHANGED BY ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I SWEAR!!!!!

IN THIS LIFE!!!!

IN ANY LIFE!!!!!

IN ANY TIME!!!!!

LIFE OR DEATH!!!!!!

OH MERCIFUL BUDDHA, OH MERCIFUL GUANYIN, GRANT THIS ONE WISH THIS LOWLY ME HAVE IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!

WHATEVER I COULD EXCHANGE FOR

NO MATTER WHAT IT TOOK

PLEASE GIVE ME CHANCE TO AVENGE THIS GRIEVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Second Shidi's eyes snapped open. 

His heart started to beat one to another, thump, thump, thump, thump, 

The thumping of his heart resonated to the whole part of his body.

His cold body grew warmer,

His blood went to circulate on his veins once again, 

His stiff body loosened, 

And his eyesight gradually became clear, and clearer. 

And yet those eyes was full of fury and griefs...

What is past? What is present? What is future?

When the world had been rewind like this, it's difficult to differentiate between past, present, and future. 

My past in the past life might not be my past in this life, while my future in this life might not be the future in my past life. 

In the past, Second Shidi died from blood loss. 

He was stabbed in the abdomen by one of the Wen Cultivators. 

Second Shidi fell into a coma before he died from blood loss. 

His death lasted for several hours, from the evening when the Wen came, and finally he took his last breath when the dawn came at the next day...

In this life, when the dawn came in the woods, Second Shidi's "death" in the past life finally came to pass. 

His body went numb, his 5 senses gradually became weaker, until he couldn't perceive the outside world anymore, and the time was like being slowed down and stopped for Second Shidi. 

Once this time of "death" had passed, and the memories of the past life returned, everything went back to normal as what it was in this world. 

Chapter Text

Dark. 

Darkness was the first thing that the owner of a pair of glazed eyes noticed once his eyelids fluttered open. 

The glint from the eyes itself was extremely cold and distant. 

If someone were to turn their heads and look in this direction perhaps they'd scramble away in a panic looking at the cold eyes. 

The owner of the glazed eyes scanned his surrounding silently. The eyelid drooped, and the long eyelashes spread downward like a fan flickered, cascading the upper cheeks, hiding the emotions in its eyes. 

Lan Wangji was leaning on the cave's wall, holding on to his painful chest, festered wounds on his body, and broken limb. 

If it was another person, they would definitely cry in agony and even faint right away if they had such a combo of injuries. But Lan Wangji was not another person. Not even grunts or tears came out from his own self in this situation. 

His breathing was shallow and he could not even feel the pain anymore. 

Right now Lan Wangji just wanted to sleep and rest...

Lan Zhan, Lan Wangji, Second Young Master of Lan. 

People praised him for his talents and ability. People flattered him for his status. People looked at him in fear of his distant and rigid personality. People even looked at him in envy and disdain for whatever reasons they might come up with. 

But not a single of them was able to shake his heart and mind. People's judgment had never been his concern. Just like what his name, Wàngjī (忘机) means To Avoid Worldly Matter, it had become his conviction in life since he was bestowed the name.

Fame, Wealth, Looks, Status, and Ability, neither of those things were important in Lan Wangji's life. 

He could be deprived of those things, and he'd still live in tranquility. 

In the 18 years of his life, he lived with the best of everything. 

He had his parent, his uncle, his brother, his cousins, his clan member, his teachers,

he didn't lack anything. 

Nevertheless, there's always a feeling that a big gaping hole existed in him, leaving his heart hollowed.

The void in his heart had crept out, slowly gnawing his heart and wearing down his soul.

He did everything punctually and in an exactly similar pattern every day. Woke up at Maoshi (05:00 a.m), had 30 minutes of meditation, had physical training, went to the Lanshi to study, practiced his cultivation, or went to the library until night, and finally went to sleep at Haishi (09:00 p.m). The same routine was repeated the next day. 

The only difference was only when he went out to go in a nighthunt.

Lan Wangji never had any expectations for the next day. He never had something he looked up to tomorrow. It felt like he just lived a life, a role, he was "dictated to" as a Second Young Master of Lan.

Even when he got everything right, even when he achieved many great accomplishments, his heart felt dull. The kind of dullness as if the owner had exhausted their life.

Lan Wangji knew that he, as a teenager, should not feel that way. No matter how cold or silent a person was, to feel world-weary was not right in the slightest. It's a heart or mind disease. 

Lan Wangji had always been the happiest when he went out for a nighthunt, going into many places, crossing rivers and lakes, and passing by mountains and plains.

Every time he went out he felt like he was about to find something....anything at all. 

Unfortunately, this unknown giddy feeling cooled down the moment he went back closer to his sect, every time he finished his nighthunt and must go back to be the "Second Young Master of Lan" once again. 

Right now, at this moment, Lan Wangji finally knew what that "something" he had been searching for was...

A treasure he had failed to get, a chance he had let to slip out from the grasp of his hands, something precious whom he chased its every glimpse and shadow...for two lifetimes,

And yet still failed to grasp it on his palms.

Closing his eyes, Lan Wangji took another shallow breath. 

The memories of his past life that had finally re-opened in his mind a few moments before were still crisp and fresh, it felt like something happened just yesterday. 

That's right.

How could Lan Wangji forget, the ending of his past life?

The despair of failing to protect Wei Ying's last legacy, the feeling of losing a treasure, yet again, slipping from his palms, falling and breaking into pieces, unable to reconcile. 

How could he forget about it?

In the past life, Lan Wangji had died, earlier, before everything in the previous world were crumbling down. Lan Wangji had died before knowing the origin, the reason of every tragedy in his world, in his past life. 

However, the memories he got just now were, surprisingly, also added with something he saw through God's point of view.

He saw how everything turned out after his death. Saw the ugliness of the world. Saw someone's greed and others' ignorance that directly and indirectly pushed and created the decades of tragedy...,

and finally saw how his family, unknowingly, become one of the main drives of it... 

If someone were to be asked if they could be able to resent their family who has given them care and attention since birth;

Then, there's no way someone could. 

And so did Lan Wangji.

He could not resent his family. He would not be able to do so. 

Even so, it could not erase the bitter feelings he felt toward them. The feeling of indignance. The feeling of; exasperation...especially towards his older brother. 

Brother...why? Why are you so gullible? Why are you so naive? Why are you so...muddle-headed? 

You are so kind...but why does your kindness end up creating tragedy for others instead?

You are truly kind...but why does your kindness know no bounds and can even be used by others to create malice?

In the past life,

Even if Lan Wangji, he, didn't know exactly how the main perpetrators started a tragedy in their world, nonetheless Lan Wangji was able to see the deception in them from the very start...and even more so after Wei Ying's death.

He had shown his stance by never stepping out to any banquet held in the cultivation world, especially not in LanlingJin.

It was a blatant show of defiance, of disrespect, and even animosity, toward a sect and their people.

But no one had dared to criticize him for his lack of courtesy. 

While at the same time, Wei Ying back then...even a slight disrespect toward someone would be fanned into a bigger matter.

Funny, wasn't it?

The difference between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian was one: Lan Wangji has the backer of a clan, a sect, and family. Those who would defend his dignity and pride if other people were ever try to slander him.

Truly...when someone didn't get his family, clan, and sect to support them, they could easily be trampled, mocked, and bullied, not just by one or two but by the whole world ganging up on him.

This was why Lan Wangji was eternally grateful toward his Sect and family. And the reason why he could never resent them, no matter what their actions and choices had eventually resulted in the end...

There was heartache, despair, sorrow, and agony once Lan Wangji knew the passing of Wei Ying.

His mind was in disarray during the months after. 

It needed a long time for Lan Wangji to gather his heart back to avoid forming a heart demon that could hinder his cultivation, and it also needed a long time for Lan Wangji to start calming his mind and finding a new conviction to persevere forwards. 

Sometimes when he was about to give up, he would eventually be reminded that he still had Sizhui as his responsibility. 

He was not only Wei Ying's last legacy, but Shizui was also the proof of everything. 

The proof of Wei Ying's chosen life to insist on embarking on the path of righteousness even in a single plank-bridge route.

The proof of Wei Ying's kindness and his unchanged disposition...no matter how many times people thought Wei Ying had changed, Lan Wangji knew that since he met him as a young boy until the time when he was exiled by the world, Wei Ying's disposition had never changed. 

Sizhui was something Lan Wangji wanted to protect, the proof that everything that Wei Ying did was not in vain...Everything that he had sacrificed did not go to waste. 

It was proof of Wei Ying's morality and his belief.

If others wanted to deny Wei Ying's deeds as something merely "causing troubles". Wanted to negate his every righteousness as "heroic sickness", and wanted to destroy the painstaking effort and Wei Ying's sacrifices in the form of the Wen Remnants, so much;

Or if others wanted to destroy something Wei Ying took as important, wanted to destroy Wei Ying's precious people;

Just to satisfy their twisted resentment. Just to make Wei Ying suffer the same loss and the same destruction. For their blind rages and their sick desire to blame Wei Ying for every tragedy, thus wanted to destroy everything Wei Ying had as well;

Then Lan Wangji wanted to desperately protect it. 

If at least there's one last remnant, one last legacy of what Wei Ying had been trying to protect...it meant that what Wei Ying had been doing was not in vain...

It was something that Lan Wangji kept holding on to as his conviction to go forward.

In the past life,

He had seen his brother throughout the years...becoming more and more entangled in LanlingJin's affair...

Lan Wangji needed 3 years to recuperate physically. During the 3 years of seclusion, his older brother had diligently come and visited him, trying to give him comfort in his despair.

Lan Wangji was forever grateful for Lan Xichen's care and affection.

During his visits, his older brother would also initiate some conversation with him to keep him sane. Oftentimes, it was just miscellaneous stories or interesting happenings, but sometimes, he was also sharing many recent events in the cultivation world to keep Lan Wangji up to date.

Lan Wangji actually has no interest to know what happened outside. He had not a single interest in other cultivators and their never-ending hypocrisies and greed.

Nevertheless, one event finally piqued his interest. 

It was the moment Xiao Xingchen, the disciple of Baoshan Sanren, came down from the mountain, around 1 year after Wei Ying's death. 

Baoshan Sanren was the one and only cultivator who succeeded to attain immortality known and still existed in their current era.

She had 2 disciples who had descended the mountain so far, Yanling Daoren, and Zangse Sanren. 

The line of Baoshan Sanren had the principle that once they came down they could never go back to the mountain. And once they came down, they'd always have a tragic end.

Yanling Daoren was someone when he first left the mountain, due to the mastery of his skills, everyone praised and admired him, and he became a famous cultivator of the righteous path.

However, due to an uncertain cause, Yanling Daoren died under the crusades of "thousands of swords". It was said that he had gone berserk and was capable of killing others without even blinking. He was said to have a drastic "changed in temperament or disposition".

Zangse Sanren had also died in a nighthunt. None of her remnants ever made out to the world, either crushed or lost...no one knew. Her husband died along with her, and her son who was only 4 or 5 years old was left, struggling in the streets on his own for years. 

Therefore...what kind of ending this Xiao Xingchen would have? 

It's really hard not to think more about this particular Daozhang...since he was indirectly related to Wei Ying.

The appearance of Baoshan Sanren's disciple had indeed shaken the world of cultivation. Needless to say, every Baoshan Sanren disciple had always had high cultivation, vast knowledge, and exceptional skills. Lan Xichen had also told Lan Wangji that Xiao Xingchen, unfortunately, denied many offers from cultivation sects who wanted him to join their rank. 

Instead of the 4 great sects, Xiao Xingchen made a partnership with a cultivator from a Buddhist temple, the Baixue temple, Song Lan, courtesy Song Zichen. 

This pair of cultivators were famous because of their distinct traits, the cold-like distant snow, Song Zichen, and the gentle moon Xiao Xingchen. These two people went out everywhere, eliminating troubles and eradicating evils. 

When Lan Wangji heard his brother's tale of the famous story of this pair of cultivators, Lan Wangji fell in a trance...,

...wondering if the fates were different somehow, could he and Wei Ying become like this pair?

Roaming the world together, erecting justice and eliminating evils, saving the weak and defeating the evildoer, back to back fighting together...,

...together with Wei Ying smiling and laughing freely without concerns...

For a moment, there's grief and envy in his heart for not being able to be like what other people become.

Not long after, his brother told him another shocking event, about the massacre of the Chang clan in Yueyang, with Xiao Xingchen and Song Zichen who had successfully apprehended the culprit, Xue Yang. 

It was the start of Lan Wangji's doubt towards his older brother. 

His brother told him clearly what had happened to the Chang clan.

His brother told him about how Xiao Xingchen dragged Xue Yang to seek justice and punish him in Jinlintai.

His brother told him about Xue Yang who apparently was the guest disciple of LanlingJin, who was first recommended, recruited, and spoken highly of by Jin Guangyao.

His brother told him about how LanlingJIn had insisted on protecting Xue Yang.

His brother told him how Xue Yang was someone who was studying to recreate Stygian Tiger Seal, thus the Chang Clan massacre was one of (the known victims) for his experiment.

His brother had also told him about how Nie Mingjue had been furious and wanted to behead Xue Yang right away in Jinlintai.

His brother had told him every detail of the events...

And yet what Lan Wangji had asked him in return had never been answered.

Lan Wangji, "...Brother, what about your stance on this matter?"

"Wangji, I didn't take any stance anywhere. This matter was between the Chang Clan and LanlingJin. We, Gusulan can't interfere with them."

Lan Wangji fell silent.

In his heart, there were actually a lot of questions left unsaid,

"Oh brother, did you not also quickly take a stance between the grievance of Wei Ying and LanlingJin back then?"

"You had even brought dozens of Gusulan cultivators to Jinlintai to witness and showed support to the trial of the Wen Siblings, only for them to be killed in the chaos. If not for your consideration to your Sworn Brother, would our Gusulan clan take a stance in the matter between Wei Wuxian and LanlingJin? Even though someone killed an heir of one sect, it was not something that needed to be taken care of by the cultivation world. It is a grievance between two sects or two parties, just like what you said earlier."

"Back then, why were you so quick to stand beside Lianfang-Zun in Wei Ying and Wen Sibling matters? When the incidents were still unclear."

"So, Why now you are hesitating and refusing to take a stance when the proof was already clear, and even the perpetrator had admitted and did not repent at all, even still have the guts to threaten the two daozhangs who apprehended him in public? Why? What was so different?"

"What Wei Ying killed was one heir, and 300 archers who had ambushed him when he was actually invited to the Banquet! But what Xue Yang did was the whole Clan extermination, the old and young, men and women, cultivators or mortal...when his only grievance was only toward Chang Ci'an."

"So...why can't you immediately make your stance right now, brother?"

Lan Wangji wanted to say all of those words, but in the end, he didn't say any. 

He just asked his brother another question,

"...What about Chifeng-Zun? Did you stand beside him and help to punish Xue Yang?"

Lan Xichen sighed. "Da-ge's temper lately has always been flaring up. It's really hard for him. Even in Jinlintai, he insulted A-Yao about...his mother, and even kicked him down from Jinlintai's stairs."

Lan Xichen frowned, it was clear that he was in distress. "Da-ge has always been prejudiced towards A-Yao. Even in this case he still blames A-Yao." Lan Xichen breathed another sigh before he continued, 

"I have told him that A-Yao has his difficulties in the sect. But Da-ge still couldn't listen and kept blaming A-Yao. I didn't know how to change Da-ge's mind."

Lan Wangji was dumbfounded. 

He looked at his brother, at his expression, to determine whether he was serious or not. 

And yet, his brother looked completely serious and in clear distress. 

What he said and what he felt were exactly the same. 

It made Lan Wangji want to shake him awake, 

"Brother! Where is your focus!? It is not about prejudice or not, it is about righteousness! How could you ignore the PROOF in front of your eyes and instead think about Chifeng-Zun's prejudices and Lianfang-Zun's difficulties!? Wake up!"

Lan Wangji wanted to scream those words to him. 

Was this really about prejudices and difficulties that should be seen as important in this case??

Couldn't his brother see the main point and the most important thing in this event?

LanlingJin's disciple had massacred an entire clan, AN ENTIRE CLAN, including maids, servants, old and young, man or woman, infants or granny. And yet this person was still excused because he could replicate Stygian Tiger Seal!

What was Stygian Tiger Seal?

It was a weapon Wei Wuxian, the supposed scourge of the world, possessed and used to start a massacre against thousands cultivators in Nightless City, two times!

The weapon that had invited countless malicious greed and had caused great tragedies.

Couldn't his brother see it?

LanlingJin wanted to protect a person who not only massacred a whole clan, but also recreated this kind of weapon, could his brother still not see the nature of LanlingJin????

Brother...where was your righteousness?

Where was your core morality as a cultivator?

As a cultivator of the Gusulan Sect?

As a sect leader of the Gusulan sect?

What's the use of you remembering and reciting the rules fluently?

Lan Wangji could recite the exact rules that his brother had broken with his action in this event:

Morality is the priority

--- A whole clan was massacred, why neither did you speak or do anything?

Steer away from Evil

--- A sect who wanted to protect a person who have killed a whole clan directly for a grudge towards one person in this clan, could it be still called righteous?

Shoulder the weight of morality

--- What was your morality, brother? When a whole clan was massacred,  do you think that the "had prejudices" and "had difficulties" was more important to think for you to be distressed about?

Perform acts of chivalry

--- Be chivalrous! Why are you still afraid to do the right thing and defend the weak? Your sect had engraved this kind of rule. There's clear proof of injustice and evil deeds out there. Why are you still standing in silence?

Be just

--- In the face of a clear crime, why are you still thinking about how to maintain your friendship and make Chifeng-Zun and Lianfang-Zun get along? Be just! Be fair! Don't be biased towards those who were supposed to "have difficulties"!

Help the Underprivileged

--- What about this word that still needed to be questioned? The underprivileged, the weak, the distressed, the disadvantaged, and the ones in need! HELP THEM! Chang Ping, the person who lost his whole clan, HELP HIM! Help him to seek justice! 

Uphold the value of justice

--- Where was your justice, brother? Why didn't you help investigate and trial this event? Didn't you also there, being so magnanimous and showing your support clearly to the "victim" that is LanlingJin, when the Wen brother and sister were trialed? So, where were you this time?

Brother,

Where was your morality?

Were the rules engraved, memorized, written, and copied so many times, recited so many times, to be a mere decoration and a mere tool of punishment? 

Was being "righteous and just" just a cover for our sect?

Between you and me, between us and the other disciples, was there any difference in how we should regard the rules?

No.

The rules were the principle, the backbone of what made A Gusulan Cultivator being what they are. 

No matter who you are, as long as you're bearing the name of Gusulan cultivators, you should abide by and take the rules as your guidance in life. 

Even more so when you're the sect leader. 

The face of a sect. 

The person who should uphold the sect's principle the most and become the ideal and example for the whole clan and the whole sect. 

You were not exempted from abiding by the rules, brother...

So, Why did you still see this event, this clear evil deed, as something merely "prejudices and difficulties between your sworn brothers"?

It was not merely about Chifeng-Zun's prejudices anymore!

It's about who's evil and who's right!

It's about who you choose and what path you take in life, between right and evil!

....And yet his brother was unable to see it.

Lan Wangji wanted to say all of those words, but he was "unqualified".

In the eyes of his brother and his uncle, right now Lan Wangji was "muddle-headed", Lan Wangji was "biased" because of love, Lan Wangji was "unable to see right from wrong", Lan Wangji was "confused".

Whatever he said right now would be heard and taken as "Lan Wangji's blind resentment towards the Jins who condemned Wei Wuxian", and he would only be reprimanded in return. 

His words would not be heard, and he would be reprimanded unnecessarily, branded as "a fool in love who could not see right from wrong and resented others who were the enemy of Wei Wuxian blindly".

Then, what's the good thing if Lan Wangji told his brother those words? 

Nothing. 

It was utterly useless.

And would even make Lan Wangji's belief in Wei Wuxian's righteousness be branded as a "biased view from a fool in love", completely disregarded and trampled as a mere "love brain fool-ideas".

Thereafter, might as well stay silent and keep listening...

In the past life, the chaos in the Cultivation World did not stop.

When the case of Xue Yang was still at its peak, suddenly there was news of Chifeng-Zun's death. 

Sect Leader Nie, Chifeng-Zun, Nie Mingjue, died in the prime of his life due to Qi Deviations. 

Lan Xichen had appeared haggard in the Jingshi when he relayed the news. 

He looked sad and shocked at the passing of his old friend, a man he knew from his childhood until now. 

Though, actually, the matter of Chifeng-Zun's death was sudden and shocking but not entirely surprising.

Nie cultivators had always been short-lived due to their practice using saber in cultivation. Most of them died in Qi Deviations. However, they were usually not as young as Nie Mingjue. They usually died after they had married, or had a child, or even though they were young in cultivator age, they'd be considered old by mortal human standards, around 50 years old. 

Nie Mingjue was only in his early thirties, it was a shocking death regardless. 

Nonetheless, judging from how Nie Mingjue's temper had flared up daily, and even got worse lately, it was understandable. 

Not to mention Nie Mingjue had gone through a war where his cultivation might have accelerated and greatly increased his risk of Qi Deviations. 

All in all, his death though shocking was understandable and nothing surprising, for most of people at that time...

Nie Huaisang hastily took the mantle of Sect Leader Nie. 

He was inexperienced and was widely known as the prodigal second young master Nie. 

Being suddenly thrown up to take the lead was something he had never expected...and inevitably ended up in a mess. 

Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, as the sworn brothers of Chifeng-Zun, had helped him a lot, from the funeral of Nie Mingjue to the arrangement of the sects matter, and many other affairs. 

 

Now that the person who was most difficult to deal with was gone, the LanlingJin Sect became more and more reckless and started to think of worse ideas. Jin GuangShan started to try as hard as he could to get Xue Yang out of the dungeons so that he could continue to restore and examine the Stygian Tiger Seal.

However, this wasn’t exactly something to be proud of. It was impossible for him to save the murderer of an entire clan from the dungeons without a valid reason.

So, they turned their attention to Chang Ping.

From coercion to harassment, in the end, the LanlingJin Sect finally pressured Chang Ping into correcting his words, invalidating all of his past speeches. He announced that the wiping out of the Chang Clan had nothing to do with Xue Yang.

Hearing the news, Xiao XingChen visited him to inquire upon the matter. Chang Ping responded helplessly, “What can I do aside from this? If I don’t tolerate it, the rest of our clan’s people wouldn’t be safe for long. I’m really grateful, Daozhang, but… please don’t help me anymore. Now, helping me would be harming me. I don’t want the YueyangChang Sect to end yet.”

And thus, the tiger had been set free back to the mountains.

At this time, Lan Wangji asked his brother once again,

"Brother, you know that LanlingJin used such a despicable method to free a treacherous villain so that he could remake the world's most harmful weapon. However, now that ChifengZun has gone and no one can reproach LanlingJin for it, what are you going to do? Are you going to continue ChifengZun's idea to punish those evildoers? Or...just let them be?"

"Wangji, as I said, this matter is between the Chang Clan and LanlingJin clan, we Gusulan could not meddle into. Chang Ping has said it clearly, stubbornly helping him this time is no different than adding more trouble to his remaining family member."

Lan Wangji looked at him silently.

His older brother frowned helplessly. "I know, I know, Wangji. You couldn't tolerate such things happening. However, Brother also has consideration. LanlingJin is at the top among sects currently, I can't afford to bring my whole sect Gusulan in danger to oppose them just to stubbornly pursue justice for others who have no relation with us."

"Then, why didn't you stand with ChifengZun previously? With both Gusulan and Qinghenie together, LanlingJin can not do anything presumptuous."

"I and A-Yao are sworn brothers. How embarrassing it is for his DaGe and ErGe to stand against their younger sworn brother? He has already in a difficult situation in LanlingJin, if later his sworn brothers are against LanlingJin, it will only aggravate his position in the sect. I can not possibly embarrass him to choose between speaking for his sworn brothers while he has to keep filial piety and obey his father in the meantime." 

Between filial piety and righteousness, which do you choose?

You can not pick, but you may choose to stay silent.

Don't help the wicked father, and don't go against him to help other people.

While the price might be, you would be shunned in the sect, but if you truly want to be righteous, even status, wealth and fame did not matter. 

However, Jin Guangyao has always been helping Jin Guangshan to smooth things out, didn't he?

Obviously, he chose to maintain his status and comfort in the sect over righteousness.

So toward this kind of person who clearly pick his interest, and discarded his conscience over fame and status, his brother could still tolerate him and think he was such a good person? 

Lan Wangji was noncommittal.

After Xue Yang had been released, he started to take revenge again. However, this time, the revenge wasn’t on Xiao XingChen himself.

Xiao XingChen left the mountain alone and had no family. He only had a friend that he met afterward, named Song Lan. Song Lan was also a cultivator of the time. He was a righteous, determined person and had a fair amount of appraisal. Both of them wanted to build a sect that valued common ideals instead of blood ties, which made them the closest and most like-minded of friends. The people of the time described them as such—Xiao XingChen the bright moon and gentle breeze; Song ZiChen the distant snow and cold frost.

Xue Yang put his hands to this side. Repeating his past technique, he wiped out the Baixue Temple where Song Lan grew up and studied at, and used poison to blind Song Lan’s eyes.

This time, with his experience of wiping out a sect, he made sure to not leave any evidence. Although everybody knew that he was the one who did it, what would be the use of that? There wasn’t any evidence. And, with Jin GuangShan’s deliberate protection and the death of the violent ChiFeng-Zun, nobody could do anything about him.

If the Chang clan before was something done out of past grudges, evil avenged by evil, then this massacre in Baixue temple was absolutely a heinous crime done out of clear malice and evil towards the innocents!

What's the fault of Baixue monks?

What's the fault of Song Zichen?

Nothing!

He neither did anything wrong nor did the entire Baixue monks have anything related to Xue Yang. 

Therefore, Lan Wangji asked his brother again, 

"Brother, what is your stance on this matter?"

Lan Xichen sighed. "Wangji, There's no evidence that it was done by Xue Yang. We can not punish him out of this."

Lan Wangji fell silent before he asked his second question,

"If there is no evidence, why not go and investigate? We could use inquiry or even evocation to ask the Baixue monks to find the evidence?"

Lan Xichen stared at Lan Wangji with a complicated look.

"Gusulan could not meddle with this matter. If we mix our hands in it and try to investigate, it was the same as Gusulan taking a stance to suspect Xue Yang. A-Yao was already in a difficult situation in LanlingJin. The last time I met him his face was even injured, he was apparently beaten by...well, even then he still smiled and said nothing. If both of his sworn brothers are taking a stance against him, he would be in a more precarious state in LanlingJin."

Oh, Brother...

You couldn't even see the exact evidence of Qiongqi's path and yet you quickly took a stance against Wei Ying and lamented that his temperament had changed drastically.

You couldn't even see the exact evidence of the Hundreds of Holes-curse and yet you quickly took a stance and support the "victim".

You didn't even know the exact circumstances of Wei Ying's killing of Jin Zixuan, and yet you quickly took a stance, gathered in Jinlintai and condemned his crime, at the trial of the When Sibling.

So, Why now you thinking about not taking a stance for incomplete evidence?

There's an entire sect, an entire clan, an entire temple, being massacred out there. 

Even though there's no clear evidence for who was the culprit, but would such a massacre happen out of nowhere in this kind of world where no war occurred? 

When there's no clear evidence, didn't it mean that it is the time when you're supposed to seek evidence? 

You're taking a neutral state, but can a "neutral" state be chosen in the face between right or evil? 

Might as well admit you're a mob, following where the trends would be. 

However! Other people could do it, but you could not, brother!

You're a sect leader! 

A sect leader of a supposed Righteous and Just sect!

Where did you put our sect's principle if you keep on staying silent when there's a clear evil and malice done right in front of your eyes?

In your eyes...what are justice and morality?

In your eyes...what is evil what is wrong?

In your eyes...what is actually reflected in your eyes, brother....?

What did exactly your eyes see out there...

After the massacre of the Baixue temple, there's a rumor that Xiao Xingchen brought Song Zichen to his master, Baoshan Sanren, to repair his eyes.

Afterward, both of those Daozhang were lost in times. No one knew where or what happened to them. 

The tales about Baoshan Sanren's disciple were done in the span of merely 1 year. 

Not long after the death of Chifeng-Zun and the massacre of Baixue Temple, there's another shocking news, the death of Jin Guangshan. 

He had died in a shameful manner and scandalous death.

Lan Xichen told him about the death of Jin Guangshan, and tacitly didn't quite mention his "dishonorable" way of death. 

After the death of Jin Guangshan, Jin Guangyao had taken the post temporarily as LanlingJin's sect leader, as the real heir, Jin Ling, was still a kid. Soon after his ascension as the Sect Leader, it was announced that Xue Yang had finally been dealt with.

The people praise the righteous Lianfang-zun. 

Lan Xichen also smiled and thought that; sure enough, it was because A-Yao was in a difficult position that he couldn't do anything before. Now that he had gained the authority, look, isn't he doing good? Others just have a lot of prejudice toward him due to his low birth.

Not long after, Jin Guangyao was elected as the Chief Cultivator.

But it was the end of the tales Lan Wangji had heard from Lan Xichen. 

Because his 3 years of confinement had finished, and his injury had healed completely.

He was about to start cultivating once again, began his training that got delayed and cut for 3 years, and started to come out in every chaos once again. 

After his confinement was lifted, and he was back again to his post as the Second Young Master of Lan, and bearing the name of Hanguang-Jun once again, Lan Wangji knew that his uncle, his brother, and his elders secretly had always paid attention to him, in wary.

In spite of it, Lan Wangji didn't do anything. 

He neither argued his brother's way of thinking and his way of doing things, nor did he confront his uncle's belief. 

Perhaps both his brother and uncle thought he had closed his heart and kept mourning for Wei Ying. 

Either way, Lan Wangji didn't say any of his thoughts to his two remaining family members ever again.

Expressing his thoughts was something useless. 

Trying to make others see what he had always seen within his own righteousness was useless. 

No one would listen to him. 

The only thing he could do now was express everything through actions and results. 

Said nothing, complained nothing, and silently did everything he thought was right. 

He had practiced his cultivation once again, increasing the level of his cultivation. 

He went out into every chaos, and helped to train and teach the younger generations in the clan. 

His uncle and his brother might see him with wary eyes, afraid of his "disobedience" and "losing the way" again, warily watching the disciples he taught, afraid of them being influenced. 

But Lan Wangji said nothing. 

He just silently taught those disciples, and shaped them into a group of outstanding disciples with high cultivation, broad-mindedness, and upholding the morality in their hearts as the priority. 

Lan Yuan, Lan Sizhui, the Wen remnant he brought back to the sect and insisted to be put under his name and admitted as a direct clan member, was someone whom he had taught directly, a direct disciple of Hanguang-Jun. 

He knew that this boy would attract a lot of attention and may draw a skeptical gaze, after all, he was....the Wen remnant. 

But, what had Lan Shizui turned out to be?

He was the best Gusulan disciple in his generation 

Taken as an example in Gusulan and in the cultivation world in his generation. 

It was impossible for others to be dissatisfied with Lan Wangji when he could produce this kind of disciple, and also another group of outstanding disciples. 

Perhaps .....

perhaps they might think that what Lan Wangji did was his attempt to "wash clean" the "stain" of his reputation. 

Perhaps they might think it was done under Lan Wangji's way of "reflecting" on his "mistakes". 

After all, Lan Wangji knew that even his older brother thought that Wei Ying is the only mistake in his life.

Yes, perhaps for his brother, Wei Ying was such a "mistake", something "wrong" in the peerless Second Young Master of Lan.

Nevertheless, Lan Wangji did not say, admit, complain, or propose anything. 

He never cared about others' evaluations. 

What he cared about was his own goal and the faith he hold dear in his life. 

Whatever they might think, Lan Wangji just wanted to reform Gusulan's next generations. Shaping the disciples not to be "clouded in judgment" and thus repeated the past mistakes. 

In the past life,

He was busy increasing his cultivation and training the disciples, but that did not mean Lan Wangji didn't observe his older brother. 

Sometimes, when he was about to go out, or when he returned to the sect, he would encounter his brother who was about to go out or had just come back as well. 

Lan Wangji would ask him this kind of question,

"Brother, do you want to go to meet Lianfang-Zun again?"

or,

"Brother, have you just come back from meeting Lianfang-Zun again?"

Here, Lan Wangji had added his questions with "again", indicating that the actions were done many times or in high frequency that once Lan Xichen went out or went back, it was inevitable that people would always think he was just about to, or had just met with Jin Guangyao.

And yet his brother either he felt nothing or who knows what he felt about, would answer with a smile just like usual, and say,

"I will go and talk about the next conference with A- Yao"

or,

"I have just come back from a nighthunt with A-Yao"

Lan Wangji said nothing and reacted nothing aside from faint nods. 

Sure enough...the relationship between the two was really close...Close enough to give Jin Guangyao a jade token to freely roam Gusulan Sect...

From the moment his brother had told him that he gave Jin Guangyao a jade order from Gusulan, then taught him to play Clarity Songs for Nie Mingjue, Lan Wangji had always wanted to say something. 

Sharing the Clarity Songs to heal Nie Mingjue was justified. 

But giving a jade order?

To a former SPY who successfully dug up every secret of QishanWen and assassinated their Sect Leader?

It would be justified if the person who was given trust had an unquestionable character.

But, did his brother forget the whole event about Xue Yang?

Besides, even without Xue Yang, Jin Guangyao's associate was already questionable enough.

Everyone knew that Su She, Su Minshan was the running dog of LanlingJin, the subordinate of Jin Guangyao.

Su She, A member of Gusulan who had defective characters had quit the sect and still didn't put his former sect in his eyes, thus resulting in All Gusulan members despising him and his newly formed sect.

He's a disciple with foreign surname in Gusulan who quit the sect and formed his own sect.

If it was only a matter of quitting the sect it wouldn't be mattered as much. However, this person formed his own sect, and formed a cultivation technique imitating Gusulan sect!

He even chose his weapon for a 7 string Guqin, similar to the famous WangjiQin. And whenever someone said he's imitating Gusulan and Hanguang-Jun, he'd be really annoyed and mad as if he didn't steal their techniques, and didn't imitate the famous Hanguang-Jun.

Everytime Gusulan disciples or Cultivators met with MolingSu disciples they would be standing far away from each other, and the former would not even bother to give the latter even a little glance. 

It's not only the disciples, even Lan Qiren was annoyed and hated this person so much.

Perhaps if someday Lan Wangji became rude and put a silencing spell on Su She to make Wei Wuxian speak freely, Lan Qiren, he'd rather heard Wei Wuxian's spouting out his ideas rather than lift a silencing spell Lan Wangji put on this person.

Then, for Jin Guangyao to associate with this person, wasn't this simply not giving a face and disregarding Gusulan's grudge at all? While the grudge was actually very justified. Because Su She has a defective character.

What would his brother want to achieve by giving Jin Guangyao a jade order able to be used freely in Gusulan?

As if giving a key to your family house to your close friend..while in fact, your family house was full of family secrets, and even their family's privacy.

Then, toward such a person who was both hated by the sect and Lan Qiren, for Jin Guangyao to take this person as a subordinate, how could Lan Xichen still say nothing nor felt anything towards this sworn brother of his and still give him a key to enter his Sect, Gusulan, freely?

Why?

Why didn't he have any sense of danger? Why didn't he have any sense of worry? 

There's only so much you could put trust in your friend. And putting trust in someone must be done after thoroughly considering this friend's nature. 

Jin Guangyao's nature...should Lan Wangji repeat all over again what he had done this far?

Or should Lan Wangji even bring out the past event, where Jin Guangyao who was praised for his impeccable memory, actually distorted Wei Wuxian's words in a banquet...to sow more discord between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian?

Did Lan Xichen forget this kind of behavior?

No matter how much it was put to be "I have no choice but to do it to help my father", but how could the character of someone who dared to "frame" and "slander" others, for the sake of gaining his own father's recognition, be trusted at all?

Or, do you want to say that Jin Guangyao's relationship with Su She was the same as Wei Ying protecting the Wen Remnants while the Wen was actually their previous enemy before?

Of course, it was different!

Even in the beginning, the people who did the crime were totally different people, while the remnants Wei Ying was trying to protect were people who didn't have anything to do with the war at all. 

What about Su She? He's the prime suspect! The main person whom Gusulan and Lan Qiren hated directly. For clear reason between the two sects! 

Did his brother not know the saying of "an enemy of your enemy is your friend"?

Then, "a friend of your enemy", what did it mean if not in a questionable state???

Then for this person, Jin Guangyao, Lan Xichen not only didn't put any of his guards, but he also gave this person a high jade order that could access all of the places in Gusulan.

The jade order was different for every member of the clan for a reason. 

Lan Xichen gave Jin Guangyao, a piece of his own sect jade order, which was equivalent to leaking all the Gusulan clan secrets to the LanlingJin.

In the past life memories that Lan Wangji had seen from God's point of view, he had seen Jin Guangyao who owned the Jade order, had accessed Gusulan's forbidden library, and even stole Lan's forbidden technique.

Not just the technique to kill Nie Mingjue,

But also a technique Su She used to seal the cultivators who came to the Second Siege of Burial Mound!

And what are the consequences of Lan Xichen's trust by giving Jin Guangyao a key to his clan ground?

Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen's childhood friend, was assassinated.

Lan Qiren, and the other Gusulan cultivators, died because they were besieged by the fierce corpses while their cultivation was sealed.

Both times, Lan Xichen's trust and boundless kindness toward Jin Guangyao, had ended up killing his close people...

Brother...have you never considered your status? You are a sect leader of Gusulan. Have you never considered your sect at all?

Lan Xichen trusted Jin Guangyao so much. 

Much more than Nie Mingjue, the friend and sworn brother he knew was a righteous person since childhood. 

Much more than Lan Wangji, his blood-brother whom he knew had never done anything wrong and had always been righteous since birth. Oh, except that Wei Wuxian was his biggest misjudgements, apparently.

His older brother trusted someone else, for something.

For the grace, Jin Guangyao gave to Lan Xichen. 

But what was the grace? Was it a life-saving grace?

No. 

His grace towards Lan Xichen was only grace for taking him in. 

If Jin Guangyao didn't take him in, would Lan Xichen die of starvation or have been caught by the Wens? 

No. 

Then, what was another grace Jin Guangyao did towards Lan Xichen?

Well, His brother had said,

"A-Yao had done a kindness and helped Gusulan in rebuilding our sect."

That was the grace he took into consideration. 

But did Jin Guangyao's help in their rebuilding was significant enough to give him boundless trust?

No. 

Gusulan itself was a rich sect.

When their sect was burned, their wealth was not only stored in the clan. All of their properties and their source of income, all of it was outside. The Cloud Recesses was only their headquarters, not the source of their wealth.

Unlike the case of YunmengJiang's destruction where the 2,400 treasures were taken by the Wens. When Wen Xu burned their library, they didn't snatch Gusulan treasures.

Besides, during the war, the 3 person who had accumulated merits the most was Wei Wuxian, Nie Mingjue, and Gusulan Clan. They won many battles spoils in the war.

Wei Wuxian was the main combat power in the war.

Nie Mingjue was the general and leader of the Sunshot Campaign.

And Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji had traveled on many war fronts and helped out many people.

LanlingJin's best merit was only Jin Guangyao's assassination of Wen Ruohan.

Even after the war, the Gusulan clan was still a strong and wealthy clan!

Then, what was Jin Guangyao's position in the Jins right after the war?

Wasn't it clear enough with how many times his brother said,

"A-Yao has difficulties in the sect"

For this person "who has difficulties" and was even beaten up by the mistress of the sect, could this person give significant help to the rebuilding of the Gusulan sect?

Was Gusulan too miserable, poor, and lacking talents, enough for them to need significant helps from a person "who had difficulties" from another sect?

Then, Did the grace of taking in, and the grace of helping to rebuild, enough to give him boundless trust, tolerate every Jin Guangyao's actions, and acquiesce in his position, bringing down the whole Gusulan sect to follow every Jin Guangyao's act?

Those graces were not worthy of tying the interest of the Gusulan sect into LanlingJin!

Lan Wangji once heard Wei Ying's saying to Wen Zhuliu, 

"Why is it that the debt you owe has to be paid in the expense of others?"

Why, Lan Xichen's debt towards Jin Guangyao had to be repaid by dragging his whole sect and clan down in the past life?

Why was your debt had to be repaid by your little blood brother's blood?

by your sworn brother's life,

by the life of a person (Wei Ying) who had saved 19 disciples of the Gusulan clan in Xuanwu cave and treated your blood brother in order for him not to be crippled,

by the life of innocent, weak, old, females and children, by the life of several clans who got massacred when they were the opposites of LanlingJin,

by the life of 30 disciples, you brought in Jinlintai to show support to your A-Yao,

and the life of other cultivators and civilians who died under the greed of LanlingJin?

Why? ...brother?

And yet when it came to his brother and when it came to Jin Guangyao all reasons had fallen through and nothing else mattered. 

Everything was done under the saying:

"I trust A-Yao."

or,

"A-Yao would never do something as such."

or,

"A-Yao has always been in disadvantage because of his status, I don't want to think of him that way."

or, 

"A-Yao, the person I see was different."

or

"It is not that I do not know what he did, but that I believe he has his own reasons beyond it."

Brother...In your eyes, did none of us your family, your clan members, and your sects exist, at all?

Trust.

The most important thing a person could give to another person. 

And Lan Xichen had given his whole trust to Jin Guangyao. 

Chapter Text

The war of the Sunshot Campaign had finally started. 

This time, there was no need for vigorous persuasion or even heated debate on whether to start the war or not. LanlingJin sect was a wall-grass at Sunshot Campaign in the previous life, their move was decided upon which party the war favored, carefully following the wind. They deliberately slowed down the forming of the Sunshot Campaign, they deliberately debated on taking a safe retreat route, refused to go against the Wen for fear of destruction.

Even when they finally joined the coalition, LanlingJin was more of an onlooker rather than the perpetrator. They only did a half-hearted effort. Watching and waiting for the outcome of the war. If the Sunshot Campaign were winning, then LanlingJin at least had joined their coalition, with their vast wealth it's easy to cater for the winning party, just throw them a hundred banquets frequently and those people would definitely praise Sect Leader Jin, forgetting the fact that they did little at the war.

And if the Wen Sect was winning, then LanlingJin would quickly hug the thigh of Wen Ruohan tightly, sending him many gifts and treasures, or even became the secret ally of Wen Sect, giving out Sunshot Campaign war plans to the Wen as a surrender gifts.

However, in this life, LanlingJin surprisingly took the lead along with Gusulan and QingheNie to advocate the joined party. 

There was no need to elaborate actually, after their one and only heir was beaten up, left to be trapped in a cave with a legendary Xuanwu of Slaughter, and almost lost his life, if Jin Guangshan still needed to act like a wall-grass, then his surname would not be Jin!

The other sect leaders lost either their one and only heir, their spare heirs, younger brothers, and dozens of their young disciples. It's truly a big loss, so far, this event was the biggest massacre that happened in their generations.

Today QishanWen dared to trap and let their heirs and disciples die. 

Who knew what they'd do tomorrow? 

The smaller sects near Qishan had been swallowed by the Wen at a steady pace. 

There's two different ending for those sects, one, they'd rebel and the sect was massacred, two, they flattered the Wen and their sect became one of Wen's affiliated families.

2 months after the Massacre in Muxi Mountain, in one tavern in Luoyang, the capital city, a group of people were sitting and eating, when a man in his mid-twenties entered the tavern, panting hard,

"Hot news!!!"

The people who were eating turned their heads to look and looked at the man,

"Xiao-er, what are you shouting for?" The tavern's owner was displeased with the waiter who suddenly barged in.

Xiao-er didn't immediately answer, but instead carefully scanned the whole tavern, confirming the identity of the customers who were currently in the tavern, and then quickly moved to close the doors and the windows, shutting tight every single entrance.

After ensuring the tavern was shut tight, Xiao-er immediately went to the table where the group was sitting, his voice was low in volume but he said it in a firm and clear tone,

"YunmengJiang have perished! The Wen led their cultivators to the sect and killed the whole clan and sect!"

The news about the bloodbath of Lotus Pier had shocked them that some people were falling from his seats. 

The whole taverns were quickly engulfed in many low exclamations and buzzed with noises.

The group who was in the tavern was a group of rogue cultivators, and some of them were the cultivators from a small local sect. They didn't dare to speak out loud if the matter was concerning QishanWen. Thus, no matter how shocking the news was, they couldn't let their voices rise in volume. 

"You!" One of the men caught Xiao-er's collar, "Where did you get this information from?"

The other people were tensed, and their heartbeat was quickened. After all, YunmengJiang was still one of the 5 major families, for this whole clan and sect to perish...was really not a small matter at all!

"Old man Zhou told me when I went to take our ordered Lotus Tea. He was just coming back from Jiangling this afternoon. The news about the blood bath of Lotus Pier had been known to the whole Yunmeng county and was still spreading to the whole Jiangling. QishanWen had gotten the whole authority for YunmengJiang's as for today! Old Man Zhou had to be checked for belonging and identity at the city gate when he's coming out from Yunmeng county, there were many Wen Cultivators who patrolled the whole town!"

The people inside the tavern were gasping.

For a while, there was a moment of silence filled with heavy breathing, silent stare towards each other, and the tavern was blanketed with a tense atmosphere.

In the end, they shook their heads, sighing, and plopping down back to their seats, finally able to gather themselves back and began commenting on the news.

But, there're no other comments aside from, 

"Good riddance!"

"Well, they finally reap what they sow."

"Serve them right!"

"It's karma."

"That's right, that's right."

Just like that, the news of the extermination of the whole YunmengJiang was spread wide and far from Jiangling to Jiangsu, from Jiangsu to Shandong and Lanling, to Hejian, to Tanzhou, to the capital city Luoyang, and continued spreading to the whole Central Plain.

The news was spread mostly from merchants who went in and out from the Jiangling region or Yunmeng County. Some of it was also from the rogue cultivators who migrated from Jiangling to another sect, afraid of being suspected to have a relation with YunmengJiang. The rest of it was spread from the Wen sect themselves when they're talking in one tavern to another tavern. The news got delivered by some of the minor families who were affiliated with the major families, thus Gusulan, QingheNie, and LanlingJin quickly got the news with complete accuracy. 

It was said that ;

QishanWen came to YunmengJiang to punish Jiang Wanyin for harming the other sect heirs, and yet Madam Yu whipped her Zidian to the representative of the Wen Sect instead. For offending the Wen Sect, Wen Chao, Wen er-gongzi, had to come and deal with YunmengJiang. Who knew that the two leaders of YunmengJiang led the whole disciples to counter Wen's attack, refused to retreat or surrender, and ended up with the whole sect being exterminated. The body of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan was currently still in Lotus Pier, waiting for the right method to discard it. While among the whole sect, and the whole clan of YunmengJiang, Jiang Wanyin, and Jiang Yanli's whereabouts were unknown.

In the past life, this news was spread along with worry, fear, shock, and pity. Others even praised Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan for living with the sect and perishing with the sect. 

However, now, for one reason and another, there's indeed worry and fear for this news of the terrifying might of QishanWen, but there's no pity. 

Perhaps, after discarding any sympathy or affection filters one had, it's surprising but the people could get a clear view on the whole matter instead. 

The act of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan was greatly frowned upon by the leaders of other sects. For a sect to be exterminated to the very root was indeed a great tragedy. 

But, there's this undeniable fact, that for QishanWen to be able to amass and send the manpower to exterminate a whole major sect like YunmengJiang, there bound to be a great fanfare, ruckuses, and a big sign along the way, for the huge groups of cultivators to arrive in Lotus Pier it needed time to arrive and surround, and their arrival was not something that could come out of nowhere. 

The question was, for the leader of YunmengJiang to ignore, or didn't notice the sign, and in the end, had no choice but to let their whole disciples and cultivators perish, it's really a wonder of what they had been doing at the time...

They had no pity for YunmengJiang, but this incident greatly alerted the 3 other remaining major sects. 

During these 2 months, the sects were still mourning the loss of their heirs, brothers, and families. Some other sects were still trying to search the remnants of their relatives in Xuanwu cave, anything at all. 

But many of them had been completely devoured by Xuanwu. Some of them were piled at the mountain of corpses inside Xuanwu's shell, impossible to recognize within the tons of corpses mud, while the body after being drowned in more than 7 days, had been decayed, bloated, and unidentifiable.

Those people finally knew the feeling of having not even a chunk of flesh or bone left to bury.

Now though, after the incident with YunmengJiang, they had no choice but left the matter about their heirs and relatives who had no bones to bury, and focused on the war plan. 

The meeting was done in Gusulan, the farthest sect from QishanWen. 

The supporter of the Sunshot Campaign was overwhelming, there's no need for inspiring speech from Nie Mingjue to awaken their spirits, most of them had been determined to take revenge, especially those who had lost their one and only heir.

Most of the reason was to avenge the death of their heirs and relatives. 

But deep inside of those people, they knew, the reason they dared to gamble the safety of their whole sect by joining this war was also out of spite....when their one and only heir had died, they just couldn't care less about their other disciples...might as well threw them to die to avenge their heirs, at least they'd die in a "righteous way".

The beginning of the Sunshot Campaign was still the same as the previous life. 

Nie Mingjue acted as the chief, the general of the Sunshot Campaign party. His first move was:

Sending out Nie Huaisang to Gusulan, hidden and protected in the Cloud Recesses.

Nie Mingjue knew the importance of the war. Either he succeeded to defeat the Wen in Hejian and winning back his region, or he'd be defeated and forced back to the Unclean Realm. Either way, when he took the post of the Chief in this war, he'd be someone with the highest risk to be captured, and his sect, as the nearest from Qishan in the north side had the highest risk to be besieged.

Nevertheless, whatever the result of the war, Nie Mingjue would try his hardest to avenge the death of his father, and whether he'd die or live, his only brother, the remaining heir of QingheNie would be ensured of his safety in the Cloud Recesses.

After that, He brought QingheNie to take back the area of Hejian, the war front near Qinghe. Gusulan was led by Lan Qiren, taking back the area of Jiangsu. Lan Xichen traveled around the war fronts in the central plain, assisting any war fronts. While Lanling was led by Qin Cangye, the closest affiliated family of LanlingJin to take back the area of Langya, the port city. 

1 month after the beginning of the war, Lan Xichen, Ouyang Yiming, the current young leader of Baling Ouyang from Hunan who migrated to Jiangsu to assist the war, and He Su, the heir of TingshanHe Sect, led a group of cultivators to attack the post of QishanWen indoctrination, taking back their belonging and spiritual swords. 

More and more rogue cultivators and smaller sects were recruited in the 3 major points in the Sunshot Campaign party, Gusulan in Jiangsu, LanlingJin in Langya, and QingheNie in Hejian and Yangquan.

And yet Wen Ruohan was still leisurely cultivating and increasing his cultivation in Nightless City.

When the news of the other sect's counterattack was presented to him, Sect leader Wen just laughed. His look was incredibly young and good looking, as the proof of his high cultivation that could maintain his youthful state, and yet his eyes were cold and full of ridicule.

QishanWen elder, Wen RuoShi, presented him about the reports of the war,

"As for today, QishanWen has succeeded in fully taking control of the whole Jiangling in the South, in addition with YingChuang, Yueyang, Pingyang, and Ganquan, QishanWen has almost the whole control in the west to the middle of the central plain."

Wen Ruohan looked at the maps and the battle reports, his eyes were cold and his expression stayed indifferent.

"What about the other area?"

"Please do forgive this subordinate for still unable to suppress the rebellion, My Lord." Wen RuoShi bowed respectfully to the person who sat on the jade throne,

"The first Young Master has gone along with 3 thousands golden core cultivators to Hejian, we hope to hear the good news around 2 weeks from now." He said as he handed the first scroll describing the war plan on Hejian.

"Second Young Master is currently with Wen Zhuliu, guarding the Jiangling area along with 2 thousands golden core cultivators in Yunmeng, while the rest of the hundreds were scattered around the other supervisory office in Jiangling." Another scroll followed the previous reports, presenting him to be checked by Wen Ruohan himself. 

"The Qihuang Line, Wen Qing and the rest of her family are stationed in Yiling, placed in the back of our war fronts, and ready to be deployed at any given times in an emergency. "

After he finished reporting the current location of QishanWen's descendants, Wen Ruoshi proceeded to take another bigger scroll, a map with a few detailed points. He spread the maps on a jade table, that another elder had quickly put in front of Wen Ruohan,

(source : MDZS Maps : MacBeka on MDZS Reddit )

"As the plan for Hejian is about to be discharged,  our cultivators are still spreading in Jiangling, occupying and strengthening our base in the southwest moving further to Tanzhou and to the southeast, enveloping Jiangsu. If we get a victory in Hejian, we will proceed to give more manpower to Langya and occupy the port, cutting off their retreat to Goryo (Korea) or Dongyin (Japan). Then, QishanWen will completely surround the 3 other Major sects from all directions."

Wen Ruohan hummed. His fingers were tapping on the surface of the handrest in his throne. 

"Tell me about the state of these rebels."

Wen Ruoshi retreated a few steps and took out another scroll from his sleeves, 

"The rebellion is named Sunshot Campaign, intending to shoot down our mighty QishanWen that's comparable to the sun. The post of the Chief is taken by Nie Mingjue, dealing with the war front in Hejian. Gusulan supported the war and concentrated their defense and offense in Jiangsu, becoming the backbone of the rebels and intending to widen their safe area towards Jiangling and Shandong, so as their main base in the Cloud Recesses would not easily be breached. The defense is led by Lan Qiren, while the offense is taken by Lan Xichen. LanlingJin invested at Langya to stop our move to surround them from the east, a place where we haven't sent much of our cultivators owing to the fact that we were occupied in Hejian. Their war front was led by Qin Cangye from LaolingQin, a subsidiary sect of LanlingJin."

Closing the battle reports, Wen Ruoshi concluded, "Thus, according to the battle reports, there's no need for our QishanWen to deploy any elders or other high-ranking cultivators to the war field. As for today, the manpower that we sent is only 30% of the portions of our cultivators, the remaining 70% are still stationed in Nightless City."

Wen Ruohan's eyes went dark for a moment when he heard the audacity of those small fries who dared to shoot down the sun. 

But then, listening more to the reports of his right-hand man, a sneer was formed on the corner of his lips.

What he said was:

"Among the four sects, the LanlingJin Sect is truly a sly fox, waiting on the fence—watching how all of the sects were angrily going on some expedition, They reluctantly took some part as well but didn't want to involve much or lose much. Sending out a sect leader of a subsidiary sect to lead their war front, heh! What a nice move. If they suffered more defeats than victories, they’d soon realize that there was no good in this rebellion, perhaps even coming back to hug our QishanWen Sect and worship us once more, while Qin Cangye and his whole clan had to bite the bullet and be sacrificed as the rebels."

Listening to their sect leader who rarely talked, but once he spoke, he always spouted a harsh truth, the other elders were smiling and nodding in agreement. 

Looking at the move of LanlingJin was really easy. On the outside, it looked like LanlingJin had a great relationship with their subsidiary sects, that even an important war was entrusted to Qin Cangye, giving him the authority to lead the portion of cultivators whom LanlingJin sent under him.

Nonetheless, it's such a clear sly move from Jin Guangshan, throwing the responsibility to others, and avoiding the consequences. 

"The QingheNie Sect’s leader, huh... Such a stiff character shouldering a huge responsibility as the General. He’d easily snap in half—soon afterward, no need for our QishanWen to move and he’d die in his own people’s hands sooner or later."

That's right. 

Nie Mingjue was an upright, and rigid man, unable to tolerate any wrongdoing in his eyes. In such a war where brute force was not the way of everything, and tactics and strategy should walk hand in hand as well with brute force, Nie Mingjue's black and white justice was a hindrance. 

At the beginning of the war this kind of problem would not show up, however, just wait until the war went further, when the fighting spirits had started to drop, when the loss had appeared one after another, when they couldn't afford to use brute force anymore, when the flame of revenge and hatred had been dampened by the harsh reality of the war, and the fear of death had come hanging on top of their heads, following them to their every step, 

When their fighting spirits had been crushed it's easy to snap with each other. 

When their fear of death had started to come, their prowess in the war field would be greatly diminished.

In this kind of time, if Nie Mingjue kept his stance as an upright, rigid, despise any sly methods, then there's no need for the Wen to kill him. His ally in Sunshot Campaign would gladly kill him himself, or would gladly betray him and hand him to the Wen to be captured. 

"The GusuLan Sect has been burnt into ruins—although Lan XiChen is there to inherit the position of sect leader after he has moved the Library Pavillion, he is only a junior and can’t do anything much. YunmengJiang Sect? The people of which either had been killed or had scattered, leaving only Jiang Cheng, who was younger than even Lan XiChen and was still a child born yesterday, who has nobody in his hands."

Wen Ruohan sneered,

"It could be concluded with two words: unpromising and overconfident!"

Wen Ruoshi smiled and bowed towards Wen Ruohan, "Sect Leader Wen is right. Sect Leader Wen is wise. We hope those rebels soon realize their futile efforts rather than wasting our times to create a new order."

"Long live Sect Leader Wen!"

The voice of other elders and high-ranking cultivators from QishanWen in the throne room echoed at the same time, along with respectful bowing towards the jade throne in which Wen Ruohan was seated.

Meanwhile, in the Yiling Supervisory office.

Wen Qing was sent out from Nightless City where the Wen direct descendants gathered, to Yiling. A small town where there're no cultivation sects existed, the closest one was the YunmengJiang sect, of which had been exterminated by Wen Chao. Yiling was practically one of the safest areas in QishanWen, that's why Wen Qing, was sent there. 

Wen Qing went here along with her little brother Wen Ning and fourth uncle, and the rest of her trustworthy cultivators in her Qihuang Line. Her cousin Wen Ruyi was left in Nightless City along with his currently pregnant wife, accompanying Granny, they both could not move around or travel out much thus were left guarded and safe inside the wall of Nightless City. 

QishanWen had bought and occupied one of the already built mansions, had a few renovations to suit QishanWen's trademark, and voila, the supervisory office in Yiling was erected.

There's not much they could do in Yiling. 

Because the war front was far from Yiling, the Qihuang Line spent their time ruling Yiling Town properly instead.

They opened a clinic and accepted patients, helping out to remove troubles, patrolling to take care of public safety, and once in a while checking out the Burial Mound's wall seal.

Today, Wen Qing had just closed her clinic, finished sorting out the medicines, and taking notes on the supplies.

She was just about to go and had her dinner when she passed in front of her little brother's room,

...when she smelled a strong odor from blood oozing out of the room. 

"A-Ning!"

Without thinking twice, she snapped open the door of her little brother's room. 

Inside, her brother was holding on a jar of ointment, and her move alarmed him so much that the whole jar fell down to the floor and exuded a pungent smell of medicines. 

"J-jie, wh-wha-what are you doing here?"

Wen Ning was stuttering in panic, his attention was divided between saving the medicines from overflowing on the floor even more or, paying attention to his sister. In the end, neither of those two was done, because Wen Qing whose forehead was twitching, quickly saved the medicine jar, and scolded her brother. 

"What are you doing wasting out such expensive medicines!"

"J-j-jie," Wen Ning cowered, even more, his gaze was pitiful, and Wen Qing couldn't help but sigh, 

"What else?"

"Huh?" Wen Ning blinked innocently.

"What else did you bring from outside and hid in your room?" Wen Qing sternly asked him.

Wen Ning's eyes lit up, as if amazed that his sister was able to know what he did in his room. 

"J-jie, you, how could you know?" He asked her carefully, half-amazed and half-afraid to be scolded. 

"The blood's smell was oozing out into the corridor, why didn't I know, huh??" She flicked the forehead of her little brother, exasperated, "Besides, didn't I know you best, yesterday you brought back a sparrow, the day before yesterday you brought back an injured street child, last week you brought back a rabbit, who knows what will you brought back today, huh???"

Wen Ning rubbed his forehead that had been flicked by his older sister, embarrassed, 

"I-I, I did bring them back,"

"Tsk,"

Wen Qing went inside the partition that separated the outer room from the bed to see the "patient" whom Wen Ning brought back this time. 

When she saw the "patient" on the bed, her eyebrows went tight, 

"Where did you get them?"

Wen Ning looked at the serious looks on his sister's face, and honestly answered, "T-to-today, today I went to the market with F-fourth Uncle, we, we went to get some meats, yes, I, I saw them in the alley at, at the back of the market."

Wen Qing sighed, looking at the bloody sheets, and careless attempt of bandaging on the wounds,

"A-Ning! Let me ask you, did you earlier intend to rub this ointment right on the wounds?"

Wen Ning uneasily nodded, "Ah- ah, Yes?"

"You fool! How many times do I need to tell you, you have to see the wounds properly first, for this kind of wound on the neck, and head collision that injured the eye, you couldn't use the same ointment to treat a skin injury. Neck, head, eyes are delicate parts of the body."

Wen Ning was surprised and felt guilty, he was afraid to bother his older sister and decided to treat "the patient" himself. It's good that his sister caught him, because if not, who knew what would happen if Wen Ning was careless when giving out the medicines.

But Wen Qing didn't let him delve on his guilts too much and quickly command him, "Quick, clean up the wounds properly, I'll go and prescribe the right medicines,"

"Right, yes, uh, I-i-I'll  do it, yes!" Wen Ning nodded frantically to ensure his sister that he'd do it right this time.

Before Wen Qing went out of the door, she went back to insert a thin needle into "the patient's" limb. 

"You have to paralyze them first! It's troublesome if they wake up during the treatment, why are you still forgetting this step?"

"Ah-ah, yes, I-I forgot, I did," Wen Ning was startled and could only rub his nose in embarrassment.

Wen Qing just rolled her eyes and went out to prescribe the medicines, leaving her little brother to take care and clean up the wounds of the "patient" first.

Chapter Text

After Wen Qing went out to prescribe the medicine, Wen Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief. It's good that his sister didn't get mad at his recklessness. 

He went to approach the bed and sat on the upper corner, carefully removing his messy emergency bandages to stop the bleeding before. 

After he washed his hands, he dabbed another cotton and water to clean up the area of the wounds, carefully removing the dried blood and other's substances.

Wen Ning sighed, looking at the pitiful tabby cat on his bed. That's right. It was a cat he picked up from the back alley in the market. It seemed like he had been bitten by some wild dog, his neck was wounded, and the left head seemed to be scratched, the head's fur was lost along with the wounds, and even injured the left eye. Wen Ning didn't dare to bother her sister who was busy treating human patients today, thus he could only stealthily sneak this tabby cat in his room, and treat the cat by himself, or so as he intended to do.

Not long after, Wen Qing came back, bringing a few different jars of medicines.

Wen Qing honestly was never a Veterinarian, what she learnt was about humans and cultivators. However, her little brother nice nature who always brought back either a stray pigeon, stray parrot, stray cats, stray puppy, made her inevitably learn the medical lines for veterinarians as well. 

"J-jie, I, I have cleaned it up, Yes, I have," Wen Ning smiled brilliantly at her, asking to be praised. 

Looking at this little brother who's so pure and innocent, Wen Qing could only sigh in defeat, she really didn't have the heart to scold him some more. 

Wen Qing checked the cleaned-up wounds and nodded in affirmation, "Good. You're getting better at cleaning up the wounds." 

Wen Ning was so happy to receive his sister's compliment. He attentively observed and listened to his sister's explanation about the medicines she prescribed, how to apply and how to take care of them. 

After Wen Qing explained it to him, she asked Wen Ning to repeat the whole process, checking whether he nodded in truly understanding or he merely nodded because he didn't know how to respond. 

Listening to her little brother's effort to repeat the explanation, stuttering here and there, just softened her little heart even more. Her brother was truly a good and nice boy. She really didn't know what would happen to him if Wen Qing was not there with him anymore.....

"Good, now, you only need to repeat this medication and treatment to this cat until he gets better, alright. Don't forget to wipe his body with warm water using a towel, it'll clean the dirt and grimes on his body and prevent the wounds to be infected."

"Mn." Wen Ning nodded firmly. 

When Wen Qing was about to go out of the room she stopped and looked at Wen Ning seriously, "That's right, one more thing, A-Ning."

Wen Ning blinked and turned to look at his sister seriously as well, ready to listen to her.

"You know that there's a war outside between our sect and the others. The war is beginning to get worse. If not necessary, don't go out, alright? Or if you want to go out, don't forget to bring a few other cultivators with you, and bring a fireworks signal. It's dangerous outside." 

Wen Ning asked her in confusion, "B-but, but, Jie, jie, We didn't do anything, do we? "

Wen Qing frowned, "It's true that our family branch didn't do anything and didn't take any part in the war. However, will others know or care about it? Our family are stationed at the rear, in a safe zone. It's far from the war fronts. But, there's still rogue cultivators or the possibility of other's main force who got strayed to Yiling. If they meet you, they won't ask whether you're joining the war or not, just seeing you wearing QishanWen robes, you'd be seen as a target. Do you understand now?"

"A-ahh, that, that's really....," Wen Ning bit his lips and shifted his gaze down. 

Looking at her brother, Wen Qing just sighed, "I know. I also don't want any war to happen, A-Ning. But, we're only subordinates, our opinions do not matter in the face of....our Sect Leader. The only thing we could do now is helping the civilian as best as we can in our jurisdiction, and do not take part in the war and hurt others."

Wen Qing grabbed her little's brother shoulder, "Remember, A-Ning. Our Qihuang line are healers. We, doctors, heal people, and do not hurt them."

Wen Ning nodded seriously, remembering his sister's words.

Patting her little brother's back, Wen Qing finally went out of the room. 

Just like that, Wen Ning, who lived in Yiling took the words of his sister seriously, and didn't recklessly go out. 

Besides, he's busy taking care of the tabby cat in the supervisory office anyway. Animals were sometimes known gratitudes better than humans. Cats, or puppies, who were saved by humans from death, were really grateful and appreciate the humans who took care of them. Thus, Wen Ning enjoyed the nice-tempered cats and pampered him a lot in the Supervisory Office. The tabby cat had become his good friend in no time, accompanying him in loneliness, when the rest of his family branch were mostly stayed in Nightless City, far from Yiling.

Wen Ning was Wen Qing's beloved brother. There's no way she let her brother go out recklessly outside. While Wen Ning, despite his naive and innocent nature, he loved his sister best, and followed her every word. Once his sister told him to be careful and don't go out, he'd obediently stay in Yiling. 

Only when Wen Ning had "self-conviction" would he dare to defy his sister's orders and went recklessly out, from Nightless City to Yunmeng, from Yunmeng to Yiling, during a tensed and dangerous time.

But, in this world, there's nothing that made Wen Ning have "lingering sentiments" to the outsiders aside from his family...so he wouldn't be as kind to check on a sect that had been destroyed, waiting to see if there's any survivor who tried to came back, saved and took the survivor to his house when they got caught, and even helped to steal and bury the former sect leader of the sect that had been destroyed. 

Nah. 

No matter how kind or pure someone was, they wouldn't do that kind of painstaking, laborious, and risky acts.

So, today, the Qihuang Line in Yiling lived their days as usual. 

The Sunshot Campaign had gone in about 2 months. However, there's no news about YunmengJiang.

What happened to both Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli actually?

Well, for this matter, then we should go back to the situation 2 months prior. 

Jiang Wanyin checked on the body of Second Shidi and found there's no breath, his body was cold and stiff. 

The moment he saw the strangulation mark on his neck, Jiang Wanyin got panicked and couldn't help but run away. 

Jiang Wanyin ran blankly, his face was pale, and his whole body trembled. He kept muttering the words,

"It's not me, it'snotme,it'snotme,notme,notme,it's not me-,"

At some point, Jiang Wanyin fell to the ground, his trembling legs couldn't afford to lift another step anymore. He fell, and he curled his body on the ground, covering his face with both of his hands. 

The feeling of killing someone, a human, for the first time was overwhelming. 

Especially if the one who you killed was someone you knew. 

He spent curling on the ground for a few hours. 

He kept muttering and muttering, kept whispering the same words over and over, "It's not me, it's not me, it's his fault, it's his fault, it's his fault".

There's this power in words, and sometimes there's just someone who had a "great ability" to lie on themselves, even when they knew the truth. 

Jiang Wanyin was, surprisingly, an expert on self-denying, and truth-defying.

He knew the reality, it's not like he didn't know or understand, he knew and realized it perfectly. But his own self refused to accept the truths and built another "truths" that justified himself best. 

It's something that he inherited from his mother. 

Yu Ziyuan knew best that what made Jiang Fengmian didn't like her was because of her personality. She knew and realized it, thus she was so self-conscious to Jiang Cheng whom she saw inheriting the same personality like her, self-conscious and kept accusing that Jiang Fengmian hated this son as well. 

Nevertheless, She refused to accept the truth and built another "truth", that the reason Jiang Fengmian didn't love her was because Jiang Fengmian's fault, that he was unfaithful, still thinking or perhaps even had an affair with another married woman who had been died for years. 

It's a "great ability", only rare people who owned it, "a heaven-defying truth", to reverse black and white, reverse truth and false, and kept holding on to a newly built "truth that justified themselves best" tightly, refused to let go.

This "heaven-defying ability" finally had fully activated after Jiang Wanyin experienced the great tragedy of losing his parents and his home... 

His griefs on losing his parents, his rages and hatred towards the Wen, and then his accidental mistake on "killing" Second Shidi, all of it were piling one after another inside Jiang Wanyin. 

Then, after a few hours of delving into those feelings, in the end, he finally found out a resolution. 

His mother had told them that :

it's Second Shidi's fault that the Wen came to their door.

--->Therefore, It's Second Shidi's fault that his parents were dead and his sect was destroyed.

--->Hence, if Jiang Wanyin killed Second Shidi, then it was a justified act. 

After all, didn't he only avenge the death of his parents? 

Besides, Jiang Wanyin didn't intend to hurt Second Shidi. He's only too immersed in griefs, right. He's only too sad, right. It couldn't be helped. Jiang Wanyin had no malicious intent at all towards Second Shidi. 

Helpless, Jiang Wanyin stared towards the sky,  choking miserably he shouted, 

"Second Shidi! How great are you! My father always treated you better than me! Obviously, I am his son! You're better than me in personality and in front of others! Oh, oh! What a great hero! Helping other sect's heirs, and let me the one who was supposed to be your young master be condemned by everyone! Why!? Just how much rice have you eaten from them !!??? " Jiang Wanyin was crying, 

"Who was the one who said I'll be your subordinate in the future and will stay with me for the rest of my life!? Did you eat your fucking words!? Why did you die and make me miserable and feel guilty like this! You didn't tell me that you're having difficulties to breath last night! I feel like I'm clowning around with my rages! Why!? Just Fucking Why!?" snots and tears were streaming down on his cheeks,

"The life of my mother, the life of my father, my perished home, all of them were gone! And now that was left was the parentless me and the parentless A-Jie. Shouldn't I hate you!? Can't I hate you!?"

---Was what Jiang Wanyin shouted out to justify his rages.

In the end, no matter how much he cried or complained, no one stayed by his side and coaxed him anymore. 

When the sun had inclined to the west, Jiang Wanyin had no choice but to drag his feet and continue on his journey. 

He went back to the position earlier, his leftover conscience still didn't let him ignore Second Shidi's body to be abandoned in the woods like this. At least, he should get a proper burial. 

And yet, when he went there Second Shidi's body had gone without a trace. 

"Did a wolf eat his body? Did his body was eaten? Or other people found his body?"

Jiang Wanyin was panicked and he couldn't think straight. 

A failed case to judge a situation properly led to a tragedy; first, He got panicked immediately only when finding there's no breath and seeing the strangulation mark, thus failing to check on Second Shidi's pulse, completely underestimating Second Shidi's resistance to bear a choking from him. Second, He forgot completely that this wood was only a few kilometers away from Lotus Pier...And overestimating his own ability to run away from The Wen patrols.

Hence, Jiang Wanyin who was littering in the wood in panic was an easy prey for the Wen cultivators who were patrolling near Lotus Pier and even in the whole Yunmeng. 

Jiang Wanyin was caught. 

He was sent to Lotus Pier. 

This time, Wen Chao didn't have much interest in him, and even actually looked at him in wonder, thinking that this guy invited his own dooms and blackened his own reputation by himself, with the way he acted in the cave. 

However, that didn't mean Wang Lingjiao was not resentful towards Jiang Wanyin. She actually resented Madam Yu who had slapped her face until her lips broke and her cheeks swollen, making Wen Chao leave the side of her bed cold for the night, or until her cheeks had healed. 

But when she wanted to slap her corpse in return, Wen Zhuliu prevented her sternly. Wen Zhuliu was an upright man. He's the type of person who respected others' strength and was someone full of warrior spirits. One of the ethics of those people was "refused to take pleasure and humiliate the dead".

Failing to get her revenge on Madam Yu, getting ignored and abandoned by Wen Chao, made her life truly miserable. Thus, when Jiang Wanyin was captured, she was so ecstatic. It's her time to take revenge. 

Madam Yu slapped her silly when she told her to whip Jiang Wanyin with Discipline Whip, now that the person himself had presented their own self to her feet, how could Wang Lingjiao didn't feel giddy, eager to vent on her grudges?

Jiang Wanyin's golden core was melted. He was whipped by Discipline Whips 2 times.

1 time for his punishment of "harming the other sect heirs" was placed on his chest across the position where his heart was, signaling the broken morality he once committed.

1 more time for "abandoning his sect and trying to save his own ass" placed on his back across his shoulder blade and spine, signaling the burden he shouldered for the Massacre of his sect and parents just to save him, and yet the effort was wasted miserably.

After that, he was sent out to one of the rooms in one less-important Pavillion and locked. With no golden core, it's impossible for him to get out by his own effort. 

Lotus Pier had no dungeons, if only they had one, Jiang Wanyin was probably sent there instead. He's lucky that his home had no dungeons. 

But, that's the end of his ending. 

Wen Chao at the first place had no interest in him, thus after granting Wang Lingjiao's wish to beat him a little, melted his golden core, and whipped him 2 times with Discipline Whips, he couldn't care less about what happened with Jiang Wanyin anymore, and enjoyed his time by strolling throughout the Yunmeng Town with Wang Lingjiao.

In this life, there's no one who would run desperately, running towards him to save him. There's no one who would be so kind to treat his injuries and give him medicines on his wounds. 

No matter how careless the guards of his room, there's no one who would save him as soon as possible.

The Wen Cultivators who were stationed at Lotus Pier had many other businesses.

They needed to thoroughly ravage the place. They needed to tear down every ornament that indicated YunmengJiang and replace them with QishanWen's emblem. They needed to allocate manpower in the sects, patrolling on the perimeter, busy reporting to Nightless City, busy stationing the rest of the forces, and sent them to another batch of Supervisory Offices. All in all, there's no time to take care of any prisoner. 

They gave him two meals a day, given by the cultivators who were supposed to guard the Pavillion he was in. It was even done because they were inevitably remembered him when they were about to eat. 

But no matter how many meals one had, It's no good if the wounds were left untreated.

The wounds by Discipline Whips, and the wounds of having been beaten up by Wen Chao were not treated. There were broken ribs, there's bloody chest and bloody back, and there's swollen face.

The worst wounds came out from Discipline Whips. After two days left untreated, the wound was festered, it was swollen, there was some puss coming out from the festered wounds. 

On the first day, Jiang Wanyin stayed silent, didn't move, delving in despair over the loss of his golden core. 

At some point in the evening, there's a Wen Cultivator who came to deliver a meal, he suddenly went mad from seeing the Blazing Sun-Robes from QishanWen. 

"Wen-Dog!!!!!! I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you all!!!!!!"

But he was easily swatted away by the cultivators, and shouted back in rages, 

"Dare you to repeat it again!? What did you just call me???? Dog!!??? Huh!?"

This cultivator, Wen Zha, was actually a kind person. He remembered that Wen er-Gongzi, Wen Chao, had caught a prisoner this afternoon. Thinking that everyone else was busy, thus he thought this prisoner was probably hadn't gotten his dinner yet. 

He brought him a portion of the dinner, the same exact menu from what the other Wen cultivators had for their dinner, since he's lazy to pick out any foods and make it less or worse in serving like how a prisoner was supposed to have. He also brought A First Aid Kit with him, provided by Qihuang Line, who were given to every Wen Cultivators. It was stocked with bandages, a small jar of alcohol, a small jar of ointment for skin injuries, a few pills for body nourishment and enriching the blood, and other common medicines. 

Discipline Whips was after all not a small injury, it needed to be treated properly. 

Hence, who knew that the moment he entered the room, Jiang Wanyin went mad, attacked him physically, overturned the plate where the dinner was, and shouted "Wen-Dog!!" at him. 

Every normal person would definitely get mad when others shouted his surname with the additional calling as "Dog! "

His kind attempt was returned as such. 

Being called as "Wen-Dog", which Wen cultivators wouldn't be enraged at this calling?

Or actually, which people wouldn't be enraged when their surname, their precious and sacred Surname, was added with the words Dog?

In this kind of world where Cultivators were ruling, and they were a clan-based where the surname was a sacred thing given by their ancestor comparable to a name of a dynasty or a country, then, for this surname to be called with the additional of "Dog" And still being called right in front of them....full with hostility....When what they're doing was actually helping this mad person.

Which person would be patient enough to let this kind of treatment slide off?

In fact, the normal reactions of people when treated as such was; enraged, kicked this ungrateful person out, and left him alone to his own mercy. 

Thus, it was the exact thing that this Wen Zha did. 

After swatting Jiang Wanyin to the corner of the room, He glared at him in rages,

"Since you're so good, then you must not want the meals from us, the Wen-Dog, right? Right, of course, our Dog foods are not suitable for your noble taste!" He stepped on the foods on the floor, minced them into a paste, and sneered.

"Oh, The medicines are also made from us, the Wen-Dogs," He gritted his teeth.
"It's a pity that a noble human like you doesn't deserve these precious medicines !"

With that, he took back the First Aid Kit, and went out from the room, leaving out Jiang Wanyin who was hysteric and shouting out undescribable words.

Thenceforth, this rare kind Wen cultivator didn't bother to check on Jiang Wanyin anymore.

He's actually a son of the elder Wen Ruoshi, the right-hand man of Wen Ruohan. His position in QishanWen was only one level lower than Wen Chao and Wen Qing. It's only because he's younger than the two, yes, he's only 17 years old, and hadn't reached the crown age yet, thus his ranking was inevitably one level lower.

Talking about pride, his pride was no less than Jiang Wanyin. 

Talking about age, many people out there were young.

Thus, don't think that you're the only one who was supposed to have pride in your position, or don't think that your age becoming your shield, and justifying your act to be bratty, because others also had their own pride and were also the same young people...And yet not all of them should act like a brat, and be justified for their whole mistakes.

Jiang Wanyin already knew that he's a prisoner, he's being captured, and everyone here was Wen Cultivators. There's no one he knew to assure him that the place was safe and he wouldn't be hurt. Knowing this fact, the moment a Wen entered his room, he immediately attacked them and called them "Wen-Dog!".....when he's in the den of those people. 

If the Wen Cultivators who came was not Wen Zha, and their intention was actually wanted to torture Jiang Wanyin, after all, the place where Jiang Wanyin was detained was the den of Wen Cultivators, and there's not even a single person he could assure his heart with that the Wen Cultivators who came wouldn't hurt him.

Then, what do you think would happen to Jiang Wanyin after he attacked and called them  "Wen-Dog! "?

Would his torture be lessened because the cultivators are happy to hear the calling of the "Wen-Dog!"?

Would the torture be kinder because the cultivators are afraid to face Jiang Wanyin's attack and are feeling guilty to be called as "Wen-Dog!"?

There's no need to answer this obvious question.

Therefore, this kind of action, an obvious stupid act, if not bratty, what should it be called?

After the kind attempt of Wen Zha was welcomed with hostility, there's no one who actually bothered to give him a First Aid Kit. They just gave him enough meals and didn't even bother to check what Jiang Wanyin do to the meals, whether he ate them or not, whether he overturned the meal or not, whether the meals were piled up in the room, and rotting, they didn't bother to check. 

After all, if Jiang Wanyin kept being bratty, refused the meals, overturned the meals, there's no one who cleaned the room for him. Thus if the meals began to rot and turned the room into a smelly place, the one who'd be uncomfortable was Jiang Wanyin himself, the one who'd be infected with maggots and bacteria was Jiang Wanyin himself. 

The ending of prisoner of war was always like this. 

In fact, the reason why there's some anomaly where some princes or generals were treated kindly even when they're a prisoner of war, was because they had "value" that the enemy respected them for, admired them for, or wanted to have it.

For Jiang Wanyin, after his whole sect was massacred and fully taken by the Wen, what kind of "value" he could give to the Wens as an individual?

Neither he possessed an outstanding brain, nor did he possessed an outstanding ability. 

This was a fact. A harsh reality. 

Therefore, his fate was no different than "the ordinary" prisoner of war...

The news of Jiang Wanyin's imprisonment was only spread about 2 months after the Sunshot Campaign started. 

It was spread with;

"Jiang Wanyin was captured, his golden core melted, and he was imprisoned in Lotus Pier!". 

2 months after the war started, Jiang Wanyin was put in an enclosed bar box, and he was paraded to the whole town of Yunmeng.

The people who watched this parade were shocked speechless, looking at the state of Jiang Wanyin. They couldn't even recognize this person as someone with a sharp good looking feature anymore. His face was gaunt, his hair was messy, his eyes were red and bloodshot, his lips chapped, his body....was the worst one. 

Because he offended Wen Zha's kind intention to give him medicine, thus no one other than him bothered to give him medicines.

Don't think that A chance would fall repeatedly in life.

Don't think that A kind offer would keep coming to you until you finished your tantrum and "reluctantly" accepted the kind offer. 

Don't think that every Wen would feel responsible and feel obligated to treat you nicely because they "massacred" your whole family.

If they did, there would be no war in the first place.

The wounds from Discipline Whips were severe, it's a deep wound and should be treated properly. But, because Jiang Wanyin was tossing around in 3 days, shouting in rages, griefing, overturning the meal's plate, didn't bother to at least cleaned his own wound, then his uncleaned wound was festered. Complete with the messy room he created by himself, the wound got infected, rotted, and spread to his back and to his stomach. 

Right now, the wound was exuding puss, water stench, and awful smell. 

It was truly a difficult sight to see. 

This news was quickly spread around to the whole central plain, exactly as what the Wen had wanted it to be.

The intention of this news was to let the Sunshot Campaign party understand the result of "a fallen clan" under the Wen's hands. Listening and looking at Jiang Wanyin's ending, it's as if the Wen wanted to ask them;

"Which of your sect wanted to be the next YunmengJiang? And which of you wanted to be the next Jiang Wanyin?"

If they insisted to do this rebellion, when their sect and clan were defeated, it'd be their ending. 

In this world, how many people actually do have a clear intention, firm conviction, and unshakeable faith?

It's less than we actually thought. 

In the face of this, a clear "ending", how many people were actually able to stay true to their beliefs and stay strong to oppose the Wen? Especially when their region kept shrinking day by day. When they were driven more and more to the east day by day?  

Sect Leader Yao, was the first one who came out on top to spread a newly-founded "justice". 

What he said was, "I was deceived! It turned out the Wen was so kind and magnanimous! They avenged the grudges from many sect heirs who died in Xuanwu cave caused by the poisonous Jiang Wanyin! The Wen was justice!"

Thus, with this kind of statement, Sect Leader Yao quickly groveled in Nightless City's gate, bringing many chests brimming with treasures from his sect, and wanted to join under the Wen. Singing every praise to the mighty QishanWen and the benevolent Wen Ruohan. 

Wen Ruohan didn't bother to care about this hypocrite, thus he just left him to do as he liked. Letting him continue singing the praise to the Wen. Besides, the Wen didn't suffer any loss with his attempt to grovel under the Wen anyway.

The act of sect leader Yao enraged Sect Leader Fang, his best friend. These two former best friends confronted each other in a hall, Sect Leader Fang asked him,

"What do you think you're doing there!? Did you betray us to save your ass!?"

Sect Leader Yao shook his head.

"Did you betray us to save your sect!? Did you betray us to save your own family!?"

Sect Leader Yao shook his head.

"Did you betray us to avenge the death of your relatives who died because of Jiang Wanyin!?"

Sect Leader Yao was still shaking his head.

"Then, what do you think you're doing there!??? By joining the Wen and opposing us as if we're the villain!?"

At this moment Sect Leader Yao finally answered, 

"I did this for justice!!!! Justice must prevail! The Wen was justice! I can't keep letting your rebellion hinder Sect Leader Wen's dream to create a utopia! I stand for justice!"

This awe-inspiring answer from Sect Leader Yao was joined by the uproar of his follower, they were shouting in full spirits, 

"Well said! Well said!"

"That's the spirits!"

"Sect Leader Yao is wise!"

Thenceforth, many rogue cultivators who originally joined the Sunshot Campaign were sneaking away. They eventually realize there's no good in it. After all, those rogue cultivators actually didn't suffer any loss in the Massacre of Muxi Mountain incident. They joined the war because they thought it was the right thing to do.  

Now, in the face of "justice" and "one-safety" which one would people choose? 

But of course, no need to answer this kind of obvious question. 

Following the rogue cultivators, smaller sects were also sneakily decided to count their treasury, deciding whether their treasury was enough to give a "surrender gifts" to the Wens or not. 

The sect whose treasury was enough, didn't bother to think twice, they'd quickly pack their belonging and sprinted in full speed towards Nightless City, groveling at the gate, singing praises and pleas to the benevolent and wise Sect Leader Wen. 

While the sect whose treasury was not enough, they could only bitterly weep inside, looked at the "run away comrades" with envy, and finally swallowed their bitter pill, went back to the tent of Sunshot Campaign. In order to alleviate their bitterness, they sang the hymn of war and kept badmouthing those who defected.

"Heh!! What Sect Leader Yao! What Sect Leader Wang! What rogue cultivators! They're just a bunch of hypocrites and traitors!"

"That's right!!"

"Look at them now, who knows what will their fate be in the Wens!"

"Heh! See if they'd be miserable there, and see if we'll accept them when they're begging to join us later!"

"What a bunch of traitors!"

Etc, etc.

Therefore, it's only 3 months since the war started, and only a few days before the big battle of Hejian started, but the camp of Sunshot Campaign had already started to be emptied day by day...

Chapter Text

I re-read the MDZS extra chapter 118 : Villainous Friend, about Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang (the timeline was 13 years ago from the time of WangXian's honeymoon, that's around half a year after Wei Wuxian's death or perhaps 1 year after Wei Wuxian's death since Xiao Xingchen had gone down the mountain).

This chapter is, I admit that I only read ONCE through out the dozens times I re-read the whole novel. Why? Because I simply didn't like it, Hahaha. 

However, last night when I re-read the chapter by chance, I was so surprised, shuddered, and just simply sigh...Wondering the reasons of why people still dare to defend or even more ridiculous, justify their acts (the grown up JGY and XY) ?

In the chapter we could see clearly:

1. Jin Guangyao very much DEEP involvement in LanlingJin's secret evil deeds to train demonic cultivators and refining corpses, even specifically created the corpse refining ground. 

2. Xue Yang's fanboying, admires and awes towards WWX.

3. Jin Guangyao very much DEEP malice and EVIL deeds when he, framed Young Master He Su from TingshanHe sect. 

For what? Because He Su blatantly refused LanlingJin and Jin Guangshan's attempt to established a Chief Cultivator.

Why? Because He Su could see the intention of LanlingJin who wanted to be the Second Wen Ruohan and Wen Sect. 

Jin Guangyao had said that he "had persuaded"  He Su to turn down his stubborn refutes. However, He Su kept his stance. Thus, for "keeping his stance and refusing LanlingJin's persuasion" Jin Guangyao resolved the problem by framing He Su for "assassinating JGS". 

Afterwards?

Oh well, we could see, Jin Guangyao calmly let the Jin cultivators to drag "the whole clan/sect of TingshanHe, woman, men, old and young, and was even mentioned there's this child who's only 9 years old, and there's this man who was even disabled,

for what? Well, later Xue Yang said, "I'm interested to experiment on living humans".

There. 

Jin Guangyao had been involved so much to the massacre of a whole sect.

Did people still want to say Jin Guangyao "had no choice" when killing woman, men, old and young?

What's the sin of He Su?

What's the sin of the entire TingshanHe sect?

NOTHING.

They were framed, captured, killed the ENTIRE SECT, for opposing LanlingJIn and Jin Guangshan's ambition to become Chief Cultivator!

For They knew the greeds of LanlingJin and refused to let "a second evil" ruled their world!

Did anyone still want to say Jin Guangyao "had no choice" and the people he killed was "mad people" and "sooner or later they'd die" like he justified his scheming on Wei Wuxian for?

Did anyone still want to refuse the fact that Jin Guangyao, in order to gain and achieve "his own ambition" no matter what it is, he killed, framed "woman, men, old and young, innocents" !? And even knowingly and didn't say anything to Xue Yang's wish for them to be turned into "living corpse".

It's really a wonder that Jin Guangyao was still excused "to have no choice"...

It's like, a son, in order for his father to be a president, had framed and massacred an entire family of other politicians, 

under the saying "I had no choice".

Because those "politicians" was opposing his father and his father commanded him to "take care" of them.

Even their family who didn't do nor know anything were given no chance because "if I let one more survivor, it'd be troublesome, Thus, I had no choice".

Sure!

His act was "ruthless and cool" for a villain! For a Villain Jin Guangyao was indeed "not a half-assed one".

However, defending this person and excusing his actions, even turning his black deeds into white, and pure as a baby, under the saying "he had no choice", was really something I could never understand...

It's not your older brother who was framed for opposing other people and be killed,

Perhaps, it was not your family who was massacred and killed to the very root, 

Perhaps, it was not you who was only 9 years old but was dragged to be experimented for a living corpse, 

Perhaps because you never "understand" and portrayed those happening in real life. 

Those who defend Jin Guangyao are probably would say :

"Jin Guangyao is a human. Human nature was like that. How could he under the pressures and suffering, have to be an innocent and do no sins?"

Sure enough,

If it was Jin Guangyao, then they say it's only human nature and human's complicated act and feelings under complicated circumstance, to defend his "actions".

When it comes to :

"Why didn't you realize the unfair fate of those victims, the injustice they suffered, those of Jin Guangyao's victims have to bear in real life?"

then they'd defend it by saying "it's all novel, it's all fictions! Why the need to compare it with real life!"

......What a double standard, right?

Back again to the "important thing" that was written in that chapter 118.

4. Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan. 

The mysophobic Song Lan and the "kind" and "no judgement" Xiao Xingchen. 

People might have think that SongXiao was kinda resembled WangXian.

But why do I think after I read this chapter again, that the one whom SongXiao resembled was not WangXian but the Double Jades of Lan instead?

Lan Wangji as Song Lan, was seen clearly of course by:

first, his cold nature. 

second, his upright and high morality whom upon seeing Xue Yang oppressing a stall owner he quickly helped the stall owner and attacked to stop Xue Yang's deeds. 

third, his mysophobic that is, he didn't want to touch or be touched by others. When he was fighting with Xue Yang, at some point Xue Yang "brushed" against Song Lan's arms. Because of it, Song Lan immediately "frowned" and looked "distateful" at the contact. Thus it made Xue Yang automatically "hated" him because he thought Song Lan was "pretentious and arrogant". Even at this time Xue Yang already said "I wanted to gouge both of his eyes".

When we see Song Lan's mysophobic and his reactions towards other's touch it would remind us towards Lan Wangji. 

Lan Wangji perhaps, if he ever fought with others aside from Wei Wuxian, he'd definitely "frowned" and feel "annoyed" when he suddenly got a "contact" with them. 

Was it Lan Wangji's fault? 

Was it Lan Wangji's arrogance?

Did their mysophobic was a sin?

NO!

Then, did Song Lan's reaction was wrong thus could lllicit "hatred" from Xue Yang?

Did Xue Yang's "hatred" towards Song Lan then be justified?

Of course, no need to answer this ridiculous question. 

We're done comparing Song Lan to be similar with Lan Wangji.

Afterwards, it was Xiao Xingchen's nature.

Is he someone who was "similar" to Wei Wuxian ?

Perhaps in this chapter, the way Song Lan reacted and the way Xiao Xingchen reacted towards Xue Yang, was taken by "XueXiao's supporter" to be their "holy scenes", to justify that Xiao Xingchen's treatment towards Xue Yang was already "different".

because Xiao Xingchen was depicted to be "didn't see Xue Yang and his act of kicking and destroying a stall with a judgemental stare",

and agreeing with Jin Guangyao's defense who said "he was young indeed" , as if understanding and excusing Xue Yang's act earlier for his "young age", completely different from Song Lan who immediately attacked Xue Yang upon seeing his deeds. 

It'd probably will be made to "mock and blacken" Song Lan as someone who "has no tolerance", thus praising "XueXiao" even more,

just like how Nie Mingjue was "mocked and blackened" as someone who "have no tolerance, ungrateful, judgemental" towards Jin Guangyao, unlike how Lan Xichen who was "so understanding",

completely forgetting at the first place, why did Song Lan or Nie Mingjue had to "attack" them?

Song Lan, and his tendency to be "hated" by others because of his "supposedly arrogant nature" due to his cold temperament and his mysophobic, 

plus his nature to immediately "attack" those who commit evil deeds in front of him, without excusing whether they're young or old, was indeed similar to Lan Wangji. 

Then, Xiao Xingchen's nature who smiled, had no judgement towards Xue Yang, and even agreeing Xue Yang's act as something he did due to his "young age", 

was it something that's similar to Wei Wuxian?

I very much doubt it!

Is Wei Wuxian was someone whom when saw someone destroying other's stall in the streets, would WWX smile and said "Aiyaa, this young man~~~",

Would he?

Wei Wuxian, someone who reprimanded Jin Ling for his rude behavior of "not respecting Mo Xuanyu as his senior" the first time they met in Dafan mountain without even knowing who he was, thus the reprimand was not because it was Jin Ling and Wei Wuxian would have reprimand any of them even if they were not Jin Ling, Jiang Yanli's son. 

Wei Wuxian, someone who reprimanded the other juniors for their rude behaviour of "burning incense in front of other's house",

Wei Wuxian, someone who reprimanded the juniors for their rude behaviors even in front of the "living dead granny" in Yi City,

Wei Wuxian, someone who reprimanded  Jingyi for being rude to his senior in the Iron Hook extra chapters, 

would Someone like Wei Wuxian excused Xue Yang's rude behavior towards the older people, rude behaviors towards those who worked hard to make their stall, rude behaviors towards the foods and the stall's objects?

Wei Wuxian who grew up in Yunmeng, who was close to the stall's owner in Yunmeng, who knew their kindness, who knew and understand the pain and the hard work of those people who "sell" their product, Wei Wuxian who understood the hardship to obtain foods, Wei Wuxian the people who bargained for the potato that was already sprouted instead of boasting his strength or cheated on them,

Would Wei Wuxian said "you are young ahhh ...it's understandable" ???

Would He?????

NO!

Of course Not!

I very much Doubt so!

If he did, then he would not be Wei Wuxian, the one who was created and designed by MoXiangTongXiu! He would no be Wei Wuxian the protagonist in MDZS! And I don't know who and where this "Wei Wuxian" could have come from!

Therefore Xiao Xingchen's act, who agreed with Jin Guangyao's defense for Xue Yang, saying he's young and "excusable" to do that kind of thing, and then looked at Xue Yang "without any feeling", 

what character did he remind you as?

Wasn't it Lan Xichen!?

The one who said, "Young Master Wei is young indeed," when Wei Wuxian broke many rules? 

The one who said, "A-Yao has difficulties" no matter what the situation ?

Didn't Xiao Xingchen remind you exactly like Lan Xichen? 

The cold and mysophobic Song Lan who was often get misunderstood and hated by others due to his personality and his mysophobic.

His ending was suffering an injustice and tragedy due to his support and his morality to uphold justice, killed by XXC "his close person" under the manipulation of the villain.

And the kind and understanding Xiao Xingchen who smiled and excused others,

whose ending was manipulated and used by the villain to hurt and even kill "his dear person" Song Lan, and killed the other innocent people.

Rather than WangXian, 

this pair of SongXiao was a copy of Double Jades of Lan. 

Lan Wangji who was hurt and Gusulan who lost who knows how many cultivators under the scheme of Jin Guangyao , either in Jinlintai, Nightless City, the 33 elders, the 1st siege of Burial Mound, and 2nd siege of Burial Mound if there's no Wei Wuxian there.

Lan Xichen, who was used and manipulated by Jin Guangyao to hurt his "dear brother", killed the people of his sect indirectly, and killed other innocents by his way of "silence" and "support" towards Jin Guangyao. 

What a terrifyingly similar pair of cultivators, and a terrifying similar Triangle Relationship, right? Between Double Jades of Lan to Jin Guangyao, and SongXiao to Xue Yang.

The difference was, Xiao Xingchen literally didn't know anything about the "manipulation", and Xiao Xingchen after knowing all of this, he decided to kill his own self to atone "his sins and despair".

While Lan Xichen...he "actually knew what Jin Guangyao had done but stayed silent thinking that Jin Guangyao had his own difficulties", and if not for Nie Huaisang's trick, he'd probably treated Jin Guangyao's wound, let him stay alive, imprisoned somewhere in the Cloud Recesses. 

It turned out there were so many, many irony, many mirror of characters and scenes and scenarios in MDZS that we didn't realize, or even "mistaken" it into something else. 

MDZS was a whole maze, a giant box full of surprises. 

Don't underestimate the "so called small details" in the novel. 

I'm so mad at those people who said :

"it's just a small details, no need to be taken seriously, it's just for plot!"

Damn it! You go and wrote a whole gigantic and complicated novel like MDZS, and then got your reader said: "Everyone let's just ignore the small details, it's just for the plot" !!!!

Lastly, the thing I have realized and encountered in this chapter was about,

5. Who BURNED and DESTROYED the whole Burial Mound settelement and Fumo Cave?

First of all, Burial Mound, the Wen Settlement, and the whole Fumo Cave was burned during the first siege. 

It was seen at this passage in chapter 68,

When WangXian and Wen Ning arrived at the Burial Mound. After they bypassed the wall, followed the mountain path and climbed deep into the mountain, they saw the stone beast that was erected in the Burial Mound to "exorcise and guard the mountain". Wen Ning and stopped, noticing something.

The stone beast was placed on top of a short, thick tree trunk. By the trunk, there were three smaller, shorter tree trunks. They seemed to be entirely burnt over by the fire.  They were entirely black.

Wen Ning kneeled on the ground with both of his knees, his fingers dug deeply into the dirts, grabbing  a handful of black dirts, and clenched in in his palms, ".......Sister"

Well, well, some of you or perhaps all of you must have recognized "those tree trunk , one big one with other several smaller one, like one table and several chairs."

That's right! It was the Wen remnant's settlement, the place where Wei Wuxian argued with Wen Qing over what to grow between potato or radish, from chapter 73:

A few round tree trunks were beside the mountain path, one large ones like a table, and a few others smaller one like chairs, A red clothed woman sat on the smaller trunks with Wei Wuxian. 

...Discussing what to plant.

Then, another mention of the burning of Burial Mound was mentioned in chapter 111. This time, it was "said" by Wei Wuxian himself.

Wen Ning was about to go to Qishan and burry the ashes of the Wen Remnants from the Second Siege in Burial Mound. And also wanted to look around in Qishan to find something, or anything about his sister to build her a cenotaph as well. Then, 

Wei Wuxian said, "A cenotaph? I built one for you and her back then in Burial Mound, but they were burned down." 

What does the passage mean? That Wei Wuxian "knew" that his "den" was burnt down.

When did it get burn down?

After he was devoured by the corpses?

Or...before he destroyed the Stygian Tiger Seal and had his backlash and died?

For this, let's see again the situation over the first siege in Burial Mound. The siege itself was limited in information, but what's provided and written in the novel and also said by MoXiangTongXiu herself was already enough compared to the "vague" situation where Wei Wuxian was thrown in the Burial Mound for 3 months by Wen Chao. 

First, let's see this passage on chapter 68:

Back then, during the first siege of Burial Mound, Jin Guangshan led the LanlingJin sect, Jiang Cheng led YunmengJiang sect, Qinghenie was led by Nie Mingjue and Gusulan was led by Lan Qiren.

The former two was the main force, while the later two could've gone without.

From this passage we could see clearly, who were the main attacker in the first siege 13 years ago?

It was LanlingJin and YunmengJiang. 

Then, between these two sect, which one who would "go first" and "greet" the Yiling Laozu and his Wen Army?

For this, let's see again at the passage in the prologue of the novel:

"Yiling Laozu has died!? Who could have killed him?"

"Who else if not his shidi, Jiang Cheng, putting an end to his own relative for the greater good.  Jiang Cheng led the other 4 sects of YunmengJiang, LanlingJin, Gusulan and QinghenNie to destroy Yiling Laozu's den, the Burial Mound!"

It was Jiang Cheng who led the other four great sects. 

YunmengJiang was the one main force of the siege, and Jiang Cheng was the one who "led" the other sects. 

Then, let's see once again another passage from the prologue in the novel, 

But, if not for Jiang Cheng making a plan that aimed at Wei WuXian’s weaknesses, the siege might not have succeeded...

For this, let's see what is Wei Wuxian's weakness?

We could quickly answer, "DOG!"

However, In the interview with MoXiangTongXiu, she was asked this one question,

if Jiang Cheng had used "this weakness" of Wei Wuxian in the siege? 

Then, MXTX answered, "No. Jiang Cheng would be laughed at if he said Yiling Laozu is scared of the dogs". 

So, what is this the so called Wei Wuxian's weakness?

That's so great and could make the siege succeeded, and without knowing or aiming at  "this weakness" the siege could've failed instead?

Jiang Yanli?

It's true, she was one of Wei Wuxian's weakness. But She was already died, and couldn't be brought to the siege and paraded for Wei Wuxian to come out and surrender. 

The most important thing to look at in this was the situation or the circumstance it happened that create a "weakness" from Wei Wuxian. 

What is the situation?

There's a siege. 

What's the circumstance?

Wei Wuxian was the dangerous and strong demonic cultivator. 

Where did he live?

In Burial Mound, thick with resentful energy and full with corpses....plus with Wei Wuxian's WEN ARMY.

What's the state of his den?

Tightly guarded by the hundreds of fierce corpses in the bottom of the mountain, and guarded with thick resentful energy in the air, unable and dangerous to be breached through the ground or the air!

Then, looking from the situation and circumstance of this siege, we can draw something that was "Wei Wuxian's weakness",

something that could make the siege "succeed" or something that was able to cause Wei Wuxian's death. 

First of all, what did Wei Wuxian die for? 

The backlash of destroying Stygian Tiger Seal. 

Looking from this fact, then Wei Wuxian's weakness was "he's about to destroy the seal", the Stygian Tiger Seal, his most lethal and dangerous weapon, thus could lower the lethality of Wei Wuxian himself and be seen as "Wei Wuxian's weakness".

The question was, Did Jiang Cheng knew about "this weakness" ?

Did Jiang Cheng ever "visit" the Burial Mound after Jiang Yanli died during those 3 months and see what's Wei Wuxian "was about to do" ?

What do you think, Jiang Cheng, who always go mad, choked Wei Wuxian, punched Wei Wuxian, shouted at Wei Wuxian when his family member died, 

Do you think Jiang Cheng would let Wei Wuxian go that easily after Nightless City Massacre, and wouldn't try to find a chance to come to Wei Wuxian, shout at him, mad at him, rage at him, and blame him, commanding him to "grovel in his parent's ancestral hall" ?

Would Jiang Cheng stayed silent, silently amassing and planning the siege without ever visiting Wei Wuxian once in those 3 months?

The answer for it was, I don't know. There was no mention of it.

Though, that didn't mean there's no probability that Jiang Cheng didn't make a "visit" during those 3 months, and thus knowing what Wei Wuxian was about to do, thus knowing his chance and weakness, to draw a plan for the siege.

This point of the probability of Jiang Cheng's visiting could be analyzed from "how Jiang Cheng would have acted after a storm", through out the whole novel.

Though, I won't talk about "that deducing" for now. 

I only want to present the FACTS, the mentioned and proven one in here.

That is if we try to see what is Wei Wuxian's weakness from the point of "what makes Wei Wuxian decrease his power" or "what makes Wei Wuxian died".

Then, if we see from the circumstance, the situation and the state of Wei Wuxian's den in the Burial Mound, that made the siege succeeded, and see what's the "weakness" of Burial Mound, and what's the weakness of Wei Wuxian's den,

We Will see that there's a glaring weakness in Wei Wuxian's den. What was it you say?

first, Wei Wuxian had no SAID WEN ARMY. 

The one that makes the people feared Wei Wuxian so much was because Wei Wuxian created Wen Ning, the strongest fierce corpse, the first ever sentient fierce corpse. 

Then, what do you think other's impression or how others saw Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants in the Burial Mound?

For this, we should go back and see again, 

Does the people out there know the reason why did Wei Wuxian refined Wen Ning into a fierce corpse?

NO. 

Those outsiders doesn't even know that "the real reason Wen Ning died", and only know the statement from the Jins that is "Wen Ning died because he fell from a cliff".

What they knew was "Wei Wuxian killed LanlingJIn cultivators who supervised the prisoner, and he snatched those Remnants to his own den in Burial Mound".

Does Wen Ning's death because of the torture in prison was announced afterwards to refute LanlingJin's statement?

NO. 

Oh, please do pardon me, the only announcement made after the incident in Qiongqi path was:

"Wei Wuxian had defected from YunmengJiand and IS the enemy to the entire cultivation world. Thenceforth, everything he did has nothing to do with YunmengJiang."

There.

What outsiders knew from the Qiongqi path incident was 

1. Wei Wuxian killed LanlingJin cultivators.

2. Wei Wuxian took the Wen remnants for himself and hide them in the Burial Mound. 

3. Wei Wuxian defected from YunmengJiang. 

4. Wei Wuxian wanted to be the enemy to the entire cultivation world. 

5. Wei Wuxian refined Wen Ning the sentient and strongest fierce corpse ever!!!!!

Therefore, What did Wei Wuxian did to the other Wen Remnants!!!??????

Needless to say from point 2 to 5, outsiders would conclude that:

"Wei Wuxian took the Wen Remnants to the Burial Mounds and intended to REFINE them into SENTIENT AND STRONGEST FIERCE CORPSES!"

Hence, the perception of outsiders to the situation in Burial Mound was, 

"A place likely to be full with the fierce corpses refined from the Wen remnants like Wen Ning!"

Would Those people dare to go to Burial Mound , the place where there might be dozens others "Wen Ning" ?????

Then, only when someone said "THERE'S NO SUCH FIERCE CORPSES IN BURIAL MOUND! ONLY THE CROOKED MELONS AND CRACKED DATES (The weak or useless people)!"

Only when they finally knew the SHOCKING TRUTH, that they'd finally dare to go to the siege. After all, what's to be scared about with those weak and useless people?????

As long as those outsiders didn't know the REAL CONDITION in the Burial Mound, they would definitely refuse to go to the siege!

If they refuse, then would the siege ever to be done or succeeded?

NO!

The shocking reality of Burial Mound was the "weakness" of Wei Wuxian, the feared Yiling Laozu who turned out only lived in poverty and was burdened with 50 old, weak, woman and children! 

This was also the reason I strongly think that Lan Wangji didn't share the situation he saw in Burial Mound to others, and later become something that many fans "complained" about, saying that Lan Wangji stayed silent in front of the whole "poverty" and didn't even try to announce it to the whole world. 

In a war, or in a confrontation between two or many parties, the "condition" and "situation" of one's den or fortress was a valuable information and the most important consideration for the enemy to use this information and aimed it at "the weakness" of their opposition.

Lan Wangji was a smart person, the second smartest aside from Wei Wuxian. A like-minded person with Wei Wuxian. 

Would he not think about the "consequence" of announcing "the condition" of the feared Yiling Laozu?

Would he be stupid enough to "brag and spread around" the condition of someone's stronghold???

I very much doubt so!

That's why no one knew that Wei Wuxian was only guarding those "old, weak, woman and children", perhaps not even Lan Xichen or Lan Qiren.

Even Jin Guangyao himself perhaps didn't know what Wei Wuxian "hid" and "done" in the Burial Mound, and couldn't be sure if there's no other "Wen Ning" in the Burial Mound. 

Only two people, Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji who KNEW AND SEEN the condition and weakness of Burial Mound!

So, it was the so called "Wei Wuxian's weakness" that Sect Leader Jiang had put into the plan of the siege later. 

The last thing to see about what is this so called "Wei Wuxian's weakness" was,

If we look to "Wei Wuxian's weakness" from the point of "Burial Mound's state", then we have another CLEAR "weakness". 

What was it?

It was the "safety" and "guarding formation" of the Burial Mound itself. 

Burial Mound, as the place where Wei Wuxian had protected the Wen remnant, was not open to outsiders. 

We can look at the passage from chapter 73,

Two days later after the Jinlintai incident where Wei Wuxian's "killing in Qiongqi path" was reported, Jiang Cheng brought around 30 disciples with him to Yiling. 

Under Burial Mound, before the walls that were torn down, hundreds of fierce corpses really did roam.

HUNDREDS OF FIERCE CORPSE!!!

Look here!

The defense of Burial Mound was not sloppy!

There were HUNDREDS of fierce corpses guarding the mountain!

HUNDREDS! not just a mere One Hundred or two hundreds, HUNDREDS means it was SEVERAL HUNDREDS!

And the fierce corpse that Wei Wuxian refined and controlled was not "weak" at all! Remember the Madam Mo fierce corpse, the fresh corpse that we seen "already fiercely" fight Nie Mingjue's arms?

And then remember how Wei Wuxian's comment on them? 

Not enough strength. 

After all, they were not the corpses he PERSONALLY refined.

Thus, we can imagine how "the strength" of those HUNDREDS fierce corpses Wei Wuxian at this point personally refined!

Don't forget that Wei Wuxian himself said to Lan Wangji at chapter 75 when he "happily" introduced his "bedroom" towards his "friend":

Wei Wuxian, "The blood pool was right there".

Lan Wangji, "The resentful energy is dense."

Wei Wuxian, "That's right, the resentful energy is really heavy, fir to nurture the dark creatures. This is where I use to parent the fierce corpses that haven't been completed yet. Guess how many are in the bottom?" He smiled. "To be honest, I don't even know how many there are either. But the water in the pool is smelling more and more like the blood."

 

There, the answer for "where did those fierce corpses came from, who nurtured them, and how many corpses were refined by Wei Wuxian" in the Burial Mound. 

The fierce corpses that have been completed were stationed at the bottom of the mountain, while the rest that had not yet completed were still under the Blood Pool, in which the numbers Wei Wuxian himself didn't even know how much of them were inside!

Does it still look like the defense of Burial Mound was easily breached???

Then, for those "thick and dangerous guards-cum-wall" in the Burial Mound, to have a "weakness" and for the Burial Mound to have been breached,

how could this be???

For this, let's see this passage at chapter 73:

Jiang Cheng went forward. They did nothing at all.

But if the disciples other than him approached, they'd make low roars of warning.

Finally Jiang Cheng told the other disciples to wait on the bottom of the mountain, and he went up by himself. 

Oh my, Oh my...It turned out it did INDEED HAVE A WEAKNESS.

No other and no one else aside from Sect Leader Jiang!

No one else other than HIM!

Who "know" the weakness of Wei Wuxian and could "nullify" the strong defense of the Burial Mound, thus creating the chance for Burial Mound to be breached!

Therefore, looking from many FACTS above, 

So, who was the first one who "greet" the settlement in the Burial Mound? 

Needless to say, it's Jiang Cheng who:

>>>Is the main force of the siege

>>>Is the one who led the other sects,

>>>Is the only one that the fierce corpses who guarded the Burial Mound turned a blind eye!

Therefore, the first thing that Jiang Cheng and YunmengJiang did after he charged first to "Wei Wuxian's den", what was it?

For this answer, finally, let's see the chapter 118 of Villainous friend, the 5th point I wanted to mention, 

WHO BURNED AND DESTROYED THE BURIAL MOUND!?

Before, in the 2nd point I have said "Xue Yang's awe towards Wei Wuxian".

It was taken when this "villainous friend" had finished "causing trouble" to the street stalls, and went to check the corpse refinery owned by Jinlintai. Jin Guangyao saw the corpses who were littering there, 

Jin Guangyao, "They were a lot faster than the two I saw last time"

Xue Yang reached out the hand wrapped in a black glove, extended a finger, and wagged it, "Depending on what you compare them against. Something like this, let alone Wen Ning, they wouldn't even last long against the normal fierce corpse Wei Wuxian controlled using his flute."

Jin Guangyao smiled, "Why the hurry? I'm not hurried. You can take it easy, tell me if you need anything. That's right, "

He took out something from his sleeve and handed it to Xue Yang: "Maybe you need this?"

As he skimmed over what it was, Xue Yang's body suddenly turned upright from the chair, "Wei Wuxian's manuscripts?"

Jin Guangyao said: "That's right."

Xue Yang looked down, his eyes gleaming, and after a while, he raised his head and said: "Is this really his handwritten manuscript? The one that was written when he was nineteen?"

 

From those passage we could see...Xue Yang's fanboy-ing and the peaceful outing of two friends. 

Or not! It was His giddy feeling when encountering "Wei Wuxian's hand written manuscripts".

Then, let's see the most important point afterwards:

Jin Guangyao, "Of course. Everyone fought for it as hard as they could. It took me quite some effort to gather all of them."

Oops! Let's stop here. 

Let's repeat it once more:

Everyone fought for it as hard as they could. 

What is being fought for?

Wei Wuxian's manuscripts!

By whom?

EVERYONE!

That even Jin Guangyao, from LanlingJin, who were the main force of the siege, took him quite some effort to gather all of them. 

Then, let's proceed again, when and where Jin Guangyao obtained those manuscripts:

Xue Yang cursed in a low voice, the excitement in his eyes grew stronger. After turning over, said: "It's Not complete."

Jin Guangyao, "There was a lot of fire and fighting in the Burial Mound. It's already fortunate enough that I could find these fragments. Cherish it carefully."

 

There. 

Jin Guangyao obtained the manuscript during the siege in Burial Mound. 

How did he collect it?

Amidst the fighting and burning of the fire. 

Then, where did Wei Wuxian stored those manuscripts ? Was it in the Shack on those Wen remnants?

NO!

All of Wei Wuxian's belonging was stored, littered around, un-guarded, without being put in a neat and proper locations, in FUMO CAVE.

It came to the final question finally, HOW DID THERE'S FIRE IN FUMO CAVE DURING THE SIEGE?

Who set the fire? 

For this let us reviewed again the situation during the siege. 

LanlingJin and YunmengJiang was the two main force. 

Gusulan and QingheNie could've gone without. 

Then, in the siege, who do you think THE FIRST ONE who came in Fumo Cave and confronted Wei Wuxian head on?

Was it the Gusulan and QingheNie, those who "could've gone without" ?

Of Course not!!!

The first one who will come in Fumo Cave and "DO" anything in Fumo cave was only YunmengJiang or LanlingJin!!!

Therefore, Jin Guangyao should have arrived FIRST in the cave, and should have much advantage to collect Wei Wuxian's belonging. 

And yet, Jin Guangyao said, "It's hard to collect it amidst A LOT OF FIRE and the FIGHTING".

Then, does LanlingJin, the sect who wanted Wei Wuxian's manuscripts, Wei Wuxian's tools and artifacts, the most, THE MOST GIDDY OF THEM ALL, actually be STUPID enough to burn the cave when they hadn't LOOTED the GOODS completely???

....Do they????

Would JIn Guangshan and Jin Guangyao not make "a briefing" for LanlingJin cultivators they brought to the siege, over "what should they do" and "what should they avoid" in the siege?

....Would they not????

WHAT A RIDICULOUS QUESTION!

Those LanlingJin cultivators who went with Jin Guangshan and JIn Guangyao must have DEFINITELY have been briefed to "LOOT" Wei Wuxian's every charms, every artifacts, every manuscripts, to the very SCRAPS of it!

Then, who was it the PIG TEAMMATE, who instead BURNED the Burial Mound and even to the Fumo Cave?

Who else if not YunmengJiang cultivators! Who else if not Jiang Cheng!!!!

Looking from those facts it was clearly concluded WHO BURNED AND DESTROYED the Burial Mound.

As for the reason why did Jiang Cheng was STUPID and burned the place?

Oh please, every Jiang Cheng's fans would probably said,

"Jiang Cheng is smart. He must have burnt it to prevent Wei Wuxian's dangerous manuscripts and artifacts to be looted by others. "

Was it truly because Jiang Cheng was smart? Because Jiang Cheng was "kind and righteous" to prevent "the demonic cultivation" to spread?

The simplest answer to this statement was, "If he was indeed wise and smart, then he wouldn't let his sister marry to the Jins, thus handing out the sole weakness of him and Wei Wuxian to others to be freely used and manipulated. After he knew that the JINS wanted to control Wei Wuxian, wanted to have the Stygian Tiger Seal, after he knew that OUTSIDERS wanted to harm Wei Wuxian."

"If he was indeed wise and smart, he wouldn't led the siege at the first place. Didn't let the effort that took his sister's life for protecting Wei Wuxian go in waste, become unnecessary and stupid act."

"If he was indeed wise and smart, then would he even let the Jins took the loot at all?"

"If he was indeed wise and smart, he would not fall under the circle of Inferiority and Jealousy!"

"Or In summary, If he was WISE AND SMART, Would he come to this ending?"

In this then we should observe on Jiang Cheng's REGARDS to Wei Wuxian's tools, artifacts, and creations first. 

Again, in chapter 73 when Jiang Cheng first came to Fumo Cave:

Jiang Cheng kicked something, he looked down and saw half a compass, and Wei Wuxian hurriedly said: "Don't kick it, I haven't finished this one yet, it's useful."

Just Wei Wuxian picked it up, Jiang Cheng stepped on something again, this time it was a crumpled flag,

Wei Wuxian said again: "Be careful of stepping on it! This is also useful, and it's almost done."

Jiang Cheng, "You're the one who littered them around, it's not anoyone's fault if they break them."

Wei Wuxian, "I lived here alone, so what if I littered my things here?"

Jiang Cheng, "See if you dare to mess with Lotus Pier like this, and you can just watch I burn all of these things."

 

Alright, what is that "half-compass" ?

It was the famous Compass of Evil, the one that later everyone USE it to make their nighthunt easier!

What is that "crumpled flags" ?

It was the famous Spirits Attraction Flag that later everyone USE it to make their nighthunt easier!

From the passage we can see Jiang Cheng's regards towards Wei Wuxian's tool, something that Wei Wuxian had already said "It's useful"

What he said was, "if you dare mess-,"

MESS. He called those artifacts a mere MESS. 

"Then, you can see if I burn all of these here."

Burn them all. 

Yeah. Just like Nie Mingjue burned Nie Huaisang collections, in Jiang Cheng's eyes, those artifacts was a mere "useless" things , a MESS, and should be burned, if it was done in his territorry. 

Why did he saw them as "useless" ?

Why of course, In Jiang Cheng's eyes, all of the things Wei Wuxian did was "trouble",  the ideas Wei Wuxian had was "whimsical thought", and the things Wei Wuxian created was "mess".

Don't point finger on me that "Jiang Cheng didn't literally mean them"

Because, it meant that everything Jiang Cheng said from youth to old was "unintentional" and "false" thing. 

Where did you get confidence from to say on how to differentiate when what Jiang Cheng said was "true and intentional" and when what he said was "false and unintentional" ?

Have MoXiangTongXiu ever said that Jiang Cheng was someone who EVER or ALWAYS said something he "didn't mean to" in the novel ??

HAVE HER?

Are you the author? Or is MoXiangTongXiu who was the author??

How dare you judge that every Jiang Cheng's words and act was UNINTENTIONAL ? When there was already so many thing he said and act in the novel...Or perhaps, do you think that MoXiangTongXiu would be idle and stupid enough to create and write every Jiang Cheng's words and act into "unintentional" and "opposite meaning" ? Did MoXiangTongXiu wrote those every single Jiang Cheng's scene to be something that's meaningless and should be ignored because they are "unintentional" ? Then, why did she has to write at the first place if most of them are unintentional?

Then, looking from that moment on how Jiang Cheng's REGARD on Wei Wuxian's tools, artifact, and things, we can see clearly, on WHY DID HE BURNED THEM ALL.

If the other cultivators were not frantically looted those goods amidst the fire and the fighting, then ,

the FengXie pan (Compass of Evil)

Zhaoyin Flag (Spirits Atrraction Flag),

two MAJOR and IMPORTANT artifact that many cultivators USE IN THEIR NIGHTHUNTS, would not be saved and appeared in the world!

Jin Guangyao had said "Everyone wanted the manuscripts from Yiling Laozu". 

EVERYONE. 

Those who came to the Burial had hidden agenda and intention to get glory, prestige, and LOOTS from Wei Wuxian's!

No one aside from, Jiang Cheng, and later the YunmengJiang cultivators under him, who regarded Wei Wuxian's creation as a "MESS", would be stupid enough to burn them!

Even when Wei Wuxian became the boogeyman, everyone of them FEARED Wei Wuxian, everyone of them ACKNOWLEDGED Wei Wuxian's strength and genius, everyone ADMIT the tools he made was "USEFUL".

Who was it the only who kept "disregarding" Wei Wuxian's strength?

Who was it the only who kept "underestimating" Wei Wuxian? Because if he admit it, then his inferiority complex will flare up?

No one else aside from Jiang Cheng, who complained and and forcefully wanted to appear better than Wei Wuxian, but failed in any way.

(Oh, perhaps the previous Jin Zixun would be his company)

Why? Of course it was built under his "twisted logic" to make a belief that Wei Wuxian was trouble, Wei Wuxian was nothing, Wei Wuxian was not better than him.

In the end, it all ended up because Jiang Cheng's fixation to DENY Wei Wuxian's winning over him either in Cultivation, Talent, or Personality, that he complained over in the end, after he realize he could never and ever be better than Wei Wuxian, after having the reality slaps from Wen Ning before.

Chapter Text

The war front in Hejian fell. 

The flag of blazing suns fluttered, and the people wearing blazing sun-robes scattered, jumped, and shouted in triumph. 

QishanWen defeated QingheNie, took the area of Hejian, injured Nie Mingjue seriously, and pushed back the Sunshot Campaign force under Nie banner to retreat to The Unclean Realm, QingheNie's fortress. 

It was like this, 

QishanWen originally had 5,000 cultivators stationed in Hejian, led by Wen Xu, the first young master of QishanWen. This force was actually on par with the Sunshot Campaign forces led by Nie Mingjue. It's enough to conquer an area. Even the Jiangling warfront where Yunmeng was located, didn't even need that many of cultivators to completely conquer it under the Wen's hand, so this quantity was a good calculation. 

The Wens were indeed strong and capable, but that's what made them fall short under QingheNie's forces.

QishanWen had a lot of pride and confidence, losing, this word was not found in their dictionary. Their intention was to conquer, they had no obligation or the strong need to protect and stood up to the last breath. This difference in mindset was what made their conviction in war differ. QingheNie and their forces had the strength that came from a determination to keep their region, their pride, and their hometown, while QishanWen lacked those feelings. Therefore even if their forces were matched, in the past life QishanWen was defeated, and Wen Xu was beheaded. 

In this life, Qishan's Wen forces were originally also counting to 5,000 cultivators, however suddenly a few days before the war, Wen Xu sent a letter to ask for reinforcement from Nightless City. 

This sudden movement was of course failed to be noticed by the Sunshot Campaign party, not to mention this time, they were in the state of turmoil themselves for the case of Sect Leader Yao who hugged the Wen's thigh, and also many other minor sect leaders who followed his lead. 

The Wen's forces who were originally only amounted to 5,000 suddenly went bulk into 10,000 manpower. Thus, no need to say why they had a complete victory in Hejian. 

Nie Mingjue was about to launch the attack straight ahead, no matter what it takes, to kill Wen Xu by himself, all to avenge the death of his father, and to vent his hatred for the Wens. However, Meng Yao, a lowly disciple in QingheNie stunned him, and dragged him back to the Unclean Realm. 

Later when Nie Mingjue woke up and was furious at him, Meng Yao said, 

"Sect Leader, You are the general, the chief of this Sunshot Campaign. If the general already died in the earlier months of the war, what do you think the moral of the other cultivators would be? Not to mention, if you die, do you think the problem will be solved magically? Your little brother, Nie er-Gongzi, would be forced to come back from the Cloud Recesses and had to lead the QingheNie sect in the war. Do you want to throw your brother who hasn't even gotten his crown yet to lead QingheNie and thrown to the war directly?"

The mention of Nie Huaisang brought Nie Mingjue to a sober mind. 

What Meng Yao said was the truth, he could not recklessly charge ahead and be blinded by his personal rages to the Wens, while ignoring the full circumstance he was in and the responsibility he must shoulder by being the general in the Sunshot Campaign forces.

Afterwards, he expressed his gratitude towards Meng Yao who had stunned him and forcefully dragged him back before. In later days, because of this incident, Nie Mingjue was finally acquainted with Meng Yao, saw his diligence in works, and finally appointed him to be his Deputy. But, that's for a talk in another day. 

Regardless of Nie Mingjue being alive, the fall of Hejian itself was a major event in the cultivation world. Hejian could be said as the strongest offense area for the Sunshot Campaign party, and the fall of this area meant one thing, what would happen in the other area then...?

However, their shock, fear, and worry could not stay longer because a few days later another news hit them, the fall of LaolingQin...and another few days later, the fall of Langya reached their ears eventually.

How could those 3 regions fall one after another?

For this, then let's go back to the few days before the big battle in Hejian. 

Wen Xu, the general of QishanWen cultivators in the north region, suddenly asked for reinforcement from Nightless City. Wen Ruohan was naturally displeased when his son actually asked for reinforcement in just the earlier stage of the war, thus he told the messenger; if after Wen Xu asked for reinforcement, Hejian still did not fall under the Wen's hands, then Wen Xu would be called back to Nightless City and faced Wen Ruohan.

The letter of summoning was sent 3 days before the war, the cultivators headed to Hejian 2 days before the war, rest for one day, and finally went into the war the next day. 

This movement was not known to the Sunshot Campaign party. Naturally, it was because there was no mole in QishanWen yet. 

QishanWen was still the majestic sect and clan brimming of people with strength and talents. Their combat power was still in full capacity. Their cultivators who had "high cultivation and high ranking position" in the sect were not dead. They were alive and kicking. There's no need to recruit outsiders and recognize whatever talents they had. Thus, no mole was inserted in QishanWen, and this important and sudden move from QishanWen was not known to the Sunshot Campaign party.

Hence, the fall of Hejian struck the world.

After Hejian was taken and controlled by the Wens, with QingheNie suffering great damage in the battle, QishanWen didn't stop their plan and continued to proceed.

The next movement was the expedition to LaolingQin. 

Sect Leader Qin, Qin Cangye was busy leading LanlingJin cultivators in Langya, now that his home, his own sect finally were breached by the Wens, what could he do?

The last movement was finally the fall of Langya. 

(source : MDZS Maps : MacBeka on MDZS Reddit )

With the fall of those 3 regions-cum-warfronts, QishanWen successfully surrounded the Hundreds of Cultivation schools to the east. What's left was the region of LanlingJin, the Jiangsu area under Gusulan, and the sole Homebase QingheNie, the city where The Unclean Realm was located.

The doomsday was approaching, the Sunshot Campaign party were cowering in fear, worrying whether today or tomorrow the sound of war drums was heard and the Wens suddenly came to their door. 

3 months. 

It only needs 3 months for QishanWen to completely surround the whole central plain and force the other cultivators to huddle in the east. 

Nie Mingjue was hurt badly and was recuperating in the Unclean Realm. Nie Huaisang heard about this news eventually, and he begged Lan Xichen to bring him back to his sect and see his older brother. 

Lan Xichen finally brought Nie Huaisang to the Unclean Realm....and was yelled at by Nie Mingjue. 

"Why did you bring him to the Unclean Realm!? Xichen!"

Nie Huaisang was crying tears and snots, "Da-ge, Da-ge, don't blame Xichen-gege, it's me, it's me who begged him to bring me here."

"Of course I know it's you who take advantage of Xichen's soft heart and force him to bring your ass here!" Nie Mingjue immediately sprayed towards this scoundrel who was sent to be safe and yet insisted on going back, what did he want? Did this scoundrel want to seek death!?

Nie Mingjue could only snort heavily and hated that he could not get up from the bed and slapped some sense to his little brother's head one or two times.

Meng Yao came to the room and brought the tea and some refreshment, Lan Xichen turned to look at him and smiled, thanking him while also helping him to set the table. 

He went here not merely for sending Nie Huaisang to take a look at his older brother, but also wanted to meet Nie Mingjue and discuss the current affair as well. 

Meng Yao was Nie Mingjue's deputy, he was let to stay in the room and involved in their discussion, while Nie Huaisang...he was driven out but refused to go and wanted to be with his Da-ge, stubbornly clinging to the bedpost. In the end, he was let to stay in the room and was ignored, treated as air, while the adults were talking...

Lan Xichen, "Mingjue-Xiong, LaolingQin is taken under the Wens, and Langya is also fully taken by the Wens now." 

Nie Mingjue frowned, his eyes filled with hatred...hates for being weak, hates for being defeated, hates for failing to stop the Wen's movement.