TFOD Chapter 54

Where he found the courage, he laughed twice, walked a few steps closer to Nie Mingjue, and raised his voice, somewhat aggressively saying, “Then may I ask, how do you determine if a person deserves to be punished? Is your standard necessarily accurate? If I kill one person to save a hundred, is that more good than bad, or is it still deserving of punishment? To achieve great things, some sacrifices must be made.”

Nie Mingjue said, “Then why don’t you sacrifice yourself? Are you nobler than them? Are you different from them?”

Jin Guangyao looked at him steadily for a long time, finally appearing as if he had made up his mind, or perhaps as if he had given up on something, calmly saying, “Yes.”

He raised his head, with a mixture of pride, composure, and a hint of madness in his expression, saying, “I am, of course, different from them!”

Nie Mingjue was infuriated by his expression and words.

He kicked out, and Jin Guangyao, surprisingly, did not defend himself or dodge, taking the blow squarely and tumbling down from the Golden Carp Tower.

Nie Mingjue looked down and roared, “Son of a prostitute, no wonder you’re like this!”

Jin Guangyao rolled down more than fifty steps before landing, and without much pause on the ground, he stood up. He waved his hand to dismiss the several family servants and disciples who were approaching, dusted off the ashes on his gold-star-snow-wave robe, slowly raised his head, and met Nie Mingjue’s gaze. His eyes were very calm, even indifferent. Nie Mingjue drew his sword, just as Lan Xichen, having waited without seeing anyone return, was worried and came out from the inner hall to see what was happening. Upon seeing this scene, he immediately drew his Shuoyue and said, “What’s wrong with you two again?”

Jin Guangyao said, “Nothing. Thank you, elder brother, for the lesson.”

Nie Mingjue said, “Don’t stop me!”

Lan Xichen said, “Elder brother, put your sword away first. Your mind is in chaos!”

Nie Mingjue said, “I’m not in chaos. I know exactly what I’m doing. He’s beyond help, and if this continues, he will surely harm the world. It’s better to kill him sooner than later!”

Lan Xichen was stunned and said, “Elder brother, what are you saying? He has been traveling back and forth between Qinghe and Lanling these days. Does that only earn him your comment of being beyond help?”

Against someone like Nie Mingjue, both kindness and resentment were effective strategies, and he indeed paused slightly, glancing at Jin Guangyao. Blood was streaming down his forehead, but besides the new wound from the fall, there was also an old wound wrapped in bandages, hidden beneath his soft gauze hat. Now that both the new and old wounds had burst open, he took off the bandage, wiped the blood from the wound, keeping it from soiling his clothes, threw it on the ground, and stood there without saying a word, as if deep in thought. Lan Xichen turned back and said, “Third brother, go back. I’ll talk to elder brother.”

Jin Guangyao bowed to them and turned away. Noticing that Nie Mingjue had lessened the force in his hand, Lan Xichen also withdrew his sword, patted Nie Mingjue’s shoulder, and pulled him aside.

As they walked, Lan Xichen said, “Elder brother, you probably don’t know, but third brother is in a very difficult situation right now.”

Nie Mingjue said in a cold voice, “In his mouth, he always seems to be in a dire situation.”

Although he said this, the sword was slowly returning to its sheath. Lan Xichen said, “Who doesn’t think so? Did he just now talk back to you? Have you ever seen him do that before?”

Indeed, he hadn’t. It was indeed unusual. Jin Guangyao was not someone who could not hold his temper. He knew how to deal with Nie Mingjue; he had to yield. The burst of retort and venting just now did not seem like him.

Lan Xichen said, “His mother never liked him, and after Zixuan’s death, she often beats and scolds him. His father has also not been listening to him lately, and all the proposals he submitted were returned.”

Wei Wuxian recalled the stack of blueprints on the table, understanding, “The Watchtower.”

Finally, Lan Xichen said, “Let’s not push him too hard for now. I believe he knows what he should do. Just give him a little more time.”

Nie Mingjue said, “I hope so.”

Wei Wuxian thought that after being kicked by Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangyao would settle down for a while. But who knew that after a few days, he still came to the Unclean Realm as usual.

Nie Mingjue was personally supervising Nie Huaisang’s sword practice on the training ground and ignored him. So he stood respectfully on the edge of the inner training ground, waiting. Nie Huaisang was uninterested and listless, and the sun was scorching. He practiced perfunctorily. Soon, he cried out that he was tired and happily wanted to go to Jin Guangyao to see what gifts he had brought this time. In the past, Nie Mingjue would at most frown at this. But this time he was angry, “Nie Huaisang, do you want my sword to split your head open! Get back here!”

If Nie Huaisang could sense how high the anger in Nie Mingjue’s heart was soaring right now, he wouldn’t be so carefree. He said, “Elder brother, it’s time to rest!”

Nie Mingjue said, “You just rested an incense stick’s time ago. Keep going. Practice until you master it.”

Nie Huaisang was still floating in his own world and said, “Anyway, I won’t learn it. I’m not practicing today!”

He had said this many times in the past, but who knew that today Nie Mingjue’s reaction was completely different from usual? He roared, “I could teach a pig, but how can I not teach you?!”

Unexpected that he would suddenly explode, Nie Huaisang was stunned by the shout. He shrank back towards Jin Guangyao. Seeing these two together, Nie Mingjue was even angrier, “You haven’t learned a single sword form in a year. You whine and complain after only standing for an incense stick’s time on the training ground. I’m not asking you to become an outstanding figure, but you can’t even protect yourself! How could the Qinghe Nie Sect produce a useless person like you! Both of you should be tied up and beaten every day. Have all the things in his room moved out!”

The last sentence was directed towards the disciples standing by the training ground. Seeing them go, Nie Huaisang was uneasy. After a while, that line of disciples indeed moved out all of his calligraphy, paintings, porcelain, and folding fans from his room. Nie Mingjue always said he would burn his things, but had never actually done it. This time, he was serious. Nie Huaisang panicked and rushed forward, “Elder brother! You can’t burn them!”

Seeing that things were not going well, Jin Guangyao also said, “Elder brother, don’t be impulsive.” But Nie Mingjue had already slashed out with his sword. The beautiful things piled up in the center of the training ground were submerged in the rising flames. Nie Huaisang screamed and rushed into the fire to save them. Jin Guangyao quickly grabbed him, saying, “Huaisang, be careful!”

Nie Mingjue slapped the air with his left palm. The two white porcelain pieces Nie Huaisang had grabbed were shattered to pieces in his hand, and the scrolls and paintings had long since turned into ashes in an instant. Nie Huaisang just watched as his beloved items, collected over the years, turned into ashes. He was dumbfounded. Jin Guangyao grabbed his hand and checked it, “Did you get burned?” He then turned to several disciples, saying, “Please prepare some medicine.”

Several disciples acknowledged him and left. Nie Huaisang stood there, trembling, looking at Nie Mingjue with bloodshot eyes. Jin Guangyao, seeing his expression was not right, put his arm around his shoulder and said in a low voice, “Huaisang, how are you? Don’t look. Let’s go inside and rest.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes were red, and he didn’t say a word. Jin Guangyao said again, “It’s okay that the things are gone. Later, your third brother will find you…”

Nie Mingjue coldly said, “If he brings those things into the house again, I will burn them again.”

A flash of anger and weariness appeared on Nie Huaisang’s face. He threw his sword on the ground and shouted, “Then burn them!!!”

Jin Guangyao hurriedly said, “Huaisang! Your elder brother is angry, you shouldn’t…”

Nie Huaisang yelled at Nie Mingjue, “Sword, sword, sword! Damn, who wants to practice that broken thing?! I’m happy being useless! Whoever wants to be the family head can be it! I can’t, and I don’t like it! What’s the point of you forcing me?!”