TFOD Chapter 87

After the buzzing in the Demon Subduing Cave subsided, Lan Wangji turned to Wei Wuxian and said, “You continue.”

In Su She’s eyes, anger raged, but his lips were sealed tightly, and his throat was dry as fire. More than the anxiety of not being able to attack Wei Wuxian verbally, what was now burning his heart was the humiliation of being controlled by Lan Wangji. He repeatedly used his fingers to scratch at his throat, attempting to undo the silencing spell, but to no avail. He had no choice but to look towards Lan Qiren. Who knew Lan Qiren’s expression was cold and still, not even glancing his way? Originally, Lan Qiren could have undone the spell, and as long as a Lan elder had lifted the silencing spell, out of respect, Lan Wangji certainly wouldn’t cast another spell on him. However, the Moling Su Clan and the Gusu Lan Clan had a lot of unpleasant history, so Lan Qiren had no intention of helping him at this time.

Everyone understood. It seemed that as long as someone tried to argue with Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji would seal their mouth. For a while, they were all silent as cicadas in winter. However, there were always those fearless warriors who stood out at such times and mocked, “Wei Wuxian, you truly deserve to be the Yi Ling Patriarch, huh? How domineering, are you not letting anyone speak?”

Wei Wuxian said, “That’s strange.”

Lan Sizhui asked, “Senior Wei, what’s strange?”

Wei Wuxian said, “This Sect Leader Su has been acting very strange since just now. Before, when the corpse horde surrounded us, he urged those who had lost their spiritual power not to seek survival, but to quickly go die together. Now, he’s blocking my mouth and preventing me from questioning him. And he’s constantly trying to provoke me, as if he’s afraid you might live for another moment. What’s the logic behind that? Is that how allies act?”

Wei Wuxian’s remark made many people slightly suspicious. It seemed that this Sect Leader Su had indeed said too much today. However, others hadn’t expressed their views, so they were not in a position to do so either, therefore they chose to remain silent cautiously. Another group of people began to secretly ponder what they had done before or during their trip up the mountain. Wei Wuxian looked at the disciples of the Moling Su Clan, who stood far away from the disciples of the Gusu Lan Clan, and the latter didn’t even bother to spare a glance for the former. The more he looked, the more he felt that something was amiss, so he whispered to Lan Wangji, “Hanguang-Jun, let me ask you, the Gusu Lan Clan and the Moling Su Clan are both musical cultivators, and Gusu and Moling are both in the Jiangnan area, not far from each other. Generally speaking, their relationship should be okay, right? Why does it feel like the two families have such a bad relationship?”

Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi squeezed over. As soon as Lan Jingyi heard this, he said loudly, “Of course their relationship is bad!”

Lan Wangji said, “The Moling Su Clan is a branch that separated from the Gusu Lan Clan.”

Wei Wuxian said, “What?”

Lan Sizhui covered Lan Jingyi’s mouth and whispered, “Senior Wei, you may not know. The Moling Su Clan was founded by a disciple with a different surname who left the Gusu Lan Clan. Because he couldn’t get rid of the main family’s influence, his family’s secret techniques are similar to those of the Gusu Lan Clan. They are skilled in music, and even the clan leader, Su Minshan’s, premium spiritual weapon is a seven-string guqin similar to Hanguang-Jun’s.”

Wei Wuxian turned his head to look at Su She, whose face was gloomy, and was completely speechless. Lan Jingyi struggled free from Lan Sizhui and said angrily, “Not only that, but there’s even weirder stuff later! This Sect Leader Su… alright, I know I have to be quiet! This Sect Leader Su not only copies everything, but he is also especially sensitive about people saying that he’s copying our family’s Hanguang-Jun, otherwise, he’ll immediately lose his temper. How can there be such a person in the world!” Seeing him getting louder and louder, Lan Sizhui said helplessly, “Jingyi!”

And Su She had heard everything clearly. His face was ashen, and his eyes were full of rage. He spat out a mouthful of blood and finally forcibly broke the silencing spell, but when he opened his mouth, his voice was so hoarse that it sounded like he had aged ten years. He said, “Well done, Gusu Lan Clan, who takes ‘elegance and righteousness’ as their motto, a family of famous men, the number one in the cultivation world! So this is how you teach your disciples!”

Sect Leader Ouyang said, “Sect Leader Su, now is not the time to argue among ourselves with a great enemy before us.” Su She sneered, “Our people? You can see that the Gusu Lan Clan is all mixed up with Wei Wuxian, what kind of our people are they?”

When he said this, the other members of the Gusu Lan Clan were not happy. Lan Qiren glanced at him without speaking. An older, high-ranking guest elder showed a look of anger: “Su Minshan, even if you are no longer a member of the Gusu Lan Clan, you must speak carefully!”

Immediately, a disciple of the Moling Su Clan stood up: “Our Sect Leader has already left your Gusu Lan Clan. By what authority do you speak to him like this?”

Lan Jingyi had long held a bellyful of grievances against the Moling Su Clan and said loudly, “Isn’t your Sect Leader now in such a position because of the teachings he received from our Gusu Clan in the first place? Why is it that when he bites us back we are not allowed to say anything?”

In the Demon Subduing Cave, the two groups of people started glaring at each other, throwing taunts at one another. Someone from the Moling Su Clan yelled, “There are so many disciples in the Gusu Lan Clan, can everyone start their own sect? How arrogant and conceited!”

Someone from the Gusu Lan Clan immediately retorted, “Who’s arrogant and conceited? Who is it that can’t even play the Demon Repelling Tune properly and isn’t even aware of it?!”

As soon as this sentence came out, Wei Wuxian suddenly had a flash of insight!

He said, “It’s not food, nor is it feng shui!”

Everyone was stunned. Wei Wuxian continued, “You all forgot that there was one other thing you all did after you went up the mountain.”

Lan Sizhui said, “What thing?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Killing walking corpses.”

Ouyang Zizhen blurted out, “Ah, could it be like in Yi City, that the walking corpses have corpse poison powder or something?! Father, when you killed those walking corpses and fierce corpses, did any strange-colored powder spray out from their bodies?”

Sect Leader Ouyang said, “No powder, no!”

Ouyang Zizhen was unwilling to give up and said, “Then… then liquid?”

Jiang Cheng said coldly, “Enough. If there were any strange powders or liquids spraying out after killing the walking corpses, we wouldn’t be oblivious to the abnormality.”

Ouyang Zizhen, who thought he had grasped the key, blushed and scratched his head. His father hurriedly pulled his overly excited son down to sit properly. Wei Wuxian said, “It’s indeed related to killing walking corpses. However, the problem isn’t with the walking corpses themselves, but with the people who killed the walking corpses.”

He turned towards Lan Qiren and said, “Senior Lan, I would like to ask you a question.”

Lan Qiren glanced at Lan Wangji and said indifferently, “If you have any questions, won’t you ask him? Why do you have to come and ask me?”

Although Lan Qiren was pedantic, he was not a fool. He had also noticed something was amiss, so he had patiently listened for so long. However, his face was still very ugly. But Wei Wuxian had been given the cold shoulder by him since he was a child, and later had been given the cold shoulder by countless people, so he had long become indifferent. Thinking that this was the uncle who had personally raised Lan Wangji, he felt there was nothing to be angry about. He touched his chin and said with a smile, “Wasn’t I afraid that if I asked him too many things in front of you, you would get angry? But since you’ve told me to ask him, then I will ask. Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji said, “Mn.”

Wei Wuxian said, “The Moling Su Clan is a family that separated from the Gusu Lan Clan, right?”

Lan Wangji said, “Mn.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Although they separated, the Moling Su Clan’s unique skills were still ‘borrowed’ from the Gusu Lan Clan, right?”

Lan Wangji said, “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian said, “One of the Gusu Lan Clan’s secret techniques, the Barrier Breaking Sound, has the effect of warding off evil and subduing demons, among which the seven-string guqin is the most profound and powerful. Therefore, there are also the most people who cultivate the guqin. The Moling Su Clan followed suit, and there are also the most guqin cultivators in their family, is that right?”

Lan Wangji said, “That’s correct.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Although the Moling Su Clan’s leader left the Gusu Lan Clan with his skills to start his own sect, his own guqin skills are not that outstanding, and the disciples he teaches often make many mistakes, is that right?”

Lan Wangji said frankly, “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji looked at each other, asking and answering as if no one else were there. More and more people gradually heard that they weren’t simply mocking Su She but were unraveling the truth step by step. Therefore, they listened more and more attentively. Then, Wei Wuxian said slowly, “…In other words, even if there was a melody that was off during the Moling Su Clan’s war music when they were killing walking corpses on Burial Mound, the Gusu Lan Clan would be used to it and only think that it was them making a mistake due to their poor skills, that they had misremembered the score, but they wouldn’t pay attention to whether it was a mistake, or whether it was intentional, is that right?”

Hearing this last question, Su She’s pupils constricted, and the hand on his sword hilt violently bulged with veins. The blade was quietly half-unsheathed. At the same time, Lan Wangji also lifted his eyes, and he and Wei Wuxian saw the subtle understanding in each other’s eyes.

He said, word by word, “That is exactly right.”

Su She suddenly drew his sword. Wei Wuxian used two fingers to push away the blade and said with a smile, “What are you doing? Don’t forget, you have lost all your spiritual power now. Is threatening me like this useful?”

Su She held up his sword. He couldn’t stab, nor could he put it away. After clenching his teeth for a while, he said, “You’ve been targeting me back and forth, what exactly are you trying to imply!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Is it because I was too subtle, so you think I’m implying? Then I’d better be clearer. Everyone here lost their spiritual power because they all did the same thing. What is that thing? Killing walking corpses. When killing walking corpses, this Sect Leader Su of the Moling Su Clan came along with you. He pretended to be using the guqin to repel demons, but he had already subtly altered a portion of the war music into another melody that would make people temporarily lose their spiritual power. You were fighting bloody battles, while on the surface he fought alongside you, but in secret he used underhanded tactics…”

Su She said, “Slander!”

Wei Wuxian said, “There are many guqin cultivators from the Gusu Lan Clan here, right? When you were going up the mountain just now, was there something wrong with the war music played by the Moling Su Clan?”

Regarding this, the guqin cultivators from the Gusu Lan Clan were the most qualified to speak, and immediately they said in unison, “That’s exactly right!”

Wei Wuxian continued, “Sect Leader Su knows that many people in the Gusu Lan Clan look down on you and the Moling Su Clan, so you took advantage of this contempt. Although evil music can harm people, it also requires spiritual power from the performer. You alone, of course, wouldn’t be able to play music powerful enough to make nearly a thousand people lose their spiritual power. So you brought all of the guqin cultivators from the Moling Su Clan with you, and had them play alongside you! Among all the families present, only the Gusu Lan Clan would possibly be able to hear that something was wrong. However, they didn’t care to pay attention to you, and even if they did notice that you had played the war music wrong, they would only think that you were unskilled, and had taught your disciples wrongly as well!”

Nie Huaisang said, dumbfounded, “Does such an evil piece of music truly exist that could make one lose their spiritual power after listening to it?!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why not? If the sound of the guqin can repel demons, why can’t it summon evil? There is an Eastern Secret Music Collection called the ‘Chaotic Soul Collection.’ It records all the evil music circulating in the Eastern Lands, even the secret music for killing people. Why is it impossible to make people temporarily lose their spiritual power? Senior Lan Qiren is right here. Ask him, in the Gusu Lan Clan’s library’s forbidden book room, is there this book?”

Regaining his composure, Su She sneered, “Even if there is such a piece of music, when I was studying in the Gusu Lan Clan, I couldn’t enter the forbidden book room at all, and I had no chance to see it. Later, I never stepped foot into Cloud Recesses, so I’ve never even heard of this book! It’s you who is so familiar with this ‘Chaotic Soul Collection,’ and you’re unusually close with Hanguang-Jun. Wouldn’t you be more likely to have come into contact with this book than me?”

Wei Wuxian laughed, “Who said that you had to enter the forbidden book room? It’s enough that your master can come and go freely, isn’t it? The method of altering the musical score was probably taught to you by him as well.”

The one with a high position of power who could come and go freely in Cloud Recesses, Su She’s master, didn’t need to be named, everyone knew it was only the Honorable Lianfang-Jun!

Wei Wuxian said, “What a great idea you have. You captured the disciples of the various families all around, and lured so many people to the Burial Mounds. You are like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. He himself used the excuse of being injured to avoid suspicion. You two collaborated with each other, one using evil music to weaken people’s spiritual power, and the other using the Yin Tiger Seal to manipulate the fierce corpses to surround the mountain. In the end, thousands of people would be wiped out in my territory, and no one would believe it wasn’t me who did it, right? And you weren’t even afraid of running into me. Anyway, Wei Wuxian has a notorious reputation. With new and old hatreds rushing together, the people’s anger would be so intense that they wouldn’t listen to my explanation. Maybe it would incite my bloodlust and cause me to go on a killing spree, which would even save you the effort of doing it yourselves.”

Su She said, “Ridiculous. The Honorable Lianfang-Jun is already the Immortal Overseer who leads the various clans. He doesn’t need to fight for power and dominance. What good would it do him to make so many people come here to die? It’s fine that you’re slandering me, but you’re even slandering the Honorable Lianfang-Jun!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Since you’re so sure that I’m slandering you, then do you dare play the war music that the Moling Su Clan played on the way up the mountain just now in front of everyone?”

All of the guqin cultivators of the Gusu Lan Clan were here. If what Su She played now was different from before, he would immediately be exposed!

The people in the Demon Subduing Cave were quietly moving further and further away from the Moling Su Clan, unconsciously creating a large open space, isolating them in the middle. Wei Wuxian took the opportunity to say, “You don’t want to? Fine, it doesn’t matter. How about you take a look at what this is?”

He took out two yellowed pieces of paper from his chest and shook them. He only let them vaguely see that musical scores were recorded on them. “Did you think that we really came back from the Golden Carp Tower empty-handed? In the secret room behind the bronze mirror in the Fragrance Hall, the two torn pages from the Chaotic Soul Collection that Jin Guangyao had hidden, have already been found by us. As long as we give them to Senior Lan Qiren to take a look and let him identify if there are any melodies on them that you just played, the truth will be revealed immediately!”

Su She sneered, “You’re lying. How do I know if this isn’t a random piece of music that you wrote to slander me.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Do you think that I would carry two pieces of music with me everyday just in case I need to take them out? Anyway, whether it’s a lie or not, Senior Lan Qiren will know after one look.”

Su She originally suspected it was a trap, but seeing Wei Wuxian’s face full of sly smiles and his tone so certain, he felt uneasy. As Lan Qiren took it and his brows furrowed while reading, Su She’s heart tightened. “Senior Lan, be careful, it could be a trap!” he said as he reached out to snatch the two pieces of paper.

At this moment, the ice-blue sword light of Bichen attacked him. Su She drew his sword to block, but with just one block, he suddenly reacted: He had fallen into a trap!

Su She’s sword was called “Unjust”, and at this moment, when it collided with Bichen, the sword light flowed— it was clearly full of spiritual energy!