TFOD Chapter 113

Lan Xichen said, “What letter?”

Jin Guangyao said, “A threatening letter. The letter said…those things, and in seven days, these things would be made public. It told me to either commit suicide to apologize, or… wait for my death.”

Everyone understood. Of course, Jin Guangyao wouldn’t just sit and wait for his death. Rather than wait until then to be discredited and overthrown by the ridicule of everyone, it was better to strike first. By then, even if the other side really spread his old misdeeds everywhere, after experiencing a siege, everyone would be exhausted and wouldn’t have the strength to fight him again.

It was just a pity that things didn’t go his way, and Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji messed everything up.

Lan Xichen said, “Even so, you can’t just go all the way and kill! The way you’re doing this…”

He couldn’t even find a reason to excuse him!

Jin Guangyao said, “Then what else could I do? Wait for things to be exposed and spread everywhere, wait until I become a century-long joke among the cultivation clans, and then kneel down and apologize to the world, putting my face under their feet to beg them to step on me, beg for their forgiveness? Second Brother! There is no third way, either they die, or I die.”

Lan Xichen looked slightly displeased, took a step back, and said, “This is all because of you…because of the things you did in that letter! If you hadn’t done them, how could you have left a handle for others to grasp?”

Jin Guangyao said, “Second Brother, listen to me. I don’t deny that I did those things…”

Lan Xichen said, “How else can you deny it? The witnesses are all there!”

Jin Guangyao said, “That’s why I said I wouldn’t deny it! But killing a father, killing a wife, killing a son, killing a brother, why would I do it if it wasn’t absolutely necessary? In your eyes, am I really that insane?!”

Lan Xichen’s expression calmed down slightly, and he said, “Alright, I’ll ask you a few questions, and you can explain them one by one.”

Lan Wangji said, “Brother!”

He drew Sweep Away the Dust. Seeing that he seemed to intend to immediately end Jin Guangyao with a sword, Lan Xichen hurriedly said, “Don’t worry, he’s injured and his weapons have been confiscated. He’s already at a disadvantage. There are so many people here, he can’t play any tricks.” Just then, Wei Wuxian kicked Su She, thwarting his secret intentions. Lan Xichen said, “Go deal with that side, I’ll handle things here.”

Lan Wangji heard Su She roar and went over there. Wei Wuxian knew that Lan Xichen still had some feelings for this sworn brother and always held a strange expectation for him, so he had to give him this chance to speak. It just so happened that he also wanted to hear what Jin Guangyao had to say, so he listened attentively. Lan Xichen said, “First, your father, Sect Leader Jin, is it true that you used that method…”

Jin Guangyao carefully said, “This question, I’d like to answer it last.”

Lan Xichen shook his head and said, “Second, your…wife…” He seemed to find it difficult to speak, and immediately changed his words, “Your sister, Qin Su, you really knew what your relationship was and still married her?”

Jin Guangyao stared blankly at him, suddenly shedding tears.

He painfully said, “…Yes.”

Lan Xichen took a deep breath, his face pale. Jin Guangyao whispered, “But I really had no choice.”

Lan Xichen rebuked, “How could there be no choice?! It was your marriage! If you didn’t marry her, wouldn’t that have been fine? Even if you broke Qin Su’s heart, it would have been better than ruining a woman who sincerely loved and respected you and never looked down on you!”

Jin Guangyao said, “Don’t you think I truly loved her?! But I had no choice, having no choice means having no choice! Yes! It was my marriage, but could I really call it off by saying I wouldn’t marry her?! Second Brother, even if you’re naive, there should be a limit. I went through so much hardship and effort to get Qin Cangye to agree to my proposal, the wedding was approaching, and Qin Cangye and Jin Guangshan were finally satisfied. You wanted me to suddenly cancel the wedding? What reason should I use? How should I explain it to these two people?!”

“Second Brother, do you know how I felt when, just when I thought everything was perfect, Madam Qin suddenly secretly came to me and told me the truth! Even being struck by lightning on my head wouldn’t have been more terrifying! Do you know why she didn’t go to Jin Guangshan but came to me to secretly ask for help? Because she was raped by Jin Guangshan! My good father didn’t even spare the wife of his subordinate who had followed him for so many years, he didn’t even remember when he had another daughter! For so many years she didn’t dare to tell her husband Qin Cangye this, do you think if I suddenly backed out of the marriage and made them suspect something, causing Jin Guangshan and Qin Cangye to break up, who would suffer the most in the end?!”

Although it wasn’t the first time they had heard about Jin Guangshan’s shameless actions in this area, everyone present still felt a chill. Disgust and coldness, it was hard to tell which was stronger. Lan Xichen said, “Then…then even if you were forced to marry Qin Su, you could have ignored her. Why did you have to…and why did you have to give birth to A-Song and then kill your own son with your own hands!”

Jin Guangyao clutched his head, his voice hoarse, “…I never touched A-Su after the wedding. A-Song… was conceived before the wedding. At that time, I was afraid of delays and unexpected changes…”

So, he had consummated the marriage with Qin Su in advance.

If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t have accidentally committed incest with his own sister. Now, he didn’t know whether to hate his father who was nothing like a father, or hate his own suspicious and anxious self even more!

Sighing, Lan Xichen said, “Third, don’t try to quibble. Answer me, was Jin Zixuan’s death deliberately planned by you!”

Hearing his father’s name, Jin Ling, who was being supported by Jiang Cheng, widened his eyes instantly.

Lan Wangji raised his voice slightly and said, “Brother, do you believe him?”

Lan Xichen’s expression was complicated. He said, “I naturally don’t believe that Jin Zixuan accidentally stumbled upon the ambush at Qiongqi Path, but…let him speak first.”

Jin Guangyao knew that denying it to the death wouldn’t make him believe it, so he gritted his teeth and said, “…Jin Zixuan, it’s true that I didn’t bump into him by accident.”

Jin Ling clenched his fists.

Jin Guangyao continued, “But I absolutely didn’t deliberately plan all the things that followed. You don’t have to imagine me as that calculating and having everything under control. Many things are simply uncontrollable. How could I know that he would definitely die alongside Jin Zixun at Wei Wuxian’s hands? How could I have predicted that Wei Wuxian would definitely lose control, and the Ghost General would definitely go on a killing spree?”

Wei Wuxian angrily said, “Then why did you say that it wasn’t an accidental encounter? It’s contradictory!”

Jin Guangyao said, “I don’t deny that I intentionally told him about the ambush at Qiongqi Path, but I only thought that he and you had always been at odds, and that he happened to be having trouble with his cousin, so he might suffer a little. How could I foresee that Mr. Wei, you would simply kill everyone present?”

Wei Wuxian laughed in anger, “You really are…”

Suddenly, Jin Ling shouted, “Why?!”

He stood up from beside Jiang Cheng, his eyes red, and rushed to Jin Guangyao, yelling loudly, “Why did you do that?!”

Nie Huaisang quickly grabbed Jin Ling, who looked like he was about to fight Jin Guangyao. Jin Guangyao asked back, “Why?”

He turned to Jin Ling and said, “A-Ling, then can you tell me, why? Why do I always have a smile on my face when I greet people, but can’t get a good reaction, while your father is arrogant and everyone fawns over him? Can you tell me why, being the sons of the same man, your father could leisurely stay at home with his beloved wife and tease his child, while I couldn’t even stay with my wife alone for a little longer, and even seeing my own son would make my hair stand on end, and I still have to be reasonably ordered by my own biological father to do such things – to intercept an extremely dangerous person who could go crazy and manipulate fierce corpses and ghosts to start a massacre at any time!”

“Why is it that even though we were born on the same day, Jin Guangshan could hold a grand birthday banquet for one son while at the same time watch his subordinates kick another son down from the top of Golden Carp Tower, from the highest floor, rolling all the way to the bottom!”

He finally revealed the deep-seated hatred he had hidden, but it wasn’t for Jin Zixuan, not for Wei Wuxian, but for his own father.

Wei Wuxian said, “Stop making excuses! If you hate someone, go kill them, what did Jin Zixuan do?!”

Jin Guangyao calmly said, “As you can see, I killed them all.”

Lan Xichen said, “And in that way.”

Jin Guangyao’s eyes were filled with tears, he straightened his back and knelt on the ground, smiling, “Yes. An old stallion who is constantly in heat is best suited for this kind of death, isn’t it?”

Lan Xichen yelled, “A-Yao!”

After scolding, he remembered that he had already unilaterally severed his relationship with Jin Guangyao, so he shouldn’t call him that. Jin Guangyao, however, seemed not to notice and said composedly, “Second Brother, don’t think that I can say such harsh words to him now. I had expectations for this father of mine too. Once, as long as it was his order, betraying Sect Leader Wen, protecting Xue Yang, or eliminating dissidents, no matter how stupid or hateful, I would carry it out. But do you know what made me completely disappointed? I’ll answer your first question now. It wasn’t that I was never worth even a strand of hair compared to Jin Zixuan in his heart, or a few black holes on Jin Zixun’s body. It wasn’t that he took Mo Xuanyu back, nor was it that he later tried to undermine me in every way. It was that time when he went out again to indulge in debauchery, and he confided his true feelings to a prostitute beside him.

“Why wouldn’t this lavish clan leader spend even a tiny amount of effort to redeem my mother? It’s very simple, because it’s troublesome. My mother waited so many years, and wove so many unavoidable hardships in front of me, and conjured up so many difficult situations for him. The real reason was just two words: trouble.

“He said this: ‘Especially women who have read a bit, they always think they are better than other women, they have so many demands, they think about unrealistic things, it’s the most troublesome. If I redeemed her and brought her to Lanling, who knows how she would pester me endlessly. Let her stay put, according to her conditions, it is estimated that she can still be popular for a few more years, and she will not have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of her life.

“‘Son? Sigh, never mind it.'”

Jin Guangyao had a very good memory. He repeated these words word for word, and others could even imagine the drunken look on Jin Guangshan’s face when he said these words. He smiled, “Second Brother, you see, I, this son, was only worth four words: ‘Sigh, never mind it’. Hahahaha…”

Lan Xichen had a pained look in his eyes and said, “Even if your father… but you…”

In the end, he couldn’t come up with any suitable judgment and hesitated, sighing, “What’s the use of you saying this now.”

Jin Guangyao shrugged while laughing, “There’s nothing I can do. After doing all those bad things, I still want people to pity me. I’m just that kind of person.”

When he said the word “person”, he suddenly flipped his wrist. A red guqin string wrapped around Jin Ling’s neck.

Jin Guangyao’s eyes still had tears, and he said in a low voice, “Don’t move!”

This was truly unexpected. Jiang Cheng roared, “Wei Wuxian! Didn’t you confiscate his weapons already?!”

In his anxiety, he actually spoke directly to Wei Wuxian, his tone as it was in their youth. Wei Wuxian also yelled, “I did confiscate all of his guqin strings!”

It couldn’t be that Jin Guangyao’s cultivation was so high that he could materialize things out of thin air!

Lan Wangji immediately saw the trick and said, “He hid it inside his body.”

Others followed his gaze, and they saw a red smudge on Jin Guangyao’s white clothes at his side, which was gradually spreading. The reason why this guqin string was red was that it was bloody. Of course, Wei Wuxian couldn’t search for it earlier. Jin Guangyao didn’t hide it on his body, but inside his own body. After a round of talking, he swayed Lan Xichen’s emotions, diverted the others’ attention, and provoked Jin Ling to step forward and get close to him. When the opportunity was ripe, he quickly pierced his abdomen with his fingers, pulled it out from his body.

Who could have expected that, to keep this last move, Jin Guangyao could treat himself like this? Although the guqin string was very thin, it was still a metal object embedded in flesh, moving with the person. The feeling wouldn’t be pleasant.

Jiang Cheng cried out, “A-Ling!” Wei Wuxian also subconsciously moved, but someone immediately grabbed him. Turning his head, he saw it was Lan Wangji, and he was barely able to calm down, not losing his composure. Jin Guangyao controlled Jin Ling, stood up, and said, “Sect Leader Jiang doesn’t need to be so agitated. A-Ling was raised watching me, after all. I still stand by what I said, we’ll each go our separate ways, and after a while, you will see a complete and unharmed A-Ling.”

Jiang Cheng said, “A-Ling, don’t move! Jin Guangyao, if you want a hostage, you can exchange me too!”

Jin Guangyao said frankly, “That’s not the same. Sect Leader Jiang, you’re injured and unable to move freely. You would hold me back.”

Wei Wuxian’s palms were sweating. He said, “Sect Leader Jin, did you forget to bring something? Your loyal subordinate is still here.”

Jin Guangyao looked at Su She, who was being restrained by Lan Wangji’s Sweep Away the Dust. Su She immediately said in a hoarse voice, “Sect Leader, you don’t need to care about me!”

Jin Guangyao also immediately said, “Thank you.”

Lan Xichen slowly said, “Sect Leader Jin, you lied again.”

Jin Guangyao said, “Just this once, I won’t do it again.”

Lan Xichen said, “That’s what you said last time. I can’t tell which of your words is true anymore.”

Just as Jin Guangyao was about to speak, an unprecedented thunderclap roared. Although it was far away, it seemed as if it was right next to their ears, causing him to shiver involuntarily and swallow his words back. Immediately after, “thump! thump! thump!” three strange loud sounds came from outside the temple.

These sounds weren’t so much like “knocking on the door” as they were “banging on the door.” It didn’t sound like a human arm striking; it sounded like someone holding another person’s head and violently smashing it against the door over and over again. Each sound was louder than the last, and the cracks on the door latch were bigger with each one. The expression on Jin Guangyao’s face also became more distorted with each moment.

On the fourth sound, the door latch finally broke. Dense rain and a dark figure came crashing in together, spinning through the air.

Jin Guangyao trembled, seemingly wanting to dodge, but he quickly stopped this impulse. The direction that the figure flew into wasn’t towards him, but towards Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. The two of them calmly separated for an instant, and then naturally stood together shoulder to shoulder again. Looking back, Wei Wuxian said, “Wen Ning?”

Wen Ning crashed into the Guanyin statue inside the temple. He hung upside down for a while before falling to the ground with a “thud.” He then said, “…Young Master.”

Seeing him, the expressions of Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling looked somewhat ugly. Nie Huaisang yelled, “Big Brother!!!”

Besides Wen Ning flying in, there was another taller figure standing at the temple door. His face had hard features, his complexion was ashen, and his eyes were vacant.

It was Chifeng-Zun, Nie Mingjue!

He was like an iron tower, blocking the way in front of the Guanyin Temple in the pouring rain, blocking everyone’s path. His head was squarely on his neck. There were dense black stitches on his neck. Someone had actually used a long thread to sew his head back onto his headless body!

Lan Xichen said, “…Big Brother.”

Jin Guangyao also murmured, “…Big Brother…”

Inside this temple, there were three people who called out to Nie Mingjue’s corpse with the name of Big Brother, but the tone of the three people was completely different. Jin Guangyao’s face was full of overwhelming fear, and his whole body was trembling. Whether in life or after death, the person Jin Guangyao feared the most was undoubtedly this righteous brother of his, who had a violent temper and was absolutely unforgiving.

His body trembled, and his hand also trembled. The bloody guqin string he was tightly holding also began to tremble. At that moment, Lan Wangji suddenly drew Sweep Away the Dust and swung his sword down.

In the blink of an eye, he had flashed in front of Jin Ling and was holding up something. Jin Guangyao felt his arm become lighter, and after a slight pause, he looked down to see that his right hand was gone.

His right hand, from the front of his forearm, had been cleanly severed. The thing that Lan Wangji was holding up was the palm of his hand, where he had been gripping the lethal guqin string.

Instantly, blood sprayed everywhere. Jin Guangyao’s face turned deathly pale. He didn’t even have the strength to scream, he only staggered back a few steps. He couldn’t even stand steadily, and fell to the ground. On the other hand, Su She screamed. For a moment, Lan Xichen seemed as if he wanted to help him up, but ultimately didn’t dare to do anything.

Lan Wangji pried open the fingers of Jin Guangyao’s severed hand. The guqin string loosened, and Jin Ling was finally out of danger. Just as Jiang Cheng was about to pounce forward to see if he was injured, Wei Wuxian had already rushed forward, grabbed Jin Ling’s shoulders, and carefully checked him over. After confirming that the skin on his neck was completely unharmed, without even a scratch, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Lan Wangji’s sword strikes always had a margin for error, but the situation earlier was too urgent. That guqin string was extremely sharp. In the hands of someone who knew the string killing technique, it could cut through flesh and bone as easily as slicing through melons and vegetables. Moreover, Jin Guangyao’s hand was still trembling. As long as he trembled a little longer, or even worse, if he had forgotten that he was still holding someone, holding the string and trying to run… if not for Lan Wangji’s decisive action, quickly and accurately severing his right hand that was holding the string, Jin Ling would likely already have had his head separated from his body, with blood spraying up several feet high!

Jin Ling had been sprayed by Jin Guangyao’s severed hand’s blood. Most of his body and a small part of his face were stained with blood. He was still stunned and hadn’t reacted. Wei Wuxian hugged him tightly and said, “Next time, stay away from dangerous people, you little brat, why were you standing so close just now!”

If Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan’s only son was also lost in front of him, Wei Wuxian really didn’t know what he would do.

Jin Ling wasn’t used to being hugged by others like this. His pale face immediately flushed red, and he forcefully pushed away from Wei Wuxian’s chest. Wei Wuxian grabbed him and hugged him a few times more, then patted him hard on his shoulder and pushed him towards Jiang Cheng, saying, “Go! Don’t run around again, go next to your uncle!”

Jiang Cheng grabbed Jin Ling who was still a little dazed, and looked at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji who were standing together. After a moment of hesitation, he said in a low voice to Lan Wangji, “Thank you.”

Although it was in a low voice, he was still very clear.

Jin Ling also said, “Thank you, Hanguang-Jun, for saving my life.”

Lan Wangji nodded, not saying anything. Sweep Away the Dust pointed diagonally at the ground, the clear and bright sword tip not stained by a single drop of blood. It quickly became clean, and he turned it to point at Nie Mingjue, who was standing at the door. Wen Ning slowly got up, reattaching his dislocated hand himself, and said, “Be careful…his resentment is immense.”