TFOD Chapter 111

Su She finally realized the situation was dire and immediately covered his chest. However, the few people facing him had already seen his exposed chest clearly. On the skin near his heart, there were over a dozen hideous black holes of varying sizes.

The marks of the Illusory Corpse Pox Curse!

Moreover, these were definitely not the scars left behind after being cursed. If that were the case, judging by the extent of the spreading of these holes, Su She’s internal organs and even his golden core should have been riddled with black holes by now, making it impossible for him to use spiritual power. However, he was still able to repeatedly use a large number of spiritual-energy-consuming teleportation talismans. Then, there was only one explanation for the source of these marks—they must be the marks left after he cursed others and the curse rebounded!

Back then, Wei Wuxian had tried hard to find out who had cursed him and tried to clear his name, but ultimately, amidst the vast sea of people, it was impossible to find out. Furthermore, what happened later was far beyond what finding the curser could resolve, so he had given up hope. Who knew that tonight, it would be a case of “searching high and low, yet finding it right in front of you”!

Jin Ling didn’t understand, and Nie Huaisang probably didn’t either, but Lan Xichen had already looked at Jin Guangyao and said, “Sect Leader Jin, is this also part of the ambush at Qiongqi Path?”

Jin Guangyao said, “Why do you think that?”

Jiang Cheng coldly said, “Is there even a need to ask? If Jin Zixun hadn’t been cursed, none of what happened afterwards would have happened! With one ambush, you solved both Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun, two peers in the family, clearing all obstacles for you to inherit the Lanling Jin Sect and sit on the position of Immortal Supervisor. Su She cast the curse; he’s your confidant. Whose orders he was following, is there even a need to ask?!”

Jin Guangyao remained noncommittal, seemingly focused on regulating his breathing. Wei Wuxian, infuriated, laughed instead, staring at Su She, “Have I offended you? I have no grudges against you, and I’m not even familiar with you!”

Jin Guangyao said, “Young Master Wei, shouldn’t you be the clearest about this? Just because there are no grudges doesn’t mean we can live in peace? How is that possible? Everyone in this world originally had no grudges against each other, but there’s always someone who starts by thrusting the first knife.”

Jiang Cheng said with hatred, “Vicious villain!!!”

Who knew that Su She would sneer, “Don’t be so self-righteous. Who said I cursed Jin Zixun to frame you? I wasn’t under the Sect Leader’s command at the time. I only cursed him because I wanted to!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Then do you have a feud with Jin Zixun?”

Su She said, “I’d kill anyone who is as arrogant as him!”

Wei Wuxian knew he was referring to Lan Wangji when he said “arrogant people” and couldn’t help but say, “What kind of grudge do you have with Gentle and Noble? Where exactly is he arrogant?”

Su She said, “Isn’t he? If Lan Wangji wasn’t born into a good family with a good background, what qualifications does he have to be so arrogant? Why does everyone say that I am imitating him?! The world praises his noble character, but he is a noble cultivator who mixes with the notorious Yi Ling Patriarch, who is despised by all? What a joke!”

Wei Wuxian was about to say something, but suddenly he felt that this gloomy and resentful expression was somewhat familiar. He seemed to have seen it somewhere.

He suddenly remembered: “It’s you!”

In Caiyi Town, at Biling Lake, at the Water Abyss, the sword that fell into the water, the slaughter of the Xuanwu, and the disciple who pushed Mian Mian away, Su She!

Wei Wuxian suddenly burst out laughing.

He said, “I understand now.”

Lan Wangji said, “Understand what?”

Wei Wuxian shook his head.

He knew Jin Zixun’s character. He often didn’t take the members of the subsidiary families seriously, thinking they were the same as the house servants, and even felt it was beneath him to attend banquets with them. As a member of a subsidiary family of the Lanling Jin Sect, Su She would inevitably have to attend banquets at Golden Carp Tower and would often bump into Jin Zixun. One was narrow-minded and petty, and the other was arrogant and domineering. If these two had some unpleasantness, it wouldn’t be strange for Su She to hold a grudge against Jin Zixun.

If that were the case, then the whole story about Jin Zixun being cursed with the Illusory Corpse Pox Curse had nothing to do with him. But in the end, he was the one who was saddled with the blame.

The cause of the ambush at Qiongqi Path was because Jin Zixun had been cursed with the Illusory Corpse Pox Curse. If there was no such beginning, the Lanling Jin Sect would have no grounds to ambush him, Wen Ning would not have lost control and gone on a killing spree, Wei Wuxian would not have been burdened with the heavy debt of Jin Zixuan’s life, and there would not have been many later events.

However, he was only now learning that even the curser’s intention may not have been to frame him, and the cause had nothing to do with him at all!

—This was even more unacceptable.

As he laughed, Wei Wuxian’s eyes turned red, as if mocking and self-deprecating, and said, “It was actually because of someone like you… because of such a ridiculous reason!”

Jin Guangyao seemed to see through his thoughts and said, “Young Master Wei, you can’t think like that.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Oh? You know what I’m thinking?”

Jin Guangyao said, “Of course, it’s easy to guess. You’re just thinking that it was too unfair. Actually, it’s not unfair. Even if Su She hadn’t cursed Jin Zixun, Mr. Wei, you would have been surrounded and attacked sooner or later for other reasons.”

He smiled slightly, “Because that’s just how you are. To put it nicely, you’re chivalrous and unrestrained, but to put it bluntly, you offend everyone. Unless all those you have offended live a peaceful and safe life, as long as something happens to them, or if they are tripped up, the first suspect will definitely be you, and the first target of revenge will definitely be you. And this is something that you can’t control.”

Wei Wuxian actually laughed and said, “What should I do? I actually feel like you make a lot of sense.”

Jin Guangyao said, “And even if you hadn’t lost control at Qiongqi Path, can you guarantee that you would never lose control for your whole life? So, people like you are destined to have a short life. See, doesn’t thinking like this make you feel much better?”

Jiang Cheng angrily said, “You damn it, you’re the one who’s going to have a short life!”

Regardless of his critical wounds, he grabbed Three Poisons and was about to jump up, causing blood to gush out. Jin Ling quickly pressed him back down. Jiang Cheng couldn’t move, felt extremely resentful, and cursed, “You son of a prostitute, you don’t care about any shame to climb up, wasn’t it you who directed Su She to do it?! Who are you trying to fool!”

Hearing the four words “son of a prostitute,” Jin Guangyao’s smile froze for a moment.

He looked at Jiang Cheng, pondered for a moment, and then spoke calmly, “Sect Leader Jiang, calm down, I understand your feelings right now. You’re so angry right now, because you found out the truth about the golden core and thinking back to all your actions these past few years, your proud heart is feeling a little guilty, so you’re eager to find a murderer for Young Master Wei’s past, a demon that you can pin all the blame on and then whip and attack it, as if it’s to avenge Young Master Wei and relieve your own burden.

“If you feel that deciding that the Illusory Corpse Pox Curse to the ambush at Qiongqi Path was all a plan that I orchestrated from beginning to end can reduce your worries, then you can think that way, feel free. But you must understand that Young Master Wei ended up that way and you also share responsibility, and a large amount of responsibility. Why did so many people try so hard to attack the Yi Ling Patriarch? Why did people who were related and not related all want to speak out and shout? Why was he attacked by everyone on one side? Is it really just because of their sense of justice? Of course not. Part of the reason lies with you.”

Jiang Cheng sneered. Lan Xichen knew that Jin Guangyao was going to try to stir up trouble, and whispered, “Sect Leader Jin!”

Jin Guangyao was unmoved and continued with a smile, ” … Back then, the Lanling Jin Sect, the Qinghe Nie Sect, and the Gusu Lan Sect were competing against each other, and they had already taken the lion’s share. The others could only eat the scraps. And you, had just rebuilt Lotus Pier, and behind you was the dangerously unpredictable Yi Ling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian. Do you think the other families would be happy to see such a young sect leader with such an advantageous position? Fortunately, your relationship with your older brother doesn’t seem to be good, so everyone thinks there’s an opportunity, and they would definitely try to sow discord between you if possible. In any case, not letting the Yunmeng Jiang Sect become stronger is making themselves stronger. Sect Leader Jiang, if you had shown a little more positive attitude towards your older brother, making it seem as though your alliance was unbreakable, making others retreat in the face of difficulty and not try to provoke you, or if you had shown a little more tolerance after the incident, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did. Oh, now that I think about it, you were one of the main forces that surrounded Burial Mounds…”

Wei Wuxian said, “It seems like ‘son of a prostitute’ is really Sect Leader Jin’s sore point? No wonder you killed Red Peak then.”

Mentioning Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen’s expression changed. Jin Guangyao’s smile also faltered for a moment. Then, he stood up.

He finished regulating his breathing, tried the fingers of his left hand, and finally, his five fingers could move freely. He immediately said, “Send men to leave.”

Su She said, “Yes!”

Two monks were holding Lan Xichen on each side, just about to open the door when Jin Guangyao suddenly said, “Oh, I almost forgot.”

He turned to Lan Xichen and said, “Come to think of it, Gentle and Verdant’s sealed spiritual meridians should also be close to being released.”

Lan Xichen’s cultivation was far higher than his. If Jin Guangyao wanted to seal his spiritual meridians, he would have to seal them every hour; otherwise, Lan Xichen would break free on his own. He walked in front of Lan Xichen and said, “Pardon me.”

He was about to reach out when a white thing suddenly fell heavily in front of him. Jin Guangyao became alert and stepped back. Looking closely, it was actually a white, fleshy body!

A naked woman was lying on the ground, face down, twisting her body and limbs, as if she were trying to crawl towards Jin Guangyao. Su She thrust his sword out, and the woman screamed. Suddenly, fire ignited around her. She stood up, staggering as she continued to reach out towards Jin Guangyao. Her body and face were charred black in the flames, but one could still see the extreme resentment in those eyes. Su She struck again with his sword, completely scattering her ashes. Jin Guangyao retreated a few steps. He tripped over something. When he looked back, he saw two entangled human bodies. One of them reached out and grabbed his ankle. At that moment, a whistle was heard from behind. Su She said with hatred, “Wei Wuxian!”

At some point, on the Guanyin statue in the Guanyin Hall, someone had drawn several chaotic talismans with blood.

The array’s core of this Guanyin temple was in this Guanyin Hall. And now, the core had been destroyed by Wei Wuxian, taking them by surprise. The things that had been suppressed inside were pouring out incessantly!

Suddenly, Jin Ling cried out in alarm, “What’s going on?”

Jiang Cheng kept patting him, because his hem was burning on its own. And Jin Ling was one of the lucky ones, for several monks were already engulfed in flames, rolling on the ground with miserable screams. Su She and Jin Guangyao knew that they had to erase the blood marks that Wei Wuxian had drawn on the Guanyin statue. However, they were held back by the cultivators rolling all over the ground and the naked apparitions that kept appearing. Those naked men and women, under Wei Wuxian’s command, did not attack Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, and others. But Jin Ling still held Suihua in front of him, and said, “What exactly are these things? I’ve never seen anything so…”

So lewd and shameless!

Jin Guangyao’s eyes were burning with fire. He sent out a palm strike, and fire erupted. He finally rushed in front of the Guanyin statue and was about to wipe away the talismans that Wei Wuxian had drawn when suddenly, a coldness came from behind his waist.

Lan Xichen’s low voice came, “Don’t move.”

Jin Guangyao was still about to counterattack when Lan Xichen struck his back with a palm. Jin Guangyao said, “Gentle and Verdant… You, you’ve recovered your spiritual power.”

Lan Xichen hadn’t responded yet when Su She’s sword, Nanping, stabbed towards Wei Wuxian, but it struck another sword, its light similar, but its spiritual energy was more pure and clear.

Sweep Away the Dust!

The two swords collided, and Nanping was actually snapped in two!

In an instant, Su She’s tiger’s mouth burst open, blood flowing freely. Even his arm bones were creaking. The sword hilt fell to the ground, and he covered his right arm with his left hand, his face ashen. Lan Wangji, on the other hand, was holding Sweep Away the Dust with one hand and with the other hand he wrapped his arm around Wei Wuxian’s waist, turning him behind him to protect him. Wei Wuxian didn’t actually need his protection, but he still leaned into him rather comfortably and cooperatively.

A series of changes happened in a flash. In just a few blinks, the Lanling Jin Sect’s cultivators reacted. However, Su She was holding his bleeding right hand, the wounds on his chest had already broken open, and the sharp edge of Sweep Away the Dust was against Jin Guangyao’s throat.

With their leader being controlled, none of them dared to make a rash move.

Lan Xichen was about to speak, but the expressions of everyone in the Guanyin Hall suddenly changed. Lan Xichen said, “Young Master Wei, you…you should collect these things first.”

These apparitions were not only naked and offensive, but they were also making extremely embarrassing groans, which anyone could tell what they were doing. Everyone had never seen such lewd and obscene fierce spirits. Lan Xichen turned his face away, not looking at them. Jiang Cheng’s face was livid, while Jin Ling’s face was flushed red. Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Wangji beside him, and thought that it was not right to make someone who would get embarrassed and angry by looking at a spring palace painting see such a thing. He explained, “My original purpose was just to release the evil spirits he suppressed in the Guanyin Temple so that I could stall for time. How would I know that I would release something like this…”

At this time, Lan Wangji only glanced at those resentful spirits and, like Lan Xichen, he turned his eyes away and said two words while looking in another direction, “Big fire.”

Wei Wuxian immediately nodded, in a serious tone: “Yes. These resentful spirits were all burned to death. It seems that this place had once had a big fire that burned many people to death. And then Sect Leader Jin, in order to cover things up and to suppress those fierce spirits who turned evil because of being burned to death, built this Guanyin temple himself here.”

Lan Xichen said, “Sect Leader Jin, is this fire related to you?”

Jiang Cheng coldly said, “These resentful spirits hate him to the bone, is there any possibility that it is not related to him!”