TFOD Chapter 96

After a long period of being stunned, Jiang Cheng shouted, “What nonsense are you spouting?!”

Wen Ning seemed calm as he said, “I’m not spouting nonsense.”

Jiang Cheng said, “Shut your mouth! My golden core… my golden core is…”

Wen Ning said, “It was repaired for you by Baoshan Sanren.”

Jiang Cheng said, “How do you know? Did he even tell you this?”

Wen Ning said, “No. Young Master Wei has never mentioned a single word about it to anyone. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes were bloodshot as he laughed, “Lying! You were there? How could you have been there! Only I went up the mountain back then, you couldn’t have possibly followed me!”

Wen Ning said, “I didn’t follow you. I was on that mountain from the very beginning.”

Jiang Cheng’s forehead veins bulged, he said, “…Lies!”

Wen Ning said, “Listen to see if I’m lying! When you went up the mountain, you had a black cloth covering your eyes, and you were holding a long tree branch in your hand. When you were almost at the top, you passed through a stone forest and circled around for almost half an hour before making it through.”

The muscles in Jiang Cheng’s face twitched slightly, Wen Ning continued, “Then you heard the sound of a bell, which startled all the birds into flight. You gripped the tree branch tightly in your hand, like you were holding a sword. When the bell stopped, a sword was pressed against your chest, and you heard a woman’s voice ordering you not to move forward.”

Jiang Cheng’s whole body trembled, Wen Ning raised his voice, “You immediately stopped in your tracks, looking very nervous, and even slightly agitated. The woman’s voice was very low, asking who you were and how you found your way there. You answered…”

Jiang Cheng roared, “Shut up!”

Wen Ning also roared, “…You answered that you were the son of Cangse Sanren, Wei Ying! You talked about the destruction of your family, the chaos at Lotus Pier, and that your golden core was melted away by the Core-Melting Hand, Wen Zhuliu. That woman repeatedly asked you questions about your parents. When you got to the last answer, you suddenly smelled a fragrance and lost consciousness…”

Jiang Cheng seemed like he wanted to cover his ears: “How do you know? How do you know all that?!”

Wen Ning said, “Didn’t I just say? I was there. Not only was I there, but Young Master Wei was also there. Not only him and I, but my sister, Wen Qing, was also there. Or rather, the only three people on that entire mountain were waiting for you.”

“Sect Leader Jiang, do you really think that was some, some kind of hermit’s place of Baoshan Sanren? Young Master Wei himself didn’t even know where to find such a place. His mother, Cangse Sanren, never revealed any information about her sect to such a young child! That mountain was just an abandoned mountain in Yiling!”

Jiang Cheng repeated the same words in a hoarse voice, as if trying to use his fierce and evil expression to mask his sudden lack of vocabulary, “Nonsense! That’s enough! Then why was my golden core restored?!”

Wen Ning said, “Your golden core was never restored at all, it was completely melted away by Wen Zhuliu a long time ago! The reason why you thought it was restored was because my sister, Wen Qing, the best physician of the Qishan Wen Clan, took out Young Master Wei’s golden core and gave it to you!”

Jiang Cheng’s face went blank for a moment, he said, “Gave it to me?”

Wen Ning said, “That’s right! Do you think why he stopped using his sword casually afterwards? Why he doesn’t carry a sword when going out? Is it really because he was young and reckless? Does he really enjoy others pointing at him and saying he is rude and uncultured? It is because even if he carries one, it is useless! It is only because… if he attends those banquets and night-hunts with a sword, there would be people challenging him for a duel for various reasons, and without a golden core, his spiritual energy would be insufficient, if he draws his sword, he won’t be able to hold on for long…”

Jiang Cheng stood there blankly, his eyes turning green, his lips trembling, and he even forgot to use the Purple Lightning Whip. He suddenly threw aside Sandu, and punched Wen Ning in the chest, yelling, “Lies!”

Wen Ning took the blow and stumbled back a couple steps. He picked up Sandu from the ground, sheathed it, and pushed it back to Jiang Cheng’s chest, “Take it!”

Jiang Cheng involuntarily received the sword. He didn’t move but aimlessly stared in Wei Wuxian’s direction. It would have been better if he didn’t look. The sight of Wei Wuxian’s pale face, with blood still at the corner of his lips, made him feel as if he had been hit by a hammer. Lan Wangji’s gaze was even more chilling, making him feel as if he was in an ice cave.

Wen Ning said, “Take this sword, go to the banquet hall, go to the training ground, go anywhere, and ask everyone you see to draw this sword. You will see if anyone can actually draw it! Then you’ll know if I was lying! Sect Leader Jiang – you, who are so competitive, who has been comparing himself with others your whole life, do you know you originally would never have been able to compare to him!”

Jiang Cheng kicked Wen Ning and grabbed Sandu, stumbling towards the banquet hall.

He was running and shouting, his whole person appearing like a madman. Wen Ning, kicked by him, crashed into a tree in the courtyard. He slowly stood up, quickly turned his attention to the other two people. Lan Wangji’s beautiful face was extremely pale, his expression was also cold and stern. He glanced at the Yunmeng Jiang Sect’s ancestral hall, shifted Wei Wuxian’s body on his back to secure it, then turned and walked in the other direction without looking back.

Wen Ning said, “Young Master Lan, where, where are you going?”

Lan Wangji’s figure paused at the steps, he said, “Just now, he wanted me to take him away.”

Wen Ning quickly followed, and together they left the gates of Lotus Pier.

When they reached the dock, the many ships of varying sizes that had carried people here had already gone back. All that was left were a few old, unattended ferries. The ferries were long and narrow, shaped like willow leaves, and could carry seven or eight people. Their two ends were slightly upturned, and two oars were slanted against the stern. Lan Wangji, carrying Wei Wuxian, got on the boat without hesitation. Wen Ning quickly jumped to the stern, grabbed an oar, and pushed the ferry several yards away. Soon after, the ferry drifted away from the dock, nearing the center of the river.

Lan Wangji let Wei Wuxian lean against him. He first fed him two pills, then after making sure he had swallowed them, took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the blood on his face.

Suddenly, Wen Ning’s nervous voice came, “Young, Young Master Lan.”

Lan Wangji said, “What is it?”

The strong demeanor Wen Ning had in front of Jiang Cheng was already gone. He forced himself to speak, “Please… please don’t tell Young Master Wei for the time being that I revealed the matter of his core being removed. He strictly warned me that I must never say it. Although it probably won’t be hidden for long, but I…”

After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji said, “Rest assured.”

Wen Ning seemed like he had let out a breath, even though dead people didn’t have breath to let out. He sincerely said, “Young Master Lan, thank you.”

Lan Wangji shook his head. Wen Ning said, “Thank you for speaking up for me and my sister on Jinlintai back then. I will always remember it. Later, I lost control, I… I’m really sorry.”

Lan Wangji didn’t respond. Wen Ning said again, “Thank you even more for taking care of A-Yuan for all these years.”

Hearing this, Lan Wangji slightly raised his eyes. Wen Ning said, “I thought all of my family members were dead, none were left. I really didn’t expect A-Yuan to still be alive. He looks so much like my cousin when he was in his twenties.”

Lan Wangji said, “He hid in that tree cave for too long. He had a high fever and was sick.”

Wen Ning nodded, “I knew he must have been sick. He doesn’t remember anything from when he was a child. I talked with him for a long time, he only talked about you.” He was a little disappointed, “Before it was about Young Master Wei… he never talked about me anyway.”

Lan Wangji said, “You didn’t tell him.”

Wen Ning said, “Are you talking about his background? I didn’t tell him.”

He turned around, facing away from the two people behind him, and while vigorously rowing the boat, he said, “He is living very well right now. Knowing too much other stuff, remembering things that are too heavy… It would actually make him less happy than he is now.”

Lan Wangji said, “He’ll know sooner or later.”

Wen Ning paused, then said, “Yes. He’ll know sooner or later.” He looked up at the sky and said, “Just like Young Master Wei and Sect Leader Jiang. Sooner or later Sect Leader Jiang will have to know about the core transfer. He can’t really hide it from him forever.”

The night was quiet, the river was calm.

Suddenly, Lan Wangji said, “Was it painful?”

Wen Ning: “What?”

Lan Wangji said, “The core removal, was it painful?”

Wen Ning said, “If I said it wasn’t painful, Young Master Lan, you wouldn’t believe it, would you?”

Lan Wangji said, “I thought Wen Qing would have a way.”

Wen Ning said, “Before we went up the mountain, my sister prepared many anesthetic drugs to try to reduce the pain of the core removal. But she later discovered that those drugs were useless. Because if the golden core is removed and separated from the body while the person is anesthetized, the golden core will also be affected, and it would be difficult to guarantee that it won’t dissipate, or when it will dissipate.”

Lan Wangji said, “…So?”

Wen Ning’s oar movement slowed, he said, “So, the person having their core removed must be conscious.”

Must be conscious, to see the golden core, connected to the meridians, being separated from the body, to feel the surging spiritual energy gradually calm, then become flat, then become ordinary. Until it becomes a stagnant pool, unable to create any ripples.

After a long while, Lan Wangji’s voice sounded, slightly hoarse. The first two words seemed to tremble, “Always conscious?”

Wen Ning said, “Two nights and one day, always conscious.”

Lan Wangji said, “At the time, how much of a chance of success did you have?”

Wen Ning said, “Around 50%.”

“Fifty percent.” Silently taking a deep breath, Lan Wangji shook his head and repeated, “…Fifty percent.”

He tightened the hand that was holding Wei Wuxian, the knuckles on the back of his hand had gone white. Wen Ning said, “After all, no one had ever actually performed such a core transfer before. Although my sister had written a paper about core transfers, it was only a hypothesis, she had never had anyone to test it on. So, the hypothesis was only a hypothesis, the predecessors all said that she was fanciful. And it was completely impractical, everyone knew that no one would be willing to have their own core removed to give to someone else. Because doing so means turning oneself into a cripple who could never reach the peak for their entire life. So when Young Master Wei came back to find us, my sister initially didn’t want to, and warned him that writing is writing, and action is action, she only had less than half the chance of success.”

“But Young Master Wei kept pestering her, saying that 50% was fine, half and half was fine. Even if he failed, he would not be worried about not having a path to take, but Sect Leader Jiang was not like that. He’s too competitive, and too focused on these gains and losses, cultivation is his life. If Sect Leader Jiang could only become an ordinary person who is not up to par, his entire life would be over.”

Lan Wangji lowered his eyes, his light like glaze gaze was fixed on Wei Wuxian’s face. He stretched out a hand. In the end, he only used his fingertips to slightly stroke one side of Wei Wuxian’s face.

Wen Ning looked back, and couldn’t help but say, “Young Master Lan, you don’t seem very surprised. Did you… did you also know about this?”

“…” Lan Wangji said with a dry throat, “I only knew that his spiritual energy was damaged and abnormal.”

But he didn’t know that the truth would actually be like this.

Wen Ning said, “If it wasn’t for that…”

If it wasn’t because there was really no other way to go.

Just then, the head leaning on Lan Wangji’s shoulder moved slightly. Wei Wuxian’s eyelashes trembled, and he slowly woke up.