TFOD Chapter 117

Wei Wuxian said, “Coffins are naturally used to hold the dead. I guess, what was originally buried here should be the body of Jin Guangyao’s mother, Meng Shi. He came here tonight to take away his mother’s body and transport it to the Eastern Sea.”

Lan Xichen was stunned and silent. Nie Huaisang let out an “ah” and suddenly understood, “That’s right, that makes a lot of sense.”

Wei Wuxian continued, “What do you think that person will do with Jin Guangyao’s mother’s body after digging it up?”

Nie Huaisang said, “Why do you keep asking me, Brother Wei? No matter how much you ask, I still don’t know.”

After a pause, he said, “But, well…”

Nie Huaisang slowly gathered his hair, which was soaked by the torrential rain, and said, “I think, since this person hates Jin Guangyao so much, he would be merciless and especially cruel to something he held dear.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Like dismembering her body into five parts and abandoning the corpse in multiple locations, just like what was done to Red Peak?”

Nie Huaisang was shocked and took several steps back, saying, “That…that’s too vicious…”

Wei Wuxian stared at him for a while, eventually shifting his gaze.

After all, it was just speculation, and no one had any proof.

Nie Huaisang’s current face, full of confusion and helplessness, might be a disguise. He was unwilling to admit that he treated others as pawns and their lives as nothing, or his plan was more than just this, and he wanted to hide his true face to do more things and achieve higher goals. It was also possible that it wasn’t that complicated, and someone else sent the letter, killed the cat, and reunited Nie Mingjue’s head and body. Nie Huaisang was simply a genuine pushover.

Perhaps Jin Guangyao’s final few words were simply a lie he made up on the spot after Nie Huaisang had exposed his intention to attack, intending to disturb Lan Xichen’s mind and take him down with him. After all, Jin Guangyao was a notorious liar, and it was not strange that he would lie anytime or about anything.

As for why he changed his mind at the last moment and pushed Lan Xichen away, who could know what he was thinking?

The veins on the back of Lan Xichen’s hand, which was supporting his forehead, bulged, and he said in a muffled voice, “…What exactly does he want? I used to think I understood him very well, but later I realized I didn’t. Before tonight, I thought I understood again, but now I don’t understand him again.”

No one could answer him. Lan Xichen said blankly, “What exactly does he want to do?”

However, even he, who was closest to Jin Guangyao, didn’t know. It was even more impossible for others to have the answer.

After a period of silence, Wei Wuxian said, “Let’s not just stand here. Send some people out to find others, and leave a few people here to watch this thing. This coffin and these few guqin strings won’t be able to contain Red Peak for long.”

As if to confirm his judgment, there were bursts of loud noises from the coffin again, carrying an unknown anger, causing Nie Huaisang to shudder. Wei Wuxian glanced at him and said, “See? We need to immediately change to a more sturdy coffin, dig a deep hole, and rebury it. At least it can’t be opened within a hundred years. Once it’s opened, I guarantee the vengeful spirit will not dissipate, and there will be endless trouble…”

Before he could finish speaking, a loud and sonorous dog bark suddenly came from the distance.

Wei Wuxian’s expression instantly changed. Jin Ling, on the other hand, was somewhat invigorated, and said, “Fairy!”

The thunder had passed, and the torrential rain had turned into a drizzle. The deepest part of the night had passed, and the sky was faintly brightening.

The soaking-wet black-maned spiritual dog ran on all four legs, like a black gust of wind, rushing in and pouncing at Jin Ling. Its pair of round, dewy eyes were wet, and its front paws lifted off the ground, standing upright and clinging to Jin Ling’s leg, whimpering softly. Wei Wuxian saw its bright red tongue protruding from between its snow-white sharp teeth, constantly licking Jin Ling’s hand. His face turned pale, his eyes glazed over, he opened his mouth, and felt as if his soul was about to turn into a wisp of green smoke and fly out. Lan Wangji silently stepped in front of him, blocking his view of Fairy.

Immediately afterward, hundreds of people surrounded the Guanyin Temple, each with a sword in hand, looking alert, as if they were prepared for a big battle. However, when the first few people who rushed into the temple saw the scene in front of them, they were all stunned. Those lying down were all dead; those not dead were half-lying, not standing. In short, corpses were scattered everywhere, and the place was a mess.

The two people holding swords at the front, on the left, was the one in charge of Yunmeng Jiang Sect, and on the right, it was unexpectedly Lan Qiren. Lan Qiren still had a bewildered look on his face, and before he could ask anything, the first thing he saw was Lan Wangji, who was practically glued to Wei Wuxian. In an instant, he forgot what he wanted to ask, a surge of anger rushing to his face, his long eyebrows rising, and he puffed out a few breaths, his beard trembling and flying upwards. The person in charge quickly stepped forward to help Jiang Cheng, saying, “Sect Leader, are you alright…” Lan Qiren, however, raised his sword and shouted, “Wei…”

Before he could finish shouting, several figures in white robes rushed out from behind him, shouting, “Hanguang-Jun!”

“Senior Wei!”

“Patriarch Senior!”

Lan Qiren was bumped by the last teenager and almost fell over, his eyes blazing with anger, “No running! No loud noises!”

Apart from Lan Wangji who called him “Uncle,” no one paid him any attention. Lan Sizhui, with his left hand grabbing Lan Wangji’s sleeve and his right hand grabbing Wei Wuxian’s arm, said happily, “That’s great! Hanguang-Jun, Senior Wei, you’re both alright. Seeing how anxious Fairy was, we thought you had encountered an extremely difficult situation.”

Lan Jingyi said, “Sizhui, you’re confused. How could there possibly be a situation that Hanguang-Jun can’t handle? I already told you you were worrying too much.”

“Jingyi, it seems like you were the one who was worrying the whole way.”

“Get away! Don’t talk nonsense.”

Lan Sizhui glanced at Wen Ning, who was finally able to get up from the ground, and immediately pulled him over, stuffing him into the circle of young people, who were all chattering about the situation.

It turned out that after Fairy bit Su She, it ran wildly, found a subordinate family of Yunmeng Jiang Sect stationed near this town, and barked incessantly in front of their gate. The young head of that family saw the special collar on its neck, the golden markings, and the family emblem, and knew that this was a spiritual dog with quite the background. Its owner must be someone of high status. Seeing that its teeth, claws, and fur were covered in blood, and it had clearly been through a fight, they were afraid that the owner had encountered danger. They did not dare to delay, immediately used their sword to send the information to Lotus Pier, notifying the true leader of this area, Yunmeng Jiang Sect. That person in charge immediately recognized it as the spiritual dog Fairy of Young Master Jin Ling and immediately sent people to the rescue.

At that time, the people of Gusu Lan Sect were also about to leave Lotus Pier, but Lan Qiren was blocked by Fairy. It jumped up, bit off a narrow strip of white cloth from Lan Sizhui’s hem, and used its paws to arch it on top of its head, as if trying to turn the white cloth into a circle on its head, then lay on the ground pretending to be dead. Lan Qiren was confused, but Lan Sizhui suddenly understood, “Sir, the way it is acting, isn’t it like imitating our clan’s forehead ribbon? Is it trying to tell us that Hanguang-Jun or someone from the Lan family is also in danger?”

Therefore, Yunmeng Jiang Sect, Gusu Lan Sect, and a few other families that had not yet left then gathered their men and came to the rescue together.

Lan Jingyi praised, “We’ve always called it Fairy, but I didn’t expect it to actually be a spiritual dog!”

But no matter how fairy-like or spiritual it was, to Wei Wuxian, it was still a dog, the scariest thing in the world. Even with Lan Wangji blocking in front of him, he still felt his whole body tingle. Ever since these juniors from the Lan family came in, Jin Ling had been secretly peeking over there, watching them surround Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and chattering. Seeing that Wei Wuxian’s face was becoming paler, he patted Fairy’s butt and said softly, “Fairy, you go outside first.”

Fairy shook its head and wagged its tail, continuing to lick him. Jin Ling scolded, “Go out now. You’re not listening to me?”

Fairy glanced at him resentfully, then wagged its tail and ran out of the temple, causing Wei Wuxian to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Jin Ling wanted to go over, but was embarrassed to, and while he was still hesitating, Lan Sizhui suddenly saw Wei Wuxian’s waist, his whole body froze for a moment, and he said, “…Senior Wei?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Lan Sizhui said blankly, “You…your flute, can I have a look at it?”

Wei Wuxian took it down, “What’s wrong with this flute?”

Lan Sizhui took the flute with both hands, slightly frowning, with a somewhat lost look on his face. Lan Wangji looked at him, and Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Wangji, saying, “What’s wrong with your Sizhui? Does he like my flute?”

Lan Jingyi exclaimed in surprise, “Eh? You finally lost that broken flute of yours that was out of tune? This new flute is quite good!”

He didn’t know that this “quite good” new flute was the magical treasure he had been longing to see, the legendary ghost flute “Chenqing.” He was secretly happy, “That’s great! Now at least he won’t embarrass Hanguang-Jun too much when they play together in the future. Heavens! That old flute of his was so ugly and awful!”

Lan Wangji said, “Sizhui.”

Lan Sizhui then came back to his senses, returning Chenqing to Wei Wuxian with both hands, and said, “Senior Wei.”

Wei Wuxian took the flute, remembering that Jiang Cheng had brought it, turned to the other side, and casually said, “Thanks.” He raised Chenqing, saying, “This, I…I’ll keep it?”

Jiang Cheng glanced at him and said, “It was originally yours.”

After hesitating for a moment, his lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but Wei Wuxian had already turned to Lan Wangji. Seeing this, Jiang Cheng was also silent.

Among the crowd present, some were clearing the scene, some were reinforcing the sealing of the coffin, some were considering how to safely transfer it, and some were angry. Lan Qiren angrily said, “Xichen, what exactly is wrong with you!”

Lan Xichen pressed his forehead, his brows filled with unspeakable gloom, and said tiredly, “…Uncle, I beg you. Don’t ask. Really. I really don’t want to say anything right now.”

Lan Qiren had never seen Lan Xichen, whom he had personally raised, in such an agitated, uneasy, and disorderly state. He looked at him, then looked at Lan Wangji, who was surrounded by the others with Wei Wuxian. The more he looked, the more annoyed he became. He felt that these two originally perfect and flawless prized students were both disobedient and worrisome.

The coffin sealing Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao was not only unusually heavy but also needed to be handled with extreme care, so it was several sect leaders who volunteered to carry it. One sect leader saw the appearance of the Guanyin statue, and was first startled, then, as if he had discovered something new and interesting, he pointed and guided others to look: “Look at this face! Doesn’t it look like Jin Guangyao?”

Others looked and were all amazed, “It really is his face! What did Jin Guangyao make such a thing for?”

Sect Leader Yao said, “He crowned himself as a god, how arrogant.”

“That’s really quite arrogant. Hehehe.”

Wei Wuxian thought, that’s not necessarily the case.

Jin Guangyao’s mother was regarded as the lowliest prostitute, so he was determined to sculpt a Guanyin statue in her image, to be worshipped and offered incense by thousands of people.

But now there was no point in saying all of this. No one knew better than Wei Wuxian that no one would care, and no one would believe it. Everything related to Jin Guangyao would be given the most malicious speculations, and spread widely among the crowd.

Soon, this coffin would be sealed in a larger and sturdier outer coffin, nailed with seventy-two peach wood nails, buried deep underground, with a warning monument erected, and suppressed under some mountain.

The thing sealed inside would also be unable to be reborn for eternity amidst layers of restrictions and countless curses.

Nie Huaisang leaned against the door, watching several sect leaders carry the coffin out of the Guanyin Temple threshold. He lowered his head and patted the dirty mud from the hem of his clothes, as if he had seen something. He fixed his gaze for a moment. Wei Wuxian also looked over. On the ground was Jin Guangyao’s hat.

Nie Huaisang bent down and picked it up, then leisurely walked toward the door.

Fairy was anxious about waiting for its owner outside, and barked twice. Hearing this sound, Jin Ling suddenly remembered that when Fairy was still an awkward puppy that didn’t even reach his knees, it was Jin Guangyao who had brought it over.

At that time, he was only a few years old and had fought with other children on Golden Carp Tower. Although he had won, he was still unhappy. He had been throwing things around the room while crying loudly. The maids and servants did not dare to approach him, afraid of being hit by something he threw. His little uncle had come out, smiling, asking, “Ah Ling, what’s wrong?” He had immediately smashed five or six vases to pieces at Jin Guangyao’s feet. Jin Guangyao said, “Oh my, how fierce. Scared me to death.” He had shook his head, looking scared, and walked away.

The next day, Jin Ling had been sulking, refusing to go out or eat. Jin Guangyao had been hanging around at his door. Jin Ling, leaning against the door, had shouted at him to leave him alone. Suddenly, a small puppy’s whine had come from outside the door.

He had opened the door, and Jin Guangyao was half-squatting in front of the door, holding a small black puppy with big, round, and bright eyes. He had looked up at him and said with a smile, “I found this small thing. I don’t know what to call it. Ah Ling, do you want to give it a name?”

That smile had been gentle and sincere. Jin Ling could not believe that Jin Guangyao was pretending.

Suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes again.

Jin Ling had always thought that crying was a sign of weakness and incompetence, and he had looked down on it. But apart from crying profusely, there was no other way to vent his inner pain and anger.

He didn’t know what exactly was going on. It seemed that he couldn’t blame anyone, nor could he hate anyone. Wei Wuxian, Jin Guangyao, Wen Ning, each of them was more or less responsible for his parents’ deaths. He had reasons to deeply hate each of them, but it also seemed that each of them had reasons that prevented him from hating them. But if he couldn’t hate them, who else could he hate? Was it his fate to lose both parents from childhood? Not only could he not take revenge or take action, could he not even hate them purely, thoroughly, and unscrupulously?

He felt unwilling. He felt wronged. He wished they would all die and be done with it.

Sect Leader Yao saw him staring at the coffin, crying silently, and said, “Young Master Jin, why are you crying? Are you crying for Jin Guangyao?”

Seeing that Jin Ling didn’t speak, Sect Leader Yao spoke in the tone of an elder scolding a younger member of his family, “Why are you crying? Wipe away your tears. Someone like your uncle is not worth crying for. Young Master, it’s not that I’m saying it, but you can’t be so weak? This is womanly kindness. You need to know what is right and what is wrong, and correct your…”

In the past, when the Lanling Jin Clan leader was the supreme Immortal Master, even if they were given a hundred times the courage, these sect leaders of other clans would definitely not dare to act as elders, teaching the Jin family disciples a lesson. Now that Jin Guangyao was dead, the Lanling Jin Clan had no one who could hold up the beam, and their reputation was almost completely ruined, and it was unlikely that they would rise up again in the future. Those who dared, had come. Jin Ling, whose heart was already filled with a myriad of thoughts and mixed feelings, felt a surge of anger when he heard Sect Leader Yao pointing fingers, and shouted, “I just want to cry, what’s it to you! Who are you? What do you think you are? Do you even have the right to control how I cry?!”

Sect Leader Yao didn’t expect that he would be scolded instead of teaching a lesson, and immediately pulled a face. Others quietly advised, “Forget it, don’t argue with a child.”

He then suppressed his embarrassment and anger, and snorted coldly, “Of course. Heh, why bother arguing with a child who is still wet behind the ears, who doesn’t understand right from wrong and can’t tell good from bad?”

Lan Qiren was supervising the transport of the coffin onto the carriage. He looked back, and said in surprise, “Where’s Wangji?”

He had just been planning to bring Lan Wangji back to the Cloud Recesses and have a heart-to-heart talk with him for one hundred and twenty days. If that didn’t work, he would confine him again. But in the blink of an eye, the person had disappeared. He walked around a few times and shouted, “Where’s Wangji?”

Lan Jingyi said, “Just now, when I said we brought Little Apple, and it was tied up outside the temple, Hanguang-Jun took…took… went to see Little Apple.”

Lan Qiren said, “And then?”

What happened next was obvious. Outside the Guanyin Temple, where were the shadows of Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Wen Ning?

Lan Qiren looked at Lan Xichen, who was walking slowly behind him, still distracted, and sighed heavily, flicking his sleeves and leaving. Lan Jingyi looked around, and was surprised, “Sizhui? What’s going on, when did Sizhui also disappear?”

Jin Ling heard that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were gone, and rushed out, almost tripping on the threshold of the Guanyin Temple. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not catch the shadows of those two people. Fairy circled around him happily, panting with its tongue out. Jiang Cheng stood under a straight, towering tree inside the Guanyin Temple, looked at him, and said coldly, “Wipe your face.”

Jin Ling wiped his eyes hard, wiped his face, and ran back, “Where are they?”

Jiang Cheng said, “Gone.”

Jin Ling said in a lost voice, “You just let them go like that?”

Jiang Cheng said sarcastically, “Or what? Should we have kept them for dinner? To say thank you and then sorry?”

Jin Ling was anxious, pointing at him, “No wonder he wanted to leave. It’s all because you’re like this! Uncle, why are you so annoying!”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Cheng angrily raised his hand, and scolded, “Is that how you talk to an elder? You’re asking for a beating!”

Jin Ling shrank his neck, and Fairy also tucked its tail. However, Jiang Cheng’s slap did not land on the back of his head, but instead, he weakly retracted it.

He said irritably, “Shut up. Jin Ling. Shut up. Let’s go back. Everyone go back to where they belong.”

Jin Ling was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a while, then obediently shut up.

With his head drooping, he walked a few steps side-by-side with Jiang Cheng, then raised his head and said, “Uncle, did you have something to say just now?”

Jiang Cheng said, “What to say? No.”

Jin Ling said, “Just now! I saw it. You wanted to talk to Wei Wuxian, but then you didn’t.”

After a long silence, Jiang Cheng shook his head and said, “There’s nothing to say.”

What was there to say?

To say that I didn’t get caught by the Wen family because I was determined to return to Lotus Pier to retrieve my parents’ corpses.

In the small town that we passed through during our escape, when you went to buy dry rations, a team of Wen family cultivators had caught up.

I noticed it early. I left where I was sitting and hid in the corner. I wasn’t caught, but they were patrolling the streets, and soon they would bump into you who were buying dry rations.

So I ran out and led them away.

However, just like how Wei Wuxian, who had given him his golden core, was unable to tell him the truth, the current Jiang Cheng was unable to say it either.