TFOD Chapter 83
by VolareInside the largest spirit treasure pavilion in Lanling City.
Among the dazzling and well-arranged display cases, countless top-grade spirit jades and excellent weapons were exhibited. Many cultivators were selecting items, carefully comparing them, and considering prices. Those with free time chatted amongst themselves.
One person said, “Immortal Supervisor? Recently, it seems the major families have been arguing about this matter. Has it been settled?”
“What’s there to argue about? It can’t be that we remain a disorganized group with no leader. Establishing an Immortal Supervisor to lead the various sects is a good idea.”
“That’s not quite right. What if another Qishan Wen clan comes along…”
“How can that be the same? The Immortal Supervisor is elected by all the families. It’s different.”
“Hey, they say it’s an election, but everyone knows it’s just a few vying for the position. How would anyone else get a chance?”
“The Red Peak-Zun is strongly against it. He’s refuted Jin Guangshan’s subtle and direct hints many times. I think there’s still a lot of grinding to do.”
“Moreover, only one person can hold the position of Immortal Supervisor. If it really passes, who would sit on it? I think they can argue for a few more years.”
“Anyway, it’s the top people who have to worry about that. It’s not our business. We small fry can’t do anything about it.”
One person changed the topic, saying, “Who among you went to the Cloud Recesses library pavilion opening ceremony last month? I went. Looking at it, it was built exactly the same as the original. It’s really not easy.”
“Indeed, it’s not easy. Such a large immortal mansion, a century-old celestial place, it’s not something that can be rebuilt in a short period of time.”
“Speaking of which, there have been many happy events recently.”
“Are you talking about Jin Zixuan’s son’s first birthday celebration? That child among all the colorful things, he just had to grab his father’s Sweep Away the Dust. His parents were overjoyed and said he would definitely become an amazing great swordsman in the future.”
Not far away, a person in white was examining a jade tassel pendant in their hand and smiled upon hearing this.
A female cultivator’s voice came over, “Little Jin Madam is really lucky… It must be the good fortune she cultivated in her past life after giving up ascension.”
Her companion said, “It seems it is true that there is nothing better than being born into a good family. A person is just what they are…”
The person in white frowned slightly. Fortunately, the slightly sarcastic comments were immediately drowned out by other loud voices, “The Lanling Jin Sect is indeed the Lanling Jin Sect. Even a small infant’s first birthday celebration is such a grand affair.”
“Don’t you see who the little infant’s parents are? How can they be casual? Not to mention that Little Jin Madam’s husband wouldn’t be casual, if the ceremony was a little smaller, would her mother-in-law or her younger brother allow it? When it comes to the full-month celebration in a few days, it will probably be even more extravagant.”
“Speaking of which, do you know, it’s said that for this full-month celebration… they invited someone.”
“Who?”
“Wei Wuxian!”
The spirit treasure pavilion fell silent for a moment.
Someone said incredulously, “This… I thought it was just a rumor. They really invited him?!”
“They did! It’s confirmed these past few days that Wei Wuxian will go.”
Someone else said incredulously, “What is the Lanling Jin Sect thinking? Did they forget that Wei Wuxian slaughtered innocents at the Qiongqi Path before?”
“Who would dare go to Jin Ling’s full-month celebration if they invite someone like that? Anyway, I certainly wouldn’t go.”
As soon as this sentence was spoken, many secretly mocked in their hearts: You don’t even have the qualifications to receive an invitation, so why are you worried about whether you would go or not?
The person in white raised an eyebrow, having chosen what they wanted, and walked out of the spirit treasure pavilion.
After walking a few steps, turning into a small alley, a figure in black emerged, saying, “Young master, did you buy your things?”
Wei Wuxian tossed the delicate sandalwood box in his hand to him. Wen Ning caught it, opened it to look, and saw inside was a white jade tassel pendant, the jade color clear, with a soft light flowing as if it had a life of its own.
He said happily, “It’s so pretty!”
Wei Wuxian said, “This little pretty thing isn’t cheap. After your sister bought herself new clothes, buying this nearly wasn’t enough, and now we’re completely broke. Go back and wait to get scolded.”
Wen Ning quickly said, “No, no. Young master is giving a gift to Jiang Madam’s child, my sister won’t scold you.”
Wei Wuxian said, “You said it yourself, remember to help me block if she scolds me when the time comes.”
Wen Ning nodded and said, “Young Master Jin Ling will definitely like this gift.”
Wei Wuxian said, “This isn’t the gift I’m going to give. It’s just a little accessory. What are those things in the spirit treasure pavilion other than good-looking?”
Wen Ning was startled, and said, “Then young master, what gift did you prepare?”
Wei Wuxian said, “It’s a secret of heaven and cannot be revealed.”
Wen Ning said, “Oh.”
He didn’t ask further. As a result, Wei Wuxian held it in for a while, but couldn’t help himself anymore, “Wen Ning, shouldn’t you be curious and persistently ask me? How can you just say ‘oh’ and not ask any more? Don’t you want to know what the gift is?”
Wen Ning looked at him blankly, finally realizing, “…Want to! Young master! What gift did you prepare?”
Wei Wuxian then took out a small wooden box from his sleeve, waved it in front of Wen Ning, and smiled slightly. Wen Ning took it, opened it to look, and blurted out, “Such a powerful silver bell!”
This “powerful” wasn’t referring to its exquisite craftsmanship, although its pure silver color and the lifelike nine-petal lotus on the bell could be said to be the pinnacle of artistry. What astonished Wen Ning was the powerful energy contained within this small silver bell.
Wen Ning said, “Young master, you’ve been shut in the Demon Subduing Cave for more than half a month, day and night, not coming out, were you making this?”
Wei Wuxian said, “That’s right. As long as my nephew wears this silver bell, no demon or monster with slightly poor abilities will be able to get near him. You can’t touch it. If you touch it, you’ll probably be in trouble for a while.”
Wen Ning nodded and said, “I can sense it.”
Wei Wuxian took out the tassel pendant and attached it to the silver bell. The two items matched beautifully, and he was very satisfied. Wen Ning said, “However, since you are attending the full-month celebration of young master Jin Ling, young master, you must restrain yourself when you see Jiang Madam’s husband, and do not clash with him…”
Wei Wuxian waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry about this, I naturally have my limits. Because Jin Zixuan invited me this time, I won’t say bad things about him for a year.”
Wen Ning scratched his head, embarrassed, and said, “When Jin Zixuan sent people to send the invitation under the Burial Mounds, I thought it must be a trap. It turns out it was a misunderstanding. I’m really sorry. It’s hard to tell, but in fact, Jin Zixuan is a good person too…”
At noon, the two passed through Qiongqi Path.
After renovations, Qiongqi Path had long been renamed, but Wei Wuxian didn’t know what it was called. It seemed that others also always forgot, so most of the time they still called it Qiongqi Path. At first, they didn’t notice anything unusual, but as they walked towards the center of the valley, Wei Wuxian increasingly felt something was wrong.
There shouldn’t be so few pedestrians.
Wei Wuxian said, “Is something amiss?”
Wen Ning rolled his white eyes, and after a moment, his pupils dropped, saying, “No. It’s too quiet.”
Wei Wuxian said, “It is a bit too quiet.”
He couldn’t even detect the slightest hint of the usual non-human noises that often filled his ears.
Wei Wuxian became vigilant and said in a low voice, “Let’s go!”
He had just turned direction when Wen Ning suddenly raised his hand and intercepted something.
It was a feathered arrow that was flying straight toward Wei Wuxian’s heart!
Wei Wuxian suddenly looked up and saw that from the sides of the valley, from the mountain walls, from all directions and corners, many people appeared. About three hundred, mostly wearing Jin starburst robes, but also other colors, all with longbows on their backs and swords at their waists, full of vigilance, fully armed. Using the mountains and other people as cover, the tips of their swords and arrows were all aimed at him. The feathered arrow that shot towards Wei Wuxian first was shot by the person leading the group. On closer inspection, the person was tall, with slightly dark skin, a handsome face, and was very familiar.
Wei Wuxian said, “Who are you?”
That person had finished shooting an arrow and was about to say something, but was so enraged by the question that he forgot what he wanted to say and shouted, “You actually ask who I am? I am Jin Zixun!”
Wei Wuxian immediately remembered. This was Jin Zixuan’s cousin, he had seen him twice before.
His heart sank straight down. Originally, his heart was filled with the joy of attending Jiang Yanli’s son’s full-month banquet, but at this moment, that joy had vanished, covered by a layer of shadow. But he was unwilling to think deeply, unwilling to guess why these people were lying in ambush here.
Jin Zixun shouted, “Wei Wuxian, I warn you, immediately remove the evil curse you cast. I can pretend nothing happened and not pursue the matter.”
Wei Wuxian was stunned upon hearing this. Even though he knew he would be accused of denying it, he had to ask clearly, and said, “What evil curse?”
As expected, Jin Zixun took it as blatant denial, and said, “You still dare to play dumb?”
He abruptly pulled open his collar, roaring, “Good, I’ll let you see what kind of evil curse this is!”
Jin Zixun’s chest was densely covered with holes, large and small!
These holes were as small as sesame seeds and as large as soybeans, evenly distributed on his body, giving a creepy feeling.
Wei Wuxian only glanced at it and said, “Pockmarked and Full of Holes’?”
Jin Zixun said, “That’s right! Precisely, Pockmarked and Full of Holes!”
“Pockmarked and Full of Holes” was a very sinister and malicious curse.
When Wei Wuxian was transcribing books in the Gusu Lan Sect’s library, he had flipped through an ancient book. When that book mentioned this curse, it included an illustration. In the picture, the person looked calm, as if they didn’t feel any pain, but their body had grown many black holes the size of coins.
At first, the victim doesn’t feel anything and mostly thinks that their pores have just become rough. However, before long, the small holes would become the size of sesame seeds. Later on, the holes would grow larger and larger and more numerous until the whole body was covered in large and small black holes, looking like a living sieve, which was very terrifying. Moreover, after the surface of the skin was covered with sores and holes, the curse would begin to spread to the internal organs. Lightly, one would suffer unbearable abdominal pain, severely, one’s organs would all rot!
Jin Zixun had unexpectedly contracted this disgusting and difficult-to-remove curse, and Wei Wuxian was even somewhat sympathetic. However, even with sympathy, he still thought Jin Zixun was utterly brainless, and said, “You got ‘Pockmarked and Full of Holes,’ so why are you intercepting me? What does it have to do with me?”
Jin Zixun seemed disgusted at seeing his own chest, and closed his collar saying, “Besides you, this scoundrel who’s so good at using demonic ways, who else would cast such a malicious curse on me?”
Wei Wuxian thought, there are plenty of others, did Jin Zixun think he was well-liked?
But he didn’t want to say it bluntly to anger Jin Zixun, worsening the situation, so he said, “Jin Zixun, I don’t play these underhanded tricks. If I wanted to kill someone, I would make everyone know that this person died at my hand. And if I wanted you dead, you would be a thousand times more unsightly than you are now.”
Jin Zixun said, “Aren’t you very arrogant? You dare to do it but don’t dare to admit it?”
Wei Wuxian said, “It wasn’t me who did it, why should I admit it?”
Jin Zixun’s eyes flashed with ferocity, and he said, “First courtesy, then force. Since you refuse to turn over a new leaf, then I won’t be polite!”
Wei Wuxian paused his steps, saying, “Oh?”
The meaning of “not being polite” was obvious.
There were two ways to remove Pockmarked and Full of Holes. Other than making the caster damage their own cultivation and voluntarily retract the curse, there was a most thorough solution:
Kill the caster!
Wei Wuxian said with disdain, “Not being polite? You? With just a few hundred of you?”
Jin Zixun waved his arm, and all the disciples drew their bows, aiming at Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning in the lowest part of the valley. Wei Wuxian also raised Chenqing, the flute notes piercing the silent valley.
However, after waiting for a moment, there was no response. Jin Zixun said, “We already cleared this entire area long ago, we were just waiting for you to come. You can blow all you want, you won’t be able to summon many helpers. This place is the burial ground we prepared just for you!”
Wei Wuxian laughed coldly, “You are courting death!”
After he finished speaking, Wen Ning raised his hand and broke a red string that had a talisman tied to it around his neck.
After the red string broke, his body shook, and the muscles on his face began to twist gradually. Several black cracks crawled up from his neck to his cheeks. Suddenly, he raised his head, letting out a long, non-human roar!
Among these three hundred ambushing people, there were many experts from night hunts. They had never heard of a fierce corpse making such a terrifying sound and they felt their feet turn to jelly. Jin Zixun’s scalp also went numb, and he raised his arm, ordering, “Release the arrows!”
The arrows flew like a rainstorm!
Wen Ning shattered a piece of mountain rock with his bare hands, raised it high, and blocked all the arrows. After the rain of arrows stopped, more than a hundred cultivators jumped down from the mountain walls, and attacked the two people in the valley. Wei Wuxian retreated a few steps, then suddenly dodged, narrowly avoiding a sneak attack from a sword.
Jin Zixun had taken the opportunity to attack while Wen Ning was dealing with the hundred or so people. Seeing that Wei Wuxian had no sword, only a flute that was temporarily useless, he laughed and said, “This is the price for your arrogance. Without a sword at your side, how else will you resist?”
Wei Wuxian waved his hand, releasing a row of talismans burning with green flames, dimming Jin Zixun’s sword light. Jin Zixun had barely finished laughing when he was shocked and quickly focused on fighting back. The two fought up close for a while, when something suddenly flew out of Wei Wuxian’s sleeve. His expression hardened, and his heart screamed that this was bad.
That thing was exactly the gift prepared for Jin Ling. Because he valued it so much, afraid of damaging it if he threw it around, and also occasionally wanted to take it out to admire it, he only loosely kept it in his sleeve. At this time, in the heat of battle, it had accidentally been flung out, flying straight towards Jin Zixun. Jin Zixun thought it was a hidden weapon or poison, and wanted to dodge, but seeing that Wei Wuxian’s expression had changed drastically, he changed his mind and grabbed it. Seeing that it was a delicate wooden box, with a small line of words engraved on it, writing Jin Ling’s name and date of birth, Jin Zixun was first startled, then immediately understood and burst out laughing.
Wei Wuxian’s expression darkened, and he said, word by word, “Give that back.”
Jin Zixun raised the small wooden box, mocking him, “This is a gift for A-Ling?”
Wen Ning was not far away ahead, fighting a hundred people, killing with a chaotic and savage intensity. Jin Zixun said, “You didn’t actually think you could attend A-Ling’s full-month banquet, did you?”
These words caused Wei Wuxian’s hands to tremble slightly.
Just then, a voice shouted, “Stop!”
A white-clothed figure lightly jumped down into the valley, blocking between Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixun. When Jin Zixun saw who it was, he exclaimed, “Zixuan? Why are you here?!”
Jin Zixuan’s hand was on the hilt of his sword, and he said angrily, “Why do you think I’m here!”
Jin Zixun said, “Where’s A-Yao?”
Jin Guangyao was supposed to be his helper, who should have appeared here to help him. Last year, he had still looked down on Jin Guangyao, regarding him with disdain, but now their relationship had improved, and he was now more intimate with Jin Guangyao. Jin Zixuan said, “I locked him up at the Golden Carp Tower. If I hadn’t seen something wrong with his expression and broken through him, you would have been planning to be reckless like this? You got ‘Pockmarked and Full of Holes’ and didn’t even tell me, but just wanted to do something like this!”
The fact that Jin Zixun had contracted this Pockmarked and Full of Holes evil curse was really embarrassing to say. Firstly, he originally had a good appearance and physique and considered himself quite charming, he couldn’t bear to let people know that he had contracted such a disgusting and unsightly curse. Secondly, contracting the curse meant that his cultivation wasn’t good enough, his spiritual energy defenses were weak, which was also something he didn’t want outsiders to know. Therefore, he only told Jin Guangshan about his curse, asking him to find the best secret spell casters and doctors for him. Who knew that the doctors and spell casters were all at a loss for ideas? Coincidentally, Jin Ling’s full-month banquet was approaching, and Jin Zixuan had surprisingly proactively invited Wei Wuxian. Jin Guangshan was originally not very happy, so he suggested Jin Zixun use this as a plan, intercepting and killing Wei Wuxian on the way to the banquet, that way they wouldn’t have to let him enter the Golden Carp Tower. Wei Wuxian was Jiang Yanli’s martial brother, and the Jin and Jiang couple loved each other very much, Jin Zixuan talked to his wife about almost every single little thing, and the others worried that he would let something slip and that Wei Wuxian wouldn’t come, so they had been hiding this from Jin Zixuan. At this point, it was somewhat unkind, and seeing that things were exposed, Jin Zixun was also a little guilty, but ultimately, his life was important, and he said, “Zixuan, hide this from my sister-in-law first. After I remove the curse, I’ll come to apologize to you!”
When Wei Wuxian had last seen Jin Zixuan, he still possessed a young man’s arrogance, but now after marriage, he seemed much more composed. His words were also forceful, and he said with a stern face, “There is still room for change in this matter, all of you stop for now.”
Jin Zixun was both angry and anxious, “What room is there for change now, haven’t you seen the holes all over my body?!”
Seeing that he seemed like he wanted to pull open his collar again to show the holes on his chest, Jin Zixuan quickly said, “No need! I’ve already heard about it from Jin Guangyao!”
Jin Zixun said, “Since you’ve already heard about it, you should know that I can’t wait any longer. Could it be that you’re only thinking about your wife’s martial brother and not your own brother?”
Jin Zixuan said, “You know I’m not that kind of person! The Pockmarked and Full of Holes on your body has not yet been determined to have been cast by him, so why are you so impatient! Wei Wuxian, after all, is someone I invited to attend A-Ling’s full-month banquet. With your actions, where does that put me? Where does that put my wife?”
Jin Zixun raised his voice, “It would be best if he can’t attend! What kind of thing is Wei Wuxian? Is he worthy of attending our family’s banquet? Whoever is connected to him is defiled! Zixuan, you invited him, aren’t you worried that in the future you, your sister-in-law, and A-Ling will have a stain that you can’t get rid of?!”
Jin Zixuan shouted, “You shut up!”
Jin Zixun was furious, and with a force in his hand, the small wooden box containing the silver bell and jade pendant was crushed to powder in an instant!
Wei Wuxian watched with his own eyes as the object in his palm turned to dust. His pupils shrunk rapidly, and he struck out at Jin Zixun with his palm. But Jin Zixuan, not knowing what was in that box, raised his hand to block the attack, and shouted, “Wei Wuxian! Have you had enough!”
Wei Wuxian’s chest rose and fell sharply, and his eyes were bloodshot. After all, Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun were cousins who had been acquainted since childhood. They had known each other for ten or twenty years. At this time, he couldn’t speak for an outsider. Moreover, he really didn’t like Wei Wuxian. He composed himself and said, “You should first make this Wen Ning stop. Tell him not to go crazy and escalate things further.”
Wei Wuxian said in a hoarse voice, “…Why don’t you ask them to stop first?”
All around was the relentless cacophony of shouting and fighting. Jin Zixuan said angrily, “Why are you still being so stubborn at a time like this? Calm down, first come with me to the Golden Carp Tower. We’ll debate it and have a confrontation, make it clear. As long as it wasn’t you who did it, you’ll naturally be fine!”
Wei Wuxian said, “Stop? As soon as I let Wen Ning stop, I’ll be shot by a thousand arrows and pierced by ten thousand swords, dead without a complete corpse! And go to the Golden Carp Tower to debate?”
Jin Zixuan said, “It won’t happen!”
Wei Wuxian sneered, “Won’t happen? What do you use to guarantee it? Jin Zixuan, I have a question. When you initially invited me, did you really not know about their plan to intercept and kill me?!”
Jin Zixuan was stunned and said angrily, “You! Wei Wuxian, you—you’re out of your mind!”
Wei Wuxian forcefully suppressed the towering rage, and said coldly, “Jin Zixuan, you give way. I won’t touch you, but don’t provoke me either.”
Seeing that he was stubborn and refused to yield, Jin Zixuan suddenly made a move, seemingly to capture him, and said, “Why do you refuse to compromise even once! A-Li, she…”
He had just reached out towards Wei Wuxian when he heard a muffled and strange sound.
The strange sound was too close, Jin Zixuan was stunned. Lowering his head, he saw the hand that pierced through his chest.
He didn’t know when, but Wen Ning had already come to their side. On his emotionless face, a few drops of hot and glaring blood had splattered.
Jin Zixuan’s lips moved, and his expression was somewhat stunned. But he still insisted on finishing the sentence he hadn’t finished, “…She is still waiting for you to go to the Golden Carp Tower to attend A-Ling’s full-month banquet…”
Wei Wuxian’s expression was also as stunned as his. For a moment, he hadn’t realized what had happened.
What had happened?
How did things become like this in an instant?
No.
It shouldn’t be like this.
There must be some place that had gone wrong.
Wen Ning pulled his right hand, which had pierced through Jin Zixuan’s chest, leaving a gaping hole.
Jin Zixuan’s face seemed to twitch painfully. He seemed to think the injury was nothing serious and that he could still stand. But ultimately, his knees softened, and he knelt down first.
Horrified cries rose and fell all around.
“The… the Ghost General has gone berserk!”
“He killed him, he killed him, Wei Wuxian made the Ghost General kill Jin Zixuan!”
Jin Zixun shouted, “Release the arrows! What are you still doing, release the arrows!”
However, when he turned his head, a black figure approached him like a ghost, and his throat tightened, gripped by a pale hand.
“Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah—————!!!”
Wei Wuxian stood blankly on the spot, unmoving.
No.
That’s not right.
He had clearly controlled Wen Ning well just now.
Even if Wen Ning had been incited into a berserk state by him, he should have been able to control him.
He had always been able to perfectly control him until now.
He hadn’t intended to kill Jin Zixuan at all.
He had absolutely no intention of killing Jin Zixuan! It was just that at that moment, he didn’t know why, but he suddenly couldn’t control it… suddenly lost control!
Jin Zixuan’s body finally couldn’t support itself, and fell heavily forward, with a bang, onto the ground.
Throughout his life, he was always arrogant and self-important, extremely concerned with his appearance and demeanor, a lover of cleanliness, and even had a slight case of mysophobia, but at this moment, he had fallen face down, miserably, in the dirt. The speck of blood on his face and the cinnabar between his eyebrows were the same crimson color.
Staring at his eyes that were gradually losing their luster, Wei Wuxian’s mind was in chaos. The surroundings had turned into a blood-soaked sea of screams, but he could no longer hear anything.
The only thing he could hear was a crazed questioning voice in his heart:
Weren’t you in control?
Didn’t you say you could control it?
Didn’t you say there was absolutely no problem, that there would absolutely be no mistakes!!!
Wei Wuxian’s mind was blank. After an unknown period of time, he suddenly opened his eyes.
What he saw before him was the dark dome of the Demon Subduing Cave.
Wen Qing and Wen Ning were both in the Demon Subduing Cave.
Wen Ning’s pupils had dropped back into the whites of his eyes, having already left his berserk state. He seemed to be talking to Wen Qing in a low voice. When he saw Wei Wuxian open his eyes, he silently knelt to the ground. Wen Qing, on the other hand, was red-eyed, and said nothing.
Wei Wuxian sat up.
After a long silence, a surging hatred suddenly welled up in his heart.
He kicked Wen Ning in the chest, sending him flying to the ground.
Wen Qing was startled and shrank back, clenching her fists, but only lowered her head and pursed her lips.
Wei Wuxian roared, “Who did you kill? Do you know who you killed?!”
Just then, Wen Yuan ran into the hall from outside with a grass-woven butterfly on his head, smiling happily, “Envy brother…”
He originally wanted to show Wei Wuxian the butterfly he had painted with new colors, but after coming in, he saw a Wei Wuxian who looked like a demon, as well as Wen Ning, curled up on the ground. He was instantly stunned. Wei Wuxian turned his head suddenly. He hadn’t yet recovered from his emotions, and his gaze was very terrifying. Wen Yuan was so frightened that his whole body jumped, the butterfly slipped from his head and fell to the ground. He burst into tears on the spot. Uncle Four hurriedly came in, hunched over, and carried him out.
After Wen Ning was kicked to the ground, he got up again and kneeled properly, not daring to speak. Wei Wuxian grabbed his collar and lifted him up, roaring, “You can kill whoever you want, but why did you have to kill Jin Zixuan?!”
Wen Qing watched from the side. She wanted to come up to protect her younger brother, but forcibly held herself back, and tears streamed down her face from both sorrow and terror.
Wei Wuxian said, “You killed him, how is my sister supposed to live? What is my sister’s son supposed to do?! What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?!”
His roars echoed in the Demon Subduing Cave, reaching the outside. Wen Yuan cried even more.
Hearing the child’s cries from afar, seeing this pair of panicked siblings who didn’t know where to put their hands and feet, Wei Wuxian’s heart became increasingly dark. He asked himself: “Why have I been trapping myself on this Burial Mounds all these years? Why do I have to suffer through all of this? Why did I have to choose this path in the first place? Why did I have to make myself like this? How do others view me? What have I gained? Am I crazy? Am I crazy? Am I crazy!”
If he hadn’t chosen this path in the first place, it would have been better.
Suddenly, Wen Ning said in a low voice, “…I’m…sorry.”
This was a dead man, expressionless, unable to redden his eyes, even less able to shed tears. But, at this moment, on this dead man’s face, there was true and real pain.
He repeated, “I’m sorry…
“It’s all…all my fault…
“I’m sorry…”
Listening to him stammering repeated apologies, Wei Wuxian suddenly found it absurd.
It wasn’t Wen Ning’s fault at all.
It was his own fault.
Wen Ning in his berserk state was just a weapon. He was the one who created this weapon. He was also the one who gave the orders.
At that time, there was tension, and murderous intent was rampant. In addition, he never hid his animosity towards Jin Zixuan in front of Wen Ning, which is why when Jin Zixuan attacked, Wen Ning, in his mindless state, identified him as an “enemy,” and unthinkingly carried out the order to “massacre.”
He had failed to control this weapon. He was too arrogant about his abilities. He also ignored all the ominous signs, believing that he could suppress any uncontrolled signs.
Wen Ning was a weapon, but did he want to become a weapon of his own free will?
This person, who was naturally timid, cowardly, and stuttering, did he enjoy killing under Wei Wuxian’s command in the past?
That year, he received a bowl of lotus root soup from Jiang Yanli. He carried it all the way from the mountain to the Burial Mounds, not spilling a single drop. Even though he couldn’t drink it himself, he was very happy watching others finish it, asking what it tasted like, and imagining the flavor himself. He had personally killed Jiang Yanli’s husband, was he feeling good right now?
On one hand he shouldered all the blame, on the other hand he still had to apologize to him.
Wei Wuxian grabbed Wen Ning’s collar, looking at his pale, lifeless face. Jin Zixuan’s face, covered with dirt and blood, the same pale and lifeless color suddenly appeared before his eyes.
He also remembered Jiang Yanli, who had finally married her beloved after hardship, he remembered Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli’s son, A-Ling, the child he had given a courtesy name to. He was only a little bit old, just now at the first birthday celebration he had grabbed his father’s sword, and his parents were so happy. In two days, it was going to be his full-month banquet.
Blankly thinking, thinking, Wei Wuxian suddenly cried.
He said blankly, “…Who can tell me…what should I do now?”