Chapter 61, Sixty-One

Chapter Summary: The three chatted casually, one sentence after another. Sometimes they talked about serious matters, sometimes they chatted idly. Listening to their conversation, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but think…

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The three chatted casually, one sentence after another. They would talk about serious matters one moment and then ramble on about trivial things the next. Listening to their conversation, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but want to interject, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise. He thought to himself, "Their relationship is really good right now. Zewu-jun is quite a good conversationalist, how come Lan Zhan is so bad at it? But, it's good that he's quiet, since I've already said everything, and he just listens with 'uh-huh,' it's quite nice. What's that called again…?"

Everyone: ...

You are truly a good friend to Lan Wangji; even seeing Zewu-jun reminds me of Hanguang-jun.

We're not eating this dog food!!!

Meng Yao came to join the Nie Clan of Qinghe hoping to make a name for himself and gain Jin Guangshan's attention. Although he was currently highly regarded under Nie Mingjue, the Nie Clan of Qinghe and the Jin Clan of Lanling were, after all, different families. Once he had achieved some success, Nie Mingjue wrote a letter of recommendation and sent him back to the Jin Clan, which was currently stationed in Langya.

When it was time to part, Meng Yao was extremely grateful and thanked him profusely.

After an unknown amount of time, the Lanling Jin Clan, who were struggling to survive in Langya, called for help, and Nie Mingjue came to their aid.

When he arrived, the battle had just ended. Jin Guangshan, looking flustered, came over to thank him. The two talked for a while, finished discussing important matters, and finally, Nie Mingjue remembered something and asked Meng Yao.

Upon hearing the name mentioned, Jin Guangshan looked embarrassed and displeased, only vaguely saying that he couldn't remember and had never heard of such a person. Nie Mingjue then simply and decisively took his leave for the time being.

Wei Wuxian was also puzzled. He saw that Meng Yao was a very capable and clever person working under Nie Mingjue. He should have made a name for himself soon. Even if Jin Guangshan pretended not to know him, it shouldn't have taken so long for him to make a name for himself.

Nie Mingjue asked the other cultivators for a while, but most of them didn't know. He searched several places but couldn't find Meng Yao. He wandered around aimlessly and passed through a small grove of trees.

The forest was very secluded, and it had just experienced a sneak attack and a fierce battle. The battlefield had not yet been cleared. As Nie Mingjue walked along the path, he saw the corpses of cultivators dressed in the robes of the Wen clan, the Jin clan, and a few other families.

Suddenly, a hissing sound came from ahead.

Nie Mingjue placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and crept forward. Parting the leaves, he saw Meng Yao standing amidst a pile of corpses, pulling a long sword from the chest of a cultivator dressed in a robe adorned with golden stars and snow waves. She then flipped her wrist and slashed several times.

This sword is not his own; the hilt has flame-shaped iron ornaments, and it belongs to a cultivator from the Wen family.

The swordsmanship is also the Wen family's swordsmanship.

His expression was extremely calm, and his movements were steady, fast, and cautious, without getting a single drop of blood on him.

Nie Mingjue watched this scene unfold without uttering a word, his blade flashing as it was drawn an inch from its sheath.

Hearing that familiar sound of a sword being drawn, Meng Yao shuddered, dropping the sword from her hand. She turned around abruptly, her soul almost leaving her body: "...Sect Leader Nie?"

Nie Mingjue drew all the long swords from their sheaths. The blades gleamed brightly, but the edges were tinged with a faint blood-red hue.

Wei Wuxian could feel the surging anger, disappointment, and hatred emanating from him.

Upon seeing this, the space erupted in chaos once again—

"As expected, those with malicious intentions are so vicious from the very beginning, even willing to slaughter members of the Kim family!"

"How can Jin Guangyao possibly live on in this world?!"

...

Hearing these words, Jin Guangyao lowered his head and smiled self-deprecatingly: "People are like this after all. They stand on the moral high ground to judge other people's behavior. It's easy for them to talk when they're not in my shoes. If I were in their position, I might not be as kind as they say. We'll see how they treat Wei Wuxian later."

Lan Xichen stopped Nie Mingjue from drawing his sword, turned to look at Jin Guangyao who had his head down, and couldn't help but sigh softly.

Everything in the world has a cause and effect. The cause and effect of the past life have all been settled. If it weren't for Miss Niangui not wanting this truth to be buried deep in the world, no one would know the helplessness and heartache that everyone felt back then.

Meng Yao immediately dropped her sword and said, "Sect Master Nie! Sect Master Nie! Lord Chifeng, please wait! Please wait! Let me explain!"

Nie Mingjue shouted, "What do you want to explain?!"

Meng Yao scrambled over, saying, "I had no choice, I had no choice!"

Nie Mingjue retorted angrily, "What forced you to do this?! What did I say when I brought you here?!"

Meng Yao knelt at his feet and said, "Sect Leader Nie, Sect Leader Nie, please listen to me! I joined the Lanling Jin Clan, and this man is my superior. He looks down on me all the time and often humiliates and beats me in every way..."

Nie Mingjue said, "So you killed him?"

Meng Yao said, "No! It's not because of that! What kind of humiliation can't I tolerate? How could I not tolerate being beaten and scolded! It's just that every time we capture a Wen clan stronghold, I put in a lot of effort, but he just casually says a few words and writes a few lines to attribute the credit to him, saying it has nothing to do with me. This isn't the first time, every single time! I've argued with him, but he doesn't care at all. I've looked for others, but no one listens to me. Just now he even said that my mother, my mother is... I just couldn't bear it anymore, and I lost my temper, that's why I lost my temper!"

Terrified, he spoke rapidly, fearing Nie Mingjue would strike him down before he could finish, yet his account remained clear and coherent, emphasizing the wickedness of others and his own innocence. Nie Mingjue grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, saying, "You're lying! You couldn't bear it anymore, you acted rashly in a fit of rage? When someone is blinded by rage, would they have that expression on their face when they kill? Would they deliberately choose this secluded forest where a fight had just taken place? Would they intentionally use the Wen family's sword and swordsmanship to kill him, disguising themselves as Wen dogs to ambush him and frame him?"

Meng Yao raised her hand and swore, "I'm telling the truth! Every word is true!"

Nie Mingjue retorted angrily, "Even if it's true, you can't kill him! It's just a battle achievement! Are you so concerned about such vanity?!"

Meng Yao said, "Just battle merits?"

He widened his eyes and said, "What do you mean by 'mere battle merits'? Lord Chifeng, do you know how much effort I put in and how much suffering I endured for these battle merits?! Vanity? Without this vanity, I would have nothing!"

Nie Mingjue said, "I think you've been using all your energy for shady dealings! Meng Yao, I ask you, the first time we were by the cave, were you deliberately putting on that weak, bullied act to make me stand up for you?"

Nie Mingjue was always disappointed in Jin Guangyao because of his indiscriminate killing of innocent people, but were these people really innocent?

Perhaps they weren't as heinous as Wen, perhaps he only stole a military achievement, but he ruined a person's life.

As the head of the family, Nie Mingjue could not understand Jin Guangyao's actions in order to get ahead, just as the rich could not understand why the poor would do anything to make a living.

Jin Guangyao knew that what he had done would never be forgiven, and he never asked for forgiveness.

But... now that Miss Niangui has revealed everything, he suddenly felt a glimmer of hope that someone could understand his suffering and experiences.

Because he, like Xue Yang, once wanted to bring down disasters and exorcise demons.