Chapter 64, Sixty-Four

Chapter Summary: [In this memory, Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, and Jin Guangyao are sitting in a pavilion.]

Jin Guangyao looked at the zither in front of him, and suddenly...

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In this memory, Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, and Jin Guangyao are sitting in a pavilion.

Jin Guangyao looked at the zither in front of him and suddenly remembered which memory it represented.

Lan Xichen's fingers began to clench tightly. At that time, he never imagined that he would personally hand his third brother a knife to kill his eldest brother.

Nie Mingjue knew nothing about it, but for no apparent reason felt that Xiao Niangui's release of this passage must be important.

A zither lay before Jin Guangyao, and he was playing it following Lan Xichen's instructions. The two were teaching and learning, chatting casually. Jin Guangyao said, "My mother plays the zither very well."

Lan Xichen asked, "Did you learn the zither from her?"

Jin Guangyao said, "No. She didn't teach me. I learned by watching. She never taught me these things, she only taught me to read and write, and bought me some very expensive sword manuals to practice."

Lan Xichen asked in surprise, "A sword manual?"

Jin Guangyao said, "Yes, a sword manual. Second brother, you haven't seen it, have you? The kind of sword manual sold in the countryside, with some messy poses drawn on it." He gestured, and Lan Xichen shook his head with a smile. Jin Guangyao also shook his head: "They're all scams, specifically designed to fool women like my mother. They're sold at very high prices. Practicing them won't do any harm, but they won't bring any benefit either."

He lamented, "But my mother didn't know anything about these things. She would buy them whenever she saw them, saying that when she went back to see my father someday, she would have to be skilled enough to meet him and not fall behind others. All the money was spent on these things."

Lan Xichen plucked the strings twice and said, "You've learned this much just by watching. You're very talented. You should be able to learn the Qingxin Yin music soon too."

Jin Guangyao smiled faintly, and Nie Mingjue said, "Second brother, Qingxin Yin is one of the unique skills of your Gusu Lan Clan. Do not leak it."

Nie Mingjue was issuing a warning, but Lan Xichen didn't take it seriously, saying, "How can teaching my third brother be considered leaking the music? Besides, what I taught him wasn't the 'Breaking Barrier' tune, but the 'Cleansing Heart' tune, so there's nothing wrong with it. This piece has a calming and tranquilizing effect, which you need a lot these days, elder brother. A-Yao asked me to help you calm your mind, but I'm mostly in Gusu and can't get away, so why don't he learn it and play it for you in my place?"

During this time, Nie Mingjue's sword spirit began to show signs of mania. Jin Guangyao tirelessly traveled between Lanling and Qinghe every night, helping him to break free from delusion and purify his mind. He did his utmost without complaint, largely out of gratitude, and Nie Mingjue's reprimands towards him gradually lessened.

Upon seeing this, Jin Guangyao chuckled softly, "Second Brother, I truly... am sorry for you."

Looking at Jin Guangyao's sincere face in the celestial shadow, Lan Xichen couldn't help but ask, "Back then, you had already come up with a plan to harm your elder brother?"

Upon hearing this, Nie Mingjue suddenly became furious: "Xichen, what's going on?"

Lan Xichen was suddenly speechless. What should he say?

"Big brother, just wait and see, you'll find out everything."

However, just as Wei Wuxian was thinking this, the scene changed, and Nie Mingjue chopped Jin Guangyao with a single palm strike.

Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "Good times never last long. What's wrong with them now!"

The two stood at the edge of Jinlintai. Jin Guangyao dodged the palm strike and said, "Brother, you called me out here just to hit me?"

Nie Mingjue remained silent, a deep anger simmering within him, and unleashed another palm strike. Jin Guangyao nimbly dodged it again, saying, "Why are you so angry? I didn't commit the massacre of the Chang family of Liyang!"

Nie Mingjue said sternly, "Is there any difference between what he did and what you did? If you hadn't recommended Xue Yang to your father, allowing him to be given important positions and act with impunity, how could he have dared to do such a thing! Don't you know what your father is telling him to do?!"

Jin Guangyao argued, "How could I have predicted that Xue Yang would kill an entire family of over fifty people? What difference does it make whether I knew or not? Since he is my father, can I refuse his orders and demands? Now you want me to deal with Xue Yang, how am I supposed to explain this to him? Brother, give me some time, I will deal with Xue Yang. Just a few more years..."

Nie Mingjue said, "A few more years? You can still keep him alive now. I'm afraid even hundreds of years from now, Xue Yang will still be alive and well. He will always only use his intelligence for such low-level scheming. Your words have lost their credibility!"

Murderous intent.

Wei Wuxian sensed Nie Mingjue's murderous intent.

Murderous intent.

Jin Guangyao felt the murderous intent in his heart and suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly: Miss Niangui, are you trying to make my heart feel better?

It's trying to tell me that the person I wanted to kill also wanted to kill me.

Jin Guangyao doesn't deny that he wanted to use Xue Yang, leveraging his familiarity with the demonic path to help himself. But initially, it was his beloved father who truly wanted to use Xue Yang. Back then, he never refused any request from Jin Guangshan.

He also heard a sharp hissing sound coming from the scabbard.

Jin Guangyao looked at him for a long time, as if he had finally made up his mind, and calmly said, "Brother, you always criticize me for being cunning and lowly. You say you are upright and honest, fearless, and that a real man doesn't need to play any tricks. Fine, you are of noble birth and have high cultivation. But what about me? Am I the same as you? I have neither your high cultivation nor your solid foundation. Who has taught me anything in my life? I have no noble family background. Do you think I am firmly established in the Lanling Jin Clan now? Do you think I will rise to power just because Jin Zixuan is dead? Jin Guangshan would rather bring back another illegitimate son than let me succeed him! You expect me to be fearless? I'm afraid of people! It's easy for you to talk when you're not in the same boat. Brother—I've always wanted to ask you a question: you have more lives under your command than I have. Why is it that when I only killed a cultivator who bullied me, you keep bringing up old grievances until now?"

Enraged, Nie Mingjue raised his foot and kicked Jin Guangyao, who was caught off guard and was hit squarely, causing him to tumble off Jinlintai.

Nie Mingjue lowered his head and shouted, "The son of a prostitute, no wonder!"

"Big brother!"

Lan Xichen exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this, and then he suddenly realized that it was Tianying.

Having known Jin Guangyao for many years, he knew that Jin Guangyao's father was the son of a prostitute, but he never expected that his elder brother would use this to berate Jin Guangyao in his anger.

Even knowing that Nie Mingjue is straightforward and quick-tempered, she still cannot forgive him.

Jin Guangyao had been bullied since childhood, and his father refused to acknowledge him, so he had no status in the clan. This sentence was just the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Jin Guangyao tumbled down more than fifty steps before landing on the ground. He didn't even lie there for long before getting up. He waved away the several servants and disciples who surrounded him, dusted off the dust from his golden-starred robe, and slowly raised his head to meet Nie Mingjue's gaze.

His gaze was calm, but for some reason, Nie Mingjue was suddenly enraged and drew his sword to strike at his head. Lan Xichen, smiling, turned around from the city wall and, upon seeing this scene, quickly drew his sword to block it, saying, "What's wrong with you now?"

Nie Mingjue said, "Don't stop him! If he continues like this, he'll only bring disaster to the world. The sooner he's killed, the sooner we'll have peace. We shouldn't have kept him alive in the first place!"

Jin Guangyao wiped the blood from his forehead, put his soft gauze hat back on, tied the ribbon, and tidied his appearance. He stood there, lost in thought. Whenever blood trickled down, he wiped it away before it soaked his clothes. Lan Xichen stopped Nie Mingjue, saying, "Alright, alright. Brother, put the sword away. Don't let it disturb your mind again..."

Wei Wuxian had assumed that after being kicked by Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangyao would behave himself for a while, just like before. However, to his surprise, he still came to the Nie family's residence that evening as usual.

Seeing this scene, Wei Wuxian thought: Zewu-jun is indeed the peacemaker between Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue. If he hadn't been Jin Guangyao's salvation and the soft spot he couldn't touch in this life, he might not have won Nie Huaisang that night at the Guanyin Temple.