quarrel
As the night dew clung to the stone steps, Wen Ning was still lingering outside Xie Linyang's courtyard gate.
He carried a well-polished arrow shaft in his pocket—the one that had pierced the bullseye during the day. The arrowhead had been removed, and the shaft had been sanded three times with fine sandpaper. But his feet felt like lead; he had to take a deep breath with every step. The hem of his red robe was whipped up by the night wind, and the chill made him shiver as it brushed against his ankles.
What are you doing standing here?
A sudden voice came from behind, startling Wen Ning so much that he almost dropped the arrow shaft. He turned around abruptly and met a pair of cold eyes. Jiang Cheng was standing under the eaves at some point, his purple robes washed gray by the moonlight, and the Qingxin Bell at his waist was silent, clearly indicating that he had deliberately lightened his footsteps.
"Young Master Jiang..." Wen Ning stammered, bowing his head and frantically hiding the arrow shaft behind his back, his face flushed red. "I...I'm looking for Miss Xie..."
Jiang Cheng's gaze swept over his clenched, white fingers, then glanced at the tightly closed door, his brows furrowing slightly: "What do you want with her?"
"Thank you, thank you for what she did during the day..." Wen Ning's voice trailed off, almost burying itself in her chest, "I...I want to give her something..."
Jiang Cheng stared at him for a long time, his eyes scrutinizing something suspicious. The night breeze ruffled the stray hairs on his forehead, revealing his tightly pursed thin lips: "The Wen clan, so they do know the word 'thank you'?"
These words were like needles, pricking Wen Ning until his neck turned red. He gripped the arrow shaft tighter, his knuckles turning white: "I...we're not..."
"Alright." Jiang Cheng interrupted impatiently, walked to the door, and knocked with his fingers: "Xie Lin Yang, open the door."
There was a rustling sound from inside the door, and a moment later, the door creaked open. Xie Linyang, wearing a moon-white outer robe and a gold hairpin in her hair, was clearly just about to rest. Seeing the two people outside, she was slightly taken aback, then her gaze fell on Wen Ning. "Wen Ning? It's so late, is something the matter?"
Wen Ning became even more nervous under her gaze, lowering his head even further. He pulled out the arrow shaft from behind his back, offered it to her with both hands, and whispered, "This...this is for you...thank you...Bai Tian..."
Xie Linyang took the arrow shaft, her fingertips touching the warm, smooth wood. When she looked up, she met Wen Ning's evasive gaze and couldn't help but smile slightly: "It's very smooth, thank you."
"No, you're welcome..." Wen Ning glanced up at her quickly, then immediately looked down like a startled rabbit. "Then, I'll be going..."
"Wait a minute." Xie Linyang called out to him, turned around and went back to her room to get a small cloth bag. "Here, take this." It was a bag of roasted chestnuts, still warm. "Miss Jiang gave it to me during the day. Take it back and eat it."
Wen Ning's eyes suddenly brightened, but she hurriedly waved her hand, "No, no need..."
"Take this, give it to your sister too." Xie Linyang stuffed the cloth bag into his hand. "Your archery skills are very good. You should believe in yourself in the future and not be afraid."
Wen Ning clutched the warm cloth bag, and a sudden pang of sadness welled up in his eyes. He nodded vigorously, then turned and ran away almost as if fleeing, his red-clad figure quickly disappearing at the end of the corridor.
Before the door could even be closed, Jiang Cheng's voice suddenly boomed out: "He's a member of the Wen family."
Xie Linyang turned around and saw Jiang Cheng still standing there, his back to the moonlight, his face darker than the night. He stared at the arrow shaft in her hand, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito: "Standing up for him during the day wasn't enough, and now you want his 'thank you' at night?"
“He’s just a child.” Xie Linyang placed the arrow shaft on the windowsill, her tone calm. “Besides, he meant no harm.”
"No ill intent?" Jiang Cheng turned his head sharply, his tone unfriendly: "Which member of the Wen clan has clean hands?"
Xie Linyang paused in closing the door, turned around, and faced the surging anger in Jiang Cheng's eyes. His voice remained calm, but with a hint of coldness: "I don't know if Wen Ning's hands are clean. But what I saw was a boy who was bullied by his clansmen and was even deprived of the right to try. I'm helping this injustice, not because he's surnamed Wen."
"Unfair?" Jiang Cheng seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He stepped forward and approached Xie Linyang. "There are many unfair things in this world! Can you, Xie Linyang, handle them all? Today you stood up for him and gave up your qualification to participate in the competition. Do you know what the Yunmeng Jiang Clan has become in the eyes of others? They have become an existence that is inextricably linked to the Wen Clan's collateral branches and even openly defies the Wen Clan!"
Xie Linyang raised her eyes and met his sharp gaze without flinching. In those usually calm eyes, sparks of fire ignited: "So, in Young Master Jiang's opinion, I should just stand by and watch Wen Chao wantonly humiliate someone who is powerless to resist, in order to protect myself, is that right?"
"That's the Wen family's internal affair!" Jiang Cheng roared, veins bulging on his forehead. "What does it have to do with you?! What does it have to do with the Yunmeng Jiang family?! Why do you insist on sticking your neck out and putting yourself and all of us in the eye of the storm?"
"Internal affairs?" Xie Linyang's lips curled into a cold smile. "Jiang Wanyin, if it wasn't Wen Ning who was publicly humiliated and deprived of his opportunity today, but any ordinary disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, could you so calmly say that this is 'internal affairs' and then stand by and do nothing?"
Jiang Cheng was speechless at her question, his anger flaring even more: "How can these be compared!"
"Why not?" Xie Linyang pressed on, his voice low but each word clear. "Just because he's surnamed Wen, does that mean he deserves all the injustices he's suffered? Does that mean the justice he seeks is worthless? Sect Leader Jiang taught you to be upright and impartial, and Madam Yu instructed you not to betray the Jiang family's integrity. Does this 'uprightness' and 'integrity' mean choosing who to uphold and who to follow?!"
"Xie Lin Yang!" Jiang Cheng suppressed the violent heaving of his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief, anger, and the embarrassment of having a hidden pain touched. "Don't try to use my parents to intimidate me! You understand nothing! In this world of cultivation, the strong prey on the weak. Today you've lent a helping hand to a branch of the Wen clan. When Wen Ruohan blames you in the future, who will remember your 'kindness' today? They'll only remember that it was my Yunmeng Jiang clan that condoned our guest elder and provoked the Wen clan!"
He was panting heavily as he stared at her, saying slowly and deliberately, "Your so-called kindness is nothing but naiveté, which could drag everyone into danger!"
Xie Linyan looked at his eyes, slightly reddened with emotion, and at the heavy responsibility and anxiety belonging to the young sect leader in them. The anger in her heart subsided somewhat, replaced by a complex mix of emotions. She remained silent for a moment, then lowered her voice, but with an undeniable firmness:
“Jiang Cheng, I am not naive, and I know the world is treacherous. But I also know that if we turn a blind eye to injustice and a deaf ear to the pleas for help from the weak out of fear of the wrath of the powerful, what essential difference is there between us and the Wen clan that we despise? If a cultivator has to weigh the pros and cons before acting even on the slightest bit of right and wrong in his heart, then he might as well not cultivate this path.”
She raised her hand and gently brushed aside his fingers that were almost touching her. Her movements were gentle, yet they carried a resolute strength: "As for implicating Yunmeng... if Wen Ruohan really wants to cause trouble because of this, I, Xie Linyang, will take full responsibility and will not implicate Lotus Pier in the slightest."
After saying that, she stopped looking at Jiang Cheng's suddenly complicated expression, took a step back, and slowly closed the door.
"Bang."
A soft sound separated the two people.
Jiang Cheng stood frozen outside the door, the moonlight casting a long, solitary shadow. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked slightly, his chest still heaving. Xie Lin Yang's last words were like ice water mixed with steel needles, poured over his heart, piercing him with pain. He was furious at her "lack of pragmatism," yet unable to completely refute the "reason" in her words.
A night breeze blew by, carrying the restlessness unique to Qishan, yet it couldn't dispel the stagnant chill under the eaves. He stood there for a long time, then suddenly turned around, his purple robes brushing against the stone steps, carrying lingering anger and an indescribable annoyance, before disappearing into the depths of the night.
Inside the door, Xie Linyang leaned against the door panel, slowly closed her eyes, and gently exhaled a breath of stale air. She knew Jiang Cheng's worries were not without reason, but she also had things she had to insist on. However… arguing with him like this ultimately didn't make her feel good. On the windowsill, the arrow shaft, polished smooth by Wen Ning, gleamed warmly in the moonlight.
On the third day, the "Breaking the Formation" test is about to begin. The location is a valley temporarily designated in the back mountains of Qishan. The valley is shrouded in mist, with faint fluctuations of spiritual energy, which is the "Thousand Machine Illusion" set up by the Wen Clan. This formation is said to contain illusions, traps, and even low-level attack formations. It is ever-changing and its dangers are unknown. One must find the hidden core of the formation within a limited time to escape. The first to escape wins.
Disciples from various clans gathered at the valley entrance, the atmosphere even more somber than the previous two days. Jiang Cheng and Xie Lin Yang stood in their respective Yunmeng Jiang Clan groups, neither uttering a word, not even exchanging glances. The argument of the previous night, like an invisible layer of ice, stood between them.
Wei Wuxian looked left and right, nudged Jiang Cheng with his elbow, and whispered, "Hey, Jiang Cheng, what's going on between you and Lin Yang? You were fine yesterday, why are you acting like enemies today?"
Jiang Cheng's face darkened, and he shook off his hand, his tone harsh: "What's it to you? Mind your own business!"
Wei Wuxian, having been rebuffed, approached Xie Linyang again, grinning as he asked, "Linyang, is Jiang Cheng being stubborn again? Don't take it to heart..."
Xie Lin Yang simply shook his head slightly, his gaze focused on the misty fog ahead, saying nothing more. Wei Wuxian touched his nose, feeling that the oppressive atmosphere between the two was even more suffocating than the Thousand-Mechanism Fog itself.
As usual, Wen Chao came out to show off his power, and after announcing the rules, the participating disciples entered the maze one by one. The mist instantly swallowed everyone's figures, and the outside world could no longer see what was inside. The entrance to the Thousand Machines Maze was like a giant mouth that spewed out mist.
A grayish-black miasma churned at the valley entrance, sometimes coalescing into distorted human faces, sometimes transforming into withered, skeletal hands. The air was thick with the stench of rust and decaying grass. The Wen clan's ritual officer struck a bronze bell; the sound distorted as it pierced the miasma, sounding like countless people sobbing softly. "Those who enter the formation, find its eye, break its core; those who do not emerge within the allotted time will perish within." Wen Chao's voice, imbued with spiritual energy, carried undisguised malice.
Disciples from various clans stepped into the miasma one after another, their figures instantly swallowed up. Jiang Cheng stood at the edge of the entrance, the hem of his red robe trembling slightly from the miasma. He never glanced at Xie Lin Yang, only coldly uttering two words when Wei Wuxian nudged him with his elbow for the third time: "Get out of the way."
"Oh, so you're really having a cold war?" Wei Wuxian swaggered casually, glancing at the figure not far away out of the corner of his eye. "You had such a fierce argument last night, I could hear you yelling 'You don't understand anything at all' from next door—tsk tsk, Jiang Cheng, your arguing skills are far inferior to Madam Yu's~"
Jiang Cheng reached out and pinched Wei Wuxian's arm: "If you say another word, I'll throw you into the formation to feed the vengeful spirits!"
"Hey, hey, a gentleman uses words, not fists!" Wei Wuxian laughed and dodged, lowering his voice, "To be honest, it's true that you're worried about the Wen Clan's retaliation, but what she said also makes sense. Doesn't it sound a lot like what you said back then when you fought with the Wen Clan disciples to protect me?"
Jiang Cheng abruptly stopped.
The miasma surged at that moment, carrying a chilling cold. He recalled years ago, under the peach tree in Lotus Pier, when he, at the age of ten, stood in front of Wei Wuxian, who had been pushed down by a member of the Wen clan's collateral branch, and roared while gripping his wooden sword: "He is a member of my Yunmeng Jiang clan, and any of you who dare to touch him will try!" Back then, wasn't he just as "naive and innocent" as Xie Linyang had described?
"I'm leaving." He abruptly turned his head and stepped into the miasma first. His figure flashed in the gray mist and disappeared.
Wei Wuxian watched his retreating figure, shook his head, and then turned to Xie Linyang, winking and saying, "Don't worry, he's just a stubborn mule. When we meet him in the formation later, I'll teach him a lesson for you."
Xie Linyang didn't reply, but just stared into the depths of the miasma, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the lingering grass.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the maze.
The area inside the formation was darker than the outside, the miasma so thick it was impossible to see anything beyond five steps. The path beneath their feet was sometimes as smooth as a mirror, sometimes as steep as a cliff, and spiritual energy here seemed to be sucked away by something, its flow extremely sluggish. Xie Linyang gripped Qingyun tightly, using his spiritual energy to dispel the miasma in front of him.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, she suddenly heard light footsteps all around her. She turned around abruptly and swept her sword horizontally, but missed everything.
Dozens of figures slowly emerged from the miasma, all resembling members of a collateral branch of the Wen clan. Their heads were bowed, and gruesome marks were visible on their necks as they approached her step by step: "Why didn't you save us... why did you only save Wen Ning..."
Xie Lin Yang's heart tightened. It was an illusion. She bit her tongue, the sharp pain clearing her mind somewhat. Just as she was about to form a hand seal to break the illusion, she heard an angry shout from behind: "Get out of the way!"
The sword energy of the Three Poisons Sword tore through the miasma, instantly shattering the illusion. Jiang Cheng stood three steps behind her, his face even more somber than the miasma: "What are you standing there for? You can't even break this little illusion?"
Xie Linyang ignored him and turned to continue walking forward.
Jiang Cheng's footsteps followed, neither too close nor too far, like an inescapable shadow. The miasma grew thicker, and black threads formed from low-level vengeful spirits began to wrap around his ankles, chilling him to the bone. Xie Linyang swung his sword, severing the black threads, and heard Jiang Cheng coldly snort behind him: "Showing off."
She paused in her steps.
The array seemed to be able to sense emotions. Those illusions just now were clearly amplified versions of her deepest emotions. And Jiang Cheng… she looked back and saw him suppressing something, his brows furrowed, and a vein throbbing slightly on his forehead.
“A thousand illusions lure people with the human heart as bait.” Xie Linyang suddenly spoke, his voice slightly ethereal in the miasma. “The heavier the negative emotions, the more real the illusions, and the more ferocious the vengeful spirits.”
Jiang Cheng didn't turn around, but coldly said, "I don't need you to teach me."
The moment the words left their mouths, the ground beneath their feet suddenly collapsed! Both of them plummeted into darkness, and a swirling miasma instantly enveloped them in the confined space. Xie Linyang's sword struck the stone wall as they fell, producing a crisp clang, its spiritual energy blocked by the array.
"Damn it!" Jiang Cheng's voice rang out from below.
The two crashed heavily onto the hard ground. Miasma condensed around them, forming a cage, and dark red liquid, like blood, seeped from the walls.
"We can't get out." Jiang Cheng's voice rang out in the darkness, filled with suppressed anger.
Xie Linyang fumbled in his sleeve and pulled out a tinderbox. "Let's find the core of the formation first."
The moment the flames appeared, both of them gasped simultaneously.
They were in a circular stone chamber. Hundreds of arrows were embedded in the walls, all aimed at the center of the chamber, where a stone platform about half a person's height stood. Floating on the platform was a beating "heart," entirely black, its surface covered with vascular-like runes—the very eye of the formation. The ground around the chamber was engraved with dense array patterns, which were now glowing red, clearly a sign that the attack formation was being activated.
"The core array has been triggered." Xie Linyang quickly scanned the surroundings. "The arrows will be shot towards the array's core. If we stand here, we'll be attacked as 'interference'."
Before he could finish speaking, the arrows on the wall suddenly trembled! The arrowheads gleamed coldly and emitted a piercing buzz. Jiang Cheng immediately pulled Xie Linyang under the stone platform for cover, while he drew his Sandu sword and warily watched the wall: "You go break the array's core, I'll block the arrows!"
Xie Linyang didn't move: "The backlash from the formation will be severe, and you'll be alone—"
"Enough with the nonsense!" Jiang Cheng's voice was firm and unyielding.
Xie Linyang looked at his tense profile, the firelight illuminating the lines of his jaw. Without further hesitation, she turned and rushed toward the stone platform.
At that moment, a rain of arrows pierced the air!
Hundreds of arrows flew simultaneously, carrying the shrieks of vengeful spirits, weaving an impenetrable net of death. Jiang Cheng's sword danced with impenetrable speed, the sword light bursting with blinding sparks, the sound of arrow shafts snapping incessantly. But there were too many arrows; one slipped through the net, grazing his arm, drawing a string of blood beads, and embedding itself in the stone platform, only inches from Xie Linyang's hand.
Xie Linyang formed a hand seal and pressed it towards the black heart. The moment the seal touched the heart, it contracted violently, emitting a scream like that of an infant! The stone chamber shook violently, and all the arrows on the walls reversed direction, their arrowheads aimed at—Jiang Cheng!
"careful!"
Without a second thought, Xie Linyang turned and lunged at Jiang Cheng.
The instant she pushed him away, dozens of arrows pierced her back.
It's not an illusion.
A sharp pain instantly swept through her body, and warm blood soaked through her clothes, dripping onto the ground with a soft "plop" sound. Xie Linyang coughed, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She looked at Jiang Cheng's shocked face, wanting to say "I'm fine," but then everything went black, and she collapsed.
When Jiang Cheng caught her, he felt that the person in his arms was as light as a feather.
The wound on his back was so deep that the bone was visible; the arrow shaft was still embedded in his flesh, and blood gushed out, staining his front of his shirt red. He had never seen Xie Linyang so vulnerable. She always stood tall with her eyes bright and lively. But now, her eyes were closed, her face was deathly pale, and even her breathing was so weak that it seemed she might stop breathing at any moment.
"Xie Linyang?" His voice trembled. "Xie Linyang! Wake up!"
There was no response.
The stone chamber continued to tremble, the black heart's cries grew increasingly mournful, and more arrows began to coalesce. Jiang Cheng held her, suddenly recalling her words from last night and the unwavering light in her eyes when she stood up for Wen Ning.
It turns out that his so-called "weighing" was never as important to her as "it should be done".
"Damn it..." Jiang Cheng cursed suddenly, not at her, but at himself. He carefully placed Xie Linyang under the stone platform, took off his outer robe and wrapped it around her wounds, his movements clumsy yet gentle. Then he stood up, the Three Poisons in his hand emitting an unprecedentedly dazzling light.
"Break the formation!"
He charged toward the center of the formation, shattering the remaining rain of arrows. The moment his fingertip touched the black heart, he mobilized all his spiritual power, even at the cost of a backlash. The heart let out a mournful cry and vanished into black smoke.
The tremors in the stone chamber suddenly stopped, and the miasma receded like a tide. The array's core had been breached.
Jiang Cheng stumbled back to the foot of the stone platform and pulled Xie Linyang into his arms again. Her body temperature was still dropping, and her lips were bloodless. He suddenly panicked, his voice trembling without him even realizing it: "Xie Linyang, don't die... Do you hear me? What kind of act is this, playing dead..."
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