Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Jin Ling sat up at once, shouting, “Uncle!”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes swept over, responding coldly, “You wish! Now you’re calling me uncle—why did you run so fast earlier?!”
After he finished, he turned the direction of his gaze either intentionally or not towards Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi. Before the pairs of eyes could meet, Su She had already steadied himself with his sword, Nanping, and lunged at Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng hadn’t even attacked when a string of dog barks sounded. Fairy charged into the temple like a flying fish and threw itself straight at Su She.
Hearing the dog, Wei WuXian immediately felt his hair rise. He shrunk back into Lan WangJi’s arms, half-dead with fright, “Lan Zhan!”
Lan WangJi had already embraced him without needing any reminder, replying, “I am here!”
Wei WuXian, “Hug me!”
Lan WangJi, “I am hugging you!”
Wei WuXian, again, “Hug me tight!”
Lan WangJi, also, “I am hugging you tight!”
Even without the view, just listening to the voices was enough to make Jiang Cheng’s facial muscles twitch. He originally wanted to look that way, but now he gained complete control over his neck. Right this moment, from behind the palace rushed a couple of monks and cultivators, attacking with their swords. Jiang Cheng laughed coldly before he raised his right hand, painting a brilliant streak of purple amid the Guanyin Temple. Any who was struck by the purple were sent flying backwards, yet he still held the umbrella steadily in his hand. Only when everyone in the palace lay in disorder on the ground, jerking and quivering as if they were still being shocked, Jiang Cheng finally closed his umbrella. On the other hand, Su She yelled in anger, trying to tackle the dog.
Jin Ling yelled from the side, “Fairy! Watch out! Fairy, bite him! Bite his hand!”
Lan XiChen called out, “Sect Leader Jiang, be careful of the guqin!”
Before he even finished, notes of the guqin sounded from behind the Guanyin Temple. However, back on Burial Mound, Jiang Cheng had already suffered quite a lot because of the dark melody. He was naturally more than alert. The moment the first note echoed, he kicked the ground, using the tip of his foot to bring up a sword that a cultivator dropped. With his left hand, he tossed away the paper umbrella and grabbed the sword, and with his right he unsheathed Sandu from his waist. With a sword in each hand, he slashed them against each other with force.
The two blades scraped, letting out an extremely harsh noise that overcame Jin GuangYao’s guqin.
It was quite the effective method! But there was only one shortcoming—the sound was just too painful to hear! It was so painful that it felt as if one’s ears would be pierced through by the terrible noise. And to Lan XiChen and Lan WangJi who grew up in the GusuLan Sect, it was even more unbearable. Both of the two frowned slightly. However, Lan WangJi was in the middle of doing his job, hugging Wei WuXian, and was unable to cover his ears. And so, as Wei WuXian trembled, listening to the dog barks, he reached out and covered Lan WangJi’s ears for him.
With a hardened face, Jiang Cheng continued to create the nasty noise with the two swords in his hands as he approached the back of the palace. But before he even reached the place, Jin GuangYao walked out on his own, covering his ears, “Sect Leader Jiang, I must admit my defeat against such a power move.”
Jiang Cheng swung Zidian towards Jin GuangYao, who dodged out of the way, “Sect Leader Jiang! How did you get here?”
Jiang Cheng refused to talk to him. Jin GuangYao’s spiritual energy wasn’t as high as his, so he didn’t dare face him directly. He could only dodge nimbly, again and again, remaining composed as his subordinates attacked Jiang Cheng, “Did you chase after A-Ling when he was running around? Fairy must’ve led the way for you as well. Well, I was the one who gave it to him, after all, but it gives me no face or whatsoever.”
Hugged so tightly by Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian didn’t feel as scared anymore, even when he heard the dog barks. He even had the spare energy to ponder, recalling a certain someone as he watched how Jin GuangYao smiled and batted his eyes even as he fought. He whispered, “He really is the same as Xue Yang.”
Lan WangJi, however, didn’t say anything. Having received no answer, Wei WuXian looked up to realize that he was still covering Lan WangJi’s ears. Lan WangJi didn’t hear what he said at all, and that had to be why he didn’t answer. He let go at once.
At this point, Jin GuangYao’s tone suddenly changed, smiling, “Sect Leader Jiang, what’s wrong? Ever since we started, your eyes have been so shifty, almost like you’re scared of looking that way. Is anything over there?”
Jiang Cheng, “You’re the chief cultivator, after all. Fight me if you can—why the chit-chat?”
Jin GuangYao, “You’re still avoiding it? Nothing is over there except for your shixiong. Did you really come here chasing after A-Ling?”
Jiang Cheng, “What do you think?! Whom else would I be looking for?!”
Lan XiChen, “Do not answer him!”
Jin GuangYao had always been good with words. As soon as Jiang Cheng began to talk with him, his attention would be directed elsewhere and his emotions involuntarily influenced. Jin GuangYao, “Fine. Mr. Wei, you see? Your shidi didn’t come looking for you. He doesn’t even want to spare you a single glance.”
Wei WuXian smiled, “Now those are strange words. It’s not the first day Sect Leader Jiang treats me like this. Do I need you to keep on reminding me?”
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng’s lips twisted slightly. Veins popped from the back of the hand with which he held Zidian. Jin GuangYao turned to him again, sighing, “Sect Leader Jiang, look—it’s just so difficult being your shixiong, isn’t it?”
Noticing how Jin GuangYao kept on directing the topic of conversation at him, Wei WuXian began to worry. Jiang Cheng returned the sarcasm, “Sect Leader Jin, isn’t it more difficult being your sworn brother?”
Jin GuangYao didn’t care about whether or not Jiang Cheng was listening to him at all, “Sect Leader Jiang, I heard yesterday you threw a tantrum in Lotus Pier without a reason, running around holding the sword that belonged to the YiLing Patriarch, telling everyone you met to unsheathe it.”
Jiang Cheng’s expression was enough to send shivers down one’s spine.
Wei WuXian suddenly shot up from Lan WangJi’s arms. His heart skipped a beat as well. In his head, a voice ranted, My sword? He means Suibian? Didn’t I leave Suibian to Wen Ning? No, when I saw him yesterday, it’s true I didn’t see him carrying it… How did it end up in Jiang Cheng’s hands?! Why would Jiang Cheng tell others to unsheathe it?! Has he tried unsheathing it himself yet?
Just as his mind tensed, Lan WangJi reached out and stroked his back. Wei WuXian finally calmed down somewhat. And as he saw Jiang Cheng’s sudden silence, Jin GuangYao’s eyes shone, “I heard nobody could unsheathe the sword, but you managed to unsheathe it yourself. How curious. The sword sealed itself away over thirteen years ago, when I first collected it. Apart from the YiLing Patriarch himself, nobody would ever be able to unsheathe it…”
Jiang Cheng charged with both Zidian and Sandu, raging, “Shut up!”
Jin GuangYao, however, continued on his own, grinning, “And so I remembered. Back then, Young Master Wei was so wilful. He never brought his sword anywhere, and found a different excuse every single time. I’ve always found this peculiar—what about you?”
Jiang Cheng roared, “Just what do you want to say?!”
Jin GuangYao raised his voice, “Sect Leader Jiang, you’re truly extraordinary, the youngest sect leader who rebuilt the YunmengJiang Sect on his own. But I recall that you could never beat Mr. Wei in anything, in the past. Could you tell me how you rose above him after the Sunshot Campaign? Did you perhaps take any golden elixirs?”
At the words ‘golden elixirs’, his pronunciation was both clear and sharp. Jiang Cheng’s features had almost become distorted. Zidian also bloomed in a dangerous white light. Amid the chaos, a weakness appeared amid his movements.
What Jin GuangYao had been waiting for was precisely the moment of weakness. He flung out the guqin string that he’d been hiding. Jiang Cheng immediately steadied himself to counter the attack, Zidian entangling with the string. Feeling a numbness at the center of his hand, Jin GuangYao retreated at once. Yet, immediately after, he laughed lightly. With his left hand, he whipped out another string and attacked Wei WuXian!
Jiang Cheng’s pupils shrank to become just a point. With a flip of his wrist, he turned Zidian’s direction to defend against the guqin string. Jin Ling, however, blurted, “Uncle, watch out!”
With this chance, Jin GuangYao unsheathed the sword that had been wrapped around his waist and thrusted it into the center of Jiang Cheng’s chest!
Face dark, Jiang Cheng clutched his chest. Blood leaked from between his fingers, immediately dying the fabric a blackish purple. Right Zidian stopped the guqin string, it became the silver ring once more and returned to his hand. When its owner was bleeding excessively or severely injured, the spiritual weapon would return to its lowest form on its own. Using the opportunity, Jin GuangYao hurried over and sealed away his spiritual flow. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve to clean his sword and wrapped it back around his waist.
Jin Ling had long since rushed over to hold Jiang Cheng up. Lan XiChen sighed, “Do not move rashly. Help him sit down slowly.”