Nie HuaiSang scratched his head, “Wei-xiong, Koi Tower is that big; I couldn’t have seen every single person, much less remember everyone I’ve seen. And on top of that…” He seemed a bit awkward, “You know what Mo XuanYu’s background was. It was a bit… The LanlingJin Sect tried its hardest to keep it a secret. It’s not that strange I hadn’t seen him, is it? Brother XiChen might not have even seen him.”
Wei WuXian, “Oh, indeed. ZeWu-Jun didn’t know Mo XuanYu either.”
Nie HuaiSang, “Right?! And I don’t really understand. Even if I’d seen Mo XuanYu, why should I pretend like I didn’t know him on purpose? Was there any need?”
Wei WuXian smiled, “Nothing. Something seemed a bit off. I was only asking.”
Yet in his heart, he replied, Of course to find out if this ‘Mo XuanYu’ really was the real Mo XuanYu.
How could Mo XuanYu, who was so timid and fearful in others’ description, conjure up the courage to take his life and sacrifice his body? Why would that left hand of ChiFeng-Zun’s be released? Did Jin GuangYao really let it out by pure accident? And why did it appear at Mo Village, where he sacrificed his body, so that Wei WuXian ran into it right after he was reborn? Why wasn’t it some other place?
ChiFeng-Zun’s corpse was buried by the QingheNie Sect. In all these years, did Nie HuaiSang, who had always admired his elder brother, really fail to notice that the corpse had been switched?
Wei WuXian prefered this other case instead.
Perhaps before Nie MingJue passed away, Nie HuaiSang really knew nothing. But after Nie MingJue’s death, he knew everything. Including that Nie MingJue’s corpse had been switched. Including the true colors of the brother he once trusted.
He tried to search for his elder brother’s corpse, but after so many years and so much hard work, he could only find a single left hand.
He was stuck at this step, without anything that could lead to the next. In addition, the left hand was abnormally fierce, too difficult to suppress. If it was left by his side, it’d keep on resulting in bloodshed. So he remembered someone. Someone who was best at dealing with these things, these problems.
The YiLing Patriarch.
But the YiLing Patriarch had been torn into pieces already. What should he do now? And so he remembered someone else. Mo XuanYu, who’d been kicked out of Koi Tower.
Perhaps to gain information from Mo XuanYu, Nie HuaiSang talked to him once. From Mo XuanYu’s grievances, he knew that Mo XuanYu had once read the fragmented manuscript that recorded an ancient, forbidden technique in Jin GuangYao’s collection. He then urged Mo XuanYu, who had had enough of the humiliation coming from his own clan members, to seek revenge using the forbidden technique of body sacrifice.
And which fierce ghost was summoned?
It was the YiLing Patriarch again, of course.
Mo XuanYu, no longer able to put up with his circumstances, finally painted the blood array, and Nie HuaiSang also used the opportunity to release the hot potato he was no longer able to keep: ChiFeng-Zun’s left hand.
From then on, the plan successfully began. He no longer needed to exert his energy on searching for the remaining limbs of Nie MingJue, instead leaving all of the dangerous and bothersome things to Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi. He only needed to monitor their every move.
The time that Jin Ling, Lan SiZhui, Lan JingYi, and the other juniors ran into the odd incident of dead cats on their way, someone was clearly creating abnormalities on purpose. Along with the nonexistent ‘hunter’ who showed them the way in the nearby village, it was doubtless that the goal was to lead these naive disciples into Yi City. If Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi was just a bit more careless and weren’t able to protect them completely, whatever happened to the disciples at Yi City would likely also be blamed on Jin GuangYao.
Anyhow, the more that could convict Jin GuangYao, the better it was; the more that could lead the cautious villain to make mistakes and leave traces, the better it was; the more that could result in a tragic death of his, the better it was.
Lan WangJi used the tip of Bichen’s blade to turn over the black chest beside the coffin. He glanced at the incantations engraved over it before he turned to Wei WuXian, “The head.”
The chest was probably used to hold Nie MingJue’s head. After Jin GuangYao moved the head away from Koi Tower, he probably buried it here.
Wei WuXian nodded at him, “Sect Leader Nie, do you know what was originally inside of the coffin?”
Nie HuaiSang, “How could I know? But with how Brother… oh, no—with how Sect Leader Jin looked, it was probably something really important to him, huh?”
NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE.
Chapter 110: Concealment (Part Four)
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Wei WuXian, “Coffins are used to hold corpses, of course. I’m guessing that what had been buried here was the corpse of Jin GuangYao’s mother, Meng Shi. He came here tonight likely to retrieve his mother’s corpse and travel to DongYing with her.”
Lan XiChen said nothing. Nie HuaiSang exclaimed with an ‘ah’, “Oh, yeah. It sounds very reasonable.”
Wei WuXian asked, “What do you think the person would do after they dug out the corpse of Jin GuangYao’s mother?”
Nie HuaiSang, “Wei-xiong, why do you keep on asking me? No matter how much you ask, I don’t know anything.” With a pause, he continued, “But…” Slowly, Nie HuaiSang brushed together his storm-drenched hair, “I think that if this person hates Jin GuangYao so much, they’d probably be entirely merciless towards something he cherishes more than his life.”
Wei WuXian, “Like cutting apart his corpse and keeping his limbs at different places, like what happened to ChiFeng-Zun?”
Nie HuaiSang jumped, stumbling backwards, “Th-Th-That’s… That’s a bit too much, isn’t it…”
Wei WuXian stared at him for a while before finally averting his gaze. Conjectures were conjectures, after all. Nobody had evidence.
Perhaps the confusion and helplessness on Nie HuaiSang’s face right now was all pretense. He didn’t want to admit that he used others as pawns, treating human lives as nothing. Perhaps this wasn’t the entirety of his plan. He had to hide his true colors to do more things, reach higher goals. Or, perhaps it wasn’t at all so complicated. There was someone else who sent the letter, killed the cats, and pieced together Nie MingJue’s head and body. Perhaps Nie HuaiSang was a complete, authentic good-for-nothing.
Maybe the last words Jin GuangYao said was a last-minute lie after his intention of attack was seen through by Nie HuaiSang, so that Lan XiChen’s thoughts would be disrupted while Jin GuangYao dragged them towards the same death. After all, Jin GuangYao was a big liar with countless past offenses. It wouldn’t be strange no matter when he lied or what he lied about.
As for why he changed his mind at the last moment, and pushed Lan XiChen out of the way, who could know just what exactly he was thinking?
Veins suddenly lined the back of the hand in which Lan XiChen placed on his forehead. His voice sounded muffled, “… Just what does he want to do? I once thought I knew him well, and then I realized I did not. Before tonight, I thought I knew him well once more, but now I do not.” Nobody could give him an answer. Lan XiChen repeated in frustration, “Just what does he want to do?”