He turned his head slowly, “A crooked path?”
Lan WangJi’s voice was low, “Wei Ying.”
Jin ZiXun and the others noticed the unusual atmosphere as well. Holding their breaths, they looked at him. Wei WuXian smiled again, “Do you know why I’m not carrying my sword? It wouldn’t make a difference if I told you anyways.”
He turned around, stating one word at a time, “Because I want you to know that even if I don’t use my sword, with nothing but what you call a ‘crooked path’, I will still rise unparalleled and leave all of you staring at me from behind.”
With his words, all of the people present were shocked speechless.
No disciple had ever dared say such lofty words in front of so many people. A moment later, as Jin ZiXun finally regained his composure, he yelled, “Wei WuXian! You’re only the son of a servant—how dare you be so bold!!!”
Hearing those words, Lan WangJi’s gaze froze. The pupils of Wei WuXian’s eyes shrunk. It seemed that his right hand was almost going to touch Chenqing. As the air thickened with conflict, ready to burst any second, somebody suddenly spoke, “A-Xian!”
Hearing the voice, Wei WuXian’s heart softened. He turned around, “Shijie?”
Jiang YanLi waved at him, “A-Xian, come stand behind me.”
Wei WuXian hesitated. Before he could move, Madam Jin quickly picked up her hand, “A-Li, don’t intervene in their business.” However, with an apologetic smile toward Madam Jin, Jiang YanLi went forth and stood in front of Wei WuXian. She saluted Jin ZiXun and the others.
Jin ZiXun and his people didn’t know how to respond either. A few of them returned the salute, and a few didn’t. Jiang YanLi spoke to Jin ZiXun in a thin voice, “Young Master Jin, from what you meant, it was A-Xian who made a third of the prey on Phoenix Mountain his all to himself; it defied the rules and he was too bold. I… I haven’t heard of anything like this either. It truly must’ve troubled everyone here. I apologize to you in place of him.”
As she finished, she bowed down again. It seemed to be quite a serious apology. Wei WuXian, “Shijie!”
Jiang YanLi didn’t rise yet. She looked at him and shook her head almost unnoticeably. Wei WuXian could only clench his fists and stay silent.
Jin ZiXuan gazed over from afar. His expression was quite complicated. Jin ZiXun and the rest, however, didn’t even try to conceal the triumph on their faces. They were more than satisfied with themselves.
Jin ZiXun chuckled, “Maiden Jiang, you really are kind and understanding. What your shidi did was extremely unbefitting, and indeed caused us much trouble. But since you do recognize that it was unbefitting, then for Maidan Jiang and Sect Leader Jiang’s sake, an apology won’t be needed. The YunmengJiang Sect and the LanlingJin Sect are as close as brothers, anyways.”
He was on the verge of breaking into pompous laughter. Wei WuXian was fuming with rage as his tightened knuckles cracked. Just as he was about to speak, Jiang YanLi had finished her bow and got up, continuing in an earnest voice, “But, even if I haven’t participated in a hunt before, there’s one thing that I know—for all of the hunts that have happened, I’ve never heard of a single rule that prohibits someone from hunting too much prey.”
The smiles on the people’s faces froze before they could even set into place.
Jiang YanLi, “And so, you said that A-Xian defied rules—which exact rule did he defy?”
This time, it was Wei WuXian’s turn to laugh.
Jin ZiXun’s face was dark, but he didn’t respond. There were two reasons. First, he had never seen Jiang YanLi step up and talk before, so he didn’t know how strong his reply should be. Both Madam Jin and Jiang Cheng held Jiang YanLi in high regard, and he didn’t dare rashly go against them. Second, if they really looked into it, they’d indeed fail to find such a rule!
At this point, some people among the crowd couldn’t hold it down any longer. At such times, Sect Leader Yao was always the first one to jump out, “Madam Jiang, that wouldn’t be the best way to put it. Although some rules aren’t written out, everyone understands and follows them.”
Someone shouted, “How much prey is in Phoenix Mountain in total? Is it even five hundred? How many people are there in the hunt? More than five thousand! We’re fighting for the prey to begin with. If he keeps so much prey to himself using such wicked means, what could the other people do?”
Wei WuXian sneered. As he was about to speak, Jiang YanLi stopped him, whispering, “It’s best if you don’t say anything.”
Someone else felt unsatisfied as well, “Yeah, or else I would’ve at least been able to get one.”
Jiang YanLi, “But… It isn’t his fault that others can’t capture the prey.”
The person couldn’t say anything back. She continued, “Isn’t the hunt all about true strength? Even if the ghouls are gone, aren’t there also the fays and the monsters? Even if he didn’t keep one-third to himself, or even if he didn’t attend the hunt, those who can’t capture the prey will never be able to. Although the methods that A-Xian used is different from what other people use, it’s still an ability that he cultivated. You can’t call it a crooked path just because others don’t have access to that third of the prey, can you?”
The people who gathered around Jin ZiXun had on the same dark faces as he did. Yet, taking into consideration Jiang YanLi’s background, they didn’t dare talk back to her directly.
Jiang YanLi added, “Besides, hunting is hunting, so why bring the matter of discipline to the table? A-Xian is a disciple of the YunmengJiang Sect. He grew up with my brother and I, and so he’s as close as a brother is to me. Calling him the ‘son of a servant’—I’m sorry, but I won’t accept this. And thus…”
She straightened her back and raised her voice, “I hope that Young Master Jin ZiXun would apologize to Wei WuXian of the YunmengJiang Sect!”
If the one currently saying these words wasn’t Jiang YanLi and instead some random person, Jin ZiXun would probably have come at them with a slap already. His face was almost black, but he kept his mouth shut. Jiang YanLi stared at him quietly, refusing to turn her eyes away.
Madam Jin spoke, “A-Li, why are you being so serious? It’s just a small matter. Don’t get so worked up.”
Jiang YanLi’s voice was soft, “Madam, A-Xian is my younger brother. Him being humiliated by others, to me, isn’t just a small matter.”
Madam Jin glanced at Jin ZiXun, sneering, “ZiXun, you heard that?”
Jin ZiXun, “Auntie!”
For him to apologize to Wei WuXian was at the least impossible. How could Madam Jin not know what his personality was like? The situation at hand, however, was already quite uncomfortable. Imagining how Jin ZiXun would definitely throw a few tantrums after he apologized and returned to Koi Tower, she grew more and more annoyed, almost wanting to hold his neck down and force him to apologize. Suddenly, two sword glares arrived. It was Jin GuangYao and Lan XiChen.
Lan WangJi, “Brother.”
Lan XiChen mused, “WangJi, why are you here as well?”
Jin GuangYao, “Everyone, what happened here?”