Lan SiZhui, “General Ghost, do you need help?”
Wen Ning hurried, “No, you…”
Lan JingYi, “There are so many bones and ashes. Can you finish collecting everything all on your own?”
Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi walked over, “Don’t touch them as you please. You’ll be under corpse poisoning if you don’t wear gloves.”
Hearing this, the boys finally gave up. Lan SiZhui, “Senior Wei, HanGuang-Jun, and General Ghost, this time, thank you so much for…”
Suddenly, a cold voice came from within the crowd, “For what?”
Lan SiZhui and the boys turned around to find that the one who spoke was Fang MengChen again. He stood up, rage written over his face, “What is all this?”
Lan SiZhui was perplexed, “What is all what?”
Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi looked at him as well. Fang MengChen’s voice was harsh, “I’m asking you—what is all this? Atonement?! You haven’t all began to feel gratitude towards him in your hearts, have you?!”
It was a dead silent within the Demon-Slaughtering Cave. Not a single whisper could be heard. What everyone was feeling right now really wasn’t too great.
With all their fanfare, they came to throw a siege, yet they themselves were instead faced with a siege. They chanted that they were here to destroy evil, yet in the end they needed the ‘evil’ to save their own lives.
They really didn’t know whether it was comical, strange, awkward, or absolutely incomprehensible. They only felt that they, the ones who jumped up and down with such indignation during this farce, were indeed somewhat embarrassing.
Thank Wei WuXian? It didn’t seem quite appropriate, but they were saved by him after all. It didn’t seem appropriate either to say that they held no gratitude. Under such circumstances, the best way out was to remain silent.
Seeing that nobody was going to answer him, Fang MengChen grew even more angered. He lunged with sword in hand, “Do you think that by doing a few pretentious good things and showing that you’ve repented your errors would write off all those debts of blood in your hands?!”
Wei WuXian darted to the side. Somebody came forth to mediate, “Fang-xiong! Don’t be so agitated. Let it go…”
As soon as the person said it, he realized what he did wrong. Fang MengChen’s eyes reddened, “Let it go?! What do you mean, let it go? The murder of my parents—I let it go just because you say so?!”
He questioned loudly, “Wei WuXian killed my parents. That is the truth. But why is it that now it seems like he’s become a hero?! Do a few good deeds, and you can forget about all the things he did? Then what about my parents?!”
Among the crowd, Jin Ling clenched his fists. Suddenly, sharp pain shot out from his shoulder. The fingers that Jiang Cheng placed at his shoulder slowly tightened.
Jin Ling couldn’t see his expression. He whispered, “Uncle…”
A curt, ambivalent laugh came from Jiang Cheng.
Finally, Wei WuXian spoke up. He said, “Then what do you want me to do?”
Fang MengChen paused in surprise. Wei WuXian, “Then what do you want? Nothing but my miserable death to soothe your own hatred?” He pointed at Yi WeiChun, who lay passed out among the crowd, “He’s missing a leg, while I was cut into pieces; you lost your parents, while my family had long since been gone. I’m a dog who was chased out of its home. I’ve never even seen the ashes of my parents.”
Wei WuXian, “Or do you hate the Wen Sect’s remnants? The Wen Sect remnants that you speak of already died once, thirteen years ago. And right now, just then, for my sake, for your sake, they died once again. This time, they’ve all become ashes.” He continued, “Let me ask you—just what else do you want me to do?”
Fang MengChen glared at him. A moment later, he replied through clenched teeth, “There’s no use. Let me tell you, Wei WuXian, no matter what you do, don’t ever expect me to forgive you or forget about my parents deaths.” He raised his voice, “It’ll never happen!”
Wei WuXian, “Nobody told you to forgive me. The things I did, not only do you remember them, I remember them too. You won’t forget them, and they’ll stay even longer in my mind!”
He looked at him for quite a while. Fang MengChen felt a whirlpool of emotion within him, a feeling of surrender.
His life was indeed saved by Wei WuXian and the others, but he didn’t want to give up on all those grudges right then. But if he wanted to seek revenge on Wei WuXian, it’d be futile, given how powerless he was. In the end, he could only let out a loud shout before he rushed out the Demon-Slaughtering Cave.
After he went out, a voice asked, “No more corpses will come, right? We’re really safe this time, right?!”
Hearing this voice, everyone felt their heads grow a few times bigger, It’s him again!
Nie HuaiSang looked around. Seeing that nobody answered him, he asked once more, “Then aren’t we… allowed to go too?”
This was the right question to ask. Right now, all that anyone wanted to do was to put on some wings and fly their swords back to their sects. One of the female cultivators spoke, “Four hours should be up by now. How much have everyone’s spiritual powers recovered?”
Chapter 83: Loyalty—Part Five
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Many people took out talismans to try if they could ignite them with their spiritual powers. Gradually, the talismans in some of the people hands lit up dimly. Hearing the question, they answered, “Two-tenth is back for me.”
“One-tenth for me…”
“They’re recovering so slowly!”
When they set off, they all thought that compared to the siege at Burial Mound thirteen years ago, this one would definitely be more successful, so grand and tragic that it’d be recorded in history. Yet, nobody expected that the number of people who went down the mountain was almost the same as the number who went up. The second ‘siege’ could indeed be recorded in history. However, instead of being its scale or number of deaths, it’d be because it was the most pointless, laughable event of the cultivation world.
Some of the people rejoiced that they escaped death, others lamented about the changing of times. The dozens of sect leaders all gathered together. After some discussion, they agreed to first find a safe place to rest until their spiritual powers had recovered up to eight-tenths so that no more incidents happened on their way back.
Wei WuXian knew at once. The closest ‘safe place’ to Yiling was the area of the YunmengJiang Sect. He asked, “So you intend on going to Lotus Pier next?”
Lan QiRen was vigilant, “Why do you ask?”
Wei WuXian, “Nothing. I just wanted to ask if I could go along.”
Sect Leader Yao warned, “Wei WuXian! You did a good deed today, but those are two separate things. Please understand that it’s impossible for us to associate with you.”
Wei WuXian felt speechless, “Don’t worry, nobody’s making you associate with me. Right now, though, we’re on the same side, aren’t we? The figure who planned the siege on you today has the Stygian Tiger Seal in his hands. Can you deal with it?”
The sect leaders looked at one another. In all honesty, what Wei WuXian said wasn’t wrong. If he was willing to join in, it’d be of great assistance. But people had slandered the YiLing Patriarch’s name for so many years. It’d be a bit embarrassing to have him cooperate with them all at once.