Jin GuangYao, “It isn’t that HuaiSang is a good-for-nothing, but that his heart lies somewhere else.”
Nie MingJue, “Well you’ve really discerned where his heart lies, haven’t you?”
Jin GuangYao smiled, “Of course. Isn’t that what I’m the best at? The only person whom I can’t discern is you, Brother.”
He knew of people’s likes and dislikes so that he could find suitable solutions; he loved running errands and could do twice the work with half the effort. Thus, Jin GuangYao could be said to be quite a talent at analyzing others’ interests. Nie MingJue was the only person whom Jin GuangYao couldn’t probe out any useful information about. Wei WuXian saw this already, back then when Meng Yao was working under Nie MingJue. Women, liquor, riches—he touched none; art, calligraphy, antiques—a pile of ink and mud; the finest green tea leaves and dregs from a roadside booth—there was no difference. Meng Yao tried everything he could think of yet still couldn’t find if he was interested in anything beside training his saberwork and killing Wen-dogs. He really was a wall made of iron, impenetrable by even the sharpest blades. Hearing that his tone was one of self-mock, Nie MingJue wasn’t as disgusted as he would’ve been, “Don’t help him build such a conduct.”
Jin GuangYao smiled slightly, then asked, “Brother, where’s our second brother’s guqin?”
Nie MingJue pointed him a direction.
Since then, Jin GuangYao would travel from Lanling to Qinghe every few days, playing Sound of Lucidity to help quell Nie MingJue rage. He tried his hardest, without speaking even a single word of complaint. Sound of Lucidity was indeed effective. Wei WuXian could clearly feel that the hostile energy within Nie MingJue was being suppressed. And, when playing the guqin, the way that the two conversed and got along even had a hint of the peace they had before they fell out. He began to think that maybe the so-called busy reestablishing the Cloud Recesses was just an excuse. Perhaps Lan XiChen simply wanted to give Nie MingJue and Jin GuangYao a chance to ease their tension.
Yet, just as he thought so, the next moment, a stronger rage had emerged.
Nie MingJue threw off two disciples who didn’t dare stop him and walked straight into the Blooming Garden. Lan XiChen and Jin GuangYao were discussing something inside the study, their expressions solemn. A few blueprints lay on the desk before the two, covered in notes of all colors. Seeing how he barged in, Lan XiChen hesitated slightly, “Brother?”
Nie MingJue, “Don’t move.”
He then turned to Jin GuangYao, speaking in a cold voice, “Come out.”
Jin GuangYao turned around to look at him, then looked at Lan XiChen again, smiling, “Brother, could you please help me go through this one? I have some private matters to discuss with our eldest brother. I’ll have to ask for your explanation at a later time.”
Lan XiChen’s face disclosed his worry, but Jin GuangYao stopped him, then followed Nie MingJue out of the Blooming Garden. As soon as they approached the edge of Carp Tower, Nie MingJue brought his palm down on him.
The disciples on the side were shocked. Jin GuangYao nimbly dodged the strike. He signalled for them to stay put as he spoke to Nie MingJue, “Brother, why the rage? Let’s calm down.”
Nie MingJue, “Where’s Xue Yang?”
Jin GuangYao, “He’s already been locked inside the dungeon, imprisoned for life…”
Nie MingJue, “What did you say to me back then?”
Jin GuangYao was silent. Nie MingJue continued, “I wanted him to pay blood with blood, yet you have him imprisoned for life?”
Jin GuangYao answered carefully, “As long as he receives his punishment and can’t offend again, perhaps paying blood with blood and being imprisoned for life is…”
Nie MingJue, “The good things that the good guest cultivator whom you recommended has done! Things are already like this and you still dare defend him!”
Jin GuangYao protested, “I didn’t defend him. I was also shocked by the case of the Changyang Yue Sect. How could I have known that Xue Yang would kill more than fifty people? But my father was set on keeping him…”
Nie MingJue, “Shocked? Who was the one that invited him? Who was the one that recommended him? Who was the one that regarded him highly? Don’t use your father as excuse. How could you not have known what Xue Yang was doing?!”
Jin GuangYao sighed, “Brother, it really was my father’s orders. I couldn’t refuse. Now, if you want me to take care of Xue Yang, what would I say to him?”
Nie MingJue, “There’s no need for explanations. Come back to me with Xue Yang’s head in your hand.”
Jin GuangYao still wanted to speak, but Nie MingJue had already lost all patience, “Meng Yao, don’t speak such pretentious words in front of me. Your whole thing stopped working on me since a long time ago!”
Within a second, a few degrees of unease flashed over Jin GuangYao’s face, as though someone with an unmentionable illness was suddenly exposed in the public. There was nowhere for him to hide.
He spoke, “My whole thing? Which whole thing? Brother, you’ve always yelled at me for calculating people and being too dishonorable. You say that you’re a proud, righteous person, that you aren’t afraid of anything, that propen men shouldn’t need to play with schemes. That’s fine. Your background is noble and your cultivation is high. But what about me? Am I the same as you? First, my cultivation isn’t as firm as yours. Ever since I was born, has anyone taught me? And second, I have no prominent background. Do you think that I’m in a steady position, here at the LanlingJin Sect? Do you think that I can rise into power the moment Jin ZiXuan dies? Jin GuangShan would rather bring another illegitimate child back than want me to succeed him! You think that I should be afraid of nothing? Well I’m afraid of everything, even other people! He whose stomach is full believes not him who is starving.”
Nie MingJue replied coldly, “In the end, all you mean is that you don’t want to kill Xue Yang, that you don’t want your position at the LanlingJin Sect to waver.”
Jin GuangYao, “Of course I don’t!”
He looked up, unknown fires dancing within his eyes, “But, Brother, I have always wanted to ask you something—the lives under your hands are in any regard more than those under mine, so why is it that I only killed a few cultivators out of desperation and you keep on bringing it up, even until now?”
Nie MingJue was so enraged that he began to laugh, “Good! I’ll give you my answer. Countless souls who have fallen under my saber, but I’ve never killed out of my own desires, much less to climb up the ladder!”
Jin GuangYao, “Brother, I understand what you mean. Are you saying that all of the people you killed deserved their deaths?”
With courage gathered from nowhere, he laughed and walked a few steps closer to Nie MingJue. His voice raised as well, asking in an almost aggressive manner, “Then, may I ask, just how do you decide if someone deserves death? Are your standards absolutely correct? If I kill one but save hundreds, would the good outweigh the bad, or would I still deserve death? To do great things, sacrifices must happen.”
Nie MingJue, “Then why don’t you sacrifice yourself? Are you any nobler than them? Are you any different from them?”