Jin GuangYao shook his head, “It might lead someone else over. We should finish things quickly here.”
Su She, “Those good-for-nothings! I’ll go make them hurry.”
Jin Ling, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief. Seeing Jiang Cheng sit on the ground, still dark-faced, he turned to Lan WangJi after some hesitation, “HanGuang-Jun, are there any more sitting mats?”
The four mats that they’d been sitting on were all gathered by Lan WangJi. However, there were only four within the temple. After some silence, Lan WangJi stood up and pushed over the one he’d been sitting on.
Jin Ling hurried, “Thank you! It’s fine. I’ll just give him mine…”
Lan WangJi, “There is no need.”
As soon as he finished, he sat down beside Wei WuXian. Even as the two sat so seriously on the same sitting mat, they didn’t seem too cramped. Now that the mat was handed over already, Jin Ling scratched his head before dragging Jiang Cheng over. Jiang Cheng first pressed onto an acupoint at his chest, stopping the blood flow. After he sat down, he looked up and glanced over at Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi. He soon looked down again. His face was gloomy, disclosing nothing of what he was thinking.
Right at this point, an ecstatic cry came from behind the palace, “Sect Leader! We got it! A corner is out already!”
Jin GuangYao’s expression relaxed quite somewhat. He quickly walked back behind the palace, “Press on! Please be careful. There’s not much time left.”
Over a dozen streaks of lightning twisted their way across the edge of the sky. They were soon followed by a series of roaring thunder. Over there, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi sat together while Jiang Cheng sat at the side. Jin Ling dragged his own mat over as well. Amid the pounding of the rain, there was a long while of dead, awkward silence. Nobody spoke up.
But for some reason, Jin Ling seemed as if he really wanted to talk to them. After some glancing around, he suddenly began, “Uncle, good thing you stopped that guqin string earlier on, or else things would be pretty bad.”
Jiang Cheng’s face darkened, “You can shut up!”
If not for him leaving Jin GuangYao with a chance for a sneak attack due to his own unstable emotions, he wouldn’t have landed in the enemy’s hands either. On top of that, in reality, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi could’ve completely dodged the attack on their own. Even though, right now, Lan WangJi had no spiritual powers and Wei WuXian’s were low to begin with, their skills were still there. They couldn’t attack, but they were still able to dodge. Clumsily, Jin Ling was trying to speak for his uncle, yet the deliberation made the situation even more awkward.
After being scolded, Jin Ling stopped talking, embarrassed. Jiang Cheng sealed his lips together and didn’t speak again.
Wei WuXian didn’t say anything either. In the past, he’d definitely laugh at Jiang Cheng for being so easily-provoked that he gave the opponent an opportunity. But now, recalling what Jin GuangYao said, he understood everything.
Jiang Cheng knew the truth already.
Lan WangJi stroked Wei WuXian’s back a few more times. Wei WuXian looked up. Lan WangJi didn’t seem at all surprised. His eyes were almost gentle. Wei WuXian felt his heart skip a beat. He couldn’t help but whisper, “… You knew?”
Lan WangJi nodded slowly.
Wei WuXian let out a light breath, “… Wen Ning.”
Wen Ning had originally been keeping Suibian, but now it was in Jiang Cheng’s hands. And on their way back from Lotus Pier, Wen Ning said nothing of such a matter.
Wei WuXian, “When did he say it?”
Lan WangJi, “While you were unconscious.”
Wei WuXian, “This was how we left Lotus Pier?!”
If not that Wen Ning hadn’t found them yet, Wei WuXian would definitely have begun glaring at him already.
Lan WangJi, “He always felt sorry for you.”
Wei WuXian’s tone was tinged with anger, “… I told him so many times not to say it!”
Out of the blue, Jiang Cheng spoke up, “Not to do what?”
Wei WuXian paused in surprise, turning to him along with Lan WangJi. Jiang Cheng covered his wound with one hand, his voice chilly, “Wei WuXian, you’re such a great, selfless person. You did the best things possible, and you swallowed all the suffering and didn’t let anyone know. What a touching story. I should kneel down and cry in gratitude, shouldn’t I?”
Hearing the mocking tone that lacked any courtesy, Lan WangJi’s face grew cold. Jin Ling saw the displeased expression and immediately stood in front of Jiang Cheng, scared that Lan WangJi would kill him with one strike, “Uncle!”
Wei WuXian’s expression worsened as well. He never expected Jiang Cheng to make up with him after he found out the truth, but he didn’t think his tone would be as unkind as ever, either. With a moment of silence, he replied, voice muffled, “I never asked you to thank me.”
Jiang Cheng let out a hah, “Of course. Giving without expecting anything in return. What a high level. Unlike me, of course. So that’s why my father always said you were the one who truly understood the Jiang Sect’s motto and did things the Jiang way, back when he was alive.”
Wei WuXian couldn’t keep on listening any longer, interrupting him, “Enough.”
Jiang Cheng’s voice harshened, “What do you mean, enough? It’s enough as long as you say so? You know everything! You’re better than me at everything! Whether it be talent or cultivation or spirituality or personality, you guys knew everything while I was much lower—then what am I?!?!”
He suddenly reached out, as if to seize Wei WuXian’s collar. Lan WangJi grabbed Wei WuXian’s shoulder with one hand, letting Wei WuXian stand behind him, and with his other hand he forcefully pushed away Jiang Cheng’s hand. Rage could be seen hidden within his eyes. Although his push held no spiritual energy, it was quite powerful in terms of strength. The wound at Jiang Cheng’s chest ripped apart again. Blood surged.
Jin Ling cried, “Uncle, your wound! HanGuang-Jun, spare some mercy!”
However, Lan WangJi’s voice was cold, “Jiang WanYin, spare some virtue!”
Lan XiChen took off his outer robe and lay it over the shivering Nie HuaiSang, “Sect Leader Jiang, please do not be so agitated. Your injury will worsen.”
Jiang Cheng shoved Jin Ling, who’d been holding him up helplessly, out of the way. Even though he was losing blood, it rushed to his head unceasingly. His face switched between white and red, “Why? Wei WuXian, just fucking why?”
Behind Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian replied stiffly, “Why what?”
Jiang Cheng, “Just how much did we the Jiang Sect give you? I’m supposed to be his son, I’m supposed to be the heir of the YunmengJiang Sect, yet all these years I’ve been outdone by you at every single thing. You paid for your bringing-up with life! The lives of my dad, my mom, my sister, and Jin ZiXuan! Because of you, all that’s left is a parentless Jin Ling!”
Jin Ling trembled. His shoulders sunk, and his face sagged as well. Wei WuXian moved his lips, but he couldn’t say anything. Lan WangJi turned around to hold his hand.
On the other hand, Jiang Cheng refused to give up, shouting, “Wei WuXian, who was the one who broke his promise and betrayed the Jiang Sect first? Tell me. That I’d be the sect leader and you’d be my subordinate, that you’d help me your whole life, that so long as the GusuLan Sect had its Two Jades, the YunmengJiang Sect would have its Two Prides, that you’d never betray me or betray the Jiang Sect—who was the one that said these?! I’m asking you—who was the one that said all these?! Did you eat all your fucking words?!”