Jin GuangShan, “Whatever it is, it must be able to wait a little longer. Come, come, you can sit down first. Let’s talk about this with no rush.”
Soundlessly, Jin GuangYao had already prepared a new seat. Wei WuXian, “Thank you, Sect Leader Jin, but I won’t stay for long. The matter can’t be delayed. Please let this be sorted out as soon as possible.”
Jin GuangShan, “There’s no need for hurry. If we break things down, there are indeed a few things between us that haven’t been accounted for yet, things that can’t be delayed. Now that you’re here, how about we use the opportunity to sort those things out as well?”
Wei WuXian raised a brow, “Account for what?”
Jin GuangShan, “Young Master Wei, we’ve brought this up a couple of times with you already. You haven’t forgotten, have you? … During the Sunshot Campaign, you had once used a certain object.”
Wei WuXian, “Oh. You did mention it before. The Tiger Seal?”
Jin GuangShan, “It is said that the Stygian Tiger Seal was casted from the iron of a sword that you acquired in the cave of the Xuanwu of Slaughter. Back then, you used it on the battlefield once. Its powers were horrifying, causing even a few of our own cultivators to be affected by its residual force…”
Wei WuXian interrupted, “Please get to the point.”
Jin GuangShan, “This is the point. In the battle, apart from the Wen Sect, our sides undertook great losses as well. In my opinion, such a weapon is quite difficult to be controlled. For it to be in the hands of just a single person might be…”
Before he even finished his words, Wei WuXian began to laugh.
After a few laughs, he continued, “Sect Leader Jin, let me ask you something else. Do you think that, because the QishanWen Sect is gone, the LanlingJin Sect has all right to replace it?”
All was silent within Glamor Hall.
Wei WuXian added, “Everything has to be given to you? Everyone has to listen to you? Looking at how the LanlingJin Sect does things, I almost thought that it was the QishanWen Sect’s empire all over again.”
Hearing this, over Jin GuangShan’s square-shaped face flashed a hue of embarrassed anger. After the Sunshot Campaign, the criticism of Wei WuXian cultivating the ghoul path that the sects had once veiled began to rise. He mentioned the Stygian Tiger Seal here intending to threaten Wei WuXian, reminding him that there was still something they held against him, that others were still watching him, and thus he shouldn’t be so bold as to want to climb above the LanlingJin Sect. Nobody expected Wei WuXian’s words to be so harshly straightforward. Although he’d held the quiet thought of succeeding the Wen Sect’s position since a long time ago, nobody had ever dared to bring it to the surface so fearlessly, going as far as to mock him.
A guest cultivator on his right shouted, “Wei WuXian! Watch your words!”
Wei WuXian, “Did I say something wrong? Forcing living people to be bait and beating them up whenever they refused to obey—is this any different from what the QishanWen Sect does?”
Another guest cultivator stood up, “Of course it’s different. The Wen-dogs did all kinds of evil. To arrive at such an end is only karma for them. We only avenged a tooth for a tooth, letting them taste the fruit that they themselves had sown. What’s wrong with this?”
Wei WuXian, “Take revenge on the ones who bite you. Wen Ning’s branch doesn’t have much blood on their hands. Don’t tell me that you find them guilty by association?”
Another person spoke, “Young Master Wei, is it that they don’t have much blood on their hands just because you say so? These are only your one-sided words. Where’s the evidence?”
Wei WuXian, “You think that they killed the innocent—aren’t those your one-sided words as well? Shouldn’t you be the first one to show evidence? Why would you instead ask me for evidence?”
The person shook his head, the words ‘this man refuses to reason with me’ written all over his face. Someone else sneered, “Back then, when the Wen Sect slaughtered our people, it was thousands of times crueler than this! They didn’t treat us with justice and morality, so why should we treat them with such?”
Wei WuXian grinned, “Oh. The Wen-dogs did all kinds of evil, so anyone whose surname is Wen can be killed? That’s not it, is it? Many of the clans who defected from the Wen Sect are quite well-off right now, aren’t they? In this hall, isn’t there a few sect leaders from clans that used to be under the Wen Sect’s wing?”
As the sect leaders saw that he recognized them, their expressions changed at once. Wei WuXian continued, “Since anyone whose surname is Wen can be used an outlet of anger as one pleases, no matter if they’re innocent or not, does it mean that it’s fine even if I kill all of them right now?”
Before he even finished his words, he placed his hand on his waist where Chenqing hung. Instantly, it was as if a piece of memory was stirred up in the minds of everyone within the hall, as though they returned to the battlefield where darkness became the sky and corpses became mountains. At once, people stood up from among the crowd.
Lan WangJi’s lowered his voice, “Wei Ying!”
Jin GuangYao was the closest to Wei WuXian, but he maintained his composure, speaking in a gentle voice, “Young Master Wei, please don’t overdo things. Things are still open for discussion.”
Jin GuangShan stood up as well, his face a mixture of shock, anger, fear, and hatred, “Wei WuXian! Just because… Sect Leader Jiang isn’t here doesn’t mean you can be so reckless!”
Wei WuXian’s voice was harsh, “Do you think that I wouldn’t be reckless if he were here? If I wanted to kill someone, who could stop me, and who would dare stop me?!”
Lan WangJi spoke, one word at a time, “Wei Ying, put down Chenqing.”
Wei WuXian looked at him. From against the pair of eyes as mild as glass, he saw his own hideous reflection. He spun around, shouting, “Jin ZiXun!”
Jin GuangShan hurried, “ZiXun!”
Wei WuXian, “Cut the nonsense. I’m sure everyone knows that my patience is limited. Where is he? With so much time wasted on you, I’ll give you three. Three!”
Jin ZiXun wanted to resist, but when he saw Jin GuangShan’s face, he felt his heart shiver. Wei WuXian began again, “Two!”
Jin ZiXun finally yelled, “… Fine! Fine! It’s just a few Wen-dogs. Take them if you want to. I’m not fooling around with you any longer! Go find them at Qiongqi Path on your own!”
Wei WuXian laughed coldly, “If only you said it sooner.”
He came like wind and went like wind. When his silhouette finally disappeared, the storm over the people’s heads finally dissipated. Within Glamor Hall, most of those who stood up sat back down again. Almost all of them had already broken into cold sweats. On the other hand, Jin GuangShan, standing with a blank face where his seat was, finally lost his temper and kicked over the table in front of him. All of the gold dishes and silver platters rolled down the stairs.
Seeing his discomposure, Jin GuangYao wanted to ease the situation, starting, “Fa-”
Before he could finish, Jin GuangShan had already left. Jin ZiXun also felt that by giving in, he lost face in front of everyone. Out of both anger and hatred, he wanted to leave as well.