Wen Ning was standing not far away in the distance. Alone worth more than a hundred soldiers, he battled amid the chaos. Jin ZiXun, “You didn’t really think that you could attend A-Ling’s full-month celebration, did you?”
The sentence made Wei WuXian’s hands tremble slightly.
At this point, a voice shouted, “Stop!”
A white-clothed figure leaped down the valley lightly, blocking between Wei WuXian and Jin ZiXun. Seeing who had come, Jin ZiXun exclaimed, “ZiXuan? Why are you here?!”
Jin ZiXuan placed one hand on the hilt of his sword, enraged, “Why do you think I’m here?!”
Jin ZiXun, “Where’s A-Yao?”
Jin ZiXuan was the helper who was supposed to be here to assist him. Just last year, he still held much contempt toward Jin GuangYao. Now that the two’s relationship had become better, however, he began to call him in a more intimate manner. Jin ZiXuan, “I stopped him at Koi Tower. If not for how I exposed him after I saw that he looked strange, you two are just going to continue with this? Why didn’t you tell me at all that you were cursed with Hundred Holes and instead came to do this without saying anything?!”
The fact that Jin ZiXun had been cursed with Hundred Holes was indeed an unspeakable matter. First of all, he had both a good appearance and a good physique. He’d always thought of himself as handsome and couldn’t bear for others to know that he was under such an unsightly, repulsive curse. Second of all, to have been cursed meant that his level of cultivation wasn’t high enough, since his spiritual energy was too weak to be able to hold against the curse. This made it even more inconvenient to explain to others. And thus, Jin GuangShan was the only one to whom he told about the curse, pleading with Jin GuangShan to find him the medics and curse specialists. Yet, neither of the two were able to do anything.
Jin Ling’s full-month celebration just so happened to be near, to which Jin ZiXuan actually invited Wei WuXian. Jin GuangShan wasn’t too fond of this idea to begin with, and so he suggested that Jin ZiXun use this as an opportunity, killing Wei WuXian on his way to the banquet. This way, he wouldn’t have to come to Koi Tower either.
Wei WuXian was Jiang Yanli’s shidi, and the couple was quite affectionate toward each other. Jin ZiXuan told his wife everything, no matter what a trivial matter it was. A few people were worried that he might give the plan away, causing Wei WuXian not to come, and so they had been keeping Jin ZiXuan in the dark. This was indeed a bit unfair.
Seeing that everything had fallen through, Jin ZiXun couldn’t help but feel somewhat guilty. But, no matter what, his life was the most important, “ZiXuan, hide it from Sister-in-Law for now. I’ll give you two a formal apology after I get rid of these things on my body!”
The last time Wei WuXian saw Jin ZiXuan, he still had the youthful pride on him. Now that he was married, he seemed a lot more mature. His voice was steady as well, although his face had darkened, “It is still possible to turn things around. All of you, stop for the time being.”
Jin ZiXun was both angry and impatient, “What is there to turn around now that things are already like this? Haven’t you seen these things on me?!”
He seemed as if he wanted to lift his shirt again to reveal his chest full of holes. Jin ZiXuan quickly stopped him, “There’s no need! I’ve heard about it from Jin GuangYao already!”
Jin ZiXun, “Since you’ve heard it from him already, you should know that I can’t wait. Don’t tell me that you’ll disregard your brother’s life for the sake of Sister-in-Law’s shidi?!”
Jin ZiXuan, “You clearly know that I’m not that kind of person! He might not necessarily be the one who cursed you with Hundred Holes either. Why are you so rash? I was the one who invited Wei WuXian to A-Ling’s full-month celebration anyways. If this is the way you do things, where does that leave me? Where does it leave my wife?”
Jin ZiXun raised his voice, “It’s best if he doesn’t attend! What does Wei WuXian think he is—does he deserve to attend our sect’s banquet? Whoever touches him gets nothing but a splash of black! ZiXuan, when you invited him, weren’t you worried that you, Sister-in-Law and A-Ling would receive an irremovable stain for the rest of your lives?!”
Jin ZiXuan shouted, “Shut up right now!”
Deeply infuriated, Jin ZiXun clenched down. The wooden box that held the bell and the jade tassel was clenched into dust at once!
Wei WuXian watched the object break to pieces with his own eyes. Pupils shrinking fast, he lunged at Jin ZiXun. Jin ZiXuan, however, didn’t know what was inside the box yet. He raised his hand and blocked the attack, shouting, “Wei WuXian! Have you had enough yet?!”
Wei WuXian’s chest heaved up and down. His eyes were red. Jin ZiXuan and Jin ZiXun were cousins who had known each other well ever since they were young. With almost twenty years between them, at this point, it was indeed difficult for him to defend an outsider. And, in truth, he didn’t like Wei WuXian as a person either.
Collecting himself, he spoke, “Tell Wen Ning to stop first. Don’t let him continue his rampage and make the situation worse than it already is.”
Wei WuXian’s voice was coarse, “… Why don’t you make them stop first?”
Relentless shouts and roars came from all around them. Jin ZiXuan raged, “Why are you still so stubborn at such a time? When everyone calms down, you can follow me back to Koi Tower to explain things and answer some questions. With everything clear, if you aren’t the one who did it, of course you’ll be fine!”
Wei WuXian, “Tell him to stop? As soon as I tell Wen Ning to stop right now, the arrows would fly straight at my heart and I wouldn’t even die a whole corpse! And you think I could explain things at Koi Tower?”
Jin ZiXuan, “They would not!”
Wei WuXian laughed, “They would not? How can you ensure it? Jin ZiXuan, I have a question—when you invited me at first, did you really not know about their plan to kill me?!”
Jin ZiXuan paused for a second before he raged, “You! Wei WuXian, are… are you mad?!”
Wei WuXian was suppressing a blazing flame of hatred. His voice was cold, “Jin ZiXuan, move away right now. I won’t touch you, but you’re not going to provoke me either.”
Seeing that he still refused to yield, Jin ZiXuan suddenly lunged forward, as if trying to hold him down, “Why can’t you just back off for once?! A-Li is still…”
Just as he reached toward Wei WuXian, he heard a strange, heavy noise.
The noise was almost a bit too near. Jin ZiXuan paused in surprise. He looked down and finally saw the hand that pierced his chest.
Without anyone noticing, Wen Ning had already joined them. On half of his expressionless face was splattered a few searing, glaring drops of blood.
Jin ZiXuan’s lips moved. His expression was somewhat blank. Yet, still, he managed to continue the sentence that he couldn’t finish:
“… is still waiting for you to go to Koi Tower and attend A-Ling’s full-month celebration…”
The same blankness was on Wei WuXian’s face. In the short period of time, Wei WuXian hadn’t realized what happened yet.
What was happening?
Why did things become like this in just a few seconds?