The person was both shocked and enraged, “Me? How could I be the same as you? Don’t you mix the black and the white! You’re the most suspicious. Do you think we don’t know? You and Jin ZiXun have held enmity toward each other ever since a year ago!”
Wei WuXian’s voice dripped in ice, “Just who is the one mixing the black and the white? That’s right. If I wanted to kill him, I would’ve done it a year ago. I didn’t have to keep him until now. Or else, I’d forget such a person in no more than three days, much less a year.”
Sect Leader Yao was shocked, “… Wei WuXian, Wei WuXian, today I’ve finally come to see. I’ve really never seen a villain as unreasonable as you are… Even after you killed the people, you have to shame them with words. Don’t you hold any sympathy, any guilt?”
The crowd flung curses at him, but Wei WuXian accepted all of them.
Anger was the only thing that could suppress the other feelings within his heart.
One of the cultivators who stood in the front rows of one of the arrays commented bitterly, “Wei Ying, you disappoint me so much. There used to be a time when I admired you and said that at least you were someone who founded your own sect. Now that I think about it, it’s almost repulsive. From this moment on, I’ll forever stand on the opposite side of you!”
Hearing this, Wei WuXian first paused, but soon exploded with laughter, “Hahahaha…”
He laughed so hard that he almost couldn’t breathe, “You admired me? You said you admired me, but why haven’t I ever seen you when you admired me? And as soon as I’m loathed by everyone, you jump out and wave your little flag?”
Tears of laughter seeped from the corners of Wei WuXian’s eyes, “Your admiration as a bit too cheap, isn’t it? You said that you’ll forever stand on the opposite side of me. Very well. Does the fact that you’re standing on the opposite side of me affect me at all? Both your admiration and your hatred are so, so insignificant. How could you be so shameless as to flaunt them in front of others?”
Before he could finish, he suddenly felt something at his throat. A dull ache came from his chest. He looked down to see a fletched arrow in the center of his chest. The head of the arrow was buried between two of his ribs.
He gazed toward the direction in which the arrow came from. The one who shot the arrow was a young cultivator with delicate features. Standing before a small sect’s array, he was still maintaining the pose, his bowstring still vibrating.
Wei WuXian could tell the arrow tip was originally aiming for his heart, his vital region. Yet, because the archer wasn’t skilled, the force of the arrow tip dwindled by midair to have missed the heart and shot into the ribcage.
Everyone around the person who shot the arrow had eyes wide open, staring with shock and even fear at the disciple who had done such a thing. Wei WuXian looked up. Darkness veiled his face. He pulled out the arrow and tossed it back hard. With a wail, the young cultivator who snuck an attack at him was hit right in the chest with the arrow he tossed back!
A boy next to him threw himself on top of him, “Brother! Brother!”
The sect’s array was immediately thrown into chaos. The sect leader pointed at Wei WuXian with one shaking finger, “You… You… You are so cruel!”
With his right hand, Wei WuXian unhurriedly pressed the wound at his chest, temporarily ceasing the blood flow. His voice was indifferent, “What does cruel mean? If he dared shoot the arrow at me when I was off guard, he should’ve known what would be facing him if he failed. They call me the cultivator of the crooked path, anyways, so you can’t possibly count on me to be generous and not bother with him, can you?”
Jin GuangShan ordered, “Set up the battle arrays, set up the battle arrays! We won’t let him leave here alive no matter what!”
With the order, the stalemate was finally broken. Carrying swords and arrows, many disciples rushed toward the ceiling of the palace.
They finally attacked first!
With a bitter smile, Wei WuXian took up Chenqing from beside his waist and placed it at his lips. With the flute’s sharp howl, pale hands broke through the dirt of the Nightless City plaza, one after another!
Corpse after corpse toppled the white bricks laid on the ground, crawling out from the depths of the soil. Some of those who just mounted their swords and left the ground were immediately dragged back down by them. Wei WuXian stood atop the ridge of the Palace of Sun and Flames, eyes glowing a cold light amid the notes of the flute and the night sky. Looking down, the uniforms of the different sects seemed to be a boiling concoction of multicolored water, tossing and turning, parting at times and joining at others. Apart from the YunmengJiang Sect, all sects were jumbled. Each sect leader hurried to protect their own disciples, having no spare time to attack Wei WuXian.
Suddenly, the limpid notes of a zither interrupted Chenqing.
Wei WuXian put down Chenqing and turned around to see a person sitting on another of the ridges, guqin laid across his lap. His snow-white robes seemed to burn the eye amid the dark of the night.
Wei WuXian spoke in a cold voice, “Lan Zhan.” After he greeted him, he again placed his flute to his lips, “You should’ve known since long ago—Sound of Lucidity is useless to me!”
Lan WangJi flipped the guqin onto his back. Instead, he pulled out Bichen and attacked straight at Chenqing, as if he wanted to sever the flute playing such wrongful notes.
Wei WuXian spun around to dodge the attack and laughed, “Fine, fine. I knew since the start that we’d have to fight a real fight like this one sooner or later. You’ve always found me disagreeable no matter what. Come on!”
Hearing this, Lan WangJi’s movements paused, “Wei Ying!”
Although he shouted the words, any sane person would be able to tell that Lan WangJi’s voice was clearly shaking. However, right now, Wei WuXian had already lost his judgement. He was already half-mad, half-unconscious. All evil was being augmented by him. He felt that everyone loathed him and he loathed everyone as well. He wouldn’t be scared no matter who came at him. It wouldn’t matter no matter who came at him. It was all the same anyway.
Suddenly, amid the battle noises, Wei WuXian heard a faint voice.
The voice was shouting, “A-Xian!”
Like a bucket of ice-cold water, the voice doused the vile flames raging within his heart.
Jiang YanLi?
When did she come to the pledge conference?!
Wei WuXian was immediately half dead with fright. He couldn’t care about the fight with Lan WangJi any longer and put down Chenqing, “Shijie?!”
Jiang Cheng heard the voice as well. In an instant, his face had turned white, “Sis? Sis! Where are you? Where are you?”
Wei WuXian jumped down the ridge of the palace, shouting with just as much force as Jiang Cheng, “Shijie? Shijie? Where are you? I can’t see you!”
He couldn’t care less about the swords and arrows that came at him. With his bare hands, he fought his way through the frenzied crowd as he walked as fast as possible. Suddenly, he saw Jiang YanLi’s white figure sunken within the people.Wei WuXian went forth and tried to push away those who blocked his path, but it was difficult for him to move. There was still a large distance between them, formed by countless people. At the moment, it was impossible for Wei WuXian to rush over, and it was the same for Jiang Cheng. At this point, both of the two realized that behind Jiang YanLi’s back, a fierce corpse had stood shakily up.