Some said that it was five thousand as well. No matter three or five, one thing was for sure—in that night, the ruins of Nightless City became a gory hell in Wei WuXian’s hands.
And the murderer, even under everyone’s attacks, managed to return to Burial Mound unscathed. Nobody knew how exactly he did it.
Due to this battle, the cultivation world was quite badly wounded. And since this was the case, after nearly three months of conserving energy and scheming plans, the Four Great Sects were finally able to successfully pull off a siege on the demon’s den, Burial Mound, returning the word ‘massacre’ to the Wen Sect’s remnants and the maddened YiLing Patriarch.
Wei WuXian looked at the cultivators before the Demon-Slaughtering Cave. Their expressions were the absolute same as those of the cultivators from the night of the pledge conference, pouring their wine on the ground as they took the pledge to scatter the ashes of the Wen Sect’s remnants and him. Some were the survivors of that night, others were the descendents of those cultivators, but even more were ‘persons of justice’ who held the same beliefs as them.
Yi WeiChun, the middle aged cultivator who proclaimed to have had his legs cut off by him and had to wear wooden prosthetics from then on, spoke up again, “The debts of blood you owe three thousand people will never be repaid, not even if you die a million times!”
Wei WuXian interrupted him, “Three thousand people? There were indeed three thousand cultivators present that night at Nightless City, but so too were the leaders the sects and many of their elites. With all of them present, could I have really killed all of the three thousand people? Are you thinking too highly of me, or are you looking down on them?”
He was only stating a simple fact calmly, but the cultivator felt as if he was scorned, fuming, “What do you think we’re talking about here? How could there be bargaining to debts of blood?”
Wei WuXian, “It’s not that I want to bargain about such a thing, but that I don’t want my charges to be doubled just because of some words from another. I won’t shoulder what I didn’t do.”
Someone spoke, “What you didn’t do? What is there that you didn’t do?”
Wei WuXian, “For example, I’m not the one who cut ChiFeng-Zun apart. I’m not the one who forced Madam Jin to take her own life at Koi Tower. I’m not the one who controls all of those corpses you ran into when you rushed up the mountain either.”
Su She smiled, “Patriarch YiLing, I’ve always heard that you’re arrogant, yet now you’re being so humble. If not you, I really can’t think of anyone in this world who can control so many fierce corpses, putting up such a good fight with us.”
Wei WuXian, “You really can’t think of anyone? Anyone can do it if they have the Tiger Seal.”
Su She, “Isn’t the Tiger Seal one of your weapons?”
Wei WuXian, “Now it’s time to ask just whom it is that treasures it so much. It’s like Wen Ning. Back then, some certain sects or so were scared to death of the Ghost General. They said they’d kill him on the surface, but behind their backs they hid him for over ten years. How strange. Who was the one that said his ashes had been scattered back then?”
In unison, everyone looked across at the LanlingJin Sect’s disciples who were present. After all, the LanlingJin Sect’s leader was the one who held complete responsibility over the matter, proclaiming with solemnity that the two leaders of the Wen Sect’s remnants had been burned, and even scattering the ashes in Nightless City.
Su She immediately replied, “You really don’t have to make up stories.”
Suddenly, strange rustlings and rumbles sounded amid the forests again.
Lan QiShen, “Be careful, everyone! The second wave of corpses is here!”
Hearing this, half of the group went forth to deal with it, while the other half still pointed the tips of their swords alarmingly at the ‘mob’ in front of the Demon-Slaughtering Cave.
Wei WuXian, “I said, already, that these corpses aren’t under my control. If you have the time to look at me, perhaps you should look at them instead.”
There were quite a few famed cultivator present, as well as some sect leaders and seniors. To deal with a group of fierce corpses was nothing difficult. With the sounds of the guqin and the sword glares flying everywhere, nobody had the spare time to care about what went on here.
With a wave of his whip, Jiang Cheng slashed three corpses into pieces before he turned around to Jin Ling, “Jin Ling! Do you want your legs or not?!”
What he meant was that he’d break Jin Ling’s legs if he still refused to come back. However, such a threat was something that Jin Ling had heard over and over again. He’d never done it for real. And thus, he glanced at Jiang Cheng, but still didn’t move. Jiang Cheng cursed, retrieving Zidian with a twist of his wrist, as though to wrap it around Jin Ling and drag him back by force. Yet, the purple light glowing on Zidian’s body suddenly dimmed. A moment later, it went out.
Immediately, the long whip became a silver ring and wrapped itself around his ring finger. Jiang Cheng paused in astonishment. He’d never been in a situation where Zidian morphed back on its own. He was still staring at his palm when two drops of blood splattered on the center of it.
Jiang Cheng lifted his hand and wiped to see a handful of red. Jin Ling exclaimed, “Uncle!”
A few shouts of surprise came from within the crowd battling with the corpses as well. Over there, most of the sword glares had dimmed, and two scarlet streaks of blood hung on over half of the people’s faces. Nosebleeds. For some, blood trickled from both their noses and their mouths!
One of the sword cultivators exclaimed, “What’s happening?!”
“My spiritual powers are gone!”
“Shixiong, come help for a bit! Something happened over here!”
Bichen was unsheathed, killing the corpse that chased after the cultivator shouting for help. However, the distressed calls grew in number, rising and falling. The crowd gathered slowly as well, retreating in the direction of the Demon-Slaughtering Cave.
Right now, the cultivators who were prepared to have a grand battle up at Burial Mound had suddenly lost their spiritual powers. Not only had the sword glares disappeared and the talismans failed, even the melodies of the GusuLan Sect’s and the MolingSu Sect’s disciples had become ordinary sounds, losing the exorcising abilities.
The situation was reversed!
Lan WangJi took off the guqin from his back. The vibration of the strings echoed skyward. However, no matter how adept he was at Sound of Vanquish, he was nonetheless alone. Wen Ning leaped out of the Cave and helped him chase the corpses away, at the same time having to endure in silence the kicks and punches coming from these cultivators. Fortunately, he was unable to feel pain, and thus wasn’t affected.
Amid the pandemonium, Lan SiZhui suddenly rushed out and shouted, “Everyone, come here, come inside the Demon-Slaughtering Cave. There is a large array on the ground of the cave. It is missing some parts, but it should work if it is mended. It should be able to manage for a while!”
A few of the cultivators who had gone mad with killing wanted to go in as soon as they heard it. Su She, however, shouted in a louder voice, “Nobody go in! It must be a trap! There must be even greater dangers lying inside for us!”