“Not only his sworn brothers, his brothers by blood had it even worse. The couple of years before Jin GuangShan’s death, he busied himself everywhere getting rid of his dad’s illegitimate children, scared that someone would suddenly appear and fight for his spot with him. It wasn’t even that bad for Mo XuanYu. If not because he lost his mind and was forced back, maybe he’d end up the same way the others did and disappear for some reason or another.”
“Jin ZiXuan’s death had to be related as well!”
“Does anyone still remember Xiao XingChen from back then? Xiao XingChen, the bright moon, the gentle breeze. And the case of the YueyangChang Sect. At that time, Xue Yang was protected single-handedly by LianFang-Zun as well!”
“When Daozhang Xiao XingChen first came down the mountain, didn’t a lot of sects want him to be a guest cultivator at their place? The LanlingJin Sect also invited him, but he politely refused. Back then, the Jin Sect was quite pleased with itself. Having been rejected by a rogue cultivator, of course it felt like it had lost face. This old enmity had to be one of the reasons they protected Xue Yang in the future as well. They just had to see Xiao XingChen lead to a terrible end, huh?”
“Hah! What do they think they are? Just you wait if you don’t join our sect?”
“How unfortunate. Back then, I had the luck of seeing Daozhang Xiao XingChen’s brilliance at a night-hunt with my own eyes. His sword, Shuanghua, could move the whole world.”
“Afterwards, Jin GuangYao still got rid of Xue Yang. What a case of the dog bites the dog.”
“I heard that back when Jin GuangYao worked undercover in the QishanWen Sect, he wasn’t genuine at all. This was what he thought: if the Sunshot Campaign didn’t go well, he’d stay at the Wen Sect and help the villain; if the Wen Sect was about to fall, he’d turn around and become a hero.”
“Wen RuoHan is probably mad as hell in the Underworld. Back then, he trained Jin GuangYao as one of his most trusted cultivators. Almost all of Jin GuangYao’s current swordsmanship was taught to him by Wen RuoHan!”
“That’s not so big of a deal, is it? I heard that the reason ChiFeng-Zun failed the surprise attack was because he purposely sent out the wrong information!”
“I’ll say a secret too. The money and resources he used to build the lookout towers were all collected from other sects, right? Every sect helped out a bit. I heard that he secretly takes… this amount.”
“Oh Heavens… So much? He really is shameless. I thought he really wanted do good back then. All of our sincerity was fed to the dogs!”
Wei WuXian felt that things were rather comical, If they’re rumors, why the hurry to believe them? If they’re secrets, why would you come to know them?
These rumors didn’t happen in just the one day. However, in the past, when Jin GuangYao was popular, they were suppressed quite well. Almost nobody took them seriously. Yet, tonight, all of the rumors seemed to have become absolute truths, forming the rocks and bricks of Jin GuangYao’s supposedly-committed crimes, proving his lack of morality.
“Judging from this, this person killed his father, his brother, his wife, his son, his master, his friend… and even committed incest. How terrifying!”
“The LanlingJin Sect is extremely overbearing, and Jin GuangYao is even more so authoritative. He never listens to other people’s opinions. Right now, the indulgent, arrogant climate was brought up by Jin GuangYao alone as well. Does he really think we’d hold our anger back?!”
“He’s probably made up his mind to get rid of us all now that he’s feeling threatened by the expanding forces of the other sects, scared that he’d be overthrown like how the Wen Sect was, right?”
Sect Leader Yao sneered, “Since this is the case, let’s make what he fears the most a reality.” He slammed his table, “Attack on Koi Tower!”
Amid the hall full of cheers, Wei WuXian thought, Right before today, he was still the LianFang-Zun whom everyone praises. Just a day, and everyone wants to beat him up.
Suddenly, someone turned around, “Mr. Wei, Jin GuangYao has got the Tiger Seal in his hands. We’ll entrust this matter to you.”
Wei WuXian, “Huh?”
He didn’t think that someone would come talk to him out of their own will, and even in such an enthusiastic way, calling him ‘Mr. Wei’ instead of derogatories like ‘Wei-dog’. He hesitated for a second.
Immediately, another sect leader followed, “That’s right! Nobody ranks higher than the YiLing Patriarch in this path of cultivation!”
“Now things are looking bad for Jin GuangYao, hahahaha…”
Wei WuXian immediately felt a bit speechless. The last time others praised him like this was during the Sunshot Campaign more than ten years ago. Although somebody finally inherited his position as being the enemy of the entire cultivation world, Wei WuXian didn’t feel happiness at such an end, much less any warmth from finally being accepted by everyone.
He only doubted in silence, Back then, could it have been just like today? A group of people gathered up in a place, began a secret discussion, cursed everything, and finally decided to have a siege on Burial Mound?
After the discussion ended, preparations finished in the YunmengJiang Sect’s banquet hall as well. However, after the banquet started, two figures were missing.
One of the sect leaders mused, “Why are Wei… Patriarch YiLing and HanGuang-Jun missing?”
Sitting at the foremost seat, Jiang Cheng asked the guest cultivator beside him, “Where are they?”
The guest cultivator, “The two went to change after they left the inner hall. They said that they wouldn’t be taking part in the banquet—that they wanted to walk around a bit and would come back later.”
Jiang Cheng sneered, “The same as before, without any manners.”
This seemed to include Lan WangJi as well. Displeasure could be seen on Lan QiRen’s face. If Lan WangJi had no manners, manners wouldn’t exist in this world. With such a thought, he began to grind his teeth at Wei WuXian again.
On the other hand, Jiang Cheng fixed his expression and spoke politely, “Everyone, please dine first. I’ll invite the two back at a later time.”
Outside of Lotus Pier, before the dock, Lan WangJi followed the lead of Wei WuXian. He didn’t ask where they were going, either. The two strolled freely.
There were a few street vendors at the dock. Wei WuXian walked over, looked, and smiled, “Good thing we didn’t eat with them. Lan Zhan, come here, come here. The pie’s really good. It’s my treat! Can we have two please?”
Grinning, the vendor wrapped two pies in greaseproof paper. Just as Wei WuXian was about to take them, he suddenly remembered that he had no money on him. How could he treat him? However, Lan WangJi had already taken them over in place of him, paying with his other hand.
Wei WuXian, “Uh-oh, my apologies. Why is it always like this? Seems like every time I want to treat you to something, it doesn’t work out.”
Lan WangJi, “It is fine.”
Wei WuXian took a bite, “Back then, I didn’t even have to pay when I ate at the dock. I grabbed whatever I wanted, ate whatever I wanted; ran after I grabbed, walked as I ate. A month later, the vendor would get the reimbursement from Uncle Jiang.”