Chapter 107: Concealment (Part One)

Clenching his teeth, Jin GuangYao struck a few acupoints of his arm. Amidst the dizziness that came from a loss of blood, he suddenly saw Nie MingJue walk a step towards him, his eyes locked on him. He was immediately half-dead with fear. 

On the side, Su She coughed out some more blood, shouting his throat hoarse, “You idiots! Why are you still standing there?! Stop him! Stop the thing at the door!”

The cultivators of the LanlingJin Sect who’d been spacing out for a while now finally took up their swords and approached, although the first two were immediately sent flying off by Nie MingJue’s palm. With his left hand, he sprinkled medicine where his hand was cut off, but the powder was washed away by the blood at once. Almost tearing up, he tore at the hem of his clothes in hope to cease the blood flow by bandaging the wound, but his left hand was burned by the poisonous smoke within the coffin and his chest was as well, unable to exert strength. He tore for quite some time, trembling, yet he still couldn’t tear it off, only adding to his pain. Su She threw himself over and ripped off a piece of white fabric from his own clothes to bandage his wound. 

At the same time, Lan XiChen led Nie HuaiSang to somewhere that was safe. Su She searched for extra medicine on him, but to no avail, turning to Lan XiChen, “Sect Leader Lan! Sect Leader Lan, do you have medicine? Help him out—Sect Leader has always treated you with respect! Just take it as doing him a favor!”

As Lan XiChen saw how terrible Jin GuangYao looked, almost passing out, slight hesitation passed through his eyes. At this time, a few screams came from over on the other side. With a heavy punch, Nie MingJue smashed three of the cultivators into a scarlet puddle of flesh!

Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi stood in front of Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. Wei WuXian, “Wen Ning! How did you run into him?!”

After Wen Ning put his arm back in place, he shifted to attach his broken leg, “Young Master… I’m sorry… You told me to go back and find Young Master Lan. I couldn’t find him in the inn, so I could only search for him in the streets. Before I could find Young Master Lan, I saw ChiFeng-Zun walking out in the open, as though he was looking for something. A group of beggar children saw him and went to fool around with him. They didn’t know what he was. ChiFeng-Zun was completely unconscious. With his bare hands, he almost… I could only keep fighting with him all the way here…”

It was entirely needless for Wei WuXian to ask why he couldn’t find Lan WangJi at the inn. He couldn’t sleep next door to Lan WangJi, so could Lan WangJi have slept next door to him? It was natural that he, too, went out and roamed around before he saw Fairy who fled the scene, searching for help. The sudden storm must’ve began after Wen Ning and Nie MingJue started to fight as well.

A creature such as the ‘corpse’ attracted darkness in the first place, much less two of these unusual fierce corpses!

Although the LanlingJin Sect cultivators couldn’t at all compete with Nie MingJue, they continuously rushed forth with bravery. Yet, as their swords met with Nie MingJue’s body, it was as though they met with fine steel, unable to carve even the slightest wound. Nie HuaiSang peeked carefully from behind Lan XiChen’s back, his voice both frightened and eager, “B-B-Brother, I-I’m…”

Nie MingJue’s pupil-less eyes stared, widened, before he charged at him. Lan XiChen lowered his chin slightly. With a sob of Liebing, Nie MingJue’s figure froze.

Lan XiChen, “Brother, this is HuaiSang!”

Nie HuaiSang, “Brother can’t even recognize me…”

Wei WuXian, “Not only can’t he recognize you, he can’t even recognize whom he himself is right now!” 

Nie MingJue had already become a corpse controlled by the heavy energy of resentment. He was fierce and violent, attacking indiscriminately. After he’d rested for a while, Wen Ning sunk into battle again, but Wen Ning’s resentful energy wasn’t as heavy as his, and his physique wasn’t as tall either. On top of that, Wei WuXian’s flute had broken, unable to provide any assistance. He was somewhat in the disadvantage. Just as Jin GuangYao, who’d been lying on the ground, finally staunched the bleeding from his wound, Su She got up and put him over his back, wanting to run away amid the chaos. The movement made the alert Nie MingJue notice them again. He threw Wen Ning off and walked in large strides towards Jin GuangYao. 

Jin Ling exclaimed, “Uncle! Run!”

Hearing that he even dared say something to remind his enemy, Jiang Cheng slapped him on the back of his head, shouting in rage, “Shut up!”

Jin Ling only realized after he took the slap. But, after all, it was his uncle, someone who’d watched him grow up. In the past decade or so, it wasn’t that Jin GuangYao was unkind to him. As Jin Ling saw that he was about to die in the hands of the fierce corpse, he couldn’t help but to exclaim. Yet, as Nie MingJue heard him, he turned around almost as if in confusion. 

Wei WuXian felt his chest tighten, lowering his voice, “Oh no!”

Now that Nie MingJue had become a fierce corpse, his resentful energy was of course highest when directed at his enemy, Jin GuangYao. However, fierce corpses didn’t tell people apart through their eyes!

Jin GuangYao was quite close to Jin Ling in terms of bloodline. To creatures of darkness, the blood and breath of both these two humans seemed somewhat familiar, and those in a state of disorientation would find it even more difficult to tell the two apart. Right now, blood poured from Jin GuangYao’s lost arm. With weak breaths, and he was almost half dead, while Jin Ling was still alive and jumping. Nie MingJue’s dead, thoughtless brain naturally held greater interest in him.

Lan WangJi commanded Bichen forth to attack straight at Nie MingJue’s chest. As expected, the blade stopped as soon as it landed. As Nie MingJue looked down and saw the glittering sword, he roared and reached for it. Lan WangJi immediately summoned back Bichen, which flew into its sheath with a loud clang. Nie MingJue ended up empty-handed. Right after, with a turn of his left hand, he flipped out the Wangji guqin and placed it on his palm. Without any hesitation, he strummed a stream of notes. Lan XiChen returned Liebing to his lips again as well. With a wave of his hand, Wei WuXian sent out over fifty talismans flying towards Nie MingJue, but before they even got close, they were ignited by his resentful energy and burned to ashes in the air!

With a roar, Nie MingJue grabbed at Jin Ling. Both Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling had backed away to the corner of the wall, unable to retreat further. Jiang Cheng could only stuff Jin Ling behind him and unsheathe Sandu, which at the moment was unable to use spiritual energy, forcing himself to fend off the attack. Although both the guqin and the xiao had sounded, they were going to be too late!

Nie MingJue’s heavy fist punched through a body.

But the body was neither Jiang Cheng’s nor Jin Ling’s.

Wen Ning blocked himself before the wall, in front of the two of them. With both his hands, he grabbed Nie MingJue’s iron arm and slowly pulled it out of his chest, leaving behind a large, hollow hole. There was no bleeding. Only a couple of black organ crumbs fell out.

Wei WuXian, “Wen Ning!!!”

While Jiang Cheng looked as though he could lose his mind right there. He stammered, “You? You?!”

The punch was too strong. Not only did it pierce through Wen Ning’s chest, it also shattered a part of his larynx. Unable to say a single thing, he collapsed. With where he stood, he fell right onto Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling’s bodies. He was momentarily unable to move, but his eyes were still open, staring at them unblinkingly.

Jin Ling originally loathed the murderer, the weapon that pierced his father’s heart. Ever since he was young, he’d sworn countless times that if he had the opportunity, he’d definitely cut off the flesh from Wei Ying’s and Wen Ning’s bodies, piece by piece. Later, as he didn’t want to hate Wei WuXian, he hated Wen Ning with double the energy. But right now, as he watched the murderer, the weapon had his heart be pierced in the same way, he couldn’t even push Wen Ning rudely away so that he didn’t lean on them.

He knew he was dead. Much less having a hole in his body, even if he were to be snapped into two from his waist, he might not even end up with any serious consequences. But for some reason, he couldn’t stop his tears from spilling over his eyes.

After the punch, Nie MingJue’s movements paused as well.

With a duet from Lan WangJi and Lan XiChen, the guqin was like an icy river while the xiao like high winds. Both sounds stirred up hatred within Nie MingJue, while the duet pained him even more, stirring up a thickness around him almost as if somebody bound him with an invisible rope. As the rope tightened, his anger rose as well before he finally exploded, forcing his way out of the constraint of Sound of Vanquish as he flew at the person playing the guqin. Calmly, Lan WangJi twirled to dodge his attack. The melody didn’t stop for the slightest. Nie MingJue’s fist punched through the wall, this time. As he was about to turn around, he suddenly heart two bright chirps.

He jerked his fist out of the wall and looked toward the direction of the sound.

Wei WuXian whistled two more times, grinning, “Hello, ChiFeng-Zun. Do you recognize who I am?” Nie MingJue’s hideous white eyeballs were glued to him. Wei WuXian, “It’s fine if you don’t, as long as you recognize the whistles.”

Lan XiChen moved Liebing slightly to the side, “Young Master Wei!”

He wanted to remind Wei WuXian that his current body belonged to Mo XuanYu, and Mo XuanYu was related to Jin GuangYao by blood as well, with even more proximity than Jin Ling. If Nie MingJue directed his resentful energy to him because of this, the situation would be even more difficult. But before he continued, Lan WangJi’s gaze shifted over. Calm and collected, he shook his head.

Lan XiChen understood at once that he was telling him—there was no need to worry.

Lan WangJi believed that Wei WuXian would be fine.

Whistling, Wei WuXian sauntered around. The whistles were light and relaxed, yet within this Guanyin Temple amid a heavy storm, overflowing with corpses, the clarity of the sound appeared to be abnormally eery. As Wen Ning heard it, still lying at the corner on top of Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling, he seemed to have a strangely strong urge to stand up. Whether he held it back or he hadn’t regained the strength to move yet, he struggled for a while and collapsed again. Without thought, Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling went to catch him in unison, but after they caught him, they displayed the same hesitating expression of wanting to throw him down right then.

Grinning widely, Wei WuXian whistled the almost jocular tune as he backed away calmly, hands behind his back. Nie MingJue stood where he was. With the first step Wei WuXian took, his reaction was cold; at the third step, he still remained motionless; yet at the seventh step, it seemed as if he finally couldn’t hold his urge back any longer, taking a stride toward the direction in which Wei WuXian backed away.

And the direction in which Wei WuXian controlled him to walk was precisely the almost luxurious empty coffin at the back of the Guanyin Temple. As long as he got inside, Wei WuXian had a way to seal him.

The white, poisonous smoke had long since evaporated. It was too thin to pose as threat. Dark-faced, Nie MingJue was led towards the empty coffin, even though he instinctively felt resistance. Wei WuXian walked a circle around the coffin. Everyone held their breaths as they stared at the scene, especially Lan WangJi. As Wei WuXian whistled unhurriedly, he sent his unhurried gaze over there. As soon as their eyes met, he blinked his left eye almost flirtatiously at Lan WangJi.

As though he’d been pricked by a pin made of sugar, an unnoticeable wave rippled within the melody played by Lan WangJi’s fingers before quickly disappearing. Wei WuXian turned around, somewhat pleased with himself and patted the coffin before Nie MingJue.

At last, Nie MingJue slowly bent down. But just as he was about to tilt his upper body inside, a scream suddenly came from behind Lan XiChen.

Nie MingJue’s movements immediately stopped. Like everyone, he spun around to look. Su She carried the half-conscious Jin GuangYao on his back, with one hand holding his leg and another holding a bloodied sword. On the other hand, Nie HuaiSang lay on the ground, rolling on the ground in pain as he hugged his leg.

With this, Shuoyue’s sword energy smashed into the hand with which Su She held the sword. Su She’s face was full of shock as the sword fell out of his hand. The blade had already injured Nie HuaiSang. The scent of blood wafted through the air. Wei WuXian cursed in silence, How could this be—how dare he mess things up for me at such a critical time!

Nie HuaiSang and Nie MingJue were half-brothers with the same father. If Nie MingJue caught the scent of his blood, no killing intent would be agitated within him, but it’d make him extremely curious. And with curiosity, when his attention was directed over there, he’d notice Jin GuangYao for sure. After he killed Jin GuangYao, his killing intent would definitely become stronger, and he’d be more difficult to subdue!

As expected, gurgles came from within Nie MingJue’s throat. His body turned away from the empty coffin as well. At once, he realized whom the person lying on Su She’s back was. Wei WuXian’s whistles could no longer stop him either. Like a gust of wind, Nie MingJue rushed over, his palm flying towards Jin GuangYao’s head.

Su She dodged to the side with force. With the tip of his foot he picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground and conjured up all of his spiritual energy in one thrust at Nie MingJue’s heart. Perhaps because of the dire situation, the attack was abnormally swift and ruthless. Brimming with spiritual energy, the blade glowed brightly, enveloped by swirling radiance. It was so much better than all of the previous seemingly-elegant attacks that even Wei WuXian wanted to praise its excellence. Nie MingJue was forced a step back by the explosion of an attack as well. As the light dimmed somewhat, Nie MingJue went forth again, clawing at Jin GuangYao unstoppably. Su She threw Jin GuangYao at Lan XiChen with his left hand, while with his right he sliced at Nie MingJue’s throat.

Nie MingJue’s entire body was as impenetrable as fine steel, but not the thread that stitched his neck together!