The Founder of Diabolism - Chapter 50

Guile Chapter 50-Part Five
He kicked his saber off to the side and ran out of the field. Jin GuangYao shouted from behind him, "HuaiSang! HuaiSang!"

Just as he was about to chase over, Nie Mingjue ordered in a cold voice, "Stop!”

Jin GuangYao stopped in his tracks and turned around. Holding in his anger, Nie Mingjue glared at him, “You still dare come?”

Jin GuangYao answered in a low voice. “I came to acknowledge my mistake."

Wei WuXian, What a face—it's even thicker than mine.

Nie Mingjue, “Have you ever acknowledged your mistakes?"

Just as Jin GuangYao was about to speak, the disciples who had gone to bring medicine came back, "Sect Leader. LianFang-Zun, Young Master has locked the door and won't let anyone inside.”

Nie Mingjue. “Let me see how long he can lock himself up for. How dare he defy me?!"

Jin GuangYao spoke to the disciple with a kind countenance. “Thank you. Give me the medicine. I'll take it to him afterwards."

He took the bottle of medicine. After everyone had left. Nie Mingjue turned to him. "Just what are you here for?”

Jin GuangYao. "Brother, have you forgotten? Today is when I play the guqin for you."

Nie Mingjue gave him a straightforward answer, “There's no room for discussion as to Xue Yang’s matter. You don’t need to flatter me. It’s not working at all."

Jin GuangYao. "First. I’m not flattering you. Second, if it’s not working, Brother, then why would you care if I’m flattering you or not?"

Nie Mingjue was silent.

Jin GuangYao. "Brother, these days you’ve been stricter and stricter towards HuaiSang. Is it the saber spirit...?"

After a pause, he continued, “Does HuaiSang still not know about the saber spirit?"

Nie Mingjue, “Why would I tell him so soon?”

Jin GuangYao sighed, "HuaiSang is used to being spoiled, but he can’t be Qinghe’s idle Second Young Master for his whole life. One day he’ll realize that you’re doing this for him. Brother, just like how I realized that you’re doing this for me.”

Wei WuXian, Bravo, bravo. I wouldn't be able to say such words even if given two lifetimes, but Jin GuangYao can adjust his tone so that it doesn't sound strange at all. It even sounds a bit pleasing to the ears.

Nie Mingjue, “If you really do understand, then come see me with Xue Yang's head in your hand."

Yet. Jin GuangYao replied almost instantly.

Yes.

Nie Mingjue looked toward him. Jin GuangYao stared back, then repeated, “Yes. Brother, if you give me one last chance, in two months' time. I'll come see you with Xue Yang’s head in my hand.”

Nie Mingjue. “If you’re unable to do it?"

Jin GuangYao’s tone was firm, "If I’m unable to do it, Brother, you can do whatever you want to me."

Wei WuXian was almost starting to respect Jin GuangYao.

Even though he was always scared of Nie Mingjue, in the end. he could still use a myriad of verbal techniques to make Nie Minglue give him another chance. The same night, as though nothing had happened, Jin GuangYao began to play Sound of Clarity in the Unclean Realm again.

His oath was as solemn as could be. However, Nie Mingjue wasn't able to wait the two months.

One day. the QingheNie Sect was hosting a martial arts conference. As Nie Mingjue passed one of the annexes, he suddenly heard the hushed voice of somebody, possibly Jin GuangYao. Yet, a second later, he heard another familiar voice.

Lan XiChen, “Since Brother chose to make the oath with you. it means that he has indeed approved of you.”

Jin GuangYao spoke with dejection. "But,

Brother, didn’t you hear what he said in the oath? Every sentence meant something more. 'Face a thousand accusing fingers, be torn from limb to limb’—this was clearly a warning for me. I... I've never heard of such an oath before."

Lan XiChen replied in a gentle voice, "He said ‘if one were to think otherwise’. Do you think otherwise? If not, then why should you worry over it so much?"

Jin GuangYao, "I don’t, but Brother has already decided that I do, so what can I do?"

Lan XiChen, “He has always cherished your talent, hoping that you would choose the right path.”

Jin GuangYao. “It’s not that I don’t know what’s right and what's wrong, but that sometimes I really can't help. Nowadays, I have it bad no matter which side I’m on. I have to ensure that I’m on everyone's good sides. I wouldn’t care if it were someone else, but have I mistreated our eldest brother in any way? Brother, you heard as well. What did he call me?"

Lan XiChen sighed. “His anger was simply too great for him to have thought before speaking. Brother’s temper cannot compare to how it was in the past. You must not provoke him again. These past few days, he has been deeply troubled by the saber spirit, and HuaiSang has argued with him again. They still have not made up yet, even today"

Jin GuangYao was almost sobbing. "If he could say such a thing when he was angry, then just how does he think of me on a daily basis? Is it that because I couldn’t choose my background, because my mother couldn't choose her fate. I’ll have to be humiliated by others throughout my whole life? If so, then how is Brother different from the people who look down on me? No matter what I do. in the end. just a sentence and I’m ‘the son of a prostitute’."

Jin GuangYao was. at the moment, complaining to Lan XiChen, yet just last night he had been all soft and innocent as he talked with Nie Mingjue, playing the guqin. Hearing how Jin GuangYao spoke ill of him behind his back. Nie Mingjue burned with anger and kicked the door open. The raging flames within his head traveled throughout the entirety of his body. A thunder-like roar exploded in the air, “How dare you!"

Seeing him enter. Jin GuangYao immediately panicked and darted behind Lan XiChen. Standing between the two. Lan XiChen didn’t even have the chance to speak as Nie Mingjue lunged with his unsheathed saber. Lan XiChen blocked the attack with his sword, shouting. "Run!”

Jin GuangYao dashed out the door. Nie Minglue shook Lan XiChen off. “Don’t get in my way!"

He chased outside as well. As he passed a long corridor, he suddenly saw Jin GuangYao stroll toward him. He slashed with his saber and blood splattered out within an instant. But Jin GuangYao had clearly been running for his life. How could he have been walking back with such leisure?

After the strike, Nie Mingjue rushed forward again, staggering. As he arrived at the square, he looked up, catching his breath. Wei WuXian could hear how rapidly his heart was beating.

Jin GuangYao!

On the square, all of people who walked around had the appearance of Jin GuangYao!

Nie Mingjue had already encountered a qi deviation!

He was delirious, knowing only to kill, to kill, to kill kill kill, kill Jin GuangYao. He attacked anyone he came across. Shrieks surrounded the area. Suddenly. Wei WuXian heard somebody wail. "Brother!"

Nie Mingjue shivered as he heard the voice, becoming slightly calmer. As he turned around, he could finally make out a different face from the blurry field of Jin GuangYao’s features.

Holding an injured arm. Nie HuaiSang dragged his leg behind him, desperately shifting toward Nie Mingjue. Seeing that he finally stopped moving, Nie HuaiSang beamed, tears in his eyes. "Brother! Brother! It's me, put down your saber, it's me!"

But, before Nie HuaiSang could move over. Nie Mingjue had fallen to the ground.

Before he fell, Nie Mingjue’s eyes finally cleared up again and saw the real Jin GuangYao.

Jin GuangYao stood at the end of the corridor. Not even a trace of blood was on him. He looked over, two streams of tears pouring from his eyes.

The Sparks Amidst Snow bloomed wildly over his chest, however, they seemed to be smiling in place of him.

Suddenly. Wei WuXian heard a voice call for him from afar. The voice was both deep and cold. The first call was quite fuzzy. It sounded as though it was far, far away, between real and illusory. The second call sounded a lot more tangible. He could even distinguish an unnoticeable tone of worry within the voice.

And. as for the third call, he could hear it loud and clear.

"Wei Ying!"

Hearing this, Wei WuXian instantly pulled himself out!

He was still the thin paperman. stuck to the helmet that sealed Nie Mingjue’s head. He had tugged loose the knot that tied the iron shells over Nie Mingjue’s eyes, revealing a bloodshot eye, opened wide with anger.

There wasn't much time left. He must return to his corporal body immediately!

Paperman WuXian flapped his sleeves, flying out as though he were a butterfly. Yet, just as he dove past the curtain, he saw somebody stand in the dark corner of the secret room. Jin GuangYao smiled. Without speaking a word, he pulled out a soft sword from his waist. It was the famous sword of his, Hensheng.

Back then, when Jin GuangYao worked undercover at Wen RuoHan's side, he had often hidden the sword at his waist, wreathed the sword around his arm to use during critical moments. Although the blade of Hensheng seemed to be soft to the extremity, attacking with lingering motions, it was in reality both sharp and haunting. Once the blade had wrapped around the opposition. Jin GuangYao would apply it with a bizarre spiritual power, and one would quickly be severed into pieces by the sword, despite its tender appearance. Quite a few famous swords had been battered into piles of scrap iron just like this. At the moment, the blade of the sword attacked as though it was a serpent with silver scales, biting at the paperman without any hesitation. Losing focus for one second, and Wei WuXian would be caught in the fangs!

Paperman WuXian darted here and there, dodging the attacks with agility, but this wasn't his own body, after all. After a few moves, the tip of Hensheng had almost sliced him. If this continued, he'd be pierced through for sure!

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw a sword lying silently in one of the wooden compartments on the wall. Nobody had polished the sword since a long time ago. Both the body of the sword and its surrounding area were covered in dust.

It was nothing else but his past sword. Suibian!

Paperman WuXian flew into the cabinet and stepped with force on Suibian's hilt. With a clang, the blade heeded his command and sprang from the sheath!

Suibian flew out of its sheath and began to battle against Hensheng’s eerie sword glare. Seeing this, shock flashed across Jin GuangYao’s face. He regained his composure at once and nimbly twisted his right wrist. Like a vine. Hensheng wrapped itself around Suibian’s white, straight blade. He immediately let go of it, letting the two swords fight alone. With his left hand he flung a talisman toward Wei WuXian. The talisman ignited in midair, bursting into wild flames. Wei WuXian could feel the waves of heat as it approached him. Taking advantage of the blinding rays from the two swords fighting above them, he quickly flapped his sleeves and rushed out of the room!

The time was about to run out. Wei WuXian couldn’t care less about hiding himself, flying all the way back to the guest residences. By chance. Lan Wangji happened to open the door. And thus, with a struggling thrust, he threw himself onto Lan Wangji’s face.

Paperman WuXian stuck like glue to half of Lan Wangji’s face. It looked as though it was shivering. Lan Wangji’s eyes were covered by its two wide sleeves. He let it shiver for a while before gingerly picking it up.

A while later, once his soul had returned successfully, Wei WuXian immediately took a deep breath. He raised his head, opened his eyes, and suddenly stood up. Yet. having not expected his body to still be disoriented, he felt dizzy and leaned forward. Seeing this, Lan Wangji caught him in his arms. Wei WuXian lifted his head once more, and the top of his head collided with Lan Wangji’s chin. With a thud, both of them grunted in pain. Wei WuXian rubbed his head with one hand and felt Lan Wangji’s chin with the other, “Ugh! I’m sorry. Lan Zhan, you alright?"

His chin having been stroked a couple of times, Lan Wangji lightly took Wei WuXian’s hand away before shaking his head. Wei WuXian tugged him, “Let’s go!”

Lan Wangji didn’t ask for too many details, either. He stood up so that they could leave before finally asking, “Where to?”

Wei WuXian, “The Fragrant Palace! The bronze mirror in there is the entrance to a secret room. His wife found out some secret of his and he dragged her inside, and she should still be there as of now! And ChiFeng-Zun’s head is in there as well!"

Jin GuangYao would definitely strengthen the seal on Nie Mingjue’s head again and move it somewhere else. However, even if he could move the head, he wouldn’t be able to move his wife. Qin Sul After all. she was the mistress of Koi Tower. She attended the banquet just a while ago. If such a respected person had suddenly disappeared into nowhere, it’d be impossible for anyone not to suspect something. By taking advantage of this opportunity and barging inside, they could use their speed to prevent Jin GuangYao from having time to weave lies or shut Qin Su up!

The two attacked with tremendous force, kicking to the side anyone who tried to stop them. Jin GuangYao had trained the disciples around the Fragrant Palace to be more than alert. As soon as someone intruded, they would shout the alert even if they couldn’t defend anything, so that they could warn the master within the Fragrant Palace. However, at times like this, people often had the tendency to fall victim to their own wisdom. The louder the disciples’ alerts were, the more disadvantageous the situation was to Jin GuangYao. It was because of how countless sects had assembled here today. Aside from cautioning Jin GuangYao to take guard against the intruders, the alerts would draw them over as well!

The first to hurry over was Jin Ling. His sword was already unsheathed in his hand as he asked, "Why are you here?"

As he spoke. Lan Wangji had already walked up three steps of the ruyi stairs and unsheathed Bichen. Jin Ling seemed guarded. “This is my uncle’s bedchamber. Have you gone to the wrong place? No. you’re the intruders, aren't you? What do you want?"

The cultivators who had gathered at Koi Tower also came over, one after another. All were surprised.

“What happened?"

“Why is there so much noise here?”

“This is the Fragrant Palace. Isn’t it a bit unsuitable for us to...”

“I just heard the sound of the alerts..."

The cultivators both frowned and panicked. No sound came from within the palace. Wei WuXian readily knocked on the doors, "Sect Leader Jin? Chief Jin?"

Jin Ling fumed, "Just what do you want? Everyone is here because of you! This is my uncle s bedchamber, bedchamber, you understand?! Haven’t I told you not to..."

Lan XiChen walked over, and Lan Wangji looked at him. As their eyes met. Lan XiChen’s expression hesitated before immediately becoming more complex, as though he found something unbelievable. It seemed that he already understood.

Nie Minglue’s head was right inside of the Fragrant Palace.

Suddenly, a smiling voice echoed. "What's wrong? Is it that the reception during the day wasn’t good enough, and everyone wants to host an evening banquet here at my place?"

Jin GuangYao walked calmly out of the crowd. Wei WuXian, “LianFang-Zun, what a good timing. If you came a bit later, then we wouldn’t be able to see what’s in the secret room of the Fragrant Palace."

Jin GuangYao paused, "Secret room?"

Everyone looked rather confused, unsure of what was going on. Jin GuangYao looked somewhat lost. "And? Are secret rooms a rarity? With a couple of scarcely used treasures, any sect would have treasure rooms, right?”

Just as Lan Wangji was about to speak, Lan XiChen interrupted.

He spoke, “A-Yao, would it be possible to let us in and allow us to take a look at your treasure room?”

Jin GuangYao looked as though he found the request both strange and difficult, “Brother, since it’s called a treasure room, the things inside are best if put away. And you want me to open it all of a sudden. Well...”

Within such a short period of time, it was impossible for Jin GuangYao to have transported Qin Su somewhere else without anybody knowing. The transportation talisman could only transport the one using the talisman. Judging from Qin Su’s current state, it was impossible for her to have either the spiritual power or the intention to use such a talisman. Which was why, as of the moment,

Qin Su must still be in there.

Alive or dead—either way, it'd be a fatal to Jin _ GuangYao if found out.    H

Jin GuangYao put up a final struggle. He was still so calm, tossing excuses everywhere. Unfortunately, the more he refused, the more certain Lan Xichen's tone became. "Open it.”

Jin GuangYao looked fixedly at him. All of a sudden, he grinned, “Since Brother is so intent on it. then I must open it for everyone to see. mustn't I?"

He walked to the front of the door, which A opened at a wave of his hand. From amid the Q crowd, someone remarked coldly. "People say that the GusuLan Sect values conduct the most. Seeing from this, it seems that rumors are only rumors. Barging into the bedchamber of a sect leader is good conduct indeed."

Back when they were in the square, Wei WuXian heard the Jin Sect's disciples receive the certain person with much respect, calling him “Sect Leader Su". This was the sect leader of the rising MolingSu Sect—Su She. Su She £ wore white robes. With slender eyes, fine w brows, and thin lips, he was quite handsome, somewhat arrogant as well. Yet, although his air and features could be described as fair, they weren’t anything special.

Jin GuangYao. “Forget it. forget it. It’s not as though there are any disreputable things."

The tone that he spoke with had been controlled with great care. Others would think that he had a nice temper, and yet could also hear a slight degree of awkwardness. Jin Ling followed behind him. Indignant at how his uncle s bedchamber had been barged in, he gave quite a few glares to Wei WuXian.

Jin GuangYao spoke again, "You would like to look at the treasure room, right?”

He put his hand over the bronze mirror.

Drawing formless incantations on the mirror, he was the first one to pass through. Following closely behind him. Wei WuXian entered the secret room again. He saw the curtain covered in incantations hanging over the cabinet. He saw the iron table of cutting corpses apart.

He also saw Qin Su.

Qin Su stood by the table with her back to them. Lan XiChen was somewhat stunned, “Why is Madam Jin here?”

Jin GuangYao, “All of our possessions are shared. A-Su often comes in here to look at things as well.”

Seeing Qin Su, Wei WuXian was also surprised, So Jin GuangYao didn't transfer her somewhere else or kill her? Isn't he scared that Qin Su might say something?

Worried, he turned to Qin Su to scrutinize the side of her face. Qin Su was not only still alive, but in fact living quite well. There was nothing unusual about her at all. Although her expression was blank, Wei WuXian was certain that she had neither undergone some sort of an enchantment nor drunk any strange poisons. Her mind was conscious.

But the more conscious she was. the stranger the situation was. He saw with his own eyes just how strong Qin Su’s emotions were, how much she resisted Jin GuangYao. How could Jin GuangYao have reached an agreement with her and silenced her mouth within such a short period of time?

A foreboding feeling grew in Wei WuXian. He immediately decided that this wasn’t as smooth as they had thought. He walked toward the treasure cabinet and quickly lifted the curtain.

Behind the curtain, there wasn’t any helmet, much less any head. There was only a dagger.

The dagger shone coldly, emitting strong killing intent. Lan XiChen had been staring at the curtain as well, but he hadn’t made his mind to lift it or not. Seeing that it wasn’t what he thought it was, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief, "What is this?”

“This," Jin GuangYao walked over and played with the dagger in his hand, “Is something rare. The dagger was the weapon of an assassin. It killed countless people and it’s extremely sharp. Look at the blade of the dagger—if you look closely, you’ll see that the reflection inside it isn’t yourself. Sometimes it’s a man, sometimes it’s a woman, sometimes it’s an elder. Every one of those reflections is a spirit that had died in the assassin’s hands. Its energy is too strong, which is why I hung a curtain there to seal it.”

Lan XiChen frowned, “This must be...”

Jin GuangYao replied calmly. "That’s right. It belonged to Wen RuoHan."

Jin GuangYao was clever indeed. He had expected that one day somebody might discover the secret room. Thus, aside from Nie Mingjue’s head, he had also placed a number of other treasures here, such as swords, talismans, stone tablets, spiritual weapons—it was full of rare items. The secret room looked exactly like the average treasure room. The dagger, as he had said, was a rare item that held intense dark energy. Many sects had the habit of collecting such weapons, much less a war trophy from killing the leader of the QishanWen Sect.
Everything looked as normal as ever.