Chapter 102
Nie Mingjue walked around the Tingshan He village, feeling dread with every step. When he'd gotten the missive from the watch tower claiming his brother had asked him to come, he'd felt nothing but worry, and it seemed it was not unfounded.
"This is atrocious," Lan Xichen said, looking horrified as he walked alongside Nie Mingjue. He'd found out that Wangji had written to him and to Lan Qiren, insisting they both come as well. The more witnesses they had to the crime that had occurred, the better.
Because Jin Guangshan had taken a step too far. He'd attacked another sect, blatantly, arrogantly, and without remorse. If they left him unchecked any longer, then he was likely to become as Wen Ruohan had been.
Hadn't Wen Ruohan only gotten as bad as he'd been because they'd left him unchecked? Because they were too terrified of going against him? And instead, they'd waited until it was almost too late. Instead they'd allowed it to go as far as it had. They'd been complacent, and the consequences had been terrifying.
"He needs to answer for this," Meng Yao whispered, as Nie Mingjue rubbed soothing circles on both of their backs. What else could he do? Because they would give the souls here their last rites, but beyond that, other there was nothing they could do for them other than seek justice.
"We need to play Inquiry for them," Lan Qiren said, having a worn out look on his face, but the anger was still there nonetheless, "Wangji, Xichen, if you do not mind? We need their testimony as well of what happened. Alongside Pei Ling's, it will be valuable in our efforts."
"Mm," Lan Wangji said, as Wei Wuxian gave his husband a look. He knew his San-di was just as bothered by the whole thing, and he hoped he wasn't blaming himself.
They were all to blame, after all. They thought they had time. They thought they'd be able to act slowly and with caution to amass evidence. And this had been the consequence. This had been the result. This was what happened because they'd waited.
Lan Xichen began to play alongside his brother, and the mixed group of Lan and Nie watched as they did.
"Can you tell me your name?" Lan Xichen asked, both aloud and with his notes.
"He Aiguo," the spirit answered, and He Su let out a sob. It was his father's spirit that had answered the request. The former He Zongzhu. If anyone was able to give an accurate description of what had happened it would be him.
"He Zongzhu, can you tell us exactly what happened here?" Lan Xichen asked, "Start at the beginning. Tell us who came to the village. Tell us who killed you. Tell us why."
"It was a normal day," The spirit said as Lan Wangji translated for it, while another Lan transcribed the interaction, "I was going over sect matters. My wife was taking my daughter shopping. The disciples were running training drills. My Head Disciple came in and said that there was a visitor from the Jin sect at the gate. I went to greet them, and noticed it was a young master of the Jin sect. Jin Zixun. I invited him in."
"Did he say why he came?" Lan Xichen asked him.
"He said Jin Zongzhu was unhappy with our sect's behaviour at the Jiang-Nie wedding. That we had insulted him greatly," the spirit said. "He said that he'd come to teach us a lesson."
"What was the lesson?" Lan Xichen asked, very specifically, and Nie Mingjue was proud of him. He wasn't leaving any room for interpretation. After the first trial of his mother where the questions were vague and could be left up for interpretation, Lan Xichen's questions now identified the exact order of events.
"He said that we would pay for it, unless we swore loyalty to the Jin sect," He Su's father said, "I refused. The He sect will not align itself with those who are corrupt. Our honour cannot be bought by coins or by threats."
"Was he the one who killed you?" Lan Xichen asked him gently.
"Yes," He Aiguo said simply.
"Why?" Lan Xichen questioned him further, "What led up to his attack?"
"When we did not bend, he pulled out a stone. It was filled with resentful energy, and my disciples pulled out their weapons against him. The anger in Jin Zixun's eyes were clear. He wanted to make us pay."
"Did your disciples attempt to fight back?" Lan Xichen asked him.
"They tried," the spirit continued, "They attacked as they'd been trained to do. It was clear that he did not have a good handle on the stone. That it was controlling him more than he was controlling it. But it was too powerful for us. The raw power was not something my sect knew how to fight against."
Tears welled in He Su's eyes as his father recounted the horrifying events that followed. How the resentful energy surged forth, overwhelming their defenses, and how Jin Zixun's grip on the stone seemed to tighten with each passing moment.
"What happened next?" Lan Xichen asked him gently.
"It was chaos," He Aiguo said, and even thought the spirit could only answer what was asked, there was very clearly pain in his voice, "My people fell to the ground, unable to stop him. My sons fell. And then, my wife and my daughter...they returned from their outing. I tried to protect them, but I was thrown out of the way. They were killed before my eyes."
He Su let out a pained sound at that, falling to the ground at the words.
Nie Mingjue felt a surge of anger and grief wash over him at the heartbreaking words. To witness such senseless violence, to be powerless to stop it; it was a fate no one should have to endure.
"Please continue in telling us what happened," Lan Xichen said, and it was clear his fiancé was just as upset, but he had to continue the questioning.
"Jin Zixun kept me alive until the end," He Aiguo said, "He said he wanted me to see the consequences of my actions. To know that I was powerless to stop him. After everyone else was dead, he killed me."
"Can you ask him if he has anything to say to his son?" Wei Wuxian asked Lan Wangji, looking over at He Su, and Nie Mingjue felt his heart break for his brother. Because wouldn't they all want to know what their parents thought and wanted for them if they could?
Lan Wangji played the notes accordingly.
"I love him," He Aiguo said, "I am proud of him. He will make a good sect leader. He is a good man and I want him to find happiness."
He Su choked out a sob, "How can I be a sect leader when my entire sect is gone?"
"We will help you rebuild," Lan Qiren told him, "The Jin will pay for their crimes. They will face justice but they will be made to offer restitution. You are not alone. You have the backing of the cultivation world. And your voice will be heard when justice is served."
He Su nodded, despite looking devastated.
"He Su, I'm so sorry," his didi murmured, offering comfort to the young man. The pain in He Su's eyes was palpable, a reflection of the trauma inflicted upon his family and sect.
As the spirit's testimony came to an end, Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji ceased their musical inquiry. The weight of the information hung heavily in the air.
"We need to find this stone," Nie Mingjue declared, his fists clenched with determination. "As raw as it may be, it is clear that it is still powerful. It cannot be left in the hands of someone like Jin Zixun or Jin Guangshan. He has stepped too far. I think this is more than enough evidence, don't you, Xiandu?"
"Yes, I think it is sufficient," Xiandu said in a hard voice, "Wangji, Xichen, can you and the others play Cleansing and Rest for the spirits here? So they can pass on peacefully? Then we will give them the proper rites they deserve."
He thought his days of seeing dead bodies spewed out so callously were over after the war ended. But Jin Guangshan had caused the same thing they'd fought so hard to avoid.
Enough was enough. It was time for him to pay for what he'd done.
"We will bring him to justice," Nie Mingjue vowed, his voice filled with determination. "Jin Guangshan and Jin Zixun will answer for their crimes, and they will both pay dearly for the lives he has taken."
Nie Mingjue felt a sense of tension as he sat in his chair, watching the other sect leaders trickle in. Lan Xichen and Jiang Wanyin had been the first to join him, wanting to show to show a united front in the wake of what was to come.
Nie Huaisang was sitting beside his new husband, and Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were sitting in between the Lan and the Nie, showing their support for both of their sects. All of their children remained in a separate room while Wen Ning watched over them. This was not the place for innocents
As some of the last of the minor sects took their seat, Nie Mingjue couldn't help but feel a twitch of his eyes, knowing Jin Guangshan was going to be late. After all, if he was going to show up on time, he'd be here already.
He felt the minutes tick by, knowing it had been at least an incense stick, and the tension in the room became palpable, murmurs filling the room every now and then.
"Do you think Jin Guangshan is not going to show up?" Nie Mingjue couldn't help but murmur to Lan Xichen, as his eyes remained trained on the entrance, not wanting to be thrown off guard by the man's late arrival.
"He has no reason to suspect we know anything," Lan Xichen said quietly, "The Lan and the Nie sect handled everything and kept the news to ourselves quietly. We didn't share what happened, and He Su has agreed to not publicize the matter until we could get Jin Guangshan and Jin Zixun here to reveal what we know."
They hadn't been able to give Jin Zixuan any sort of heads up about what was to come, but he was sure the man had an idea, given his less and less tolerant behaviour towards his father's actions. He hadn't been able to see first hand what had happened to the He sect. But he would know soon.
"Hm," Nie Mingjue tutted, as he heard sighs from some of the minor sects. He looked over and saw furtive glances to where the Tinghsan He was meant to be seated, with only He Su there. He Su, the heir of the sect but not the Zongzhu, as far as everyone else knew. For him to be alone was certainly a matter that should have raised brows.
"The Jin sect has arrived," one of the Nie disciples said, announcing the last sect, as Jin Guangshan strutted into the Unclean Realm with a sense of laziness, looking around the room with a bit of annoyance. His own son stood rigidly, and Nie Mingjue wondered how much Jin Zixuan knew.
"Now that everyone is here, we can get started," Nie Mingjue said, barely giving the Jin sect time to seat themselves before he spoke.
"What is so important that you summoned us here?" Ouyang Zongzhu asked, looking a little annoyed, "You seem to summon us for something or the other almost monthly. What was so important that you couldn't wait?"
"Forgive me," Nie Mingjue said, feeling annoyed, "But given the entirety of the Tingshan He sect, bar He gongzi, has been slaughtered, I thought it was prudent to have an emergency meeting. Especially given the cause of death was by resentful energy."
Immediately murmurs began filling the room, as people openly gawked now at He Su, who simply held his head up high. Perhaps they were wondering how he made it out unscraped. Perhaps they were wondering how he was the only survivor.
"It's clear that Wei Wuxian was responsible for this!" Su Minshan screamed out then, and the entirety of the room's eyes turned onto Nie Mingjue's San-di.
"Please explain to me how you think I got to the Tingshan He sect in time to massacre them when I ran into you in the Burial Mounds then went directly to the watch tower between Qinghe and Tingshan, right around the time the attack would have been happening, and managed not to be seen by anyone there," Wei Wuxian said with a roll of his eyes, clearly unimpressed by the man's tirade.
"You're a demonic cultivator, perhaps you managed to control the army that the attacked Tingshan He sect from afar," Jin Zixun spat out, "To give yourself an alibi while you pretended to be innocent of all your crimes."
"Who said an army attacked Tingshan He?" Nie Mingjue raised his brow, "I simply said they were attacked by resentful energy. For all we know it was a singular fierce corpse."
"How could a singular fierce corpse wipe out an entire sect?" Ouyang Zongzhu rolled his eyes, "Be realistic, Nie Mingjue. Just because he's your brother does not make him innocent of his crimes. Will this finally be enough for you to see that he is beyond redemption? That his demonic ways need to be stopped? He will turn into the next Wen Ruohan if we do not act soon and put him down."
"Who said my brother was the one responsible for the attack?" Nie Huaisang opened his fan, looking at the Ouyang sect with distaste.
"Who else can control resentful energy the way he can?" Qin Zongzhu said with heated glance at Wei Wuxian.
"I don't know, perhaps Xue Yang who escaped our captivity and has been known for murdering entire sects?" Wei Wuxian said sarcastically, "Whereas, once again, I destroyed the Yin Tiger Amulet and have not practiced demonic cultivation actively since the war. And yet, why is it my name that is the first to be dragged through the mud time and time again, when I have not been responsible for a single one of these crimes actively being committed against the cultivation world."
"Are you saying Xue Yang is responsible for these crimes?" Jin Guangshan said, looking at Nie Mingjue carefully, perhaps trying to decern what it was that they knew and calculating what he could get away with. Because even if Jin Guangshan had been acting more rashly recently, there was no way he did not have a plan in place for this exact situation.
But perhaps he had thought by massacring the entire sect, there would be no witnesses, conveniently forgetting that the Lan sect had a way to communicate with spirits. Perhaps he assumed no one would find out before his sect was able to stumble upon it and clean up the mess before the Lans had a chance to figure out the truth. Perhaps he'd wanted to blame the entire thing on Wei Wuxian, and by the Nie revealing the truth, it had ruined his plans.
After all, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were not supposed to stop at the watch tower. And Jin Guangshan didn't particularly know He Su would be visiting the tower that day either. He wouldn't be surprised if Jin Guangshan also didn't know or care that there was a watch tower setup between Qinghe and Tingshan. He'd been entirely uninterested in Meng Yao's proposal and had actively avoided the discussions as to where to build the towers, claiming he couldn't justify committing to it.
"I'm saying that there are other active resentful energy users," Nie Mingjue shot back, "Who are far more dangerous and actually criminals. Versus my brother has never once been proved responsible for any of these crimes. He used resentful energy to help us win a war. He has never once used it for his own gains. And yet, you seem intent to blame him. Time and time again. When one could wonder what you have to gain from it."
"I simply want the cultivation world to be safe, my boy," Jin Guangshan said, looking down at him, "Perhaps your youth makes you think you're infallible. But your father died from resentful energy. He did not know his limits and it took his life."
"He died because of a curse on the Nie family line that Wen Ruohan accelerated," Nie Mingjue shot back at him, "And I am more than aware of the dangerous of using resentful energy, Jin Guangshan. Are you?"
"Excuse me?" Jin Guangshan narrowed his eyes.
"It is no surprise to anyone that you have been acting more rashly recently," Nie Mingjue said, setting the stage, "You are blatantly disrespectful to both your wife and the women in your sect. You anger far easier, and one could almost suspect you of acting drunk, except half the time you haven't touched a bottle. I bet if a doctor were to feel your meridians they would feel quite a bit of resentful energy, would they not?"
"Just what are you accusing me of?" Jin Guangshan asked, sounding furious, as Ouyang Zongzhu and Yao Zongzhu started yelling as well.
"Preposterous! To accuse another sect leader of such a thing!" Ouyang Zongzhu shrieked.
"Disrespectful!" Yao Zongzhu roared, "The audacity! When it is your sect that has a demonic cultivator in it!"
He Su stood up then, and walked to the centre of the room, stopping before Lan Qiren, as he bowed deeply, "Xiandu, as the last remaining member of the He sect, I wish for a thorough investigation into what happened to my sect."
"Granted," Lan Qiren nodded, as they had discussed the course of action before hand, "Please, in your own words, tell us what happened."
"If I may, Xiandu," He Su said, "I arrived after everything occurred, and found the scene as it was. May I present a witness who can recount exactly what happened, as he was there when it occurred?"
Nie Mingjue shot a look at Jin Guangshan who had grown very still, despite not letting his face betray him.
Jin Zixun on the other hand had grown pale, and looked like he wanted to escape. But to do so would be utterly telling of what had happened.
"Please," Lan Qiren agreed, as He Su summoned Pei Ling to the centre of the room. The man bowed deeply before Xiandu and then before the other cultivators.
"I am a servant in the He Sect," Pei Ling spoke, "But I have always been treated well. I have known He gonzi since he was a young boy. I have been responsible for taking care of tasks He Zongzhu assigned to me, such as keeping note of the resources in the sect and making arrangements for replenishing supplies after getting Zongzhu's approval. That day was the same as most of the other days. I took an inventory of the kitchen when I heard a commotion outside the sect doors."
Pei Ling looked pained at that, "I heard screaming, and I wanted to see what had happened. If there was anything that required my assistance. And when I got there, I saw a man summon fierce corpses and spirits. They were attacking the He sect while the cultivators struggled to keep everything under control. They fought to the best of their ability. Zongzhu was fighting as well, trying to cut down as many as he could. I hid."
The man looked down, ashamed, "I am not a cultivator. I do not have any training. I was terrified. Maybe I should have done something. Or maybe I'd be dead if I tried. I do not know."
He Su gave the man a reassuring smile, and Nie Mingjue agreed. The man wasn't a cultivator. What could he do when trained cultivators had been unable to do anything to stop the attack?
"He Furen came back with He guniang and He Zongzhu tried to cover them, but he couldn't get there fast enough," Pei Ling said, pained, as he closed his eyes, "They were cut down in front of him. I can't forget the sounds of He guniang's cries. Perhaps if I'd left, I could have warned them to stay away, then maybe they wouldn't have been there and they'd be alive."
"You are not to blame for what happened," Xiandu told him kindly.
Pei Ling did not seem like he believed Lan Qiren but he continued on anyways.
"The man who was attacking them kept He Zongzhu alive until the very end. He wanted He Zongzhu to know how powerless he was to stop the attack. Said it was what he deserved for going against the man's sect. He said he should have known his place. That he was nothing more than a minor sect, and yet he had the audacity to stand against the man's sect leader like he was worth anything," Pei Ling said, as his body let out a sob.
A few of the other sect leaders covered their mouths, stunned. Even Jiang Wanyin, who had known the rough details about what had happened, but not the specifics, looked horrified. Nie Huaisang was clutching onto Jiang Wanyin tightly, and Nie Mingjue wished he could spare his brothers from this.
They weren't in war. They were in a time of peace. And yet, something so horrific had happened anyways.
It was unthinkable.
It was immoral.
"He tortured Zongzhu," Pei Ling said with a shaky voice, "I stayed hidden, as the fierce corpses were roaming, looking for survivors. They couldn't sense me under the pile of bodies I'd hid under."
He sounded ashamed at that, but he continued anyways.
"Zongzhu had sent up a flare when the attack first happened, but our sect is so far from the others, from even the watch tower, that help did not come in time. Zongzhu was tortured and I can still hear his pained screams. I can still hear him cursing the man, telling him that he wasn't going to get away with this. That he was going to pay for his evilness. But the man did not care. He tortured him anyways. He watched as Zongzhu cried out and he laughed at his pain. He tortured him and he did not care," Pei Ling said, whispering towards the end, "And when he finally grew bored of it, he killed him."
"I returned as soon as I saw the flare," He Su said, "I was at the watch tower as per my father's orders. He wanted me there to learn, take part in night hunts, and grow my skills. I met with Hanguang Jun and Bixie Jun and we saw the flare go off. We flew as quickly as we could. But when we got there, it was too late. Everyone was dead. Everyone but Pei Ling. My father. My mother. My brothers. My little sister. My sect brothers and sisters. My entire sect has been murdered, and I request justice. I request a thorough investigation into this matter, so my slain sect can reincarnate with the peace they deserve."
The whispers began growing louder. A man had attacked the He sect. Claiming it to be retribution for his own sect. Which seemingly ruled out Xue Yang, and of course, once again put the spotlight onto Wei Wuxian.
They'd been very thoughtful with the way they told the story. Because if Jin Zixun was named the culprit outright, then Pei Ling would never be able to tell his story. Pei Ling would be silenced. Even if Jin Zixun knew the truth, he didn't know if Pei Ling knew who he was. And so Pei Ling had been allowed to speak.
"The man who attacked your sect," Lan Qiren asked firmly, "Do you know who he was? Is he in this room right now?"
"Yes," Pei Ling said calmly, "He is in this room."
Immediately, all eyes went to Wei Wuxian once more.
"He is a young master of the Jin sect. Jin Zixun."
And just like that, chaos erupted.