Chapter 102: Hatred—Part Five
Even though his chest was pierced, Jiang Cheng wasn’t weak enough to die instantly. However, moving or using his spiritual power wasn’t the best option for him. He didn’t like it when others tried to help him, so he turned to Jin Ling and said, “Go away.”
Jin Ling knew Jiang Cheng was still angry with him for running away. He felt guilty and didn’t dare defend himself. The dog’s barking could be heard in the distance, followed by a sudden screech. Jin Ling shuddered, remembering Jin GuangYao’s words, shouting, “Fairy, run! They’re going to kill you!”
Not long after, Su She stormed through the storm in a rage. Jin GuangYao, “You didn’t kill him?”
Su She’s expression darkened, “I can’t believe that dog is so weak. He’s wild when someone helps him, but once he’s wronged, he runs away faster than anyone!”
Jin GuangYao shook his head, “Maybe it will bring other people here. We have to finish things here quickly.”
Su She, “Those useless people! I’ll tell them to hurry up.”
Jin Ling, on the other hand, heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing Jiang Cheng sitting on the ground, his face still grim, he turned to Lan WangJi after a moment of hesitation, “HanGuang-Jun, do you still have a cushion to sit on?”
Lan Wangji gathered the four mats they were sitting on. However, there were only four mats in the temple. After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji stood up and pushed away the mat he had been sitting on.
Jin Ling hurriedly said, “Thank you! It’s okay. I’ll just give him mine…”
Lan WangJi, “No need.”
Once he was done, he sat down beside Wei WuXian. Although the two of them were sitting so intently on the same mat, they didn’t seem too cramped. After the mat was handed over, Jin Ling scratched his head before pulling Jiang Cheng closer. Jiang Cheng first pressed an acupuncture point on his chest, stopping the blood flow. After sitting down, he looked up and glanced at Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi. After a moment, he lowered his head again. His face was gloomy, revealing nothing of what he was thinking.
Just at this moment, a shout of joy rang out from behind the palace, “Sect Leader! We did it! We’ve gotten out of the predicament!”
Jin GuangYao’s expression relaxed slightly. He quickly walked back to the back of the palace. “Keep moving! Be careful. Time’s up.”
Over a dozen bolts of lightning streaked across the sky. Soon after, they were followed by a series of rumbles of thunder. There, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi sat together, while Jiang Cheng sat to the side. Jin Ling also dragged his mat. Amidst the pouring rain, an awkward and tense silence enveloped them for a long time. No one made a sound.
For some reason, Jin Ling seemed genuinely interested in talking to them. After a brief glance, he suddenly said, “Uncle, it’s a good thing you stopped the guqin strings earlier, otherwise things would have been really bad.”
Jiang Cheng’s face darkened, “You can shut up!”
If it weren’t for giving Jin GuangYao the opportunity to launch a sneak attack due to his unstable emotions, he wouldn’t have fallen into the enemy’s hands either. After all, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi could have avoided the attack on their own. Although Lan WangJi lacked spiritual power and Wei WuXian was already weakened, their abilities were still there. They couldn’t attack, but they could still dodge. Awkwardly, Jin Ling tried to speak up for his uncle, but his careful consideration only made the situation even more awkward.
After being scolded, Jin Ling stopped talking in embarrassment. Jiang Cheng pursed his lips and said nothing more.
Wei WuXian didn’t say anything either. In the past, he would have laughed at Jiang Cheng for being so easily provoked that he gave his opponent an opportunity. But now, remembering what Jin GuangYao had said, he understood everything.
Jiang Cheng already knows the truth.
Lan WangJi stroked Wei WuXian’s back a few more times. Wei WuXian looked up. Lan WangJi didn’t seem surprised at all. His gaze was almost gentle. Wei WuXian felt his heart pounding. He couldn’t help but whisper, “…You knew?”
Lan WangJi nodded slowly.
Wei WuXian sighed lightly, “…Wen Ning.”
Wen Ning had originally been guarding Suibian, but now Suibian was in Jiang Cheng’s hands. And on the way back from Lotus Pier, Wen Ning didn’t say anything about it.
Wei WuXian, “When did he say it?”
Lan WangJi, “When you were unconscious.”
Wei WuXian, “Is this how we leave Lotus Pier?!”
If Wen Ning hadn’t discovered them yet, Wei WuXian would have glared at him.
Lan WangJi, “He always felt sorry for you.”
Wei WuXian’s tone was tinged with anger, “… I told him so many times not to say it!”
Suddenly Jiang Cheng spoke up, “Not doing what?”
Wei WuXian paused in surprise, then turned to face him with Lan WangJi. Jiang Cheng covered his wound with one hand, his voice cold, “Wei WuXian, you are truly a great and selfless person. You did your best, and you swallowed all the suffering without telling anyone. What a touching story. I should have knelt down and cried in gratitude, right?”
Hearing that impolite tone of mockery, Lan WangJi’s face turned cold. Jin Ling saw the displeased expression and immediately stood in front of Jiang Cheng, afraid that Lan WangJi would kill him with one strike, “Uncle!”
Wei WuXian’s expression darkened even further. He never expected Jiang Cheng to reconcile with him after learning the truth, but he also didn’t expect his tone to be as harsh as before. After a moment of silence, he replied in a muffled voice, “I never asked you to thank me.”
Jiang Cheng snorted , “Of course. Giving without expecting anything in return. Truly remarkable. Unlike me, of course. So that’s why my father always said you were the one who truly understood the Jiang Sect’s motto and did things the Jiang way, during his lifetime.”
Wei WuXian couldn’t listen any longer, cutting him off, “Enough.”
Jiang Cheng’s voice was shrill, “What do you mean, enough? Enough, just like you said? You know everything! You’re better than me in every way! Be it talent, cultivation, spirituality, or personality, you know everything, while I’m far inferior—then what am I?!?!”
He suddenly reached out, as if to grab Wei WuXian by the collar. Lan WangJi gripped Wei WuXian’s shoulder with one hand, allowing Wei WuXian to stand behind him, while his other hand forcefully pushed Jiang Cheng’s hand away. Anger flashed in his eyes. Although his thrust didn’t contain any spiritual energy, it was powerful enough. The wound on Jiang Cheng’s chest tore open again, blood gushing out.
Jin Ling shouted, “Uncle, your injury! HanGuang-Jun, have mercy!”
However, Lan WangJi’s voice sounded cold, “Jiang WanYin, spare some virtue!”
Lan XiChen took off his outer robe and placed it over the shivering Nie HuaiSang, “Sect Leader Jiang, please don’t be too agitated. Your injuries will only get worse.”
Jiang Cheng pushed Jin Ling, who had been helplessly holding him, away. Despite the blood loss, it continued to rush to his head. His face shifted between white and red. “What? Wei WuXian, what’s wrong?”
Behind Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian replied stiffly, “Why what?”
Jiang Cheng, “How much has the Jiang Sect given you? I should be their son, I should be the heir of the YunmengJiang Sect, but all this time I’ve been inferior to you in everything. You paid for this with your life! The life of my father, my mother, my little sister, and Jin ZiXuan! Because of you, all that’s left is a parentless Jin Ling!”
Jin Ling trembled. His shoulders slumped, and his face fell. Wei WuXian moved his lips, but he couldn’t say anything. Lan WangJi turned to hold his hand.
On the other hand, Jiang Cheng refused to give up, shouting, “Wei WuXian, who was the first to break a promise and betray the Jiang Sect? Tell me. That I will be the sect leader and you will be my subordinate, that you will assist me for the rest of your life, that as long as the GusuLan Sect has its Two Jades, the YunmengJiang Sect will have its Two Prides, that you will never betray me or betray the Jiang Sect—who said this?! I ask you—who said all this?! Did you swallow all your infuriating words?!”
He grew increasingly agitated as he grumbled, “And in the end? You went and protected outsiders, haha! Even the Wen Sect people. How much of their rice did you eat?! Defecting with such determination! What do you take our sect for?! You do all the best things, but every time you do the worst thing, it’s without will! Forced! With some unspoken grievance! Grievance?! You didn’t tell me anything, you’re playing me!!!”
“How much do you owe the Jiang Sect? Shouldn’t I hate you? Shouldn’t I hate you?! Why does it feel like I’m the one who’s wronged you now?! Why did I have to feel like a fucking clown for so many years?! What am I? Did I deserve to be blinded by all your dazzling splendor?! Shouldn’t I hate you?!”
Lan WangJi stood up. Panicking, Jin Ling stood in front of Jiang Cheng, “HanGuang-Jun! My uncle is injured…”
Jiang Cheng slapped him to the ground, “Let him come! Am I afraid of him?!”
However, after the slap, Jin Ling froze. Not only him, Wei WuXian, Lan WangJi, and Lan XiChen all stopped moving.
Jiang Cheng sobbed. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he forced his teeth open, “…Why… Why didn’t you tell me?!”
Jiang Cheng clenched his fists, as if he wanted to hit someone, as if he wanted to hit himself. In the end, he still slammed his fists into the ground. He should have been able to hate Wei WuXian without any worries. But right now, the golden core revolving within him had robbed him of all his confidence.
Wei WuXian didn’t know what to say.
At first, it was precisely because she didn’t want to see Jiang Cheng like that that she decided not to tell him.
He remembered every promise he had made to Jiang FengMian and Madam Yu—to help and protect Jiang Cheng. If someone as fiercely competitive as him were to learn of this, he would be devastated for the rest of his life, too tormented to face himself. There would always be something he could never overcome, reminding him that he had only reached his current position thanks to the sacrifices of others. That was not his cultivation or accomplishments at all. Regardless of whether he won or lost, he had long since lost the right to compete.
Afterward, because Jin ZiXuan and Jiang YanLi died for him, he didn’t have the face to tell anyone else. Telling Jiang Cheng after the fact was tantamount to shirk responsibility, rushing to show that he had also contributed. It was the same as telling Jiang Cheng, “Don’t hate me, look, I also contributed to the YunmengJiang Sect.”
Jiang Cheng cried silently, but tears were already streaming down his face. Crying so horribly in front of others was almost impossible for him in the past. But every moment that passed since then, as long as the golden core remained in his body, as long as he could still rotate, he would always remember this feeling.
He choked, “… You said I would be the sect leader and you would be my subordinate, you said you would help me for the rest of your life, you said you would never betray the YunmengJiang Sect… You said it yourself.”
“…” After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian replied, “Sorry. I broke my promise.”
Jiang Cheng shook his head, burying his face deep in his palms. A second later, he suddenly burst out laughing. His muffled voice was mocking, “It’s already such a difficult time, and I still need your forgiveness. How fragile I am.”