Chapter 7

The sky was getting darker, and soon they would need torches to navigate the mountain forest. Wei Wuxian walked for some time but encountered only a handful of cultivators. He found this odd: could it be that the families who came here were either still debating endlessly in Fozu Town or, like the group from earlier, had been forced to retreat in frustration?

Suddenly, cries for help came from ahead.

“Help!”

“Save us!”

The voices, both male and female, were filled with panic and helplessness, and they didn’t sound fake. Cries for help in the wilderness were most likely traps set by evil spirits, but Wei Wuxian was delighted.

The more evil, the better—he was worried it wouldn’t be evil enough!

He spurred the donkey towards the sounds. Looking around, he saw not some monster or ghost, but the family of rural farmers he had met earlier by the fields, now trapped in a giant golden net hanging from a tree.

The middle-aged man, along with his descendants, had been patrolling the forest when they accidentally stumbled into a trap set by some wealthy individual. They were now stuck, hanging in the air and cursing their luck. When they saw someone approaching, their initial joy quickly turned to disappointment. The person coming to their aid was a madman. This net, known as the Binding Immortal Net, had thin ropes but was made of top-quality materials, making it unbreakable. Once caught, even gods, demons, or monsters would struggle to escape. Only a superior immortal weapon could cut through it. This lunatic probably didn’t even know what kind of trap it was.

Just as they were about to ask him to find help, the sound of rustling leaves approached. A young man in light clothing emerged from the dark forest.

This young master had a vermillion mark on his forehead and an elegant, somewhat sharp beauty. He was very young, around the same age as Lan Sizhui, still a boy. He carried a quiver of arrows on his back, along with a long sword that glimmered with golden light. His robes were embroidered with intricate patterns, forming a magnificent white peony on his chest, the golden threads shimmering faintly in the night.

Wei Wuxian thought to himself, “Rich!”

This must be a young master from the Lanling Jin clan. Only the Lanling Jin clan used the white peony as their family crest, symbolizing their claim to be the kings of immortals. The vermillion mark on the forehead symbolized wisdom and brilliance in the world.

The young master had been about to shoot an arrow but, seeing that the net had caught humans instead of prey, his initial disappointment quickly turned to impatience. “It’s always you fools. There are over four hundred Binding Immortal Nets in this mountain, and you’ve already ruined more than a dozen without even catching any prey!”

Wei Wuxian thought again, “Rich!”

A single Binding Immortal Net was already expensive; setting up over four hundred would bankrupt a lesser family. But the Lanling Jin clan was wealthy. However, using so many nets indiscriminately was less like a night hunt and more like trying to drive everyone else away from the mountain. No wonder the cultivators earlier had left in frustration; it wasn’t because the prey was difficult, but because they couldn’t compete with someone from a prestigious family.

The younger generation of the family had become arrogant and unrestrained, and lesser families could only swallow their anger if insulted. Although the young master’s words were harsh, the trapped men turned red-faced but didn’t dare to retort. The middle-aged man spoke humbly, “Young master, please, let us down.”

The young master, frustrated by the lack of prey, took out his anger on these rural farmers. “You can hang there! That way, you won’t get in my way by wandering around. I’ll let you down after I catch the soul-eating beast!”

If they were left hanging in the trees all night and encountered the creature roaming Dafan Mountain, they would be unable to defend themselves and would surely have their souls sucked dry. The round-faced girl who had given Wei Wuxian the apple began to cry in fear. Wei Wuxian had been sitting cross-legged on the donkey’s back, but the moment the donkey heard the crying, its ears twitched, and it suddenly bolted forward.

It charged forward with a long neigh. If not for the terrible sound of its bray, its unstoppable momentum could have been praised as that of a thousand-mile horse. Wei Wuxian was caught off guard and nearly fell off, almost smashing his head. The donkey charged towards the young master, seemingly convinced it could knock him over with its head. The young master still had his arrow drawn and was about to release it. Wei Wuxian, not wanting to look for a new mount so soon, desperately pulled the donkey’s reins. The young master looked at him and suddenly showed a look of surprise, quickly followed by disdain. “So it’s you.”

The tone was two parts surprise and eight parts disgust, making Wei Wuxian blink. The young master continued, “What, did you go mad after being kicked out of your family? Look at the mess you’re in, daring to show your face in public!”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened. Could it be—he slapped his thigh in realization. Could it be that Mo Xuanyu’s father wasn’t some minor family’s head, but the famous Jin Guangshan?!

Jin Guangshan, the former head of the Lanling Jin clan, had already passed away. Speaking of him, it was a complicated matter. He had a formidable and high-ranking wife, and his fear of her was well-known. However, despite his fear, he continued to chase women. No matter how powerful his wife was, she couldn’t follow him every moment of the day. From noble ladies to rural prostitutes, he took every opportunity. Although he had many illegitimate children, he quickly lost interest in the women he had seduced and abandoned them without any sense of responsibility. Among his illegitimate children, only one had been exceptional enough to be acknowledged and brought back into the family—the current head of the Lanling Jin clan, Jin Guangyao. Even Jin Guangshan’s death had been inglorious. Confident in his vitality, he had tried to challenge himself with a group of women but unfortunately died from a sudden illness during the encounter. It was too embarrassing to talk about, so the Lanling Jin clan officially declared that the old family head had passed away from overwork. All the other families played along and pretended not to know the truth. All of this was the real reason behind his “famous” reputation.

During the great purge of the Burial Mounds, after Jiang Cheng, Jin Guangshan had been the second most instrumental. Now, Wei Wuxian had taken over the body of his illegitimate child. He really didn’t know how to settle this account.

The young master, seeing Wei Wuxian lost in thought, felt a deep dislike. “Why are you still here? Seeing you is disgusting enough. You disgusting pervert.”

In terms of seniority, Mo Xuanyu might even be this young master’s uncle or elder. To be insulted like this by a junior—Wei Wuxian decided that, if not for himself, he had to defend Mo Xuanyu’s body. He retorted, “Looks like someone was born but not raised properly.”

At those words, fury flashed in the young master’s eyes. He drew his sword, its blade glowing coldly. “What did you say?”

The sword shone brightly with a golden light, a rare and precious weapon. Many families could only dream of possessing such a sword. Wei Wuxian looked closely and felt a sense of familiarity, though he didn’t dwell on it. He twirled a small cloth bag in his hand.

This was a makeshift “spirit-sealing pouch” he had cobbled together from some leftover materials a few days ago. With a swift motion, Wei Wuxian dodged to the side as the young master swung his sword at him, pulled a small paper figurine from the spirit-sealing pouch, and slapped the paper onto the young master’s back.

The young man's movements were already very fast, but Wei Wuxian was even faster, having done countless tricks like tripping people and slapping them on their backs. The young man felt a sudden numbness in his back, a weight pressing down on him, and before he knew it, he was sprawled face down on the ground, his sword clattering away. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get up, as if a great weight like Mount Tai was pressing down on him. A greedy ghost that had died of gluttony was pinning him down, rendering him immobile. Though the ghost was weak, it had no problem dealing with the young man. Wei Wuxian picked up the young man's sword, weighed it in his hand, and with a single swing, cut the Immortal Binding Net above.

The family fell to the ground in a disheveled heap and, without saying a word, ran off in a hurry. The round-faced girl seemed like she wanted to thank Wei Wuxian but was pulled away by her elder, afraid of drawing the ire of the Jin family boy. The young man on the ground shouted angrily, "Freak! You’d better watch out! You rely on these evil methods because your cultivation is weak and you can’t succeed through proper means. Just you wait! Do you know who came today?! Today I..."

Wei Wuxian clutched his chest dramatically. "Ah! I’m so scared!"

Although Wei Wuxian's old cultivation method had been criticized for harming the practitioner’s fundamental essence over time, it had a quick-success effect and wasn’t limited by spiritual power or talent. Therefore, it was extremely tempting, and many who sought shortcuts secretly practiced it. The young man assumed that after Mo Xuanyu was expelled from the Lanling Jin Family, he had taken to the evil path. This suspicion was reasonable and saved Wei Wuxian a lot of unnecessary trouble.

The young man tried several times to push himself up from the ground but couldn’t manage it, his face flushed red. He gritted his teeth and said, "If you don’t let me go, I’ll tell my uncle! Then you’ll be dead!"

Wei Wuxian asked curiously, "Why your uncle and not your father? Who’s your uncle?"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind, three parts cold and seven parts frigid:

"His uncle is me. Do you have any last words?"

Hearing that voice, Wei Wuxian felt his blood rush to his head, then drain away just as quickly. Fortunately, his face was already deathly pale, so the change wasn’t noticeable.

A young man in purple clothes walked over leisurely, his sleeves fluttering lightly. He wore a narrow belt and had a silver bell hanging from his waist, but there was no sound of it ringing as he walked. His sharp, striking features gave him an intense, almost aggressive presence. As he stood ten steps away from Wei Wuxian, his posture was like a drawn bow, ready to strike, exuding an air of arrogance and self-confidence.

He frowned and said, "Jin Ling, why have you taken so long? Do I need to come and personally escort you back? Get up now and stop making such a pathetic sight!"

After the initial numbness wore off, Wei Wuxian quickly regained his composure and, with a flick of his fingers inside his sleeve, retracted the paper figurine. Jin Ling felt the weight lift from his back and immediately rolled over, grabbed his sword, and jumped to Jiang Cheng’s side, pointing at Wei Wuxian and shouting, "I’m going to break your legs!"

The uncle and nephew stood together, and one could vaguely see a two or three-part resemblance in their features, like a pair of brothers. Jiang Cheng moved his fingers slightly, and the paper figurine flew out of Wei Wuxian’s grasp and into his hand. He glanced at it, a fierce expression rising in his eyes as flames erupted from his fingertips, burning the figurine to ashes amidst the screams of the ghost.

Jiang Cheng said coldly, "Break his legs? Haven’t I told you before? If you encounter such evil paths, just kill them and feed them to your dogs!"

Wei Wuxian abandoned his donkey and leaped back. He had thought that even if Jiang Cheng harbored great hatred towards him, it would have dissipated after so many years. But it seemed that not only had it not dissipated, it had grown stronger over time, like aged wine. Now, Jiang Cheng’s anger had even extended to anyone who followed Wei Wuxian’s cultivation methods!

With someone backing him up, Jin Ling’s sword strikes became even more vicious. Wei Wuxian was about to act when a flash of blue sword light darted out, striking Jin Ling’s sword and instantly dispersing the golden light of his high-grade immortal sword.

It wasn’t a matter of the quality of the swords, but rather the immense difference in skill between the two sword wielders. Wei Wuxian had timed his move perfectly, but the sudden sword light threw him off balance, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground, right in front of a pair of snow-white boots. For a moment, he froze, then slowly looked up.

First, he saw a crystal-clear, long sword glowing like ice.

This sword was famous among the great clans. Wei Wuxian had witnessed its power countless times, both as an ally and as an opponent. The hilt was forged from pure silver refined through secret methods, and the body of the sword was so thin and transparent that it exuded a cold, icy aura. Though it seemed light and ethereal, as if it carried an air of immortality, it was actually quite heavy, and ordinary people couldn’t even wield it.

— "Dust-Repelling Sword."

The sword was sheathed with a clear ringing sound, and at the same time, Jiang Cheng’s voice came from afar, "I thought I’d know who it was. So it’s the Blue Second Young Master."

The white boots passed by Wei Wuxian, taking slow, unhurried steps forward. Wei Wuxian stood up and, as they brushed shoulders, they exchanged a brief, seemingly unintentional glance.

The man was bathed in moonlight, carrying a seven-stringed zither on his back. The instrument was narrower than usual, entirely black, with a soft wooden hue.

The man wore a cloud-patterned headband, his skin as white as jade, handsome and elegant, like a finely carved piece of art. His eyes were a very light color, like pale glass, giving his gaze a cold and detached look. His expression was cold and unyielding.

He was immaculate from head to toe, without a single flaw or impropriety. Despite all this, the first thought that popped into Wei Wuxian’s mind was:

"Looks like he’s in mourning!"

Truly, like he was in mourning. No matter how much people praised the Gusu Lan Family’s uniform as the most beautiful and Lan Wangji as an unmatched, once-in-a-century beauty, Wei Wuxian couldn’t shake the image of him looking like a man who had lost his wife and was deeply sorrowful.

Misfortune seemed to follow him, and old enemies always found a way to cross paths. When bad luck struck, it never came alone.

Lan Wangji stood silently, his gaze straight ahead, facing Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng, who was already exceptionally handsome, appeared slightly inferior and more impatient standing opposite him. With a raised eyebrow, he said, "Lan Wangji certainly lives up to his reputation for showing up whenever there’s chaos. What brings you to this deep mountain forest today?"

As a family head of his status, it was typical for someone like him to ignore low-grade evil spirits. However, Lan Wangji was an exception. He never chose his targets for night hunts, nor would he refuse to come because the demons or ghosts were not fierce enough to earn him a reputation by killing them. Whenever someone sought his help, he would go. This had been his way since he was young. Therefore, "intervening in times of chaos" was the world's description of Lan Wangji's night hunting expeditions, as well as praise for his character. At this moment, Jiang Cheng's tone was far from courteous. A group of younger members from the Lan family had followed Lan Wangji and felt quite uncomfortable hearing this. Lan Jingyi, being straightforward, said, "Isn't the Jiang family's family head here as well?"

Jiang Cheng said coldly, "Tsk, when elders are speaking, do you have a place to interrupt? The Gusu Lan Family prides itself on being a model of propriety in the cultivation world. Is this how you teach the younger generation?"

Lan Wangji seemed unwilling to engage in conversation with him and instead looked at Lan Sizhui. Understanding his intention, Lan Sizhui stepped forward to let the younger generation handle the dialogue. He addressed Jin Ling, "Young Master Jin, night hunts have always been a fair competition among the families. However, you've been setting nets all over Dafan Mountain, making it difficult for other family cultivators to move, fearing they might fall into traps. Doesn't this go against the rules of night hunts?"

Jin Ling, with a cold expression that mirrored his uncle's, said, "If they're too stupid to avoid the traps, what can I do? Wait until I've caught my prey before bringing up any issues."

Lan Wangji frowned. Before Jin Ling could continue, he suddenly found himself unable to speak, his throat refusing to make any sound. He was startled. Jiang Cheng noticed that Jin Ling's lips seemed to be stuck together and his face showed a hint of anger. Abandoning the pretense of courtesy, he said, "Lan! What do you think you're doing? No one but me gets to discipline Jin Ling. Undo it now!"

This silencing spell was a method used by the Lan family to punish erring family members. Wei Wuxian had suffered from this trick many times. Though it wasn't a complex or profound spell, only the Lan family knew how to undo it. If one tried to force speech, it would result in either bleeding lips or a hoarse voice, requiring quiet self-reflection until the punishment time was over. Lan Sizhui said, "Family head Jiang, please don't be angry. As long as he doesn't forcefully break the spell, it will automatically dissipate after an incense stick's time."

Before Jiang Cheng could respond, a purple-clad retainer of the Jiang family rushed in from the forest, calling, "Family head!" Seeing Lan Wangji standing there, the retainer hesitated. Jiang Cheng said sarcastically, "Go on, what bad news do you have to report this time?"

The retainer cautiously replied, "...All of them..."

Over four hundred!

Jiang Cheng was greatly annoyed.

He hadn't expected this trip to be so unlucky. Originally, he had come to support Jin Ling. This year, Jin Ling had turned sixteen and was at the age to debut and compete with the younger generations of other families. Jiang Cheng had carefully selected Dafan Mountain as the hunting ground, setting nets everywhere and intimidating other family cultivators to make it difficult for them, all to ensure Jin Ling could take the lead without competition. Over four hundred binding nets, though nearly an exorbitant price, were nothing to the Cloud Dream Jiang Family. But the destruction of the nets was a minor issue compared to the loss of face. Lan Wangji's actions left Jiang Cheng with a lingering sense of indignation. He narrowed his eyes, his left hand unconsciously and slowly rubbing the ring on his right index finger.

Everyone knew that the ring was a deadly artifact. Once the Jiang family head started touching it, it meant he had murderous intent. Jiang Cheng glared at Lan Wangji, his displeasure evident on his face. "Broke how many?"

The retainer replied carefully, "...All of them..."

Over four hundred!

Jiang Cheng's displeasure showed clearly on his face. He hadn't expected this trip to be so unlucky. Originally, he had come to support Jin Ling. Jiang Cheng had carefully selected Dafan Mountain as the hunting ground, setting nets everywhere and intimidating other family cultivators to make it difficult for them, all to ensure Jin Ling could take the lead without competition. Over four hundred binding nets, though nearly an exorbitant price, were nothing to the Cloud Dream Jiang Family. But the destruction of the nets was a minor issue compared to the loss of face. Lan Wangji's actions left Jiang Cheng with a lingering sense of indignation. He narrowed his eyes, his left hand unconsciously and slowly rubbing the ring on his right index finger. Everyone knew that the ring was a deadly artifact. Once the Jiang family head started touching it, it meant he had murderous intent.