Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Sixth Malevolent 4

Lan Wangji said, "I would like to hear more about it."

He sat down, and his courteous words had the effect of an intimidation. Nie Huaizhang began to explain reluctantly.

He said, "Hanguang Jun, you know that our Nie family is different from other prestigious clans. Because our founding ancestor was a butcher, while others cultivate the Way of the Sword, we cultivate the Way of the Blade."

This was common knowledge, not a secret. The Nie family of Qinghe even had a family crest featuring a fierce beast head, resembling both a dog and a boar. Nie Huaizhang continued, "Because our cultivation path differs from others, and our founding ancestor was a butcher, there is inevitably bloodshed. The swords carried by each generation of our family heads are heavily imbued with malevolent and murderous energy. Almost every family head has met their end through a loss of control, dying violently. Their temperaments were also very irritable, which is closely related to this."

For example, Nie Huaizhang's elder brother, Nie Mingjue. This young cultivator leader, along with Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, were sworn brothers. The Red Blade Lord was decisive and authoritative; Lord Ze Wu was as warm and refined as jade, with a noble character; Lord Lianfang was adept at all fronts, cunning, and sharp. They formed a bond during the Sun-Shooting Expedition, and each had their own tales of glory, later being collectively known as the Three Lords. However, Nie Mingjue, at the height of his fame, lost control and died violently in a significant gathering, injuring many attendees in his frenzied state. His once illustrious reputation ended in such a tragic manner. Thinking of his elder brother, Nie Huaizhang's expression turned somber, and he continued, "During their lifetimes, these family heads could still suppress the restlessness of their swords. But after their deaths, without anyone to control them, the swords became dangerous weapons."

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow, "That sounds almost like the ways of demons and evil spirits."

Nie Huaizhang hurriedly replied, "It's different! The reason why the ways of demons and evil spirits are considered so is because they take human lives. But our family's blades do not target humans; they target vengeful ghosts, evil spirits, demonic beasts, and monsters. They spend their entire existence slaying these entities. Without these targets, they will cause chaos within the household. The blade spirits recognize only one master and cannot be used by others. We, the descendants, cannot melt the blades either. First, it would be disrespectful to our ancestors, and second, melting them might not solve the problem."

Wei Wuxian commented, "They are indeed troublesome."

Nie Huaizhang said, "Exactly. These swords that accompanied our ancestors through countless battles and quests for immortality are indeed troublesome."

He continued, "As each generation of family heads advanced in cultivation, this problem worsened. It wasn't until our sixth-generation family head who came up with a solution."

Wei Wuxian asked, "Was it building the man-eating fortress?"

Nie Huaizhang said, "No, no, although it is related, it wasn't the initial solution. What the sixth-generation family head did was to create two coffins for his father's and grandfather's swords and build a tomb. Inside the tomb, instead of placing valuable treasures, he placed hundreds of corpses on the verge of becoming zombies."

Lan Wangji frowned slightly, and Nie Huaizhang quickly explained, "Hanguang Jun, please let me explain! These bodies were not killed by us! They were painstakingly gathered from various places! Many were bought at great expense. The sixth-generation family head said that if the blade spirits want to fight evil spirits, then give them evil spirits to fight endlessly. These corpses, on the brink of becoming zombies, were buried with the sword coffins as companions for the blade spirits. The blade spirits would suppress the transformation of the corpses, while the corpses would alleviate the blade spirits' needs and madness, maintaining a balance. This method brought peace to subsequent generations."

Wei Wuxian asked, "Then why was the stone fortress built later? To bury the bodies in the walls? And you mentioned it has eaten people?"

Nie Huaisang said, "These issues are actually the same problem. It's sort of... they ate people, but not on purpose!!! Our sixth-generation family head built a blade tomb, a very ordinary tomb, and the later generations followed his example. But more than fifty years ago, a group of grave robbers dug up this tomb."

Wei Wuxian uttered an "Oh" and thought to himself, "This is like poking a hornet's nest."

Nie Huaisang continued, "No matter how discreet we were, news of building the tomb would leak. That group of grave robbers had inquired extensively and confirmed that there was an ancient tomb from a previous dynasty on Traveler's Ridge, and they came prepared. Among that ragtag group, there were one or two capable individuals with real talent. Astonishingly, they managed to decipher the directions and break through the illusionary maze, finding our blade tomb. They entered the tomb through a tunnel they had dug. Those in this business are used to corpses, so they weren't afraid of the dead inside. But while they rummaged for gold and jewels, lying next to the corpses and breathing the same air, they were all vigorous young men full of life force. Keep in mind, those corpses were on the verge of becoming walking corpses!

"You can imagine what happened. Over ten corpses transformed into walking corpses right there.

"But these grave robbers were bold and well-prepared. They managed to kill all the walking corpses again. After a fierce battle, leaving body fragments all over the floor, they realized the danger of the tomb and prepared to leave. It was at this moment that they were eaten!"

"The number of corpses placed in the tomb was strictly controlled, not one more, not one less, just enough to maintain a balance with the blade spirits. When these grave robbers stirred up trouble inside, it wasn't just about triggering the corpse transformation. After they retreated, the blade spirits would have suppressed the transformation. But they smashed more than ten corpses into pieces, causing a sudden shortage. To maintain the balance between the feral corpses and the blade spirits, the blade tomb had to... seal itself automatically, trapping them inside to fill the gap they created."

"After the blade tomb was destroyed, the then-family head began to consider other methods. He chose a new site on Traveler's Ridge, abandoning the tomb concept, and built a ritual hall for blades instead. To prevent grave robbers from visiting again, he hid the corpses within the walls to deceive others.

"This ritual hall for blades became the 'castle that eats people' in legends. That group of grave robbers came to Qinghe, disguised as hunters, and never returned from Traveler's Ridge. With no bones left behind, rumors spread that they were devoured by monsters in the ridge. Later, when the stone castle was completed, before the new illusionary maze was set up, someone accidentally saw it. Fortunately, the castle had no doors, so he couldn't enter. But after going down the ridge, he told everyone about an eerie, white stone castle on Traveler's Ridge, claiming that the man-eating monster must live inside. Our family thought it would be better to amplify the rumors so that no one would dare to approach that area, thus creating the legend of the 'castle that eats people.' But it does eat people!"

Nie Huaisang took out a handkerchief and a small white stone the size of a garlic clove from his sleeve. He used the handkerchief to wipe his sweat and handed over the stone, saying, "The two of you can take a look at this."

Wei Wuxian took the white stone and examined it closely, finding a bit of white object in the stone powder that looked like... a human finger bone.

Understanding dawned on him. After wiping his sweat, Nie Huaisang said, "That young man, Jin Ling, somehow blew a hole in the wall. Even such a thick wall couldn't stop him. He must have carried many magical treasures, but that's not the point... The point is, the area he blew up happened to be the earliest ritual hall for blades we built on Traveler's Ridge. At that time, we hadn't thought of using two layers of stone bricks with soil in between to block yang energy and prevent easy corpse transformation. We just poured the corpses into the mortar. So, when Jin Ling blew a hole, he also shattered a buried corpse in the wall without realizing it. Soon after he entered, he was sucked into the stone castle's walls, replacing the corpse he had destroyed... I regularly inspect Traveler's Ridge. Today, I saw this, picked up a stone, and a dog came to bite me, sigh... The ritual hall for blades is almost like our ancestral grave now, I really..."

The more Nie Huaisang spoke, the more his distress grew, his voice trembling with emotion. He said, "Ordinary cultivators know this is our territory and wouldn't dare to night-hunt in the Qinghe area. Who would have known..."

Little did he know how unlucky he would be, first having the unruly Jin Ling target Traveler's Ridge, and then the duo of Hanguang Jun and Wei following the direction indicated by the spirit hand. He continued, "Hanguang Jun, and you... I've said it before, you absolutely cannot spread this. Otherwise..."

Otherwise, with the Nie family of Qinghe already on its last legs, such a rumor would make Nie Huaisang a historical culprit, unable to face his ancestors even in the afterlife. No wonder he preferred to be the private laughingstock of the various families rather than diligently cultivate or dare to sharpen his family's ancestral blade. If he cultivated successfully, his temperament would gradually become more irritable, and eventually, like his elder brother and the ancestors before him, he would lose control and die in a violent outburst. After his death, his ancestral blade would continue to haunt the world, disturbing the peace of the entire family. It was better to achieve nothing.

It was also an unsolvable problem. Since the first-generation ancestor, the Nie family had come this way. Would future generations dare to deny the path and foundation laid by their ancestors? Each prestigious clan had its strengths. Just as the Gusu Lan Family excelled in music, the lethality and fierceness of the blade spirits were precisely why the Nie family of Qinghe stood out. If they abandoned the teachings of their ancestors and sought a new path, who knew how many years it would take, and success was uncertain. Nie Huaisang dared not betray the Nie family or switch to another path. Thus, he could only remain a good-for-nothing.

If he hadn’t taken on the role of family head, he could have lived his life in leisure, spending his days by the lake, painting fans, catching fish, and playing with birds, just like he did back in Cloud Recesses. He would have been much more carefree than he is now. But since his elder brother had already passed away, no matter how overwhelmed he felt, he had no choice but to shoulder the family responsibilities and push forward despite the challenges.

After Nie Huaisang left after repeatedly pleading and begging, Wei Wuxian stared off into space for a moment. Suddenly, he noticed Lan Wangji approaching and kneeling before him once more. Wei Wuxian quickly interrupted, "Wait, again?"

Lan Wangji said, "We need to remove the curse first."

Hanguang Jun had knelt before him three times that day. Even though he was so serious, Wei Wuxian felt uncomfortable seeing this. "I’ll do it myself." He quickly rolled up his pants leg, revealing the curse marks covering his entire calf, crawling past his knee and spreading up his thigh. Wei Wuxian looked at it and casually said, "It’s spread all the way up to my thigh."

Lan Wangji turned his head away and didn't respond. Wei Wuxian called out, "Lan Zhan?"