After he left, Nie MingJue switched to another deputy. Wei WuXian, however, felt that the new one was always a few beats slower. Meng Yao was an unusually clever talent. He could understand what wasn’t said, and perform to the best with the simplest orders. He was efficient and never slacked. Anyone used to him wouldn’t be able to refrain from comparing him with others.

"I agree that he's quite a clever one." said Wen Rouhan.

"Don't forget that he's the one who killed you." said Wen Xu.

Some time later, the LanlingJin Sect in Langya was on the verge of collapse, having already been barely managing. Lan XiChen just happened to be assisting another area. Jin GuangShan asked for help from Hejian, and Nie MingJue arrived shortly afterward.

"Jokes on the Jins. They can't even defend the place on their own." said a random cultivator.

The Jins turned to at glare at him.

As the battle finished, Jin GuangShan came to express his thanks, still in a terrible state. Nie MingJue talked with him in a curt manner, then quickly began, “Sect Leader Jin, what’s Meng Yao doing nowadays?”

Hearing him mention the name, Jin GuangShan replied, “Meng Yao? Uh… Sect Leader Nie, I don’t mean any offense, but who is he again?”

"What?" Jin Zixuan asked in disbelief.

"You're unbelievable." he added.

"You should've expected that since then." said Jiang Cheng.

"No wonder he killed you." mumbled the juniors.

Nie MingJue’s brows immediately furrowed. Back then, the story that Meng Yao was kicked down Koi Tower passed around for quite a long time. Even others had known of such a farce, so there was no way that the person involved couldn’t remember the name. Only someone with the thickest of faces would be able to play dumb in such a situation. It was just that, however, Jin GuangShan just so happened to be such a person.

Nie MingJue spoke coldly, “Meng Yao is my past deputy. I wrote a letter for him to bring.”

Jin GuangShan continued to pretend as though he didn’t know a thing, “Really? But here I’ve never seen such a letter or such a person. Oh well. If I had known that Sect Leader Nie sent over his deputy I would definitely receive him well. But did any accidents happen along the journey?”

"You're impossible." said Madam Jin.

"No wonder he end up that way." she added.

"They are so unlucky to have you as a father." said MianMian.

"Such actions needs to have a punishment." said Qingheng-jun.

"I am not under the Lan Secr so why would you decide for my punishment?" asked Jin Guangshan in anger.

"No, it's the punishment of the whole cultivation world as you brought a lot of problems and suffering to many innocent woman out there." said Qingheng-jun.

"I refuse to accept that." said Jin Guangshan.

"You have no choice." said Nie Mingjue.

He simply equivocated, saying that he couldn’t remember if he had heard of the name or not. Nie MingJue’s face grew colder and colder. He felt that something must be wrong, so he left without the slightest hesitation. After asking the other cultivators, he still found nothing. Nie MingJue chose a few places and started to walk around.

"Maybe, Meng Yao didn't really go there." said Jin Zixuan.

"That's impossible." said Nie Huaisang.

"Then, where is he?" asked Wei Wuxian.

On his way was a small forest. The forest was rather quiet, rather secluded. It had just been through a surprise attack, and the battlefield hadn’t been cleaned up yet. Nie MingJue walked along the path. All throughout the path were cultivators’ corpses, wearing the Wen Sect’s, the Jin Sect’s, and a few other sects’ uniforms.

Suddenly, from in front of him came noises of tch, tch.

Nie MingJue put his hand on the hilt of his saber and approached furtively. Across the branches and leaves, he saw Meng Yao standing amid piles of corpses. Twisting his wrist, he pulled a long sword out of a cultivator’s chest.

"What the f*ck?!" cursed Jin Zixuan.

"What is he doing?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"No. The question is, why did he do that?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"That's doesn't seemed to be a Wen." said Wei Wuxian.

His expression was absolutely calm. Attacks both fast and steady, he was also careful, letting not even a droplet of blood stain his clothes.

The sword wasn’t his own sword. The hilt had iron embellishments in the shape of flames—it was the sword of a Wen Sect cultivator.

The sword techniques were also those of the Wen Sect’s.

And the one who died under his sword wore a robe of Sparks Amidst Snow. He was a cultivator of the LanlingJin Sect.

"Why is he using our sword techniques when he is doing that? Does he wants to put the blame to us for the death of that cultivator?" asked Wen Rouhan in amusement.

"Well, during that time. It is easy to put blame on us since we are the enemies." said Wen Xu with a scoff.

"Just what is his problem with that Jin cultivator for him to do that?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"It's easy. That man might have insulted him since Jins are known to be full of themselves and thinking that they are above all else." said Jiang Cheng.

"Agreed." said Wei Wuxian.

Nie MingJue saw all of the scene. Without saying a word, he unsheathed his saber by an inch. A sharp ring pierced through the air.

Hearing the familiar sound of unsheathing, Meng Yao immediately trembled. He spun around, his soul almost evaporating, “… Sect Leader Nie?”

"Everyone would feel their soul leaving their body when faced with my brother like that." laughed Nie Huaisang.

"This might be the start of them being enemies." said Jiang Yanli.

Nie MingJue pulled all of his saber out of its sheath. The body of the sword glared brightly, yet the blade itself vaguely glinted in the red shade of blood. Wei WuXian could feel the billowing anger from him, along with emotions of disappointment and hatred.

Meng Yao knew Nie MingJue’s character more than anyone else. He dropped the sword with a clang, “Sect Leader Nie, Sect Leader Nie! Please wait, please wait! I can explain!”

Nie MingJue shouted, “What do you want to explain?!”

"He's dead." muttered Jin Zixuan.

"Well, Nie Mingjue died before him." said Jiang Cheng.

"Your brother is looking scary." said Wei Wuxian.

"Always." said Nie Huaisang.

Meng Yao threw himself over, half rolling and half crawling, “I had no other choice, I had no other choice!”

Nie MingJue fumed, “What other choice did you not have?! What did I say when I sent you here?!”

Meng Yao kneeled before his feet, “Sect Leader Nie, Sect Leader Nie, just listen to me! I joined the LanlingJin Sect’s force. This was my superior. During my time here, he always despised me. He often humiliated me and beat me…”

Nie MingJue, “So you killed him?”

"More likely." said Wen Qing.

"But, that's is not enough reason to kill." said Nie Mingjue.

"If that's me, I would do the same." said Jaing Cheng making Lan Xichen looked at him.

"Me too." said Wei Wuxian.

"Why would I let the person who insulted me leave a good life while I am suffering?" he asked.

"Maybe, even if just one word of insult comes out of his mouth I will cut off his tongue." said Jiang Cheng.

"That's unacceptable, a-cheng, a-xian." said Jiang Yanli.

Meng Yao, “No! Not because of this! What humiliation can’t I put up with? What couldn’t I endure, if it was only beatings and scoldings? It was just that everytime we took over one of the Wen Sect’s strongholds, I strategized with every single drop of my energy, I fought as well as I could, yet with just a few flimsy words, just a few light brushstrokes he’d make it his credit, saying that it had nothing to do with me. This isn’t the first time. It was every single time, every single time! I reasoned with him, but he couldn’t care less. I turned to others, but nobody was willing to hear me out. Just now he said that my mother was, that my mother was… I really reached my limit—the accident only happened since I was momentarily outraged!”

"That doesn't seemed to be an accident for me." said Nie Mingjue.

"Well, a person will really go outraged when someone insults their mother." said Jin Ling.

"In a child's life, the most important for them is their mother until they grew up." said Sizhui as he flashed a smile to Wei Wuxian.

"Even if your mother doesn't treat you well?" asked a random cultivator.

"Mn. You can ask Jiang-jiujiu for a proof." said Sizhui.

"Why me?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Well, your parents doesn't treat you well." said a random cultivator making the Jiang couple to give him a look. One is smiling the other is glaring.

Under the shock and the terror, he spoke as though his words flew, fearing that Nie MingJue might start chopping before he could even finish his explanation. Despite this, his explanation still had clear logic. Every sentence was highlighting how horrible the others were, how poor he himself was. Nie MingJue snatched his collar and lifted him up, “You’re lying!”

Meng Yao shuddered. Nie MingJue stared into his eyes, speaking one word at a time, “You reached your limit and were momentarily outraged? Would any outraged person kill someone with the expression that you had on? Would they purposely pick the discreet forest that had just been through a battle? Would they kill them with the Wen Sect’s sword, the Wen Sect’s technique in disguise as a Wen-dog’s stealth attack to put the blame on someone else? You’ve clearly been deliberately planning this out!”

"He is." said Nie Huaisang.

"I hate to say this, but I agree with my murderer." said Wen Xu with a laugh.

"Even if I'm outraged, I would still be surprised and shocked if I killed a person even though I hate him. I wouldn't have that kind of expression he have." said Wei Wuxian.

"Yeah, unless of you really planned on killing him. An accident wouldn't happen." said Jin Zixuan.

"It's not an accident at all." said Nie Mingjue.

Meng Yao raised his hand in assurance, “I’m telling the truth! Each and every sentence!”

Nie MingJue raged, “Even if it’s true, you still souldn’t kill him! It was only some trivial achievements! Do you care about such a handful of glory that much?!”

Meng Yao murmured, “Some trivial achievements?” He spoke in a shaking voice, “…What do you mean, some trivial achievements? ChiFengZun, do you know how much work I put into such trivial achievements? How much I suffered? Glory? Without the handful of glory I have nothing!”

"Of course, it is important." Meng Yao muttered.

"It's easy for you to say that since you're already famous and achieved a lot in cultivation world." he added.

"But, killing someone will do you no good." said Nie Mingjue with a glare.

"You won't understand." said Meng Yao.

"Yes, I won't understand." said Nie Mingjue back.

They both glared at one another.

"Please, calm down." said Lan Xichen.

"Let them be. It's their problem." said Jiang Cheng.

Nie MingJue looked at him, who shivered as tears gleamed in his eyes. The contrast between the scene and how he calmly killed someone was too stark. The impact was so great that the image still hadn’t faded from his mind. He spoke, “Meng Yao, let me ask you. The first time I saw you, did you purposely act for me in that pitiful way, so that I’d come to your rescue? If I didn’t, would you have done what you did today and killed all of those people?”

Meng Yao’s Adam’s apple bobbed, where a drop of cold sweat rolled off. Just as he was about to speak, Nie MingJue ordered, “Don’t lie in front of me!”

With a quiver, Meng Yao swallowed the words he was about to say. Kneeling on the ground, his entire body shook. The fingers of his right hand dug deeply into the dirt.

"Answer me." said Nie Mingjue.

"I will. I will kill them. All of them. Why would I let the person who insulted me, insulted my mother live?" asked Meng Yao in rage.

"That's not the right thing to do." said Lan Xichen.

"Then, what do you think is right?" asked Meng Yao.

"Do you even know how it feels? Of course you don't. The great Zewu-jun has never heard someone insulted him in the first place." laughed Meng Yao.

"But still." said Lan Xichen.

"Not all the people are like you, Zewu-jun. Do you think you know everything that you can easily meddle in someone else's problem? For me, you're just a naive person." said Meng Yao.

"What did you say?" asked Jiang Cheng in rage.

"Wanyin." called Lan Xichen, trying to calm the person.

Meng Yao just laughed at them.

After a while, Nie MingJue slowly put his sword back into its sheath, “I won’t do anything to you.”

Meng Yao looked up at once. Nie MingJue continued, “On your own, go confess to the LanlingJin Sect and receive your punishment. Let them deal with you whichever way they deem fit.”

With a moment of hesitation, Meng Yao replied, “…ChiFeng-Zun, I can’t give up now that I’m already here.”

Nie MingJue, “To get here, you took the wrong path.”

Meng Yao, “You’re going to be sending me to my death.”

"If you're saying the truth then you won't die." said Wei Wuxian.

"Not all people who tell the truth live. Most of them dies." said Meng Yao.

"Clearly, the Jin Sect won't let that go." said Jin Zixuan.

"He will surely receive a lot of punishment." he added.

Nie MingJue, “If your words are true, it won’t happen. Go, reflect, and turn over a new leaf.”

Meng Yao whispered, “…My father hasn’t seen me yet.”

It wasn’t that Jin GuangShan didn’t see him.

He simply pretended to not know his existence.

"Why did I even wanted to have him as a father?" asked Meng Yao.

"I can say that, all your illegitimate children will come after you and you'll regret it." laughed Wen Rouhan.

"It was him who is to be blamed in the first place. If he can simply keep it in his pants then none of these will happen to that man." said Jin Zixuan.

At last, under Nie MingJue’s pressure, Meng Yao still replied “yes”, though with great difficulty.

After a while of silence, Nie MingJue spoke, “Stand up.”

As though his body was deprived of all energy, Meng Yao stood up in a trance. He staggered a few steps forward. Seeing that he was on the verge of falling, Nie MingJue helped him steady up. Meng Yao murmured, “… Thank you, Sect Leader Nie.”

Watching his lifeless figure, Nie MingJue turned around. Yet, he suddenly heard him speak, “…I still can’t.”

Nie MingJue wheeled around. He didn’t know since when, but a sword was in Meng Yao’s hand.

"What is he planning to do?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"Something you already expected." said Wei Wuxian.

"I'm going to stangle him to death if he is to harm my brother." said Nie Huaisang with a glare.

He pointed the sword at his stomach, face full of despair, “Sect Leader Nie, I’m unworthy of your kindness.”

As he spoke, he thrust it inside with force. Nie MingJue’s pupils shrunk abruptly. He reached to grab the sword, but it was already too late. In the instant, the sword in Meng Yao’s hand pierced through his stomach and left through his back. His body collapsed into the pool of other people’s blood.

Nie MingJue was shocked for a split second, then went forward. Halfkneeling on the ground, he turned Meng Yao’s body over, “You’re…!!!”

"The hell!" exclaimed Nie Hauisang.

"And here I though he will harm my brother." he added.

"Such a move. He is planning something." said Wen Rouhan.

Meng Yao’s face was colorless. He gave Nie MingJue a weak look, then forced a smile, “Sect Leader Nie, I…”

Before he finished his sentence, his head slowly dropped. Holding his body, Nie MingJue avoided the blade of the sword and pressed his palm onto Meng Yao’s chest, passing him spiritual energy. Yet, Nie MingJue suddenly felt his body shudder. A cold, unceasing stream of energy came from his stomach.

"He really did." said Nie Huaisang.

"What a nice act? You really harmed my brother who show kindness to you." he added.

"I have to." said Meng Yao as if he understands his future self.

Wei WuXian had known that there’d be a bluff, so he wasn’t too surprised. Nie MingJue, however, likely never expected Meng Yao to really harm him. Thus, as he watched Meng Yao calmly stand up in front of him, still unable to move, he was still more shocked than angered.

Meng Yao had probably carefully worked out how to avoid the vital areas. With both caution and composure, he pulled the sword out of his stomach, producing a string of small, bloody splashes, and pressed the wound—this was all he did to treat it. Nie MingJue, on the other hand, still remained in the posture that he used when trying to help Meng Yao. Half kneeling with his head raised, their eyes met.

Nie MingJue didn’t say anything. Meng Yao didn’t say anything either. He sheathed his sword, bowed toward Nie MingJue, and sprinted away without looking back.

Nie Mingjue was glaring at the screen.

"That's quite a clever move to escape punishment." said Wen Xu.

"He just put himself in more danger." said Nie Mingjue.

"Surely, my da-ge will never acknowledge him ever again." said Nie Huaisang.

"That's how they start to have misunderstandings between in each other." said Jaing Yanli.

He had just acknowledged his mistake and agreed to receiving his punishment before feigning suicide and setting up a trap. Now, he was already long gone. It was probably Nie MingJue’s first time seeing such a shameless person, especially one that had just been the trusted aside whom he promoted himself. For this, he flew into a terrible rage, being especially fierce during the Wen Sect’s battles. Even when Lan XiChen had the time to assist Langya, a few days later, his anger hadn’t died down one bit. As soon as he came, Lan XiChen laughed, “MingJue-xiong, what a temper you seem to be in. Where is Meng Yao? Why does he not come and douse your flames?”

"You just added fire to the flames." said Jiang Cheng.

"That's because I don't know what happened between them." Lan Xichen defended himself.

Nie MingJue, “Don’t mention such a person!”

Without any exaggeration, he told Lan XiChen of how Meng Yao killed and planned to blame someone else, then feigned death and ran away. After he heard the story, Lan XiChen was also surprised, “How could this be? Maybe there was a misunderstanding?”

Nie MingJue, “I caught him right on the spot. What misunderstandings could there be?”

Lan XiChen thought for a moment, “Judging from his words, the person whom he killed had definitely done wrong. However, he should not have taken his life either. We are in harsh times, so it is quite difficult to determine who was at fault. I wonder where he is now.”

"He is at fault." said Jiang Cheng.

"We just can't judge from his words since it was him who did it." said Jin Zixuan.

"It's clear that he have an anterior motive." he added.

"You should know the situation first from each sides before judging." said Wen Qing.

"But it was inly his side he can know since the other is already dead." said Wei Wuxian.

Nie MingJue spoke in a harsh tone, “He should hope that I don’t catch him. If I do, I’ll offer him as sacrifice to my saber!”

However, as though his words turned into a prophecy, during the next few years, it was almost as if Meng Yao had suddenly disappeared, as if he had sunk like a rock into the ocean. No trace of him was left.

Now, Nie MingJue loathed him in the same manner that he had once valued him. Whenever the name was mentioned, he put on an angered face, expressing things hard to explain in speech. When he was certain that no information could be found, he refused to discuss Meng Yao with another person ever again.

"He just ruined my brother's trust in him." said Nie Huaisang.

"Once trust is broken, you can never mend it back." said Jiang Cheng.

Nie MingJue was never close to people. He rarely opened up to anyone. Though he finally managed to obtain a competent, trustworthy subordinate, whose character and capabilities he approved, he found that the subordinate’s true colors were nothing like what he had thought they were. It was only natural that his reaction was so extreme.

Just as Wei WuXian was thinking, his head suddenly began to ache, as though it was about to split open. The bones in his body felt as if they were crushed under a chariot. He couldn’t move at all—just the slightest shift made his body creak and groan. Opening his eyes, his sight was so blurry that he could only barely see many figures lie collapsed on the cold, jet stone floor of the hall. It seemed that Nie MingJue’s head had been injured. The wound was already numb. Dried-up stains of blood had clotted over his eyes and his face. With a slight twitch, warm blood climbed down his forehead again.

Wei WuXian was astounded.

"Now, what happened?" asked Nie Huaisang with a visible worry in his voice.

"Is he captured?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"More likely." said Jiang Cheng.

During the Sunshot Campaign, Nie MingJue won almost all battles. The enemy couldn’t even approach him, much less cause him to be so badly injured.

What sort of a situation was this?!

A soft movement came from beside him. Wei WuXian glanced with the corner of his eye and saw a few vague figures. With great difficulty, he focused his gaze and saw that they were a couple of cultivators wearing robes of the sun and flames motif. They moved forward in an adept posture of kneeling on the ground.

Wei WuXian, “…”

"Oh." said Wen Rouhan.

"Looks like, I caught my son's murderer." he added making Nie Mingjue glared at him.

"I don't have a good feeling about this." said  Nie Huaisa ng as he held onto his brother tightly.

All of a sudden, a bone-chilling sense of pressure surrounded him, reaching Wei WuXian through Nie MingJue’s body. Nie MingJue lifted his head slightly. At the end of the jet stone tiles was a large seat made of jade. A person sat atop it.

The distance wasn’t close, and Nie MingJue’s eyes were hindered by the blood, so he was unable to see who the person was. Nonetheless, he could guess who this was without using his sight.

"That's me." Wen Rouhan said proudly.

"You're not going to do anything to him, right?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"How funny you are, Nie-gongzi." said Wen Rouhan with a smile.

The doors of the palace were abruptly opened. Somebody entered.

All of the disciples within the palace walked on their knees, yet this person only nodded in salutation as he first came in. Unlike the others, he walked forward nonchalantly. At the end of the hall, he seemed to bow down and speak a few words with the seated person before turning to this side.

With slow strides, he approached, quietly looking over Nie MingJue, who still remained standing even though he bathed in blood. It seemed as if he laughed, “Sect Leader Nie, long time no see.”

And who could this be, except for Meng Yao himself?

"The f*ck!" cursed Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan.

"What is he doing there?" asked MianMian.

"Well, he joined the Wens." said Nie Mingjue in anger.