Chapter GDC 10: Arrogance—Part Five (1/2)

Sorry for the late release of chapter 10. Our translator had a big competition that was more important than translating. She had to travel a lot and was unable to find time to actually finish it these last couple days.Chapter 10 Arrogance—Part Five

Wen Ning’s head was slightly lowered and his arms hung down, as if he was a marionette waiting for the orders of his master.

His face was pale and delicate, and could be considered handsome in a melancholy sort of way. However, there were no pupils in his eyes, but only a flat cloud of white, along with a number of black, cracking lines which climbed up his face from his neck, so the melancholy turned into a frightening gloom. The lower hem and sleeves of his robe were ragged and torn, showing a pair of wrists that were the same ashen shade as his face, with black cuffs and chains on both his wrists and ankles. The tinkling sound was produced when he dragged the iron chains on the ground. If he stopped moving, everything would be silent again.

It wasn’t hard to guess why all of the cultivators were scared out of their wits. Wei WuXian wasn’t any calmer than any of them either. In fact, the storm in his chest had already crashed over the top of his head.

It wasn’t that Wen Ning shouldn’t be here, but that Wen Ning shouldn’t be in this world at all. He was turned into ashes even before the siege at Luanzang Hill.

Hearing the others call Wen Ning’s name, Jin Ling’s blade, which originally pointed at the direction of the soul-consuming goddess, couldn’t help but to turn toward another direction. Seeing that he was distracted, the soul-consuming goddess gladly extended her arm and picked him up.

As Wei WuXian saw her opened mouth approaching Jin Ling, he didn’t have time to be surprised. He raised the wooden flute again, hands slightly shaking, and therefore, the notes that he played also trembled. Aside from this, the flute was roughly crafted, so the sound produced could be described as coarse and unpleasant to the ear. With two notes, Wen Ning started to move.

Within the blink of an eye, he had already shifted in front of the soul-consuming goddess. Wen Ning used the side of his palm and gave a blow. The soul-consuming goddess’s neck cracked, and although her body didn’t move, her head was twisted around because of the force. She faced the direction of which her back originally faced, but kept on smiling. Wen Ning gave another blow with his hand, and the soul-consuming goddess’s right hand, which was holding Jin Ling, was cleanly cut off.

She bowed her head to look at the wrist which broke off sharply. Instead of turning her head toward the correct direction, her entire body turned around, so that she was facing Wen Ning with her face and her back. Wei WuXian didn’t dare to relax. He took a deep breath and commanded Wen Ning to fight. However, not long had passed, and he became even more shocked.

Low-level corpses were unable to think on their own and needed his orders to lead them. Powerful fierce corpses, on the other hand, were usually delirious or unconscious. Yet, Wen Ning’s case was different—he was created by Wei WuXian, which meant that he could easily be called the strongest fierce corpse in the current world. He was the only one who was capable of thought. Aside from not fearing injuries, fire, the cold, poison, and whatever living humans feared, he was the same as a one.

However, at that moment, Wen Ning clearly wasn’t conscious!

He was both shocked and doubtful as a few cries of alarm came threshing from the crowd. Using both his arms and legs, Wen Ning had secured the soul-consuming goddess on the ground. He picked up a rock which lay on the side, taller than the height of humans, and lifted it above the soul-consuming goddess. He started to slam it onto her with great force. Each strike sounded as loud as thunder, continuing until the stone body of the soul-consuming goddess was pounded to pieces!

Amid the white pile of rocks scattered on the ground, a marble-sized sphere rolled out, radiating a circle of light in the colour of snow. It was the core that condensed in the soul-consuming goddess after she devoured the souls of ten-or-so living people. If it was brought back and handled carefully, some people, who had their souls eaten recently, could be restored back to life. However, at the moment, nobody made any effort to pick up the sphere. The blades which were aimed at the soul-consuming goddess all turned around.

One cultivator shouted at the top of his lungs, “Close in on him!”

Some people replied hesitantly, but more people were indecisive, walking backward slowly. The cultivator shouted again, “Fellow cultivators, we have to block him so that he doesn’t escape. This is Wen Ning we’re facing!”

These words convinced the crowd. What was a mere soul-consuming monster compared to the Ghost General? Although the reason as to his appearance was unknown, it was obvious that killing one thousand soul-consuming spirits couldn’t even compare to capturing one single Wen Ning. After all, this was the most obeying mad dog under the YiLing Patriarch, which bit people without making any noise. If it was captured, they would surely become  famous in the cultivation world and quickly rise to success! Their original goal from attending the Dafan Mountain night-hunt was to fight for fairies, beasts, and evil spirits to add to their experiences. With the shouts, it was certain that some people were interested. Yet, the older cultivators who saw with their own eyes how wild Wen Ning was when he broke out were still cautious to make a move. Hence, the person shouted once more, “What are you scared of? It’s not as if the YiLing Patriarch is here right now.”

After another thought, the words made sense to them. What was there to be scared of? His master was already in pieces!

With these remarks, the ring of swords which circled around Wen Ning had suddenly decreased in size. Wen Ning waved his arm, and the black iron chains swept past heavily, hitting the swords so that the directions of their blades slanted off to the side. Right afterward, he took a stride forward and gripped the neck of the person closest to him. With a light pull, he was lifted off the ground. Seeing the situation, Wei WuXian knew that the flute notes were too hurried and abrupt, causing him to develop a killing intent. To stifle it, Wei WuXian calmed his feelings and assuredly played another melody.

The melody had drifted over his mind naturally. It was relaxed and tranquil, contrasting with the bizarre and ear-piercing one from before. Hearing the sound, Wen Ning froze, and slowly turned toward the direction of which the melody came from. Wei WuXian stood in the same spot, staring into his pupil-less eyes.

After a moment, Wen Ning released his hand, throwing the cultivator on the ground. He let down his arms and walked toward Wei WuXian at a slow pace.

His head was lowered and he dragged a large amount of iron chains, even seeming as if he looked dejected. Wei WuXian retreated while playing the flute, guiding him to follow. Walking like this for a short distance, they moved into the forest, when suddenly, Wei WuXian caught the chilly scent of sandalwood.

Immediately after, his back bumped into someone. With an abrupt pain on his wrist, the flute melody had stopped. Wei WuXian thought, oh no, and turned around to look. His sight collided with Lan WangJi’s eyes. They were light-coloured to the point of appearing to be physically cold.

The situation looked unpromising. Lan WangJi had seen him use the flute to control corpses with his own eyes.

Lan WangJi used one hand to steadily grip Wei WuXian. Wen Ning stood still at about two zhang away from them, slowly looking around as if he was searching for the flute melody that had suddenly disappeared. From far into the forest, the light of flames and sound of human voices were spreading. Wei WuXian thought quickly and made his decision at once—so what, if Lan WangJi had seen him do this before? There were tens of thousands of people who knew how to play the flute, and the number of people who imitated the YiLing Patriarch’s method of using it to control corpses could form a sect on their own. He wouldn’t confess no matter what!

He decisively ignored the hand that gripped him and raised his arm to continue playing. This time, the tempo was faster, as if it was urging or scolding. His air was not steady and each note cracked at the end, sounding shrill and harsh. Suddenly, Lan WangJi’s hand tightened, almost causing his wrist to break. Wei WuXian’s fingers loosened from the pain and the wooden flute dropped to the ground.

Fortunately, his orders were clear enough. Wen Ning retreated quickly, disappearing into the dark and gloomy forest without a sound. Wei WuXian feared that Lan WangJi would chase after Wen Ning, so he backhandedly grabbed him instead. But, surprisingly, Lan WangJi never even looked at Wen Ning once, but stared at Wei WuXian the whole time. The two stood face to face, gripping each other’s arms, and stared.

At the same time, Jiang Cheng arrived.

He maintained his patience and waited for the results in Buddha’s Feet, but before he finished a single cup of tea, a disciple ran from the mountain hastily and told him about how powerful and cruel the thing in Dafan Mountain was. Hearing this, his heart jumped and he rushed up here again. He shouted, “A-Ling!”

Jin Ling almost had his soul taken away a moment ago, but he was fine now, and stood on the ground properly, “Uncle!”

Seeing that Jin Ling was safe, Jiang Cheng finally calmed down. Quickly afterward, he scolded angrily, “Didn’t you bring signal firelights with you? Don’t you know to use them when you meet something like this? What are you pretending to be strong for? Scram over here!”

Jin Ling was also angered from not capturing the soul-consuming goddess, “Weren’t you the one who told me that I have to catch it? And, if I don’t catch it, I shouldn’t go see you?”

Jiang Cheng seriously wanted to slap the rotten brat so hard that he went back inside his mother’s stomach. However, he really did say so himself, and he shouldn’t prove himself wrong. He could only turn to the cultivators who lay collapsed on the ground, speaking with satire, “What on Earth could it be, beating you up in such a dignified way?”

Among the cultivators who wore differently-coloured clothing, a bunch were the disguised disciples of the YunmengJiang Sect, ordered by Jiang Cheng to secretly assist Jin Ling, in case he couldn’t overcome the challenge. He was quite the responsible elder, going to such great lengths. One cultivator still hadn’t overcome the shock, “Sect, Sect Leader, it’s… It’s Wen Ning…”

Jiang Cheng thought that he had misheard, “What did you say?”

The person replied, “Wen Ning is back!”

In an instant, shock, disgust, anger, and disbelief all crossed Jiang Cheng’s face.

After a long while passed, he finally spoke bitterly, “The thing was ground to dust in front of everyone long ago, so how can it come back?”

The disciple spoke, “It  really is Wen Ning! There’s no way for it to be wrong! My eyes couldn’t have mislooked!” He suddenly pointed to the side, “… He was the one who summoned him!”

Wei WuXian was still in a stalemate with Lan WangJi. Instantly, they were the center of everyone’s attention. Jiang Cheng’s lightning-like gaze also moved toward where he stood.

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring again. He spoke softly, “… Well, well. So you’re back?”

He let go of his left hand, and a long whip dangled from it.

The whip was extremely slender. Like its name, it was a streak of purple lightning which sizzled, as if it had just been taken away from a sky full of storm clouds. He held one side of it in his grip. As it was brandished, it seemed to let out rapid slashes of lightning!

Before Wei WuXian moved, Lan WangJi had already placed his zither in front of him. With an assured stroke, it was as if a rock had created thousands of waves in water. The sound of the zither had created countless ripples in the air, colliding with Zidian. The latter waned, and the former waxed.

Jiang Cheng’s considerations of “not rashly fighting with him” and “not displeasing the Lan Clan” were as if they were eaten by dogs. The night sky above Dafan Mountain’s forest was sometimes surging with purple light, and sometimes as bright as daytime; there were sometimes deafening roars of thunder, and sometimes waves of the zither’s notes. The rest of the cultivators quickly retreated into a safe distance away from the scene, standing on the side and watching. They were both frightened to death and staring in awe. After all, rarely did one have the chance to watch two famous cultivators of prominent families combat directly, which was why everyone hoped that the fight was more violent and intense. Among these thoughts, there were also some unspeakable hopes for the relationship between the Lan Clan and the Jiang Clan to fall apart, creating an interesting scenario. On the other hand, Wei WuXian waited for his chance, and suddenly sprinted off.

The crowd was extremely surprised. He hadn’t been hit by the whip yet only because Lan WangJi acted as a barricade in front of him. For him, running away like this was the same as seeking his own death!