Seeking Solace

Chapter 7

  Chenqing scanned the room critically, having halted the memory. His gaze lingered on Lan Qiren, whose expression was downcast, clearly harboring a guilty conscience. Lan Qiren was having many realizations. 

  A snide smirk lifted the right corner of Chenqing's lips. 

   Maybe I should educate him a bit about where he went wrong. 

  Chenqing practically vibrated with repressed energy. He had much to say to the elder Lan, the words building and burning the tip of his tongue. 

 Especially about all those damned rules of the Gusu Lan Sect! How Lan Qiren was a rigid old fool. How he was a hypocrite. And that alone infuriated Chenqing. He would make certain Lan Qiren was aware of his actions, carving it into his memory.

  "Old Lan," Chenqing pursed his lips, waiting for the other to look up. Sensing the gaze upon him,   Lan Qiren lifted his head, feeling chilled to the bone by that crimson gaze that gave off such a terrifying aura. He had never had reason to see Wei Wuxian when he used resentful energy, and seeing it now…

 "Say, those rules of yours. There are… three-thousand or more yes? Not that I care about the number anyway."

  Lan Qiren's expression was startled, confused, clearly wondering why such a thing was being brought up. Idiot . He cleared his throat before answering. 

  "Yes-" 

  Chenqing held up a hand before Lan Qiren could go into a tirade. "You don’t need to recite them; I know them very well.  I have a good memory, and even carry my master’s memories also. I wish to call out some and chat about them and your conduct - abiding by those rules as you claim." 

  Chenqing's smile was anything but pleasant. "I think you already know where I am going with this. Have you also realized some of the hypocrisy of your actions?"

  Lan Qiren's mouth thinned, his expression darkening. He could not refute Chenqing's words. All he could do was close his eyes and sigh as he nodded in agreement. Chenqing clapped in dark delight at such an easy display of obedience.

He’s going to have so much fun with this.

   "Excellent! Since you love educating others so much and your beloved rules, I'm going to educate you with your own rules." He kept a bland, cold smile, his eyes scanning the room. "I suggest the rest of you stay silent and maybe you'll also be enlightened along with the ‘esteemed’ Teacher Lan." 

  His tone unsettled them, making their blood run cold, made their flesh crawl as he shot a glare at all of them before turning back to Lan Qiren. "The Gusu Lan is truly the most righteous amongst all of the sects, very much unlike the Jins. But you are decidedly not exempt from criticism. As with all cultivators who scheme to defy the Heavens, subconsciously or not, you have ingrained the mindset that you are inherently better than those who do not cultivate."

   Chenqing continued speaking. "I will say this again, you may be a cultivator but you are not without flaw. You are still human. You are not immortal. You bleed red. You can die, and will eventually die. You can delay old age but it is inevitable. You wish to cultivate to become immortals, yet you don’t realize that with your current mindset, that ideal is impossible. If it were, many of your ancestors would have been able to become immortal themselves considering how long they all cultivated."