REMEMBER ME

Banishment

The juniors had been crying since yesterday, desperately seeking evidence to prove Wei Wuxian's innocence. They knew he hadn't tried to kill the Twin Jades of Gusu during the events at Guanyin Temple. However, their voices were stifled by the elders and sect leaders, who refused to listen.

"Jiang Cheng, jiujiu, please," Jin Ling sobbed, his voice breaking. "Wei-shushu didn't try to kill them. I was there too, remember?"

"JIN LING!" Jiang Cheng's voice thundered through the room. "YOU SAW IT YOURSELF! HE TRIED TO MANIPULATE THE CORPSES TO KILL THE TWIN JADES! WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH THAT JIN GUANGYAO HELPED US."

"But jiujiu, that's not what really happened! Why don't you remember it? It was the other way around!"

"JIN LING! ENOUGH! I WON'T TOLERATE THIS BEHAVIOR FROM YOU! STOP ACTING LIKE A STUPID BRAT!" Jiang Cheng stormed out, leaving Jin Ling feeling even more helpless and desperate. Determined, he went to find his friends, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi.

"Sizhui, did you manage to convince Hanguang-jun that Wei-shushu is innocent?" Jin Ling asked, his voice trembling with hope.

Sizhui's tears streamed down his cheeks as he shook his head. "He won't listen to me. He even forbade Jingyi and me from visiting Wei Quanbei," he said, his voice choked with emotion.

"What will we do now? The results of their meeting will be out soon," Jingyi said, his voice filled with dread.

"I'm going to leave the clan," Sizhui declared with determination, causing Jingyi and Jin Ling to look at him in shock.

"Sizhui, if you leave the clan, I will come with you and Wei Quanbei," Jingyi said resolutely. "I can't stay among these hypocritical cultivators any longer. They needed Wei Quanbei's help and treated him well, but now they no longer need him, they throw him away and frame him!"

"If you both are leaving the Lan sect, I will leave the Jin sect too!" Jin Ling proclaimed.

"Young mistress, you don't have to do that. You're the next heir to your clan, while Sizhui and I have been orphans since we were young. They won't hold on to us if we leave, but for you and Zizhen, it's different," Sizhui explained, and Jingyi nodded in agreement.

Two hours later, the main hall was packed with cultivators from all the clans. Lan Qiren, Lan Xichen, and Lan Wangji were seated at the front, next to Jin Guangyao, followed by the Jiang and Nie sect leaders.

Wei Wuxian entered the hall, shackled and battered. Despite his injuries, he managed to protect his secret, thanks to the juniors who had tried to stop his capture. As he stepped in, the juniors shouted and tried to run to him, but their seniors held them back.

"Wei Quanbei! Wei-shushu!" the juniors cried out.

Wei Wuxian gave them a weak smile. He scanned the room, seeing Jin Guangyao's evil smile and the looks of disgust and anger from Lan Qiren, Lan Xichen, and Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji's face showed hurt, betrayal, disgust, and anger.

Lan Zhan, how could you look at me like that? Wei Wuxian thought, his heart breaking. Didn't you know I was going to surprise you after we solved the case of the former sect leader Nie? But you believed their lies instead. You promised to protect me, to be with me, to love me. Where are those promises now? You used me and then discarded me when you no longer needed me. How hypocritical you all are!

Jin Guangyao's voice cut through his thoughts. "By the majority votes from all clans, we now announce that Wei Wuxian, courtesy name Wei Ying, is hereby banished from the cultivation world. If anyone helps him in the future, they will be banished as well. When you see him in the future, ignore him. If he does something bad, kill him on sight. Today, he will leave the cultivation world and never return."