Who You Are

Chapter 71 - How Many Elders? How Many Whips?

In the ancestral hall of the Gusu Lan Sect, thirty-three elders of the Lan family, watching the three people in the courtyard silently in the flickering candlelight.

Lan Wangji knelt on the bluestone slab in the courtyard of the ancestral hall. The eyes and nose, the nose and the heart, very straight, and there is no wrinkle in the robe. Just two feet in front of him, stood Grandmaster Lan Qiren, and his eldest nephew, Lan Xichen who stood beside Lan Qiren's left side.

In Lan Qiren's hand was holding a silver-white whip woven of about three feet long and one inch wide. The whip is exactly the precepts whip of the Lan family. Lan Xichen stared at Lan Wangji, the precepts whip seemed to weigh more than a thousand catties, and his hands trembled slightly.

"I, Lan Wangji, knows that Wei Wuxian is not tolerated by cultivation world, and is also an enemy of the Lan family. But I think that what Wei Wuxian did was improperly punished. He did not deserve death!"

Lan Wangji's voice was low, without hesitation, and no changes in his voice, as if he is telling something that has nothing to do with him, but the tone is solemn, every word, every word reveals extremely firm thoughts, obviously there is not even a trace of regret.

Lan Xichen looked at Lan Wangji kneeling on the ground. There was no wind, but he felt very cold. Hearing Lan Wangji's words in his ears, his eyelids jumped wildly, and he couldn't help but shudder.

Lan Qiren's complexion was three shades darker than when he first came; almost the color of a deep red rose.

He groaned a little, took a deep breath, and squeezed a breath, and finally asked, "Wangji, do you know how many cultivators Wei Wuxian killed on Qiongqi Road? How many cultivators did he killed in the Nightless City? Such indiscriminate killing of innocents is called improper punishment? You say he does not deserve death?"

Lan Wangji lowered his eyebrows and replied with a steady, unbreaking voice, "Uncle, on the Qiongqi Road, Wei Wuxian drove Wen Ning to kill one hundred and three cultivators, but the cause was Lan family. They ambushed soldiers in the Qiongqi Road, with the intention to kill Wei Wuxian first. I believe, Wei Wuxian broke through the encirclement and protected himself from hurting others, which is not considered to be indiscriminate killing innocents...

"...After events of Qiongqi Road, Wen Ning and his sister Wen Qing went for suicide in Koi Tower to protect Wei Wuxian, their bones were crashed to ashes. I believe that since cultivation world accepts the suicide of Wen's sister and brother, they must abide by their promises and resolve the grievances of Qiongqi Road. They should not violate their promise and fight against Wei Wuxian again, and this is the second...

"...Nightless City is a declaration of war by the cultivation world who violated the agreement to defeat Wei Wuxian. Since it is a war, casualties are inevitable, and neither side is innocent. This is the third."

...

Wei Ying felt himself start to feel sick again. He hoped he won't cough up blood again in shock. He knows he won't be able to watch this. He had to look away and just bury his face into Lan Zhan's chest. Lan Zhan could feel Wei Ying's uneasiness and held him tight.

...

Lan Xichen's complexion suddenly flushed, and he turned his head to look at Lan Qiren's face, his lips moved slightly, but there was no sound, only the hand holding the ring whip, trembing more. Lan Qiren's hands that had been held behind him were tightly squeezed into fists. It seemed that he could not find a rebuttal for a while.

He was taken back for a while before blurting out, "A bunch of nonsense! A bunch of nonsense!" He was furious.

Lan Xichen was afraid that Lan Qiren would whip directly under the furious rage, he was about to reach out and hold it, and he heard Lan Qiren pause again.