Who You Are Book 2

Chapter 28 - Empathy With Chifeng Zun Pt. 2

The cultivators under Nie Mingjue's command, both rogue cultivators and those from the Qinghe Nie Sect, were stationed in various locations. One of these was a nameless mountain ridge in Hejian. Nie Mingjue went up the mountain by foot. Before he was even close to the station, he saw a boy dressed in cloth leave the emerald forest, a bamboo tube in his hand.

The boy seemed as though he had just finished collecting water, legs betraying some fatigue. As he was about to enter the cave, he suddenly stopped. He stood outside the mouth of the cave and listened for a while, as if debating between whether or not to go in. In the end, with the bamboo tube still in his hand, he walked in another direction in silence.

After a while of walking, he found a spot on the side of the road and squatted down. He fished out some white-colored food from his provisions and washed it down with water.

Nie Mingjue walked toward him. As the boy was eating, his head hanging low, he suddenly found himself enveloped in a tall shadow. He looked up, then put his food away and stood up, "Sect Leader Nie."

The boy's figure was on the smaller side. He had fair skin and dark brows, precisely those favor-gaining features of Jin Guangyao. At this point in time, he hadn't been accepted by his clan in Koi Tower yet, which was why he didn't have the bright mark of vermillion on his forehead.

Nie Mingjue clearly remembered the face, "Meng Yao?"

Meng Yao answered respectfully, "Yes."

Nie Mingjue, "Why didn't you rest inside the cave like everyone else did?"

Meng Yao opened his mouth, but only smiled awkwardly, as though he didn't know what to say. Seeing this, Nie Mingjue went past him and walked in the direction of the cave. Meng Yao looked as he wanted to pull him back, though he didn't dare to. Nie Mingjue concealed his breathing so that nobody noticed him even as he arrived at the mouth of the cave. The people inside were still chatting loudly.

"... Yep, that's him."

"No way! Jin Guangshan's son? How can Jin Guangshan's son be living the same way we do? Why doesn't he go back and find his dad? He'd be relieved of such misery with just a point of his dad's finger."

"You think he doesn't want to go back? What do you think he was doing when he took the keepsake all the way from Yunmeng to Lanling?"

"Then he chose the wrong thing to do. Jin Guangshan's wife is scary."

"I mean, Jin Guangshan has so many children outside, at least an entire stack of sons and daughters. Have you seen him accept anyone? Making such a scene was asking for embarrassment."

"Well, people shouldn't hope for the hopeless. He got beaten to a pulp, and who's to blame? He can't blame anyone. He dug his own grave."

"He's such an idiot! With Jin Zixuan, would Jin Guangshan ever think anything of another son? Much less one from a prostitute mounted by thousands. Who knows whose seed he was. In my opinion, Jin Guangshan probably didn't dare to accept him because he also had his doubts himself! Hahahaha..."

...

"And people wonder how Meng Yao turned out the way he did?" Nie Mingjue said, "gossiping like this is just wrong, especially for him to easily hear."

"It goes to show just how much words can be taken to heart," Lan Xichen explained, "Da-Ge and I really did try to get him into the right path."

"Sometimes words just carry too much burden on a person's shoulders," Wei Wuxian stated, "being treated like dirt isn't the best. I know what it's like for people to berate you and shit talk about you. Meng Yao was just too far gone as it must have affected him since he was a child."