Who You Are Book 2

Chapter 30 - Empathy with Chifeng Zun Pt. 4

On his way was a small forest. The forest was rather quiet, rather secluded. It had just been through a surprise attack, and the battlefield hadn't been cleaned up yet. Nie Mingjue walked along the path. All throughout the path were cultivators' corpses, wearing the Wen Sect's, the Jin Sect's, and a few other sects' uniforms.

Suddenly, from in front of him came noises of tch, tch.

Nie Mingjue put his hand on the hilt of his saber and approached furtively. Across the branches and leaves, he saw Meng Yao standing amid piles of corpses. Twisting his wrist, he pulled a long sword out of a cultivator's chest.

His expression was absolutely calm. Attacks both fast and steady, he was also careful, letting not even a droplet of blood stain his clothes.

The sword wasn't his own sword. The hilt had iron embellishments in the shape of flames—it was the sword of a Wen Sect cultivator.

The sword techniques were also those of the Wen Sect's.

And the one who died under his sword wore a robe of Sparks Amidst Snow. He was a cultivator of the Lanling Jin Sect.

Nie Mingjue saw all of the scene. Without saying a word, he unsheathed his saber by an inch. A sharp ring pierced through the air.

Hearing the familiar sound of unsheathing, Meng Yao immediately trembled. He spun around, his soul almost evaporating, "... Sect Leader Nie?"

Nie Mingjue pulled all of his saber out of its sheath. The body of the sword glared brightly, yet the blade itself vaguely glinted in the red shade of blood. Wei Wuxian could feel the billowing anger from him, along with emotions of disappointment and hatred.

...

"No offense, but doing empathy on Chifeng Zun, I had never experienced such anger before," Wei Wuxian said, "and the strength as well."

"None taken," Nie Mingjue said.

...

Meng Yao knew Nie Mingjue's character more than anyone else. He dropped the sword with a clang, "Sect Leader Nie, Sect Leader Nie! Please wait, please wait! I can explain!"

Nie Mingjue shouted, "What do you want to explain?!"

Meng Yao threw himself over, half rolling and half crawling, "I had no other choice, I had no other choice!"

Nie Mingjue fumed, "What other choice did you not have?! What did I say when I sent you here?!"

Meng Yao kneeled before his feet, "Sect Leader Nie, Sect Leader Nie, just listen to me! I joined the Lanling Jin Sect's force. This was my superior. During my time here, he always despised me. He often humiliated me and beat me..."

Nie Mingjue, "So you killed him?"

Meng Yao, "No! Not because of this! What humiliation can't I put up with? What couldn't I endure, if it was only beatings and scoldings? It was just that everytime we took over one of the Wen Sect's strongholds, I strategized with every single drop of my energy, I fought as well as I could, yet with just a few flimsy words, just a few light brushstrokes he'd make it his credit, saying that it had nothing to do with me. This isn't the first time. It was every single time, every single time! I reasoned with him, but he couldn't care less. I turned to others, but nobody was willing to hear me out. Just now he said that my mother was, that my mother was... I really reached my limit—the accident only happened since I was momentarily outraged!"