Backlash Part 1

Chapter 158: A 'Friendly' Match

Maybe it had been inevitable. Wei Wuxian remembered several scathing remarks in his first life. Remarks about wanting to challenge him to a friendly sparring match. Always delivered in condescending tones from people whose names had slipped away almost as quickly as they were thrown in Wei Wuxian's face.

Wei Wuxian wasn't certain why everyone seemed to think he should know them. From random cousins of the great sects main family's all the way to random cultivators from sects Wei Wuxian did not even know the name of. It wasn't meant to be an insult. There were so many small sects. How could Wei Wuxian possibly remember all of them? And if he could not even remember all of the sects was he really supposed to remember every cultivator he might have sat in the same room of?

Everyone seemed to expect him to know who they were. Always taking his lack of recognition as some deliberate insult. He would not have been offended if they did not know who he was. The fact that he was the only person commanding an army of corpses made that unlikely, but honestly he'd have been perfectly happy if no one knew who he was.

Everyone seemed to think he should remember their names and any incident in which they might have exchanged a few words. Was that a normal experience for other people? To just remember the names of everyone you were introduced to? Did they get introduced once and then readily recall the name at every interval?

For Wei Wuxian it seemed like his mind was a sieve and each name was a grain of sand. Unless there was something particularly notable Wei Wuxian had to deliberately grasp at the names thrown at him, holding onto them diligently to keep them from slipping away. Even then he might hold onto the name for a day only to have it slip through his fingers and be gone by the next. To try and grasp every name spoken to him and continue to diligently hold onto it forever seemed unreasonably exhausting.

Wei Wuxian could not remember if the obnoxious man in front of him had been one of those voices in his last life. He probably was. Wei Wuxian was pretty certain that at least a few of the people who had harassed him about wanting to spar had been Jin's. Wei Wuxian was pretty certain the man was a Jin. He was certainly part of the LanlingJin sect. Obnoxious gold robes emblazoned with a peony told Wei Wuxian that much.

In any other sect Wei Wuxian would be certain this man was part of the main family. Maybe even in the line of succession. It was a bit harder to tell with the LanlingJin sect. Their baseline was already opulent, so Wei Wuxian honestly wasn't certain if this was someone from the main family or if the inner disciples really wore such heavy and expensive robes all the time.

Wei Wuxian bowed respectfully to start the match. His opponent... made some sort of short bobbing gesture that managed to feel even ruder than if the man had simply not bowed at all. Wei Wuxian felt a familiar annoyance curling in his stomach. Wei Wuxian had not wanted to spar. There was a war going on. He did not have the patience or the energy for this. But the man was loud and blustering.

Wei Wuxian already knew that refusing would bring more problems. In his last life he had been mercilessly hounded and berated for not carrying his sword. People wanting to test their strength against Wei Wuxian in a sparring match was only one sliver of the jabs he had endured before. Wei Wuxian never left his tent without Suibian. He made absolutely certain of that, hoping to prevent some of the animosity he had experienced before.

So Wei Wuxian had his sword with him when Jin what's-his-name made the challenge. Boasting his own skills. Angry Wei Wuxian did not know who he was. Wei Wuxian still didn't know who he was. The man, or someone present, had probably said his name. The name had slipped through the sieve before Wei Wuxian could even decide if it was actually a name he should care about.

The fight began almost immediately. Jin what's-his-name did not waste any time before charging in. Wei Wuxian suddenly had mixed feelings from the vague recollection that this man was usually far away from the fighting. Most of the LanlingJin disciples held the territory already conquered rather than fighting on the front lines.

Only Jin Zixuan and a relatively small group of LanlingJin cultivators fought on the front lines. Wei Wuxian was almost positive the man he was fighting now was not part of that group. Wei Wuxian could not imagine this man surviving the front lines. A tiny part of Wei Wuxian wished this man would march on the front lines so he could stop making a nuisance of himself.

All Wei Wuxian could think as he crossed swords with Jin Zixun, is that he wished he was sparring with Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian loved to spar with a challenging opponent. Maybe he loved it a little bit less nowadays with everyone dragged down by battles and exhaustion.

Wei Wuxian had not sparred with Lan Wangji in a long time and he fully expected they would not spar again until the war was over. It wasn't worth the energy. With the battles soaking their robes and blades in blood, all Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian really wanted right now was some peace. Relishing in any moment of quiet comfort they could find.

Even though Wei Wuxian carried Suibian on him at all times he had rarely had cause to use it in the last two and change years. It might have been a nice exercise to have a friendly sparring match with someone. If that someone wasn't vastly under-skilled and an incredibly unpleasant person.

Wei Wuxian held back enough to let the fight continue for a few minutes. He tried to not make it obvious that he was holding back dramatically. With Wei Wuxian's luck a swift victory would have spurned some sort of angry accusations about cheating. So Wei Wuxian attempted to make it look like he was working harder than he really was. Hopefully his victory would sting just enough for Jin What's-his-name to leave him alone, but not enough for the petty man to try to come back again for retribution.

Wei Wuxian briefly envied the him of the past. Who was still foolish and optimistic enough to believe that doing the right thing was enough. That he shouldn't worry about what people said or thought of him. He tried it that way already. It hadn't worked very well. Wei Wuxian was trying to make things work better this time.

Wei Wuxian sent the gilded sword of his opponent flying. Suibian stopped a hairsbreadth from Jin What's-his-name's throat. The fight was over. Wei Wuxian withdrew Suibian and sheathed it. Bowing appropriately while the Jin was still sputtering in shock.

"Good match." Wei Wuxian lied politely. It was a boring match. Boring for him at the least.

Wei Wuxian watched with detached amusement as the face of his opponent began changing colours. Wei Wuxian could see the astonishment turning into frustration. The realization that he had lost dawning slowly on Wei Wuxian's opponent. The man reclaimed his sword slowly and sheathed it. He inclined his head slightly as his eyes narrowed at Wei Wuxian.

"Wei Wuxian is indeed skilled with a sword. How strange then that you never use it in battle. As a skilled cultivator to fight with our blades is an honour. I wonder why you would abandon it in battle to take up such wicked tricks as disturbing the dead." The tone was sharp and accusatory.

Wei Wuxian flinched internally. Why was it back to this? He fought with his sword using only spiritual energy. What more was wanted? He even let the fight go on longer and refrained from any impressive techniques that would highlight the discrepancy in their skills. Wei Wuxian could not have spared this man's dignity more without trying to believably throw the fight. Wei Wuxian did not think he was a convincing enough actor to do such a thing and was not convinced the outcome would result in more favourable treatment.

"Disgraceful." A new voice chimed in from the sidelines. A middle age man from a sect Wei Wuxian did not know shook his head disapprovingly. Wei Wuxian internally cringed when he noted the details of how he was dressed.

'A sect leader... fantastic.' Wei Wuxian groaned internally.

Wei Wuxian had not thought much about the crowd during the fight. He had expected to draw at least somewhat of an audience, but now he was very aware of the feeling of being surrounded. The area in which he had just finished sparring was surrounded on all sides by cultivators. The crowd was thick enough that Wei Wuxian could not see in between them.

Wei Wuxian was now very aware that he did not have an easy means of retreating. His options were to jump on his sword and flee, something that would be seen as disrespectful and cowardly, or force his way through the crowd. Wei Wuxian would have swallowed the hit to his reputation of the first option, if it was only his own reputation on the line.

The problem was that it was not only his reputation on the line. He had the YunmengJiang sect to think about as well as Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian was regretting agreeing to the fight. He should have refused. He should have made up an excuse or ignored Jin What's-his-name.