Backlash Part 1

Chapter 192: Shoot Down The Sun

Wen Rouhan had lost patience. This was hardly a surprise. Wen Rouhan's patience had been wearing thin as the war dragged on. Thinner as the allied sects began to gain ground. The capture of Chifeng-zun had been a timely success. Wen Rouhan's mood had lifted and everyone in Qishan breathed a little easier when Wen Rouhan was in a good mood.

Wen Rouhan had dearly looked forward to spending some time with Nie Mingjue in the Flame Palace. He said as much multiple times as he reviewed Meng Yao's reports with a pleased smirk. As soon as Meng Yao had broken Nie Mingjue in, Wen Rouhan would be paying a recreational visit to the flame palace.

Meng Yao still remembered a few choice words Nie Mingjue had for him before Meng Yao left for Qishan. If Nie Mingjue weren't so insufferably rigid, Meng Yao wouldn't have touched him. Not unless it became clear that the allied sects were going to lose. After all, there are practical considerations that should not be ignored.

Still, if Nie Mingjue had been a bit more reasonable, Yangquan would not have happened. Nie Mingjue was not reasonable. Nie Mingjue lived in a world where his worth was always recognized. He did not have Meng Yao's life, where his contributions were ignored. He did not have other people stealing the credit that rightfully belonged to him, the way Meng Yao did. Taking his work and his ideas. Expecting him to lick their boots because of who his mother was, like his father was not a sect leader.

Nie Mingjue was quick to call Meng Yao's act of revenge against that captain injustice. As though Meng Yao had another choice. As though there was another way to receive the credit he deserved when that hateful man was still there to steal it. It was Meng Yao's error that Nie Mingjue was able to catch the act. It certainly would have been better if no one had, but if Nie Mingjue had been reasonable about it it would have been manageable.

Chifeng-zun was not a reasonable person. The second Chifeng-zun uttered that slur, Meng Yao promised himself that someday he would see Nie Mingjue dead. If Meng Yao could arrange that to occur in a way that would endear him to Wen Rouhan without jeopardizing Meng Yao's position with the allied sects, all the better.

Meng Yao had not anticipated Wen Qing freeing Chifeng-zun. He had read her as someone much more cautious than that. It had been a surprise that she was even passing information to Lan Xichen. To her credit she was careful about it. Meng Yao still didn't know how she was sending the information. It was somehow both expedient and discreet.

Meng Yao had had Wen Qing's chambers searched surreptitiously more than once to try and find evidence. Should Wen Rouhan become aware of a spy, it would be useful to be able to present him one. The fact that Meng Yao could not find any physical evidence indicated Wen Qing was meticulous and cautious. Things that made sense with her studious and clinical nature.

None of that lined up with a bold reckless move, like breaking Nie Mingjue out of Nightless city. An obvious betrayal that at minimum involved very visible coincidences. It was not subtle and not at all difficult to deduce who had done it. That sudden disregard of all plausible deniability. Wen Qing painted a target on her back the moment she freed a high rank prisoner from Meng Yao's own domain.

Meng Yao was not angry. Meng Yao was not angry that Chifeng-zun was freed to return to the allied sects. He was not angry that the Chifeng-zun would hold his stay in the Flame Palace against Meng Yao should the war end in the allied sects favour. Meng Yao was appropriately vexed. He was perhaps a little irritated at his miscalculation and the potential complications it could create in the future.

Wen Rouhan stomped toward the entrance with indignation. Advisors and servants scampering to get out of his way. Meng Yao took the opportunity to pull a lower ranked cultivator aside to carry an order to the Flame Palace. If the allied sects won here, Meng Yao would be revealed as the spy who had provided them with valuable intelligence. It was better if there weren't too many voices that could remind people of what exactly he had been doing within the QishanWen sect while he was a spy.

Meng Yao followed after Wen Rouhan, towards the fighting. Not to close. Meng Yao did not wish to get stabbed if he could help it. Still, he needed to be close enough to see what was going on. What he saw almost stole his breath.

Meng Yao knew that Wei Wuxian controlled resentful energy on the battlefield. He had certainly had enough reports and descriptions to give a good outline of what Wei Wuxian was doing that dramatically swung a battle in the allied sects favour. The allied sects biggest problem was that Wei Wuxian could only be on one battlefield at a time. Not that Meng Yao minded. If Wei Wuxian could be on every battlefield Meng Yao wouldn't have much to offer the allied sects.

As is, Meng Yao had contributed a great deal of information that gave the allied sects a fighting chance during this war. Those contributions were his main reason for going to the QishanWen sect in the first place. It would have been terribly disappointing if his contributions were rendered irrelevant.

Meng Yao now realized that those reports had not done justice to what Wei Wuxian could do with resentful energy. The power of it was incredible. It rolled through the battlefield in thick dark clouds. Meng Yao was not certain how many fierce corpses there were. It seemed like for every living soldier he saw there were two fierce corpses. The spirits were fewer in number, but their power was greater. Their ability to become intangible allowing them to maneuver and attack in ways that no corporeal creature could.

Wei Wuxian's flute echoed across the battle. Floating in the air beside him was a hufu. The two identical halves were held together by a red cord. Clearly it was a tool of some sort for manipulating the resentful energy. That Wei Wuxian used it to command a literal army of corpses made the tool's form quite appropriate for its purpose.

Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen were fighting Wen Rouhan. They were both sect leaders. Born to inherit their sects and trained from a young age. Their powerful sword play and strong spiritual energy highlighted their strengths. Skills Meng Yao could never hope to achieve himself. With Meng Yao's education held back by the circumstances of his birth, making it impossible for Meng Yao to ever achieve a high level of cultivation.

Meng Yao kept an eye on the fight between the three sect leaders. Wen Rouhan had achieved a level of cultivation far beyond Nie Mingjue or Lan Xichen. Wen Rouhan was practically on the cusp of immortality. That combined with the power of the QishanWen sect had given him the confidence to demand fealty from the rest of the cultivation world.

It was entirely possible that Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen together would not be powerful enough to defeat the QishanWen sect leader. Meng Yao kept a careful eye on them as he observed the rest of the battlefield. It was impossible to tell at a glance who would win at this juncture.

A wave of ice blue spiritual energy cut across a swath of the battlefield. Lan Wangji, Hanguang-jun, lit up the battlefield with his powers. His white robes shown in stark contrast to Wei Wuxian's black clothes and dark resentful energy. Truly Lan Wangji lived up to his title. Hanguang-jun's spiritual energy lit up the battlefield as he slew all those who attempted to approach Wei Wuxian.

Meng Yao saw when a few of the spirits slipped away from the main battle towards Wen Rouhan. If Wei Wuxian had the resources to focus on Wen Rouhan, then Sect Leader Wen was certain to fall. Meng Yao's hand fell to his own sword.

In the span of a blink it was suddenly over. Meng Yao's sword pierced through Wen Rouhan's back, straight through his heart. Wen Rouhan's sword fell from his hand a hairsbreadth before connecting with Lan Xichen's throat. Baxia finished its swing severing Wen Rouhan's arm, not that Wen Rouhan would be doing anything with that arm anymore.

Wen Rouhan was dead. The resentful spirits fell back into the fray of soldiers, seeing their target had fallen. For a moment Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue stared in stunned silence as Wen Rouhan's body collapsed to the ground. The war was over. The leader of the QishanWen sect was dead. Cultivators and fierce corpses were purging the last cultivators from the battlefield. The allied sects had successfully shot down the sun.

Notes: Next week I am switching to Tuesday/Thursday updates.  Check my announcements for more details.