Unrestrained Heart

Chapter 13

Lan Wangji has been kneeling in the discipline yard for two days with the snow falling around him, but he isn't reflecting on what he had done wrong. Right now, he is meditating on what Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren had told him about the emergency council the Jin Guangshan had called after the banquet.

Many of the clan leaders were already there for the banquet but they waited for Lan Qiren to come from Cloud Recesses and Jiang Cheng to come from Meishan, also some of the smaller clan leaders traveled to Linlang to join the council.

According to Lan Xichen, Jin Guangshan had called the meeting to order then had Jin Guangyao explain what had happened at Qiongqi pass.

"Wei Wuxian turned Wen Ning into a fierce corpse along with other deceased prisoners in the area. They fell onto the guards, killing four and injuring countless others. A total of fifty Wen prisoners escaped." Jin Guangyao stated. "He has taken the Wens to the burial mounds and set up many walking corpses and arrays at the foot of the mountain so that no one can follow them."

There had been many whispers around the room about the trouble Wei Wuxian had caused with his actions.

Jiang Cheng had stood and bowed to Jin Guangshan. "Wei Wuxian indeed stepped out of line. I apologize and as his clan leader am willing to do anything to make this right. However, on the matter of Wen Ning, you must understand that Wen Ning and his sister Wen Qing helped several of us after we escaped the cave of the Xuanwu of Slaughter. Wen Ning risked his own life to gather information from Lotus Pier about my parents and sister. He even returned Zidian to me." He strokes the ring on his finger.

"Isn't this Wen Qing and Wen Ning cousins of Wen Ruohan? I remember before the war, he held them in high regard. Are we supposed to believe they were innocent of any crimes?" A cultivator called from the back of the room.

"I know Wen Qing as well. She had visited the Cloud Reccesses to study the medical books in our library pavilion." Lan Xichen said. "She is an excellent doctor and I have only ever known her to use her skills to heal. I have never heard of her or her brother taking part in the atrocities that the Wens committed."

"Even if they didn't help in the war they didn't stand up to Wen Ruohan and try to stop him either." Nie Mingjue said.

"Brother," Nie Huaisang responded. "One woman and a teenage boy could have hardly stopped Wen Ruohan. Also, if I remember right, they were both arrested and sent to Inferno Palace when it was discovered they helped Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian."

A young female cultivator of the Jin Clan said, "Lord Wei was a hero of the Sunshot campaign earning many merits."

Jin Guangshan responded, "He didn't earn his merits alone and he also caused many problems."

"That's right. Didn't lord Wei lose control during the Sunshot campaign causing several deaths and injuries among our own cultivators?" Su She asked. There were several murmurs of agreement at this.

"That matter has already been investigated." Jiang Cheng said.

"What investigation?" Jin Zixun countered, "Lord Wei was given a reprieve because of his role in the victory of the campaign. It doesn't change the fact that the type of cultivation he uses is dangerous to everyone around him. He will cause a disaster sooner or later. Now he has indiscriminately killed our people because of some Wen dogs."

There were more murmurs around the room and some of the clan leaders seemed ready to form an alliance against Wei Wuxian at this point.

A voice rang out in the hall. "It may have not been killing indiscriminately, there are rumors that the guards were mistreating the prisoners. Wasn't this Wen Ning murdered by the guards?" To everyone's surprise this voice belonged to Jin Zixuan.