Unrestrained Heart

Chapter 20

Jiang Cheng's brows knit together at this, "You think Xue Yang is still alive?"

"Think who you are talking to, no one said he has to be still alive." Wei Wuxian says.

"Possession?" Lan Wangji asks.

Again Wei Wuxian shakes his head, "My talismans didn't indicate any sign of someone being possessed in Mo Village. There were the low-level corpses of course but even the compass of ill winds didn't pick up traces of anything stronger." While the others were distracted with the bodies, Wei Wuxian had run a few experiments. Even if what had killed the people of the Mo estate had been long gone, there should have been traces. It's too much like what they encountered with the Chang estate.

"Speak clearly." Jiang Cheng says irritably, "We don't have all night. I need to escort A-Ling back to Lanling."

"I will, but I think someone else should speak first. Someone here knows more than they are saying." Wei Wuxian picks the fan up beside him and holds it dangerously close to the lantern.

"Wei-gege." Nie Huaisang whines, his eyes stare at the fan like he wants to snatch it back, but he doesn't quite dare.

"I know it's in your nature to keep things to yourself, but I think you should tell us everything you know about Xue Yang. Where he came from, how he came to be a guest cultivator for an illustrious clan like the Jins, how my martial uncle is involved, what you know about Jin Guangshan's death and Mo Xuanyu. Don't even think about putting on the head shaker act you normally use." Wei Wuxian moves the fan even closer to the lantern. "Look at it this way, anything you tell us could help us find Nie Mingjue."

"Clan leader Nie is missing?" JIang Cheng looks astonished.

"Fine," Nie Huaisang says, then he actually does snatch the fan back, putting it safely out of Wei Wuxian's reach.

"Xue Yang, courtesy name Xue Chengmei, grew up on the streets. I don't think even he knew who his parents were. The rumors are that he encountered the leader of the Chang clan when he was young and that Chang Ci'an tricked him into delivering a message for him. The person that received the message beat the boy to find out who had sent it, then dragged Xue Yang back to the shop where he had encountered Chang Ci'an, but the man was long gone. Later Xue Yang found the clan leader and demanded whatever reward he had been promised for delivering the message. However Chang Ci'an struck him with an ox whip and even ran over his hand with a cart, breaking his hand and causing the little boy to lose his finger." Nie Huaisang shakes his head sadly at this.

"So that's why he went after the Chang Clan." Jiang Cheng says. "Although Chang Ci'an was already dead by that point he took out his grudge on the entire clan."

Wei Wuxian has a feeling that is why the Chang Clan was targeted, but that Xue Yang had a secondary purpose for going after the clan.

Nie Huaisang continues his story. "After that not much is known until he was a teenager, then he started gaining a reputation for being a particularly vicious thug in Kuizhou. Shortly after the death of Jin Zixun, Jin Guangshan started recruiting cultivators that excelled in the demonic arts. He seemed to be trying to find someone to follow in a certain person's footsteps." He gives Wei Wuxian an amused look. "That's when Jin Guangyao brought Xue Yang to Koi tower. Besides his work in demonic cultivation, he went after anyone Jin Guangshan or Jin Guangyao considered an enemy. I mostly know this from Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli, who felt very uneasy around Xue Yang, and kept him far away from A-Ling. They were afraid if they offended him, he would use the child to get revenge. During that time was also when Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen encountered him."

Wei Wuxian, always hungry for tales involving his family shifts and sits up straighter at this part.

"There had been a vendor in town that had said some disparaging things about Jin Guangyao's mother in Xue Yang's hearing. Xue Yang had taken it upon himself to vandalize the vendor's cart, but Song Lan stopped him. He and Xiao Xingchen had drug him back to Koi tower for punishment. Jin Guangyao had made excuses for Xue Yang's actions, and said that the Jin's would teach him to act better. Appeased your uncle and Song Lan had let the matter go. However, several people heard Xue Yang say how much he despised the two of them for looking down on him." Nie Huaisang says.