FIMA Ch174: Not Allowing

The affairs of each war fortress were overseen by five late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and one of the Nascent Soul overseers of the Third War Zone happened to be Baiqing Mountain Lord of Taixuan Immortal Sect.

Earlier, after Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi had recaptured Ruan Li and brought him back, they had gone directly to find Baiqing Mountain Lord.

As for Ziji Mountain Lord—Ji Hong, Ji Jinghuan’s grandfather—he had previously led the reinforcement forces over from the Fourth War Zone, and since he had not yet left, they happened to run into him as well.

Gu Siyuan had a fair understanding of the character of the higher-ups of the immortal sect, so he did not bother concealing anything and simply laid out the entire course of events before the two men.

Since they had Ruan Li as a living witness, and both Ziji Mountain Lord and Baiqing Mountain Lord had searched his soul without hesitation, the truth of the matter was restored for the most part without the need for any further investigation.

Still, Ji Hong was, after all, Ji Jinghuan’s own grandfather, and out of respect for a major figure, they all decided that it was best to confirm things with their own eyes in the end.

And so the current scene came to be.

Strictly speaking, yes—Gu Siyuan had indeed set Ji Jinghuan up. But so what?

As long as the truth was real, and as long as the facts did not change.

Gu Siyuan cast him a cold, indifferent glance and said nothing more.

There was no need for him to speak.

At times like this, there were many others willing to speak.

Ji Hong looked at Ji Jinghuan and said expressionlessly, “Huan’er, you have disappointed me.”

“Grandfather! Listen to my explanation…” Ji Jinghuan’s face changed drastically.

He was the most outstanding descendant of the Ji family. From childhood to now, his grandfather had always doted on him especially—even more so than his parents. When had he ever looked at him like this before, let alone spoken such heavy words?

Most importantly, at this very moment, his grandfather was the only person who could get him out of this.

Meeting his eyes, Ji Hong pointed to the listless Ruan Li at the side and said, “Before coming here, we already searched his soul. Do you think you can still explain yourself? Can you still explain it clearly? Privately releasing a major prisoner and murdering a fellow disciple—every one of these crimes passed through your own hands. Every one of them is a great crime of betrayal against the sect.”

Ji Jinghuan looked over in turn, and his expression grew uglier than ever.

Ruan Li, who had already looked deathly pale, trembled violently the moment he heard the words soul-searching, then lost his footing and collapsed toward the ground.

Xiao Xinchi immediately showed distress and instinctively stepped forward to support him. “Cousin, are you alright? What did they do to you?”

Ji Jinghuan’s gaze shifted away from Ruan Li. Once a soul-searching had been carried out, the truth or falsehood of the matter was no longer something that could be disputed.

This time, he really had stepped directly into Gu Siyuan’s trap.

But that was not important. The key to this matter had never been truth or falsehood. It had never been what the real facts were.

“Grandfather, yes, I released someone, and yes, I killed someone.”

The more anxious he became inside, the clearer his mind and speech grew instead. “But we all understand that this actually isn’t the important part. The important thing is that I am your grandson. The only question is whether you are willing to help me with your full strength. Grandfather, if we simply handle it the way I said before—make Yue Tai the culprit, and pretend that nothing just now was seen—then there won’t be any problem at all.”

This was the war zone. Every day countless cultivators died. What did the death of a single Yue Tai matter? He was merely an ordinary disciple of the immortal sect with no backing.

But he, Ji Jinghuan, was a heaven’s favored genius of the age, the chief senior disciple of Ziji Mountain. His grandfather was the lord of Ziji Mountain, second only to the sect master, high in status and great in cultivation.

If they truly wanted to erase this matter and preserve him, then so what if Baiqing Mountain Lord and Gu Siyuan were present? As long as one was willing to pay a sufficient price, would those two really insist on confronting a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator head-on, taking the risk of offending Ziji Mountain, just to bring him down no matter what?

That would be far too unwise.

In the world of adults, a mutually beneficial compromise was always best.

For a while, the courtyard fell very quiet.

Until Xie Xueyi blinked his big round eyes and slowly raised a hand. “Weren’t your words just now a little too arrogant? You were openly asking for special treatment through the back door. Are you treating all of us like we don’t exist?”

“If something was seen, then it was seen. If it wasn’t seen, then it wasn’t seen. There is no such thing as pretending one way or another.” Gu Siyuan also once again cast Ji Jinghuan a cold look, and there was not the slightest hint of compromise or retreat in those ghostly cold words.

Baiqing Mountain Lord gave a light cough, and the atmosphere immediately turned awkward beyond words.

“Gu Siyuan, you sinister little man. You designed all of this against me. What right do you have to stand there speaking down to me like this?” Ji Jinghuan sneered, lashing out in anger.

After cursing him, he continued looking at his own grandfather, his tone weakening several degrees. “Grandfather, you taught me since childhood that outside, one must never lose one’s spirit, and that one must uphold the dignity of Taixuan. This time I was foolish and made a mistake, yes—but I also only fell because of Gu Siyuan’s schemes. Grandfather, I will learn my lesson. In the future I absolutely won’t—”

At that point, Ji Hong suddenly interrupted him himself. “Those are not the only things I taught you.”

He looked out through the window. The slanting evening sun cast its light across a low sky and the connecting wasteland, and all that entered the eye was blood-red. One could almost smell the scent of blood and fire from the battlefield.

It was so exciting—and so disgusting.

It reminded him of the days long, long ago, before he entered Taixuan Immortal Sect, when he had lived in the mortal world.

“I taught you not to allow outsiders to bully you, and to uphold the dignity of Taixuan. But beyond that, I taught you that every action of yours must protect the honor of the sect and set an example for junior brothers and sisters. You’ve confused what matters more and less.”

The moment those words came out, everyone’s expressions eased slightly.

Gu Siyuan and the others felt light, almost relieved.

Ji Jinghuan, on the other hand, felt as though the blade had already reached his neck.

He stared fixedly at his grandfather.

Never in his wildest imagination had he expected that his own grandfather—this grandfather who had always been fiercely protective of his own—would say something like this and so directly decide his guilt without hesitation!

He drew a hard breath and gritted out, “Grandfather, I only made one mistake. Am I really that unforgivable? Give me one more chance. In the future I will certainly become the kind of Taixuan disciple who satisfies you beyond measure…”

Ji Hong shook his head lightly. “Twice. You made the wrong choice twice.”

Ji Jinghuan froze, then immediately argued, “Grandfather, but—”

Ji Hong’s expression remained calm. “If you know you’ve done wrong, then you must have the courage to bear the consequences.”

He looked at Gu Siyuan and Baiqing Mountain Lord. “The affairs of the Third War Zone are under your supervision. In matters such as this, deal with it according to sect rules.”

With that, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

Sect rules?

According to the rules of Taixuan Immortal Sect, those guilty of betraying the sect faced either direct execution in severe cases or the destruction of cultivation in lesser ones.

And whichever it was, he could not bear it.

Ji Jinghuan could not believe it. In panic, he reached out and clutched at Ji Hong’s robe hem. “Grandfather, I’m your own grandson… Even if you ignore my fault, was all the affection between us over these years fake too? You treated me so well before. You said you would hand the entire Ji family and all of Ziji Mountain to me. And now you’re going to stand by and watch me become a cripple?”

“Mountain Lord, Jinghuan reveres and admires you beyond measure, and surely you cherish and care for him no less. Now he has only made a small mistake—how can you bear to abandon him just like this? If someday in the future you remember the bond between grandfather and grandson, and think back on what happened today, won’t you regret it beyond measure? Might this not even become a heart-demon in your cultivation?”

Xiao Xinchi, no longer having the leisure to care for his sickly, foolish cousin, also hurriedly spoke up to help Ji Jinghuan.

After hearing the two of them, Ji Hong halted his departing steps and slightly lifted his head toward Ji Jinghuan. “Do you know how old I am this year?”

Ji Jinghuan froze.

Ji Hong had no intention of waiting for an answer and soon continued on his own. “I formed my Nascent Soul at two hundred. This year I am one thousand two hundred and thirteen. I entered Taixuan Immortal Sect when I was exactly thirteen years old. Which means that I have spent a full twelve hundred years in the immortal sect—from outer disciple to core disciple, then becoming an enforcement elder, and finally mountain lord of Ziji Mountain.”

“Twelve hundred years of companionship and bond. And you—even counting from the moment of your birth—your connection with me is only a few decades long. Why should I ruin ten-thousand-year-old sect rules and the sect’s reputation for the sake of that mere few decades of grandfather-grandson affection? Do you think you are qualified?”

From the moment he had arrived until now, Ji Hong’s expression had remained indifferent and plain. Only at this instant did it gain a few living colors.

Even Gu Siyuan, who had been coldly observing to the side all this time, could not help but glance at Ji Hong now.

As for Xie Xueyi, he directly widened his eyes and stared at Ji Hong without blinking, as though the old man hid some interesting secret upon him.

But Ji Jinghuan’s face went white, and his fists clenched tightly.

That answer was simply unbearable to him.

The pride and satisfaction he had always taken in himself turned out, in his grandfather’s heart, to be so utterly insignificant.

…

Ji Hong left.

Silence filled the courtyard.

Baiqing Mountain Lord glanced at Ji Jinghuan, who had sunk into bewilderment and inner demons, and said to Gu Siyuan, “I’ll carry out the punishment myself.”

Xie Xueyi immediately responded, “Many thanks, Mountain Lord.”

Baiqing Mountain Lord smiled and shook his head at him. “What a clever little ghost you are.”

Then he turned his gaze toward Ji Jinghuan.

The pressure of Nascent Soul descended all at once. Ji Jinghuan’s body instantly stiffened. His mind, which had still been dazed and muddled a moment before, snapped clear in an instant—and for that very reason, the pain became all the more unbearable.

His face twisted as he pleaded miserably, “Martial Uncle, spare me. I know I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong…”

Baiqing Mountain Lord had always been soft-hearted, and Ji Jinghuan was after all a junior he had watched grow up.

But sect rules were iron, and no one could violate them.

“Jinghuan, it will be over soon.” With those words, he mercilessly raised his hand and pressed it lightly atop the heads of Ji Jinghuan and Xiao Xinchi.

In the next instant, two screams rang out as the dantians and meridians throughout both their bodies began trembling violently. They could feel endless brilliant spiritual essence leaving their bodies in streams.

The aura of Golden Core cultivation they once had began dropping continuously.

Even on their young and handsome faces, a few faint wrinkles emerged, while the loss of cultivation also brought with it the shortening of their lifespans.

No one knew how long passed before Baiqing Mountain Lord slowly lowered his hand. Both of them collapsed to the ground.

He looked at Ji Jinghuan, and his voice could not hide its regret. “Jinghuan, with crimes this grave, you originally should have had your cultivation entirely destroyed. But considering your past merit to the immortal sect, and that over the past year you have fought diligently against the demonic path, I have left you with late-stage Qi Refining cultivation. You are a single spiritual root cultivator. Building your foundation again should not be too difficult. If, in the future, you encounter some great opportunity and cultivate diligently, perhaps forming a core again may…”

At this point he let out a light sigh and then left the place.

But Ji Jinghuan was completely unable to accept it.

He had originally been at late-stage Golden Core cultivation. In only a few more years, with his talent, forming his Nascent Soul should have been the most natural thing in the world.

But now he had fallen all the way to late-stage Qi Refining. Leaving aside that from now on he would have to change his form of address and call people who had once been beneath him “senior,” enduring endless humiliation—even if he cultivated bitterly and rebuilt his foundation, by then he would already be old and declining. And as for exhausting all resources to form a Golden Core again? The barrier would be at least a hundred times more difficult than before. To say it was as hard as ascending to heaven would be no exaggeration.

As for Nascent Soul, that had become a complete fantasy. Not even worth thinking about…

He could now see the end of his life at a glance.

How had things become like this?

He was Ji Jinghuan—the proudest favored son of Taixuan Immortal Sect, the young hero famed across the continent!

His whole life should have been glorious and brilliant. Where exactly had it begun to go wrong?

As he thought this, his body trembled violently, and he could not help glaring at Gu Siyuan.

Gu Siyuan’s expression, however, showed not the slightest ripple, as if he had not even noticed.

He was a Nascent Soul ancestor now. Why would he place a mere Qi Refining cultivator in his eyes?

Pain surged ever more fiercely through Ji Jinghuan’s heart, and slowly he shifted his gaze toward Ruan Li lying on the floor, his eyes savage with hatred.

Yes. And that person too. It was all his fault. If not for him getting tangled up with the demonic path, if not for agreeing to Xinchi’s request to save him, then how would all these things have happened? How would they have led to consequences so utterly beyond recovery?

He raised his head toward Gu Siyuan, his voice dark and eerie. “Gu Siyuan, you’ve already brought me down to this point. I completely lost to you. Since that’s the case, then just help me with one thing—can you hand Ruan Li over to me?”

Xiao Xinchi suddenly lifted his head toward Ji Jinghuan—and then froze.

At first he had thought Ji Jinghuan meant to save his cousin, but now, seeing the terrible violence on his face, an enormous unease suddenly rose within him.

“Jinghuan…” he called softly.

Ji Jinghuan also turned his head toward him.

Xiao Xinchi had originally only been at early Golden Core, far below Ji Jinghuan in cultivation. But because he had not murdered a fellow disciple, his guilt was lighter, so he had actually been left with Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Heh. Xinchi had become his senior now…

Still, there had already been enough disasters today. His heart was nearly numb by this point.

“No.” Gu Siyuan did not place Ji Jinghuan in his eyes at all. He simply refused with one calm word, then said to Xie Xueyi, “Let’s go.”

Xie Xueyi smiled, lifted his chin slightly, and gestured for Ruan Li to get up on his own and follow them out.

Ji Jinghuan’s face changed. “Gu Siyuan, even in such a small matter, you won’t give me face? Do you really intend to push things to the absolute end?”

Gu Siyuan raised a brow and gave a laugh of disdain. “I thought reducing you to Qi Refining stage had already made my attitude sufficiently clear.”

Ji Jinghuan’s face twisted. “You…”

At that moment, Xie Xueyi’s clear and pleasant voice rang out in the room.

“Tsk, Ji Jinghuan, what do you want Ruan Li for? Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on this fiancé of yours. In that case, I’d better kindly advise you of something—during that earlier soul-searching, we actually found something rather interesting in Ruan Li’s memories. Want to hear it?”

“What do you mean?” Ji Jinghuan coughed lightly, narrowing his eyes.

Xiao Xinchi suddenly went white. Remembering that old matter, he immediately shouted at Xie Xueyi, “Don’t. Don’t say it…”

But Xie Xueyi had wanted to say it for a long time already. Earlier, with the two mountain lords present, it had not been convenient. Now that he had finally caught a chance, if he did not say it and enjoy the spectacle, then what kind of style would that be?

Playing with his whip as he walked a few steps forward, he said with a grin, “Ah, Ji Jinghuan, don’t sigh so much over having lost to my gege. Leaving aside how wise and brilliant my gege is, with a brain like yours, losing to just about anyone would be normal. I’m afraid even now you still haven’t figured out what the real names of your fiancé and this beloved little junior brother of yours actually are, right?”

Ji Jinghuan’s pupils shrank sharply. “What did you just say?”

The smile on Xie Xueyi’s face only grew brighter. “Then let me, this kind-hearted person, tell you. Ruan Xinchi and Xiao Li. Well? Isn’t that arrangement of names a lot more interesting?”

“Don’t say it, don’t say it… I beg you!” Xiao Xinchi—no, Ruan Xinchi—pleaded miserably.

But when had Xie Xueyi ever been a good person?

At once he grew even more excited and slowly, bit by bit, told out the entire story he had long been brewing in his heart. At the points he found especially enjoyable, he could not even help clicking his tongue in admiration.

Watching how excited he was, Gu Siyuan thought to himself: after the war ends, perhaps opening a theater for this fellow down in the mortal world would not be a bad choice.

After a short while, Xie Xueyi’s voice gradually came to a stop.

Then the room was filled with a series of heart-rending cries.

“You lied to me. You lied to me. You were all lying to me…”

Ji Jinghuan collapsed to the floor, laughing and crying all at once. His emotions were so violent, and the internal injuries from the collapse of his cultivation so severe, that he kept vomiting blood from his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Jinghuan. Back then I had no choice. Aunt and uncle… I couldn’t just forget old feelings.” Pain stabbed through Ruan Xinchi’s heart as he lunged forward to apologize, his eyes full of regret and anguish.

But Ji Jinghuan recoiled from him as if from a venomous snake, shoving him away with brutal force.

He had once believed that Ruan Li had saved him, that they had a marriage engagement, and so he had brought him back to Taixuan Immortal Sect. That was what had led to everything that followed.

And now, it was all false.

The person he had loved most had deceived him, together with the very person who had ruined him to this point.

From the very beginning, everything had been wrong.

The people were wrong. The names were wrong. The feelings were wrong…

His whole life had gone wrong too…

…

Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi left Ji Jinghuan’s courtyard and walked back toward their own residence. Along the way, they could still hear distant drifting shouts and wails.

Swinging Gu Siyuan’s hand back and forth in his own, Xie Xueyi sighed. “How pitiful…”

Gu Siyuan pinched his fingertips and raised his brows slightly. “Do you truly mean that?”

Xie Xueyi gave a few light laughs. “How stupid.”

Gu Siyuan smiled faintly. “Now that is the truth.”

Xie Xueyi grew a little unconvinced. “Gege, is that really how I seem in your heart? So bad, so sharp-tongued?”

Gu Siyuan frowned and said with complete seriousness, “Ahem. What kind of words are those? That is clearly cleverness, clearly cuteness. Even if you are Xie Xueyi, you are still not allowed to speak so casually about my dao companion.”

“…” A faint flush crept up behind Xie Xueyi’s ears.

You shameless fellow.

You say nothing for ages, but the moment you do speak, you make people’s hearts pound.

The two of them walked in silence for a little while.

Then Xie Xueyi’s fingers moved, interlocking with Gu Siyuan’s. Suddenly he said, “Gege, I definitely won’t be as stupid as they are. If I like you, then no matter what happens, I’ll make sure you know. I’d never casually hand you over to anyone else. That would be not only belittling myself, but hurting you too.”

Gu Siyuan nodded and said calmly, “Your words and actions match. Junior Brother Xie is a man of action, and a wise one too.”

Xie Xueyi kept staring at Gu Siyuan, his tone turning cold. “Even if one day there really were no choice, then I’d rather destroy it than let someone else have it.”

Gu Siyuan continued cooperating with the performance. “Mm. How frightening. Fortunately, I know now—and fell in love anyway.”

The instant he heard the word love, Xie Xueyi immediately became smug and cheerful again. “Of course. You were so hard to win over back then, and yet in the end, didn’t I still manage to get you?”

Gu Siyuan disagreed with that at once and raised a brow. “Hm? Who exactly got who?”

“…”

Xie Xueyi.

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