MDZS - In Cinemas Now! Starring WWX and LWJ

Chapter 26 - Malice

Lan WangJi, "The details, please." Sitting down, his polite words were almost as powerful as a threat. Nie HuaiSang finally started his explanation. 

As the chattering audience quickly quieted in anticipation of the explanation, Wei Wuxian rested his head on his husband's shoulder. Tingly butterflies fluttered in his stomach when Lan Zhan turned slightly to press a feather-light kiss into his hair. Now that the annoying cultivators had finally shut up, all of them absorbed by listening to the explanation on the board, he could almost pretend that he and Lan Zhan were just relaxing together, reminiscing on funny memories...almost. 

He began, "HanGuang-Jun, you know that we, the Nie Sect, are different from the other sects. Because our sect's founder was a butcher, the other sects cultivate using swords, while our sect, on the other hand, cultivates using sabers."

This was known by everyone and was by no means a secret. Even the sect motif of the QingheNie Sect was the vicious head of a beast that resembled a dog or a pig. 

The audience 'tsk'ed in displeasure. Of course they already knew that. They had all been so eager for answers, they had nearly forgotten that this was the infamous "One question, Three 'I don't know's " Nie Huaisang. It was remarkable that he was even attempting to give an explanation in the first place.

Nie HuaiSang continued, "Because our cultivation method was different from those of the other sects' and our founder was originally a butcher, it was only natural for blood to be shed. The sabers of our past sect leaders were all heavy with hostile energy and killing intent. Almost every single sect leader met a sudden death from a qi deviation explosion. Their irritable tempers also had a lot to do with this." Wei WuXian raised a brow, "Now, this is getting quite close to demonic cultivation."

"What do you mean, Senior Wei??" Zizhen asked, tilting his head in confusion. "How do the sabers have anything to do with demonic cultivation?"

"Oh. Well, I just meant that the way the sabers affected their users' temperaments with their hostile energy, it's similar to what happens when you use demonic cultivation." Wei Wuxian replied, scratching his nose. He glanced sideways at Lan Zhan, whose expression had suddenly gone stiff, likely because he was remembering those unpleasant times back when they were fighting over what the effects of his demonic cultivation would have over his mind. 

"Ohhh... I see." Zizhen said. "Wait, no, I don't. How does demonic cultivation cause you to die suddenly? And I'm sure you've never had an irritable temper!"

A vivid memory of a supervision office filled with Wen corpses flashed suddenly before Jiang Cheng's eyes. That was possibly about the most 'irritable' he'd ever seen Wei Wuxian - he wondered if that scene would appear on the board eventually. He might have to cover Jin Ling's eyes if it did. 

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian was chuckling nervously. "... I'm sorry to have to remind you of this, but I did die quite violently. Not exactly from qi-deviation, but getting torn apart by fierce corpses was also-"

Lan Xichen cleared his throat very loudly to cut Wei Wuxian off, because Zizhen looked to be on the verge of tears.

Nie HuaiSang quickly defended, "It's different! Demonic cultivation is only demonic cultivation because it uses human lives. But, instead of human lives, our sect's sabers use the lives of those evil spirits and beasts. Throughout their whole lives, they've been killing such things, so if they aren't able to kill them any longer, they'd cause trouble and disrupt the sect. A saber spirit only deems one person as its master, allowing nobody else to use it. It's not like we later generations can melt the sabers. First, it'd be disrespectful to the ancestors; second, it's possible that even melting them won't solve the problem."