Ink Lines

Chapter 28 Nie Sect Upending

Finally been able to log-in!

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The paper was delicate, the ink mountain scene dreamy as intended, the blade concealed with the folding fan wickedly sharp.

Nie Huaisang looked at the scene critically and ran his finger along the blade, admiring the glint of steel in the light.

From the window, the mountains of the Unclean Realm rose up in all their craggy, bleak glory surrounding the massive compound of the Qinghe Nie Sect, like the belly of a great beast curling around the fortress which claimed it. They weren't far from the Great Wall and Huaisang had missed these mountains, missed the sweeping stone walls and arching towers of jagged cliff tops.

Freezing and dry in the winter while the summers are hot and humid. Hebei, the only province in the country with breathtaking plateaus, jagged mountains, rolling hills, glorious if cold shorelines, endless plains, and gorgeous lakes. This was the home that lived in his bones.

This land was steeped in history, as far back as the early days of civilization with so many of the great myths depicted here. Fuxi, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, is said to have lived in Xingtai. But for all its glory and beauty, the Unclean Realm was the epitome of the warrior martial arts.

Butchers who formed one of the leading cultivation sects, famed throughout all of the world's turbulent history. They had weathered everything from qi-deviations to modernization. Nie Huaisang only hoped that they would weather this time just as well.

Despite being kept in these rooms, - fancy dignitary rooms, the likes of which as a child he would never be allowed to enter, let alone actually touch the surfaces - or rather stored here like a vase, Figbird kept his finger on the pulse.

The threads he had woven into the narrative years ago were coming to the fore now, his plan working only too well. The Wen were reacting as he had predicted, the Jin were panicking and Lan Zhan had dug his heels in. The only way Wen Xu could fix his situation in classic Wen style was to blame someone else. Have it so that the Jiang were a far bigger scandal than his own. Their crimes worse than his.

All to give him time to fix things. Kill the witnesses, kill Wen Qing no doubt, silence the dissenters and strangle the investigation. It was a strategy that had been working really well for years. If its not broken, why fix it?

The idea was to lure Jiang Chen and Wei Wuxian to a scene where they were accused of murder. The Jin attempt to plant evidence the first time, had allowed their enemies to realize that if provoked both brothers would react strongly to defend their land and disciples.A little too strongly for an easy access once more. The law and the jianghu were on their side.

After the Lotus Pier massacre and the Burning of Gusu, while no one wanted to talk about it, or point fingers in the correct direction, everyone from Sect Leader Yao to the minor sect leaders like Fu Huan of the Hedong Fu Clan were all nervous. Jiang Fengmian was no lightweight. Madam Yu was certainly not one to take on without a death wish and she had killed Wen Zhuliu. Yet the Wen had killed them, had attacked Gusu and killed the Sect Leader.

If you could break into their well funded, well defended sect lands and kill everyone you find...what's stopping them from doing the same to you?

No, for this to work, this distraction and revenge plan, the evidence had to be impossible to deny.

So what to do?

Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying had to be accused of something big. Murder or running a drug operation. The Wen are in trafficking and drugs so an easy enough plant. Jianghu police swoop in lead by Nie or even Lan officers and you have a corrupt court, prison if they don't kill Wei Wuxian, or capital punishment where both die. Jiang Yanli loses the Jiang Sect and the Wen win.