Lan XiChen staggered a few steps back from the push. He hadn't realized what happened yet. Meanwhile, Lan WangJi struck the back of the fair-featured Guanyin statue at the center of the temple. The statue vibrated as it flew towards the coffin. Nie MingJue was still inspecting the corpse in his hand, the head had already dipped. As the heavy statue hit him, he fell right back where he'd been.
Wei WuXian leaped over and stepped onto the Guanyin's chest. The coffin lid had broken already. They could only use the Guanyin statue as a lid to seal away Nie MingJue and his rampage. Down below, Nie MingJue struck the statue again and again in attempt to break free, while Wei WuXian also shook again and again, reeling so much he was almost thrown off. He wobbled, realizing that he wasn't able to paint a talisman at all, "Lan Zhan, quick, quick, come up beside me. One more person would mean more weight. With a few more slaps, the statue might fall apart again..."
Before he finished, Wei WuXian suddenly felt both his body and his line of sight tilt. Lan WangJi held one end of the coffin and lifted it up.
Which meant, with only a left hand, he lifted the wooden coffin, the two dead bodies within the coffin, the Guanyin statue above the coffin, and Wei WuXian atop the statue.
Wei WuXian gaped in astonishment. He'd long since known that Lan WangJi had shocking arm strength, but this... was a bit too shocking!
Lan WangJi's expression hadn't changed. His right hand unleashed a silver guqin string. As if on wings, the string zipped dozens of times around the coffin and the Guanyin statue, tying the two tightly together. And then a second one, and a third... Having determined that Nie MingJue and Jin GuangYao were sealed away properly, he finally his left hand drop. The one end of the coffin plummeted to the ground, letting out a loud echo. Wei WuXian tilted as well. Lan WangJi welcomed him by breaking his fall with his arms before he placed him steadily on the ground. The hands that had just conquered almost a thousand pounds were more than gentle when wrapped around Wei WuXian.
Lan XiChen stared at the coffin enveloped in seven guqin strings. He was still lost in thought. Nie HuaiSang extended a hand and waved it before his eyes, terrified, "... B-Brother XiChen, are you alright?"
Lan XiChen, "HuaiSang, just now, was he really trying to catch me off guard with an attack?"
Nie HuaiSang, "I think I saw it..."
Hearing his hesitation, Lan XiChen pressed, "Think it over some more."
Nie HuaiSang, "If you ask me like that, I can't be sure either... It really did seem like..."
Lan XiChen, "Cut out the 'seem like'! Did it happen or not?!"
Nie HuaiSang answered with difficulty, "... I don't know, I really don't know!"
This was the only thing Nie HuaiSang knew to say when he was desperate. Lan XiChen buried his forehead in his palm. He seemed as if his head was about to split, unwilling to speak again.
Suddenly, Wei WuXian called, "HuaiSang-xiong."
Nie HuaiSang, "Huh?"
Wei WuXian, "Back then, how did Su She stab you?"
Nie HuaiSang, "He was carrying Brother... carrying Sect Leader-Jin when he was running away. I blocked his way, so..."
Wei WuXian, "Really? With where you stood, I don't recall you blocking their path of escape."
Nie HuaiSang, "I couldn't have run into him purposely trying to be stabbed, could I?"
Wei WuXian smiled, "I never said that."
Nie HuaiSang, "Then what are you trying to say, Wei-xiong?"
Wei WuXian, "It's just that I suddenly connected a few things together."
