Author's Note: Before I start this chapter, I want to start off apologizing for taking so long to bring you this. There are actually no words to express how sorry I am and how glad this story is still so popular despite my upsetting update schedule. At first it was the evil bought of writer's block, then stuff began piling up (both work and personal), but now that the newest season of MDZS is finished (I hope at least) I can get a better idea on how often I will post.
Anyway, I'll stop rambling excuses and let you enjoy this latest testament on how much I love writing for you!
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As Meifeng continued to delve inside the paperman she had created to sneak around the Lanling Jin sect without actually having to do so herself, Wangji kept a vigilant watch over every facial expression, gesture, and movement she made in case something during her investigation went wrong. He had in fact done the same thing when she had worked tirelessly to bring Wen Ning's mind back from the dead... literally; she had almost no self-preservation when it came to the welfare of others she cared for, going as far as to place herself in harm's way without any regard to the consequences she would face. It is for this exact reason that Wangji placed himself by her side as a guard to forcefully pull her back into reality, if necessary, why he had stayed by her side when all of his clansmen and people he knew had told him to abandon the woman.
Someone had to watch her back and make sure she didn't do something stupid enough that could potentially kill her. Remaining a silent guard was all he would do until she asked more from him, and that was alright with him.
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Back with Meifeng, she studied the decapitated head and saw that it was truly Nie Mingjue that had been covered in a seal that would prevent the rest of its body to find the last piece it needed. She could also begin to feel the effects the head rolling on her; if Wei Meifeng were using her corporal body, a defense line to the soul, resentful energy definitely couldn't touch her if she didn't want it to. At the moment, however, she was possessing a flimsy piece of paper, which significantly impaired her defensive abilities. Not only was she close to the head, but Nie Mingjue's resentful energy was also unusually strong, and Meifeng was sensing herself being affected within just a moment of inattention to her mind, not having been in contact with such an overwhelming presence in years.
Feeling a sensation worm its way over her consciousness, she felt her eyes shut as if trying to ease a growing migraine, but when she opened them, she saw a different scene play out in her mind.
A beheaded man who wore a robe with the clan motif of flames and the sun was lying on the ground as Wei Meifeng watched 'herself' sheath the executioner's saber and heard a low voice coming out of said mouth, "Go get the head. Hang it up for those Wen-dogs to see." Someone answered from behind and did as the voice had commanded. Just as Wei Meifeng watched the decapitated head roll into view to see the face, she realized who the beheaded man was: it was Wen Ruohan's oldest son, Wen Xu, who had died before his father had fallen in battle at Nie Mingjue's hand.
Said man then kicked the corpse at his feet to the side, one hand comfortably on his sword as he looked around him at countless other casualties that wore a mixture of Wen and Nie Clan robes, as well as bodies from a third party which didn't wear a uniform. The scent of blood choked the air in its fumes, but Mingjue didn't seem to care as he searched the bloody battlefield for any Wen that might still be alive and simply wounded. Given the chance to react into action at the sound of a roof tile shifting from the side of a house, he hacked his way through a front door only to find a frightened mother and daughter that hung onto each other.
They were understandably so scared they could hardly speak seeing Nie Mingjue still covered in the blood of his enemies.
As Nie Mingjue saw that it was only an ordinary mother-and-daughter pair, likely two commoners who had failed to escape before battle broke out, his furrowed brows softened slightly, caught off guard by their presence at a battlefield. A subordinate, not knowing what had just happened, approached from behind him, "Sect leader?" Nie Mingjue however ignored the man, kneeling in front of the family and curbed his killing intent, telling them they were safe now. The mother instantly collapsed, all of her adrenaline she had spent tightly wrapping her only child disappearing in an instant and cried with her daughter.
Stepping away from the two, he approached the subordinate that had entered the room and stopped just in front of him as he questioned the man. "Who was the cultivator that kept guard at the end during the last battlefield clean-up?" The junior's hesitant reply struck a chord with Mingjue, causing his eyebrows to raise in surprise, but the answer he was given caused his brows to rise even higher. Meng Yao, the name given, was Jin Guangyao's bastard name before he was accepted into the Jin Clan, and while this fact wasn't exactly a secret from the sect leaders, why did it suddenly anger him?
Why had the man given his name as such to Mingjue's men unless he wanted to keep a level of secrecy from others?
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As Meifeng watched the memory, she now found herself putting the pieces together as to how Nie Mingjue had placed himself on Jin Guangyao's radar of people to get rid of; while Mingjue didn't actively look into the Jin clan's actions, he was outspoken enough about Guangshan's constant dodging of whether or not they should've killed Xue Yang and other things delving into the corrupt politics the man had passed onto his illegitimate son despite the scandal it had caused. Not to mention the other cruel events Guangyao had been the center of, one of which had given him fame of acting as a double-agent inside the Wen Clan as Wen Rouhan's right-hand man.
Nie Mingjue had never forgiven that fact, even after swearing to become brothers, as so many from the other clans had died.
He had simply been in the way of their plans, and for that he was turned into a Fierce Corpse under the guise of suffering from early Qi Deviation so that Mingjue could be controlled by the Clan into doing their bidding. Their only downside was the fact Nie Mingjue was still a powerful individual, thus hard to control completely even when he was dead. Because of this, his body and soul were cut into pieces and scattered across the land in different locations, the culprits covering their tracks all the while.
The head had been discarded as well and swapped with Jin Zixun's, but when someone else had become suspicious of their movements, the heads were swapped since Mingjue's head would've given them away as the culprits to an investigating person by the name of Su She. This person also happened to be the gravedigger that Meifeng had run into with the Kiss of Decay on their body, which made the web of everything she had previously found out all the more tangled.
Meifeng's very skull seemed to burn with hatred for Guangyao as she watched the memory unfold; the hatred she could feel from Nie Mingjue was only matched from his memory of his father dying right after Wen Ruohan had given him a sword the Wen clan leader had been presented with.
Feeling the memories now building up in Meifeng's mind, it felt as if her whole being was being torn by everything that came up until the time of his death, and she knew she needed to wake up. If she stayed, the darkness that dwelled in the man's head since the time he was turned into a Fierce Corpse, it would swallow her whole without any chance of escape
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Everything around her though was pitch black.
Where was up? Where was down?
Where was the left and right?
The faces of people Meifeng had since now met floated into her from the dead man, causing the pain to steadily grow. Lan Xichen. Xue Yang. Nie Huiasang. Meng Yao. These and so many more seemed to fly in a repeating list of people in Mingjue's life until....
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Meifeng's soul flew back into her corporeal body with a sudden heave of life, causing her to choke from the long period of time she was away and what she had just witnessed through Nie Mingjue's eyes. It wasn't until her coughing spasms were done that she realized Wangji was holding her and soothing the fit with a relaxing hand on her back that worked to level her breathing. Once it finally did, the hand's motion stopped, but remained present as his voice spoke in a low tone. "Meifeng, what did you see? You were upset." Her throat moved to swallow deeply, finding the need to in order to speak, but even then, her voice felt shaky.
"We need to go."
"Where to?" Wangji replied asking, his hands being the only things keeping her unsteady feet level as Meifeng rose to stand. What Meifeng had experienced hadn't only left an impression on her mind, but on her body as well to the point she trembled like a child learning to walk for the first time.... Or like a corpse that had come back to life.
"To the Fragrant Palace. Guangyao has a mirror in his private quarters that leads to a secret room with some of my work! I managed to get in only after he went inside to check something after he drugged his wife; she had apparently found out something about him, and she was so distraught over it she suddenly got sick! Not to mention I found Chifeng-Zun's head in there too. The sick bastard has been keeping a lot of secrets under everyone's noses." She wasn't going to mention yet that Guangyao was responsible for the Sect leader's death yet. Oh no, she'd save that bit of information once the man was behind bars and awaiting his execution for his crimes.