I am not a bot, but I sure as hell don't know else

@danashehab has been fundraising since may and is just over €15,000 away from their goal l. as stated in the screenshot people are starting to believe the rafah crossing will open so it’s important to make sure everyone has the funds in case they are allowed to evacuate.

thee shehab family consists of dana (13), sahar (14), mona (9), malak (5), yehya (1.5), fahed, (38), reem (32), and grandmother mona (60). they have been shadowbanned and deleted a few times. you can also find this family at @monashehab

I need you to help me protect the rest of my family. I cannot afford to lose any of them. Any amount will make a difference in saving them.

🚨IF YOU IGNORE THIS, YOU ARE DOOMING MY FAMILY TO DEATH 🚨Guys, donations are slow, please don't leave me, I need your support

❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 Here is my story 🍉🇵🇸

Jin Guangyao is described as:

And Nie Mingjue as:

While the fandom is more aware of JGY’s two-faced actions and hypocrisy, I’ve noticed that NMJ is often portrayed as purely heroic and righteous in fics and metas. As if NMJ had not condemned Wen Qing and the Remnants for just being Wen, or as if his hatred for the Wens isn’t as absolute or mindless as it is. Wens are ‘evil’, and therefore must be destroyed. No proof is needed and no mercy given.

I don't remember such a scene in the novel. But perhaps I'm just not being attentive. So is there really?

But what was JGY pretending to be helpless about? When he had been taking care of the Clan massacre long before the Chang clan happened. The Zhao and He Clan being framed by the Jin, and experimented on by Xue Yang, happened when SongXiao were newly famous and they hadn't apprehended Xue Yang. In the novel, JGY was written to have a lot of hands in their matter. That means, JGY is very much responsible and can interfere with LanlingJin's business. So what was he pretending to be helpless about in front of NMJ? And what were the fans defending him and accusing NMJ of forcing a helpless person about??

But to the point, in the last few days there have been quite a bit of posts by jgy stans whining about “why do people hate on jgy so much, when other characters also committed crimes like wwx” and “jgy only killed nmj out of self defense because the man was always trying to kill him so it’s justified” oh and the best one “actually jgy is too compassionate, he didn’t kill qin su or sisi and his life would have been so much easier if he had”

So Jin Guangyao killed Nie Mingjue, ok we can give him that one. Was killing all those sex workers he used to rape his father justified? Was burning the sex workers alive in the brothel justified? Was killing the He Clan justified? He takes credit for killing Qin Su by purposely waving a knife in her face that amplifies negative emotions and also permanently traps the souls of its victims after she refused to accept that he knowingly pursued an incestuous relationship with her, was that justified? Was killing Jin Rusong justified? Imprisoning Sisi for life in the darkest corner of the Koi Tower dungeons, was that justified simply because he didn’t kill her?

1) The righteous cultivation clans’ refusal to stand against evil—and, really, their indulgence of it—leads to the wiping out of an entire clan and a monastery as well as the deaths of two powerful cultivators unaffiliated with any major sect.

The “righteous” cultivation clans happily ignore that fact that the Jin Clan is amassing power through unscrupulous guest disciples, and it is only when Xiao Xingchen, an outsider, brings the crime against the Chang Clan to light do they bother to pretend to do anything about it. However behind the scenes, the Jin Clan assassinates their only real opposition, and the other clans, great and small, continue to do nothing as Xue Yang is released to commit another massacre. The Jin are never held responsible for their actions. Likewise, all the clans turn away from Wei Wuxian, an outsider, when he calls out the Jin Clan’s crimes against the Wen remnants and accuses them of amassing power via poaching vassal clans and attempting to steal his tools. Behind the scenes, the Jin work to undermine Wei Wuxian’s reputation before joining in to massacre Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants. The Jin are never held accountable for this, which directly leads into the Xue Yang situation.

2) Xiao Xingchen has his reputation slandered by Xue Yang killing others using his sword.

After Xiao Xingchen kills himself, Xue Yang begins using his sword to enact “vengeance” on the remnants of the Chang Clan, who he considers as having “betrayed” Xiao Xingchen. Finding the signature of Xiao Xingchen’s sword on the slain bodies leads the cultivation world to believe that a disillusioned Xiao Xingchen is killing in revenge. In much the same way, Wei Wuxian is used as a scapegoat by the cultivation world whenever bad things happen, such as the presence of walking corpses or the mass digging of graves. In neither situation does any clan investigate the true events of the situations, happy to blame the easiest suspect and allow the unrest to continue. In both situations, Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian are eventually found innocent of the crimes for which they are accused, and the true culprit is revealed.

3) Xiao Xingchen is betrayed by someone he considered close to him, which eventually leads to his death.

Xiao Xingchen, due to being literally blinded by his sacrifice, ends up running into, rescuing, and caring for his mortal enemy, Xue Yang. Taking advantage of Xiao Xingchen’s blindness, Xue Yang tricks him into murdering a bunch of innocents and his best friend, causing him to commit suicide. Wei Wuxian, similarly, is betrayed by a close friend he kept near, figuratively blinded by a former childhood friendship and the present debt he felt owed to said friend’s parents. This misplaced trust directly leads to his death.

4) Xiao Xingchen must give up his eyes for Song Lan to see again, because Baoshan Sanren is not magical.

This is probably the biggest spoiler of the entire arc, but by the time you get to where this information is relevant, you’d probably have forgotten that this was even said. Xue Yang blinds Song Lan after destroying his home, and to atone for this, Xiao Xingchen goes to his master, Baoshan Sanren, to beg for her help. However, Baoshan Sanren cannot make something out of nothing. Mxtx explicitly writes that tidbit into the narration. Song Lan goes up the mountain blind and comes down with eyes. Xiao Xingchen goes up the mountain with eyes and comes down blind. Song Lan was given Xiao Xingchen’s eyes.

Much later in the story, Jiang Cheng loses his golden core. Wei Wuxian offers the miracle solution of Baoshan Sanren “giving” him a new one. Jiang Cheng, obviously skeptical, questions Wei Wuxian up until the moment he must go up “Baoshan Sanren’s mountain” alone. Wei Wuxian descends, alone, looking pale and weak. Later, when Wei Wuxian is ambushed by the Wen, Wen “Core-melting Hand” Zhuliu touches him and is visibly shocked by a discovery that he then keeps to himself. Jiang Cheng emerges from the mountain with a new golden core, while Wei Wuxian emerges from the Burial Mounds with a new cultivation method wholly independent of the need for a golden core. The Yi City arc tells us why this is: “Baoshan Sanren” cannot make something out of nothing.

It also serves as an important arc thematically to the dangers of staying 'blind'. Xiao Xingchen's blindness is physical, of course, but I'd argue it's thematic, too: it shows the dangers of how only getting to know one side of a person (or situation), from only one point of view and without thinking critically, can lead to a lot of harm in the long run. That's important both to our perception of Wei Wuxian – should we really just trust what the Jianghu said in the prologue, when we have so much other evidence suggesting the contrary? – and to the themes of MDZS. Thinking critically and not buying into single-sided rumours is constantly upheld throughout the book, and the Yi city arc is an example of what not doing so can lead to (in addition to many other things, such as the dangers of the Jianghu's rumour mill, Lan Xichen's betrayal, etc).

1) The righteous cultivation clans’ refusal to stand against evil—and, really, their indulgence of it—leads to the wiping out of an entire clan and a monastery as well as the deaths of two powerful cultivators unaffiliated with any major sect.

The “righteous” cultivation clans happily ignore that fact that the Jin Clan is amassing power through unscrupulous guest disciples, and it is only when Xiao Xingchen, an outsider, brings the crime against the Chang Clan to light do they bother to pretend to do anything about it. However behind the scenes, the Jin Clan assassinates their only real opposition, and the other clans, great and small, continue to do nothing as Xue Yang is released to commit another massacre. The Jin are never held responsible for their actions. Likewise, all the clans turn away from Wei Wuxian, an outsider, when he calls out the Jin Clan’s crimes against the Wen remnants and accuses them of amassing power via poaching vassal clans and attempting to steal his tools. Behind the scenes, the Jin work to undermine Wei Wuxian’s reputation before joining in to massacre Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants. The Jin are never held accountable for this, which directly leads into the Xue Yang situation.

2) Xiao Xingchen has his reputation slandered by Xue Yang killing others using his sword.

After Xiao Xingchen kills himself, Xue Yang begins using his sword to enact “vengeance” on the remnants of the Chang Clan, who he considers as having “betrayed” Xiao Xingchen. Finding the signature of Xiao Xingchen’s sword on the slain bodies leads the cultivation world to believe that a disillusioned Xiao Xingchen is killing in revenge. In much the same way, Wei Wuxian is used as a scapegoat by the cultivation world whenever bad things happen, such as the presence of walking corpses or the mass digging of graves. In neither situation does any clan investigate the true events of the situations, happy to blame the easiest suspect and allow the unrest to continue. In both situations, Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian are eventually found innocent of the crimes for which they are accused, and the true culprit is revealed.

3) Xiao Xingchen is betrayed by someone he considered close to him, which eventually leads to his death.

Xiao Xingchen, due to being literally blinded by his sacrifice, ends up running into, rescuing, and caring for his mortal enemy, Xue Yang. Taking advantage of Xiao Xingchen’s blindness, Xue Yang tricks him into murdering a bunch of innocents and his best friend, causing him to commit suicide. Wei Wuxian, similarly, is betrayed by a close friend he kept near, figuratively blinded by a former childhood friendship and the present debt he felt owed to said friend’s parents. This misplaced trust directly leads to his death.

4) Xiao Xingchen must give up his eyes for Song Lan to see again, because Baoshan Sanren is not magical.

This is probably the biggest spoiler of the entire arc, but by the time you get to where this information is relevant, you’d probably have forgotten that this was even said. Xue Yang blinds Song Lan after destroying his home, and to atone for this, Xiao Xingchen goes to his master, Baoshan Sanren, to beg for her help. However, Baoshan Sanren cannot make something out of nothing. Mxtx explicitly writes that tidbit into the narration. Song Lan goes up the mountain blind and comes down with eyes. Xiao Xingchen goes up the mountain with eyes and comes down blind. Song Lan was given Xiao Xingchen’s eyes.

Much later in the story, Jiang Cheng loses his golden core. Wei Wuxian offers the miracle solution of Baoshan Sanren “giving” him a new one. Jiang Cheng, obviously skeptical, questions Wei Wuxian up until the moment he must go up “Baoshan Sanren’s mountain” alone. Wei Wuxian descends, alone, looking pale and weak. Later, when Wei Wuxian is ambushed by the Wen, Wen “Core-melting Hand” Zhuliu touches him and is visibly shocked by a discovery that he then keeps to himself. Jiang Cheng emerges from the mountain with a new golden core, while Wei Wuxian emerges from the Burial Mounds with a new cultivation method wholly independent of the need for a golden core. The Yi City arc tells us why this is: “Baoshan Sanren” cannot make something out of nothing.

Like, svsss has the more typical style of cultivation with formal levels (qi gathering, foundation establishment, core formation, etc). It’s slightly bullshitted thanks to Airplane’s writing style, but it’s implied that it takes decades of hard work to move between stages and it’s also implied that cultivators can and do live for centuries because they are cultivating towards immortality

And tgcf literally focuses on people who cultivate into godhood. Like we see ‘regular’ cultivators as well, but we also know that people in this setting are capable of becoming literal gods, and we know that it typically takes a lot of hard work to do so as well

But mdzs? Forming a golden core is nothing. Everyone has one. They’re handed out like candy. Wwx is lauded as a prodigy for forming one as young as he did, but his peers still seem to form theirs in their teens. And having a golden core means little to nothing for the characters except boosted strength and stamina, and that they can use magic

Putting aside the literal war killing people off and affecting the average cultivator’s lifespan, we see almost no evidence of anyone cultivating to immortality aside from Baoshen-sanren, who is an outlier. These characters all have golden cores! Granted, every xianxia-style story has different rules for how cultivation works, and in mdzs the focus seems to be more on using cultivation for practicality (night hunts) rather than any sort of ascension, but usually having a golden core will at least extend your life beyond the normal length

Not in mdzs! Jin Guangshan dies in his…sixties, maybe? Possibly younger, even! But he’s generally thought of as ‘old’ and everyone readily accepts that he died from ‘overexerting himself’ in that orgy. A sixty-year-old cultivator with a fully-formed golden core is considered old and decrepit! That’s a young’un in other cultivation settings!!

The other ‘old man’ we see is Lan Qiren, who could ostensibly be as young as his thirties during the Cloud Recesses study arc (bc keep in mind that he’s Qingheng-jun’s younger brother, and given the general lifespans of all the mdzs characters, it’s not unreasonable to assume qhj married and had his kids in early adulthood). Granted, to my memory wwx is the only one who thinks of him as an ‘old man,’ and anyone above, like, twenty would be seen as old to a fifteen-year-old, but still. Wwx continues to consider him an old man post-timeskip when it’s entirely possible he’s only in his late forties or fifties.

Also, It’s not that “everyone has a golden core.” We are reading a novel about cultivators who are insulated from non-cultivators by both their status as cultivators and their status as gentry. Therefore, most of the characters are going to be cultivators, since most of the characters are from cultivation clans. However, most of the background characters and civilians that the characters end up talking to throughout the story are non-cultivators, so it’s not like people without golden cores just don’t exist.

Golden cores in mdzs definitely give characters more than just extra stamina and strength, but I don’t feel like getting into that. Instead, I’ll talk about the immortality thing. That fact that there’s only one (1) immortal we hear about but never see in the entire story added to the fact that we never really see “old” cultivators is, I think, the point. Mdzs is a story about how the cultivation world is full of corrupt people participating in the vices of the world instead of caring about it and it’s people, and that goes completely against the idea of cultivating into immortality/godhood. It’s not by accident that Baoshan Sanren has secluded herself and her disciples from the world. It is also no accident that we hear of no particularly old cultivators when the cultivation world is regularly embroiled in war and power struggles that snipe off the oldest people as the youth come up. Wen Ruohan is perhaps the oldest cultivator we see in the novel, and he dies because of war. The Jiang die because of war. Nie Mingjue and his father were both assassinated, and even if they weren’t, their cultivation style would have killed them sooner rather than later. Jin Guangshan is assassinated and Madam Jin dies of grief. None of these are natural deaths.

Cultivation is a quality of personality, a set of skills/ superskills, and a certain quality of energy that is brought forth by deliberate practice, which, in turn, consists of intention, attention, and repetition.

Nie Huaisang's intention and attention wander and resist in the type of cultivation he is offered, so his golden core is weak. But what he does with intention, attention, and repetition is appreciate beauty and mastery, study composition of paintings to see the important points and connecting lines; he tracks birds with patience; he conceals and camouflages. His cultivation in this regard is very strong, it is just not the type of cultivation that the narrow-minded dogmatic world of the gentry would recognise. He was left to organise the care for the wounded and the logistics behind the scenes during the Sunshot Campaign, and he did well. All his skills and cultivation were necessary for that.

Xue Yang's cultivation is very strong, but it is not the usual golden-core building cultivation. His is the dark cultivation, full attention and repetition of ill intentions. He is the true demonic cultivator, working with the energies of living people, twisting them for his evil purposes. Again, the gentry cannot recognise it, because they only see what they have been trained to see, without understanding.

Same with Jin Guangyao, albeit again, a bit different. His cultivation is considered to be weak, but he is very good at directing energies to confound. This allows him to keep even the wise, astute, and kind Zewu-jun trapped till the very end. To everyone he says things that will make them doubt themselves and trust his twisted words more than anything. Power above average? Truly. Special skills? Absolutely.

Nie Huaisang doesn’t have a weak core (does he have a weak core?)/didn’t for his golden core late because of his intention not matching the cultivation style he is given. It’s heavily implied that he’s reluctant to cultivate and rejects learning to use a saber because he does not want a bad ending like the rest of the Nie from their sabers. Nie Mingjue has to force him into it. Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao both have regular degular golden cores, same as any and every other cultivator. The resentful energy that Xue Yang works with off of living people and how he goes about creating it is what makes him a demonic cultivator, not anything to do with the “energy” he used to build his golden core, since you can only build a golden core through spiritual energy. They gentry see it just fine. Jin Guangyao’s abilities in “directing energies to confound” is just what the average person would call charisma and manipulation lmao. His golden core is weak because he got a late start to cultivating and thus had a weak foundation that he couldn’t really build off of. Jiang Yanli probably does have a golden core in the novel seeing as she is the daughter of a cultivation clan’s leader, but since she’s not a cultivator, herself, I don’t think it matters either way.

Within mdzs, there exists certain tropes shared with other traditional genre cnovels set in similar “hazy-on-history ancient past” settings. One of these tropes is the issue of inheritance and succession, i.e. who gets to be the new leader. In every traditional genre novel I’ve read, while succession and inheritance is assumed based on birth order and ranking (eldest son of the main wife inherits over second son of the main wife or eldest son of the father but born to a concubine), this is not always the case. For instance: a major plotline in a lot of family conflict-driven stories is that a man who has had multiple sons born to different main wives (first wife has died or been divorced) may choose his successor based on which main wife he loved more or whose family has more political backing rather than who is eldest. A man who respects his concubine more than his main wife may scheme to legitimize his shu (concubine-born) son to allow him to succeed over his wife’s son(s). A man with no sons can petition or be petitioned by the clan to “adopt” one from another branch of the family in order to carry on the legacy of his branch of the family. And in very rare cases, complete outsiders are adopted in—though not without approval or challenge from the rest of the clan. Succession is not some set-in-stone process in the genre.

Likewise, we see this play out in mdzs. Taking concubines exists as a practice in the world of mdzs, but with none of the great clan leaders choosing to have any, there’s no issue of di (main wife-born) son fighting shu son. Instead, we have many di son contenders who… don’t content for anything lmao. Of the 5 great clans, 3 of them have 2 di sons, and one of them has a single di son and multiple unclaimed sons outside the home. The Jiang is the only great clan that has only a single son, di or otherwise, born to the clan leader. Let’s break it down a little further: the Lan clan have two di sons born of the same mother—a circumstance usually portrayed as harmonious in similar setting novels and follows, here, with the Twin Jades—and the QishanWen assumedly do as well, also without any signs of conflict between Wen Xu and Wen Chao.

But the Nie have two di sons born of different mothers, one who is the shining example of a Nie leader and the other who is considered a waste. In a traditional genre novel, the expectation would be that Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang have a poor relationship because of having different mothers, that they should fight over inheritance, and that Nie Huaisang’s “waste” reputation be either a personality cultivated in him by Nie Mingjue to prevent his younger brother from being capable of inheriting or a ploy by Nie Huaisang to deceive his older brother into not perceiving him as a threat. Neither is the case. Nie Mingjue inherits the Nie Clan leader mantle effortlessly, and Nie Huaisang rejects the idea that he succeed. In fact, Nie Mingjue succeeded to clan leader so early in life that he is the one who raises his brother, and rather than raising his “competition” to be a waste, he is the one who pressures Nie Huaisang into developing a golden core and practicing with his saber, against all of Nie Huaisang’s objections. Despite having different mothers who were both main wives and therefore giving them both an equal claim to inheritance, there is no succession crisis.

Ok, so what about the Jin Clan? On the surface, it should be very simple because Jin Guangshan only has one di son, only claims this one son, and even if he were to claim another, he does not want to change his successor. So even when Jin Guangyao comes in, there was never a crisis in succession because Jin Guangshan made it very clear that he would never make Jin Guangyao his heir. That’s partially why when Jin Guangshan claims Mo Xuanyu and brings the boy back to Koi Tower as his heir, Jin Guangyao doesn’t bother to kill Mo Xuanyu. He kills Jin Guangshan and has Mo Xuanyu exiled from the clan. The Jin never had a crisis of succession; Jin Guangyao simply killed the original heir, killed his father while Jin Guangshan thought he had another heir secured, then exiled that other heir post- their father's death so that others couldn’t be brought in to challenge him (and lest we forget the rumors that he was secretly offing the other unclaimed sons behind the scenes, if you want to believe that). Later, when Jin Ling inherits the clan leader title, his claim is tested by older clan members and established clan elders because he is young and seemingly defenseless, not because there was a breadth of heir apparents with legitimate claims to his title waiting in the wings for their chance. It was just a power grab.

So now we have the Jiang Clan, the only clan with only one son and one daughter from the clan leader. There is no succession crisis, and there could never be one. Despite the possibility of having a female clan member succeed (Lan Yi exists as example) and the prevalence of highly respected female cultivators in the story, Jiang Yanli is a weak cultivator and has been engaged to be married out since birth. Jiang Cheng is the only option. I've seen some say that if Wei Wuxian was officially adopted in, then that would cause a succession crisis, but that's also not the case, because Wei Wuxian would be neither Jiang Fengmian's di son unless he were adopted under Madam Yu's name (something she would never allow to happen) nor a viable successor if Jiang Fengmian, himself, did not name Wei Wuxian as a successor over Jiang Cheng, something he would not do. And this isn't even counting the fact that Jiang Fengmian would need clan approval to adopt Wei Wuxian at all (think how Lan Wangji needed approval to adopt A-Yuan as a Lan), let alone the uproar that the Jiang Clan would have as a whole at the idea of Jiang Fengmian making a former servant's son the new clan heir over his son and all the other legitimate sons of the Jiang Clan. Absolutely would not fly. Jiang Cheng has the only claim to the Jiang Clan, and if he dies without an heir, the clan dies with him. Nothing a married-out Jiang Yanli or Schrödinger's adopted son Wei Wuxian can do about it.

Where mdzs diverges from this trope with the traditional genre cnovels is that where this diversity of family types would be cause for conflict, mxtx pretty much ignores them because mdzs is not a dogblood drama. Therefore as morally weak or loose as a lot of the characters are, most characters still hold to a lot of the core beliefs of their society, such as filial piety. There's simply no need to fight over something like who gets to be clan leader unless you truly are a person willing to abandon all morals simply for a crumb of power. And wouldn't you know it, the only character to completely eschew all filial piety in pursuit of coveted power is the biggest villain of the novel who receives the most gruesome death when all his crimes catch up to him.

Some in-depth quotes under the cut:

Wei Wuxian looked at him in disbelief, then back at Jiang Cheng, then back at him. "Huaisang..." he said slowly, almost hoping his friend had a reasonable explanation for the situation. Nie Huaisang didn't even put his phone down. "Yes?" "You're recording," Wei Wuxian said, shocked. "Of course." Nie Huaisang replied, amused. The answer came so quickly and with such certainty that Wei Wuxian was almost speechless. "Why?" Wei Wuxian asked tiredly as he ran a hand over his face. Only then did Nie Huaisang deigned to glance at him, as if the question were so obvious that it didn't even deserve an answer. "Because a historic moment like this cannot be lost." Wei Wuxian looked once more at Jiang Cheng, then Nie Huaisang, then at the casino full of strangers who were witnessing the most absurd thing he had seen in years.

Link here little star!!!

Nie Mingjue: You're gonna be a Nie Clan leader whether you like it or not!

Nie Huaisang: Over my dead body!

Isn't this:

Frightened, Nie Huaisang immediately added, “Hanguang Jun, I can explain! Those corpses weren’t killed by our own people! They were gathered from far and wide, through sweat and toil! We spent a bunch of gold buying a lot of them too. Our sixth Clan Chief said that since these sabre spirits wanted to do battle with evil spirits, we would give them evil spirits and let them fight for eternity.

—Chapt. 26: Malice IV, fanyiyi

...literally the exact same process that Wei Wuxian described here:

“This executioner died a violent death, so it’s inevitable his body would turn into a vicious corpse. Since he beheaded over a hundred people while he was still alive, why not dig up their graves and incite their resentful energy to use against him? A hundred heads should be enough to fight a vicious corpse...”

—Chapt. 14: Elegance IV, fanyiyi

...that Lan Qiren said would never be tolerated by the cultivation world?

“If you had figured it out, the cultivation world would no longer have you! OUT!”

Nie MingJue, “If you really do understand, then come see me with Xue Yang’s head in your hand.” Yet, Jin GuangYao replied almost instantly, “Yes.” Nie MingJue looked toward him. Jin GuangYao stared back, then repeated, “Yes. Brother, if you give me one last chance, in two months’ time, I’ll come see you with Xue Yang’s head in my hand.” Nie MingJue, “If you’re unable to do it?” Jin GuangYao’s tone was firm, “If I’m unable to do it, Brother, you can do whatever you want to me.”

—Chapt. 50: Guile, exr

... to this:

Lan XiChen, “Since Brother chose to make the oath with you, it means that he has indeed approved of you.” Jin GuangYao spoke with dejection, “But, Brother, didn’t you hear what he said in the oath? Every sentence meant something more. ‘Face a thousand accusing fingers, be torn from limb to limb’—this was clearly a warning for me. I... I’ve never heard of such an oath before.” Lan XiChen replied in a gentle voice, “He said ‘if one were to think otherwise’. Do you think otherwise? If not, then why should you worry over it so much?” Jin GuangYao, “I don’t, but Brother has already decided that I do, so what can I do?”

Nie MingJue, “If you really do understand, then come see me with Xue Yang’s head in your hand.” Yet, Jin GuangYao replied almost instantly, “Yes.” Nie MingJue looked toward him. Jin GuangYao stared back, then repeated, “Yes. Brother, if you give me one last chance, in two months’ time, I’ll come see you with Xue Yang’s head in my hand.” Nie MingJue, “If you’re unable to do it?” Jin GuangYao’s tone was firm, “If I’m unable to do it, Brother, you can do whatever you want to me.”

—Chapt. 50: Guile, exr

... to this:

Lan XiChen, “Since Brother chose to make the oath with you, it means that he has indeed approved of you.” Jin GuangYao spoke with dejection, “But, Brother, didn’t you hear what he said in the oath? Every sentence meant something more. ‘Face a thousand accusing fingers, be torn from limb to limb’—this was clearly a warning for me. I... I’ve never heard of such an oath before.” Lan XiChen replied in a gentle voice, “He said ‘if one were to think otherwise’. Do you think otherwise? If not, then why should you worry over it so much?” Jin GuangYao, “I don’t, but Brother has already decided that I do, so what can I do?”

Attempted child murder, great start!

The moment Jin Ling reached the top of the wall, he was confronted by an entire courtyard of bows drawn and aimed at him. His pupils shrunk instantly. One of the monks had either never seen Jin Ling before or had already prepared to annihilate any and all intruders. The monk released his bowstring and the arrow soared towards Jin Ling!

Jin GuangYao failed to stifle a laugh. He said, “Er-ge[2], what are you thinking? Of course I know that Jin Ling is a child who’s also my nephew. What do you think I’m going to do? Kill him for being a witness?” Lan XiChen was silent and solemn. Shaking his head, Jin GuangYao turned to Jin Ling and said, “A-Ling, you’ve heard that, right? If you start running or screaming, I might do something terrible to you. So watch yourself.”

—Chapt. 99: A Hatred for Life Part 2, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

Right as he finished, a gush of fierce wind roared into the Guanyin Temple, extinguishing rows after rows of candlelight within. Without anyone noticing, the small drizzle had turned into a thunderstorm. Even the lanterns hanging outside the Guanyin Temple had been drenched through with water and ceased giving light. The entire temple was suddenly engulfed by darkness. Wei WuXian could no longer make another sound. In the darkness, Lan WangJi had already embraced him tightly and covered his mouth.

—Chapt. 100: A Hatred for Life Part 3, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

Wei WuXian smiled. “Sect Leader Jin, did it ever occurred to you that tonight, you’re not the hunter, but the prey[1]? And that the one who’s been watching you all this time might be right here, right now, watching your every move from a hidden corner. Maybe, it’s possible, that it’s not even human......” Outside, thunder roared and rain poured. At the words “not even human”, for a fraction of a moment, something akin to fear flashed over Jin GuangYao’s face.

A wholly naked, female body laid on the floor, face down. Limbs and torso twisting, it seemed to want to crawl towards Jin GuangYao. Su She thrusted his sword. The woman gave a high pitched scream and fire erupted all around her. Getting to her feet, she continued to stagger towards Jin GuangYao, hand reaching out. Even as her face and body became reduced into dark crisps by the seething flames, the pure, intense hatred within her eyes was still plain as day. With a single strike of his sword, Su She scattered what remained of her image. Jin GuangYao only retreated a few steps backwards before bumping into something else. Turning, what laid at his feet were two entwined bodies. One of them reached out and clutched Jin GuangYao’s ankle. Just then, a whistle sounded behind them. Su She cursed with a savage expression, “Wei WuXian!” Before anyone noticed, someone had already painted talismans all over the Guanyin statue in the temple with wild strokes made of blood.

—Chapt. 105: A Hatred for Life Part 8, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

Amidst the whimpering wind and the howling storm, Jin GuangYao suddenly dropped to his knees. Everyone was startled. Even Wei WuXian, who had just taken Jin GuangYao’s sword, was surprised as Jin GuangYao said in a weak, defeated voice, “Er-ge, I’ve wronged.” “......” Hearing this, even Wei WuXian was almost starting to feel embarrassed for him, and couldn’t help but say, “Um, you know, we don’t have to talk, let’s just fight it out. Can we please just fight?”

Just as Jin GuangYao opened his mouth to say something, a deafening clash of thunder exploded outside. Though it was far away, it sounded all but too near. Jin GuangYao couldn’t help but shudder and swallow back his words. The very next moment, three eerie, booming thuds came from outside the temple’s doors. Rather than “knocking” the door, it sounded more like something was “slamming” against it. It sounded less like the noise of someone hitting on the doors with their arm, and more like the noise of someone clutching another person’s head and slamming it against the doors over and over. As the noise grew louder and louder, the cracks on the doors’ latch split wider and wider, and Jin GuangYao’s expression twisted more and more. By the fourth sound, the doors’ latch finally broke off. Along with the pouring rain, a dark figure flew inside through the broken doors. ... Meanwhile, Nie HuaiSang screamed, “Da-ge[3]!!!” Aside from Wen Ning, another silhouette cut an imposing figure by the temple’s doors—rough framed, ashen-faced and dreary-eyed. It was none other than ChiFeng-Zun, Nie MingJue!

—Chapt. 106: A Hatred for Life Part 9, boat-full-of-lotus-pods