The Founder of Diabolism - Chapter 26

Chapter 26 Malice—
Part 4

Lan Wangji, "The details, please.”
Sitting down, his polite words were almost as
powerful as a threat. Nie HuaiSang finally
started his explanation.
He began, "HanCuang-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. 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.”

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.”
Wei WuXian commented, “Quite full of
themselves, aren’t they?”
Nie HuaiSang, “Indeed. The sabers who fought
and cultivated alongside our ancestors are
indeed in a position to be full of themselves.”

He continued, “As the generations went on, the
sect leaders had higher levels of cultivation,
and the problem also worsened. That is, until
the sixth sect leader came up with a solution."
Wei WuXian asked, “To build the Man-Eating
Castle?”
Nie HuaiSang, “No, no. Although they are
connected, this solution only appeared later.
The sixth sect leader did this: he built two
coffins for his father’s and his grandfather’s
sabers, then dug a tomb. Inside the tomb,
instead of any valuable treasures, he put
hundreds of corpses that were about to
transform.”

Lan Wangji frowned slightly. Nie HuaiSang
immediately blurted, "HanGuang-Jun, I can
explain! They weren’t killed by our sect’s
people! We had to gather them from place to
place! We also bought a bunch of them at high
prices. The sixth sect leader said that, if the
saber spirits wanted to fight with evil beings,
then give them evil beings for them to fight
forever. The pre-transformation corpses were
buried along with the sword-containing
coffins, like they were burial goods for the
saber spirits. The saber spirits would suppress
the transformation of the corpses and, at the
same time, the corpses would calm the sword
spirits’ desire and fury. The situation would go
on as they were, with the two sides keeping
each other in check. Only by this method did
the future generations attain peace."
Wei WuXian asked again, “Then why was a
stone castle built afterward? Why were the
corpses buried inside the walls? And, didn’t
you say that it did eat a few people?”

Nie HuaiSang answered, "These questions are
actually the same question. I guess... you can
say that it did eat people. But it wasn’t on
purpose!!! Our sixth sect leader constructed
the saber tomb in such a way that it looked like
the average tomb, and the future generations
followed how he did it. But, about fifty years
ago, the tomb was dug up by some grave
robbers.”
Wei WuXian made an “oh” sound. He silently
exclaimed, What a case of waking the
sleeping lion.

Nie HuaiSang, "For an event as big as building
a tomb, no matter how cautious and discreet
one can be, it’s impossible for everything to
stay hidden. The grave robbers pried into the
matter and firmly believed that there was a
huge tomb from past dynasties in the Xinglu
Ridge. They planned this out a long time ago
and came prepared. Among the unruly group
of people, there were actually one or two who
had true skills, allowing the mob to locate the
orientation, pass the maze array, and find our
saber tomb. They’ve seen enough dead people
in their lives, so, after digging a hole and
entering the tomb, they weren’t really scared
of the corpses. But they searched everywhere
for gold and treasures, breathing next to the
corpses, and, even worse, they were youthful
men in the prime of their lives, filled with yang
energy. Remember, the corpses lying inside
were all about to transform!
“It wasn’t hard to figure out what happened.
Ten-or-so corpses transformed immediately.

“However, these grave robbers weren’t
average people. With a complete set of tools,
they actually managed to somehow kill the
walking corpses once more. After the fight,
there was flesh and blood all over the ground.
They finally realized that the tomb was
dangerous and got ready to leave. But, just as
they were leaving, they were eaten!

"The number of corpses put in the tomb was
strictly controlled. It was neither more, neither
less, just enough to be at a balance with the
saber spirits. It would’ve been fine if the grave
robbers caused just the transformation, since,
after they left, the saber spirits would’ve
suppressed the transformation again. But, with
the chaos they caused, the corpses were all
cut to pieces, and so there were suddenly a
few less corpses than it began with. For the
saber tomb to ensure that there were enough
fierce corpses and sword spirits to suppress
each other, it... it could only... close itself off
and trap them inside the tomb for the group to
make up for the shortage they had caused.
“Since the saber tomb was destroyed, the sect

"The sword hall was the rumored ‘Man-Eating
Castle’. When the grave robbers came to
Qinghe, they pretended to be hunters. They
never returned after going into the Xinglu
Ridge and left no corpses behind, so people
started to say that they were devoured by a
monster in the ridge. Then, after the stone
castles were built, before the new maze array
was set up, a passerby accidentally came
upon it again. Luckily, no doors were built on
the castles, so he couldn’t venture inside. But,
after leaving the ridge, he told everyone that
there were a group of strange, white castles in
the Xinglu Ridge and that the man-eating
monster must have dwelled there. We thought
that it’d be beneficial for the rumors to spread
so that nobody dared to go near the area, so
we exaggerated a bit and created the legend of
the ‘Man-Eating Castle’. But it really can eat
humans!”

Nie HuaiSang took out a handkerchief and a
white stone the size of a garlic head from
within his sleeves. He used the handkerchief to
wipe away sweat and passed the white stone
over, "The two of you can take a look at this."
Wei WuXian took the stone. After having a
better look at it, he found something white that
protruded from the stone. It looked like... the
bone of a human’s finger.

He immediately realized what was going on.
Nie HuaiSang finished wiping his sweat and
continued, "That... Young Master Jin... somehow
made an explosion that created a hole in the
wall. To be able to break such a thick wall must
have meant that he also carried a lot of
spiritual tools on him—but wait, that’s not the
point... What I’m saying is that the area he
blew up just happened to be the earliest saber
hall we built in the Xinglu Ridge. Back then, we
didn’t think of using stone bricks on the both
sides and filling the center with soil to prevent
yang energy from going in, so that they can’t
easily transform. We simply put the corpses
inside. So, when Young Master Jin made the
opening, he didn’t realize that he also
destroyed a skeleton that was buried inside.
Before long, he was sucked into the walls of
the castle, in place of the corpse that he blew
up... Every so often, I go to the Xinglu Ridge to
check things out. Today, when I went, I found
this. Just as I picked up the stone, a dog came
after me. Ah... The sword hall is pretty much our ancestral tomb. I really...”
The more Nie HuaiSang talked, the more
miserable he felt, "Most cultivators know that
this is our area, so they’d never night-hunt
around Qinghe. Who knew that...”
Who knew that he had such bad luck. First, the
disobedient Jin Ling had his mind set on the
Xinglu Ridge, and then the two in search of
where the ghost hand pointed, Lan Wangji and
Wei WuXian, came as well. He spoke again,
"HanCuang-Jun and you... I already said that
you mustn’t tell anyone else about this. Or
else...”

Or else, seeing from the QingheNie Sect’s half-
dead situation right now, if this was released to
the public, Nie HuaiSang would become a
sinner, a disgrace to his ancestors even if he
died. It was only natural that he’d rather be the
secret laughingstock of all the sects instead of
focusing on cultivation or daring to sharpen his
saber’s blade. If his cultivation reached a
certain level, he would gradually become
more irritable and, in the end, die with anger
the same way that his brother and ancestors
died. Even after his death, his sword would
haunt the living and disrupt the peace of the
whole sect. If so, being a worthless person
even seemed better.

It was quite an unsolvable problem. Ever since
the founder of the Nie Sect, this had been the
same. Surely it didn't mean that the future
generations would have to deny the path and
basis that the founder forged? All of the
cultivation sects were skilled in different areas.
Similar to how the GusuLan Sect was skilled at
music, the violence and power of the
QingheNie Sect’s saber spirits were how it
outshone the other sects. If it abandoned its
founder’s ideal and started anew in search of a
different path, who knew how many years it’d
take, or if it’d even succeed or not. Moreover,
Nie HuaiSang would never dare to betray the
Nie Sect and cultivate a different path. Because
of this, his only choice was to be a good-for-
nothing.

If he weren’t a sect leader and spent his whole
life the same way as he did back in the Cloud
Recesses, fooling around for entire days, he’d
certainly be in a more comfortable position
than he was now. But, since his brother had
passed away already, no matter how hard it
was for him, he’d still have to take the
responsibility on his shoulders and stumble
forward.
Nie HuaiSang left after telling them again and
again not to say anything, and Wei WuXian
blanked out for a while. Suddenly, he felt Lan
Wangji walk over. Lan Wangji kneeled with a
single leg in front of him, then proceeded to
roll up his trousers with an earnest face. He
hurriedly spoke, "Wait, again?”
Lan Wangji, "We will remove the Curse Mark
first.”

Within one day, HanCuang-Jun had kneeled in
such a way so many times in front of him.
Although Lan Wangji looked quite serious, he
really couldn’t bear to look at the scene. Wei
WuXian spoke, “I’ll do it myself.” Quickly rolling
up the trouser legs, he could see that the Curse
Mark covered the entire lower half of his leg,
passed his knees, and climbed onto the upper
half. Wei WuXian took a glance at it, "It’s
already passed my thighs.”
Lan Wangji turned his head away and did not
answer. Wei WuXian found it quite odd, "Lan
Zhan?"

Translator’s Notes

Transform: This refers to the turning of a
normal corpse to a “walking corpse” or "fierce
corpse”. If anyone calls this process “zombify”
or these corpses “zombies” (such as the
translator of Daomu Biji), I will send knives to
their house.
Sleeves: In Ancient Chinese clothing, there
were openings inside of sleeves for storing
things.