The Untamed Episode 26 Recap
> The Untamed Recap
Upon their arrival at Jinlintai, Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were surprised to encounter Su She, whom Lan Xichen immediately recognized as Su Minshan, a former peripheral disciple of the Lan clan. Initially stopped by guards, Su She was quickly defended by Jin Guangyao, who praised his swordsmanship.
Jin Guangyao warmly welcomed Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji, explaining that he had personally invited Su She, hoping to recruit such a talented individual for the Jin clan ever since seeing him at the Nevernight banquet. Lan Xichen attempted to inform Jin Guangyao of Su She's betrayal of the Lan clan, but Jin Guangyao feigned ignorance, claiming he was unaware Su She was a former Lan disciple who had established his own sect in Moling only after the Sunshot Campaign.
He swiftly dismissed the matter, stating that the uninformed are not guilty. The celebration banquet for the Phoenix Mountain Crowd Hunt then began. Jin Guangyao announced the Yunmeng Jiang clan as the victors with the most prey. Clan Leader Jiang Cheng, seeking to foster goodwill and prevent envy, graciously offered to share all their spoils with the other clans.
Amidst the lively atmosphere, Jin Zixun, fully aware of the Lan clan’s strict rules against alcohol, brazenly pressured Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji to drink. When reminded of the Lan clan's disciplines, Jin Zixun insisted that the Jin and Lan clans were family and that their refusal would be an insult. Lan Xichen, wishing to avoid further unpleasantness, reluctantly drank.
Jin Zixun then turned his attention to Lan Wangji, but before he could press further, Wei Wuxian entered with a cold expression, stepped forward, and drank the cup meant for Lan Wangji. Jin Guangyao attempted to welcome Wei Wuxian to a seat, but Wei Wuxian declined, stating he had an urgent matter to discuss privately with Jin Zixun. Wei Wuxian confronted Jin Zixun, stressing the urgency of his inquiry.
He directly asked Jin Zixun if he knew a person named Wen Ning, a question Jin Zixun vehemently denied, calling Wen Ning a "Wen dog." Wei Wuxian then meticulously recounted how, a month prior, Jin Zixun, while night hunting in Ganquan, had chased an eight-winged bat king to a Wen clan remnant habitation near Qishan.
There, Jin Zixun had taken several Wen disciples, with Wen Ning as their leader, after forcing them to bear Stygian Lure Flags as live bait for the bat king. When Wen Ning stutteringly argued, the bat king escaped, and Jin Zixun brutally beat the disciples before forcibly taking them away. They have been missing ever since. Jin Zixun, realizing Wei Wuxian was demanding the captives, lashed out with insults.
Jin Guangshan intervened, reprimanding Wei Wuxian for disrupting the private banquet and proposing to seize his Stygian Tiger Amulet, citing its immense power and the harm it caused during the Sunshot Campaign. Wei Wuxian retorted that if the Qishan Wen clan was gone, the Lanling Jin clan seemed intent on replacing them, comparing their tyrannical actions to the Wen clan's past rule, especially their treatment of innocent Wen clan members like Wen Qing and Wen Ning.
Jin Zixun retorted that all Wen clan members were fair game. Infuriated, Wei Wuxian declared that if killing innocents was justified, then killing Jin Zixun would be as well. As others tried to mediate, Wei Wuxian, gripping Chenqing, issued a three-count ultimatum for Jin Zixun to reveal Wen Ning's whereabouts. Terrified, Jin Zixun finally admitted that Wen Ning was at Qiongqi Road.
With the information secured, Wei Wuxian turned and left the banquet hall, while an enraged Jin Guangshan overturned a table. Wei Wuxian found a deeply distressed Wen Qing and told her Wen Ning's location at Qiongqi Road, promising to retrieve him. Despite Wei Wuxian's insistence that she rest, Wen Qing was distraught, consumed by guilt for having left Wen Ning previously and adamant about accompanying him.
While the other cultivation clans, including Jiang Cheng, were still reeling from Wei Wuxian's confrontation at the banquet, Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing braved a heavy downpour to reach Qiongqi Road. Upon arrival, they were initially denied access by Jin guards, who claimed all Wen clan prisoners were accounted for. Wen Qing's persistence and distress led them to the truth: the corpses of Wen clan members, including those from the newly sent group, had been dumped in a nearby valley.
The guards admitted to simply following orders, and as Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing approached, the guards panicked, deciding to kill any remaining Wen cultivators to conceal their misdeeds. In the gruesome valley, Wen Qing, crying out in anguish, frantically searched among the scattered bodies. She finally found Wen Ning, battered and lifeless, with Stygian Lure Flags cruelly impaled in his body.
Overcome with grief, Wen Qing collapsed, while a furious Wei Wuxian, his eyes blazing with hatred, raised Chenqing, ready to avenge the atrocity. As Wei Wuxian walked through the downpour, he confronted the Jin clan guards who had been secretly ordered to refine unknown dark arts. They immediately fell to their knees, begging for mercy. Wei Wuxian sternly demanded to know why they had used Stygian Lure Flags on the Wen clan members and who was responsible for their deaths.
The unrepentant guards deceitfully claimed no one had been killed, insisting the Wen clan members had simply fallen to their deaths. Wei Wuxian sarcastically called out their hypocrisy, stating their true belief that Wen clan members were not considered people, thus making their murder permissible. When one guard attempted to invoke the alliance between the Yunmeng Jiang and Lanling Jin clans as a threat, Wei Wuxian challenged his audacity.
Since the murderers refused to confess, Wei Wuxian played Chenqing, intending for Wen Ning himself to reveal his killers. Responding to the mournful melody, Wen Ning, now a ghostly pale figure with dilated pupils, descended from above. He began to savagely attack the Jin clan members, who screamed in terror. Wei Wuxian, who had initially intended only for Wen Ning to identify the culprits, found that Wen Ning was uncontrollable, unleashed in a furious massacre.
Horrified, Wen Qing cried out for Wen Ning to stop, revealing that he was not truly dead but had his spiritual cognition taken, and called him by his full name, Wen Qionglin. Wei Wuxian desperately called Wen Ning's name, and in a final moment of intense struggle, Wen Ning abruptly halted, a flicker of awareness returning to his vacant eyes. He ceased the killing and collapsed weakly to the ground.
Wei Wuxian quickly gathered the surviving Wen clan cultivators who had been with Wen Ning and prepared to leave. As they mounted horses to escape the massacre site, Lan Wangji appeared, confronting Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji gravely questioned Wei Wuxian’s destination, warning him that this path was a true rebellion against the righteous way, with no possibility of turning back.
Wei Wuxian, his face a mix of sorrow and righteous anger, retorted by questioning which scripture he was leaving and which path he was betraying. His eyes gleaming in the night, he reminded Lan Wangji of the promise they once shared, signaling his unwavering resolve to face whatever lay ahead.
