Inheriting the Qinghe Nie Clan[]
Nie Mingjue was born the son of Clan Leader Nie and his wife. After the death of Nie Mingjue's mother, his father raised a concubine to the status of wife – the mother of Nie Huaisang.[1]
When Nie Mingjue is a teenager, he joins his father for a typical night-hunt. Both are unaware that a jealous Wen Ruohan has sabotaged his father's saber, and Nie Mingjue watches in horror as his father's saber breaks battling a beast, which then gores him with its horn. His father lingers for about six months before finally dying, which results in Nie Mingjue's appointment as the leader of the Qinghe Nie Clan. As a result of his father's murder, he and rest of his clan despise the Qishan Wen Clan.[2]
As clan leader, Nie Mingjue invests in his brother Nie Huaisang's education, teaching him strictly and even sending him away to the Cloud Recesses repeatedly to learn from the renowned Lan Qiren.[3][4]
Sunshot Campaign[]
Hejian[]
Nie Mingjue leads the front at Hejian during the Sunshot Campaign where he beheads Wen Xu, the eldest son of Wen Ruohan. To strike fear into the Qishan Wen Clan cultivators, Nie Mingjue commands Wen Xu's head to be displayed and his body trampled into the earth.[5] [6]
When he inquires after the cultivator who cleans up the battlefields, he is directed to Jin Guangyao, then known as Meng Yao, a well-known joke in the cultivation world. Meng Yao is the bastard son of a prostitute and Jin Guangshan, the leader of the Lanling Jin Clan, and had once been kicked down the stairs of Golden Carp Tower when requesting shelter. Nie Mingjue notices that Meng Yao avoids the cave where the other cultivators rest and enters the cave to hear mockery of Meng Yao and his mother.[5]
Nie Mingjue firmly defends Meng Yao and, after the latter continues to assist in cleaning up the battlefields and caring for the displaced civilians, promotes him to be his right-hand man. Nie Mingjue is pleased with Meng Yao's conduct and even begins to open up to him.[5]
When Lan Xichen visits, Nie Mingjue requests that Lan Xichen bring Nie Huaisang's saber to the Cloud Recesses for practice. The Cloud Recesses are fiercely defended by Lan Qiren, implying that Nie Mingjue has sent his little brother to the safest place he can.[5]
Later that night, Nie Mingjue overhears Lan Xichen speaking with Meng Yao. Realizing that Meng Yao desires to earn his father's approval, Nie Mingjue readily agrees to write him a recommendation letter to bring to the Lanling Jin Clan's front in Langya. Meng Yao is exceedingly grateful, and the three spend hours talking that night.[5]
Langya[]
Several months later, Nie Mingjue leads his cultivators to aid Jin Guangshan in Langya. When Nie Mingjue inquires after Meng Yao, Jin Guangshan pretends not to recognize the name, to Nie Mingjue's irritation. Nie Mingjue begins to look throughout the battlefield, sure that Meng Yao will be cleaning up as he has always done.[5]
To his fury, Nie Mingjue witnesses Meng Yao use the techniques of the Qishan Wen Clan to kill a commander of the Lanling Jin Clan. He confronts Meng Yao, who pleads a moment's mistake, explaining that the commander humiliated him, insulted his mother, and continually stole credit for Meng Yao's ideas. Nie Mingjue insists that Meng Yao's calm expression during the murder means it was premeditated and asks Meng Yao if he had been pretending to be pitiful to earn Nie Mingjue's favor when they first met outside the cave.[5]
Ultimately, Nie Mingjue insists that Meng Yao turn himself in, believing that Jin Guangshan will be lenient towards the son he despised because of the circumstances. Meng Yao thanks him, before driving a sword into his own stomach instead.[5]
Horrified, Nie Mingjue attempts to give Meng Yao spiritual energy, only to have Meng Yao use an unknown technique to freeze his qi. Meng Yao then escapes, enraging Nie Mingjue, though when he tells Lan Xichen, Lan Xichen insists there must be more to the story.[5]
Nightless City[]
Lan Xichen begins to receive letters from a spy in Nightless City, which he often passes to Nie Mingjue, leading him to win victory after victory.[5] However, more members of the Qishan Wen Clan are present than expected during a surprise attack on Yangquan.[2] Nie Mingjue is heavily injured, and he and several subordinates are captured and brought before Wen Ruohan in Nightless City.[5]
Nie Mingjue then learns that Wen Ruohan's right-hand man is none other than Meng Yao. When one of his subordinates refers to the infamously temperamental Wen Ruohan's palace as the "den of Wen-dogs," Meng Yao cuts his throat before asking if anyone else dares to use the slur.[2]
Nie Mingjue replies, "Wen-dog," as he has already accepted his death. However, Meng Yao responds by killing his subordinates instead of him.[2]
Meng Yao brings forth Baxia and mocks Nie Mingjue over his father's death. Infuriated, Nie Mingjue kicks Meng Yao, who delivers a kick of his own to the severely injured Nie Mingjue.[2]
Before he can kill Meng Yao, Nie Mingjue is dragged forward by Wen Ruohan. With Baxia, he kills many Wen cultivators, but Wen Ruohan's power quickly overwhelms him, even sending him through the floor tiles.[2]
As Wen Ruohan stomps on Nie Mingjue's chest, Meng Yao intervenes to suggest that Nie Mingjue be tortured to death in the Inferno Palace. Wen Ruohan agrees, and Meng Yao seizes the opportunity to kill Wen Ruohan instead.[2]
When Nie Mingjue awakens, Meng Yao is carrying him and Baxia out of Nightless City. Though Meng Yao pleads that he had only killed his subordinates to keep Wen Ruohan from killing Nie Mingjue, Nie Mingjue refuses to listen, swinging Baxia wildly at him. Meng Yao flees into a forest, chased by the severely injured Nie Mingjue.[2]
Lan Xichen appears, having received an urgent message from Meng Yao. Lan Xichen reveals that Meng Yao is the spy they had relied on, and that he had to commit terrible actions to maintain his cover. Meng Yao apologizes for the pain he had caused by and killing the subordinates and mocking the death of Nie Mingjue's father, though he maintains he had no choice. Nie Mingjue eventually agrees to spare his life.[2]
The Venerated Triad[]
Although Nie Mingjue does not trust Jin Guangyao, he still agrees to become sworn brothers with him and Lan Xichen. He intends to discipline Jin Guangyao as he does Nie Huaisang, to keep him on a righteous path.[2]
Fall of Wei Wuxian[]
Nie Mingjue is one of over fifty clan leaders and other cultivators present at Golden Carp Tower's emergency meeting[7] in the aftermath of Wei Wuxian freeing the remnants of the Qishan Wen Clan from the Lanling Jin Clan's forced labor camp at Qiongqi Path. The abusive nature of the camp is denied by the overseers and thus treated as speculation by the cultivators present.[7]
Nie Mingjue speaks up to voice his confusion on how Jiang Cheng can owe Wen Qing gratitude for helping him during the Sunshot Campaign when it was the Qishan Wen that annihilated the Yunmeng Jiang Clan.[7] While Lan Xichen puts forth that Wen Qing committed no known crimes, Nie Mingjue counters that Wen Qing never tried to stop any of her clan's crimes from happening either, and her indifference does not free her from sharing her clan's guilt after she has reaped years' worth of benefits.[7] As an aside, Wen Qing was actually known to mediate with Wen Ruohan, but she also did follow orders such as establishing a Supervisory Office in Yiling.[8] Although Lan Xichen asks how she could have stopped the atrocities at all, he decides not to argue further on the matter with Nie Mingjue.[7]
After the conversation moves back to Wei Wuxian, Nie Mingjue notices when Jin Guangyao lies that he is not able to recall Wei Wuxian's words to smooth over Lan Wangji's dispute of Jin Guangshan's lie. Nie Mingjue frowns slightly, but he does not call Jin Guangyao out on the lie in front of everyone. It is only after the meeting when the Venerated Triad talk amongst themselves that Nie Mingjue hints to Jin Guangyao that the lie did not go unnoticed, commenting that his hard work was clever talk. Jin Guangyao, who knows Nie Mingjue will discipline him over this if given the chance, is quick to change the subject.[7]
The three observe Lan Wangji and Mianmian, who chose to leave her clan rather than endure their sexist ridicule that resulted after she spoke against the cultivators' exaggerations of Wei Wuxian's crimes and argued that the Lanling Jin may have covered up the abuse. Nie Mingjue states, "The woman has much more backbone than the mob of her clan."[7]
Over a year later and after the death of Jin Zixuan, the Fierce Corpse Wen Ning kills several cultivators from the Qinghe Nie Clan during his surrender at Golden Carp Tower. This angers Nie Mingjue, and he joins the pledge to oppose Wei Wuxian at Nightless City. When Wei Wuxian confronts them, Nie Mingjue scoffs at his arrogance before the bloodbath begins.[9]
Once the clans recover from the bloodbath of Nightless City, Nie Mingjue is among those who participated in the First Siege of the Burial Mounds against Wei Wuxian.[10] Wei Wuxian, however, recalls that the Qinghe Nie and Gusu Lan Clans participated far less than the Lanling Jin and Yunmeng Jiang Clans, with the latter two leading the siege.[11]
Saber Spirit[]
Purification Tone[]
Lan Xichen teaches Jin Guangyao to play Purification Tone on to counter the power of Nie Mingjue's growing saber spirit. As Lan Xichen was busy with the rebuilding of the Cloud Recesses at the time, Jin Guangyao takes over playing for Nie Mingjue, and their relationship begins to improve.[2]
Massacre of Yueyang Chang Clan[]
Although Nie Mingjue had not intended to attend the Discussion Conference at Golden Carp Tower, he comes after hearing that Xiao Xingchen has amassed solid evidence that the Lanling Jin Clan's guest disciple Xue Yang was responsible for massacring the Yueyang Chang Clan. Every other clan had agreed that Xue Yang should be executed, but the Lanling Jin Clan refused.[12]
Nie Mingjue delivers an angry lecture towards Jin Guangshan, and even presses Baxia against Xue Yang's throat, threatening to kill him then and there. When Jin Guangyao tries to ease the situation, Nie Mingjue orders him to leave. In the end, Jin Guangshan gives in and promises to execute Xue Yang.[12]
Unfortunately, Jin Guangshan quickly commutes Xue Yang's sentence to life imprisonment, as he desires to benefit from Xue Yang's abilities in Demonic Cultivation.[12]
An enraged Nie Mingjue then confronts Jin Guangyao at the top of the stairs to Golden Carp Tower, demanding that he kill Xue Yang. To Nie Mingjue's disgust, Jin Guangyao expresses fear that his father will remove him from the Lanling Jin Clan if he agrees.[2]
Jin Guangyao insists that Nie Mingjue does not understand what life is like with poor cultivation and no family name, and demands to know why Nie Mingjue, who killed many, never forgave him for killing his commander and Nie Mingjue's subordinates.[2]
In response, Nie Mingjue claims that he only killed for unrighteousness, not for political gain. When Jin Guangyao counters by asking how exactly Nie Mingjue decides who is worthy of life or not, Nie Mingjue asks him if he thiks he is better than those he killed.[2]
When Jin Guangyao answers "yes," Nie Mingjue kicks him down the stairs and calls him the "son of a prostitute," invoking his sworn brother's most painful memories. He once again attempts to kill Jin Guangyao with Baxia, declaring him "beyond redemption." Lan Xichen intervenes to stop him.[2]
Death[]
Wei Wuxian strongly implies that Jin Guangyao elects to kill Nie Mingjue after being called the "son of a prostitute."[13] Moreover, Jin Guangyao hints that Jin Guangshan had also desired Nie Mingjue's death for political convenience.[14]
Jin Guangyao visits Nie Mingjue the day after their argument on the stairs, bringing along presents for Nie Huaisang. Frustrated by Nie Huaisang's affection for Jin Guangyao and his inability to learn saber techniques, Nie Mingjue berates his young brother before ordering Nie Huaisang's art collection burned, to his brother's great distress.[2]
To regain Nie Mingjue's trust, Jin Guangyao promises to bring Xue Yang's head to Nie Mingjue in two months.[15] However, at some point in time, Jin Guangyao had accessed the Gusu Lan Clan's Room of Forbidden Books and taken a section from Collection of Turmoil that sounded similar to "Purification Tone." He merges the melodies to act as a slow poison.[16]
Less than two months later, the Qinghe Nie Clan hosts a martial arts conference. Nie Mingjue overhears Jin Guangyao confiding his fears and worries over Nie Mingjue's opinion of him to Lan Xichen, and promptly bursts through the door, brandishing Baxia.[15]
Jin Guangyao flees, but Nie Mingjue has encountered a qi deviation. Everyone he sees is Jin Guangyao, causing him to mistakenly kill several people. Finally, he recognizes Nie Huaisang's voice among the confusion and calms slightly.[15]
As his brother rushes towards him, Nie Mingjue collapses to see the real Jin Guangyao, who weeps at the sight. Nie Mingjue's last thoughts are that the Sparks-Amidst-Snow on his sworn brother's uniform are smiling in place of his brother.[15]
Dismemberment[]
Wei Wuxian surmises that once Jin Guangyao realizes Nie Mingjue's fierce corpse possesses unusually strong resentful energy, he dismembers his sworn brother's body and scatters the pieces to cover his crime.[17]
Although Nie Huaisang realizes that his brother's body has vanished, he can only find one piece, the Demonic Left Arm. He thus constructs an elaborate plot to both expose Jin Guangyao and find his brother's missing body.[17]
Thirteen Years Later[]
Demonic Left Arm[]
After Mo Xuanyu sacrifices his body to summon Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang throws Nie Mingjue's arm into Mo Village,[17] where the arm alone kills three members of the Mo family and a servant. The junior disciples of the Gusu Lan Clan are unable to suppress its power, and call on Lan Wangji to save the village.[18]
Lan Wangji returns the arm to the Cloud Recesses for examination. When he, Lan Qiren, and several elders attempt Evocation, only for the arm to badly injure everyone save Lan Wangji. He and Wei Wuxian then follow the arm's pointed finger to find the rest of his body.[19]
Stone Castles[]
Nie Mingjue's legs are placed with the body of a different corpse in the Qinghe Nie Clan's ancestral hall,[20] meaning his resentful energy would have been battling with the sabers of his own ancestors.[21]
Yueyang Chang Clan Cemetery[]
Nie Mingjue's torso is recovered from the cemetery of the Yueyang Chang Clan, although Lan Wangji battles the Gravedigger for it.[12] Presumably, the Gravedigger had realized that Nie Mingjue's body parts were being collected and wishes to thwart their efforts for the sake of his friend Jin Guangyao.[22]
Yi City[]
Under the obstructions of the Xue Yang, fierce corpses, and a thick fog, Lan Wangji still manages to successfully battle the Gravedigger to recover Nie Mingjue's right hand.[23]
Tanzhou[]
Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, and several juniors bring the headless corpse to Tanzhou to consult with Lan Xichen. Unfortunately, the resentful energy of Nie Mingjue's corpse is so strong that his body parts escaped their Qiankun Bags to reassemble into a headless corpse. He then hunts the juniors before Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen intervene. To his horror, Lan Xichen recognizes the corpse as his sworn brother's.[24][25]
Golden Carp Tower[]
Wei Wuxian attaches his soul to a paperman to sneak into Jin Guangyao's bedchamber. He follows Jin Guangyao and his mysteriously distraught wife Qin Su through a bronze mirror to their secret treasure chamber. Nie Mingjue's head is kept behind a Forbiddance Talismans to ward off its tremendous resentful energy, which is so strong that Wei Wuxian's paperman is immediately sucked into Empathy in its presence.[26]
In the aftermath of the revelation that Nie Mingjue's body has been dismembered and scattered, Nie Huaisang takes over custody of his brother's body. He appoints guards to watch over his brother, as does Lan Xichen.[27]
Guanyin Temple[]
After the initial discovery of Nie Mingjue's head, Jin Guangyao hides the head in an iron box and stores it with his mother's body in the Guanyin Temple. Nie Huaisang is implied to have retrieved the head to complete his brother's body.[17]
According to Nie Huaisang, he receives word at Lotus Pier that his brother's body had disappeared, and happened to be returning near Yunping when he was captured by Su She. Given Nie Huaisang's overarching plot and the fact that Nie Mingjue's body subsequently appears in Yunping to hunt Jin Guangyao, it is implied that Nie Huaisang deliberately released his brother's body instead.[17]
Wen Ning spots Nie Mingjue's fierce corpse – now with his head attached – and engages in a fight to protect the children Nie Mingjue had originally been lured towards. Wen Ning leads Nie Mingjue back to the Guanyin Temple, where the fierce corpse's ability to sense blood relationships causes Nie Mingjue to mistake Jin Ling for his uncle Jin Guangyao. The combined efforts of Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian fail to stop him, and Wen Ning ultimately takes the blow to save Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng.[28]
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji nearly succeed in luring Nie Mingjue into the former coffin of Meng Shi when Nie Huaisang prompts Su She to stab his leg. At the smell of his brother's blood, Nie Mingjue re-emerges, and Su She sacrificed his life to save Jin Guangyao.[22]
As Nie Mingjue turns towards Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng hands Wei Wuxian Chenqing. With his old flute, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are able to seal Nie Mingjue inside the coffin.[22]
However, Nie Huaisang is determined to see Jin Guangyao dead, and subsequently tricks Lan Xichen into stabbing his sworn brother. The mortally wounded Jin Guangyao lurches towards the coffin, and, though Lan Xichen grabs him, Jin Guangyao uses his blood to break the seal. Nie Mingjue reaches towards both his sworn brothers, but at the last moment, Jin Guangyao pushes Lan Xichen out of the way to save his life. Jin Guangyao then curses at Nie Mingjue before his fierce corpse breaks his neck. Both sworn brothers are then sealed together in the coffin.[22][17]
Aftermath[]
Due to the danger he poses, Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao's bodies are sealed in their coffin for a hundred years and buried in a cemetery guarded by the Qinghe Nie Clan, the Gusu Lan Clan, and the Yunmeng Jiang Clan. The resentful energy from within the coffin is so strong that nothing grows within five-hundred feet of its position.[29]
Animation Divergence[]
In the animation, Meng Yao kills Wen Ruohan to assist Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue as they fight against him side-by-side, rather than to save the captured Nie Mingjue.[30]
Web Series Divergence[]
In the Web Series, Meng Yao is appointed to be Nie Mingjue's right-hand man prior to the start of the Sunshot Campaign. The relationship between Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao falls out during an attack by Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu, when Meng Yao seizes the opportunity to kill a general of Nie Clan who bullied him, as part of an implied plot to free Xue Yang. When Nie Mingjue confronts him, Meng Yao suddenly pushes Nie Mingjue out of the way of Wen Zhuliu's sword, saving his life at the expense of his own body.[31]
As Nie Mingjue prepares to execute him, Meng Yao replies that he is grateful to have known him in his life. Nie Mingjue, in turn, relents, claiming that although Meng Yao is banished from the Qinghe Nie Clan, he will spare him because he had saved his life.[31]
In Nightless City, Meng Yao kills Wen Ruohan to save Wei Wuxian, not Nie Mingjue, though he still kills the subordinates of the captured Nie Mingjue to alleviate Wen Ruohan's wrath.[32]
Jin Guangyao's plan to kill Nie Mingjue is enacted much earlier in the Web Series. Nie Mingjue suffers a qi deviation immediately after kicking Jin Guangyao down the stairs after confronting him about the Lanling Jin Clan's protection of Xue Yang, rather than have the stairs incident as the catalyst for his death. Jin Guangyao then climbs the stairs and informs the dying Nie Mingjue exactly what he had done with the music.[33]
References[]
|