Generally people would not know how their own backs look like, but Xie Lian was different. He was more than familiar with how his own back looked.
When the kingdom of XianLe first fell, to relieve themselves of anger, the people burnt down his Baqian Taizi¹ Temple, desecrated all of his statues, robbed the gems on his sword and cleaned his attire of gold. Yet after all that the rage continued to burn, and so they came up with a new idea, and it was to build such kneeling statues.
The Crown Prince that was highly venerated and worshipped was sculpted into the form of one who knelt and begged for forgiveness, and placed in crowded areas of town so everyone was free to spit at or kick it when they passed by, and rid themselves of misfortune. Or worse, some even had him sculpted to be prostrating, and used the statue directly as a threshold, allowing tens of thousands to walk all over it. In the first ten, twenty years after the kingdom of XianLe fell, those statues were a common sight in many of the cities and towns, so how could Xie Lian himself not recognize his own back?
Just then, the voice of a young man said, "That little hyena Pei Su had to hug the bitch legs of that manwhore Pei before he could ascend, so who does he think he is? He's nothing more than an exiled wild dog. To ruin my plans... Once I'm through with him, even after the winds dry up his corpse no one would dare go to collect it!"
Before the person himself had appeared, cussing was already heard. Xie Lian gazed over, and saw a figure clad in green enter the cave floating in. Due to a reason somehow not worth mentioning, Xie Lian couldn't help but look to the top of his head first, and was actually kind of disappointed to see that person had only a mask on, but no light above his head. A bunch of little ghosts dressed in green surrounded this green clad man, and he stood as if he was surrounded by a circle of green light. This must be one of the Four Evils in the ghost realm, the Green Ghost Qi Rong.
Ever since Nan Feng had first mentioned the name Qi Rong, Xie Lian had kept it in the back of his mind and wondered whether if this 'Qi Rong' was the same 'Qi Rong' he knew. However, there was an unwritten rule that no matter demons or ghosts they would all hide their real names, and bury their past lives. Because of this, he didn't think they were the same person, only that the fake name had coincided with the real one.
Yet from the looks of things, he was more than certain. If it wasn't that Qi Rong he knew, how could there be another 'Qi Rong' who was obsessed with the statue of the kneeling Crown Prince? And why would the sound of his voice be so familiar?
The little green ghosts that surrounded Qi Rong were loudly acclaiming him king and wildly chattered, so Xie Lian somewhat figured out what had transpired. Turns out when Qi Rong sent a few of his henchmen to the Ghost City, they failed in causing havoc, and was decimated by Hua Cheng. He then regrouped and was ready to fight again. But before the second round had even started, the henchmen bumped into the exiled Pei Su on the road. Although exiled in the mortal realm, Pei Su nevertheless was once a heavenly official, and had nothing better to do, so when the henchmen bumped into him he might as well clean them up, and so they were once again decimated.
To lose so many henchmen in a short period of time, the moment Qi Rong received the news he was furious, and cursed nonstop: "Like ancestors like descendants, that fucking manwhore of a Pei Ming probably has sores all over his crotch. I should chop off both his and Pei Su's fucking dicks and hang them at their temples, and whoever worships them will bleed pus with every step!"
Xie Lian had to really suppress the urge to cover his ears. The profanities were the same; when Feng Xin got upset his curses were also too vulgar for ears, but as much as he swore, it was obvious that they were only words of temporary anger, and there was no real malintent. Qi Rong's curses were different. The recipients have no doubt that he truly wanted to curse them to die as crudely as the way he condemned, and wholly unafraid to take cheap shots, thoroughly crass and obscene.
That group of little green ghosts agreed with Qi Rong loudly. He probably remembered the able subordinates he worked so hard to raise, and continued, "Too bad that strong-spirited woman Xuan Ji was captured by those two shameless Pei dogs and was wronged so miserably. She couldn't be saved even now."
Xie Lian couldn't agree with those words. Indeed Xuan Ji had a tragic story, but not everything was General's Pei's fault like Qi Rong had described. After all, those ten brides were kidnapped by her very person, and she was the one who killed them in cold blood. Strong-spirited for sure, and a good woman indeed. But to say Little Pei only ascended because he begged General Pei was something Xie Lian couldn't agree with.
After seeing so many to ascended and descended, there was one thing Xie Lian could say with absolute certainty: the skilled may not always ascend; but the ascended is always skilled. If one is powerless, no matter who promoted them, they would not be able to overcome heavenly calamities, and could only at most be an official in the middle court. Xie Lian hadn't interacted much with Pei Su, but even he could see that Little Pei's martial power was above that of Lang Qian Qiu. Only, power didn't equal to rank; there's politics at play too, otherwise Pei Su would've long gotten his own palace.
Obviously those things weren't of consideration to Qi Rong. He swore like there wasn't a single one in all of the realms he didn't want cursed to death. He called Pei Ming a whore, Little Pei a leg-hugging dog, Jun Wu a faker, Ling Wen a bitch, Lang Qian Qiu a moron, Quan Yi Zhen shit, the Water Master black-hearted, the Wind Master a slutty woman – he probably didn't know Shi Qing Xuan was actually a man. If Xie Lian hadn't seen it for himself, he wouldn't be able to believe anyone could be so resentful.
Finally, Qi Rong made it to the main point, which was how Hua Cheng and that low-key Ship-Sinking Black Water looked down on him. They were mere 'Supreme's, one day for sure he'd have them kneel before him. Xie Lian should be angry hearing this, but because he couldn't even imagine how that would ever play out, he couldn't help but find it hilarious instead, and stole a glimpse at Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng himself didn't have any reaction, but instead was still closely staring at that kneeling stone statue.
Finally, thankfully, Qi Rong seemed to be assuaged by all the cursing, and changed the subject. "How was the thing I sent you guys to do? Have Quan Yi Zhen and that man whore Pei started fighting yet?"
He sat down as he spoke, lounging in his luxurious throne. He raised his legs and rested his boots on the shoulders of that statue, using it as a footstool.
Xie Lian had been holding on to Hua Cheng's arm, and stopped him immediately when he felt him shuffle a step forward. He felt the pull back may not be enough, so he drew another word in Hua Cheng's palm: "Thanks"
Hua Cheng recognized the word. He lowered his head, then glanced at Xie Lian who was watching him back with gratefulness in his eyes, thanking him for his good intentions. Then, Xie Lian shook his head lightly, and drew the words "Listen" and "Heaven".
Qi Rong was talking as if he sent henchmen to do something, and it had something to do with those two heavenly officials. It couldn't be anything good, so Xie Lian wanted to keep listening. As for the statue getting used as a footstool, thinking back, it's even been used as a threshold before, so really it meant nothing to Xie Lian. It was only a piece of rock, not his person. Although he had only written those three simple words, when their eyes met, Xie Lian knew Hua Cheng had understood what he had meant. Hua Cheng slowly held his hand tight and turned his head away, so Xie Lian could no longer see his face.
A little green ghost spoke up, "We followed our king's instructions, and have long since spread the rumours that Pei Ming wants to make Pei Su the martial god of the west.
Now it's becoming more and more of a riot, so we used that as an excuse and desecrated hundreds of Ming Guan temples disguised as Qi Ying palace's devotees, and no one was the wiser! Hahaha, my lord may not know, but those devotees are really stupid! They saw us smashing temples, and smashed along with us with even more enthusiasm!"
Qi Rong was pleased. "Keep fueling them! Quan Yi Zhen can endure it, but I won't believe that manwhore Pei Ming can put up with it!"
Even if what they were spreading wasn't exactly a rumour, this kind of fabrication was still full of malintent, especially something as unscrupulous as disguising as mortals to sabotage temples, absolutely heinous, depraved, and perverse. No wonder whenever Qi Rong was mentioned, everyone in the heavens would say he wasn't skilled but extremely troublesome. Xie Lian mentally noted, 'If there's a chance, do tell Jun Wu to watch for any disputes between the two heavenly officials caused by others.'
When Qi Rong finished with business, he laid back, his pair of long legs resting on the statue changed position. The little ghosts immediately knew what to do, and went to the small crowd of people to pick out the best cut. The one child in the group was probably not even ten years of age, and wasn't very cognizant of the situation. He blinked his large eyes and held on tight to his father's shirt corner, yanking at it the more scared he became. His young father's face was ashen pale, trying to comfort him with a trembling voice, "Don't be scared, don't be scared." Yet it was obvious he himself was terrified to the bone.
One of the little green ghosts saw there was a child and was delighted, extending its arm to grab at him. The young father screamed and jolted. Xie Lian moved before he knew what he was going to do, but then he felt movement from the figure next to him. Xie Lian turned his head to see, and Hua Cheng had stepped out from within the crowd.
Since Hua Cheng came especially to seek out the Green Ghost, now that he'd seen Qi Rong he should've removed the disguise. Xie Lian had no doubt that Hua Cheng was powerful enough to destroy everything within sight and no one would be able to stop him. Yet, Hua Cheng did not reveal his true form, and maintained the skin of that normal looking young man, and walked forward lazily.
A number of little green ghosts raised their weapons and shouted in alarm, "Stop! What are you doing?!"
Qi Rong asked curiously, with this feet still up, "What's with that little guy? Take him down."
Hua Cheng laughed, "Won't you all show a little respect in the presence of XianLe royalty?"
Hearing his words, not only Qi Rong, but even Xie Lian was taken aback.
After a frozen moment, Qi Rong stood up in a fit, snorted beneath the mask, as if his fury was changed to a mad laugh, "What fucking bravery! To make such a joke before me?! Tell me, and what branch of the XianLe royal blood are you from? Which one??"
Hua Cheng replied leisurely, "The Prince An Le."
Xie Lian could feel the Lang Qian Qiu daruma doll in his arms jerk once.
Prince An Le was the descendant of the XianLe royalty the same generation as Lang Qian Qiu, and could be said to be friends with Lang Qian Qiu.
Qi Rong's mocking laugh could be heard from under the mask, "Prince An Le? I think you're seeking your own death! Who told you to start shit in front of me? The person who appointed you didn't teach you a little history? Prince An Le was the last remaining royal blood of XianLe, and he's already dead! Who the fuck are you to pretend to be XianLe royalty before me?"
Hua Cheng raised his brow, "Oh? Dead? How did he die?"
Qi Rong shouted, "TAKE HIM DOWN! TAKE DOWN THAT ODD PIECE OF SHIT!"
Under his command, a large number of little green ghosts poured in from all around the cave, yelling. In the midst of that chaos, Hua Cheng only smirked faintly.
His expression was nonchalant before, but the next moment it was as if a layer of frost had been laid upon his face. His form suddenly flickered and disappeared, appearing the next blink behind Qi Rong.
He single-handedly grabbed the back of Qi Rong's head, and smashed it down hard like a child playing with a ball. "And who the fuck are you, to be so insolent before me!"
A loud BANG and that luxurious throne suddenly had debris flying, dust filled the air. Xie Lian pulled the child behind himself to shield him, and blocked off a few small pebbles. When the dust settled, Qi Rong had disappeared. At a closer look, he didn't disappear, but his entire head was deeply embedded into the ground after Hua Cheng's blow.
Humans and ghosts alike screamed and ran away.
"Don't run away!" Xie lian shouted. If the people alerted all the ghosts within the cave, they'd be killed for sure! But of course, as always, no one listened to him. Xie Lian dropped his hands helplessly.
Under the circumstances, he had no time to worry about others either. Across the room, Hua Cheng slowly knelt down; he used one hand to grab a fistful of Qi Rong's hair, and pulled out a bloodied head from the hole in the ground, and the body was pulled out along with the head. After a brief moment of observation, Hua Cheng seemed to be extremely amused, and burst out laughing.
Although he was laughing, his eyes were off by a million watts, eerie and terrifying. RuoYe flew out and struck away a few of the little green ghosts who were trying to cut down the escaping people. Xie Lian then turned around in a rush, his instincts telling him something was very wrong. "San Lang? San Lang!"
Qi Rong's mask cracked, some pieces falling. He threw up a mouthful of blood and yelled, "SOMEBODY STOP HIM! Y'ALL COME AND STOP HIM!!"
Hua Cheng was just violently bashing him, but now he seemed to be at ease as if they were best buddies and chatting. He chuckled, "Oh, didn't you know? There are some things in this world that's unstoppable. Like, the sun setting in the west. Also, an elephant squashing an ant. Or for example, —- ME TAKING YOUR LOWLY LIFE!"
By his last line, his face was savage and ferocious. He had in his hold Qi Rong's whole body, and he bashed it down into the ground again!
Another loud BANG. Qi Rong's body laid in the ground and was smushed into a pool worse than mush. The mask on his face cracked, breaking into small pieces revealing half a face.
If anyone were to see that half a face, they'd discover a shocking fact:
The Green Ghost Qi Rong and the Crown Prince of XianLe, one ghost one god, a difference of hell and heaven, looked very much alike!
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Translator Notes:
¹Baqian Taizi Temple translates to the Temple of Eight Thousand Crowned
Princes