Xie Lian's left arm was bleeding profusely from the gash he created himself, but at the
end of the day, it was only self 'harm', not 'murder', and so the urge wasn't fully fulfilled.
His mouth slackened and that stuffed piece of cloth fell from his lips. Xie Lian became
more aggressive, and stabbed his left leg. It was a deep cut; the sound of the blade
penetrating his flesh was clear. That young soldier couldn't stand back anymore and ran
towards him. Hearing his hurried footsteps, Xie Lian backed away in terror. Even when
his back was pressed against the wall he continued to push backwards, "NONONO!
DON'T COME NEAR ME, DON'T..."
The second blood barrier by the entrance of the cave was drawn especially for Xie Lian
to bar himself, but it couldn't bar that boy so he still had a chance to return to safety. But
the Tender Fragrance poison was about to enter second stage, and if that boy
approached, Xie Lian could very well end his life right then and there, and spare him no
chance of escape. He was terrified he'd kill that child by accident and could only avoid
him. That young soldier heard the terror in his voice and called anxiously, "Your
Highness..."
The urge to kill was boiling in his blood. He raised that worn sword with his shaking
hand, and a voice inside his head screamed, "I WON'T DIE, I WON'T DIE, I WON'T
DIE!!!"
The next moment, in a split second decision, the blade turned.
In the darkness, that young soldier could see a cold light flash by and he yelled, "YOUR
HIGHNESS!!!"
The sword had struck, and it penetrated Xie Lian's own stomach, nailing himself dead
onto the ground!
A sharp pain exploded from his abdomen, spreading throughout his whole body,
dispersing the heat. Xie Lian's hands were gripping tightly onto the hilt, his eyes bulging.
He choked a cough, a thin thread of blood flowed down from the side of his lips, his
breathing stagnated, and he stopped moving. That young soldier was dumbfounded,
and fell to his knees next to his body.
Just then, there were screeching and shrieking outside the cave: "WHO ARE YOU!"
The voices of the flower demons were delicate but shrill, and their shrieks piercing to
the ears. Yet, there was another who thundered louder, dominating over all of their cries:
"WHAT THE HELL!!!"
Hearing that angry roar, Xie Lian suddenly sucked in a breath anew.
Feng Xin!
Another muffled voice said, "It's Land of the Tender. If you don't want to get poisoned
then cover your face."
That was of course the Mu Qing who already had his face covered. Feng Xin covered
his face but then seemed to have seen something, and muffled an angry shout, "IS
THAT... YOUR HIGHNESS? YOUR HIGHNESS?? FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!! WHAT'S
THIS!"
Mu Qing also let out an "eh?" and noted, "What a disgraceful sight!" But his tone wasn't
as angry as Feng Xin's, more like the reaction of having heard someone utter a bad
joke. Xie Lian laid inside the cave and couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could
guess that those flower demons probably showed their naked selves before them,
looking highly inappropriate. Feng Xin was cursing uproariously, "HURRY AND BURN
THEM! DON'T LET ANYONE ELSE SEE!"
Soon, there was a field of flames and the sound of burning. In that roaring fire, the
shrieks and curses of those flower demons gradually disappeared. "Make sure to burn
thoroughly. That fragrance from those flower demons is poisonous, if there are any
leftover seedlings they'll come back." Mu Qing said.
Xie Lian sucked in a breath, waited, then coughed weakly once, but the other two
immediately heard his voice and charged to the cave yelling, "YOUR HIGHNESS, ARE
YOU IN THERE?"
"...I'm here..." Xie Lian called.
Even though he tried to steady his voice, but it was still weaker than his normal self. The
two of them rushed over but was stopped by the barriers outside the cave's entrance.
However, they were very familiar with the arrays drawn by Xie Lian and knew how to
break them. Feng Xin ignited a palm torch, walked a few steps, and before the deepest
of the cave was illuminated, he suddenly called, "Who's there?"
Mu Qing was alarmed too, "Is there someone else in the cave?"
"Don't worry. Just a little soldier." Xie Lian said.
The two dropped their guards and entered. The bright firelight brightened the entire
cave with a warm orangey glow, and illuminated the Xie Lian who laid there on the
ground, his long hair strewn about, his robes shredded, and a long sword impaled
through his abdomen, nailing him to the ground.
The two were horrified by the sight. Feng Xing leaned over, "WHO DID THIS?!"
"Me." Xie Lian replied.
Mu Qing was aghast, "What happened?"
Xie Lian shook his head, "I don't want to talk about it. This only happened because
there was no other way. Hurry and free me from this."
Mu Qing approached and pulled out the sword with a frown, throwing it to the side with
a clang, and that young soldier retrieved it. Feng Xin helped Xie Lian sit up, covered him
with an outer robe, and only then did Xie Lian finally recounted roughly the ghastly night
with the Land of the Tender. "You guys came faster than I expected. Where's Qi Rong?"
"Qi Rong got locked up by the king in the palace," Feng Xin said, "He's too overbearing
in the markets, so of course he was an easy target. But he knew to find us after he got
back, so not too bad." So it seemed that as much as Qi Rong despised those two
servants he still acknowledged how competent they were. The two had planned to have
one stay behind to guard the fortress, but Qi Rong was screaming and howling with a
sword smeared in Xie Lian's blood, so they thought the danger might be more than they
expected, and decided to both come together in the end. The Hill of BeiZi was thick with
the essence of evil, so it wasn't hard to find, which was why they were so quick in
coming.
Although Xie Lian possessed an ascended body, normal blades could not hurt his
essence and a jab to himself like this wouldn't kill him, still he had never really truly lost
in a battle of life and death in his twenty years, and this was the very first time he had
gotten so heavily wounded, so he needed time to recover. And so, Feng Xin carried him
on his back on their return to the royal capital. Foreign pain stabbed at him from his
stomach, making Xie Lian furrow his brows but he tried to control himself, "Did you guys
bump into anything on your way here?"
"No." Mu Qing replied.
Xie Lian sucked in a breath and said, "Be careful, there are inhuman creatures about..."
He had wanted to tell them about that white-clothed being, but because he was really
quite exhausted, and seeing from the peripheral of his vision that young soldier
following behind with that bloody steel sword in hand, he finally relaxed, closed his eyes
to restore his energy, and fell deeply asleep.
Since he had capriciously descended into the mortal realm, Xie Lian had not closed his
eyes to rest for over a month, and with stacking pressure growing, this whole ordeal
finally crushed him, and he was comatose for three whole days. After three days he
woke with a start and found himself inside his bedchamber. The ceiling above was
glamourous and beautiful – it was the palace – and he immediately sat up, "Feng Xin!"
Feng Xin was just outside testing his bow, and entered when he heard the call. "Your
Highness!"
Xie Lian's stomach injury was long healed, and he immediately jumped off the bed,
"Was I knocked out for a long time? Did anything happen?"
"Relax." Feng Xin said, "It was only a few days. There were no enemy attacks. If there
was, wouldn't I have already woken you up? Go back to bed, you forgot your shoes
again."
Calmed, Xie Lian went back to bed. After a pause, he asked, "Where's Mu Qing?"
Just then, Mu Qing walked in too, holding the prepared robes in his hands, "Here."
He attended to dressing the Crown Prince, and Feng Xin spoke up beside them,
"However, even though we didn't battle in the past few days, we did find something out."
"Find out what?" Xie Lian asked.
"Didn't we say before that there's something off with Yong'an? That there might be
reinforcements? We went to scout the Hill of BeiZi and saw several people that were
dressed like our people but had a weird accent. They didn't look like they were from
Xianle. I captured them, and sure enough there were other kingdoms supporting them
from the shadows, secretly shipping supplies and arms."
Otherwise, with so many people of Yong'an squished on a barren hill, there was no way
they could support themselves until now surviving on wild roots and weeds!
Feng Xin cussed, "Fucking fakers pretending to be all friendly gotta stir shit up now,
hoping Xianle would fall completely into chaos!"
The Kingdom of Xianle possessed a vast territory with bountiful resources, its wealth
abundant, its production of precious jewels plentiful, and the nearby kingdoms had long
watched with eyes green with envy. Xie Lian had expected this and shook his head
gravely. He recalled something else and asked, "Where's that child?"
"Which one?" Feng Xin asked, "Oh, that little soldier? We were rushing you to the
Guoshi that day, no one cared for him, so he probably went back to his troops."
Dressed, Xie Lian lowered his arms and sat down poised on the bed, "That child was
pretty skilled, I think he's got really good potential with the sabre. If he's taught well he'd
definitely be spectacular when he's older. Mu Qing, remember to find him for me when
you get a chance. Settle him well. He could be appointed."
Xie Lian was someone who loved those who were skilled in martial arts, and just had to
appoint them to his side just so he could watch them everyday and soak in delight. This
wasn't the first time he made such a comment, but it was the first time it was directed to
a child. Mu Qing heard him make those "really good potential with the sabre",
"spectacular when he's older" remarks and his expression turned unreadable,
scrunching up the hair band he'd just untied from Xie Lian in his hand, and turned
around to throw it to the side.
Feng Xin on the other hand, remarked, "That brat only looks to be about fourteen or
fifteen, isn't that too young? What's he gonna do after getting appointed?"
Mu Qing spoke up too in a flat voice, "It's not proper. It'd be against military rule."
"A god can descend into the mortal realm, so what can military rule do to me?" Xie Lian
said, then praised, "You guys should've seen the way he killed those binu's! It was so
good!"
Speaking of binu, that strange white-clothed being flashed before his mind. "Your
Highness, why have demons like those Land of the Tenders appear on the Hill of BeiZi?
That's never happened before?" Feng Xin said.
Xie Lian rose to his feet, "That's what I wanted to tell you guys that day."
Finally free, he recounted his meeting with that one who bore the crying-smiling mask.
The three of them talked it over but didn't dare to be negligent, and decided in the end
that it was better to report it to the heavens. Thus, once Xie Lian left his bedchamber, he
briefly met with the king and the queen before hurrying to the Great Martial Hall on
Mount Taicang.
If this was the past, Xie Lian would've gone to the Heavenly Court directly to tell Jun Wu
face to face. Yet the circumstances had changed; he was the one who deserted the
Heavenly Court and it was like handing the keys back. Even if he wanted to go back the
doors would be locked. Plus he left with such upset and spoke with such friction in the
Great Martial Hall, that he was a little embarrassed to face Jun Wu. Thus, with great
reverence he lit a few giant sticks of incense in the Great Martial Hall, and passed on
the message to the divine statue of the Heavenly Martial Emperor, hoping that he would
hear it. However, the number of incense respects Jun Wu received were at least eight
thousand to ten thousand, an overwhelming amount, with a number of big believers
mixed in. Whether if he would really hear his message would depend entirely on
chance. Xie Lian didn't dare leave things be for too long either, and immediately
returned to the battlefront to continue his watch over the fortress city.
Maybe it was because the damage inflicted in the first battle was too great and their
reinforcements were cut off secretly by Feng Xin and Mu Qing, Yong'an seemed to have
changed tactics and didn't recklessly attack again. After a few months, they fought a few
small battles but didn't lose too gravely. Compared to the first battle, those bouts were
nothing. That strange white-clothed being didn't appear again either. Thus, the royal
capital of Xianle was growing slack, and Xie Lian himself found a rare chance to leave
from the front lines, strolling through the royal capital to relax a bit.
He stepped onto a small stone bridge, stirring long twines of the weeping willow next to
the bridge, and watched lively, red koi fish swish their tails swimming happily through
the coursing waters below, feeling envious. He was lost in thought for a while when
suddenly he felt eyes staring at him from behind, and when he turned his head, there
was no one there. Puzzled but not sensing any malintent or killing intent, Xie Lian didn't
mind.
After crossing the bridge, he strolled along the Martial Deity Avenue, and passersby on
the road bowed to him excitedly or reverently or delightfully, greeting "Your Highness".
Xie Lian nodded and smiled, and after walking for a while, he felt that staring gaze on
his back again.
This time, he took it to heart, and whipped around without warning, catching the culprit.
Behind a willow tree there was a flash of a shadow. Xie Lian walked up and was about
to grab at the person when he realized with a start that it was that boy with his head
wrapped in bandages. "You're...?"
Even with bandages wrapped all over his head, that boy still raised to cover his face
with crossed arms, leaving only a bright eye peeking through his patched sleeves. He
stammered, "Y-Your Highness, I didn't mean to."
Xie Lian pointed at him, "You're from that night..."
He trailed off, recalling immediately what exactly transpired that night many months ago
and just how discomposed he was. Images filled his mind and he reddened, feeling
slightly awkward, and hurriedly cleared his throat, "So it was you. I was going to look for
you a while back, but with so much on my plate I'd forgotten. Ahem, aren't you a soldier
in the army? Why are you in the city?"
Hearing him, that boy was taken aback and replied, a little mopingly, "I'm not in the army
anymore."
Xie Lian was bewildered, "Huh? Why not?"
That boy was even more bewildered, "I... got kicked out. Your Highness, did... did you
not know?!"
Xie Lian was perplexed, "Know what?"
He had clearly told Mu Qing that that child was a good sprout to be settled and
appointed, so how did he get kicked out of the army after Xie Lian's specific
instructions???
That boy looked to be both excited and happy, immediately dropping his arms, "So Your
Highness hadn't known! I had thought... I thought..."
Xie Lian was becoming more and more curious, "Come, tell me, why did you get kicked
out? Who kicked you out? Why did you think I would know? Also, what had you
thought?"
That boy made a giant step towards him, but before he could speak, just then from the
Martial Deity Avenue came a loud, horrified scream, "AAAAHHHHHHH—!!!"
Xie Lian whipped his head around and saw a man holding his face, running and
stumbling in his direction.
—————-
●MXTX Author Notes: Xie Lian is a serious martial arts otaku! – All the peeping
flowers got burnt to death by the straight dudes.