It was the voice of a man but one very foreign. Even though Xie Lian knew that the other end couldn't hear him, he still subconsciously lowered his voice, "Someone's here. I don't know if he'll do anything to General Pei, we have to find where they are as soon as possible."
The two on the other end seemed to have been stunned by the newcomer, and it took a moment before Pei Ming spoke, "Might I ask who My Lord is? Since you've reached this point, why not show your face?"
"You should be the one to answer that question." That voice said.
"The grudge must be with you." Ling Wen said, "Probably another female ghost who you ruined."
"Keep talking shit with your eyes wide open, why don't you... Just which part of this... thing... looks like a female ghost? Besides, he didn't just capture me, so maybe he's got grudges with you?"
"Nevermind. Let's not push this around courteously at a time like this, and overcome this obstacle together." Ling Wen said, "It's also possible he's got grudges against the both of us. Do you recall anyone like that?"
"No. There's too many." Pei Ming said.
That man seemed to have approached and his voice became louder, but the strange thing was, there was no sound of footsteps but instead a series of odd thumping sounds. He griped, "Can you both be less shameless and stop flirting in front of me?"
It seemed the words he used and his tone exposed something, and after some silence, Ling Wen said, "You're... Jing Wen Zhen Jun?"
That voice didn't respond. Pei Ming also seemed to be a little taken aback, "Jing Wen Zhen Jun? No way. Did Jing Wen Zhen Jun ever speak so discourteously?"
Ling Wen humphed, "He's always been this way. Puts on a face in front of others, and another in front of me, so of course you wouldn't recognize him."
On this end, Xie Lian furrowed his brows, "Jing Wen Zhen Jun?"
He seemed to have a faint impression of this title, but he couldn't be sure. It sounded as if he was a civil god, but there were much too many civil gods who had such words like "Literature", "Respect", "Quietude" in their titles*. Just then, Pei Su said in a low voice, "Jing Wen Zhen Jun, is, the, previous number one civil god, who had first, appointed Ling, Wen Zhen Jun to the heavens."
Hearing this, Xie Lian finally remembered. The first time he ascended, Ling Wen was still a junior civil official in the Lower Court. The number one civil god of the Upper Court wasn't her, but another civil god, and that civil god appeared to be this Jing Wen Zhen Jun!
However, the god Jing Wen had long since declined; there was not a single Temple of Jing Wen to be found within any eight hundred mile radius. Xie Lian couldn't help but wonder, "So everyone knows each other. So why can't we just talk peacefully? Must we just fight and constrain without talking."
However, Hua Cheng said, "It's because everyone knows each other that there must be constraining first."
Just as the words left his lips, Jing Wen on the other end spoke up again. It seemed since his identity was revealed, he must put on a front and so he changed his tone, his voice becoming more polite; only, his words were still embedded with needles, "Nangong, are you pleased being the top ranking civil god in the Upper Court? Why did you break your own golden bowl to come running here?"
Pei Ming piped up, "You see? The grudge is with you. I've been had because of you."
However, Jing Wen said, "General Pei, don't think that just because I'm seeking vengeance against Nangong that you're off the hook. This bitch insulted and harassed the worshippers of my Temple of Jing Wen, secretly desecrated my temples and set them ablaze, don't think I don't know who lent her all the martial officials to help her!"
"..."
Jing Wen continued, "Don't you laugh either, Nangong. And to think I appointed you back then out of sympathy for talent. This is how you repay me? You ungrateful, venomous wench. I've waited for this day for too long, too long!"
Xie Lian covered his forehead with his palm, thinking inwardly, 'The Three Tumours certainly live up to their names, each nastier than the other!'
Yet unexpectedly, Ling Wen only replied flatly, "Jing Wen Zhen Jun, there's no one here but us right now and you've had your say, so why keep up the act? Did you actually appoint me as a deputy official because you're sympathetic of talent? Just why did you appoint me and how did you treat me after appointing me, others might not know, but I'm sure you're personally more than clear."
Xie Lian was becoming more curious the more he listened, "What happened between Jing Wen Zhen Jun and Ling Wen? General Pei Junior, do you know the story behind this?"
Pei Su was also listening intently, "I'm, sorry. I have yet to as, cend a, t, the time, so I don't know much."
Xie Lian woefully thought his broken sentences was probably never going to heal. On the side, Hua Cheng spoke up, "Gege, no need to ask others, just ask me."
Xie Lian was amazed, "San Lang, you know about heaven's old past scandals too?"
Turns out, it wasn't just his imagination. When it came to all the shady histories and hearsays of every major heavenly official in the Upper Court, Hua Cheng certainly did his studies. He nodded, and indeed told Xie Lian what he knew.
Turns out, Jing Wen and Ling Wen were both civil gods born of the Kingdom of XuLi. Jing Wen was older than Ling Wen by many centuries, and had a deep foundation in the Kingdom of XuLi. At first, the two never crossed paths.
However, there was one year the Kingdom of XuLi conducted a ceremonial festival to revere and worship the civil gods. As a part of the festival, there was a small contest. Using the Kingdom of XuLi as the subject, the content unrestricted, the young scholars were to write an anonymous essay and have them hung in the largest civil god temple in the kingdom – at the time, that temple was the Palace of Jing Wen. The essays would then be judged by the people and finally, the best one would be selected as the winner to be commended.
It just so happened Jing Wen Zhen Jun descended at the time to dally, and on a moment's impulse,he thought it'd be fun to transform into the form of a scholar and join the contest. With an easy swing, he wrote a jaunty, elegant piece, singing praises of the glory of the Kingdom of XuLi, confident that his essay would stand out from the crowd. He imagined that once the results of the contest was revealed and he took the top place, if he revealed his true form then and unveil that the top placer was actually the clone of Jing Wen Zhen Jun, surely his name would be passed down beautifully to future generations.
If things really turned out that way, it would've been a happy ending. Yet unexpectedly, there happened a very awkward accident.
After the ceremony ended and the ranking board was revealed, the top player was not Jing Wen's "Ode to XuLi", but a political critical discourse called "Not XuLi".
This turn of events might have been awkward, but to bystanders, it was rather interesting. Xie Lian inquired, "Has San Lang ever read that "Not XuLi"?"
"I've flipped through it." Hua Cheng said, "If gege wants to read it, I'll recite a summary for you another time."
Xie Lian hurriedly said, "No, it's ok. But, to be able to defeat the already ascended Jing Wen Zhen Jun, I imagine it must've been very well written."
Hua Cheng commented, "It's not bad, but it wasn't that amazing either. It's just the political situation in the Kingdom of XuLi wasn't that great at the time, the people were full of complaints, so when they saw such a piece, it matched their taste. Plus, essays like "Ode to XuLi" were rampant, so the people were already tired of it. When comparing the two, naturally "Not XuLi" would win."
Xie Lian nodded lightly, "There is no such thing as number one in literature, it's all subjective. Something like this isn't really anything, especially if the content wasn't even the same thing."
"Correct." Hua Cheng said, "Jing Wen thought so at first too."
The people of XuLi sought everywhere for the author of "Not XuLi", but of course no one claimed it. Who would dare claim such a thing? Those who were greedy for fame and falsely came forward were all exposed quickly. Soon, because officers had caught wind of this, the ceremonial festival removed that top ranking essay.
As for Jing Wen Zhen Jun, although he wasn't too pleased with the contest and sniffed at it, still after a few months he'd forgotten the whole thing. Only, the tragedy was, after a few months, a shocking news started spreading among the civil gods in the Upper Court – the individual who authored "Not XuLi" and won the top rank in the Civil God Ceremonial Festival of XuLi was found, and was apprehended and locked up in prison. And this individual was a young woman who sold shoes on the streets!
How could this be! Unacceptable!
"...A-A shoe seller?" Xie Lian was amazed.
"Yes." Hua Cheng replied. "That was what Nangong Jie did while mortal."
No wonder he's heard people call the Palace of Ling Wen "Palace of Worn Out Shoes" under their breaths, and it wasn't just once or twice. Since Xie Lian didn't think it right to inquire for the root of such things, he's never learned where the term came from.
Originally, there was no way anyone would connect "Not XuLi" with a shoe selling maiden. However, that young girl would sometimes help others scribe letters or sonnets to make some extra income, and one day, one of the employers discovered her writing was similar to that of that top ranking essay, and reported her in, which was how she was caught.
After learning of this news, Jing Wen Zhen Jun swung his brush and immediately appointed that young girl named Nangong Jie to the heavens.
It must be known that at the time, lady heavenly officials were already few in numbers. It wasn't that there weren't any, but most of them were in control of flowers and plants, crafts and embroidery, singing or dancing or other such skills. Even when appointing deputy officials, no one would want to appoint a woman to be their deputy official of the Lower Court. Lady civil gods were even more rare. The women of civil god palaces were all cool beauties, and they didn't control anything literature related, but moreso gentle souls who grinded ink and laid papers; they weren't considered heavenly officials, more like objects to be appreciated.
Jing Wen Zhen Jun's actions received the praise of bearing sympathy for talents among civil gods, and everyone claimed this little girl had the best of luck to be able to to run into someone like Jing Wen Zhen Jun who possessed eyes of wisdom. Not only did she escape the trial of prison, she was able to climb above to the trees to become a phoenix, truly a beautiful tale.
However, at this very moment, the main characters of this 'beautiful tale' were going at each other's throats.
On that end, Jing Wen said, "I regarded you highly and used you heavily, but you made it sound like I bore ill intentions."
Ling Wen had always been someone who treated others politely, never sounding condescending nor taunting. However, now her voice had an air of derision, "Please. There's really no need for you to go around telling everyone how highly you regarded me. If you really did, you wouldn't have made me serve tea and water to everyone in the palace for so many years, wipe tables, walk hundreds of miles just to pick up a set of poetry scripts, and unceasingly deliver gifts to other heavenly officials during every holiday."
Xie Lian mused and that really did seem to have been the case. When he first ascended, every time he saw Ling Wen, she was always running errands. It was precisely because she ran so many errands that Xie Lian faintly remembered such a character. Jin Wen retaliated, "At the end of the day, you're just upset I refused to promote you. But why don't you think about why I wouldn't promote you?"
"Why?" Ling Wen said, "I want to know why too. When I was a mortal I had time and leisure to read and write, even when I was locked up in jail I could at least reflect calmly against the wall. After being appointed, there wasn't a day I wasn't labouring away for you, running errands and prostrating. If you had wanted to torment me, then it was a pretty good idea."
"NANGONG!" Jing Wen shouted, "You still dare refuse to admit your wrongs even now?!"
Ling Wen countered, "And what wrongs have I committed?"
"Are you saying it's all my fault?" Jing Wen demanded, "What I made you do were obviously the best for you. If you can't even take care of such small matters, what right do you have to do more important things? I was giving you the opportunity to cultivate and train your mind. You're the one who's incapable but you dare blame me for not promoting you? You think too highly of yourself, but you're a woman after all, you can't reach that high. You have to admit this truth!"
Ling Wen laughed out loud, seeming to be enraged, and her voice dropped, "Very well! You said I couldn't reach that high, then, might I ask you, had the prominence of the Palace of Jing Wen at its peak ever reached even the knees of my Palace of Ling Wen??"
Xie Lian could smell the thick brews of their past resentment and rage growing thicker, and thought inwardly that he couldn't have them keep talking any longer. Without any other choice, he employed a very brutish method.
With a powerful fist he punched the ground, and along with the astounding huge boom, instantly, a large crater was formed with him in the centre.
Hua Cheng instantly understood what he was planning and cried, "Gege!"
Xie Lian flapped his hand to disperse the dust in the air and coughed a few times, "This way is the most direct. I'll take care of this side! San Lang, you and General Pei Junior... go lie down on the side!"
At first he had wanted Hua Cheng and Pei Su to try the other direction, but under their current states they were both not as capable. As if Hua Cheng was going to listen to him and obediently lie around. He picked the opposite direction Xie Lian had chosen, summoned E-Ming, and plunged the blade, piercing the ground.
This strike and Xie Lian's fist earlier created the same effect. The two took turns to produce one large noise after the other, the two of them going further and further away from each other. After pounding a few times, Xie Lian stopped to listen, but Pei Ming and Ling Wen didn't seem to have any reactions like they didn't hear the booming noises he was creating.
As for Jing Wen, Ling Wen seemed to have stabbed him where it hurt, and he sneered as the mask of politeness was ripped off, returning to using the bitter tones of when he was calling them a fucking pair, "Nangong Jie, stop wagging your tail like a wretch who'd won in front of me! If it wasn't for me appointing you into the heavens, who knows how many you'd have bore spawns for in jail!"
Now those words were exceedingly vulgar and Xie Lian's hand almost slipped. Even Pei Ming couldn't listen anymore, "You were at least a civil god once, can you not be this classless?"
"See, Nangong," Jing Wen accused, "See how your good lover is shielding you! Who are you, General Pei, to accuse me of classlessness?"
"In your mind, who isn't my lover?" Ling Wen spat, "You're looking for retribution? Let's talk retribution!"
Xie Lian had leapt quite the distance by now, and he once again slammed the ground. This time, Jing Wen on the other end of the silver butterfly was alarmed, "What's the noise?!"
Xie Lian's heart jumped, it's the right direction!
Pei Ming and Ling Wen both heard too. Pei Ming hesitantly wondered, "Did someone start fighting above?"
Going harder, Xie Lian dashed a few meters and pounded again thunderously. Pei Ming exclaimed, "It's closer now! What a powerful blow! It came from above!"
It's here!
Xie Lian didn't throw another fist; he pulled out Fang Xin and thrusted the sword downwards.
The aura of the sword erupted and the ground rumbled as it caved in. Soon after, he fell into a chilling underground cave. Xie Lian mentally prayed that he didn't crash over Pei Ming and Ling Wen, and he waved away the dust in the air as he rose to his feet, turning around with the sword in his grip, and called, "Jing..."
The moment the figure of that "Jing Wen Zhen Jun" entered his sight, Xie Lian couldn't help but widen his eyes.
———
●"Wen" is the word for "Literature"; "Jing" is the word for "Respect"; "Jing", same tone but different character is the word for "Quietude".