Perhaps the surge of emotions in his eyes were too strong and too piercing, the junior officials being stared at by him quickly waved their hands, "We didn't tell any outsiders!"
Xie Lian demanded with his eyes red, "Then how did they know??"
None of the thirty some heavenly officials present appeared surprised when they heard his question. Since so many heavenly officials already knew, then how many officials in the Upper Court have already heard?
Having been questioned by him, those heavenly officials were stumped for a bit before they argued, "Well it's not like they're outsiders, we're all close friends here. There aren't any secrets between us, so telling them isn't the same as telling anyone else. Other than to the heavenly officials here, we won't say anything..." Xie Lian didn't wait for him to finish before he cried sharply, "LIES! WHAT A BUNCH OF LIES! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!!!"
To have him interrupt so sharply, those junior officials were also starting to feel a little embarrassed, shrinking back into the crowd. Just then, one of the heavenly officials suddenly shouted, "WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF YOU BELIEVE THEM OR NOT? It's already pretty good that no one exposed what good deed Your Highness has done here in the mortal realm, and still you ask them to keep a secret for you? What duty do we have to keep a secret for you? WHAT A JOKE!"
It was like a bucket of ice cold water was thrown in Xie Lian's face followed by a blade piercing his heart, and he quickly said, "NO! I..."
Another one piped up, "If you didn't do anything immoral, you wouldn't fear talk. You're the one who's corrupted, and you blame others for not keeping their words? If anyone was to keep such unjust affairs a secret for you, then that'd be the true crime!"
"NO!!!" Xie Lian cried, "I..."
He wanted to say that there was a reason, that he hadn't wanted to, but he also knew very well in his heart that no matter what reason there was, they weren't important. What mattered was, he did indeed tried to rob!
A blemish like this was like a brand of shame marked on his face, and it was making him turn infinitely small before these heavenly officials, too afraid to even raise his voice in defending himself. Seeing that his will was diminishing, one of the martial gods stepped out, "Your Highness, now do you understand why we don't want you here to cultivate with us?"
Xie Lian lowered his head and clenched his fists.
That martial god continued, "We are not on the same path, and those not of the same paths shall not cross. You best leave."
Hearing him say "Those not of the same paths shall not cross" so presumptuously, Xie Lian suddenly understood.
They could talk in circles, but at the end of the day, it was all just so he'd let go of this spiritual land!
The knuckles of his fists were cracking and the lump in his throat pressed down for a while before Xie Lian said darkly, "...I'm not leaving. I will stay here and train."
At this moment, his anger towards those thirty some heavenly officials had surpassed his embarrassment.
Since things had progressed to this point, then he might as well break all the broken jars and give it his all. Instead of running away with tail between his legs, he'd rather thicken his face and stand his ground, forcing them to relent. Xie Lian whipped his head up and reiterated, "I will stay here to train. This mountain isn't any of yours domain, none of you have any right to ask me to leave!"
Seeing how he had hardened his attitude, those thirty some heavenly officials' faces all darkened. Xie Lian heard someone mutter, "Why must it be like this?"
"I have never seen anyone so thick-skinned..."
Still, they could say all they wanted, Xie Lian would stand his ground. Even if his heart was now bleeding profusely having been stabbed by spears of lips and swords of tongues, still he will stubbornly remain without moving.
That martial god said, "It seems Your Highness will force your way and bring displeasure to everyone?"
Xie Lian said coldly, "Come chase me out if you've got what it takes! Even if you all want to, you haven't the skills!"
The moment he said this a number of the heavenly official's instantly dropped their faces and pulled out their weapons!
Of course they would. To martial gods, his words just now was a grave provocation.There were a number of them present who were martial gods; there was no way they could pretend they didn't hear.
Having been surrounded, Xie Lian wasn't scared a bit. He had no blades in his hands and could only grip tightly onto the branch he used as a trekking pole. One of the martial gods said severely, "Your Highness, if you apologize immediately, we can pretend you didn't just offend us."
However, Xie Lian replied, "If I brought any displeasure to any of you, I refuse to apologize."
Gripping that tree branch, he pointed forward, "Because none of you are fit to be gods!"
Before him was a wave of outrage.
Someone clicked his tongue, "We're not fit? And someone like you who robbed mortals is worthy?!"
Xie Lian couldn't hold back anymore, and he didn't want to anymore either. Sweeping that branch he charged forward to attack, yelling, "YOU BULLIES!"
Those martial gods readied their weapons to welcome his attack. The heavenly officials standing in the back cried, "It's not like we forced you to go rob, so what reason do you have to begrudge us??"
However, they were too glad too early. At first they thought without spiritual powers and without weapons, Xie Lian must be easy to take down. Yet unexpectedly, that wasn't the case at all. Even though it was only a branch in Xie Lian's hand, it was swung like a vicious blade, forcing them back, exceedingly strong. Both sides didn't fight for very long before a number of the martial gods' swords were sent flying, and they were even scared of getting scratched by the sharp winds swept by the swinging branch, each of them so startled they fled to hide in the back.
Esteemed heavenly officials couldn't even defeat a banished mortal, what an embarrassment!
Just then, one of the heavenly officials watching the fight suddenly shrieked from the distance, "WHAT'S THIS?!"
With that cry, the other heavenly officials became alarmed too, "WHAT'S GOING ON?"
That heavenly official seemed to be in excruciating pain, covering his face and bent at the waist, "A, a ball of ghost fire hit my eyes just now... is he playing tricks?"
Xie Lian recalled that this was the official that was pointing at him shouting he was a robber, and he snorted, "What ghost fire? If you want to rob me of spiritual land then just say so, there's no need to slander me any further!"
His fury flared again, and his attacks became more aggressive. The spears and blades of that circle of martial gods were all stricken away by his normal, perfectly sized branch, and the weapons clattered as they all fell all over the ground. Suddenly, someone yelled, "IT'S CAUGHT! IT'S CAUGHT! LOOK!"
Xie Lian paused and steadied himself, and saw those heavenly officials in a riot, and something was in someone's hand being raised high for all to see, "There really is a ghost fire, he's playing dirty! We've got proof!"
Xie Lian looked closely, and sure enough it was a ball of hauntingly blazing little ghost fire. He cried angrily, "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF PLAYING TRICKS JUST BY CATCHING SOME GHOST FIRE? IT'S NOT LIKE GHOST FIRES ARE ANYTHING RARE! DO YOU SEE MY NAME CARVED ON IT??"
That heavenly official who shrieked held his eye, "Why would normal ghost fires attack my eyes? If it wasn't under your control why would it act like this?"
Xie Lian rebuked, "And I can say it's some wandering spirit on the mountain that were scared by you lot and came crashing in a daze! What kind of proof is that?!"
The first martial god who made a move went and grabbed the ghost fire. "Who cares whose control it's under. A harmful thing like this, just disperse it!" he said as he gripped harder, looking like he was going to squeeze that spirit apart. Seeing this, Xie Lian blurted, "LET IT GO!"
In the end he still couldn't bear to have wandering spirits be dragged into their quarrel, and he went up to fight that martial god to retrieve the ghost fire. Since his intention was to take the spirit back, he held back at bit, and the two stood at a standstill. Suddenly, a few of the heavenly officials from behind called out, "You're here?! Come quick! Come see for yourself just what's going on!"
It sounded as if someone had come. The heavenly officials all looked over and said, "You're finally here!" "We've been waiting for you, come give us a hand!"
Hearing this, Xie Lian was startled at first, and thought, 'Could this be someone powerful' Then he thought, 'Well who cares who it is. If they're going to give me trouble, I'll just fight another round! I'm not afraid of anyone!!!'
He was guts filled with resentment right now, and was prepared to enter into a brawl. Yet unexpectedly, when the crowd had parted, and the one who arrived fashionably late came forward, Xie Lian was thoroughly stunned.
He had never thought that the one who'd come would be Mu Qing!
Mu Qing obviously hadn't expected that he'd bump into Xie Lian in such a situation. The moment their eyes met, they were both shocked. Xie Lian's eyes were wide and completely forgot about the martial gods he had been fighting, and he muttered, "...Why are you here? Aren't you..."
He noticed something after only having said a few words, and he instantly understood and shut up.
What Mu Qing was wearing right now wasn't that old, worn black robes when they were on the run, but the martial heavenly official attire of the Lower Court.
In the past, when Feng Xin and Mu Qing were working as Xie Lian's left and right hands, their abilities were much admired and appreciated, catching the eyes of many. Later when Xie Lian was banished, there were a number of heavenly officials who thought it a shame that Feng Xin and Mu Qing were banished together, and there were even some who'd come ask in secret whether they'd be willing to transfer to other palaces to serve. It wasn't impossible for a heavenly official who, out of admiration, would pull Mu Qing up to the Lower Court to serve them.
That must've been it. Moreover, he must've done well for himself, otherwise he wouldn't be banding together with this group of heavenly officials to come search for auspicious lands to cultivate.
Xie Lian was still in the body of a mortal, but Mu Qing had already returned to the Lower Court. To have a scenario like this, how ironic.
On the other side, Mu Qing finally steadied himself with great effort and asked in confusion, "What's going on here?"
Those heavenly officials all fought to tell their tales. Xie Lian stood from afar, his body extremely stiff.
He noticed that they didn't especially tell Mu Qing about his robbery. What did this mean?
It meant Mu Qing already heard about the incident. Mu Qing also knew he went to rob!!!
Drops after drops of cold sweat rolled down from the side of Xie Lian's face, and he involuntarily backed up a couple steps. That martial god who had been facing him earlier huffed in anger, "He wants to take the spiritual land all for himself and chase us out, Mu Qing, hurry and help!"
What help?
Have Mu Qing help fight him?
Xie Lian was going numb with rage, shocked to the core. He finally snapped to and stammered furiously, "...You, you're all giving a false account, so shameless! It wasn't like that at all! I clearly wasn't!"
Mu Qing was only watching from the side, and Xie Lian was going anxious with rage and charged out with the branch again. Those martial gods were having trouble defending, backing away in defeat, and they yelled again, "MU QING! WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING THERE??"
The other heavenly officials also joined in on the yelling, but Mu Qing still looked hesitant, like he didn't know whether he should attack. Xie Lian heard them urge Mu Qing to surround himself, and his heart blazed with rage, "MU QING ISN'T LIKE YOU ALL. HE'S MY FRIEND, HE WOULD NEVER HELP YOU!!!"
He raged and raged, and put more strength into his hand, sending another row of weapons flying. The rest of the heavenly officials saw that he was growing bolder the more he fought, that things weren't going down right, and they cried urgently, "MU QING! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO WATCH HIM MESS THINGS UP AS HE WILL??"
Mu Qing's expression changed to something unreadable, and he took a step forward, his fingers twitching. The heavenly officials next to him prompted, "Don't just stand there, give us a hand!"
It just had to be at this moment that someone remarked sarcastically, "It's understandable that Mu Qing doesn't want to move. He was His Highness' personal attendant after all, so even if His Highness was robbing mortals and spiritual land, he still had to consider the old affection of their past relations. It's already more than enough that he didn't join His Highness, so how can we possibly expect him to help us?"
The words sounded like they were giving Mu Qing an out, truly wicked. Immediately, veins popped on Mu Qing's forehead.
The air was growing delicate, and Xie Lian could tell things were going wrong, "Mu Qing..."
He only called out the name, but the next moment, his hands were light followed by the sound of something being slashed.
Xie Lian blinked and looked down. What was slashed was his only 'weapon', that tree branch. When he looked up again, the Mu Qing before him was already holding a zanbato.
Right at that moment, the tip of the blade was pointed at Xie Lian, and the one controlling the sabre said coldly, "...Please leave."
"..."
Xie Lian stared at Mu Qing with that broken branch in his hand, and after a long while, he tried, "I... hadn't really wanted to rob anyone. I wasn't going to take over this spiritual land either. I came here first."
"..."
Mu Qing repeated expressionlessly, "Please leave."
Xie Lian gazed at him and hesitated for a moment, "...You know I'm not lying, right?"
When he asked this, he was a little hopeful but also a little scared. A voice was telling him, don't ask anymore, just turn around and walk away! Still, he couldn't help but ask.
Before Mu Qing responded, Xie Lian's body suddenly slumped forward, and he fell heavily onto the ground.
The ground was the muddy earth of the mountain path, filled with holes and ditches, covered in rocks and fallen leaves. Xie Lian laid sprawled on the ground, bulging his eyes and was still in a state of disbelief.
One of the heavenly officials had shoved him while he was at a loss, and made him fall this embarrassingly in front of so many eyes.
It really was too embarrassing. All around were voices, high and low, filling the air, all entering Xie Lian's ears. His eyes were extremely wide, and he looked before him at the blackened ground before slowly raising his head and saw Mu Qing who was standing not too far away from him.
Mu Qing was standing among those heavenly officials, not looking at him, and just like all the others, he had no intention of giving Xie Lian a hand to help pull him up.
Thus, Xie Lian understood. No one would give him a hand to help pull him up.
He laid there for a good while before he crawled up himself.
Those heavenly officials thought he was about to start another bout and were exceedingly alarmed, but Xie Lian didn't seek to fight anyone anymore. His head was bowed low as he fumbled around, and after finding that little satchel the queen packed for him, he picked it up silently, carried it back on his back, turned around and headed to descend the mountain step by step.
As he walked, his steps grew faster and faster. It didn't take long before Xie Lian started running madly.
He held his breath and ran all the way down the mountain, not taking a moment to rest. He didn't know how far he's run, and suddenly, without minding his footing, he tripped and fell again, and that breath he was holding finally came out with a mouthful of angry blood.
In his moment of panic, he hadn't thought to get up, and only sat up on the ground panting. Even when his breathing returned to normal he hadn't thought to stand up, and instead started spacing out right on the spot.
Suddenly, a hand was extended to him.
Xie Lian blinked slowly at it, and his eyes followed this arm and looked up. It was Mu Qing again.
He was standing next to Xie Lian, his face slightly pale with his hand reached out. A brief moment later, he said with a stiffly, "Are you alright?"
Xie Lian watched him with empty eyes and didn't speak.
Perhaps it was because he was growing uncomfortable by this chilling gaze, and Mu Qing averted his eyes.
Still his hand was outstretched. "Get up."
But, this hand had reached out too late.
Xie Lian didn't take his hand, and he didn't get up either. He only continued to stare at him with unblinking eyes.
The two were in a standstill for a long time, and Mu Qing's face was growing darker and darker. Just as he was about to take his hand back, Xie Lian suddenly grabbed a handful of mud and slung it at Mu Qing with a soundly "PA!"
Mu Qing had never expected he would do such a thing and really didn't know whether if it could be called rude or juvenile. A ball of dirty mud splattered on his chest, splashing spots onto his face, and he was bewildered. A moment later, anger rolled up but he forced it down and he said darkly, "...I didn't have a choice!"
He indeed didn't have a choice. He was getting along well with those heavenly officials, and if he just stood and watched his colleagues get beaten by Xie Lian without helping, others would think he was on Xie Lian's side, and that would ruin his days.
It was as if Xie Lian forgot how to speak, and only continued to hurl mud at him. Mu Qing blocked a couple times but he couldn't keep it up, and he cried furiously, "ARE YOU CRAZY?? DIDN'T I JUST TELL YOU I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE? DIDN'T YOU GO ROB BECAUSE YOU ALSO DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE??"
Scram! Get out of here! Leave!
Those were the only words echoing in Xie Lian's mind, but he couldn't utter a single sound, and could only crazily grab at anything at his disposal to throw. He didn't care who he was hurling at either. Finally, Mu Qing couldn't take this anymore, and he steeled his face as he swept his sleeves and left. Xie Lian panted harshly for a bit and fell back down, spacing out again.
He sat in that position until night fell.
After the skies turned dark, a large number of phosphorescent flames came floating, dancing hauntingly about. It was as if Xie Lian didn't see them and didn't bother to muster any strength.
However, those phosphorescent flames seemed to be upset that they weren't noticed, and more and more gathered by his side. Xie Lian still ignored them.
Until the figure of a person appeared from within the phosphorescent flames.
The arrival of that person seemed to always be accompanied by an immense ominous foreboding. Xie Lian sensed something and slowly lifted his head.
About ten feet away, the silhouette of a white clothed man was standing amidst the countless floating phosphorescent flames, and half of the mask on his face was smiling hauntingly.
He greeted pleasantly, "How are you, Your Highness."