The moment he said so, everyone fell silent, because he really hit the nail on the head. In the past two days, there really wasn't anyone who came to give Xie Lian a hand. This water merchant had at least the mind to help, he just didn't make it, but the others didn't even dare spare a glance in his direction!
Someone grumbled, "Then what should we do now? If we can't do this, then why don't you come up with something??"
The crowd was about to go rowdy again, some even trying to push themselves through to the front, and just then, another voice shouted savagely, "WHO'S MAKING ALL THIS RACKET? IF ANYONE WANTS TO ROUGH THIS UP, THIS ANCESTOR'S GOT A KNIFE!"
When they looked, it was that chubby chef that was the first who wanted to pull the sword on the first day Xie Lian fell from the sky. Something seemed to have provoked him, and he roared, "That little buddy is right! If it wasn't several people holding me back yesterday, I would've almost pulled out that sword! And now, how come before I even moved, you lot are the ones making the most noise? PATHETIC! Think you're worthy? Well you certainly don't see such shameless thick skins everyday!"
That chef was a big man, his voice loud and clear, and he was in the height of his anger, a butcher knife in his hand, as if he only just came out of the kitchen. The ones who were complaining the loudest earlier instantly didn't dare to make any more noise. There were those who didn't know what had happened the past couple of days, and after they inquired, they were all surprised, "No way? None of you went up to help?"
"Yea, you all just left him there lying for two days? Didn't even help him sit up or anything?"
The more they spoke the more the others felt ashamed, and they countered, "Don't speak as if you would've gone up to help, and say all those pretty things after the fact. Don't forget, when those ghastly things descend later, none of us will get away!"
"Heh then I'll tell you, if I was there, I would've definitely helped him pull the sword!"
"Of course it's easy moving your lips after the whole thing is over..."
"WAIT! What are you all arguing over? Pulling the sword isn't the problem right now!"
As they argued, both sides were rambunctious and unruly, a brawl waiting to happen, and the rain also slowly stopped. However, those black clouds were growing thicker, the pressure so dense it was suffocating the hundreds of people below. Suddenly, there was a scream that exploded from within the crowd, and many fingers pointed to the sky, "IT'S COMING!!!"
Xie Lian's head also shot up. Those human faces rolling within the black clouds suddenly started insurging, and they rapidly plunged down like black shooting stars dragging long "tails" behind them.
The human face disease was coming!
The crowd was petrified as they lost themselves; some bolted, some went to hide inside the houses, and there were also a few who went to grab for the black sword. However, the black sword that was knocked to the ground had vanished since who knows when, and they came up empty.
Xie Lian was too shocked by the people's reactions earlier and only now did he notice, and he exclaimed, "Where's the sword? WHO TOOK IT??"
No one had the time to answer since everyone was fleeing in all directions. However, how could they possibly be faster than the falling resentful spirits? Soon, all around came the wails and screams of the living and the howls of the resentful spirits!
After those resentful spirits had caught up to the living, they were like rolling thick black smoke, unrelenting and clingy, entering through every pore, slowly melding into their bodies. Xie Lian fought arduously trying to drive them out, but alas, there were still too many resentful spirits, and he alone couldn't drive all of them out. He watched helplessly as countless before him wailed and howled as they were chased down by the ghosts, that pair of little water merchant and his wife, and that chubby chef were also rolling all over the ground wrestling with the entanglement of black smoke, and all the while, White No-Face stood closeby, jeering unceasingly, watching it all.
Xie Lian was both furious and anxious, and steeling his heart, he roared to the place that was densest with resentful spirits, "HEY—!"
He was the mastermind behind their awakening after all, and with this call, those creatures very naturally noticed him. Xie Lian opened his arms wide, "COME TO ME!"
The resentful spirits that already tangled up the living hesitated, undecided whether they should go over, but the resentful spirits still in the air instantly changed course and went straight for Xie Lian.
Success!
Xie Lian's heart was beating so fast it was going to stop. He didn't know what would happen, and he didn't know what would become of him either. But, by just all the blood rushing to his head, he was going to give it his all. He felt, even if it was only a strive for vindication and he got beaten black and blue, he would still never back away; even if another hundreds of thousands souls of the dead were to come, he would still be invincible!
You want to see me feel sorry for myself and self destruct?
WELL I WON'T!!!
I WILL NEVER!!!
Swarms of black tide that covered the heavens to the earth surrounded Xie Lian, and a resentful spirit wailed as it passed through his body. In an instant, it was as if Xie Lian's heart had frozen and his body shuddered. Soon after, a second one came, then a third one...
Those creatures were like blades with sharp auras, striking through him, penetrating his body, and every time, they'd take away a bit of what warmth he had left, and Xie Lian's face grew paler and paler. Nevertheless, he remained determined and never backed away.
It had only been a few hundred of them, he had only stood his ground for a bit, and there would be many more after. This entire sky full of black clouds were all them!
Xie Lian closed his eyes, preparing to take on the flaming fury of all of the resentful spirits by his own powers. Yet unexpectedly, the next resentful spirit never came. Confused, He opened his eyes, and to his surprise, that swarm of black tide that covered the heavens to the earth surrounding him had vanished.
Since, they had all transformed into rolling black currents, and sucked away to a different direction!
Stunned, Xie Lian turned his head to look. At the end of the long street stood a black clad warrior, and in his hand gripped that long black sword.
Wu Ming?
Xie Lian had given him the order beforehand to have him walk away while Xie Lian activated the human face disease, so why would he appear here in this place at this time?
Xie Lian couldn't figure out what was going on and what that black clad warrior was doing here, but after being stunned for a moment, he immediately charged towards him running as he shouted, "WAIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T TOUCH THAT! GIVE ME BACK THE SWORD!"
That black clad warrior seemed to have heard his voice and looked up slightly. Xie Lian couldn't see his real face, and only saw that mask with a drawn smile. However, a strange feeling came to him.
He felt, beneath the mask of that black clad warrior, he was smiling for real.
However, that feeling was fleeting. Enormous black torrent and the screaming tide mixed together to form a tempest, and it gathered over, swallowing that black clad warrior whole in an instant.
In that moment, Xie Lian heard a heart-wrenching, blood curdling scream.
He seemed to have heard this voice from somewhere before. He must've heard this voice somewhere before!
Painful. So painful like he was feeling the same agony; so painful it was a fate worse than death; so painful both his heart and body were going to be crushed; so painful he fell heavily to the ground on his knees, hugging his head as he screamed along too.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
That explosion of excruciating pain in his heart came suddenly and left equally fast, and after an unknown time had past, silence slowly descended upon the surroundings, and Xie Lian also gradually dropped the hands that were hugging his head.
Slightly dazed, he looked up and scanned the surroundings, and all around laid a ground covered with people, most of them unconscious, but all the resentful spirits entangling them had vanished.
This scene confused him. What happened to the human face disease? What happened to the resentful spirits? What happened to himself?
There was no trace of that black torrent left either, and the only thing that remained where that black clad nameless ghost had stood was a black sword that had fallen to the ground. And, next to the point of the blade was a tiny, small white flower.
Xie Lian crawled up staggeringly and walked up, picking up that flower and sword.
He felt his face, looked at his arms, and didn't feel anywhere on his body that seemed different, like he had taken on some powerful curse. Just as he was still mystified, a sudden voice came from behind him, and it said softly, "Ah."
XIe Lian turned back, and White No-Face was standing behind him, his arms crossed and tucked in his sleeves, his expansive sleeves fluttering in the wind.
Xie Lian hadn't yet processed what had happened, but felt a vague sense of foreboding.
White No-Face glanced at him and started chuckling. That sense of foreboding was growing stronger, and Xie Lian knitted his brows, "What are you laughing about?"
White No-Face asked him instead, "You still don't understand what had happened?"
"What?" Xie Lian asked.
"Do you know who that ghost is?" White No-Face asked.
"...A, a soul of the dead from the battlefield?" Xie Lian tried.
"Yes." White No-Face replied, "But at the same time, he was also your very last believer in this world. Now, he's no more."
...Believer?
Did he actually still have a believer in this world?
It was a good moment before Xie Lian could squeeze out a few words.
He said staggeringly, "What, do you mean, no more?"
White No-Face replied languidly, "His soul had dispersed."
Xie Lian was having a hard time accepting his, "How did his soul just disperse??"
"Because he was cursed on your behalf. The souls of the dead you've summoned have devoured him whole, leaving not a crumb left." White No-Face said.
"..."
The souls of the dead he summoned?
Cursed on his behalf?!
White No-Face continued, "Oh yes, that's right. It also wasn't the first time you've met him."
Xie Lian watched him in a daze. White No-Face seemed to be amused, "This ghost seemed to have always followed you. At first I only thought it possessed a rather deep resentment so I caught it and interrogated it. Who knew, the answers were quite interesting. The ZhongYuan Festival, the lantern night, a wandering ghost fire soul. Do you still remember?"
Xie Lian mumbled, "The ZhongYuan Festival? Lantern night? Wandering ghost fire soul?"
White No-Face lazily hinted, "This ghost, in life, was a soldier under your command. In death, it was a soul of the dead that followed you. He died in battle for you; turned into a vicious ghost because you were pierced by a hundred swords; but also because of you, his soul perished by your unleashing of the human face disease."
Xie Lian seemed to vaguely recall something, but he hadn't even seen the face of this believer, he didn't even know his name, so what could he really recall? How much could he really recall?
"Perhaps, there truly are believers here who worship Your Highness..."
Yes. There was.
And, he was his only one!
White No-Face seemed to have said many other things, but Xie Lian was lost in a daze, taking nothing in, until finally, White No-Face said, "A god like you really is quite pathetic and laughable. And to be your believer, he's even more pathetic and laughable to the extreme."
"..."
When he was mocking Xie Lian earlier, Xie Lian had no reaction, but when he heard this creature so condescendingly comment on how his believer was pathetic and laughable, it was as if Xie Lian was jolted awake by a stabbing sword, and an uncontrollable rage rolled up.
He charged over but was seized easily, and White No-Face said coldly, "You can't win against me like this. How many times must I tell you before you see the truth?"
Xie Lian hadn't wanted to win against him in the first place, and it didn't matter if he couldn't win. He only simply wanted to beat that thing to a pulp, and he cried angrily, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW! HOW DARE YOU MOCK HIM!!"
White No-Face replied, "Why wouldn't I dare mock a follower of a failure? You're foolish, and your believer is even more foolish. Listen up! If you wish to defeat me, then you must obey my teachings. Otherwise, you shall never dream of winning against me!"
Xie Lian wanted to spit at him with everything he's got, but even breathing was a difficulty. White No-Face flipped his hand and opened it, and within his palm another cry-smiling mask appeared, "Now, let us start over!"
He was just pressing this mask onto Xie Lian's face when unexpectedly, right at that moment, there was a loud rumbling.
In the horizon, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a strange light shot out from the layers of the clouds. White No-Face was alarmed and stopped in his action, "What this? A Heavenly Calamity?..."
After a pause, he dismissed it, "No, that's not it!"
That wasn't it.
It was a Heavenly Calamity, but, that wasn't the only thing!
The voice of a man resounded deeply upon the entire sky, "If he cannot win against you, how about me?"
Xie Lian's head shot up.
Since who knows when, a young martial god donned in white armour and brimming with propitious aura appeared at the end of the long street ahead. A thin layer of white spiritual light enveloped his body, and he held a sword in his hand as he walked towards them step by step, breaking out a path of light in this gloomy, dark world.
Xie Lian widened his eyes in spite of himself.
Jun Wu!
...
After the rain ceased and the skies cleared, Xie Lian sat on the burnt earth panting lightly.
Jun Wu sheathed his sword and walked over, "Xian Le. Welcome back to the ranks."
He bore a tired expression, traces of blood still on his face, left there by White No-Face. Other than that, Jun Wu was covered in innumerous injuries big and small all over. They weren't not serious, but White No-Face's wounds were more serious, so much so that his body was ripped apart, his form dispersed, leaving behind only that shattered cry-smiling face.
When he heard him say "back to the ranks", Xie Lian was taken aback. He felt his neck and only then did he notice that cursed shackle was gone.
Jun Wu smiled, "As expected, I was not mistaken. The time it took for you to return was shorter than I had imagined."
Xie Lian slowly processed this information then flashed a small smile too, but his was a bitter one.
After catching his breath, he spoke up, "My Lord, I want to beg you of something."
"Permitted." Jun Wu said.
"Aren't you going to ask what it is?" Xie Lian asked.
"Either way you would be asking for a gift upon return to the Heavenly Court, so whatever this is might just as well be my gift to you for your returning to the ranks."
The corners of Xie Lian's lips twitched and he rose to his feet, looking Jun Wu squarely in the eyes and said with the utmost respect, "Then, pray My Lord banish me to the mortal realm once more."
Hearing this, Jun Wu's smile faded, "Whyever for?"
Xie Lian explained himself truthfully, "I've committed a crime. The second round of the human face disease was unleashed by me. Even though the consequences don't look too serious."
Since, only a nameless ghost had vanished, and perhaps in this world, there would be no one who cared for this nameless ghost, so in the end, the consequences didn't look serious."
Jun Wu said slowly, "If you knew what was wrong, then, you are already in the right."
However, Xie Lian shook his head, "Just knowing is not enough. If I made a mistake I should be the one to accept punishment, but, I committed the wrong, but the one who took the punishment for me was..."
He raised his head, "So, as punishment, I pray My Lord will grant me a cursed shackle, no, two cursed shackles. One to seal away my spiritual powers, another to disperse all my luck and fortune."
Jun Wu frowned slightly, "Disperse all of your luck and fortune? Then won't you be unlucky to the extreme, and truly become the God of Misfortune?"
In the past, Xie Lian would certainly deeply mind when he was called the God of Misfortune, and was very repulsed by it, thinking it was a great humiliation. However, he no longer cared for such things, "If I am to become a God of Misfortune then so be it. As long as I know for myself that I'm not one."
Once his fortune was dispersed, it would naturally flow to those who were less fortunate, so it'd be a form of atonement.
"It would be very embarrassing." Jun Wu reminded him.
"It doesn't matter." Xie Lian said, "And to be honest, it feels like... I'm almost used to it by now."
Although it wasn't something he wanted to get used to, but, once he did get used to it, it really felt like nothing could harm him.
Jun Wu watched him, "Xian Le, you have to understand, without spiritual powers, you would no longer be a god."
Xie Lian sighed, "My Lord, I know this better than anyone."
After a pause, he said, a little frustratingly and a little forlornly, "People say I am god and so I have spiritual powers. But in truth, I'm... not the god they perceived me to be, and I might not be as invincible as they wished for."
"Would a god be such a failure? Wishing to protect my own people but I let their corpses spread the wild; wishing to avenge them, but at the very last minute I stopped and abandoned the plot. White No-Face wasn't wrong about me being a 'failure'."
"If I'm no longer a god, then so be it."
Jun Wu looked at him intently, and after a long while, he said, "Xian Le has grown up."
This should've been something Xie Lian heard from his elders. Unfortunately, his father and mother had no more chances to say it.
A moment later, Jun Wu said, "Since it's the path you've chosen, then, very well. However, I will need a reason to banish you to the mortal realm."
He couldn't just so casually banish a heavenly official like a child's game; what did they take the heavens for?
In regards to this, Xie Lian had an idea, and he said, "My Lord, it doesn't seem like we've ever sparred with everything we've got?"
Jun Wu instantly understood what he meant and smiled, "Xian Le, I'm injured."
"I'm injured too," Xie Lian said, "So we're even."
Jun Wu nodded, "If that's the case, then I will not hold back."
Xie Lian smiled, his eyes brightening with the excitement of the prospect, "I won't either."
...
His Highness the Crown Prince was banished again.
After the smashing and grandiose second Heavenly Calamity, the Crown Prince of XianLe, fierce and truculent, rampaged back to the heavens, and before even one incense time was up, he was knocked back down below once more by the Heavenly Martial Emperor. None of the heavenly officials could figure out just what that man was thinking???
But, Xie Lian couldn't figure out what the other heavenly officials were thinking either.
Were they really that curious? Watching him day after day, disguising themselves as mortals to watch him, disguising themselves as animals to watch him, it's been days that they've been stalking him! Was watching a grown up man carry bricks and mud really that interesting???
Just as he was still wondering, the foreman behind him yelled out, "NEWBIE, YOU, YES YOU, I'M TALKING TO YOU! GET BACK TO WORK AND STOP BEING LAZY!"
Xie Lian hastily sat up and answered loudly, "OH!"
Then, he picked up a ragged cattail fan and started fanning the flames. Before him was a small stove stacked upon several bricks, and upon the stove was a large pot of rice bubbling as it was being cooked.
This was a construction site where he hauled earth and mud. However, the bricks were already done being transported. Not far away were two newly built temples, and his task at the moment was to cook. He cooked and cooked, and just as he was working very hard, two carriages came hauling two very big divine statues. Xie Lian was absentmindedly tossing whatever into the pot while stealing glances in the middle of work.
The two divine statues were each carried into their respective temples. Within the hall of the temple on the left, there came cheers, "General Xuan Zhen is great! General Xuan Zhen is generous and kind!"
Xie Lian was speechless.
To use "generous and kind" to praise Mu Qing, were those devotees for real?
But, they seemed to have very good reasons. After all, everyone knew that Mu Qing ascended because he cleaned up all the remaining stubborn resentful spirits in the olden capital of XianLe, so to understand it as "generous and kind" wasn't unreasonable. In any case, everyone in the old capital of XianLe were all very grateful for him.
Inside the hall of the temple to the right, the cheering refused to be beaten, and they roared, "General Ju Yang is great! General Ju Yang is brave and mighty!"
Xie Lian nodded. This he had no objections. Just, that praise might not hold true when faced with women.
The devotees on both sides were screaming with all their might, doing all they could to win over the other, so much so that Xie Lian's ears were hurting, and he sighed, rubbing his forehead thinking, why must they be like this?
If they hated each other so much, wouldn't the problem be solved by not building temples right next to each other?
The answer to that was – of course not! Because, this area was the most bustling domain with the best fengshui, so the devotees of those two heavenly officials would never abandon such a delectable land just to avoid each other; of course they had to do all they could to steal each other's worshippers and disgust one another.
It didn't take long before the devotees from either sides went from yelling to fighting. Over on this side, Xie Lian felt the timing was about right, and started banging the pots, calling out loudly, "EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING! COME EAT!"
They were at the height of their brawl, who had the time to mind him? Xie Lian shook his head and opened the pot cover, and the fragrance wafted for ten miles. Now he'd done it. The mob instantly stopped and they all started howling, "...WHAT THE FUCK... WHAT'S THAT SMELL??"
"WHO'S COOKING SHIT??"
"AND IT'S SHIT THAT SMELLS LIKE POT BOTTOMS*?!"
Xie Lian argued back, "WHAT! This is a hidden, treasured royal recipe..."
The foreman came around with his hand covering his nose, his face turning green, and he exclaimed, jumping to his feet, "BULLSHIT, WHAT HIDDEN, TREASURED RECIPE? WHAT ROYALTY?! YOU? GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE! DON'T DISGUST PEOPLE!"
Xie Lian compromised, "Alright, fine, I'll go. But will you please give me my pay first..."
The foreman exclaimed angrily, "YOU EVEN DARE MENTION PAY?! Why don't you tell me,
HUH! YOU! EVER SINCE YOU CAME! HOW MUCH HAVE I LOST IN DAMAGES??? HUH? When it rains lightning strikes nothing but comes only for you! Houses caught on fire THREE TIMES! AND COLLAPSED THREE TIMES TOO! You're like a God of Misfortune! AND YOU DARE ASK ME FOR PAY! GET OUTTA HERE! COME BACK AGAIN AND I'LL BEAT YOU UP!"
"Well you can't say it like that." Xie Lian said, "You already said all those things were coming especially for me, but nothing happens to anyone else every time, so I say you just want to escape your bill?..." Before he was done, the foreman and all the other fellow labourers could no longer take the smell wafting out of that pot, and they all fled, leaving Xie Lian in the dust. "WAIT??" Xie Lian called out.
He glanced around, and the two parties that were fighting were also chased away by the stench. Xie Lian was speechless and mumbled to himself, "If you weren't going to eat it why have me cook such a large pot? Don't waste just because you've got the money?"
Shaking his head, Xie Lian contemplated, then he ladled two large bowls of rice, one offered inside the Temple of Ju Yang, the other inside the Temple of Xuan Zhen. Finally, feeling that everything served its purpose, he clapped his hands close, completely satisfied.
He went back outside to pack up his stuff, rolling up the straw mat on the ground very seriously, and tied it with the sword before carrying both on his back. The white silk band wrapped around his wrist nuzzled secretly and Xie Lian patted it, righting the bamboo hat on his head, "Fine. Don't pay. I'll go busking."
He still had a specialty trick after all – shattering boulders on his chest!
As he walked down the path, Xie Lian suddenly noticed there was a tiny, little red flower on the side of the road, quite precious, and he crouched down, gently touching its petals, feeling quite cheerful, and he said to it, "I hope we shall meet again."
Even after he had gone into the distance, that tiny, little red flower was still swaying in the wind.
———–
●Pot Bottom is that layer of rice at the very bottom of the cooking pot that's usually burnt.
———–
End of Book 4