Xie Lian didn't expect Shi Qingxuan to suddenly light a fire, and he didn't even have time to stop him before it was too late. The flames were exceedingly bright and revealed the silhouette of a black-clad man.
The man in black had his head hung low against the stone wall at the end of the path. His face was white as a sheet, his black hair a mess, but underneath that unkempt appearance was an expression that shone with determination and a gaze like burning ice. Although he sat cross-legged without a trace of discomfort, the stench of blood was thick in the air. He was clearly gravely wounded and was obviously imprisoned here. His "I have nothing to say" was probably him mistaking them for interrogators.
Shi Qingxuan saw his face and cried, "It's you!"
That man didn't seem to expect guests and was taken aback—he looked as though he wanted to say "it's you!" as well, but alas, he held back. Xie Lian calmed Ruoye, who was ready to attack.
"So you two know each other?"
After crossing so many hurdles and finally finding someone, Shi Qingxuan looked relieved. He was about to respond when the man cut in.
He said in a tone that left no room for dispute, "No."
Shi Qingxuan raged at those words and pointed at him with his fan. "Is it so shameful to know me? What hurtful words, Ming-xiong! I'm your best friend!"
The man denied it resolutely. "I have no friends who would run around in that sort of attire."
"…"
Shi Qingxuan was still in his tattered purple silk dress, truly…a shameful sight. Xie Lian wanted to laugh at the thought that there were really people in this world who would claim to be someone's "best friend" to validate themselves. It was definitely Shi Qingxuan's style. But "Ming-xiong"? If he remembered the five elemental masters correctly, the Earth Master's name was Ming Yi.
Xie Lian spoke up. "Are you perhaps the Lord Earth Master?"
"It's him. You've met before," Shi Qingxuan replied.
Xie Lian looked Ming Yi over and wondered, "Have we?" He didn't recall ever meeting such a character.
"You have," Shi Qingxuan confirmed.
"We have not," Ming Yi asserted.
"Yes, you have!" Shi Qingxuan said exasperatedly. "Before, at Banyue Pass! You guys didn't forget that fast, did you?"
"…"
Seeing Ming Yi's face go from ghastly pale to ashen grim, Xie Lian finally remembered! When they first met at Banyue Pass, wasn't there a black-clad lady with Shi Qingxuan?
Hua Cheng had told him at the time that the black-clad person wasn't the Water Master but was surely one of the five elemental masters. As expected, Shi Qingxuan was not only passionate about transforming into his own female form, he was also passionate about dragging others into doing the same. No wonder the black-clad lady looked extremely pissed off at the time, like she was disgusted. Recalling how Shi Qingxuan tried to wheedle him into "joining in the fun," Xie Lian realized that it'd truly been a close call and was glad he didn't give in.
"Lord Earth Master, are you the one who sent forth the Ascending Fire Dragon?" Xie Lian asked.
"I was," Ming Yi answered.
They had found the right person. Xie Lian nodded and said, "Lord Earth Master is probably seriously wounded. We'd best make our escape now and talk later."
Without any prompting, Shi Qingxuan knelt down and lifted Ming Yi onto his back. "Then let's get out of here."
The three retraced their steps, and Shi Qingxuan talked as he walked.
"I have to ask, Ming-xiong—aren't you good at fighting? You were perfectly fine back at Banyue Pass, so how did you get beaten up this bad in a matter of days? How did you piss off that Crimson Rain Sought Flower?"
There was a bit of schadenfreude in his tone. Xie Lian mentally noted, He's speaking as though he isn't afraid of being punched. They are good friends indeed.
Ming Yi looked like he'd had enough of listening to Shi Qingxuan talk, and he spat, "Shut up!"
But this was also a question Xie Lian wanted the answer to, so he adjusted his wording: "Lord Earth Master, why would Hua Cheng give you trouble?"
Ming Yi didn't tell him to shut up, but he didn't answer either. Xie Lian turned his head to look at him and saw he had his eyes closed. After days of imprisonment and interrogation, and being so badly wounded, Ming Yi must've felt so relieved by their sudden rescue that he could finally relax. His questions weren't urgent anyway, so Xie Lian didn't try to wake him. The three ran up the stairs, and Xie Lian fished out his dice and rolled once more. He didn't know what number he rolled out in the dark, only that before them he heard a soft clack. A crack peeked open and light seeped through. Xie Lian pushed at the door and was just wondering whether he'd have the chance to take Lang Ying away too, when unexpectedly, the first step he took was hollow.
The moment he felt himself fall forward, he cried, "Don't come out!"
Xie Lian somersaulted through the air and fell on something hard. He felt brief relief that it wasn't a bladed mountain or a sea of fire that he'd fallen into—until he looked up and realized that a bladed mountain or a sea
of fire might've been better. Hua Cheng's exceptionally handsome face was only inches away from his, his brows raised high and his gaze locked on him.
When the stone door opened this time, it dumped him directly on top of Hua Cheng!
He'd fallen into the armory! At the moment, Hua Cheng was sitting on the grand chair of the armory, composedly wiping the scimitar Eming. Even when someone suddenly fell into his lap from above, he'd only moved his hands away and stopped cleaning without any air of surprise. He gazed calmly at Xie Lian, as if waiting for an explanation. Of course, Xie Lian had none and could only lie in his lap and stare back boldly.
Suddenly, he saw another person at the periphery of his vision, and when he turned to look, he saw it was Lang Ying.
That bandaged boy was sitting on the floor looking terrified. In fact, his hands were clutching his head while he stared at the two of them. Why was Lang Ying here too? It looked like Hua Cheng was interrogating him?
But when Xie Lian peered upwards, he saw half of Shi Qingxuan's white boot stepping over the void. There wasn't time to think, and Xie Lian quickly gripped Hua Cheng's shoulders.
"I'm sorry!" Xie Lian cried, then tackled Hua Cheng.
This tackle shoved Hua Cheng a few meters away, and he even tumbled a couple times before he found his footing. By then, Shi Qingxuan, with Ming Yi still on his back, had already jumped and landed with ease in the same spot Hua Cheng had just been sitting. Xie Lian forced himself to
look back, and Hua Cheng was still looking at him without a word, but that one quirked brow was now arched even higher.
Xie Lian leapt to his feet and backed off a few feet, apologizing as he did so. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Lang Ying stared at Hua Cheng, seeming extremely frightened, and rushed toward Xie Lian to hide behind him.
Xie Lian shielded him and said, "San Lang, allow me to explain."
"Mmm. I'm waiting," Hua Cheng responded.
"Wait, shouldn't it be the opposite?" Shi Qingxuan spoke up. "He should be the one who owes you an explanation! He's the one responsible for the missing heavenly official! Be wary, Your Highness!"
This was exactly the situation Xie Lian didn't want to face. He looked at Hua Cheng intently.
"San Lang, I don't know what misunderstanding occurred between you and Lord Earth Master, but why don't we talk this out peacefully?"
The best-case scenario would be Hua Cheng letting them go without harm. Although the Earth Master was wounded, his life was not in danger and he wasn't missing any limbs. If he dropped the matter, this wouldn't need to escalate. If Hua Cheng let them leave, then when they reported back to the Heavens, Xie Lian would do anything to beg Jun Wu for mercy, heedless of his own honor.
Unexpectedly, however, Hua Cheng asked, "Earth Master? What Earth Master?" After a pause, he continued, "Oh, did you mean the one on Wind Master's back? He's nothing more than an inept subordinate of mine."
Both Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan were taken aback at this.
"He's obviously one of the heavenly officials! How dare you say otherwise!" Shi Qingxuan objected.
Hua Cheng laughed. "Then I wonder why your honorable heavenly official would conceal his identity, leave behind his respectable title, and come work as an officer under me?"
Hua Cheng drew out his scimitar in a silvery crescent moon flash that followed Eming's curve. "If that is genuinely the Earth Master, then what commendable patience to put on an act for ten years. In the past decade, I had thought him suspicous from time to time, but there was never any proof. If I hadn't spotted him traveling alongside the Wind Master in Banyue, I'd still be in doubt."
In a split second, Xie Lian understood everything.
So that was what happened!
As it turned out, the reason the Earth Master had gone missing and been imprisoned was ultimately because he had gone undercover and concealed his true identity for a decade to serve as a ghost officer under Hua Cheng. To be blunt, he was a spy.
Once in a while, Hua Cheng would think this subordinate's actions were suspect, but without concrete evidence, he'd just kept him under observation. And it was only recently that Hua Cheng uncovered the Earth Master's deception: during their journey to Banyue Pass, Hua Cheng had seen the Earth Master next to the Wind Master.
Even disguised as a woman (with thanks to the Wind Master), Hua Cheng still saw through that fake skin. He'd discovered the black-clad lady was the ghost officer he suspected and locked on to his identity as one of the five elemental masters.
After the Banyue case was over, Hua Cheng probably left Puqi Shrine to settle his score with the Earth Master. It may have been during that deadly pursuit and dire circumstances that Ming Yi set off the distress signal. Then Jun Wu summoned Xie Lian and gave him the mission to launch this rescue.
That a heavenly official failed to mind his duties and instead went undercover in the Ghost Realm for over a decade was quite the scandal. Never mind the politics behind it; if Ming Yi was to remain imprisoned and tortured, all heaven would break loose if he actually died at Hua Cheng's hands—the world would be gripped by absolute chaos. If that day came, no one would be spared.
After thinking all this through, Xie Lian could only say, "I understand that the fault is ours. But San Lang, I still hope you will let us go this time around."
Hua Cheng watched him intently, then after a moment, he said quietly, "Your Highness, some things are best not to get involved in overmuch."
Suddenly, Shi Qingxuan cried from the side, "Wind, come to me!"
The moment the fan came out, wild gusts started blowing through the armory. The weapons on the walls and shelves began to rattle, humming and moaning.
"Lord Wind Master! We haven't done anything yet!!" Xie Lian was bewildered.
"I don't think either of you are going to make a move first," Shi Qingxuan said. "So, I'll be the bad guy. WIIIIIIND! COME TO ME!!"
There was an enormous cracking sound, and Xie Lian could feel clumps of dust falling from above his head. He looked up and saw that one side of the roof was being raised by the gusts, breaking at the seams and forming a large fissure.
The armory had no windows or other visible exits. Shi Qingxuan's intention was not to fight but rather to escape through a crack in the roof!
Within the crazed gale, Hua Cheng's raven-black hair and maple-red clothes whipped wildly, but the man himself remained utterly unmoved. He smirked.
"You have a fan, and coincidentally, so do I."
Hua Cheng retrieved a fan from one of the armory shelves. It was small and intricate, its spine and leaf made of pure gold, serene and beautiful. Hua Cheng twirled it in his hand, then snapped it open. He grinned wordlessly, elegance suffusing his murderous aura. He flipped his hand and fanned, and a strong gust shot toward them with a blinding silver flash. The three dodged and heard behind them the sound of hail-like darts battering the walls and ground. When they turned their heads to look, row upon row of long strips of golden foil were nailed into the ground. Each piece was thin but deeply embedded, its sharpness and viciousness clear.
Every weapon inside this armory was a spiritual one, and any one he grabbed at random possessed equally murderous power!
Hua Cheng flipped his hand again, and another golden-foiled gust blew. The winds called forth by Shi Qingxuan were strong, but the stronger they were, the more dangerous the situation became. The armory was only a hall, and its space was limited. The winds raised by the Wind Master's fan would rebound around the interior and blow the golden foil whirling around them, dancing in this madness.
Xie Lian was afraid the golden foil would harm them, so he shielded Lang Ying and cried, "Lord Wind Master, please stop for now!"
The golden foil whirled closely around Shi Qingxuan and Ming Yi. Shi Qingxuan wanted to stop as well, but the roof had been raised by his winds, revealing a crack. If he stopped now, all his efforts would go to waste.
Just then, the golden sheets encircling them suddenly flew upward all at once. There was a cacophony of clinking and clanking, then a person broke through the roof and leapt down, accompanied by showers of debris and dust.
The moment he landed, that person shouted, "Lord Wind Master, I apologize, but I just couldn't sit still any longer!"
Shi Qingxuan was overjoyed. "Qianqiu, you've come just in the nick of time!"
The young man carried a greatsword, its blade as wide as a grown man's palm. It was indeed Lang Qianqiu.
His greatsword was shimmering gold, but at a closer look, it wasn't because his sword was golden but because it had sucked up all the golden foil. They overlapped and covered the entirety of the blade, making it look as if it were a massive sword forged of gold.
Lang Qianqiu's greatsword was forged from a curious metal born of a lodestone mountain, and it had the amazing ability to magnetize and attract metal. As long as the opposing spiritual weapon did not exceed a certain level of spiritual power, once he gripped the hilt, he could mentally incite its ability and pull in all surrounding metals, absorbing them into his blade. Sure enough, soon the layer of gold foil was sucked into the sword, the gold disappearing completely. At this sight, Hua Cheng laughed out loud, closed his fan, and tossed it away behind him.
"Are the heavenly officials so pathetically poor that once they see gold, they can't let it go?"
If those words were directed at Xie Lian, he would have pretended not to hear them. But they were directed at Lang Qianqiu, a noble born of royalty. He hadn't cared for riches his entire life, and although he knew the enemy was intentionally taunting him, he was still provoked into a boiling rage. He raised his sword with both his hands and lunged at Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng drew his scimitar with one hand, twirling silver shimmers in the air, and calmly prepared to face the attack head-on.
Lang Qianqiu's strike used all of his power. He was like a newborn bull unafraid of a tiger, but Xie Lian could already see the difference in their ability. If this strike landed, it would mean certain death!
On the sidelines, even Shi Qingxuan, who couldn't deduce any such difference, watched with jittery alarm. He yelled, "Qianqiu! Don't!!"
But at such a precarious moment, how could a mere shout stop the arrow that was nocked and ready to shoot?
Unexpectedly, just when scimitar and sword were about to clash, a blinding white light exploded within the armory.
It was a light so immense it enveloped the entirety of the armory, and everyone temporarily lost their sight. All they could see was glaring white. Xie Lian, however, was prepared and could see with some difficulty. He gathered all the powers he borrowed from Shi Qingxuan in his right hand and transformed the energy to a giant flame before shooting it.
A corner of the armory was immediately ablaze. Soon after, Xie Lian released Ruoye and tied himself, Shi Qingxuan, Ming Yi, Lang Qianqiu, and Lang Ying together.
He shouted, "Lord Wind Master, blow us upwards!"
Even though Shi Qingxuan couldn't open his eyes, he still followed Xie Lian's directions. He raised his fan and snapped downwards. A violent twister formed on the flat ground, blowing toward the ceiling, and at last broke through the crumbling roof!
Ruoye had the five of them tied in a bundle and flew straight into the sky. In midair, their sight finally returned to them, and Shi Qingxuan could see that dozens of meters down below there were giant flames ablaze, black smoke heavy in the air—the armory was on fire. Afraid that Hua Chengwould give chase, he flapped his fan. Now he was truly "fanning the flames." The blaze instantly erupted in size from the wild gust, and embers landed on all the nearby buildings. Now over half of Paradise Manor was ablaze in a field of red!
With great difficulty, Xie Lian finally grabbed hold of Shi Qingxuan, who was fanning with all his might.
"Lord Wind Master, please stop fanning! The whole place is going to burn down!"
Startled, Shi Qingxuan cried, "All right, all right, I'm stopping! Let me go, Your Highness, your grip is too strong!"
It wasn't until the Wind Master stopped his winds that Xie Lian let go. He looked down, and amidst the red flames, Xie Lian still spotted that crimson silhouette. They were too high in the sky and he couldn't see clearly, but his gut instinct told him that at that moment, Hua Cheng was standing there, watching him.
He didn't give chase, nor did he put out the flames. He only stood there, letting the wildfire devour capriciously.
Outside Paradise Manor, screams and howls roared from all over Ghost City's streets, and crowds of ghosts ran amok.
Xie Lian couldn't breathe, his voice had gone hoarse, and he mumbled to himself, "I…only wanted to start a small fire to create a distraction. How did it turn out like this…"
It was only a little earlier when Hua Cheng had leaned against the doors of that armory, half-jokingly telling him he wanted to give him the entire armory and every weapon inside, but now everything was engulfed in a sea of fire. Although there might be many weapons made of true gold that feared no fire, there were surely also many that could not withstand the
flames. After all this burning, many treasures would be reduced to ash. Xie Lian had not expected the flames to grow so violently, devouring all of Paradise Manor.
Even if Hua Cheng didn't consider it a home, it was still his residence!
Seeing how crushed Xie Lian was, Shi Qingxuan also began to feel bad. "Um…I'm really sorry, Your Highness! I didn't think things through— I only wanted to escape faster. This is all my fault! It was definitely only a small flame at first… If Crimson Rain Sought Flower comes knocking for payback, you just tell him to come to me! Don't worry, I can pay whatever amount! Money is never an issue!"
But money was definitely not the issue. Xie Lian closed his eyes, unable to speak. Shi Qingxuan patted his shoulder in consolation but suddenly felt wetness on his fingertips and smelled a strange, stark stench of blood. He turned his head to look, and his face lost color in alarm.
"Your Highness, what happened to your hand?!"
Xie Lian's right hand, and everything traveling up from it, was covered in blood. His entire right arm was thoroughly dyed red, and the shaking that racked the limb could not be written off as a minor issue. Yet both his hands still firmly gripped the white silk band to keep everyone from being blown apart by wild winds.
"What happened to you?!" Shi Qingxuan cried.
Xie Lian came back to his senses a little and shook his head. "It's nothing…just a small injury. I'll be fine once we're back up there."
"That white light was you?" Shi Qingxuan remembered. "Your Highness, you broke those two apart?"
"I'm a swordsman, after all," Xie Lian replied.
Shi Qingxuan had guessed right. At the moment right before Hua Cheng and Lang Qianqiu's blades clashed, Xie Lian darted in. He'd randomly taken a sword from the stacks of weapons on the shelves and made two particular moves between the sword and the scimitar.
In the first move, he knocked away Lang Qianqiu's greatsword. In the second move, he blocked the scimitar Eming.
The strength of those two moves was not only powerful but extremely precisely controlled. Even when Xie Lian blocked both blades, the force of the strikes did not rebound onto the attackers. This was because, with Xie Lian sandwiched in the middle, he had used his own sword and arm to absorb both attacks completely.
Lang Qianqiu's greatsword was manageable, but Hua Cheng's scimitar was a force to be reckoned with. The sword Xie Lian had used was one from Hua Cheng's collection, so naturally it was also a formidable blade. When those two blades crossed, it blasted that blinding white light. With the two moves, the first strike against Lang Qianqiu's greatsword caused a crack in Xie Lian's sword, and the second strike against the scimitar Eming shattered it to pieces.
All of this was done within a fraction of a second, faster than the eye could see. Shi Qingxuan looked at the tragic state of Xie Lian's right hand and determined that the whole right arm was probably badly mangled.
He said, "Your Highness, you're…so full of vigor. I can't believe you blocked them single-handedly!"
The Flower-Crowned Martial God: Sword in One Hand, Flower in the Other. Shi Qingxuan had only remembered the flower. He had forgotten that Xie Lian ascended because of his sword.
Thinking back on how close of a call that was, Shi Qingxuan's heart was still racing. "Thank goodness Your Highness had those moves, otherwise who knows how many pieces Lang Qianqiu would have been cut into by Hua Cheng."
The strange thing was, Lang Qianqiu appeared to be unharmed, but he remained in a stunned state, like his soul had left his body.
"Qianqiu?" Shi Qingxuan called. "Qianqiu, are you all right? Wake up! What's with you? Has your sight not returned yet?"
Riding on a tailwind, the group finally reached the heavenly capital. Dragging and carrying, they rushed past the Ascension Gates and ran straight for the Palace of Divine Might. Since Lang Ying couldn't enter the palace, Xie Lian settled him in a small side chamber. No one seemed to be on duty, so he shouted within the communication array:
"Are there any fellow heavenly officials here? Please, everyone, come quickly to the Palace of Divine Might! It's an emergency; we have a wounded official!"
As he shouted, Shi Qingxuan snapped his fingers and switched back to his white Daoist robes. He waved and released a hundred thousand merits. "It's two wounded officials!"
Xie Lian said hurriedly, "Lord Wind Master, don't get so excited. We can ask normally; there's no need to distribute any merits. Everyone will naturally come once they hear us."
"No, Your Highness," Shi Qingxuan said. "You have to know, giving out merits works a hundred times faster than asking alone!"
Soon enough, a voice came from the distance, "Who's wounded?"
When the word "who" was uttered, the voice was still far away, but by the end of the question, the person had appeared—Feng Xin. He entered the hall, looked at Xie Lian, then at Lang Qianqiu, his face faltering.
"I'm fine, but Lord Earth Master seems to be badly wounded," Xie Lian said.
After a moment of silence, Feng Xin asked, "What happened to your right arm?"
"So what if he's injured?" another voice came. "There are so many heavenly officials, and who among us has ever returned unscathed after a patrol?"
The voice was decorous and mellow, but the words were unpleasant —it was, of course, Mu Qing. He crossed into the great hall and also took a look at Xie Lian, then at Lang Qianqiu. Yet the face he made was the opposite of Feng Xin: he merely arched his brows slightly, looking like he was ready to watch a good show. Seeing how Feng Xin moved to check on Xie Lian's arm, he bent down to check on Ming Yi.
He said, "So this is Lord Earth Master?"
During that exchange, a number of heavenly officials poured into the hall one after another. Earth Master Yi had always been inconspicuous and stayed out of sight, so for many, it was the first time they had ever seen him in person, and they bunched around, staring at him with great interest. The masses were mostly confused, not knowing why they were gathering at the Palace of Divine Might, but having collected the Wind Master's merits, they had to come and check it out.
"Thanks, but I'm all right. Leave it and it'll recover on its own," Xie Lian said to Feng Xin.
Feng Xin didn't mince words. "Take care of yourself."
Xie Lian uttered another soft thanks, but when he turned around, Lang Qianqiu was staring at him with a dazed look.
"Your Highness Tai Hua, what's the matter?" he asked.
Feng Xin also noticed something off about Lang Qianqiu and questioned, "Was His Highness Tai Hua also injured somewhere?"
"I don't think so. Let me see," Xie Lian said and extended his hand, reaching for Lang Qianqiu's brow. Yet unexpectedly, with his quick eyes and deft hand, Lang Qianqiu seized Xie Lian's wrist.
There was still some hesitation on Lang Qianqiu's face, as if he had discovered something but still wasn't sure. However, there was already fire burning in his eyes. Xie Lian felt the trembling of rage passing from Lang Qianqiu's arm to his.
Now all the spectating officials had noticed this unusual situation and started whispering among themselves. Shi Qingxuan and Mu Qing both began to rise, and Feng Xin asked, "Your Highness Tai Hua, what are you doing?"
Lang Qianqiu finally moved his lips. He only uttered two words, but Xie Lian's heart sank all the way to the very bottom.
"…State Preceptor?" Lang Qianqiu said through gritted teeth.
Xie Lian's pupils contracted slightly.
The onlooking heavenly officials muttered, half guessing, half confused. "What State Preceptor? Who's the State Preceptor?" Some were more astute and immediately figured it out.
Lang Qianqiu was the Crown Prince of Yong'an, and the State Preceptor of Yong'an during his time was the second of the Dual Evil Masters: the State Preceptor Fangxin. No one knew his origin or his background. Yet in this moment, Lang Qianqiu had Xie Lian in his grip and called him "State Preceptor." Did this mean…that Xie Lian was the evil cultivator who brought ruin to Yong'an—the State Preceptor Fangxin?!
However, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of Xianle. The Kingdom of Xianle had fallen at the hands of the Kingdom of Yong'an, so why would he become the State Preceptor of Yong'an?
His Highness Tai Hua was renowned in the Upper Court for his optimism and cheerfulness. He was never calculating, nor did he make things difficult for anyone, and he had never before shown such an expression: half despair, half rage…half enmity, half hatred.
Lang Qianqiu had Xie Lian in a death grip, his breathing growing harsher, and finally he said in a strained voice, "You… I killed you with my own two hands. Sealed you in that coffin myself. You…State Preceptor, you certainly are remarkable!"
Heavens. It would appear that something big was about to go down today!