Xie Lian's sudden leap over the edge was certainly alarming, but his two attendants were more than aware of his capabilities. Mu Qing didn't bother to move, though Feng Xin went over and helped pull him up. Xie Lian only used a little strength to pull and the young soldier was hauled up along with him, and the two of them found their feet on the tower once more.
"Who's your captain? Why are you hiding here?" Xie Lian asked.
The young soldier's arms and head were wrapped with bandages, and there were spots of blood seeping through; it appeared he was covered in wounds. This wasn't strange, as there were many wounded soldiers all wrapped up like this after the battle today. However, hiding silently in the shadows was highly suspicious.
"He'd better not be a Yong'an spy—tie him up and interrogate him," Mu Qing advised.
Xie Lian suspected the same, but the imperial capital was rigorously guarded and the chance of enemies sneaking in was low—unless it was Lang Ying. However, this young soldier was clearly only a child, barely of age.
Feng Xin, though, spoke up in amazement. "Your Highness, you don't remember this brat? During the battle today, he kept charging forward, throwing himself ahead of you at the front of the formation."
"Oh, really?" Xie Lian said, slightly taken aback.
In the midst of all the killing that day, he'd had no time to notice anything; he was solely focused on striking back every time someone raised a sword against him. He hadn't even bothered with Feng Xin and Mu Qing, so how could he notice some little soldier?
Feng Xin was sure. "It's him. I remember this brat. His charge was quite aggressive, like he didn't care about his life at all."
Hearing this, Xie Lian scrutinized this young soldier carefully. For some reason the boy stood taller, his shoulders squared and head raised, as if he was a little stiff but also like he was standing at attention.
"Even so, he shouldn't be sneaking around and hiding here," Mu Qing remarked. "Who knows if he's here to spy or eavesdrop?"
Despite his words, he still relaxed his guard. Due to the Xianle military's campaign promoting their "holy crusade by the army of god," there were quite a few young people who enlisted just to follow Xie Lian, many just as young as this boy. Most were loyal devotees who grew up worshipping his divine statues and listening to his tales of valor. They all wanted to sneak close, if only to steal a glimpse of the martial god—it wasn't the first or even the second time something like this had happened, so it wasn't anything special.
"All right, it was a false alarm," Xie Lian said. Then he turned to the young soldier and said warmly, "I must've scared you just now. Sorry."
Yet the boy didn't look frightened and only stood straighter. "Your Highness…"
He trailed off and suddenly lunged at Xie Lian!
Xie Lian thought the boy was trying to ambush him and sidestepped immediately to dodge, his hand raised and ready to chop down. With his might, just one strike would kill the boy on the spot. But just then, he felt a rush of cold air behind him. His hand changed track abruptly; his wrist twisted, and he caught a sniping arrow that had been aimed at his back.
It turned out that boy had tried to tackle him because he had seen the glint of the arrow flying through the air. Xie Lian had been leaning against the wall of the parapet at first, but even after being attacked from behind, he wasn't scared in the slightest. He jumped onto the wall to look downward.
In the vast fields before the city gates, he could faintly see the lone figure of a man standing in the far distance. Since he wore dark-colored clothing and blended into the night, he was difficult to spot. Feng Xin was instantly at Xie Lian's side; he drew his bow and shot. However, it seemed that the man had already calculated the distance and stood just out of reach. The one arrow he shot got Xie Lian's attention, so he waved, then turned swiftly to leave without a word. When Feng Xin's arrow reached him, it was already too late, and it drove into the ground just inches behind that man's retreating feet.
Furious, Feng Xin pounded his fist on the wall, sending dust tumbling down. "Who was that?!"
Who else could it be?
"Lang Ying!" Xie Lian shouted.
The Xianle soldiers had also noticed strange things afoot. Though they caused quite a stir, the soldiers retained enough caution to not immediately open the gates to give chase and instead reported to the superiors for instructions.
Lang Ying waved and left after shooting that one arrow—almost as if he had come specifically to greet Xie Lian.
Mu Qing furrowed his brow. "Why did he come here? As a show of strength?"
"Yong'an was completely destroyed on the battlefield today," Feng Xin spat angrily, "and he himself barely escaped death at His Highness's hands. What strength could he possibly show?"
Xie Lian, however, felt that the arrow in his hand had something tied around it. When he brought it to the firelight for further examination, he saw it was a ripped piece of cloth that seemed to come from a rich green brocade. There were traces of wet blood still on the fabric, and when he unfolded it, he found a twisted scribble of the word "Qi."
Xie Lian immediately clutched that fabric and demanded, "Where's Qi Rong? Is Qi Rong not at the palace?!"
Feng Xin turned to the nearby soldiers. "Go to the palace and confirm, quickly!"
The soldiers left immediately. That cloth was indeed a corner from the sleeve of Qi Rong's favorite robe, and Lang Ying was known for his stealth, so there was a high probability that Qi Rong had been kidnapped. Xie Lian knew there was no time to waste.
"I'm going after him to find out." Seeing that Feng Xin had returned, he added, "You two watch over the city gates, but don't make any moves. This might be a ploy to lure us out of the city."
Feng Xin shrugged his bow onto his back. "You're not bringing anyone?"
Xie Lian didn't want Xianle to deploy soldiers if there wasn't a major offense from Yong'an's side. If Qi Rong had fallen into enemy hands, then Xie Lian himself could bring him back; if he brought troops with him, it would be war, and it wouldn't end with only one or two dead. At the moment, Xie Lian just wanted to minimize losses.
"No. They can't do anything to me."
He lightly pushed off the wall and leapt over, landing softly down on the ground, then he dashed off in the direction that Lang Ying had retreated.
After he'd been running for a while, he heard footsteps catching up to him from behind. When he turned his head to look, he saw the young soldier.
"I don't need help, go back!" Xie Lian shouted at him.
The boy shook his head.
"Go back!" Xie Lian tried again. Then he sped up, leaving the boy far behind. He lost sight of him in an instant.
After running for a dozen kilometers, he reached a mountaintop. This mountain wasn't steep—it was more like a hill. Thus, it was called Beizi Hill—that is, "Small Back." According to their scouts, after the people of Yong'an retreated from the city walls, their armed forces and civilians had started sheltering here. Beizi Hill was thick with foliage, and in the deep night, strange noises rustled from all throughout the dark forest, as if there were countless creatures lying low, watching. Xie Lian went further into the mountain and searched with his breath held for a long time. Then, suddenly, he saw a form in the distance—a tall, humanoid shape hanging from a tree.
He looked closely, then cried, "Qi Rong!"
It was indeed Qi Rong. He was hung upside down from a tree, and it looked like he had fainted from the severe beating he'd clearly received. Blood ran downward from his nose, and one of his eyes was blackened. Xie Lian drew his sword and cut the rope, caught the fallen Qi Rong, then slapped him repeatedly in the face. Qi Rong slowly came to and shouted at the sight of him.
"Cousin Crown Prince!"
Xie Lian was just loosening his bindings when he felt coldness at his back, and he immediately swung his sword out behind him. As he turned, he saw that it was Lang Ying brandishing a greatsword and lunging at him.
The two swords clashed, the blades resounding as they traded blows, but it wasn't long before Xie Lian had knocked Lang Ying's sword flying. Then Xie Lian kicked his legs, tripping him, and brought his sword to his attacker's throat to end the fight.
"You know you are not my equal. Stop fighting."
They'd faced off earlier that day on the battlefield. Everyone who charged at Xie Lian was killed—except Lang Ying, who survived taking Xie Lian's sword head on and dragged himself away wounded. Anyone could see that Lang Ying was the leader of the Yong'an refugees, so Xie Lian telling him to "stop fighting" naturally implied something much deeper.
"As long as your people do not invade further, I promise that the soldiers of the imperial capital will not attack you. Take the water and the rations. Leave."
Lang Ying lay on the ground and stared him straight in the eyes with a gaze that made him uncomfortable. "Your Highness, do you think what you're doing is right?"
Xie Lian stiffened. Next to him, Qi Rong cussed.
"Cut the crap! Don't you know who my Cousin Crown Prince is? He's a god of heaven! Do you seriously think he's wrong and you're right, you treacherous dogs?!"
"Qi Rong, quiet!" Xie Lian barked.
He couldn't answer Lang Ying's question. Deep down, he did feel that there was something wrong with what he'd done. But it was the best plan he could think of. Could he really leave Xianle unprotected against invasion and allow the Yong'an rebels to freely storm the wall again and again—perhaps even eventually breaching the capital itself?
If only one or two swung their swords at him, he could simply knock them out to end things without going too far. But on the battlefield, blades were relentless and merciless—he simply didn't have the energy to knock everyone out. All he could do was stop himself from feeling and swing his sword. In asking him that question, Lang Ying had woken a voice deep within: Do you think what you're doing is right?
Qi Rong didn't have this inner dilemma and kept running his mouth. "What did I say wrong? Cousin, since you're here, hurry and kill all of these damned thieves! A dozen of them ganged up on me when I was alone and beat me up!"
Qi Rong was a figure of domineering arrogance within the capital, so naturally there were many from Yong'an who hated him, and they leapt at this chance to take revenge. Of course, there were also many from Xianle who hated him. Xie Lian had no time for him right now and addressed Lang Ying.
"What do you want? If you want rain, Yong'an will have rain. If you want gold, I'll push over the golden statues and give them to you. If you want food, I'll…think of a way. Just, don't start a war. Can't we solve this together and find a third path?"
Xie Lian blurted those words in spite of himself. Lang Ying might not have understood what "third path" meant, but he answered without hesitation.
"I don't want anything, and I don't need anything. The only thing I want is for the Kingdom of Xianle to cease to exist. I need it to disappear."
His tone was blank, but his words were fearsome.
A moment later, Xie Lian said gravely, "If you attack…I won't be able to sit back and watch. You have no chance of winning. Even if all your Yong'an followers will surely die, must you do this?"
"Yes," Lang Ying said.
"…"
His answer was so calm, so firm, that Xie Lian couldn't say anything back. His fists clenched and his knuckles cracked.
"I know you're a god," Lang Ying said, emphasizing every word. "That's okay. Even if you're a god, you can't stop me."
Xie Lian knew Lang Ying's words were the truth simply because his tone was more than familiar to him—it was the determination of one steeped in duty, one who would never consider turning back. When Xie Lian said to Jun Wu, "Even if the heavens say I must die," the determination within him was exactly the same as Lang Ying's.
Lang Ying's words were practically a proclamation that he would ceaselessly call forth the people of Yong'an in an endless offense. So Xie Lian knew what he must do.
The sword in Xie Lian's grip was normally held in one hand, but now he gripped it with both. But just as he was about to pierce Lang Ying's throat with his trembling hands, there was suddenly an odd scrunch, scrunch sound behind him, and then a cackling laugh.
Xie Lian was shocked that anyone could appear so soundlessly, so undetected. When he looked back, his eyes widened.
Normally, enemy soldiers would appear at a time like this—Xie Lian had already had countless swords pointed at him, so he was expecting a sea of blades.
Instead, he saw a single, very odd figure.
That person wore ghastly white funeral clothes, and his face bore a ghastly white mask that was extremely bizarre—one half crying, the other half smiling. He was seated on a vine hung low between two trees, and that scrunch, scrunch came from him swaying back and forth on that vine as if it were a swing. When he saw Xie Lian looking back, he raised his hands and slowly clapped, pah pah. He cackled again, and the noise raised the hair on Xie Lian's neck.
"What are you?!" Xie Lian said sharply.
What indeed—his instincts told him clearly that this thing wasn't human!
Xie Lian suddenly noticed that the feel of the sword in his hands was wrong, and at the same moment, Qi Rong screamed. When he turned back to look, the ground in front of him had split wide open in a deep fissure, and Lang Ying, who was lying on the ground, was being swallowed by that gap. The ground was rapidly closing its mouth, and without thinking, Xie Lian stabbed into the heart of the earth. He felt the tip of his sword pierce soil, not flesh—only then did Xie Lian realize that he'd failed to kill Lang Ying. He couldn't tell whether he felt regret or relief.
The white-clothed being started cackling again. Xie Lian raised his sword and flung it at him.
The strike was fast as lightning, and it shot through the being and nailed him to the tree behind. He crumpled to the ground without uttering a single sound. Xie Lian rushed over to check, but all that was left was a pile of white robes. The one wearing those robes had disappeared into thin air!
That being's appearance and disappearance were both peculiar to the extreme. Xie Lian was in shock and didn't dare drop his guard.
Picking Qi Rong off the ground with one hand, Xie Lian said, "Let's go."
Yet Qi Rong whined, "Let's not go! Cousin, let's set fire to this mountain! There're a bunch of Yong'an people around; those boorish radicals who wouldn't leave the city gates are all hiding here. Let's set a fire and torch this place clean!"
Xie Lian dragged him away for some distance, and the farther they went, the more Xie Lian felt the air grow thicker and thicker with yin energy. It was as if countless eyes were watching them.
"Did you not just see that odd being?" he snapped. "We shouldn't stick around."
"So what?" Qi Rong asked. "You're a god! You're not afraid of some little devils, are you? If they dare obstruct you, just kill them!"
"Let's go back first," Xie Lian said.
When Xie Lian dismissed his rant out of hand and refused to set the mountain ablaze, Qi Rong's eyes bulged with rage.
"Why?! Those people beat me to a pulp and are bent on antagonizing us! You heard him! He said he wants to annihilate Xianle! He wants to annihilate our kingdom! Why don't you kill them all off like you did today on the battlefield?!"
"…"
Xie Lian's breath hitched, and he shouted angrily, "Why is it always 'Kill! Kill! Kill!' rattling around in your head?! Soldiers and civilians are different!"
"How are they different?" Qi Rong countered. "Aren't they all people? Isn't killing the same thing either way?"
It was like he had stabbed Xie Lian right where it hurt, and a burst of anger roiled up. "You—!"
Just then, he felt something tighten around his ankle. When he looked down, a swollen hand had poked out of the bushes and seized his boot!
From up ahead came several thudding sounds. Seven or eight humanoid forms fell from the trees like rain, and they puddled on the ground, unable to get up. While they were shaped like humans, there was not a shred of clothing on their backs, and they slowly squirmed toward them like giant fleshy worms.
Qi Rong cried out in fright. "Who are they?!"
Xie Lian chopped off the hand with his sword and said darkly, "They're not human, they're binu!"
Xie Lian had never heard of binu sightings in the mountains near the imperial capital before; even if there were nefarious creatures lurking about, they were usually quickly exterminated by the cultivators of the Royal Holy Temple. That meant these binu were intentionally let loose by someone.
Xie Lian never expected this war to involve anything inhuman. But thinking back on everything that had happened, he believed more and more that those things were allied with Lang Ying, and that kidnapping Qi Rong was nothing more than a ploy to lure Xie Lian out. Nonetheless, he had no time to think at the moment. He could cleanly slice seven or eight binu in half with one swing of his sword, but when binu appeared, they usually came in hordes. Sure enough, the bushes and trees all around them started to rustle, and they only shook harder and harder as more and more fleshy forms crawled out and came for Xie Lian. He could kill ten with one strike, but twenty more would lunge that same moment. As Xie Lian struck them endlessly, a binu on a tree focused in on Xie Lian's back and leapt down to seize him!
But before it could come close enough to succeed, it was sliced up in a flash. Qi Rong was unarmed, so it couldn't have been him. Xie Lian turned to look and saw the one who swung the sword—it was that young soldier!
He'd been left in the dust by Xie Lian at the city gates, but he somehow still managed to follow along and find them. Although that boy was carrying nothing but a worn sword, he was still highly effective and struck down many of the binu.
Those things crawled on the ground and secreted thick, glue-like fluids from their bodies, and Qi Rong was screaming at how disgusting they were. He stomped on the head of one that looked weak and noticed that the creature wasn't exactly a threat.
"So they're not that tough?" he asked, bewildered.
But Qi Rong didn't know that binu usually appeared alongside crueler, more violent evils. Xie Lian bit his lip and broke the skin, and wiping the blood on two fingers of his right hand, he smeared it on his blade and shoved the sword into Qi Rong's hands.
"You two, take this sword and go! Nothing will dare approach you. Don't turn back, no matter what you hear. Remember, don't look back!"
"Cousin! I…" Qi Rong protested.
Xie Lian cut him off. "The powerful ones will be coming along right behind them. I won't be able to take care of you once they show up. You need to go back and report!"
Qi Rong didn't reply, just ran away frantically, holding the sword. The sacred sword in his hands held the essence of Xie Lian's divinity, and all along the road no binu or other evils would dare come close; his path was unbound, and he disappeared quickly. The young soldier, however, still didn't leave. Qi Rong was already long gone, and Xie Lian didn't have another sacred sword to give him for protection—his only remaining defense was shooting spiritual blasts from his palms. The boy was working hard trying to help, and after an incense time, all the binu were finally exterminated.
The ground was covered in sticky fluids and corpses, and the stench was stifling. Once Xie Lian was sure not a single binu had escaped, he calmed his breath and turned to the boy.
"You're pretty good with that sword."
The boy gripped his weapon harder, and although he was still panting, he instantly stood at attention again. "Y-yes, sir."
"I wasn't giving you orders, so why are you saying 'yes, sir'?" Xie Lian asked. "When I ordered you to run, why didn't you say 'yes, sir' then?"
"Yes, sir!" that boy answered, but he realized that his response was strange and stood even stiffer.
Xie Lian shook his head, pondered briefly, and suddenly his lips curled up.
"But you'd be better suited to a saber."