"Why?" the boy asked, taken aback.
Xie Lian replayed the boy's strikes and moves in his head, and casually showed him a few example maneuvers.
"You've never used a saber, right? You use a sword, but the sword is tricky. Although it's fast and extremely aggressive, its range is fairly limited. If you've never used a saber before, try it next time. I think you might be even stronger with it."
If ever Xie Lian saw someone with notable skill in martial arts, he couldn't help but want to approach them and chat. Not to criticize—he really was just interested in exchanging ideas. Because he possessed a wealth of experience in combat, he often didn't even need to think; just one glance and he could pick up on the particulars of someone's style. Even if he couldn't explain the why, he would instinctively understand. Out of respect for his status, people would usually listen, but there were very few who'd actually pay attention. But this boy listened intently, seeming to mull over every one of his words and looking down at the sword in his hand from time to time.
Xie Lian had rambled on for a while, when suddenly more rustling noises were heard within the woods, like something had quickly crawled past. Xie Lian instantly remembered that they were still in danger and that it really wasn't the time or place to get excited. He immediately grew serious again.
"Who knows if there's more evil on this mountain? This place needs a thorough cleansing."
That boy gave a hard nod and presented his iron sword to Xie Lian with both hands. Xie Lian shook his head.
"Just defend yourself. You didn't leave earlier, and now there's no way for you to flee. I'll do my best to protect you, but you must also stay alert."
Just then, the bushes rustled, and something leapt out. Xie Lian flicked his wrist to shoot a blast from his palm and hit it dead on. A terrible yelp, and that thing stopped moving. There was a strong stench of blood, which puzzled Xie Lian. A binu hit by a blast would leak sticky, viscous body fluids, which didn't have such a strong, bloody smell. He approached to check.
He parted the bushes, and sure enough there was a large binu on the ground, blown into several pieces from the blast. But that smell didn't come from the binu itself. It came from something in its mouth—a scrap of skin off a human head, with chunks of long hair still attached!
Binu were scavengers, and by the look of it, a human had been killed. The binu had left small drops of blood along its trail in the bushes, and Xie Lian immediately followed that trail, the young soldier tagging along right behind. The farther they walked, the denser the blood splatter and the stronger the stench. Soon, they heard feeble weeping.
The little soldier brandished his sword and ran in front of Xie Lian to shield him, but Xie Lian pulled the boy back behind him. The trail wound past a field of blooming shrubs, and a sizable cave appeared before them.
This cave had probably once served as a temporary shelter for passersby, but now, corpses carpeted the ground. Twenty or thirty binu were clambering over those dead bodies, chomping on them to their hearts' content.
Several of them surrounded a young woman. Her belly had been ripped open and her innards were spilling out, but she was somehow still alive—and clearly in great pain. There was a bright red flower in her hair, as if she'd been interrupted in the middle of dressing herself. The fresh blood complementing that crimson blossom painted a particularly cruel picture.
The binu were licking at her hot, steaming organs, but just before they started to gnaw at her flesh in earnest, the sound of someone approaching made them turn to look. Xie Lian sent out a blast from his palm without blinking, slaying them all in a flash. He immediately moved on to checking the dead bodies—among the corpses were men and women, old and young, all dressed in clothes made of humble cloth, their faces ashen. They were doubtlessly Yong'an civilians, and Xie Lian couldn't help but be shocked.
He had thought the strange, white-clothed creature had called forth these nefarious beings. He had saved Lang Ying, so they had to be allies— but then why would the binu feast on these Yong'an civilians? Inhuman creatures would never form a pact with humans unless they had a reason, so were these the terms Lang Ying agreed to for the alliance? Were the lives of his followers his bargaining chips?!
The young woman was terrified and in agony. Blood sputtered from her lips as she sobbed, "Don't kill me! I didn't do anything bad, don't kill me!"
Xie Lian couldn't help but remember the family of three who had died below the city wall—what sins had they committed? He bent down and soothed her in a gentle voice.
"Don't be scared. Everything's okay, I'm here to save you."
Yet that little soldier still had his sword pointed at the young woman. "Your Highness, be careful. She might be an evil spirit from the deep mountains."
Of course Xie Lian knew that was a possibility, but after much consideration, he still felt that he couldn't leave her like this; as long as he was prudent, it would probably be fine. He checked the young woman's pulse and inspected her palms and fingers for prints, instantly confirming that she was
indeed a human—and one who had never practiced martial arts, as her arms were weak and powerless. Taking a bottle of medicine from his sleeve, he immediately began treating her wounds. He twisted the cork out, and a faint, fragrant white smoke slowly filled the air.
This medicine could temporarily slow down any poison and was amazingly effective at treating wounds. Xie Lian wasn't stingy with that holy cure, using the entire bottle on her.
"Do you feel better?"
The young woman's wounds were a ghastly sight to behold, but after breathing in the smoke, some color returned to her face. She nodded weakly.
"Are you from Yong'an? How did this happen?" Xie Lian asked.
Tears rolled down her face. "I…I am. I don't know how it happened. Every—" She paused and hissed in pain. "Everything was fine, but suddenly, my dad died, my older brother died too…"
Xie Lian gently patted her shoulders. "Who killed them? Or rather, what killed them?"
The young woman sobbed. "The killer was…was…was you!"
At that last word, her face contorted with savage rage, and her eyes flashed and bulged. She opened her arms and pounced, seizing Xie Lian in an embrace!
The young soldier had been standing beside Xie Lian on high alert the whole time, and he reacted with incredible quickness to this attack, immediately piercing her heart with his sword. She was already severely wounded, and with that strike, her death should've been swift. And yet she began laughing in uproarious delight, clinging to Xie Lian with a deadly grip and refusing to let go, and she remained like that until she finally stopped breathing. She clung on so tightly that the young soldier strained to peel her dead body off.
"Your Highness! Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.
Xie Lian had thought that the young woman was trying to ambush him as a last-ditch effort. Yet she had no weapons on her, and she didn't even bite or scratch—she only clung on to him tightly as if that was enough, unrelenting even after death.
Confounded, he replied, "I'm all right, I…"
He trailed off when, as if mocking him, he was assaulted by a sudden dizziness.
The little soldier widened his one bright eye. "Your Highness?!"
It was like Xie Lian's insides were on fire; he couldn't speak, didn't want to speak, and didn't want to hear anyone else speak either. He shook his head and raised his hand, mute.
Just then, the sound of women's giggling came from all around them.
"Hee hee hee hee hee…"
"Hee hee hee hee hee…"
The two of them realized with a start that there wasn't a third person nearby. The giggling came from the bright red flower!
Xie Lian instantly realized he'd fallen into a trap.
Land of the Tender!
This "Land of the Tender" wasn't the coy euphemism for houses of pleasure where men found solace in feminine charms. These Land of the Tenders were flower yao that loved to flock together and survived by sucking away the essence of men.
Their fragrance was dangerous, and Xie Lian immediately cautioned, "Cover your mouth and nose tight—don't breathe in that flower's fragrance!"
The young soldier already had a layer of filter from the bandages wrapped around his face, so he didn't breathe in any of the scent. Hearing Xie Lian, he tightened his bandage —but then he realized Xie Lian had nothing to cover his own nose and mouth with, so he ripped a piece from the cleanest part of his sleeve, rubbed it hard and patted it down until it was cleaner, and then passed it to him with both hands.
"No need," Xie Lian said. "It's too late."
He'd been on his guard while he was treating that young woman, but he didn't guard against smell. He'd been close to her, not knowing that the flower pinned in her hair was a Land of the Tender blossom. Before she died, she clung on firmly to Xie Lian, ensuring she wouldn't fail in her mission. This meant that Xie Lian had already inhaled many lungsful of that Tender Fragrance, truly "refreshing" his spirit.
Once the Tender Fragrance entered a man's body, he would enter a state of agitation—it began with weakness of the limbs, then progressed to mania. Xie Lian's whole body was already listless, like all of his tendons had been removed. But once the numbness passed, he'd be like a cask of explosives. If that strange, white-clothed creature appeared once more, Xie Lian really didn't know whether he'd be able to face off with it—he wasn't sure of its power in the first place. His initial reaction was to reach for his bottle of medicine, but then he realized that he'd emptied it to help the young woman. And in the end, she still didn't survive.
He glanced at the dead body next to him. The young woman wore a happy smile, like she was sincerely glad she'd managed to snare the enemy in a trap before death, and she could finally pass in peace to join her family. Xie Lian could only blame the gory scene that paled the flower's dangerous
shade, and the stench of blood that masked the blossom's strange fragrance. He had never imagined that the face of a young girl, only in her teens, could bear such vicious resentment, or that she could commit such an extreme act.
Around him, the flower yao were exploding with excitement.
"He took the bait!"
"Caught him!"
"Is it really His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"It's him!"
"He's so handsome…my root, my root can't hold back any longer, it's going to thrust out of the ground!"
The young soldier slashed with his sword, clearing out the flower shrubs surrounding them. Yet the stems were nimble, and that sword was worn; after one slash, it dulled. The flower yao rocked back and forth, squealing.
"My gosh! This little gege—your bush hasn't even grown in yet, but you're so ferocious! I'm on the verge of blooming, so how will you repay me?!"
The young soldier's eye flashed with rage. "You're dead! I'm gonna burn you all to death!"
The flower yao curved their green leaves to touch their stems like they were placing their hands on their hips. "My, so scary! We didn't provoke you, so why are you so mad?!"
"Don't burn them!" Xie Lian warned. "They're yao, so if you set them on fire, they'll emit poisonous gas—you can't pull them out either!" That boy immediately dropped his hands that were ready to pluck, and Xie Lian explained weakly, "There are poisonous thorns all over the stems…"
"My gosh, Your Highness is so sweet, thank you for protecting us," the flower yao flirtatiously cooed. "Just wait, we're going to bear fruit soon! We'll definitely take very good care of you, hee hee hee hee…"
"Men who've cultivated abstinence from birth are so hard to come by! Even if your power will drop a level if we deflower you, there's no other way, sorry! Hee hee hee hee…"
As they giggled, the Land of the Tenders' petals rubbed against each other. Their ambrosial perverse intentions were more than obvious. That young soldier was bewildered, not quite understanding the meaning of "abstinence," "deflower," or "level." But he could still tell that they didn't mean anything good, so he kept swinging his sword madly, cutting down the flowers and roaring in rage, trying desperately to silence that teasing laughter, not wanting Xie Lian to hear. Xie Lian, on the other hand, was cracking his knuckles.
So that was it!
Everything that transpired tonight was designed specifically to deal with him.
In kidnapping Qi Rong, they had bet on his pride and duty as the martial god of Xianle—that he would choose to go after them alone, minimizing their risk. And that seriously wounded young woman was bait to make him use up his medicine, leaving him powerless to save himself. The cooperation between humans and yao was meant to lead him to this point.
Xie Lian's method of cultivation required a pure body. Those who worshipped the ascended cultivators who practiced this path were firmly convinced of the transcendence of gods untouched by earthly desires. If they couldn't protect their purity, their following would no doubt collapse and their powers would be devastated. It wouldn't be as serious as plunging from godhood back to mortality, and there was still the possibility of recovery after many more years of cultivation—but with things as they were now, there was no time for him to sit behind closed doors and cultivate for years!
The statute of purity was strict at the Royal Holy Temple, and Xie Lian excelled. He was number one in upholding those rules, as he had never broken or breached any of them. He thought himself as steady as a boulder of iron, and not even howling gales could ripple the still water in his heart. He'd undergone many trials and completed them perfectly each time. Yet even if his heart was like still water, he was nonetheless young and thin-skinned. Not to mention there was a little soldier right beside him. Xie Lian couldn't help feeling embarrassed as he was forced to listen to those flower yao blatantly splash their depraved words onto him as that lingering fragrance boiled his blood. His face colored with a humiliated blush, but no matter how much he abhorred his current predicament, he just couldn't stand up.
He was still hanging on for the moment, but if those Land of the Tenders really bore fruit, it'd be big trouble. The best course of action would of course be to return to the imperial capital as soon as possible and have Feng Xin and Mu Qing shield him, but Xie Lian's legs were limp, and he could barely stand.
Out of options, he called to the little soldier in a strained tone, "You…come over here."
At the sound of his voice, the young soldier visibly flinched and froze. He hesitantly turned around but didn't dare go over. Yet the situation at hand didn't allow for any time wasted; seeing his hesitation, temper flared in Xie Lian's chest, but he forced it down.
"Don't be scared, I won't do anything to you. Get over here, quick!"
At last, the boy moved. He rushed close to Xie Lian's side but came to an abrupt stop two steps away. Xie Lian soundlessly drew in a small breath and extended a hand toward him.
"Help me up… Take me away."
That young soldier very carefully took his hand and grasped it. He was like a man on the brink of death who had finally found someone to rely on; Xie Lian's whole body slackened in an instant, and he collapsed onto the boy.
He was awash in the Tender Fragrance; his temperature boiled and his body burned. Somehow, the boy's trembling hands were equally hot.
Xie Lian leaned on him for a bit to regain some strength, then breathed in and pushed himself to stand upright. He didn't want to force someone smaller than him to support his person entirely, but with the boy's help, he walked a few agonizing steps. The flower yao called out to him when they saw them moving away.
"No, Your Highness, don't leave us! He is waiting for you on the road. If you leave here, you'll bump into him."
He?
"Who's 'he'?" Xie Lian demanded.
The Land of the Tenders were clearly terrified by just the mention of this mystery being. After some hesitation, they mumbled a response.
"He is him."
The flowers all nodded to each other.
"He is him. The one who brought us here."
Even if they didn't dare speak the person's name, that half-crying half-smiling mask immediately surfaced in Xie Lian's mind.
"So what you're saying is that if I leave now, the one who plantedyou will hunt me down on the road, but if I stay here, he won't come. Correct?"
The flower yao were pleased and chattered in the affirmative, nodding their heads. An unknown fury blazed in Xie Lian's chest.
To trap him in this unspeakable situation without even having the decency to try to kill him—were they playing with him or what? Why not simply battle to the death?
He collected himself and forced down his irritation. It seemed the other party had no intention of facing him head-on—they only wanted to damage his spiritual power by making him fall from grace and lose devotees.
Or the flower yao could be lying. But even if that were the case, Xie Lian wasn't sure they'd be able to return safely, even if the boy could support him or carry him on his back. Should the other party purposely throw some women at them halfway down the road, the situation could get worse—or at least become even more awkward.
After some deliberation, Xie Lian exhaled a feverish breath and closed his eyes.
"Take me to the cave over there."
That young soldier followed his instructions and helped him cross the corpse-strewn ground. When they reached the cave mouth, Xie Lian gave a throaty gasp.
"Stop."
The little soldier halted. Even a simple gesture like raising a hand had Xie Lian shaking uncontrollably.
"Where's your sword?"
The boy shifted him to his left arm and freed the right to brandish his sword. Xie Lian peeled back his sleeves and revealed part of his arm. Under the glowing moonlight, his skin was smooth and pale as the softest white jade. That boy's breath suddenly hitched, but Xie Lian didn't notice.
"Stab me," he ordered in a husky voice.
The hand that held up the worn sword immediately drooped.
"Don't worry, just stab me," Xie Lian urged him. "Stab deeply. I need to draw an array. There are no other spiritual devices on hand, so we need blood."
"Your Highness, please use my blood!" the young soldier protested, and he raised his own arm and cut without any hesitation.
"No need!" Xie Lian hurriedly replied. "Your blood…"
But his words didn't make it in time. A deep gash had already been drawn on the boy's arm, and fresh blood flowed from it. Xie Lian sighed.
"You…never mind."
Xie Lian's blood was an invaluable holy treasure with the power to sanctify, so how could a mortal's blood compare? But seeing how earnest this little soldier was, he didn't have the heart to tell him that what he'd done was pointless.
"Thanks," he said instead. "But we still need some of my blood as a catalyst."
Xie Lian took the sword with trembling hands. It took him a few tries to successfully pierce the middle of his forearm. Vivid red holy blood streamed down his pale white arm, and he used it to drip two curved lines in front of the cave, drawing two barriers. It could be said to be a waste of heaven's gift. Xie Lian also took care to mix in some of the boy's blood. As he completed the array, his dizziness grew stronger.
"Let's go in…"
It was pitch black inside the cave. The boy took out a small flare torch from inside his robes and ignited it. The intense firelight brightened their surroundings.
The young soldier's face was hidden behind his bandages that covered him completely, while Xie Lian's unkempt state was on display for all to see. His cold sweat was sticky, his hair was disheveled, his lips were red and swollen and smeared with blood from when he'd bitten his lip to sanctify his sword earlier. The firelight stabbed at Xie Lian's eyes, hurting them, and the waves of heat pouring off the torch tormented him.
"Don't light the fire," Xie Lian demanded immediately. "Kill it."
That boy immediately threw the flare torch on the ground and stepped on it to extinguish it, and they sank into darkness once more. Once they were inside the cave, Xie Lian sat down and arranged himself into a meditative position. Moments later, he spoke laboriously.
"I have a mission for you. Are you up for it?"
"…" The boy dropped to the ground and kneeled. "I'm willing to risk my life to do my duty!"
Xie Lian painfully restrained his labored breathing and continued with forced calm. "I drew two sets of barriers in front of the cave. The outer barrier is to ensure nothing outside enters; the inner barrier is to prevent anyone inside from exiting."
He silently panted for a few breaths before he continued.
"There's enough space between the two barriers for one person. Stay there and watch over the cave entrance. No matter what you hear outside, do not leave. Likewise, do not come in no matter what sounds you hear from me."
The boy was slightly perplexed. "Your Highness, you're staying here by yourself?"
"Yes," Xie Lian said. "I don't know what I'll do… In any case, do not come in, no matter what happens."
Under the circumstances, Xie Lian couldn't move very far. But as far as waiting for reinforcements, Qi Rong was probably still stumbling down the road, and just getting back to the imperial capital would take a long while. Who knew when help would come? The only thing he could do was temporarily seal off this small area, set up wards, and figure out a way to treat the Tender Fragrance.
"Fruits born of flower yao are powerful temptresses," he rasped. "They're likely to ripen soon…"
Just then, the fragrance in the air suddenly surged, cutting off his words. That beguiling scent filled the air from the earth to the sky, and the flower yao cackled ecstatically.
"My root! My root is hard!"
"The fruits have ripened!" they trumpeted.
Smelling that excessively sweet fragrance, Xie Lian could feel his heart beating faster, and blood rushed to his brain. He gritted his teeth.
"Hurry and go! Don't breathe in the scent, and if they come close, don't be scared. Nothing can cross the blood line, but as long as your feet remain inside the barrier you can strike them with your sword."
That boy glanced outside and gave a hard nod. He rushed out with his sword in hand, stationing himself between the two blood lines by the entrance. Outside the cave, in that field of corpses, the flowering plants were growing more and more vibrant in color. The briar field was quivering as if something beneath was about to burst from the ground…until, not long later, something did burst forth—the head of a woman!
The woman's head that had sprouted breathed in the fresh air above ground and appeared drunk with joy, her eyes squeezing shut into crescent lines. Following immediately after was a round, smooth shoulder, then an entire arm.
The fruits of the Land of the Tender were formed under the whiskers of their roots. They ripened in the shape of feminine forms, and the time was indeed ripe—countless naked women were breaking out from beneath the earth. They plucked the bright red blossoms from atop their heads and bathed under the moonlight, stretching out their limbs to their hearts' content. Those little flowers had emitted the fragrant scent at first, but now the ones secreting that sweet odor were the enchanting women. They patted off the mud that smeared their voluptuous bodies, fixed their hair, and walked toward the cave as they giggled alluringly.
"Your Highness, we're coming!"
That sweet fragrance was suffocating inside the cave. Xie Lian sat in the lotus position with his eyes closed, chanting the Dao De Jing in his mind. However, it helped little; the flower yao called to him shamelessly, chirping all sorts of too-familiar pet names—baby, sweetheart, gege, didi. It was throwing his mind into turmoil, so Xie Lian tried reciting out loud.
"The five colors cause blindness the five sounds cause deafness… indulgent hunts cause madness rare goods cause lawlessness…calm over impatience cold over heat silence is the ultimate virtue…be kind to those who are kind, be kind to those who are unkind…"
Xie Lian didn't notice that his recitation was incoherent as he stumbled over the scripture he could usually recite flawlessly, backward and forward.
Outside the cave, the flower yao clapped and laughed tauntingly.
"My dear Crown Prince, my sweetheart, my good Highness, you're not a monk, why are you reciting sutras—aiyoh!"
Shrieking erupted from all around. It sounded like although the young soldier had been silent all that time, he'd grown furious at the flower yao and had begun chopping and slashing, madly chasing them away from the entrance as they wailed.
"Murderer!"
"You cursed little brat, destroyer of beauty!" some accused from a distance. "No tenderness in your heart at all!"
"Scary, scary! So brutal at such a young age! Imagine him fully grown!"
Like starving beasts, the flower yao relentlessly tried to squeeze themselves into the cave, but they just couldn't manage it. They didn't notice the blood array on the ground and thought they were being blocked by the boy alone.
After some discussion amongst themselves, they gathered not too far away and called to him.
"Little gege, why must you stop us from going in? It's not like we're going to do anything bad. We just want to have a good time with His Highness!"
"Be good, little soldier, and don't hinder us from doing His Highness some good too."
"That little didi is so mean. A shame that he's so young and tender. He probably doesn't even know what 'doing good' means!"
The flower yao fell all over themselves in another round of mocking giggles. Xie Lian cracked his eyes open a slit, but he could see nothing aside from a black shadow standing at the entrance of the cave. It was the shadow of that boy, sword in hand, who was determined not to move, even in death.
Suddenly, one of the flower yao said, "Hey, little gege, don't root yourself there like a stiff shaft. What do you want? Why not come with me over there to have some fun? What sort do you fancy? Am I your type?"
The young soldier still didn't respond. Those flower yao thought in order to enter the cave they must go through him, so they all brought forth all their tricks, coddling him with their words.
"What about me?"
"How about this? Am I pretty?"
"Look at me, do you like this?"
Starting with flirtation, changing to complaints, and then devolving to curses—regardless of their tactics, the boy still ignored them while they were far away and struck at them if they drew near. Xie Lian knew that before Land of the Tenders emerged from the ground, they could change their shapes at will. He wanted to warn the boy, but due to his distressing predicament, he didn't dare open his mouth.
Finally, when at last those heavy waves of heat passed, he managed to gasp, "Don't look at them…"
It was exhausting enough simply fighting the hot blood that rushed to his head, so Xie Lian's voice was terribly soft and hushed. But that young soldier heard him instantly and called out in response, "Yes, sir! Your Highness, how…how are you?"
"I'm fine," Xie Lian said. "If things become difficult to bear, shut your eyes, seal your nose and mouth…"
The young soldier hadn't had a chance to answer when another flower yao suddenly burst out laughing.
"I know! Little guy, I bet your favorite type must look like this!"
It sounded as though a new Land of the Tender had emerged from the soil. A sudden dead silence descended outside the cave. That young soldier seemed to have stopped breathing.
In the next second, the crashing waves of laughter from the flower yao surged against Xie Lian, drowning him. The flower yao clapped and screeched.
"Aiyooh! What a play! What a plaaaaaay!"
"My god! How did you come up with this? You slay me… Ha ha ha ha ha ha… Look! That brat is completely stunned! I bet you figured him out!"
"This must be it! And here I thought that damned brat was a rock. But who knew how wrong we were! Such balls for somebody so young!"
"You win! We're nothing! How about it, little guy? Come quick and enjoy this sweet, delicious sight!"
"This is your chance—you won't find another shop that serves this dish if you leave this land of ours. If you don't seize this opportunity, you'll never get a taste, even if you dream of it for eight hundred years! Or do you want us to give you a hand? What a state you're in…hee hee hee hee…"
The young soldier was thoroughly incensed, and his voice was icy as frost. "You…are…seeking…death!"
Meanwhile, Xie Lian was about to reach his limit inside the cave.
His sight blurred, and his ears pounded with rushing blood; he could no longer sit up straight. He collapsed forward and barely managed to keep himself off the ground with his hands. Taking that tumble loosened his gritted teeth, and in that moment of delirium, a pained, wretched moan escaped his lips.
Xie Lian swiftly covered his mouth the moment the sound leaked, but the young soldier still whipped around.
"Your Highness…?"
Supporting himself with one hand, Xie Lian used the other to cover his mouth. His breathing was labored and erratic, and his shoulders convulsed and trembled. Seeing him, listening to him, one would probably assume he was weeping.
Never in his life, before or after ascension, had Xie Lian experienced such a grueling ordeal. This was much more arduous than the toughest trial at the Royal Holy Temple. The strength of the arm that supported his weight failed, and his body keeled over to the side. As he lay on the ground, delirious and barely conscious, he saw the boy looking like he wanted to enter.
"Don't come in!" Xie Lian barked. "I said not to come in no matter what you hear!"
That boy stopped in his tracks. Xie Lian laboriously flipped over onto his back and somehow managed to regulate his breathing despite the waves of heat that pulsed and spread throughout every inch of his body. The flower yao outside the cave heard him tossing and turning as that intense fire consumed him, and they clapped as they cackled.
"My good Highness, why be so hard on yourself?! Today you're refusing yourself a good time because you're scared of losing devotees, tomorrow you'll be scared to do other things because you're scared of losing devotees—is that any way for a heavenly official to live? You're more like a prisoner, with your hands bound by those who worship you! It's not worth it, being a god like that. You're gonna lose your place in heaven sooner or later, so why not just enjoy yourself now? Things come and go, so need to mind the petty details!"
Xie Lian briefly lost control of his temper, and veins faintly bulged on his forehead.
"Shut up!" he shouted, outraged.
The flower yao naturally weren't afraid of him right now, and they started teasing the little soldier anew.
"Little didi, don't you agree? Ha ha ha ha…"
"Hee hee hee… Aren't you feeling miserable just standing there?"
His body was already miserably drenched in cold sweat. Exceedingly hot and bothered, Xie Lian violently tore at his robes in search of even a faint breath of cool air. As he tore, he suddenly noticed—had strength returned to his arms? Although that energy didn't last long, leaving just as quickly as it came, he confirmed that the numbness had indeed passed. His vigor was gradually increasing, and yet Xie Lian's heart sank.
The Tender Fragrance inflicted numbness at first, followed by mania. The numbness had passed, which meant that madness and passion would poison his veins at any moment. Although he'd drawn two barriers at the entrance of the cave, the interior one was made specifically to prevent his crazed self from charging out. But once mania seized him, he wasn't sure whether the barrier would really be enough to stop him. This moment of clarity was a rare blessing, and Xie Lian clung to it with both hands, his mind rapidly pouring over ways to handle the situation.
Suddenly, a realization occurred to him—the Tender Fragrance worked fast, and usually all control would be lost the moment one's blood rushed to their brain. So how had he managed to stay afloat until now? Was the only reason really the exceptional steadiness of his mind?
With that thought, Xie Lian drew a long breath and tilted his head. He called out to the boy's silhouette at the cave's entrance, who was still looking indecisive about entering.
"You…come in."
The young soldier looked like he wanted to dash over to his side immediately, but after a few steps, he seemed to remember Xie Lian's furious instruction, "Don't come in, no matter what you hear," and he hesitated. Xie Lian felt terrible for changing his mind so quickly, but he called to him again in misery.
"Just come inside now."
The boy stopped hesitating and rushed in.
The cave's interior was a long, narrow tunnel, warm and humid. Darkness shrouded the space; one couldn't even see their hand in front of their face. That boy used Xie Lian's rasping breaths to find where he lay.
"Put down your sword… Put it on the ground," Xie Lian instructed. "Right next to me. Not too far away."
"Yes, sir!" The young soldier heeded him and handed over his only defense, placing it where Xie Lian could easily reach.
"Please help me up," Xie Lian asked.
The boy half knelt next to him and extended both arms to help support Xie Lian. However, when he reached out, he touched not fabric but feverish skin.
His hands immediately shrank back. Xie Lian himself felt burned by the boy's hot hands, and only then did he remember he'd torn off his upper robes in his manic state. A man naked from the waist up usually wasn't anything scandalous, though the current circumstances were slightly awkward. But there was no need to highlight their predicament; they just needed to do what they must. The boy seemed to realize it as well, and he didn't wait for Xie Lian to say anything. He simply reached out again to circle his arm around Xie Lian's bare shoulders, helping him up, and then immediately letting go. Xie Lian leaned against the wall of the tunnel, and with his back pressed against the cool rock, he felt some relief.
Noticing that the boy had backed a few steps away, he hurriedly said, "Wait, don't leave yet!"
That young soldier heeded his every word. He halted immediately.
"Cut off a lock of my hair," Xie Lian said. "I need it for something."
The boy acknowledged the order and reached out again. But the darkness made him clumsy, and with Xie Lian's long locks tied cleanly behind his back, his first contact wasn't with the man's hair. Instead, his fingers met the skin of Xie Lian's chest—skin that was soft and supple with a light mist of sweat. Xie Lian was already in torment from that touch when the boy accidentally brushed against something sensitive. It was like a bolt of lightning jolted through his chest. Pleasure spread throughout his whole body, forcing a soft moan from him.
The pair in that cave instantly froze.
The flower yao outside the cave were desperately trying to listen in, so how could they miss it? They giggled.
"My gosh, what are they doing in there?"
"So embarrassing!"
"I dare not listen!"
Xie Lian gritted his teeth at the sound of them mocking his suffering. "You—!"
Hearing Xie Lian's fury, the boy immediately dropped his hands, afraid to make any more contact. Obviously, Xie Lian wasn't furious at him —in his eyes that little soldier was nothing more than a child. He softened his tone, thinking the boy was probably scared of offending him.
"Don't panic—just keep going," he said. "Don't mind them."
"Yes, sir," the boy croaked.
Still, he was clearly flustered—he felt up everywhere he shouldn't, and every time he found that he'd touched the wrong place, his hands shrunk back. In the end, the only way he found Xie Lian's hair was to trace his hands up that bare chest, sparking unspeakable pleasure and agony inXie Lian. Such misery—Xie Lian longed to smash his head against the tunnel wall and knock himself out for good. Finally, the boy felt his way to Xie Lian's throbbing Adam's apple and reached behind his neck to grasp a lock of hair. With only a few strands in his grip, he very carefully cut them with the sword.
"Your Highness, it's done!" he cried immediately.
Another small surge of strength returned to Xie Lian, and he raised his palm. "Give me your hand."
The boy obeyed, and Xie Lian retrieved the long, thin strands and tied them in a knot on one of his fingers.
"Your Highness, what's this?" the boy asked with a quavering voice, baffled.
Xie Lian sighed. "The flower yao's poison is about to enter the second stage. I need to borrow your sword. If anything wants to harm you later, raise this hand and it will protect you. Now, leave."
A moment passed, and the young soldier returned to the entrance of the cave. The flower yao grew rowdy again.
"You're out?"
"Finally."
"Blocking us outside like that while you went in to have fun yourself —you're not very nice, kiddo!"
Meanwhile, Xie Lian could feel more strength surging through his limbs. He inhaled deeply and grabbed the young soldier's worn sword in his right hand. He composed himself, then raised the sword and made a cut on his left arm.
In a flash, it was like the fog had lifted, and his senses slowly returned.
He knew it!
Blood streamed down Xie Lian's left arm, but it was like he'd finally grasped a lifeline in the midst of this chaos. The fragrance of Land of the Tender could aggravate one's temper and arouse deep, slumbering urges. Typically, the stronger the repressed urge, the stronger the rebound after breathing in the fragrance. As for what Xie Lian had repressed…other than lust, it was the urge to kill.
This murderous bloodlust couldn't be directed at nefarious creatures. He had slain many such evils in the past, so he'd never repressed that desire. The target had to be a human or god to inflict a sense of transgression. Before entering the cave, Xie Lian had cut himself to draw the arrays, and so blood was spilled. It was somewhat effective against the Tender Fragrance, because injuring himself was also a form of inflicting harm.
At the end of the day, lust and murder were both wildly aggressive desires—Xie Lian had even heard that some considered them to stem from the same origin, their nature one and the same. Using himself as evidence of this theory, there was indeed an alternative method to pass the current trial.
Sure of his own reasoning, Xie Lian slashed another cut on his left arm without hesitation, and every cut brought more wisps of clarity to his mind. He was too busy rejoicing at this to realize that the Tender Fragrance was stirring more evil within his body—the instant his bloodlust was satiated, a wave of pleasure crashed over him.
That sudden surge coursed through every inch of him from head to toe, effortlessly breaking the defensive walls he had painstakingly built. By the time Xie Lian had realized it, he was already quietly moaning.
If he wasn't alone in the cave, Xie Lian wouldn't be able to believe that sound came from his throat. He shuddered violently, and his eyes grew wide as he thought, This method should've worked! Why would this happen?
He glanced at the sword and suddenly remembered: the young soldier had used it to cut the stems of the flowers and to strike the humanoid flower yao. The blade was covered in the sap from the Land of the Tenders. He used a fifth of his power to make the first cut on his arm, but he could only achieve the same relief if he used a third of his power to make the next cut. It was like drinking poison to quench his thirst.
The madness must've gone to his head, as he otherwise surely would have noticed this. Xie Lian cursed himself internally, but as he'd already committed the act, he could only rip off a piece of his left sleeve to wipe madly at the sword, then tear off his right sleeve to stuff it in his mouth, biting down on it mulishly and doing his best to restrain himself.
The quiet moans were forcibly cut off by bitten lips and gritted teeth, but noises echoed within caves, so every small sound was amplified and reverberated outward. The boy had heeded his instructions and covered his eyes, using only his sense of hearing to work, and in doing so his ears became more sensitive; there was no way he had missed hearing something strange.
Unable to hold back any longer, the boy asked with a quavering voice, "Your Highness?"
Wallowing in such an unspeakable state was the biggest humiliation of Xie Lian's life. He could hardly imagine what would happen should anyone see him like this—even submerged in darkness, he could not tolerate the thought.
"Don't come in!" he yelled.
However, that piece of cloth was still stuffed in his mouth, and his command just sounded like muffled whimpering, exceedingly pitiful and wretched. The young soldier became even more anxious at the sound.
Xie Lian's left arm was already bleeding profusely from that self-inflicted gash, but at the end of the day, it was only self-harm, not murder, and so the urge wasn't entirely fulfilled. His mouth slackened, and the piece of cloth fell from his lips.
Xie Lian stabbed his left leg next, with increasing brutality. It was a deep stab, and the thick sound of the blade penetrating his flesh echoed through the cave. The young soldier couldn't stand back anymore and dropped his hands to rush toward him. But the sound of his hurried footsteps had Xie Lian scrambling away in terror. Even when his back was pressed against the wall, he continued to push backward, cowering.
"No, no, no! Don't come near me, don't…"
The second blood barrier by the entrance of the cave was drawn especially to stop Xie Lian, but it wouldn't stop that boy—he still had a chance to return to safety. The poison from the Tender Fragrance was about to enter the second stage, and if that boy approached, Xie Lian could end his life right then and there, giving him no chance to escape. He was terrified he'd kill the child by accident. All he could do was avoid him.
The young soldier heard the panic in his voice and called out in concern and confusion, "Your Highness…"
The bloodlust was boiling in his veins. He raised the worn sword with his shuddering hand, and a voice inside his head screamed, I will not die, I will not die, I will not die!
The next moment, in a split-second decision, he turned his blade.
In the darkness, the young soldier could see the flash of cold metal, and he cried, "Your Highness!"
The sword struck, penetrating Xie Lian's own stomach. He'd nailed himself firmly onto the ground!
A sharp pain exploded from his abdomen, spreading throughout his whole body and dispersing the heat. Xie Lian's hands gripped the hilt tightly, and his eyes flashed. He choked out a cough, and a thin trail of blood flowed down from the corner of his lips. His breathing stopped, and his body stilled. The young soldier was left in dumbfounded shock, and he fell to his knees next to his body.
Screeching and shrieking began outside the cave.
"Who are you?!"
The voices of the flower yao were delicate but shrill, and their shrieks were piercing to the ear. And yet there was another who thundered louder, dominating all their cries.
"What the hell?!"
Hearing that angry roar, Xie Lian suddenly sucked in breath anew.
Feng Xin!
"Land of the Tenders," another muffled voice said. "If you don't want to get poisoned, cover your face."
That was Mu Qing, of course, who clearly already had his face covered. Feng Xin seemed to have seen something, and gave an angry, muffled shout through the suggested face covering.
"Is that…Your Highness? Your Highness?! Fuck! What the fuck?! What's the meaning of this?!"
Mu Qing let out an "eh?" then commented, "What an indecent sight! How outrageous!"
His tone didn't sound as angry as Feng Xin's, more like he was reacting to a bad joke. Xie Lian was still inside the cave and couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but he could guess that those flower yaowere probably parading their naked selves before them and generally being highly inappropriate.
Feng Xin was cursing uproariously. "Hurry and get rid of them now! Don't let anyone else see this!"
Soon, all he heard was the screaming and cursing of the female yao, which gradually faded.
"Make sure to exterminate them thoroughly," Mu Qing lectured. "The scent from this type of yao is poisonous, and if there are any leftover seedlings they'll just come back."
Xie Lian sucked in a breath, waited, and then coughed weakly once. The other two immediately heard him and charged to the cave, yelling.
"Your Highness, are you in there?"
"I'm here…" Xie Lian replied.
Even though he tried to steady his voice, it was still weaker than normal. The two of them rushed over but were stopped by the barriers outside the cave's entrance. However, they were familiar with arrays drawn by Xie Lian and knew how to break them. Feng Xin ignited a palm torch as he walked in, but before the deepest part of the cave was illuminated, he suddenly called out.
"Who's there?"
Mu Qing was alarmed as well. "Is there someone else in the cave?"
"Don't worry. Just a little soldier," Xie Lian said.
The two calmed down and entered. The firelight brightened the entire cave with a warm orangey glow and illuminated Xie Lian—who lay there sprawled on the ground, his long hair strewn around him, his upper robes completely peeled off, and a long sword impaling his abdomen and nailing him to the ground.
The two were horrified by the sight.
Feng Xin leaned down. "Who did this?!"
"Me," Xie Lian replied.
Mu Qing was aghast. "What happened?"
Xie Lian shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it. I only went this far because there was no other way. Hurry and free me."
Mu Qing approached and pulled out the sword with a frown, tossing it to the side with a clang; the young soldier retrieved it. Feng Xin helped Xie Lian sit up and covered him with an outer robe. Only then did Xie Lian finally give them a rough account of his ghastly night with the Land of the Tenders.
"You two came faster than I expected. Where's Qi Rong?"
"Qi Rong got locked up in the palace by the king," Feng Xin said."He's always so showy, so of course he was an easy target. But he knew to come find us as soon as he got back, so at least his head's clear enough for that."
It seemed that as much as Qi Rong despised his two attendants, he still acknowledged how competent they were. The two had planned to have one stay behind to guard the city, but Qi Rong was screaming and howling and clutching a sword smeared in Xie Lian's blood, so they thought the danger might be greater than they expected and decided to come together. Beizi Hill was thick with the air of evil, so it wasn't hard to pinpoint their location and make their way there quickly.
Although Xie Lian possessed an ascended body—normal blades could not hurt his cultivation foundation, and a jab like this wouldn't kill him—he had still never truly lost in a battle of life and death in his twenty years. This was the very first time he'd been so badly wounded, and he'd need time to recover. So Feng Xin carried him on his back on their return to the imperial capital. An excruciating, foreign pain from his stomach stabbed at him in waves, and Xie Lian furrowed his brow as he tried to restrain himself.
"Did you two run into anything on your way here?"
"No," Mu Qing replied.
Xie Lian sucked in a breath and said, "Be careful, there are inhuman creatures about…"
He had wanted to tell them about that white-clothed creature, but he was thoroughly exhausted. From the corner of his eye, he could see the young soldier following behind with that bloody iron sword still in hand, and the sight finally allowed him to relax. He closed his eyes and fell deeply asleep to restore his energy.
He had capriciously descended into the Mortal Realm over two months ago, and ever since, Xie Lian had not once closed his eyes to rest. With the pressure on him building up day after day, this whole ordeal had finally crushed him. He was comatose for three full days.
On the third day, he woke up with a start and found himself staring at a glamorous, beautiful ceiling. He was in the palace, inside his bedchamber. He immediately sat up.
"Feng Xin!"
Feng Xin was just outside testing his bow, and he entered when he heard the call.
"Your Highness!"
Xie Lian's stomach injury had long since healed, and he immediately rolled out of bed. "Was I out for a long time? Did anything happen?"
"Relax," Feng Xin said. "It was only a few days. There were no enemy attacks. If there had been, wouldn't I have woken you up? Go back to bed—you forgot your shoes again."
Finally reassured, Xie Lian sat back down on the bed. After a pause, he asked, "Where's Mu Qing?"
Just then, Mu Qing walked in too, with a set of prepared robes in his hands. "Here."
He attended to dressing the crown prince. Feng Xin spoke up beside them.
"Even though there hasn't been a battle in the past few days, we did find something out."
"Which is?" Xie Lian asked.
"Didn't we say before that something's off with Yong'an? That they might have gotten reinforcements somehow?" Feng Xin began. "We went to scout Beizi Hill and saw several people that were dressed like our citizens but who had strange accents. They didn't seem like they were from Xianle. I captured them, and sure enough, there are other kingdoms supporting them from the shadows, secretly shipping them supplies and arms."
With so many people of Yong'an crammed on that wild, mountainous hill, there was no way they'd survived all this time on wild roots and weeds!
Feng Xin cussed. "Fucking fakers. Pretending to be all friendly and then rubbing elbows with the enemy at a time like this—they're just happy for the chance to throw Xianle into complete chaos!"
The Kingdom of Xianle possessed a vast territory with bountiful resources; its wealth was abundant, its production of precious jewels plentiful. Nearby kingdoms had long watched them with envious eyes. Xie Lian had expected this and shook his head gravely.
He recalled something else and asked, "Where's that boy?"
"Which one?" Feng Xin asked. "Oh, the little soldier? We were busy rushing you to the state preceptor that day, so no one paid him any mind. He probably went back to his troop."
Now dressed, Xie Lian lowered his arms and sat down with poise on the bed. "That child was fairly skilled; I think he's got a lot of potential with the saber. If he's taught well, he'll be spectacular when he's older," he said. "Mu Qing, remember to find him for me when you get a chance. Get him settled somehow—he could be appointed."
Xie Lian loved talented martial artists. He always just had to appoint them to his side, so he could watch them every day and soak in delight. This wasn't the first time he had made such comments, but it was the first time they were directed at a child. Mu Qing heard him make those compliments, "really good potential with the saber," "spectacular when he's older," and his expression turned unreadable. He scrunched up the hair band he'd just untied from Xie Lian's head, then turned around to throw it to the side.
Feng Xin, on the other hand, remarked, "That brat only looked about fourteen or fifteen. Isn't that too young? What's he gonna do after being appointed?"
In a flat voice, Mu Qing remarked upon the order as well, "I don't think it's proper. It'd be against military rules."
"A god can descend into the Mortal Realm, so what can military rules do to me?" Xie Lian said, then continued his praise. "You two should've seen the way he killed those binu! His stance was so good!"
Speaking of binu, that strange, white-clothed creature flashed in his mind.
"Your Highness, why did yao like those Land of the Tenders appear on Beizi Hill?" Feng Xin asked. "That's never happened before."
Xie Lian rose to his feet. "That's what I wanted to tell you two that day."
Now that he finally had the time, he recounted his meeting with the one who wore the crying-smiling mask. The three of them talked it over, and for fear of dereliction of duty, they decided in the end that it was better to report it to the heavens. So Xie Lian left his bedchamber, met briefly with the king and queen, and hurried to the Palace of Divine Might on Mount Taicang.
In the past, Xie Lian would've gone straight to the Heavenly Capital directly to tell Jun Wu face-to-face. Yet the circumstances had changed—he deserted the Heavenly Capital of his own volition, so that would be like asking for the keys back. Even if he wanted to return now, the doors would be locked. Furthermore, he'd left in such an upset and spoken with such friction in the Palace of Divine Might that he was a little embarrassed to face Jun Wu. Thus, with great reverence, he paid his respects with a few giant sticks of incense in the Palace of Divine Might and passed on the message to the divine statue of the Heavenly Emperor. Once Jun Wu was available, he would hear it. However, Jun Wu regularly received thousands upon thousands of incense respects—an overwhelming amount—with those of grand believers mixed in. Whether he would hear this particular message would depend entirely on chance.
Xie Lian didn't dare stay absent for too long, so he immediately returned to the battlefront to continue his watch over the city.
Maybe it was because the damage inflicted in the first battle was too great and their reinforcements had frequently been cut off by Feng Xin and Mu Qing's covert sabotage, but Yong'an changed tactics; they didn't make another reckless charge. There were a few smaller battles over the next few months, but no grave losses. Compared to that first battle, those little bouts were nothing. That strange, white-clothed creature didn't appear again either. The tension in the imperial capital of Xianle dissipated with this relative peace.
Xie Lian also found a rare chance to leave the front lines, and he strolled through the capital to relax a bit. He stepped onto a small stone bridge, stirring the long, thin branches of the weeping willow next to the bridge as he did. He watched the lively red koi fish swish their tails, feeling envious at the sight of them swimming so happily through the coursing waters below. He had been lost in thought for a while when he suddenly felt eyes staring at him from behind. When he turned his head, however, there was no one there. Though puzzling, he didn't sense any malicious or killing intent, so Xie Lian paid it no mind.
After crossing the bridge, he strolled along the Grand Avenue of Divine Might, and passersby on the road bowed to him excitedly or reverently or joyfully, greeting him as "Your Highness." Xie Lian nodded and smiled, but after walking for a while, he felt that gaze on his back again.
This time, he did pay it mind and whipped around without warning to catch the culprit in the act. Beneath a willow tree, he saw the flash of a figure dodging behind the trunk. Xie Lian strode forward and was about to seize the person when he realized with a start that it was a boy with his head wrapped in bandages.
"You're…?"
Even with bandages wrapped all around his head, the boy still covered his face with his crossed arms, leaving only a bright eye peeking through his patched sleeves.
"Y-Your Highness, I didn't mean to…" he stammered.
Xie Lian pointed at him. "You're the one from that night…"
He trailed off as he recalled the exact details of what had transpired that night many months ago. Images filled his mind, and his face reddened at the memory and the extent of his discomposure. Feeling slightly awkward, he hurriedly cleared his throat.
"So it was you. I was going to look for you a while back, but with so much on my plate I'd forgotten. Ahem, aren't you a soldier in the army? Why are you in the city?"
The boy was taken aback. "I'm not in the army anymore," he replied, a little mopingly.
"Huh? Why not?" Xie Lian asked, bewildered.
The boy was even more bewildered. "I…got kicked out. Your Highness, did…did you not know?!"
Xie Lian was perplexed. "Know what?"
He had clearly told Mu Qing that this child was a good sprout and that he should be settled and appointed. So why was he kicked out of the army after Xie Lian's specific directions?!
That boy looked both excited and happy, and he dropped his arms immediately. "So Your Highness didn't know! I had thought… I thought…"
Xie Lian was getting more and more curious. "Come, tell me, why did you get kicked out? Who kicked you out? Why did you think I would know? Also, you thought what?"
The boy took a step toward him, but before he could speak, a loud, horrified scream rang out from the Grand Avenue of Divine Might.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah—!"
Xie Lian whipped his head around and saw a man running and stumbling in his direction, holding his face.