"Where is he?" Xie Lian asked.
The three entered the small pavilion, but there was no one within. The spiritual devices and treasures were set up exactly as they had been before, but since the doors had been opened, they were now useless.
"Lord Wind Master? Where are you?!" Xie Lian shouted in the communication array.
They had been focused on rushing here, and Shi Qingxuan had been so distraught that Xie Lian had proposed that he meditate to calm down—to stop thinking and saying nonsense and scaring himself. Shi Qingxuan had thought the suggestion was very sensible and gradually stopped talking, so the lack of chatter on the way over didn't seem like cause for concern. That was why Xie Lian hadn't noticed anything amiss, but now, no matter how he yelled, there was no answer. A sense of foreboding spread within his mind. In a situation like this, there could only be two possibilities: either Shi Qingxuan deliberately wasn't responding, or he had lost consciousness.
Every single one of the dozens of spiritual devices and treasures on the Wind Master's person was a rare and precious item, and Xie Lian had used all of them to set the formation of the array. Nothing should've been able to break through so easily—even if it could be done, it would take at least three days and nights, just as Shi Qingxuan himself had said. What's more, it would be impossible not to leave evidence of a break-in. But from the look of things, the pavilion's doors and windows were all intact, and there were no tunnels or ladders to be found. Xie Lian returned to the entrance and collected the golden lock from the ground to inspect it.
"He really did open the doors himself."
Why would he welcome in his own doom when he knew reinforcements would arrive at any moment? Xie Lian couldn't understand it.
"He said he wouldn't open the doors to anyone other than us. So why did he do just that?"
"Maybe he thought we were the ones at the door?" Ming Yi said gravely.
A grim scene played out in Xie Lian's mind when he heard this theory. He pictured three individuals, one wearing his face, one wearing Hua Cheng's, and one wearing Ming Yi's. They knocked on the pavilion's doors, and an overjoyed Shi Qingxuan rushed to welcome them inside. Then the three "people" surrounded him, their smiles eerie. The golden lock in Shi Qingxuan's hand fell to the ground by his feet, never to be picked up.
Xie Lian shook his head. "That's impossible. I've never heard that the Reverend of Empty Words has the ability to disguise itself."
"Maybe it called for helpers," Ming Yi said.
Xie Lian considered this but dismissed it. "Everything we ran into today was sudden and unforeseen. We hadn't predicted we would need an array to protect the Wind Master, so it shouldn't have been able to round up ghosts to help on such short notice. And didn't we tell Lord Wind Master that we'd call to him with the communication array when we got here? It should've been easy to figure out who was outside, and whether they were real or fake, by just asking us in the group array. How could he be so easily deceived?"
Xie Lian came to an abrupt halt. "Unless he was told to open the doors by someone he knew..." he mumbled.
"Someone he knew?" Ming Yi questioned. "How so?"
"His ears were plugged. He couldn't hear," Hua Cheng pointed out just then.
Xie Lian seized his arm and exclaimed, "Well said, San Lang! It was exactly for that reason I determined it must be someone he knew. Because Lord Wind Master had his ears plugged, he wouldn't have been able to hear anything from the outside! Unless he removed the earplugs, but would he do that? No—he was so terrified, he'd die first. And so there was only one way he could've been deceived into opening the door…" The private communication array!
Xie Lian started to pace. "Which means that while we were on our way over, someone secretly connected with Lord Wind Master and told him something that made him open up.
And it had to be someone he was close with, because otherwise they wouldn't know Lord Wind Master's verbal password. Heavenly officials' verbal passwords are strictly guarded secrets, not to be shared freely with just anyone— and especially not with nefarious creatures like the Reverend of Empty Words. Furthermore, it must have been someone he trusted deeply, or else he wouldn't have opened the doors so carelessly."
"Or," Hua Cheng offered, "he didn't know the person, but the person knew him. And when they came knocking, they came bearing something that gave him no choice but to open the doors."
Xie Lian gave serious consideration to that possibility.
"Theoretically, we can send messages to Lord Wind Master as long as we have his verbal password. But wouldn't Lord Wind Master find it odd if a stranger's voice started speaking to him out of nowhere? He would've told us in the communication array the moment he heard…unless this mysterious individual who sent the private communication paralyzed him with their very first message. But what kind of message could possibly do that?"
"A threat?" Ming Yi wondered.
"How? 'If you don't come out, I'll tell your brother I've returned to harass you'?" Xie Lian dismissed the thought.
"Not likely."
The Reverend of Empty Words wasn't necessarily aware of Shi Qingxuan's worries. And furthermore, it wasn't a heavenly official— how could it even contact the Water Master to announce its existence? Reinforcements were arriving within the hour, but Shi Qingxuan couldn't even wait that long.
Whether the creature even stood a chance against the Water Master was another matter entirely. It was worth remembering that it had never harassed Shi Wudu; its eyes were dead set on Shi Qingxuan, specifically picking the lower-hanging fruit. It was clear that the Reverend was very wary of the Water Master, so it wouldn't directly provoke him.
"Search for another hour, one last time," Ming Yi said.
Xie Lian understood what he meant and nodded. "Okay.
If we still can't find him after an hour, Lord Water Master must be informed of the situation, no matter how much Lord Wind Master protests. Let's split up! We'll search over here, and Lord Earth Master, please search over there."
Ming Yi turned around and left without a word. Xie Lian searched the area on fleet feet, and all the while he never gave up calling for Shi Qingxuan in the communication array.
However, there was nothing but dead silence on the other line.
"How goes it?" Hua Cheng asked.
Xie Lian shook his head. "No response whatsoever."
His sense of foreboding was growing stronger. He searched every room of every pavilion and had gone through almost every building in the surrounding area—but there was no trace of Shi Qingxuan at all.
Soon, the two came to the tallest pavilion around. This pavilion was obviously the star of the surrounding buildings, the centerpiece. It had been renovated multiple times and stood in impressive magnificence, with a number of poetry verses written on the walls. Xie Lian raised his head to look at the establishment plaque, which read "The T errace of Cascading Wine."
"Is it referring to the 'Young Lord Who Poured Wine'?" he wondered out loud.
"That's right," Hua Cheng confirmed. "This is indeed where the tale of 'The Young Lord Who Poured Wine' took place."
Xie Lian looked at him. "So it really is all related?"
"Mhm," Hua Cheng replied, then briefly gave an account.
As the tale went, when Shi Qingxuan was still mortal, he would often come to this place after training to lounge on the terrace and drink. He was happy, carefree, and always quite inebriated. One day, a wicked crook came along; the crook often bullied the good people of the nearby village. When Shi Qingxuan spotted him from his perch on the terrace high above, he cast a little spell and then leisurely poured down wine from his cup. The wine spilled onto the crook's head and knocked him out in an instant. After Shi Wudu appointed him a deputy general, Shi Qingxuan still loved the Mortal Realm, and he continued to drink at this place as he had before—and he ascended while he was doing just that.
Ascending while knocking back cups sounded a bit absurd, but it actually wasn't that silly; sometimes chance arrives without any rhyme or reason. For example, Xie Lian himself was fast asleep and dreaming strange dreams when his ascension happened. Perhaps in the future someone's bathroom break would be interrupted by their own ascension —that would certainly be quite the sight.
In any case, scholars and poets always loved visiting places that served as the settings for historical legends and tales. Such spots would always inspire intellectuals to raise their brushes and express their longing for such a heavenly lifestyle. Xie Lian now understood that this was one of those landmarks. There were no tourists in the middle of the night, but there would surely be many the next day—and they would be met with the astonishing sight of blown-away houses and trees, and would surely cry that the Wind Master had paid a visit.
Nevertheless, the renowned tale of the Young Lord Who Poured Wine was slightly different from what Xie Lian had imagined.
Just then, he heard Hua Cheng say darkly, "Gege, I need to go take care of something. A trifle. Please be careful, I won't be long."
T ake care of what? Xie Lian wondered. When he recalled Hua Cheng's angry tone in the private communication array and now saw his unfriendly demeanor, he asked, "Are you going to seek out the Reverend of Empty Words?"
Hua Cheng paused for a moment, then replied, "No."
Since it wasn't that, then it wasn't his place to press further. Xie Lian nodded.
"You were only here for fun anyway. Since something's come up, just go. Please take care of yourself too."
"I will," Hua Cheng said. After a pause, he added, "When I come back, I'll tell you something."
Xie Lian blinked. "T ell me what?"
But Hua Cheng had already disappeared.
After an hour, there was still nothing, and Xie Lian called out to Ming Yi in the communication array.
"Lord Earth Master! How are things on your end? I haven't found him here, so I'm coming back."
"Nothing!" Ming Yi answered.
"This won't do. I can't hold my tongue any longer," Xie Lian said. "Let's meet up at the center of the T errace of Cascading Wine. I'm going to report to Lord Water Master right now."
With that, he mentally recited the verbal password to Ling Wen's private communication array.
"Ling Wen, are you there? Can you find Lord Water Master? Please tell him to meet us at the T errace of Cascading Wine at his soonest convenience. It's urgent!"
The clear voice of a man rang next to his ear; it sounded like Ling Wen was in his male form at the moment.
"Your Highness? Lord Water Master is here with me right now. He's not someone who likes heading out and about, so he probably won't descend. What business do you have with him? I can pass on the message."
Xie Lian had almost reached the main building of the T errace of Cascading Wine, and he spotted something hanging from one of the balconies. It looked like a white cloth ceaselessly fluttering in the night breeze.
Xie Lian was stricken. Was there something there before…?
When he walked closer, he finally saw what it was.
Wasn't that Shi Qingxuan's outer robe?!
Ming Yi's voice came roaring over the communication array. "Your Highness, come to the tallest pavilion of the T errace of Cascading Wine! Hurry!"
Xie Lian jolted. On the other end of the communication array, Ling Wen asked him, "Your Highness? Are you still there?"
"Please have Lord Water Master descend as soon as possible!" Xie Lian exclaimed. "Something happened to Lord Wind Master!"
After shouting that last message, he charged up the pavilion. There were no more sounds from the other end of the line; Ling Wen was probably shocked by his message and was reporting the situation to Shi Wudu. When Xie Lian made it to the highest floor, a person was sprawled out in the middle of the room.
It was Shi Qingxuan.
Shi Qingxuan's eyes were shut tight. He had no external injuries, nor were there traces of blood. Ming Yi helped him upright, and as he tugged at Shi Qingxuan's unconscious body, something clattered to the ground from where it had been resting on his chest. As Xie Lian looked closer at that fallen item, he felt his heart tighten—it was the Wind Master's fan, and it had been snapped in half. This absolute jewel of a spiritual device could only be chanced upon; one could spend centuries attempting to forge something like it and still not succeed. It was the Wind Master's primary spiritual device, and yet it had been easily destroyed!
"When we looked in here earlier, there was no one!" Xie Lian exclaimed.
But as he spoke, he noticed something amiss that he hadn't spotted before. When he and Hua Cheng had searched this chamber, the room's walls showcased dozens of poetry verses that had been left by scholarly tourists; some graceful and flowing, some wild and arrogant, others proper and focused. But now, they were all gone, as if someone had wiped them clean.
The only thing left behind was a phrase that hadn't been there before, written in large, crimson script that seemed to drip like blood.
"WRETCHED BEGINNING, WRETCHED END."
That was the very same curse the Reverend of Empty Words bestowed on Shi Qingxuan when he was born!
"Your Highness, where's the one who was with you?"
Ming Yi asked suddenly.
Xie Lian began to fret. Oh no! San Lang left at such an inopportune moment!
The moment Hua Cheng left his side, something happened to Shi Qingxuan. This really couldn't be explained away easily. However, Xie Lian did not allow his distress to show.
"I asked him to go search for the Reverend of Empty Words," he explained solemnly.
"When did he leave?" Ming Yi asked.
Xie Lian replied without batting an eye. "Just now. I don't think he's been gone for even half an incense time."
The truth was, it was much longer ago than that. But Xie Lian himself never doubted Hua Cheng, so he naturally wouldn't allow anyone a chance to suspect him. It prevented any issues that might arise from such a misunderstanding.
Thunder rolled in waves in the skies overhead. An eight-wheeled golden carriage broke through the clouds and drove toward them menacingly.
As he'd been unable to reach the T errace of Cascading Wine using the teleportation array, it seemed Shi Wudu had gone straight for a golden carriage. It must be said that riding forth from the heavens driving a golden carriage pulled by burnished metal horses was a rather huge fanfare. There would doubtless be an uproar in the Mortal Realm if he was spotted by anyone out stargazing at this hour. The Water T yrant really wasn't afraid of anything.
The golden carriage bore down on them threateningly, and Xie Lian made an urgent request of Ming Yi.
"Lord Earth Master, if any heavenly officials should ask, please don't say a word about Hua-chengzhu. Many of those in the Heavenly Court like to exaggerate and fabricate stories. This case has nothing to do with him, so there's no need to complicate things."
Ming Yi gave him a look. "Very well."
He agreed surprisingly easily, then looked down to keep an eye on Shi Qingxuan's condition. Xie Lian let out a sigh of relief, but seeing the unmoving Wind Master, his heart sank once more.
The golden carriage roared closer and closer, trailing propitious clouds behind it, and finally landed. A small team of junior heavenly officials stood at the ready outside the carriage, and three grand heavenly officials exited the vehicle: Shi Wudu, Pei Ming, and Ling Wen. Three of the Mid-Autumn Banquet's top ten had come at once. Of course, Xie Lian had long since forgotten that he himself was the first of that top ten...
With a flick of his sleeves, Shi Wudu disembarked the carriage wearing a frown and deeply knitted brows. Water Master fan in hand, he entered the pavilion with Pei Ming and Ling Wen following behind. The moment he saw his younger brother lying on the ground like a corpse, his expression changed and he rushed over.
"Qingxuan? Qingxuan! What happened?"
"Lord Wind Master ran into the Reverend of Empty Words," Xie Lian succinctly explained.
"...What did you say?" Shi Wudu exclaimed in disbelief.
"The Reverend of Empty Words?"
At the sound of that name, it wasn't only Shi Wudu's face that dropped but Pei Ming's and Ling Wen's as well. It seemed they'd long known of Shi Wudu's scourge. Watching them, Xie Lian couldn't determine if anyone was faking or secretly delighted; they were all acting naturally. Especially Shi Wudu—there was no way he was acting.
Ling Wen retrieved a collection of bottles and vials from his sleeve. "Try feeding him these one by one."
Pei Ming simply remarked, "It's you again, Your Highness."
"An unlucky coincidence," Xie Lian replied. "There are only so many of us milling around in the heavens."
"It seems that every time we see you, the other one is involved somehow. I wonder if that's true this time too?"
"No, no. Of course not," Xie Lian replied coolly.
He was lying through his teeth, but Ming Yi surprisingly kept his promise and didn't say a word on the matter. Pei Ming stopped talking, and with a wave of his hand, he led the officials under his command in a search of the premises.
Given the situation, it was actually better that Hua Cheng had left. At least he wasn't caught at the scene of the crime.
Shi Wudu couldn't wake Shi Qingxuan, but he inadvertently glanced at the giant, bloody words scrawled on the snow-white wall, and his face twisted at the sight of them. He paled whiter than the wall, and his entire body began to shake with fury.
"Who wrote this? Who wrote it?!"
Even though he was shouting, his voice was trembling.
Just then, Ling Wen exclaimed, "Lord Wind Master is awake!"
Xie Lian instantly bent down. "Lord Wind Master?"
Shi Qingxuan's eyes slowly blinked open. Shi Wudu shoved everyone aside and exclaimed, "Qingxuan? Are you all right? Do you feel pain anywhere? Who hurt you?!"
Shi Qingxuan was dazed for a good while before he gradually came around. When he fully regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was Shi Wudu. And then something happened that no one could have expected—Shi Qingxuan shoved Shi Wudu away, clutched his own head, and screamed.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah—!"