Although Xie Lian did indeed live his days passing himself off as impotent, pretending not to have the thing was still fundamentally different than truly losing the thing forever. It shocked a sheen of cold sweat into covering his body.
"Dodge!" he barked.
The blade was pulled out of the ground just as he spoke.
Xie Lian seized the chance to move forward, but then he immediately yanked Shi Qingxuan back.
"Watch out!"
The blade plunged down again and stabbed right in front of Shi Qingxuan, practically scraping past his head; if Xie Lian hadn't pulled him back in time, he would've been nailed to the ground on the spot.
"That was close!" he exclaimed, terrified. "How did you know where it would attack?"
"Don't know! I guessed!" Xie Lian said.
It was pure instinct. When it came to facing down an enemy with murderous intent, he had trained to the point where he could react without thinking. A second, a third, and a fourth blade came plunging down, the glare of each blade blocking the way forward and back. Boom! A huge explosion followed shortly after. Violent tremors shook the tunnel, raining down dust and debris.
"They've opened fire from above!"
Each boom got progressively louder, and the tremors grew in strength—their source was obviously coming closer and closer. Sharp swords blocked them from the front and back, all young, keen blades. Fangxin was a senior, so Xie Lian wasn't sure that it could fight them head-on. Ming Yi retrieved his crescent shovel from somewhere and began to dig into a wall of the confined tunnel with great difficulty.
Next to him, Shi Qingxuan was so distressed that his soul was about to leave his body.
"Ming-xiong, can you even do this? Ming-xiong, can you hurry up? It's your fault for not using that thing for such a long time! You gotta spend more time with your devices, all right? Get intimate. Look how stiff and rusty it's gotten!"
T o be fair, allowing it to become rusty was forgivable.
After all, aside from Xie Lian, there wasn't a single heavenly official who could carry around a shovel every day with a straight face.
Veins popped on Ming Yi's forehead. "Shut up!"
Xie Lian hastily intervened. "Don't be mad, don't be mad. The tunnel's been dug!"
It was as he said. The moment Ming Yi put pressure on his shovel, a hole opened up before them. Raising his shovel high, he burrowed crazily ahead while Shi Qingxuan cheered him on crazily from the middle. As the only non-crazy person, Xie Lian brought up the rear. The shovel of the Earth Master was truly magical—it dug out a few dozen meters ahead with only a few strokes, and when he looked back, the hole behind was gradually closing up on its own.
However, thin light leaked from above the place where they'd just been trapped.
"They're drilling through!" Xie Lian alerted them urgently.
Ming Yi picked up the pace and burrowed even crazier.
But suddenly, his movements stopped and he looked up. Xie Lian reacted the same way, because they both sensed the same thing: it was completely silent above them. They could detect no movement. There was likely an empty palace above them.
Since their tunnel had already been discovered, they needed to get out before trying anything else. Ming Yi changed course and started digging upward.
"Are you two sure there's nobody here who'll spot us when we get out?!" Shi Qingxuan asked.
"Haven't heard anything. Unless they're sleeping," Ming Yi replied.
Of course, that shouldn't be a possibility—heavenly officials usually didn't need to sleep at all, never mind in the middle of the day. Ming Yi's shovel broke through and all three poked their heads out to take a gasp of fresh air.
However, before they even had the chance to exhale, they saw someone on the bed across from them. It was a young man, and he was soundly asleep with his arms and legs sprawled out like a starfish.
Xie Lian was baffled. It seemed there really were heavenly officials who slept in the middle of the day!
Roused by the hubbub, the youth rolled over and sat up.
His curly hair was a frightful mess from his slumber, and he watched the three strange heads with sleepy eyes. He furrowed his brows and scratched his head, clearly confused as to why such things had appeared in his palace. The three of them pretended that nothing was wrong and hastily clambered out of the hole. But just when Shi Qingxuan was almost out, he gave a cry of alarm. Xie Lian looked back and saw that a hand had caught his ankle.
That hand's owner was Pei Ming. He maintained exceptional manners even while stuffed into a tunnel.
"I'd wondered what little mouse was scurrying under my palace. Qingxuan, why are you out and about? Where are you going? You know how your brother gets when he's mad. Hurry back before he finds out."
Ruoye flew forth to strike his hand away, and Pei Ming leapt out of the hole.
"Your Highness, Lord Earth Master, don't you have anything better to do? It's quite preposterous that you're encouraging the Wind Master to run away from home for no reason, isn't it?"
"General Pei, while Lord Wind Master is Lord Water Master's younger brother, he has still been a heavenly official for centuries. Please don't talk about him like he's a three-year-old toddler," Xie Lian said. "If we're going to talk about reasons, Lord Water Master imprisoned a heavenly colleague with no justification. No matter how you want to spin it, wouldn't you say he's the one being preposterous?"
If his theory on the matter was right, then the Wind Master really couldn't stay in the Upper Court any longer.
The figure in bed sat up—it was Quan Yizhen. He stayed where he was, watching them with a glassy look. He still seemed confused about the whole situation.
Pei Ming raised his sword. "Qi Ying, stop staring and come give me a hand," he said sternly. "Apprehend them."
After giving it some thought, Quan Yizhen decided to assist. He rolled off the bed, picked up that same bed he had just been sleeping on, and hurled it at Pei Ming.
He indeed gave a hand, but to help Xie Lian and company. The bed crashed into the unsuspecting Pei Ming.
"Qi Ying! Why did you hit me?!" he said, flabbergasted.
Quan Yizhen waved at Xie Lian, gesturing for them to hurry and leave. Xie Lian and company stood bewildered for a moment before hastily making their exit.
Perhaps he was drained because of his injury, but Shi Qingxuan only jogged a few steps before his face turned pale.
Xie Lian moved to help him along, but Ming Yi immediately yanked him over and lifted him up onto his back. Xie Lian placed his hand on the door and dug out two dice, then called out behind him.
"Thanks so much!"
Quan Yizhen was still in the process of pummeling Pei Ming, his moves vicious and aggressive and without method.
If it wasn't for Pei Ming's own skills—if anyone else took such a thrashing—he would've been beaten bloody by now.
Veins popped on Pei Ming's forehead. "Guards! Stop them!" he yelled.
Before he could finish calling for the guards, Xie Lian had already tossed the dice, opened the door, and gotten the hell out of heaven. But as he closed the door and turned around, he never could've expected the sight that would greet him.
Hua Cheng was fully nude from the waist up. He had one foot up on a new donation box and was wiping away his sweat.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Xie Lian felt like he was going to suffocate. His run-down, tiny little Puqi Shrine couldn't possibly hold so many great idols.
There was also a certain possessed individual who was completely oblivious howling and making a terrible racket outside.
"GUZI~! COME GIVE DADDY'S LEGS A LI'L MASSAGE CHOP~!"
It took a moment for Hua Cheng to toss Eming aside, which he had been using to carve wood. He arched an eyebrow.
"...?"
The color of his skin and the contours of his bare upper half were exceedingly beautiful, extremely eye-catching—so much so that Xie Lian's eyes were about to fall out of their sockets. Even if he hadn't caught all the details, he still couldn't stop the blood from rushing to his head and making his vision go dark. Xie Lian fumbled and stumbled over to Hua Cheng and opened his arms wide, blocking him from Ming Yi and Shi Qingxuan's view.
"Close your eyes! Quick! Close your eyes!"
Their expressions stiffened. They stared at Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, clearly perplexed.
Hua Cheng placed his hand on Xie Lian's shoulder.
"...Gege. Why are you so nervous?" he asked, sounding amused.
Only then did Xie Lian snap out of it. Yes, why was he so nervous? Hua Cheng wasn't a woman; who cared if he decided to work half-naked? He still didn't drop his arms, doing his best to cover Hua Cheng completely.
"Either way, just…just put on some clothes first."
Hua Cheng shrugged. "Okay. As gege wishes."
He then calmly grabbed a shirt and took his time putting it on.
Watching him move so fluidly and with such perfect composure, Shi Qingxuan said awkwardly, "Um, sorry for the intrusion. I didn't think you guys…ha ha ha, you two are pretty much…ha ha ha. Anyway, just…ha ha ha."
"...My Lord, if you have something to say, say it out loud so I can explain any misunderstandings. Don't just ha-ha it away, okay…?" Xie Lian said.
They were pressed for time. Pei Ming might pursue them to Puqi Shrine at any moment, so they couldn't stay for long.
Ming Yi set down Shi Qingxuan and started drawing the teleportation array on the ground. Xie Lian was just about to ask where they were going when he heard Hua Cheng sigh behind him.
Xie Lian then remembered his advice not to get close to the Wind Master and company. He turned to him in spite of himself. "Sorry about all this, San Lang."
Hua Cheng was dressed by then. "I already knew you wouldn't just sit back and watch." After a pause, he smiled.
"But why is gege apologizing to me? You remember what I said a few days ago. But did you forget what I told you before that?"
Xie Lian was slightly taken aback and wondered, What?
He then recalled what Hua Cheng had told him that night at the Green Ghost's lair: "Just focus on doing what you want to do."
Xie Lian blinked. He didn't know what to say; he only knew that he suddenly really wanted to do something for Hua Cheng. But at that moment, there really wasn't anything he could do. He was stuck in place—until he noticed an issue with Hua Cheng's collar.
"Wait!"
He hurried over to help Hua Cheng fix his collar, which hadn't been properly flipped out after he shrugged the robes on. Having fixed it, Xie Lian inspected him for a moment and then smiled.
"There."
Hua Cheng smiled too. "Thanks."
A small voice inside Xie Lian replied, I'm the one who should be thanking you.
The other two seemed unable to look at them anymore, and Ming Yi's hand even seemed incapable of drawing a perfectly round circle. Once he finished drawing the array and the door opened again, Xie Lian thought he would see either a gloomy cave or some majestic palace. Instead, there was a large expanse of farmland. Lush green bamboo groves and mountains could be seen in the distance, and farmers were hard at work in the fields. There was also a burly, glossy black ox pulling a plow.
The scenery almost made Xie Lian think they were still in Puqi Village, and he was briefly stunned. Ming Yi had already walked out carrying Shi Qingxuan on his back, and Hua Cheng had also stepped through before Xie Lian managed to collect himself.
The four walked along the field ridge. Maybe it was all in his mind, but the black ox seemed to be staring at them the whole way. After walking for a while, they found a small cottage and went inside to sit down. Shi Qingxuan blew out a long breath.
"Are we not fleeing any further?" Xie Lian asked. "What if General Pei chases us here?"
Hua Cheng stared outside for a while—focusing especially on the black ox—before finally closing the door.
"Don't worry. He wouldn't dare provoke the master of this land," he said nonchalantly. "He wouldn't have an easy time if he tried. The Water T yrant won't do anything rash either."
Xie Lian contemplated that for a moment and couldn't help but voice his thoughts. "San Lang, this whole thing is a mess. It probably involves many in the Heavenly Court. It might be best if you don't hang around."
Hua Cheng only chuckled at that. "What goes on in the Upper Court has nothing to do with me. I'm only here to sightsee by your side."
All of a sudden, Shi Qingxuan stated, "You should all stop hanging around."
The others in the cottage looked at him.
"His Highness is right. This whole thing is a mess, and there are too many involved," Shi Qingxuan continued. "I'm going to stay here. My friends, there's no need to help any more. Let's end it here."
"Lord Wind Master, it isn't up to you whether things end here," Xie Lian said slowly. "It's up to Lord Water Master and the Reverend of Empty Words."
Hearing this, Shi Qingxuan's expression stiffened.
"Lord Wind Master, I have a question. I hope you won't mind," Xie Lian added.
"What?"
"Is the Reverend of Empty Words holding something over your and Lord Water Master's heads?"
Shi Qingxuan turned slightly pale.
That night at the T errace of Cascading Wine, Xie Lian had set up an extremely secure protection array. As long as Shi Qingxuan hadn't opened the door, he wouldn't have been harmed. So why would he choose to do just that?!
Unless someone connected to his private communication array, and the first thing that they uttered was blackmail. That would give Shi Qingxuan no chance to fight back nor raise the alarm, and he could only do as instructed.
Xie Lian sat down by the table. "I'm more inclined to think it's blackmail against Lord Water Master, since I don't believe you knew the full story. At least not at first."
This would explain why his reaction was so strong after learning whatever it was. The knowledge had provoked such a sharp revulsion toward the Upper Court that he would rather descend and become a drifting immortal or a wandering cultivator than stay in the heavens as a god.
Ming Yi frowned. "Blackmail?"
Shi Qingxuan wasn't a fool. If he fell victim to a plot and lost his powers, his normal reaction should've been extreme rage or retaliation directed at the culprit, or a drive to investigate the matter. But there was none of that to be seen.
There was rage, but it wasn't directed at the Reverend of Empty Words—it was directed at his own older brother. And to everyone else, he only declared that this would all end then and there.
This was entirely abnormal—unless Shi Qingxuan's ascension wasn't normal to begin with!
It was outrageously audacious to defy the heavens and alter fate. It was treacherous heresy to raise someone who couldn't ascend upon the divine altar. Xie Lian had never heard of anything like it. Such a revelation, if true, would surely raise a tidal wave of chaos if it got out. Just think:
everyone wanted to ascend, but wouldn't the very laws of the universe be rendered irrelevant and worthless if someone could do so using that kind of method?
The conjecture seemed absurd, but the more he considered it, the more it made sense. The Reverend of Empty Words had harassed Shi Qingxuan since birth, and the only way to escape was to ascend. And miraculously, he did just that. In the span of just a few years, a pair of blood brothers ascended in succession—what a grand, fine tale. But also, what a grand coincidence.
Xie Lian didn't want to question Shi Qingxuan's ascension, but if the Wind Master was deified naturally, why was it so easy to rob him of his powers? If a monster could turn a god into a human so effortlessly, surely there would be many past cases of heavenly officials who fell victim.
Unless Shi Qingxuan should have been mortal in the first place. Unless the Water Master did something underhanded to make the Wind Master ascend.
It wasn't out of line to use rare treasures and devices to aid in cultivation. Nor was it out of line to ascend by way of massacre and war during unstable periods in the Mortal Realm. After all, that was the way of the world: honor is accompanied by blood, and the slate is cleaned after ascension. With that said, it would be a completely different matter if a mortal or heavenly official used crooked means and conducted wicked rituals to harm others' lives for the sake of becoming a god. Some things were forbidden.
"Lord Wind Master, the night you ascended, was it the eve of Hanlu?" Xie Lian asked in a low voice.
A few moments later, Shi Qingxuan drew a deep breath.
"Yes."
After a pause, Shi Qingxuan explained.
"When we were in the town of Fu Gu, that same thing crossed my mind. 'The eve of Hanlu—wasn't that the same day I ascended?' I wanted to ask you guys about it, to see if it might be a clue or related somehow, or if it was just a coincidence. But I wasn't sure, so I didn't bring it up. Well, now you know whether it's related."
It was related. It was very related.
Why did the Reverend of Empty Words choose that day to send Shi Qingxuan to the town of Fu Gu to watch the exciting performance during the Bloody Fire Social parade, then whisk him off to the T errace of Cascading Wine and maim him there? It wouldn't go to such lengths if it didn't have a reason.
Xie Lian connected the timing and the two places together. Centuries ago, a mortal called Scholar He broke down and murdered countless people in the town of Fu Gu on the eve of Hanlu. Centuries ago, Shi Qingxuan ascended at the T errace of Cascading Wine on the eve of Hanlu.
It was obvious what the Reverend of Empty Words wanted to say: "Shi Qingxuan, your ascension is directly tied to the death of the hero of the Bloody Fire Social!"
This was Xie Lian's dreadful but logical theory.
To rescue Shi Qingxuan from the Reverend of Empty Words, after Shi Wudu ascended, he secretly found a mortal who matched the requirements of birth and name. He then conducted some sort of wicked ritual to make that man take on Shi Qingxuan's misfortune. That man was no doubt Scholar He—the man who was exceptionally clever, exceedingly impoverished, and endlessly unlucky to the point where his entire family was ruined.
Scholar He took on Shi Qingxuan's fate, and the Reverend of Empty Words was deceived. That meant his original fate was taken by Shi Qingxuan. On that same Hanlu eve, one experienced a taste of hell on earth, and the other successfully ascended under immensely powerful protection.
But their two fates were originally the complete opposite!