Hua Cheng had used his own abilities of inference and capacity for learning to pick up the Wuyong language. He could decipher the meaning of words, but since there wasn't anyone alive who could read the words aloud to him, he couldn't match written words with sounds. That meant he couldn't understand the murmuring of the corpse-eating rats.
But Xie Lian, who had never visited Mount Tonglu before, understood. What could this mean?
Hua Cheng could tell what Xie Lian was thinking with a single glance, and he was quick to reassure him. "Gege, don't panic just yet. I'll repeat those words to you. Give them a listen."
"…All right," Xie Lian said.
Hua Cheng's memory was exceptional, and he clearly and precisely repeated the words as soon as they left the area where the corpse-eating rats had gathered. Xie Lian stared intently at his lips as he pronounced a series of moderately paced and somewhat bizarre-sounding phrases. The words had a strange, ancient rhythm to them. Hearing them spoken with such steady control through Hua Cheng's lips made the notes deep, beautiful, and pleasing to the ears.
After concentrating on the words for a moment, Xie Lian said, "I don't understand them."
Now this was very strange—he could understand the words the corpse-eating rats had spewed, but he couldn't parse them when Hua Cheng repeated them exactly. Still, that moment of comprehension couldn't have been a figment of his imagination.
"When you heard those voices, you easily understood what they were saying, right?" Hua Cheng asked.
Xie Lian nodded. "Right. There was never a translation process in my brain."
He hadn't even realized it was a different language.
"I get it," Hua Cheng said.
"What do you get?" Xie Lian asked.
"What you understood wasn't the Wuyong tongue but the emotions of those who died."
Xie Lian understood, but at the same time he didn't.
"Meaning that a long time ago, someone heard these same dying voices. They understood them and remembered them, and then somehow transplanted this memory into you and infected you with their feelings," Hua Cheng explained further. "They knew the Wuyong tongue and had already completed the 'comprehension' step, which is why you don't need to know the language to understand. Those voices have always been buried deep within your mind, and you were brought directly into their emotions the moment you heard them."
Xie Lian thought this explanation sounded fairly plausible. "I see… But the question is, who could pass such memories and emotions to me?
And when did they do this?"
After a pause, he murmured, "…The state preceptor?"
"We can't be sure," Hua Cheng replied. "Gege, you're already assuming your master is from Wuyong. But if that's the case, shouldn't they have been communicating in the Wuyong tongue when we were in the stomach of the mountain spirit? Why weren't they?"
That wasn't hard to explain. Xie Lian said, "The Kingdom of Wuyong was destroyed two thousand years ago. They would need to use modern language to survive in the world for the past two millennia. It's only natural for them to use the language they're more fluent in now."
Hua Cheng gripped his shoulders, his tone growing harsher. "Gege, stop letting yourself think this way."
Xie Lian finally turned to face him. "Fine. San Lang, what does it usually take to transplant memories and emotions to someone?"
"There are two conditions that must be met. First, you must trust this person absolutely and without reservations. When necessary, you are willing to be led by them," Hua Cheng answered.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Xie Lian had picked the candidates in his mind.
"Second, it is someone you are powerless to retaliate against. The one implanting the memories must hold absolute power over you, and you must fear them deeply," Hua Cheng said. "Gege, think carefully. Over the years, who has matched these requirements?"
Xie Lian contemplated for a while, and after some hesitation, answered slowly. "I suppose there are three in total."
"Very good. Who are the three?" Hua Cheng asked.
"The first one is the State Preceptor of Xianle," Xie Lian said.
While he loved his parents deeply and never guarded against them, he knew deep down that he and his father walked different paths—thus, he couldn't say he was willing to be led by his father. However, the state preceptor guided him at the beginning of his education and taught him everything. He met both conditions.
This was expected, so Hua Cheng prompted, "And the second one?"
"Jun Wu," Xie Lian answered.
He held immense respect for Jun Wu, and was constantly in awe of him, no need to say more on the subject. He also met both conditions. Hua Cheng didn't look too impressed, but he didn't comment.
"And the last one?"
"The third one," Xie Lian said, "doesn't match the first condition, but the second."
Hua Cheng understood. "…White No-Face?" he said darkly.
Xie Lian closed his eyes and nodded, a hand covering his brow. "…I won't lie to you. I never revealed this to anyone—not even Feng Xin and Mu Qing. I never said anything dispiriting to them back then. But I actually…" But actually, deep down, he profoundly feared that creature.
There was a period of time when even hearing the name would set him trembling nonstop. But Xie Lian had never dared to allow anyone to notice, because he was the only hope they had for defeating White No-Face.
If even he was scared, then wouldn't everyone else fall deeper into despair?
If that happened, everything would collapse!
Of course, it was all much better now. Hua Cheng gripped his shoulders even harder.
"It's all right. There's nothing shameful about being afraid of something."
Xie Lian gave a small, flickering smile. "I'm just not brave enough, that's all."
"You don't need to be so hard on yourself," Hua Cheng comforted.
"Without fear, there is no courage."
Xie Lian was slightly taken aback.
Hua Cheng continued without pause.
"Is it only those three?"
Xie Lian nodded. This meant that someone among those three had planted within him the Wuyong people's memories and emotions at the moment of volcanic cataclysm. Hua Cheng mused on it, furrowing his brows.
Xie Lian was silent for a while before he suddenly spoke up. "That's not everyone."
Hua Cheng turned his head to look at him. "What?"
Xie Lian drew a small breath. "…It's actually not just those three.
There's a fourth person who fulfills the first condition. But I'm certain he has nothing to do with the memories and emotions of the dead."
Hearing this, Hua Cheng turned toward him completely. "Oh? How do you know? Have Your Highness and this person shared many years of deep friendship?"
Not so many years, Xie Lian thought, but a deep friendship. He believed this person counted, but he was too embarrassed to say it out loud, so he replied ambiguously.
"In any case…he might be the one I trust the most. Even more than my master and Jun Wu."
"How does that count?" Hua Cheng asked.
Xie Lian lightly cleared his throat. "It's embarrassing to say," he said shyly. "Because…if I were to make a grave mistake, or find myself in trouble after upsetting a huge hornets' nest, he's the first one I'd think to call… And my trust for him isn't quite the same as what I have for my master and the Emperor…" Before he could finish, he noticed Hua Cheng's odd expression. He trailed off.
"San Lang?"
Only then did Hua Cheng come around. He quirked an eyebrow. "Oh.
It's nothing, I was thinking of something else. Your Highness really trusts this person so much?"
He usually raised his brows when he was relaxed or teasing, but it didn't seem very natural right now.
Xie Lian nodded. "Mmm… Is there a problem?"
Hua Cheng bowed his head slightly and adjusted his silver vambraces. "Nothing major," he said, sounding nonchalant. "But, in my personal opinion, it'd be best if gege didn't trust others so easily."
"…" Hearing him say that, Xie Lian wasn't sure whether Hua Cheng had figured out who he was talking about. But he didn't dare reveal any more, so he only gave a soft oh. Although he paused, in the end he still couldn't resist asking, "San Lang isn't going to ask who this person is?"
"Hmm? What?" Hua Cheng asked. "Since gege said he trusts this person and has determined that he has nothing to do with this affair, there's no need to ask."
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead.
Hua Cheng quickly added, "But if gege wants to tell, San Lang is happy to listen."
Although his words sounded gracious, it'd be awkward if Xie Lian told him now—it would be like he was begging Hua Cheng to ask who he trusted the most. Xie Lian couldn't tell whether Hua Cheng was just being polite or if he really didn't care.
Coincidentally, the wraith butterflies that engaged in bloody carnage against the corpse-eating rats had returned. After going through that strenuous battle, the silver butterflies were flying a little low, like they were drooping with fatigue. Xie Lian quickly went up to greet them, reaching out to catch a particularly tiny butterfly.
"Thanks for your hard work!" he said.
Now he'd done it. The butterflies paused in the air, and the next second, it was like they had smelled delicious pastry. They all charged him like mad. Xie Lian still had the little silver butterfly cupped in his hand and was almost struck dumb.
Hua Cheng gave a calm, deliberate cough. The butterflies paused again, then backed off politely and calmly flew toward Hua Cheng to land on the silver vambraces on his arms, becoming one with the engraved butterfly patterns.
The two continued to search for Yin Yu. After they'd been walking for a while, Hua Cheng suddenly spoke up.
"It's not Feng Xin, is it?"
Xie Lian's mind had already moved on to something else, and when he heard him, he blinked. "Huh? What?"
"The person gege spoke of," Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian instantly waved. "Of course not!"
Hua Cheng's brows twitched. "…It's not Mu Qing, is it?"
A drop of sweat rolled down Xie Lian's forehead, and his hand waved faster. "That's even more impossible. But why is San Lang asking about this again?"
Hua Cheng smiled. "I thought about it, and I think that this fourth person is the most suspicious. So to prevent any surprises, will gege please tell me? Who is this person you trust the most, and with whom you've shared many years of deep friendship?"
"…" Xie Lian stared at the smile on his face. He had a gut feeling that this smile was very fake. But just as he inhaled deeply, preparing to speak, the faint silver light from the scout butterflies disappeared.
Darkness fell all around, and Hua Cheng swiftly seized Xie Lian's hand and dodged to the side of the street. Xie Lian could tell something was wrong.
"San Lang, is something coming?" he asked in a whisper.
Even though darkness had come unexpectedly and nothing could be seen, he followed Hua Cheng's steps closely and easily hopped into a house to hide.
Hua Cheng's voice sounded next to his ear. "It's here."
Within the darkness, they heard a very peculiar sound.
Thump thump, thump thump.
It was a strange dragging noise, and although it was still far away, each drag sounded extremely heavy. And each one also sounded much closer than the one before—the speed of its approach was astounding. Xie Lian thought this sound was oddly familiar and that he had definitely heard it somewhere before. When it sounded close by, he looked outside to see.
Sure enough, there was a woman dressed in wedding robes on the main street of the underground city.
Although she wore wedding robes, the robes themselves were in tatters; it was a chilling, haunting sight. Her face was beautiful yet held no sign of life. The glowing green ghost fire atop her head made her blanched complexion shine green. In her arms she cradled a small child whose face was also a ghastly pale shade, though he appeared more alive than her. He was obviously a living human.
"Bumping into old friends again," Hua Cheng said.
It was the ghost bride Xuan Ji—and Guzi!