Chapter 93 - Chapter 93 (1) : Cave of Ten Thousand Gods—Faces of the Ten Thousand Gods Revealed

Seeing that he was taking the matter quite hard, Xie Lian decided to try to give some guidance.

"Actually, it's not that big of a deal…" Mu Qing sneered. "I knew I was right! Was it fun? Did you enjoy watching me act? Hmm?!"

Now that they were being honest with each other, Mu Qing was honestly tearing him a new one. Nan Feng—or Feng Xin, rather—only looked awkward at first, but in the end he couldn't let Mu Qing's words slide without comment.

"What's with that tone?"

Mu Qing was pale-faced and thin-skinned, and his entire head turned bright red whenever his blood started rushing—making it impossible to hide that he was upset. He whipped his head around.

"What tone? Don't forget you're one of the jesters here too! I'm not as generous as you are, to have no complaints about being someone's entertainment for so long!"

"I wasn't trying to watch you guys make fools of yourselves," Xie Lian said.

"And stop thinking everyone is as narrow-minded as you are," Feng Xin added. "His Highness still tried to help you even when your shitty deeds landed you in Heaven's prison…" "Ha! Oh, thank you so much. But I ended up in prison thanks to your son! What, you wanna fight for real?! You're not afraid to sire a son, but you are afraid to talk?!"

Feng Xin really wanted to knock him dead for raising the subject of his son. Unfortunately, all three of them were still rolled up tight by the silk webbing, so he couldn't move a muscle. Feng Xin and Mu Qing could only curse at each other, all manners and class gone.

Feng Xin's face was getting redder and redder from anger, and Xie Lian was afraid he'd blow his top soon and start cursing up a storm. So Xie Lian tried to wiggle a bit, managing to rock back and forth a few times and eventually roll to Mu Qing's side.

"Mu Qing, Mu Qing? Can you try turning around?"

Mu Qing stopped his yelling and took a breath. "What do you want?"

"Feng Xin is too far away—I can't roll over there. But since we know these webs can be torn by teeth, I want to try to break the bindings on your wrists," Xie Lian explained.

Mu Qing glared at him for a moment, then his expression swiftly cooled as he gazed upward like a dead fish looking at the sky. "No thanks."

"I really do want to help," Xie Lian said helplessly.

"Your Highness possesses a body of a thousand gold. I can't possibly trouble such greatness," Mu Qing said coldly.

Feng Xin cussed. "What the actual fuck?! Why are you being so sarcastic at a time like this?! Huh?! He's helping you, trying to save you, but you're acting like he owes you!"

Mu Qing's head shot up. "Who asked him to help? Xie Lian! Why do you always show up at times like these?!"

Xie Lian was a little bewildered, and he vaguely remembered that Mu Qing had asked him the same thing a long time ago. How did he answer him back then? He couldn't remember.

"Is there something wrong with showing up at times like these?"

Mu Qing lay back down. "Doesn't matter. I don't need your help."

"Why?" Xie Lian questioned. "Everyone needs help sometimes just to get by."

"Don't bother with him anymore," Feng Xin said. "He's just a show-off. He thinks he'll lose face if he gets help from you."

Mu Qing and Feng Xin kept at each other's throats while the wraith butterfly leisurely danced around Xie Lian—it was unhurried and calm as it shimmered with faint silver light. It made Xie Lian remember something, so he interrupted their sniping.

"Stop arguing, you two. It'll be more of a joke if anyone else sees you like this. And someone will be along to help us soon."

"No one in Heaven or on Earth will heed a call from this hellish place, so who's gonna come save us?" Mu Qing said derisively. "Unless…" A particular person came to mind before he finished, and he trailed off abruptly.

Feng Xin, however, asked directly. "Crimson Rain Sought Flower came with you?"

"You trust him that much?" Mu Qing asked doubtfully. "You sure he's gonna come?"

Xie Lian was confident. "He will come."

Hua Cheng had been behaving oddly for a while. Several times, he almost suspected the Hua Cheng next to him was fake. Nonetheless, his instincts told him that was impossible.

"Even if he wanted to, how would he find this cave?" Mu Qing added.

"Why don't we holler some more?" Feng Xin suggested. "The more people, the louder the noise."

"No need," Xie Lian said. "We only need to sit and wait. No, just lie down and wait. Because Hua Cheng and I are joined by a red string—" Before he even finished his sentence, he could see Feng Xin and Mu Qing's faces twitching like worms had crawled into their ears.

"—What's with that look?" Xie Lian asked. "Don't misunderstand.

I'm not talking about some frivolous notion about the 'red string of fate.' It's a spiritual device! Just a spiritual device."

Only then did they stop twitching.

"Oh, I see," Feng Xin replied.

Mu Qing was doubtful. "What kind of spiritual device? What does it do?"

"It's quite useful," Xie Lian said. "It's a red string tied on both our hands that invisibly connects the two of us, and one can use it to find the other. It will never break as long as one of us is still breathing—" The others couldn't listen anymore and cut him off.

"How is that any different from a red string of fate?! It's exactly the same thing!"

Xie Lian was taken aback. "No, I don't think so… It's different!"

"And just how is it different? It's exactly the same thing, all right?!"

Mu Qing exclaimed.

Xie Lian pondered the matter only to discover that it was true! The more he thought about it, the more he realized that the intent and function of this spiritual device really was quite similar to a red string of fate.

Just when he began to think he should drop this train of thought, a voice came from above.

"Gege? Are you down there?"

The moment he heard that voice, Xie Lian instantly felt himself relax.

He looked up.

"San Lang! I'm down here!" Then he turned to the other two in the pit. "You see? I told you he'd come."

Feng Xin and Mu Qing both made complicated expressions when they saw how happy he looked. Hua Cheng didn't peek his head over the edge, but all of them could hear the helpless way he spoke.

"Gege, I said not to run off. Now what should we do?"

Xie Lian was confused by his tone, and his delight faltered. "Huh? Is this silk webbing that difficult to deal with? Can't Eming slash through it?"

"The silk isn't the difficult part…" he thought he heard Hua Cheng mutter faintly, but the words were so quiet he wasn't sure whether they were actually said.

A moment later, Hua Cheng quietly spoke. "Eming's not in a good state right now."

Xie Lian found this strange. Wasn't Eming perfectly fine and completely energetic just a little while ago? How could there be something wrong with it now?

Next to him, Mu Qing humphed. "No need to ask him anymore. How could the scimitar Eming be in a bad state? He's clearly looking for an excuse not to help."

"Don't say that," Xie Lian countered.

Xie Lian thought it was more likely that Eming was being disciplined and Hua Cheng wasn't allowing it out.

Suddenly, a black shadow flashed above, and a figure dressed in red landed soundlessly at Xie Lian's side. Hua Cheng leaned down to hold Xie Lian's hand.

"San Lang, why did you jump down too?" Xie Lian cried when he realized who it was. "Watch out for the spider silk!"

Sure enough, the white silk tendrils were flying at him in an attack, but Hua Cheng didn't even spare them a glance. He gave a casual wave, and hundreds of silver butterflies shielded his back, forming armor with their wings. They started ruthlessly fighting the silk tendrils.

Hua Cheng tore away the white silk that bound Xie Lian, then held him around the waist and shook out a red umbrella with his free hand.

"Let's go!"

The other two were dumbfounded when they saw that he had zero intention of saving them. "Did you forget something?"

Xie Lian hadn't yet spoken, but Hua Cheng looked back.

"Oh, that's right."

The heavily bound Fangxin flew straight into Hua Cheng's hand, and he passed the sword to Xie Lian.

"Gege, your sword."

"…" That was what he forgot?!

Feng Xin and Mu Qing both cried, "Hey!"

Hua Cheng hugged Xie Lian closer and flung out his arm to open the red umbrella. "Gege, hold on tight to me!"

With that, the umbrella started flying upward, taking the pair along with it. Xie Lian hugged him tightly as instructed, and the other two began to scream again in earnest when they were about six meters off the ground.

Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I haven't forgotten you!"

He sent Ruoye out from his wrist, which wrapped itself around the two giant cocoons a few times and began to drag them along behind the umbrella.

When they were halfway out of the pit, Feng Xin cried, "Wait! Wait!

I left something behind!"

"What is it?" Xie Lian called back from above.

"A sword!" Feng Xin shouted. "It fell into the corner!"

Xie Lian looked down, and, sure enough, a sword's hilt was barely visible in all that white silk. He made Ruoye stretch out further to wrap the sword, and he pulled them all out together. Finally, all four made it back onto solid ground.

Ruoye threw the two thick cocoons to the ground and hurriedly wrapped itself back onto Xie Lian's wrist, trembling slightly. It almost seemed like it was terrified of the white silk webs, which were so much like itself but so aggressive and evil. Xie Lian soothed Ruoye while cutting the webbing on the cocoons with Fangxin. The moment Feng Xin and Mu Qing could move, they both leapt to their feet and ripped off the rest of the webbing. Xie Lian held out the sword Ruoye had helped bring along toward Feng Xin. Finally getting a good look at the blade, he stared at it in amazement.

"This is…Hongjing? Nan Feng, did your general repair that sword?"

It was an offhand comment, but the moment the words left his lips, he realized how bad it sounded. Feng Xin and Mu Qing were still in the forms of "Nan Feng" and "Fu Yao," and Xie Lian had forgotten that their identities had been exposed and was still subconsciously going along with their act. Although he'd intended to be considerate, that consideration simply led to awkwardness. The two of them fell into a strange silence.

Feng Xin couldn't mask his expression—discomfort surfaced on his face. He transformed back to his true form and took the sword.

"Yes…it's fixed. There are plenty of ghosts on Mount Tonglu, after all. Flashing it around makes things easier."

Xie Lian took a peek at the one who shattered Hongjing, who was standing right beside him. He cleared his throat softly. "Sorry for the trouble."

After all, it wasn't easy to repair a sword that had been shattered to pieces.

Mu Qing also transformed back to his true form and brushed off the rest of the silk webbing on his sleeves. "It's good that it's fixed. So many of the nefarious creatures here are adept at disguise. If someone's not good at using their brain, using Hongjing is the only way they'll see through deception."

Feng Xin was pissed. "Who are you calling brainless so passive-aggressively? Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

And there they went again. Xie Lian shook his head and turned to Hua Cheng. "San Lang, I ran off too quickly before. Sorry for leaving you behind."

Hua Cheng tucked the umbrella away. "Don't worry. As long as gege doesn't run off like that again."

Xie Lian grinned, but just as he was about to speak, he saw that Mu Qing's glance at Hua Cheng had turned into a strange, pointed stare.

"Mu Qing? What is it?" Xie Lian asked.

Mu Qing immediately snapped out of it and gave him a look.

"Nothing. I've just never seen Crimson Rain Sought Flower like this and found it curious, that's all."

Xie Lian couldn't fully believe his explanation. While this likely was the first time Mu Qing had seen Hua Cheng's true form, he'd certainly seen Hua Cheng in his youthful body, and the two skins weren't remarkably different. So why that look?

The four left the cave, but after only a few steps, Feng Xin asked in astonishment, "…What is this place?"

Mu Qing was also stunned. "What happened here?"

They had been trapped at the bottom of the silk webbing pit, so they hadn't had a chance to investigate the situation outside. They were astonished at the sight of innumerable unique divine statues filling cave after cave, and shocked to learn that there was such a mysterious place and such uncanny craftsmanship beneath this great snowy mountain.

"This is a Cave of Ten Thousand Gods," Xie Lian explained.

Mu Qing scanned their surroundings and mumbled, "Who knows how many years and how much blood and sweat it'd take to build something like this. This is honestly…honestly…" He seemed at a loss for words to describe it. Xie Lian could understand his feelings. After all, a stone cave like this was meant for cultivation and worship of the divine; his parents had constructed caves like this for him. What heavenly official wouldn't be astounded by such a massive Cave of Ten Thousand Gods? If one of their own statues was worshipped in a place like this, it would be a huge boon to their divinity.

"What god is worshipped in this cave?" Feng Xin asked, confused.

"Why are all the faces covered?"

"Naturally, it's to prevent future passersby like us from seeing," Xie Lian replied.

"Now that's strange," Mu Qing said. "They could've just smashed the statues' heads; why go through all this trouble? Thin veils like these won't stop anyone who really wants to see."

As he spoke, he walked over, intending to peel away the veil of the nearest divine statue. Xie Lian hadn't had the chance to stop him when there was a chilling flash. The tip of a silver blade loomed mere centimeters away from Mu Qing's fingers.

Murderous intent made the air between them grow tense.

"What are you doing?" Feng Xin asked in alarm.

Even with that blade so close, Mu Qing didn't seem scared at all.

"Your scimitar looks just fine. Why'd you tell us that it's 'not in a good state'?"

Hua Cheng stood directly behind him and said lazily, "Didn't anyone teach you not to randomly put your hands on things in other people's territory?"

"It's not your territory, so whose justice are you upholding?" Mu Qing countered.

"I just don't want to cause unnecessary trouble," Hua Cheng said flatly. "This is Mount Tonglu, after all. Who knows what could happen if the veils are removed?"

"I can't believe there'd come a day when someone as arrogant as Crimson Rain Sought Flower would be afraid to cause unnecessary trouble," Mu Qing said.

He moved his hand downward to touch the statue's carved robe. The scimitar Eming followed and pointed at him once more.

"I'm only trying to touch the stone now, not remove the veil. Why is Crimson Rain Sought Flower stopping me again?" Mu Qing questioned.

Hua Cheng shot him a fake-looking smile. "I'm preventing you from causing problems."

Xie Lian put himself between the two. "Stop, stop. It's not like we have to see which god is being worshipped here. We shouldn't stay here too long anyway, so let's just go. Don't forget that we still have a mission to accomplish."

Hua Cheng stared at Mu Qing's hand. "Since that's what gege wants, have him put his hand away and I'll let it go."

"Mu Qing, back off, all right?" Xie Lian said.

Mu Qing glared at him. "Are you nuts? Why shouldn't he back off first? What if I back off and he doesn't?"

Between a heavenly official and a ghost, Feng Xin naturally chose to stand on the side of the heavenly official. "At most, we'll accept both sides standing down at the same time."

Hua Cheng showed no signs of doing so. "You wish."

Seeing that neither side would give in, Xie Lian rested a hand on Mu Qing's arm. "Mu Qing, drop it," he urged gently. "You're the one who started this, so you should be the one to let it go. All right? Can you think of it as giving me some face? I swear that if you back off, San Lang will keep his promise."

Although Mu Qing was clearly reluctant, he held the stalemate for another moment, then slowly dropped his hand. They all returned to the road. Finally, the tension relaxed, and Xie Lian sighed in relief.

They reached another fork in the road, and Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng.

"Which way do you think we should go this time?"

Hua Cheng picked a path, seemingly at random. "This way."

Feng Xin and Mu Qing had been walking behind them and appeared to be at each other's throats again, but Mu Qing briefly paused their argument.

"How did you decide?" he asked. "Why this way?"

The two in front turned their heads to look at them.

"It was random."

Feng Xin frowned. "How can you pick randomly? Let's not go blindly—we might tumble into another pit."

Hua Cheng smiled. "Even if we fall into a pit, I have ways to pull His Highness out. You can follow us if you'd like, or you can head off on your own if you'd prefer. To be honest, I'd rather not have to rescue you again."

"You—!"

That was just the way Hua Cheng spoke—even if he had a smile on his face and his words were perfectly polite, it always sounded fake. The faker his smile, the more his tone enraged people, so much that Feng Xin nocked an arrow on his bow.

Xie Lian knew that he wouldn't actually shoot. "Sorry about this, Feng Xin. But considering our current situation, it really makes no difference which way we go."

Hua Cheng laughed heartily. "Ooh, I'm scared. Looks like I'd better stay far away from you."

He waggled his brows at Xie Lian and really did put some distance between them. Xie Lian knew he was just trying to leave the other two behind, and he smiled as he shook his head. He was about to follow Hua Cheng, but without warning Mu Qing reached out and pulled him to a stop.

Xie Lian looked back, bewildered.

"Mu Qing? What is it?"

Mu Qing didn't answer. Instead, he simply shouted "Now!" Then he grabbed Xie Lian and dashed off down the other path.

Ahead, Hua Cheng had noticed that something was wrong, and he turned back to look. But Feng Xin had already punched the stone wall.

Boulders rumbled and crashed down, blocking the road behind them. Mu Qing and Feng Xin rushed forward and slapped fifty or so talismans to the rocks in the span of a second. Hua Cheng was now separated from the three of them by the pile of boulders.

As it turned out, Feng Xin and Mu Qing hadn't been arguing when they were trailing behind them earlier—they had actually been discussing how to launch this sudden attack!

Xie Lian was dumbfounded. "What are you guys doing?"

He struggled free of Mu Qing's grip, wanting to check on Hua Cheng behind the wall of stone. However, Feng Xin tripped him, and he and Mu Qing each grabbed one of Xie Lian's arms and began to drag him off at a breakneck pace.

"Let's get away, quick! Those talismans won't last for long!" Feng Xin exclaimed.

"You have to ask what we're doing?! There's something odd about him—can't you tell?!" Mu Qing reprimanded.

"How is he odd?" Xie Lian questioned.

"You've really gone stupid! Odd is written all over him—you're the only one blind to it!" Mu Qing exclaimed.

"Stop talking and run!" Feng Xin roared. "Fuck, I think the wraith butterflies caught up!"

"Block the cave entrance!" Mu Qing barked.

Feng Xin continued to punch the walls as they ran, and many of the cave entrances were completely blocked by the giant rocks that tumbled down. The two dragged Xie Lian along as they fled through the endless, winding underground corridors, sending his head spinning from all the twists and turns.

"Stop! Stop!" Xie Lian shouted as they ran.

When they finally felt they'd gone far enough, Feng Xin and Mu Qing paused to catch their breaths.

Taking advantage of this break, Xie Lian said, "What I meant was, why did you two suddenly drag me away? Did you notice something?"

Feng Xin was supporting himself with his hands on his knees and panting harshly. "Let him…tell you…again."

Mu Qing straightened up and turned to Xie Lian. "It's so obvious!

You didn't see it? That pearl! Do you remember that pearl?"

"What pearl?" Xie Lian asked.

Mu Qing said each word slowly and clearly. "The red coral pearl from the earrings of the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior costume—the one you wore for the Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremony. The earring you lost!"

Xie Lian thought for a long while, but he still couldn't remember. He looked confused as he tugged at his earlobe. "…Were those earrings red coral pearls? Did I lose one?"

The corners of Mu Qing's lips twitched, and he said furiously, "You two even wrongfully accused me of stealing that pearl! How could you forget something like this?"

"It's been eight hundred years—" Xie Lian began, but Feng Xin interrupted to rebuke Mu Qing.

"Stop making shit up! No one wronged you—you're the one who started making assumptions all on your own!"

Xie Lian waved. "Stop fighting, stop fighting. Why are you talking about that pearl out of nowhere?"

"Because it's been found!" Mu Qing exclaimed. "Did you see the red bead tied in Hua Cheng's hair?"

Xie Lian's eyes widened. "Are you saying…" "I am!" Mu Qing stated with conviction.

"…" So that was why Mu Qing had that weird look in his eyes when he looked at Hua Cheng earlier.

"Why would he have that red coral pearl? Are you sure you remember it correctly?" Xie Lian questioned.

Mu Qing cut him off. "I searched for that pearl nonstop for a whole year, and I've never stopped looking for it. I'm the only one who would never remember it wrong!"

Xie Lian crossed his arms and tucked them into his sleeves. He furrowed his brow in contemplation. "I still think you might be mistaken.

There's no reason for him to have that pearl. Don't all high-quality red coral pearls look pretty much the same? Besides, San Lang has always liked collecting rare treasures. He's got antiques that are thousands of years old."

Mu Qing nodded. "Fine. Very well. You think I'm wrong? Fine. Then look at this."

He was standing right next to a divine statue, and as he finished speaking, he yanked the veil off its face.

"Why don't you take a look at this, then? Surely it can't be a mistake too!"

The moment the veil was lifted, Xie Lian's pupils shrank.

The divine statue's face wasn't deformed or frightening. It was the face of a young man who wore a gentle, kind expression—smiling and in high spirits. But when Xie Lian saw it, a chill raced down his spine and raised the hair on his neck.

How could it not be eerie? This face was nearly identical to Xie Lian's own!

Looking at this divine statue so closely was like staring into a mirror.

Even that smile, previously kind, now seemed disturbing.

Xie Lian couldn't help but feel shaken by the sight of it. "This…"

"Are you still going to tell me I'm wrong?" Mu Qing said coldly.

With much effort, Xie Lian finally squeezed out, "…Why would one of my divine statues be here?"

"One?" Mu Qing replied. "Not just one. Look closely."

Then he yanked the veil from another divine statue—it too had a face that was undoubtedly Xie Lian's!

He pulled the veils from the faces of five or six more divine statues.

They were all identical!

"This certainly is a Cave of Ten Thousand Gods," Mu Qing said.

"But there's only one god worshipped here!"

Only Xie Lian!

He was surrounded by endless copies of his own face. It was like Xie Lian had fallen into a bizarre, hallucinatory dream. His mind spun for a good while before he abruptly realized something.

"Wait. Mu Qing. You didn't get a chance to see these statues' faces earlier, right? You were going to remove the veils, but he stopped you."

Mu Qing humphed. "I don't need to see the statues' faces to know that you're the subject."

"How would you know?" Xie Lian asked.

Mu Qing rolled all the silk veils into a ball and tossed them to the side, his veins popping slightly. "How would I know? Because all your clothes, accessories, and daily living needs were my responsibility back then. I washed for you, I mended for you—and every item in your wardrobe was unique. These statues are too detailed—everything is there, exactly the same, completely! When I saw those clothes, of course I knew whose face they would have!"

Xie Lian fell silent. He put a hand over his forehead and thought back on Hua Cheng's odd behavior along the way.

Next to him, Feng Xin said, "He wouldn't let us look at those statues, which proves he knows exactly what's weird about them. That whole excuse about how we all dropped in by accident after the avalanche was bullshit. He must know what this place is."

"Not just that. I bet he was the one who threw us into that pit of silk webbing," Mu Qing added. "He was serious about killing us."

"But…why are these statues like this?" Xie Lian wondered.

The statues had all been carved with such precision that they seemed nearly alive. The details were more than detailed, almost to the point of being frightening. It was clear to see just how closely the sculptor had observed their subject. Xie Lian didn't think even the work of Xianle's most renowned sculptors had reached this level of detail. It was as if the sculptor's mind was filled by Xie Lian and Xie Lian alone, as if his eyes saw nothing else.

The three of them were surrounded by countless statues that all bore the same face, and Feng Xin shuddered violently.

"Honestly, what the fuck. Too creepy… They're too fucking realistic."

And there were so many.

"I suspect these statues are components for some wicked spell. Let's destroy them," Mu Qing said.

He moved to shatter one with a chop of his hand. Xie Lian's mind was instantly pulled back to the present; he stopped him.

"Don't!" he cried.

Mu Qing looked at him. "Are you sure? The spell could be aimed at you."

Xie Lian pondered it, but in the end still said, "Let's not act recklessly. I think the chance that it's a wicked spell is very small."

"I think it's very large," Feng Xin said. "Honestly, what the fuck… Doesn't the sight of these things scare you?"

Mu Qing stared at Xie Lian, who stared at him right back. "And what are you basing that off of?"

"Nothing," Xie Lian said. "But these divine statues are quite nice and very meticulously sculpted. If we destroy them before we find out about them, we might regret it."

After a pause, he added, "San Lang…might have lied to me about something, but I truly don't think it's anything that would harm me."

Mu Qing couldn't believe his ears. "…Did he cast some spell on you to bewitch your mind? I think if he wrote 'suspicious' on his face, you'd suddenly forget how to read."

While they were talking, Feng Xin snapped to alertness, like he was about to face a dangerous foe. "Watch out!" he cried.

Xie Lian and Mu Qing both tensed and demanded, "What is it?"

"That spider silk is coming at us again!" Feng Xin exclaimed.

The palm torch illuminated the stone walls ahead; they were covered with large patches of dense white silk. The three cursed mentally, gearing themselves up for another clash. Yet unexpectedly, this white silk wasn't as aggressive as the silk in the pit; it neither moved nor attacked. It was acting like a gecko lounging on a wall.

After they had waited for a while, Xie Lian observed, "These silk nets don't seem alive."

"If they're not alive, then what are they for?" Feng Xin questioned.

Xie Lian had an answer in mind, which he confirmed when he went over to study it. "I think they're covering something."

All three of them stood before the stone wall. Xie Lian gave the white silk a tug and pulled off a large section. As expected, the strands were tough and difficult to tear down, but he could manage it with effort.

The veils had concealed the identity of those divine statues. So what was being hidden on these stone walls?

The other two joined him in tearing down the webs, each taking care of different areas. Soon, a section of the wall was revealed on Xie Lian's side.

"It's a mural!"

The webs had been hiding a giant painting. The entire surface of the wall was densely packed with lines, colors, and little people. The mural was divided into smaller pieces, each with a different style: some were coarse and wild, some elegant, some exquisite, some peculiar.

After studying it for a while, Xie Lian stated, "…He painted this."

"He?" Mu Qing echoed. "Hua Cheng? Are you sure?"

"Yes," Xie Lian said softly. "There are words on here, and he's the one who wrote them."

He pointed at a little blood-red person on the wall. Right next to it, there were a bunch of messy, twisted, indiscernible characters—it looked like they had been written in a state of delirium or scrawled to vent the author's feelings during a period of extreme suffering. Based on those characters, Xie Lian could guess that the little blood-red person painted there was Hua Cheng himself, but for some unknown reason he had depicted himself as extremely ugly and disfigured.

Feng Xin glanced at it and couldn't help but comment, "That handwriting…it's so ugly I've gone blind. I bet even I write better than him."

Handwriting uglier than Feng Xin's was truly beyond saving. Xie Lian was dazzled; there was so much to see that he didn't even know where to start looking. Now that he'd confirmed this was Hua Cheng's work, it was like he had discovered a treasure trove. His fingertips began to tremble slightly.

Mu Qing seemed to have discovered something nearby and called out. "Your Highness, come quick! Come and see!"

Only then did Xie Lian snap out of it. "What is it?"

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were already rendered speechless and could only point at one of the images. This piece was considerably larger than the other ones depicted. Right at its center was a tall tower connected to a city wall. Below, a sea of people surrounded a magnificent stage. The lines were simple, yet they captured the scene perfectly with only a few strokes.

Mu Qing pointed at the center of the mural. "So…that…that was him?" he said with a trembling voice.

Xie Lian was also staring at that section.

This piece was mostly colorless; only two figures had been colored within it. There was a small figure at the bottom that had been painted pure white; it seemed to be glowing. The figure was looking toward the sky with hands outstretched. It was about to catch another little figure who was falling from the tower.

That little figure was bloody red.

"…Is that him? Was that him?" Mu Qing murmured. "The little kid who fell during the Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremonial Parade? But how is that possible? I can't believe it. Crimson Rain Sought Flower…was him?!"

Feng Xin patted Xie Lian and Mu Qing madly and pointed to one side. "There's more in the back!"

Xie Lian walked over to the other mural and saw that it depicted a dilapidated little shrine. Upon the shrine's altar there was a divine statue, which also glowed faintly with white light. It held a sword in one hand, and in the other it offered a red umbrella downward. There was an ugly little blood-red figure at the bottom of the mural. It cupped a small flower in its hands, which it was offering to the statue.

Xie Lian felt a sudden headache coming on. His hand flew to clutch his throbbing temple, but he didn't look away.

The next mural depicted a battlefield. Large bands of soldiers were gearing up for war, and a little white figure floated in the sky overhead. It wielded a longsword in one hand and looked mighty and glorious. There was another little blood-red figure among the dense battalion below. Its head was raised to watch the one in the sky.

Xie Lian was absorbed in these paintings when Feng Xin's disbelieving voice rang out.

"That red one, it's all the same person, isn't it? It's all him?! They're all Hua Cheng?! Holy fuck… He's been following you all this time?!"

Mu Qing also looked incredulous. "He wasn't just following, he was watching. Watching very closely. Very, very closely. He was everywhere!

Look, this is the main street, Buyou Forest—what's this? Beizi Hill? My god… Was he the one who carved all these divine statues?!"

Looking at the murals was giving Feng Xin chills. "My fucking god… Who the hell is he? He's had his eye on you since eight hundred years ago?! And he's still following you, even now? What the fuck?! This is terrifying! Is he bewitched? What the hell does he want? No normal devotee would go this far—so just what the hell does he want?!"

"There must be some plot…there must be!" Mu Qing exclaimed.

"Let's keep looking. I'm sure we'll find a clue!"

Xie Lian was completely stricken. He stared at that little blood-red figure on the wall, unable to wrap his mind around it. It felt like countless memories were fighting to rush into his brain—he hadn't forgotten, but they'd never taken root. They were pouring in so fast that his breath could barely keep up anymore.

Just then, Xie Lian heard the other two yell, and he snapped out of it.

"What is it now?" he asked.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both standing before a stone wall, and it looked like they had seen something outrageous. When they saw Xie Lian walk toward them, Feng Xin quickly turned around and stopped him, pushing him away.

"Holy fuck, don't look!"

"What?" Xie Lian was bewildered. "What was it? Why can't I look?"

Mu Qing's expression was dark. "Just…don't bother. There's nothing worth seeing here. Let's get out of here as soon as possible!"

The two of them each grabbed one of Xie Lian's arms and started to bolt once more. Xie Lian complained as he was dragged along.

"What are you doing? I wasn't done looking at the murals!"

"There's no need to look anymore! Things like that shouldn't be seen!" Feng Xin yelled angrily as he ran. "My fucking god! I've never witnessed anything like that in my fucking life. Nor anyone like him!"

Xie Lian was baffled. "What have you never witnessed? What's wrong with San Lang?"

"Why are you still calling him 'San Lang'? Stop it!" Mu Qing admonished. "You can't get away from him fast enough! Never go near him again—he's not normal! He's sick in the head! He's crazy!"

Xie Lian couldn't listen anymore. "Why are you two insulting him like this? None of us are all that normal, you know!"

"Stop asking!" Feng Xin cried. "You don't understand! He's not like us! He's crazy! He… Toward you, he… He…" "'Toward me,' what?" Xie Lian demanded. "Please let me go. Let me go back and see for myself, all right?"

One wanted to go back, but the other two were pulling him forward.

They were stuck in that stalemate until suddenly, a bone-chilling voice came from ahead of them.

"Didn't I say not to randomly put your hands on things in other people's territory?"

The three of them froze, then slowly turned to look.

Before them stood a man dressed in red. Hua Cheng was leaning against the stone wall, blocking their way with a smile.

"If you do, who knows what will happen?"

While his mouth was smiling, his eye held not a trace of mirth but was instead dark and muddied. He hugged one of his arms, while his other hand idly fiddled with something small.

It was the deep-red coral pearl tied to his thin braid. The coral's luminous red luster was as bright and dazzling as the red affinity knot on his pale finger.

Neither the hundreds of charmed talismans nor the heavy piles of boulders had stopped him!

Feng Xin and Mu Qing both reacted swiftly. Feng Xin shot a barrage of arrows as Mu Qing swung his saber to send an air-blade strike toward Hua Cheng, then grabbed Xie Lian and ran. Feng Xin employed his same old trick and struck wildly at the rock walls.

"What the fuck?!" he cried. "How did he find us so fast?!"

"How should I know?!" Mu Qing yelled back. "Wait—the red string!

The red string! His finger is still tied with that red string!"

When it dawned on them, they both turned around to seize Xie Lian's hand—as if he would let them. Xie Lian clutched the red knot on his finger to protect it and exclaimed, "You can't!"

"Your Highness, he'll find us as long as you keep that red string tied to you," Feng Xin insisted. "If you don't want him to catch up, it has to be removed!"

Xie Lian still held on, guarding his finger. "I'm not afraid of him catching up. I…want to ask him about this face-to-face."

Mu Qing's eyes widened. "You still want to talk to him? I don't think you'll realize how dangerous he is until he's devoured you whole."

"But I already know he's dangerous," Xie Lian countered. "You guys won't tell me what that mural shows, and you won't let me go near him.

You won't convince me of anything acting like this."

"He's a ghost king, and his behavior is abnormal. People would usually stay far away based on that alone! You shouldn't need to be convinced of anything!"

Xie Lian raised two fingers. "Two choices: either you let me go back and ask him to explain, or you let me go back to look at that mural."

Feng Xin and Mu Qing seemed to remember something terrifying.

One's lips began to twitch, while the other's brow could not furrow any deeper. They both stood blocking him and yelled in unison, "We'll allow neither!"

Thus, Xie Lian rolled up his sleeves. "Well, since you both said no, let's solve this with our fists! Who's first? Or will you come at me together?"

Mu Qing turned to Feng Xin. "You first!"

Then he backed away to the side of the tunnel.

Feng Xin didn't seem confident that he could win against Xie Lian, but he was determined to give it his best shot to rescue this wayward youth.

He gripped his bow.

"Very well! Your Highness, pardon my insolence!"

"Pard—" Before Xie Lian could even return the opening courtesy, he felt something hot being stuck to his back. Someone behind him shouted, "Stay still! Don't talk!" and he was rendered as stiff as an iron board. And not just his body—he also couldn't move his mouth to speak!

Mu Qing darted out from behind Xie Lian. "Let's drag him away.

That talisman will paralyze him temporarily, but it won't last long," he said to Feng Xin.

Feng Xin was slightly dumbfounded. "Why did you ambush him?

Didn't we agree to go one-on-one?"

Xie Lian was shocked as well that Mu Qing would immediately go back on his word. He wouldn't have been deceived so easily had it not been for his wholehearted trust in both of his once-subordinates.

"Who has the time for you to go one-on-one right now?" Mu Qing said. "He's doing it on purpose; it's easy to see that he's dragging things out to give Hua Cheng time to catch up. Do you see the state he's in right now?

Completely enchanted! No matter what you tell him, nothing will get through. Once they meet, Hua Cheng will probably only need to charm him with a few lies and he'll believe him, just like someone who's under a fox spirit's thrall."3 Feng Xin considered this and decided that what Mu Qing said made some sense. "Your Highness," he sighed, "we didn't intend to deceive you, but his behavior toward you is really…unseemly. I can't even speak of it!

Please, just come with us."

"Let's go," Mu Qing said.

Mu Qing's words weren't a suggestion or a plea—they were a command. He must have stuck a Command Talisman on Xie Lian's back, drawn in his own blood. A Command Talisman could ostensibly make its target obey the spellcaster's every whim, but in reality it could only realize simple commands like "do not speak," "walk," "stop," "run," and so on.

More complicated commands were harder to execute, and the talisman couldn't confound the target's mind. Only powerful ghosts like the Brocade Immortal could manage such things.

The two hurried along with Xie Lian in tow again, but they were stopped by a pile of rubble blocking the way.

Feng Xin saw that their path had been cut off and wondered aloud, "Why are there rocks blocking the way? We can't go any farther."

"Weren't you the one who knocked them down? Why are you asking me?" Mu Qing said.

"You were the one leading the way, so you're the one who messed up. Why are we somewhere we've already been, anyway? Why would you circle back around?" Feng Xin questioned.

Mu Qing refused to be questioned. "What a joke. I don't know the roads here, so how could I possibly lead? Haven't we been running around randomly all this time?"

Sensing that they were about to get into another argument, Feng Xin waved it off.

"Never mind, it's not worth wasting my breath on you. Let's just dig through this!"

Hua Cheng was pursuing them from behind, so they could only go forward—retreat wasn't an option if they wanted to avoid running into him.

Blocking roads was easy, but digging through that blockage was much harder. They made Xie Lian stand obediently in a corner while Feng Xin rained down random punches on the boulders, and Mu Qing, with bulging veins, swung his mighty zhanmadao to shatter the rocks. They cleared the path in no time; rubble rolled and dust clouded the air. But just as they were about to call Xie Lian over, they saw a red-clad figure standing in the now-open passage amidst clouds of settling dust.

Xie Lian's eyes instantly lit up. It was Hua Cheng!

The ghost king's gaze was cold. He stood silently with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Why won't you go away?!" Feng Xin blurted.

This man was the very definition of persistence. They had left him in the dust, so how had he managed to appear ahead of them? How long had he had been standing there, waiting in silence as they cleared away the obstacle blocking their way to deliver themselves right into his hands? He was frighteningly tenacious and sinister.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing quickly backed away, putting some distance between them. Hua Cheng didn't look at them. His gaze moved to the side of the tunnel, and he took a step in Xie Lian's direction. Feng Xin and Mu Qing realized why he was here and rushed to Xie Lian's side in a flash to guard him.

"Don't come any closer!" they both shouted at once.

Hua Cheng's expression turned extremely dark.

Normally, if someone dared to tell Crimson Rain Sought Flower to stay away, he wouldn't give a damn; he'd simply laugh and approach anyway. But at that moment he seemed genuinely wary, not daring to move recklessly. He paused in his step.

After a moment, he finally spoke. His words came slowly, and his tone was calm. "What do you two mean by this?"

Feng Xin, however, cut straight to the point. "You don't need to pretend anymore! We know this is your old lair. We've already seen what those divine statues are, and the murals too—we've seen everything!"

Hua Cheng wasn't directly facing them; he stood at an angle. The hands tucked behind his back seemed to jerk at Feng Xin's words, and two of his fingers curled stiffly inward.

"His Highness…saw it too?" he asked softly, inclining his head.

His voice was very, very quiet. While he still sounded unfazed, his voice was slightly cracked and obviously strange.

No! Xie Lian cried mentally.

The truth was that he hadn't seen much, but at that moment Xie Lian could neither move nor speak. He could only lean dutifully against the wall in the corner—which made it look like he was hiding behind the other two.

It must've seemed like he was afraid to face Hua Cheng and refused to speak with him.

Feng Xin drew his bow. "That's right. We now understand your… intentions. With respect for your position as a ghost king—if you still know self-respect and conduct yourself with any dignity—we ask that you don't come near His Highness again."

Xie Lian's feelings were like a cottage on fire, black smoke roiling heavy and thick. Hua Cheng should've noticed that something was amiss, and Xie Lian could only hope that he would question him directly to find out what was wrong.

But Hua Cheng's current state seemed to render him unable to notice a thing.

"Don't go near him?" he said coldly. "What right do either of you have to say that to me?"

Not waiting for their response, Hua Cheng's eye flashed dangerously.

"But you've reminded me that we have unfinished business to settle!"

The moment he finished speaking, countless shrieking silver butterflies shot forth toward them. In the face of such an attack, a spiritual shield was the only option. Feng Xin and Mu Qing cried in unison, "Shield!"

The butterfly deluge was blocked by the formless spiritual shield and shattered into shimmering silver light, which rapidly recrystallized into new silver butterflies and attacked once more. The onslaught was completely unstoppable—Feng Xin and Mu Qing gave ground slowly as they kept their shield up, and Hua Cheng steadily advanced step by step. The whirling winds raised by his spiritual aura stirred his raven hair, and it danced wildly with every gust. The mad fury and violence in his eye was on full display under the blinding light of the silver butterflies.

Defending alone wouldn't get them anywhere. Feng Xin and Mu Qing exchanged a look, silently agreeing to go on the attack. They maintained the spiritual shield as they charged forward; then, with weapons flashing, the three began to fight in the narrow stone corridor. Feng Xin battled the wraith butterflies while Mu Qing faced Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng flung out an arm, and the scimitar Eming appeared in his left hand, ready to strike!

This was the first time Xie Lian witnessed Eming fighting seriously.

The scimitar was long, slender, and chillingly murderous, and it gleamed with threatening silver light—it was truly a wicked blade overflowing with evil!

The battle was truly thrilling to behold. Hua Cheng stood his ground even when fighting two against one, and Xie Lian watched unblinkingly with bated breath. With a flick of Eming's blade, Mu Qing's zhanmadao was knocked off course and into the rocks. Although Mu Qing still had a grip on the hilt, the blade was stuck—he couldn't yank his weapon out. This only shocked Mu Qing for a moment, but Hua Cheng's fist was already swinging right into his jaw. The punch sent Mu Qing flying through the air, and he finally lost his grip on his saber's hilt.

Meanwhile, each arrow Feng Xin shot at the butterflies was snapped by their sharp wings. The sheer number of butterflies was ultimately too difficult to deal with!

At this point, both victory and defeat were a foregone conclusion.

Countless white silk tendrils slithered from the corners of the corridor and wrapped Feng Xin and Mu Qing into giant cocoons once more. The more they struggled, the tighter their bindings became.

Mu Qing tore at the silk as he yelled. "I knew you were the one who threw us into that pit!"

"This isn't spider silk!" Feng Xin exclaimed. "This is…!"

It dawned on Xie Lian as well. It was butterfly silk!

Butterflies emerged from chrysalises, which they wove from their own silk. This strange white silk was completely of Hua Cheng's making, and it was probably linked to his aggressive wraith butterflies!

With the match decided, Hua Cheng sheathed his scimitar. "I threw you in to save you from disaster. Otherwise, you would've never had a chance to find this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods," he jeered. "And it was your yelling that caused the avalanche. Why don't you thank me for saving your puny little lives?"

Hua Cheng had probably planned to wait out the avalanche at first, getting Xie Lian out once the snowy mountain quieted down and leaving Feng Xin and Mu Qing behind. But unexpectedly, the pair had gnawed through the chrysalises and made enough noise that Xie Lian had discovered them, which led to all the trouble afterward. If not for all that, Xie Lian might have really just followed Hua Cheng straight out without looking at a single divine statue.

But the worst-case scenario had come to pass. Every secret had been torn out and exposed under the sun.

Despite the anxiety roiling under the surface, Xie Lian's body still sat obediently in place. Hua Cheng's gaze was growing colder and more intense as he stared condescendingly down at Mu Qing.

"It seems I'm the one with the real talent for sabers. Not you," he quietly stated.

Mu Qing's throat was bound by a few bands of white silk, and his face changed from blue to red and back as he was strangled. Blood leaked from the corners of his lips, and he choked out, "You! You…? I see, I get it…"

Feng Xin gritted out through his teeth, "What…do you…get?"

"I get…why this bastard…hates me so much now…" Mu Qing said.

"He probably hates you…for the same reason!"

"Wh…why?" Feng Xin demanded through his coughs.

"Because he's insane!" Mu Qing said hatefully through his own coughing. "Have you forgotten what was in those murals? He was that… that young soldier His Highness wanted to promote after he returned from Beizi Hill. His Highness had said…his swordplay was good…and that he was well suited to the saber…" "Why'd that make him hate you?" Feng Xin questioned.

Mu Qing didn't reply. Bam! Hua Cheng landed another punch on Mu Qing's face.

Hua Cheng gave a chilling smile and answered on Mu Qing's behalf.

"Because he kicked me out of the army."

To think Mu Qing had done something like that!

Feng Xin was astonished. "What the fuck…?! Why'd you do that?

How'd he piss you off?!"

Mu Qing's face was covered in blood. "I just made him go home— it's not like it's good to fight in a war! How could I have known he'd wind up being this crazy and holding grudges all this time—" Hua Cheng cut him off with another punch, so forceful that Mu Qing's face almost contorted when it landed. Bam!

Hua Cheng smiled. "Did you think I couldn't guess why you kicked me out? Hmm?"

Mu Qing looked away, and Hua Cheng snickered.

"I guess it's clear which of us is actually useless trash, hm?"

"…" Mu Qing spat out a mouthful of blood and grimaced like he'd been stabbed where it hurt. He replied, spitefully slowly, "Thank goodness I kicked you out. If we'd kept you in the army and let you get closer to His Highness, were you going to watch him all day with your mind full of unspeakable filth? Disgusting!"

Xie Lian's heart squeezed violently. Hua Cheng had his fist raised at first, but it froze in midair when Mu Qing spat the word "disgusting." Veins bulged on the back of his pale hand. The fingers clenched and loosened, loosened then clenched.

A long moment later, Hua Cheng said icily, "For now, I won't argue with you on that point. But tell me one thing, and tell me honestly: your argument before the avalanche—is that true?"

Mu Qing looked to Feng Xin with eyes wide; Feng Xin looked back, his own eyes round and bulging. Neither of them knew how to respond.

"My patience is limited," Hua Cheng said sharply. "Answer me on the count of three. One! Two!"

Such a rush for an answer!

An idea struck Mu Qing within his panic. "Your Highness, run!" he cried.

The moment the command was issued, the damn spell stuck to Xie Lian's back forced him to bolt. Hua Cheng swung around toward him, and two bands of white butterfly silk shot from the corners of the cave to bind Xie Lian. He fell to the ground before he'd even managed two steps.

To an observer, it looked like Xie Lian had been frozen in terror this whole time—or perhaps that he'd been struggling to accept the truth about Hua Cheng or had simply decided he didn't want to intervene in their fight.

Now it looked like he'd finally decided to flee but had failed. The truth was, though, he had never even considered running away!

Xie Lian's hands and feet were tightly bound by the thick white silk.

He lay sprawled on the ground with his black hair and white sleeves splayed out around him. His bamboo hat had rolled off to one side. Hua Cheng slowly turned to him, paused for a long moment, and then made his way to Xie Lian's side.

He'd only taken a few steps before Feng Xin could no longer hold back a desperate shout.

"Hua Cheng!"

Hua Cheng paused in his step and tilted his head.

"Let…let His Highness go!" Feng Xin forced out a plea. "He's suffered enough. Don't…to him…" Hua Cheng didn't reply. He came to Xie Lian's side and, with one hand on his back and one hand under his knees, swept him into his arms.

Xie Lian lay against Hua Cheng's chest. Even though they were sealed in those giant white chrysalises, he could see Feng Xin and Mu Qing's expressions. Feng Xin looked like he was watching a lamb entering a tiger's mouth, as if Xie Lian was going to be ripped apart and devoured, and he started yelling. Mu Qing had started tearing at the white silk with his teeth again, but the awkward angle meant his struggles came to nothing.

Hua Cheng knew the pathways of this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods like the back of his hand. After many forks and turns, the two figures and their voices soon disappeared.

Carrying Xie Lian in his arms, Hua Cheng moved deeper into the darkness of the cave's innermost dens.

The only light around them came from the gently fluttering silver wraith butterflies. Xie Lian couldn't see the expression on Hua Cheng's face, but he could feel the tension in his body.

Hua Cheng had held him like this in the past, but it was obvious that something had changed—he wouldn't even touch Xie Lian's neck or hands directly. Xie Lian kept eyeing Hua Cheng's face, trying to blink hard enough that he'd notice, but Hua Cheng kept avoiding his gaze.

Hua Cheng took him into a chamber with a stone bed, where he quickly brought him and set him down. As he lay Xie Lian on the bed, he noticed something and checked Xie Lian's back.

"They cast a spell on you?"

Xie Lian was overjoyed. He'd finally discovered it!

Still, it had taken him incredibly long to notice that there was something off about Xie Lian, which just showed how badly Hua Cheng had been caught off guard. Xie Lian waited for him to remove the Command Talisman from his back, but Hua Cheng's hand paused before he touched the offending paper. In the end, Hua Cheng withdrew his hand and laid Xie Lian flat on the bed.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I won't kill those two useless pieces of trash—for now," Hua Cheng said in a low voice, perhaps attempting to reassure Xie Lian. "Even though I'd really like to murder them."

There was a layer of thick, soft, fresh hay on the stone bed. It didn't jab Xie Lian at all as he lay there limply, but he was so anxious that his insides were smoking—he couldn't understand why Hua Cheng wouldn't release him from the spell. Just as he was trying desperately to struggle his way out of its control, Hua Cheng reached for the sash around Xie Lian's waist and begin to untie it.

In an unfortunate coincidence, that was the moment when the Command Talisman on Xie Lian's back started to fade; he kicked out hard with one leg as an "Ah!" escaped his lips. His spasm looked like nothing more than the jerk of a dying fish twitching in its last attempt at life and objecting with no real power. Still, Hua Cheng froze instantly and withdrew his hand.

"I won't!"

At that point, Hua Cheng seemed to decide that his tone was too harsh and that his actions might be scaring or repulsing Xie Lian. He backed away a few steps and softened his voice. His expression was cautious and resigned but otherwise unreadable.

"Your Highness, I won't do anything to you," he said in a low voice.

"Don't…don't be scared."

Xie Lian finally understood.

Hua Cheng still wasn't sure what kind of response he would receive from Xie Lian upon releasing the spell, so he was refusing to hear it altogether.

Hua Cheng seemed to be holding back some sort of urge, and he once again assured him in a quiet tone that sounded like a vow, "Your Highness, trust me."

He'd said that exact phrase before, but this time, all his normal confidence was gone.

Xie Lian wanted to answer him but couldn't, and he didn't dare struggle anymore lest Hua Cheng's misunderstanding deepen. He could only lie there, flat and motionless, waiting patiently for the power of the Command Talisman to fade entirely.

Seeing that Xie Lian had stopped "resisting," Hua Cheng approached again, reached out, and gingerly finished untying Xie Lian's belt.

San Lang?! Xie Lian called out in his mind.

Xie Lian wholeheartedly believed that Hua Cheng would never take advantage of a helpless person, but this new development was completely unexpected—he couldn't help his eyes widening. Hua Cheng set about loosening Xie Lian's clothes, but he seemed to be avoiding touching Xie Lian's body, which slowed him down. It was a long while before Xie Lian's outer robes were removed and the inner robe followed. A wraith butterfly perched on the curve of Xie Lian's shoulder, and a warm, tingling feeling crawled over his skin.

It was only then that Xie Lian realized the state he was in—his skin was red and slightly swollen, even cracked in some areas. But when the silver butterfly perched on him, his injuries had started to heal.

This was frostbite he'd gotten from tumbling all over the frozen mountain, but Xie Lian hadn't noticed it since he was fairly used to pain at this point. If he had frostbite, then he had frostbite; even if he had noticed the injuries earlier, he probably would have left them to heal on their own.

But Hua Cheng knew even better than Xie Lian himself where he was hurt, and he wouldn't let it go. He would address Xie Lian's injuries no matter what.

Xie Lian's thoughts were interrupted when Hua Cheng took his arm and raised it. There were even more patches of frostbite on his hands and feet, and many of the spots were bleeding due to all the frantic running and pulling he'd been subjected to recently. Xie Lian wasn't afraid of pain, but he was ticklish—and in spite of himself, fragmented memories from years past surfaced in his mind. The trembling, heated hands of a boy in a dark cave, random panicked touches, irregular breathing, and racing hearts… At first, these memories were hazy and incredibly faint; Xie Lian had packed them away and tossed them into a corner of his mind long ago. But as the memories began to resurface, they had a surprisingly different taste, and it made Xie Lian want to hold his head and scream—especially with Hua Cheng right in front of him, doing very nearly the same things he'd done once upon a time. Xie Lian's face and mind were burning. He was afraid Hua Cheng would see his distress, but Hua Cheng didn't look at him at all; he fulfilled his promise completely and never crossed the line. He kept his head slightly turned away, averting his gaze from Xie Lian's half-exposed white shoulder.

Suddenly, a jeering voice rang out from behind Hua Cheng.

"Hua Cheng! You madman, what do you think you're doing to His Highness?! You're disgusting!"

Hua Cheng whipped his head toward the voice. Xie Lian looked past him to see who had reached the entrance of the cavern chamber.

The speaker was Mu Qing, with Feng Xin beside him. Despite being so recently wrapped in giant chrysalises, they had somehow broken free and found this place. Their faces had gone pale at the scene inside the cavern, and Xie Lian's face paled in turn.

What an awful sight!

Feng Xin pointed at Hua Cheng, then pointed at Xie Lian with his clothes peeled halfway off. It was a long moment before he could squeeze out, "You… You… Let him go right now!"

Hua Cheng quickly pulled Xie Lian's clothes back in place. "You useless trash dare hunt us down," he said coldly. "I think you're tired of living."

"Keep your filthy hands off him. Does the ugly toad want a taste of swan meat?" Mu Qing sneered. "Never mind dreaming of it for eight hundred years—you can hope for a thousand more, but don't even think of touching a single one of His Highness's fingers!"

Xie Lian's heart dropped. But while the comments annoyed him, he could sense that something was amiss.

What was wrong with those two? They shouldn't have spewed such malicious words, even if Hua Cheng had beaten them to a pulp earlier—it was especially uncharacteristic of Mu Qing. It seemed like they were purposely trying to provoke Hua Cheng. But there was no reason for that;

they knew they couldn't beat him, so what did they want? Moreover, their tone subtly pointed the spear in Xie Lian's direction. It was like they wanted to stir up confusion—as though they wanted Hua Cheng to do something to Xie Lian in a fit of anger.

Sure enough, darkness flashed over Hua Cheng's blanched face, and he threatened softly, "Since you both came seeking death—" Xie Lian could see the naked murderous intent in his eyes, and horror filled him "Don't!" he cried.

Too late. Hua Cheng unsheathed his scimitar, and Eming flashed cold.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both startled by the strike, and they reflexively looked down at themselves, but they saw no visible injuries on their bodies. Just a moment later, before they had the chance to breathe in relief or retaliate, the upper halves of their bodies split from their lower halves and fell to the floor with a thud.

Blood spurted and gushed, spilling over and flooding the ground.

Xie Lian had never expected things to go like this. He lay limply on the stone bed, completely dumbstruck.

Hua Cheng had actually sliced Feng Xin and Mu Qing in half!

They weren't dead yet. They tumbled to the ground, one gritting his teeth, the other yelling furiously—it was a sight too tragic to witness. Hua Cheng's expression was frigid as he sheathed his scimitar. His face was dotted with only a few drops of blood, but the tinge of red complemented the aura of evil surrounding him and made him look even more striking.

Hua Cheng stood in the pool of blood for a moment, then turned to walk toward Xie Lian. Xie Lian stared with wide eyes at Hua Cheng's grim approach.

By the time Xie Lian snapped out of his stupor, Hua Cheng had already reached his side. He clutched one of Xie Lian's hands and pulled him up into an intense embrace.

"…How can I possibly let go?" he whispered.

Xie Lian couldn't speak, being held so tightly in his arms. And then Hua Cheng whispered something else in his ear. Xie Lian's heart was pounding so wildly he thought it might jump out of his chest…when he suddenly felt his body release.

The Command Talisman that Mu Qing stuck to his back had finally been released.

Even though Hua Cheng said he wouldn't let go, he still loosened his embrace just a little and let Xie Lian leave his hold once he released him from the Command Talisman. Xie Lian took a deep breath, then leapt to his feet and charged over to the pool of blood on the ground.

"Feng Xin? Mu Qing? Are you two all right?!"

Mu Qing's injuries were more severe; blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and the light in his eyes had faded. But Feng Xin still had breath left, and he gripped Xie Lian's hand tightly.

"Your…Highness…" Xie Lian clutched his hand in turn. "What? What do you want to say?"

Feng Xin swallowed a mouthful of blood and managed to grit out, "Watch out…for Hua Cheng… Don't go near him… He…he's a monster!"

It seemed that Feng Xin had used up all that remained of his strength to give Xie Lian that warning before he died. Unexpectedly, the expression on Xie Lian's face gradually calmed.

"Monster?" He let go of Feng Xin's hand and rose to his feet. "I wonder. Is he more of a monster than you two?"

That shocked Feng Xin. Without pausing for a response, Xie Lian drew Fangxin and pierced Feng Xin's heart, nailing him dead to the ground in a flash!

"Your Highness, you…!" Feng Xin sputtered in shock, but before he could finish, he stopped breathing.

Xie Lian withdrew Fangxin from Feng Xin's heart and shook it clean of blood before he retreated to Hua Cheng's side. He kept his sword pointed at the corpses on the ground all the while.

"Now that blood has been spilled, there's no need to keep talking through those skins."

"Ha ha ha…" A jeering laugh echoed from the ground. Mu Qing's body had been sliced in half at the waist, but its head twisted around to show that it was the one laughing.

Its upper half was sprawled facedown, so even if it turned its head, its cheek should have still been pressed to the ground. But the corpse's head kept turning until it was fully backward and lifted it, laughing at Xie Lian all the while!

As suspected, these were not the real Feng Xin and Mu Qing but impostors from who-knew-where. The real Feng Xin and Mu Qing were still trapped in those giant white chrysalises trying to gnaw themselves free.

That was what Hua Cheng had whispered when he released Xie Lian from the Command Talisman.

Their faces were pale not from shock or horror, but because they weren't human to begin with!

Xie Lian flashed his sword. "Feng Xin" and "Mu Qing" both smiled chillingly and replied in unison:

"As you wish."

They then melted into puddles of something that resembled thick blood. Hua Cheng moved to shield Xie Lian. The two bloody puddles flowed across the ground and merged into one, bubbling like they were boiling. Soon, the pool formed into the shape of a man. A chill spiked up Xie Lian's spine from waist to neck as he watched that indescribable mass contort itself and grow bit by bit.

Soon, "Feng Xin" and "Mu Qing" were completely gone. The person who had replaced them was a tall, slender young man dressed in white.

Judging by his size, the young man seemed to be about seventeen or eighteen years of age. He was wearing a mask, half of it crying, half of it smiling. While his face couldn't be seen, a youthful, crisp, bright voice came from behind the mask.

"How are you, Xie Lian?" he asked warmly.

Xie Lian's lips twitched unconsciously, and his mind went numb.

Hua Cheng had been shielding him, but now the ghost king raised his blade and lunged at the man!

The white-clad man was dauntless in the face of Eming's wicked sharpness, and the blade missed him by mere millimeters as he sidestepped.

In the span of a second, he flashed behind Hua Cheng. He reached for Xie Lian like he wanted to touch his face. Silver light streaked, and Hua Cheng blocked that hand, shielding Xie Lian once more.

Hua Cheng's voice was cold. "Keep your filthy hands off him."

He threw the warning right back at him! The white-clad man's right hand was severed by Eming's slash, and the limb fell to the ground.

But the man seemed like he'd barely noticed the injury. He simply shook out his expansive sleeve to briefly hide the severed limb, then shook the sleeve back again. A new hand had grown in the old one's place.

His fingers curled into claws, and he aimed directly for Hua Cheng's right eye!

It all happened in under a second. Hua Cheng dodged just as fast, but the attack still left two bloody scratches on his cheek.

For the first time, Hua Cheng faced an opponent he couldn't overtake in speed. His gaze turned sharp, and he changed tactics on the spot—he called forth millions of wraith butterflies, and they swarmed the man in a frenzy. The myriad butterflies wrapped the white-clad man inside a large, shimmering silver chrysalis, but that likely wouldn't last long. Hua Cheng was about to grab Xie Lian when the silver butterflies shrieked and exploded into sparkling powder!

Seeing the subtle change to Hua Cheng's expression as so many wraith butterflies were destroyed at once, Xie Lian knew that this wasn't good. The white-clad man had blown apart the wraith butterflies, and now he was hidden within the shimmering silver powder that choked the air. His newly grown hand struck out once more, aiming again for Hua Cheng's right eye!

This time, it was Xie Lian's turn. He pulled out Fangxin and slashed!

His strike didn't just chop off the white-clad man's hand, nor his entire arm —it very nearly bisected him entirely.

Seizing the chance, Hua Cheng called out, "Your Highness, let's go!"

Xie Lian knew they shouldn't get entangled in this fight, and that they should quit while they were ahead. He retreated, and the two rushed out of the cavern together. They bolted down the dark tunnel, unhampered by any obstacles.

"It's him! He… He really didn't die!" Xie Lian exclaimed as he ran.

Hua Cheng led the way. He was faster and dashed easily, setting up butterfly formations and silk traps along the way to trip up any pursuers.

"He might not be the original."

Xie Lian came to an abrupt stop and clutched his head. "No…I can feel it. He's the same! Not only is he still alive, but he's even stronger than before. Something let him be reborn… How else could he transform so easily into Feng Xin and Mu Qing? It's very difficult to impersonate heavenly officials—it should be nearly impossible to create fake skins of them!"

Hearing his tone go frantic, Hua Cheng also stopped and turned back.

He took Xie Lian's hand and gripped it. "Don't be scared, Your Highness.

He might not really be stronger. There's another possibility—he could be very familiar with Feng Xin and Mu Qing! That's why he could create fake skins of them. He must be someone all of you—" Before he finished, Xie Lian's gaze fell to the hand that was clutching his own. Hua Cheng's words and expression both froze. He paled and withdrew his hand, tucked it behind his back, and turned to continue onward.

Xie Lian, however, didn't follow.

"San Lang," he called out.

Hua Cheng's body stiffened. He paused in his step but didn't look back. He only acknowledged, "Your Highness," in a carefully calm voice.

"A lot just happened, and everyone's a little flustered and confused," Xie Lian said from behind him.

"Mm," Hua Cheng answered.

"Everything is still kind of confusing, but I want to take the time to ask you a question," Xie Lian continued. "I hope you'll answer me honestly and seriously."

"…All right," Hua Cheng agreed.

"Who exactly is that 'noble, gracious special someone'?" Xie Lian asked solemnly.

Hua Cheng's finger—the one that was tied with the red affinity knot —subtly twitched a few times. He was silent for a while before he eventually answered, "If Your Highness already knows, then why ask?"

Xie Lian nodded. "I see. So I didn't misunderstand you. It really is true."

Hua Cheng didn't respond.

After a pause, Xie Lian asked, his tone flat, "Don't you want to know…how I feel about this?"

"…" Hua Cheng inclined his head slightly—it was like he wanted to glance back but was too afraid to look Xie Lian in the eye. Only the two streaks of blood on his cheek could be seen.

"Your Highness, would you please…not tell me?"

His voice cracked as he asked.

"I'm sorry," Xie Lian said. "Something like this has to be made clear."

Hua Cheng didn't need to breathe, but he still sucked in a deep breath. Although his face was awfully pale, he still smiled and replied courteously, "That's true. It's for the best."

He was like a criminal on death row, waiting for his sentence. He closed his eye.

Yet his eye didn't remain closed for long—soon it snapped open once more as a pair of arms suddenly circled him from behind and caught him in a forceful embrace.

Xie Lian buried his face in Hua Cheng's back, but he didn't speak either. Though nothing was said, it was enough.

It was a long time before Xie Lian felt the man he was hugging turn around. Hua Cheng fervently returned the embrace, engulfing Xie Lian in his arms.

From above his head, Xie Lian heard Hua Cheng's staggering response. "Your Highness… You really will…be the death of me."

Just then, the sound of an explosion echoed through the deep recesses of the cave. A blinding white light flashed through the darkness, followed by a series of shrieks from the silver butterflies.

They both looked up, and their expressions changed. Xie Lian loosened his grip on Hua Cheng's sleeves.

"Let's talk later!" Xie Lian said.

And thus, the two continued on—except now they were running hand in hand.

Xie Lian's face was still hot, but he spoke with forced calm like nothing had happened. "San Lang, how did you discover that the Feng Xin and Mu Qing who approached us were dummies? Where are the real ones?"

Hua Cheng was in essentially the same state. "I left behind wraith butterflies to monitor the two useless pieces of trash. How could there be two more of them? Don't worry, Your Highness, they're fine. They won't die!"

"Then we have to release Feng Xin and Mu Qing from the chrysalises," Xie Lian said. "It'll be bad if he finds them while they have no way to fight back!"

"This way—follow me!" Hua Cheng answered.

The Cave of Ten Thousand Gods was indeed his territory. Even when they came to crossroads that branched into multiple different paths, he immediately and accurately knew which one to take. It wasn't long before they returned to the area where they'd left Feng Xin and Mu Qing. Even from a distance they could hear those two flinging accusations at each other and yelling.

"Why did you tell His Highness to run?! Now you've done it—he's been carried off!"

"What, should I have had him stand around to be butchered?!"

"Huh?! You just wanted him to distract Hua Cheng and lead him away! Am I wrong?!"

Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Both men in the giant white chrysalises on the wall were simultaneously gnawing at the silk and yelling at each other, and they were so surprised when they saw him return that they forgot to spit out the white silk dangling from their mouths.

"How did you escape?"

Xie Lian's bamboo hat was still on the ground where he dropped it, and he quickly picked it up and tied it around his neck. The heavy white silk released Feng Xin and Mu Qing before retreating into the shadows. The two of them tumbled to the ground, beaten black and blue. When they saw Hua Cheng emerge from behind Xie Lian, their faces twitched—they probably thought they were in for another round of beatings or that things would otherwise get rough again. However, when Feng Xin reached out to grab Xie Lian's arm and pull him back, Xie Lian grabbed hold of Hua Cheng first.

"Your Highness…?!" Feng Xin was flummoxed.

Hua Cheng was already starting to lead the way once more. "Gege, this way."

As if those two dared to follow him.

"Your Highness, why are you still with him?" Feng Xin questioned.

"Didn't I tell you he's lost his mind?" Mu Qing said. "He's completely enchanted."

Xie Lian didn't bother to argue; he just gently but very firmly held on to Hua Cheng. "There's no time to explain now. Let's get out of here first— there's an enemy after us!"

With Xie Lian holding him like that, Hua Cheng's eye began to twinkle. A moment later, he smiled. "I suggest you both hold your tongues and follow. I'm in a good mood, so I won't fight you—for now."

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were left in complete disbelief by this display, complicated expressions plastered on their faces. They just couldn't comprehend why Xie Lian still walked so nonchalantly beside a terrifying devil who had stalked him for over eight hundred years with a mind full of unspeakable thoughts. It was like playing with fire and delighting in the burns.

Mu Qing was skeptical but eventually chose to focus on the other point. "You said there's an enemy here? This Cave of Ten Thousand Gods is his territory, so what kind of enemy could there possibly be? Did this enemy give him those scratches on his face? I doubt there are many out there who can injure Crimson Rain Sought Flower."

"It's White No-Face," Xie Lian replied.

At the sound of that name, Feng Xin and Mu Qing's faces both changed, and they followed Xie Lian without another word. They knew well that Xie Lian could joke or lie about anything except that one man. Xie Lian would never make light of him, nor would he ever mistake him.

Even though they'd just been fighting each other to the death in this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods, now they were fleeing like mad together.

"Just what is going on?!" Mu Qing demanded.

Xie Lian gave them an account of the white-clad man who had stolen their appearances, and they were both stunned.

"Disguised as us?! How is that possible!"

"It's true!" Xie Lian said. "Everything happened so fast, and I didn't get a good look, but it was absolutely you two at a glance!"

Feng Xin was dumbfounded. "But how can White No-Face still exist? Didn't the Emperor kill him?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if that thing can't be killed so easily," Mu Qing said. "Maybe it died at the time, but I'm sure it could revive itself given the right chance!"

That reminded Xie Lian of something, and he turned to Hua Cheng.

"San Lang! Right after we made it into Mount Tonglu territory, you woke from your stasis with a start and urged us to hide from something. Did you sense him then?"

Hua Cheng gave a slight nod. "Yes."

"I knew it!" Xie Lian mumbled. "We chose the path to the west after that, but he was the one on the eastern path who'd killed thousands of ghosts. He's been reborn, but he's still a little weak—he needed to use the nefarious creatures coming to Mount Tonglu as a stepping stone… Now he's recovered and might be even stronger than before."

After all, he was the world's first Supreme Ghost King!

As they talked, Mu Qing noticed something amiss. "Your Highness, do you know where he's taking us? I don't think this is the way out."

It was Hua Cheng who replied. "Of course this isn't the way out, because there is no way out right now."

Feng Xin was astonished. "What? Isn't this cave your territory? You can't be lost!"

"Of course not…" Xie Lian replied in Hua Cheng's defense.

"White No-Face is blocking the path to the cave's exit," Hua Cheng explained. "If you think you can defeat him in your current state, then by all means don't follow me. I won't stop you. Go right ahead."

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both from Xianle, of course—and just like Xie Lian, that creature had left an indelible shadow on their hearts.

They didn't want to face him unless absolutely necessary.

Feng Xin gazed upward. "Can we punch through the top of the cave to get out?"

"The snowy mountain is above us. Do you want to start another avalanche?" Hua Cheng mocked.

Unfortunately, they had left the Earth Master Shovel with Yin Yu in case of emergency. Even if they did have it, none of them had studied how to use it, so they wouldn't be able to dig an escape route without making a racket and drawing attention.

"Then why are we running around aimlessly?"

"As long as we run around aimlessly, he'll chase us and we can lure him away from the exit," Xie Lian explained. "And then you two can use that chance to escape."

Mu Qing immediately caught the issue. "Wait… 'You two'? You mean you want to split up? One group is the bait to lead him away, while the other group escapes on their own?"

"Exactly!" Xie Lian said. "The Emperor must be informed that White No-Face has reappeared in the world. Once you both escape, find a way to notify the heavens—" "Wait, wait!" Mu Qing cut him off. "You've already decided who's going to be bait and who's going to leave?"

Xie Lian shook his head. "I didn't decide. White No-Face did."

Mu Qing understood and didn't say another word—there was nothing they could do to choose who was pursued. Among their group, White No-Face would certainly be most interested in chasing Xie Lian!

"I will stay with you to face him," Feng Xin declared without hesitation.

In an emergency, Mu Qing had always been the one Xie Lian sent back to make a report, and Feng Xin had always stayed behind to assist him. It seemed that ancient history was about to repeat itself. But then Xie Lian glanced at Hua Cheng.

"Thanks! But there's no need. San Lang will stay with me."

"How can he be the one to stay? He…" Feng Xin blurted.

Hua Cheng's brow furrowed ominously, but Xie Lian only replied, "I trust him."

Although his voice was gentle, he was firm in his stance. Feng Xin was stunned in spite of himself.

"Your Highness…" Xie Lian patted his shoulder. "You two go together. Mount Tonglu has closed its gates, so it's hard to say whether you'll even be able to get out to spread the word. Besides, don't you still need to search for…Lan Chang and the child?"

Feng Xin's face turned glum at this reminder.

A wraith butterfly emerged from the engravings on the vambrace around Hua Cheng's wrist. "Follow it," he said.

The two looked at Hua Cheng, then at Xie Lian.

In the end, Mu Qing said simply, "You two watch yourselves." With that, he turned and hurried after the silver butterfly down another tunnel. A moment later, Feng Xin followed.

The four thus parted at this fork in the road. As Xie Lian watched their retreating backs, another series of rumbling explosions echoed in the distance. The pair exchanged a look.

"He's here," Hua Cheng said darkly.

"Lead me," Xie Lian said.

The white-clad man had come after Xie Lian, as expected. To ensure he was kept at a safe distance, Hua Cheng set up wraith butterfly formations at various points in the caves to monitor the situation and slow their pursuer down. Every time an explosion went off and the wraith butterflies shrieked, Hua Cheng's expression grew grimmer and Xie Lian's heart ached. They wound around corner after corner until finally they reached a chamber.

Xie Lian couldn't help but sigh. "I can't believe it… So many silver butterflies have been lost."

While the wraith butterflies didn't have a good reputation in the Three Realms, Xie Lian saw them as nothing but sweet, adorable little spirits. He couldn't help but feel for them—they ceaselessly launched their suicidal attacks just to delay the enemy a few moments more.

But Hua Cheng only snorted. His gaze seemed to penetrate the thick rock walls, and he said, "Don't worry. If he kills one, I'll make ten more.

Fast and furious as a storm, I will never back down. We'll see who's left standing in the end."

Xie Lian's heart skipped a beat for some reason, and he thought, Oh no, this is bad.

Although Hua Cheng had only displayed it subconsciously, Xie Lian really was quite weak to his aggressive, rebellious confidence.

Another moment passed, and Hua Cheng slowed his pace, seeming like he'd received some sort of signal. He turned to Xie Lian. "He's been led away. Those two are almost out."

"Great!" Xie Lian said. "Now we can take our time to come up with a strategy."

"Mm. There's no rush now," Hua Cheng said. "He's been left far behind. We can hide here for a while and think of a battle plan."

They both trailed off, and an awkward tension suddenly bloomed between them.

This wasn't the kind of awkwardness that stemmed from embarrassment; rather, they were both feeling strangely shy. With the creature hot on their trail and Feng Xin and Mu Qing with them, the feeling hadn't been nearly as obvious. But although Xie Lian had said, "Let's talk later," now that "later" had arrived and they'd caught their breaths, he had no idea what to say.

Xie Lian coughed lightly twice to clear his throat, then scratched his cheek with a finger. No matter what gesture he made, nothing felt quite right. He wanted to speak, but he worried that whatever he said would sound too abrupt, or too silly, or like he was trying too hard. In the end, he just hoped that Hua Cheng would say something first.

However, Hua Cheng's expression was just as strained. On the surface, he looked like he might have been seriously thinking through their battle plans, but it was hard to say whether that was true. The hands clenched behind his back were trembling slightly.

They walked past one particular divine statue. Most of the carvings in this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods were about the same size as the man himself, but this one was rougher in craftsmanship and it was shorter by half. When Xie Lian passed it, he casually peeled off the veil covering its head, and his eyes lit up.

"San Lang, did you carve this one too?"

Hua Cheng looked over and fell silent. It took him a moment to reply.

"It was from my beginner years. Gege, stop looking at it."

That was clearly the truth—this divine statue was quite ugly indeed.

Even though it was easy to tell that the sculptor had done his utmost to carve the perfect form he saw in his mind, his wish had been left unfulfilled due to the limits of his skill. While it wasn't cockeyed or crooked, the little figure was disproportionate in scale and smiled like it was mentally challenged.

Despite all that, the sculptor had still managed to include every single detail without fault. Xie Lian could easily tell that this was a God-Pleasing Crown Prince statue; its ears even had red dots for coral pearl earrings.

Xie Lian silently covered his mouth and turned away. He rubbed hard at his face in an attempt to seem natural.

Hua Cheng didn't know what to say, so he pleaded again as he tried to cover the statue with its veil. "Your Highness, please don't look at it anymore."

"Don't misunderstand! I think it's really cute!" Xie Lian hastily assured him.

But then he realized, wasn't he the one Hua Cheng had sculpted? If he called this thing cute, wasn't he basically calling himself cute? It'd be incredibly thick-skinned of him to lie so blatantly. Xie Lian couldn't help but laugh out loud. Seeing him like this, Hua Cheng bowed his head and lowered his lashes as he started to chuckle along with him.

As they both laughed, much of the nameless jittery air cleared away.

They continued onward and passed by another statue that was lounging on a stone bed. Its entire body was covered with a layer of thin, smoke-like white satin. Xie Lian was very curious and was just about to pull off the white veil over the divine statue's body when Hua Cheng unexpectedly seized his wrist.

"Your Highness!"

Ever since they entered this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods, Hua Cheng had mostly been calling him "Your Highness." Xie Lian looked at him, and while Hua Cheng let go of his wrist, he still seemed a bit uncomfortable.

"I already know it's a statue of me. I still can't look?" Xie Lian asked.

"If gege wants to look at statues, the best one I sculpted remains to be seen. I'll show you some other time. Don't look at any of the ones in this cave anymore," Hua Cheng said.

Xie Lian didn't understand. "Why? I think all the divine statues in this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods were carved really well. Really. It'd be a shame if I never got to see them. Which reminds me, those murals—" "I'll go destroy them," Hua Cheng said promptly.

Seeing that he really planned to head off right now and do that, Xie Lian grabbed him hastily. "Don't, don't, don't! Why destroy them? Just because I saw them? Fine, fine, fine…I'll tell you the truth. I've only actually seen a few, like the one depicting the Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession and the one of us in the army. I didn't see most of them because Feng Xin and Mu Qing wouldn't let me, so I have absolutely no idea what you painted. Don't destroy them!"

Only then did Hua Cheng turn to face him. "…Really?"

Xie Lian held on to him and replied with the utmost sincerity, "Really. If you don't want me to look, I won't."

Hua Cheng seemed to quietly sigh in relief, then he smiled. "They're no good anyway. If there's something you want to see, I'll just paint it for you on the spot."

This reaction made Xie Lian even more curious. But he didn't want to spur Hua Cheng into destroying those precious murals, so he could only push down his own desires.

After taking a few steps, Xie Lian suddenly frowned. "…Some-thing's not right."

"What is it?" Hua Cheng asked.

Xie Lian turned to look at Hua Cheng. "White No-Face. Why would he come to Mount Tonglu?"

"Perhaps he hasn't fully regained his powers, and he wants to use the Kiln to be fully reborn into this world," Hua Cheng replied.

"If that's true…would it mean he's not currently a supreme?" Xie Lian wondered.

"That's…not entirely impossible," Hua Cheng said.

When White No-Face had dropped his disguise as Feng Xin and Mu Qing and attacked, his abrupt appearance had been both shocking and terrifying. Xie Lian's first reaction was to assume that their opponent couldn't be defeated, so he'd grabbed Hua Cheng and fled. But they hadn't actually fought him directly for long, so they couldn't precisely gauge White No-Face's current strength.

Was he putting on a front? Or was he stronger than he seemed?

Nothing could be determined from a rushed exchange of blows that only lasted for a few seconds.

"I assumed he'd gotten stronger when I saw those two fake skins," Xie Lian muttered. "But maybe…he hasn't completely recovered. Maybe he's currently at his weakest. Otherwise, why would he come to Mount Tonglu? Maybe…I can give it a shot."

Give it a shot and try to take him down!

"Good. I'll go fight him," Hua Cheng immediately replied.

Xie Lian instantly snapped out of it and hastily said, "No, don't.

Don't face him directly. My giving it a shot will be plenty!"

Supreme Ghost Kings would normally never face each other in combat so easily, as evidenced by the way Ship-Sinking Black Water and Crimson Rain Sought Flower had been able to coexist in peace. This was because ghost kings weren't like heavenly officials, whose profiles were well known to anyone who cared to keep track—from their strengths, to the parameters of their powers, to the size of their temples and number of worshippers. But ghost kings hid their true strength just as they hid their pasts. They possessed no knowledge of each other's abilities, and no one knew the potential consequences of a fight between two supremes. This encouraged them to maintain the balance at all costs.

"There's no need to worry," Hua Cheng said. "The victor hasn't been decided yet. Surely gege doesn't believe I would let you face him by yourself?"

Xie Lian shook his head. "…It's not that, San Lang. It's that we're not the same to him. He…won't kill me, I can swear it."

"Why?" Hua Cheng questioned.

After a moment of hesitation, Xie Lian chose not to explain. He only said, "You don't know how terrifying that creature is—" Hua Cheng cut him off. "Your Highness, I know," he said grimly.

Only then did Xie Lian remember that Hua Cheng had also joined the Xianle army and personally experienced the Xianle battlefield. He'd seen the tragedy with his own eyes, the fields piled with corpses.

But Hua Cheng didn't know. He hadn't personally witnessed that horrific battle between Jun Wu and White No-Face. He had never crossed paths with White No-Face directly.

Having considered this, Xie Lian shook his head forcefully. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just…I just…I don't want anything to happen to you."

Hua Cheng's eye twinkled at this. A moment later, he smiled. "Gege, don't worry. I'm already dead, so it won't be easy for me to die again.

Besides, have you forgotten what I told you before? Unless he finds my ashes, he can't do anything to me."

Xie Lian had forgotten entirely that the ashes were a factor. He quickly said, "Wait! Everything else aside, San Lang, your… Have you stored your ashes somewhere safe?"

"A long time ago," Hua Cheng replied.

Xie Lian nodded, but a moment later he couldn't help but double check. "Are you sure they're properly hidden? That the hiding place is secure enough and won't be found?"

"To me, it's the safest place in the world," Hua Cheng answered leisurely.

Xie Lian didn't think there was anything absolute out there, however.

"You're completely sure?" he pressed.

Hua Cheng smiled cheerfully. "If their hiding place is destroyed, then there's no need for me to exist either. Of course I'm sure."

Although Xie Lian was rather concerned about what "no need to exist" meant, they weren't in a safe place and there could be ears listening in. It wasn't the right time to probe this subject deeper, so he let it go. But it made Xie Lian want to ask Hua Cheng—just how had he died?

Xie Lian really wanted to know, but he didn't know how to ask.

When mortals died, whether their souls could remain on the corporeal earth depended on their obsessions and attachments. In most cases, anguish and resentment were the strongest fixations. To become a Supreme Ghost King, one's obsession would have to be extraordinarily intense. So Xie Lian was afraid that Hua Cheng wouldn't be able to handle it if he asked about his death—it might cause him pain, like stabbing an old scar. And Xie Lian himself might not be able to bear the details either.

These past eight hundred years…how had Hua Cheng endured them?