Xie Lian exhorted Feng Xin over and over to stay behind and guard the king and queen, then he left the small, rundown cottage. As he walked, he kept looking back, his heart racing. After walking a long way, when he was certain Feng Xin hadn't followed, he finally relaxed.
Steadying himself, Xie Lian continued onward for another dozen kilometers, stopping and going, before he finally found a place that seemed like an ideal location—a mountain road in the middle of nowhere.
Xie Lian scanned his surroundings. There was no one around. He covered his face with the white silk band, wrapping it tightly and securely before leaping into a tree and hiding himself in the branches. He held his breath and focused. The next step was to wait for travelers to pass by.
That's right—the "something" he'd come up with was stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
In the past, Xie Lian had only heard of such chivalrous thieves from storytellers and books. He'd never stolen, never even considered it, since he'd always believed that no matter how it was prettied up and no matter how just the cause, robbery was robbery. Otherwise, considering Xie Lian's martial prowess, nothing would present an obstacle—never mind settling for scurrying across rooftops to pilfer small things, he could easily murder guards and clean out an entire treasury.
But now that they'd reached this point, there really was no other way.
If he had to choose, he considered robbing people a tiny bit better than burglary, probably because the former was still somewhat out in the open.
After much internal strife, Xie Lian ate his past self's words and decided to steal the wealth of others to relieve his own poverty.
This was the quickest way!
Xie Lian perched on the tree. The moon was hiding, the wind bellowing, and it was deserted all around him, empty of all things living.
And yet his heart hammered wildly in his chest.
Even facing the most ferocious beasts, Xie Lian had never been this nervous. His hand trembled as he dug out a cold, hard bun.
If you could still be picky about food, you weren't genuinely hungry.
When Xie Lian finally understood this, he'd quickly become accustomed to the taste of old steamed buns.
Winter was fast approaching, and the nights were extremely cold. Xie Lian munched on the cold bun and puffed out mouthfuls of white breath.
Since he didn't want to be seen, he hadn't even considered finding a place where there'd be more people—he'd chosen a remote area on purpose. He waited a full four hours before a traveler approached, strolling down the mountain road.
Xie Lian perked up and stuffed down the rest of the bun in a few bites, training his eyes on the traveler who was slowly approaching. And then he saw that it was an old man.
He was such an old, old man, but his dress was rather vibrant, so he was likely somewhat wealthy. Still, Xie Lian of course wouldn't even consider him as a target. He couldn't tell if he was disappointed or relieved, but either way, he resolutely decided to ignore the old man and let him go.
He went back to waiting for someone to pass.
Two hours later, Xie Lian's feet were going numb from crouching, and the lower half of his body was practically frozen. A second person finally appeared. When he saw that the figure was also walking slowly, he wondered, Could it be another elderly person?
When they finally got closer, Xie Lian discovered that this wasn't someone old or infirm but instead a healthy looking man. He looked humble and good-natured and wore a smile on his face. The reason he was walking so slowly was because he was carrying a heavy bag of rice.
Xie Lian's palms were sweating, and he wondered, Do I…attack?
After a moment of hesitation, he gave up on this target as well. The man's clothes were patched and the straw shoes on his feet were so worn they exposed his toes—he was obviously from a poor household. He must've been so happy because he finally had a bag of rice to fill his stomach. Perhaps his family had starved for many days, and perhaps that bag of rice had been bought after selling the only ox of the household.
Wouldn't he fall into despair if he was robbed?
Xie Lian's mind spun all sorts of scenarios. After a while, he wondered if maybe he should've just taken half of the bag of rice, but by then the man was long gone. Xie Lian resolutely decided that he wouldn't dwell on it anymore and continued waiting for the next one.
He perched in the tree like that and waited helplessly for hours, from the dark of night to daybreak. Over a dozen passersby had traveled along that mountain road, yet every time Xie Lian was about to attack, there were always all sorts of reasons why it wouldn't be right to follow through, and he let them pass. Over and over he thought to himself, Forget it! I should just go back! No bandit would ever behave like him; it'd be a miracle if his efforts were actually fruitful. But then he remembered that there would be no more food or medicine if he went back empty-handed and forced himself to keep waiting.
After almost half a day, one last traveler appeared far in the distance on the mountain road.
He was a middle-aged man, decked out in fine clothing—which meant he was either wealthy or noble. He had a fiendish face and a greasy, slippery air that made him look obnoxious. At a glance, he didn't look like anyone good.
But one mustn't judge a book by its cover. Xie Lian couldn't help but think, What if this man only looks fiendish, but he's actually a good person?
Even if he's rich, does that warrant a robbery?
As he was waging his internal struggle, a growling noise from his stomach startled him from his stupor, and Xie Lian sighed inwardly. Never mind, I can't dither any longer. You're it!
Making up his mind, he leapt down from the tree and shouted, "Stand still!"
At the sight of a masked man cutting off his path down the road, the man cried out in alarm. "Who are you? Sneaking around here with your face hidden… What do you want?!"
"G-give…give…" Xie Lian forced out.
There was a hurdle in his mind, and he stammered a couple of times before finally squeezing out, "Give me all your money!"
The man's mouth opened wide, and he screamed and leapt three feet in the air. "Somebody! Help! Thief!"
And then he turned and ran. More than his escape, Xie Lian was worried that his cries would alert others. The mountain road was barren and desolate and there was little chance that anyone would come to help—not to mention that it would be easy to hide even in the unlikely event someone showed up. But he had a guilty conscience, after all.
"Stop! Stop yelling!" Xie Lian called after him.
As if the man would listen to him. He fled into the woods, and soon there was a horrific yelp.
Xie Lian was afraid the man had been attacked by beasts in the woods, and he cried, "Wait! Watch out—" But when he caught up with him, his face went pale with shock when he saw what he'd stumbled across.
There was a group of people gathered in the woods, and they were all staring at him. When Xie Lian looked closer, he noticed that something was off—these weren't people at all; the middle-aged man couldn't see them and was still in a panic. Moreover, there were some faces in the group that Xie Lian found familiar.
Of course they were familiar—he had seen a number of them in the Heavenly Capital. Some were from the Upper Court, some from the Lower Court, but they were all heavenly officials!
The man had cried out because he'd tripped and fell. He gripped a large bundle of protection charms while chanting to himself, "My god, my god! Come save me! Come save me, now!"
And the gods that he was calling really had come, just as he asked.
Countless heavenly officials stared at Xie Lian intently, freezing him on the spot with their gazes. When the man saw that the strange, masked robber was frozen in place, he quickly crawled to his feet and ran off. Xie Lian couldn't move a single step to give chase. His entire body was stiff and drenched in cold sweat, and his mind was filled with horror.
Yes, horror.
Xie Lian could only pray that the white silk band was wrapped around his face tightly enough that the junior heavenly officials he'd been acquainted with in the past wouldn't recognize him. However, things never went as one hoped.
One of the heavenly officials looked him up and down, then commented in surprise, "…Isn't that…Your Royal Highness?"
Xie Lian was speechless.
Another heavenly official seemed even more shocked. "Ah, it really is! Why is Your Highness here? And dressed like that?"
Xie Lian's heart sank deeper and deeper; it was going to sink to the very bottom of the earth.
"That man was screaming 'help,' 'robbery,' 'thief.' Was a thief chasing him? And was that thief…Your Highness?!"
"My heavens! Your Highness… You would actually do something like this?!"
Their comments nearly made Xie Lian faint on the spot. He didn't know how much time had passed when he finally croaked out, "I…" He wanted to say something, but his words were stuck in his throat and wouldn't come out. The heavenly officials' expressions were mixed. A moment later, one of them patted him on the shoulder.
"It's fine. Don't worry, Your Highness. We understand."
The pats weren't hard at all, but Xie Lian almost lost his balance from them. He tried again to speak. "I—" The heavenly official laughed out loud. "You're only doing this because you've got it really hard. It's understandable. Don't you worry, we won't tell anyone."
That was exactly why it was so hard for him to say a word. And once the other party brought it up first, Xie Lian had no idea what more he could say.
A long moment later, Xie Lian mumbled, "…All right, thank you.
Then I'm…I'm going to head back now. Heading back."
He wasn't sure how he left either. When he finally came back to himself again, he was standing on another empty mountain road. The cold winter night's breeze had snapped him out of it.
Only then did Xie Lian finally realize the full horror of what had just happened.
He was Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of Xianle—and now a thief?!
How had it come to this?!
Xie Lian was filled with regret. He must've been utterly mad to consider robbery, and now things had spiraled out of control. Why was he so unlucky that he'd get caught red-handed even though he hadn't even done anything?!
He had never encountered anything like this in his former life, so he was at a complete loss as to what he should do. He was burning up from head to toe, his mind completely muddled, and he hid his face in his hands.
If only time could flow backward—he was even willing to sacrifice his bountiful health and cultivation in exchange for that alone.
As he wandered, lost in the depths of his distress, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a blurry white silhouette in the corner of his eye.
Startled, Xie Lian's head shot up. "Who goes there?!"
The figure had vanished the instant he looked. Cold sweat drenched him once more. Although he hadn't seen the man's face, Xie Lian could've sworn he had been wearing a mask!
Yet there was no trace of anyone when he scanned his surroundings, and Xie Lian couldn't help but suspect that the figure he had seen was nothing but a hallucination born from his panic. Whether that was true or not, he didn't dare to stay there any longer and hurried down the mountain.
By the time Xie Lian returned, Feng Xin had been waiting for him for nearly the entire day. The moment he saw him he exclaimed, "Your Highness, where did you run off to? What idea did you come up with?"
Xie Lian didn't dare tell him; he couldn't tell anyone, especially Feng Xin. He couldn't even imagine what Feng Xin—who believed so faithfully in Xie Lian's utmost virtue—would think if he found out. He could only hope that the incident would be forever buried in his heart and rotted in his stomach.
Thus, Xie Lian replied ambiguously. "Nothing."
Feng Xin was dumbfounded. "Huh? Then why were you gone for so long?"
Xie Lian's mind was numb. "Don't ask again. I didn't do anything."
Feng Xin found this incredibly strange, but no matter how he questioned, Xie Lian refused to answer. As a servant, it wasn't his place to push, so he could only ask in a whisper, "Do we still go busk tomorrow?"
"I'm not going out anymore," Xie Lian replied.
His mind had been thrown into complete chaos, and his head was filled with impossible worries. What if he bumped into that middle-aged man? What if he was wanted all over the city?
Feng Xin noticed that he looked off. "Are you tired? Then why don't you stay in, Your Highness? I'll go myself. You just focus on training."
He didn't know that Xie Lian also couldn't bring himself to train and cultivate.
Xie Lian had been focused on cultivation at first because that was the only chance they had to return to the Upper Court. But now he was terrified of the prospect of returning there—even though those junior officials had said they wouldn't tell anyone, would they really? Had the affair already reached the ears of everyone in the Upper Court?
When he considered that possibility, Xie Lian couldn't breathe. There was no way he could endure being tainted by such a stain, pointed at by the Upper and Lower Courts alike—even by the whole Mortal Realm!
Heavily exhausted, Xie Lian passed out, but his slumber was unsettled. He tossed back and forth, assailed by unknown nightmares. By the time he startled awake and looked outside the window, the skies were already dark.
Feng Xin wasn't around—he must've gone out to busk on his own and hadn't yet returned. From the room next to him, he heard the king and queen speaking in hushed voices, and a few quiet coughs.
Xie Lian lay on the floor. Now that he was awake, he couldn't help but keep thinking about how his parents would react if word of the incident really got around and they found out. How shocked would they be? The king might stomp his feet in outrage, sputtering blood as he yelled that he was the shame of Xianle. The queen wouldn't yell at him, but she would certainly be extremely anguished by her beloved child and the embarrassment he had brought them.
As his mind dwelled on this, Xie Lian began to have trouble breathing again. He needed to find somewhere where he could be alone and calm himself, so he rolled off the straw mat and dashed outside. He ran blindly for dozens of kilometers with the frigid winds blowing at his face.
He didn't dare stop anywhere near other people—he always felt like they were staring at him and judging him for how unsightly he looked. He ran until he came upon a graveyard without a single soul present, and his midnight flight finally came to a stop.
That night was colder than the night before, and only after he arrived here did Xie Lian notice that his cheeks and hands were practically frozen stiff. His whole body was shivering, though that wasn't just from the cold— it was also from terror. Xie Lian hugged his arms unconsciously and puffed out a few mouthfuls of hot air. As his eyes swept across the graveyard, he spotted two jugs of liquor that had been offered at a tombstone.
It seemed the owner of this tombstone used to be a lover of drink, so others brought them liquor when they came to sweep their grave. Xie Lian crouched at the tombstone. He had never drunk alcohol before, but he had heard people say that it could warm the body and help one forget. After a moment's hesitation, he abruptly reached for a jug, yanked out the stopper, and started pouring the contents down his throat.
This was a large jug of cheap liquor, nothing fancy, and the taste was pungent and strong. Xie Lian chugged a few large mouthfuls and choked on it, breaking into coughs—however, he did seem to feel a bit warmer. Xie Lian wiped at his cheeks and sat on the ground hugging the jug, then continued to chug the liquor in large mouthfuls.
In his daze, he thought he saw a small ball of haunting ghost fire come flying over from nowhere. It circled around him, twirling about and looking quite anxious. Xie Lian was focused entirely on drinking and didn't react at all. The ball of ghost fire appeared to be trying to get closer to him with all its might, but it was nothing but hollow flames—it passed right through his body every time it came near, forever unable to actually touch him.
One jug down and Xie Lian was already tipsy and groggy, his eyelids slack with drink. When he saw the ghost fire darting here and there, he found it rather pitiful but also rather funny. He couldn't help but sputter a laugh as he rested his arm on the edge of the liquor jug.
"What are you doing?" Xie Lian asked.
The ball of ghost fire instantly froze in midair.