"I know no one will come, but it's none of your shitty business," Xie Lian retorted with force.
"Then why did you poke a hole to lie down in?" White No-Face languidly asked. "Are you trying to get some attention? No one will cry over you."
"I'm doing this because I want to," Xie Lian countered. "It's none of your shitty business."
"If someone does come to help you, what will you do? And if no one comes, what will you do?"
Xie Lian didn't answer his questions but instead started cursing.
"Why do you talk so much shit?! I'm gonna throw up! It's none of your shitty business, none of your shitty business!"
Even as his words became more vulgar and rude, his tone more frustrated, he still only knew so many curse words.
White No-Face laughed out loud in amusement. "Silly child." He sighed and turned around. "Just as well. Either way, there is only one day left. It's fine to let you foolishly struggle for a bit. Regardless, no one will come give you a cup of water or help you pull out the sword. Remember…" White No-Face reminded him once more of the consequences.
"Tomorrow at sunset, if you still haven't unleashed the plague of Human Face Disease, the curse will fall upon you."
Xie Lian listened quietly and didn't move a muscle.
The third day, Xie Lian was still lying in that deep human-shaped pit in the middle of the road. His position hadn't even changed.
The crowd that day wasn't much different from the crowd from the day before. They all detoured around him at a distance and simply went about their day. Although the incident where a strange man fell from the sky had been reported to the authorities, when they heard that it might be a God of Misfortune, they didn't want to deal with it—he wasn't really causing any trouble, after all, just lying there like a dead man. The authorities brushed off the affair with a vague promise to keep an eye on it for a few days. That basically meant they weren't going to bother. Besides, maybe something would change on its own.
Several curious children came scurrying over and squatted by the edge of the pit to look at the strange man inside. They picked up a tree branch and began to surreptitiously poke at him, but Xie Lian was like a dead fish and didn't react. They were still fascinated and wanted to try to throw something at him to see if he'd respond to that—but they were discovered by their parents before they could follow through. The children were lectured harshly, then dragged home and grounded.
The water merchant from the day before still kept sneaking glances in his direction. Xie Lian hadn't had a single drop of water for a day and a night, and a layer of dry, withered dead skin had formed on his lips. Feeling sorry at the sight, the water merchant ladled out a bowl of water to deliver it, but his wife deliberately elbowed him and made him topple the bowl. He was forced to relent.
Perhaps the heavens wanted to join in on the fun, for after midday, drizzling rain began to fall.
The street vendors hurriedly packed up their stalls, and the pedestrians shouted at each other to hurry home. They all quickly left. The rain poured harder and harder, scouring Xie Lian's face until he looked even paler and soaking his entire body until he was utterly drenched.
A shadow silently appeared next to Xie Lian, its owner dressed in white. No one on the street seemed to have noticed this peculiar figure.
White No-Face looked condescendingly down at him. "The sun is about to set."
Xie Lian was silent.
"You aren't the God of Misfortune, but they would rather believe that you are, and they're unwilling to believe you aren't. Once upon a time, you defied the heavens and created rain for Yong'an. Yet now, they won't even give you a cup of water.
"Stabbing you a hundred times might have been done in desperation, but now, they're not even willing to do something as simple as pulling out a sword. They all consider it too much trouble.
"I've told you this time and again. No one will come help you," White No-Face finished, his voice soft with pity.
There was a voice deep down in Xie Lian screaming hysterically, Admit it. What he said is true. There's no one, no one, no one! There isn't a single person who will help me!
As if he had heard the desperate cry in Xie Lian's heart, White No-Face seemed to smile a bit. He reached out and gripped the hilt of the black sword.
"It's all right. They won't help you, but I will."
He exerted some force and pulled the black sword from Xie Lian's stomach, then tossed it down beside Xie Lian with a resounding clang.
Soon after, the shadow of white cloth in the rain laughed lightly and backed away, as if he had achieved all he wanted to do. Leaving Xie Lian to his own devices, he vanished.
Once the black sword was pulled out, Xie Lian's wound was left exposed to the harsh rain. The once-numbed pain had started to spread again. But that was the only thing he could feel in that moment.
Splash sploosh, splash sploosh. The sound of wild footsteps stomping through water drifted over, like some passerby was rushing through the rain nearby. But Xie Lian was no longer secretly hopeful.
He slowly sat up, yet the motion was still unexpected. He was interrupted by a loud yell, and a man fell heavily next to him.
The man had carried a large basket on his back and wore a bamboo hat to shield him against the rain. It was probably due to the downpour that he hadn't seen that there was someone in a pit on the road; he'd been running fast, and he'd only noticed when he'd gotten closer and Xie Lian suddenly appeared. He'd tried to stop short but had instead fallen quite badly. As he tumbled to the ground next to the human-shaped pit, he began to scream a barrage of curses on the spot.
"What the fuck?!"
His bamboo hat had flown off, and the basket on his back had toppled and spilled its cargo of white rice everywhere. The man sat back and screamed in frustration, slapping at the ground. The wet mud and rice splattered Xie Lian. Outraged, the man leapt to his feet in a flurry and pointed a finger squarely in Xie Lian's face.
"What the hell?! This ancestor worked his ass off to earn a bit of money to buy this rice, and now it's all gone just like that! How many lifetimes' worth of awful luck is this?! Pay me back! Don't sit there pretending to be dead, pay me back!"
Xie Lian didn't bother to spare him a single look, planning to simply ignore him. However, the man was unrelenting, and he grabbed Xie Lian by the collar.
"Are you asking for death?! Huh?! I'm talking to you!"
"Yes," Xie Lian replied coldly.
The man clicked his tongue. "Well, if you wanna fucking die, go scamper off somewhere and die quietly on your own! What are you doing blocking people's way in the middle of the road?! Can't even die in peace— what a nuisance!"
Xie Lian let himself be shaken wildly by his collar, stoic and expressionless and utterly numb.
Cuss. Cuss all you want. Nothing matters anymore, so curse me however you want.
Everything will disappear soon.
The sun was about to set.
The man gripped the wooden Xie Lian, pressing him for compensation, and when Xie Lian remained unresponsive, he bawled him out. That wasn't enough for the man, but after pushing and shoving him for a long time, he picked up his bamboo hat from the ground, put it on his head, and walked away grumbling. Xie Lian was thrown back into the pit with a dull thud.
Gradually, he began to hear a clamor louder than the sound of the rain.
It was the shrieking of millions of souls of the dead sealed within the black sword.
As the sun sank bit by bit in the west, they started hollering and wailing like mad inside Xie Lian's head—cheering and rejoicing for the arrival of freedom and revenge.
Xie Lian raised a hand and covered his face. As his other hand shakily reached out to grab the black sword on the ground, he noticed something strange.
The rain seemed to have stopped.
No.
The rain hadn't stopped. Something had been placed over his head to shield him from the downpour!
Xie Lian's eyes snapped open, and he looked up. He saw someone crouched in front of him, pressing the bamboo hat that had once been on his own head onto Xie Lian's.
…It was the man who had just been bawling him out!
Xie Lian glared at the man, and the man glared back at him.
"What are you looking at me like that for? What, it was just some cussin'. You really wanna go die over it?" He spat on the ground as he spoke. "Looking so miserable, like you're in mourning. It's unlucky, I tell ya!"
Xie Lian was speechless.
The man had been rough and aggressive earlier, but he must have felt a little guilty after thinking about what he'd done. He grumbled a bit more, but then he started to try and explain himself. "All right, all right, I was over the line earlier. But you still deserved that scolding. Who told you to act so nuts? And who's never been cussed at before?"
Xie Lian's eyes were round and bulging, and he found himself unable to speak.
The man grew impatient. "Fine, fine, fine, it's my bad luck today.
You don't have to pay me back for the rice. But what are you still lying around here for? You're a grown man, not a child—are you waiting for your ma and pa to pick you up? Get up, get up, get up, get up."
As he urged him, he tugged at Xie Lian and finally pulled him to his feet. Then he heartily slapped Xie Lian twice on the back.
"Stand up. Hurry home, now!"
And just like that, Xie Lian was pulled from the human-shaped pit.
The two slaps almost sent him tumbling to the ground, he was so dumbfounded.
By the time he snapped out of it, the man was already gone.
Only the bamboo hat on his head remained, reminding him that someone had stopped to pull him out. It hadn't been a hallucination.
He didn't know how long he had been standing there when White No-Face reappeared behind him.
This time, he didn't laugh. His voice wasn't so easy and carefree anymore; he instead sounded vaguely worried and displeased when he asked, "What are you doing?"
The rain was still pouring down, but Xie Lian was wearing a bamboo hat that someone had given him. While his body was drenched, at least his head and face were spared.
But his cheeks were still wet.
When Xie Lian didn't answer, White No-Face reminded him in a dark tone, "The sun is about to set. Take up your sword. You know what will happen if you don't."
Xie Lian didn't turn to look at him as he softly said, "Fuck you."
"What did you say?" White No-Face's voice carried a trace of frost.
Now, Xie Lian turned to him. "You didn't hear me? Then I'll say it again," he said calmly.
Suddenly, he struck out with a violent, thunderous kick that sent White No-Face flying dozens of meters away!
Xie Lian stomped his foot to the ground, and, with one hand clutching his wound, he pointed at White No-Face. In his most booming voice, he yelled with everything he had.
"I said fuck you! Who do you think you are to dare talk to me like that?! I am the crown prince!"
Tears were streaming down his face.
One person. Just one.
Really.
Just one person was enough!
While White No-Face was sent flying by his kick, he flipped in the air and landed easily.
"Are you mad?!" White No-Face shouted at him in absolute fury.
In all these years, this was the very first time Xie Lian had seen the creature react with such emotion—the sight gave him enormous pleasure.
He grabbed the black sword from the ground and charged forward.
"I'm not mad, I've just come back around!"
The first kick had caught him by surprise, but the next attacks wouldn't be so easy. White No-Face dodged Xie Lian's blows as he flung icy accusations at him. "Have you…forgotten? How your parents left you, how your people treated you, how your worshippers betrayed you?! All because of that man—that puny, insignificant person—you've forgotten everything?!"
"I haven't forgotten! But—" Xie Lian swung the sword and bellowed with angry vigor, "It's none of your shitty business!"
White No-Face seized the tip of the sword and gripped it extremely firmly. Blood dripped from his fingers, and his knuckles cracked.
He was losing it a little. He muttered incredulously, "Useless trash… useless trash! You're absolutely useless trash! You've come so far, but you can still regret—you can actually turn back!"
Xie Lian pressed harder into his thwarted sword strike and replied through gritted teeth, "…You disgust me. I refuse to ever become something as disgusting as you!"
That seemed to stun some calm back into White No-Face, and he regained the tone of voice that made it sound like everything was under his control. "…Never mind. This is simply one final, minuscule struggle in the face of death. Or did you forget what I told you?"
Xie Lian exhaled harshly as White No-Face slowly and clearly reminded him, "You summoned the souls of the battlefield's dead. Now, it is too late. They will not be stopped!"
Amidst the heavy rain, the black sword in Xie Lian's hand emitted a sharp, ringing cry that stabbed painfully at his ears and head.
"What will you do?" White No-Face asked. "Is it worth it to take on the curse of the ages for these people?"
Ever since his kick connected, Xie Lian's blood was boiling in his veins and rushing to his head. All the sword-swinging and the words he spat came straight from his heart, with no thought of what he'd do or anything that came next. When he heard White No-Face's question, he didn't know how to answer it.
"You won't see what I plan to do. I'll get rid of you before that!"
White No-Face snorted. "How arrogant."
Just as he finished speaking, Xie Lian felt himself leave the ground, and his entire body was sent flying.
He instantly steadied his mind to find his center, but before he could find his balance, a white figure flashed above him and struck down with force. It was like Xie Lian had become a ball of iron thrown by a sling, and he crashed deep into the ground with a resounding boom.
Xie Lian had started out with a sliver of hope that if he gave it his all with a sudden burst of strength, he could come out victorious. But after this strike, he was painfully aware of the reality.
He couldn't win!
Too strong… The creature's strength absolutely overwhelmed him!
Xie Lian had never found an opponent overwhelming like this before.
The very idea would flash through his mind on rare occasions, such as the few times he sparred with Jun Wu. But while Jun Wu was incredibly strong, his power was measured and controlled, deliberate and careful—the complete opposite of White No-Face. There was a maliciousness in White No-Face's strength that bordered on vicious, and his murderous intent brimmed with resentment.
It only took one strike for Xie Lian to understand. He would never be able to win against White No-Face. Perhaps only Jun Wu would be a match for the creature.
But the voice of Xie Lian as he was now would never reach Jun Wu!
A violent stomp, and White No-Face's snow-white boot crushed down on Xie Lian's chest. "Your arrogance and naive dreams caused everything, right from the start!" he snapped chillingly.
Xie Lian could feel his organs twist and retract from the stomp, the pain excruciating, but he held back a mouthful of blood. "No. It wasn't me!"
"Huh?" White No-Face queried in an unpleasant tone.
Xie Lian reached out and firmly clutched the boot on his chest. His eyes were clearer than ever before, shining bright. "You brought the plague.
You caused everything!"
White No-Face humphed. "…Perhaps. If you must think of it that way." Then he seemed to smile. "But you need to understand something. If it wasn't for your arrogance in defying the heavens, I never would have appeared in this world. I was born by heaven's will."
The flames in Xie Lian's eyes weren't snuffed out by the heavy rain;
in fact, they blazed all the stronger. "Enough with the arrogance! I don't need you to teach me anything—I can learn on my own. If a thing like you represents heaven's will, then heaven's will should be destroyed!"
Muffled thunder rolled in from the horizon; whirling winds blew.
White No-Face's voice dropped deep and soft. "I took the utmost care in teaching you, but you remain obtuse and stubborn. Crown Prince, I've lost my patience."
Xie Lian coughed a few times, and White No-Face continued, "However, it makes no difference. Either way, you already roused them, and there is only one step left to take. Allow me to help you with that."
"What are you doing?" Xie Lian cried in alarm.
White No-Face bent down and seized Xie Lian's hand, then stuffed the black sword into his palm, forcing him to grip it and raise it to the sky!
A blinding bolt of heavenly lightning struck the black blade and infused its heart with power—it gleamed eerie light. Dense, gloomy clouds began to stir, and soon, a sea of black had enveloped Yong'an's skies entirely. Countless faces, arms, and legs roiled within the storm, as if hell had moved to the heavens.
Right then, the last sliver of the sun sank below the horizon.
Xie Lian lay on the ground. His eyes reflected the roiling black clouds and the sky torn by flashing lightning and squalling thunder. White No-Face walked away, and the black sword dropped to the ground with a clang.
It was like millions of horses were shrieking and howling in the clouds—an apocalyptic parade. Throughout the streets and alleyways, the citizens were confused and alarmed by the cacophony and came outside to see what was happening.
"What's going on?"
"What's all that noise?"
"What the hell?! What's that in the sky?! Is that a human face?!"
"It's chaos! It's a bad omen—the world is ending!"
Xie Lian was covered in mud and grime, and he stumbled as he crawled off the ground. "Go home! Go back to your houses! Don't come out! Go home—run!" he yelled.
Human Face Disease was about to be unleashed once again!
Xie Lian frantically waved his hands while White No-Face stood to one side and chuckled softly. Xie Lian whipped his head around and glared at him in fury.
White No-Face tucked his hands into his sleeves and said with easy calm, "Why so angry? You can't turn back now, so why not just enjoy the sweetness of revenge? Your hands wrought this—you should appreciate your handiwork."
"…You really think I can't do anything about this?" Xie Lian said.
"If you have a plan, then please, go ahead," White No-Face replied.
Xie Lian drew in a deep breath, then he picked up the black sword on the ground and approached the crowd on the street.
Everyone recognized him as the crown prince of the previous dynasty who had been lying in the street for the past two days—a living ghost, an ungodly god, an inhuman human. They all backed away cautiously at his approach.
"All of you, stop where you are!" Xie Lian barked.
Although he was covered in mud and grime from head to toe, there was a strange aura about him. For some reason, everyone actually stopped.
"Do you see those things in the sky?" Xie Lian asked.
The crowd nodded unconsciously.
"Those are vengeful spirits that will trigger a plague of Human Face Disease," Xie Lian continued. "Very soon, it will erupt once again!"
The black sea of clouds was indeed terrifying, and the people watching didn't need much convincing to believe his words. Horror gripped the crowd.
"H-Human Face Disease?!"
"Why has it returned?!"
"Could it really be…?"
Some were at a complete loss, some turned around and hoped to flee, but most of them stood where they were, apprehensively waiting for Xie Lian to say more. But he had no more to say—he only gripped the sword and raised it to the crowd.
The crowd jumped back in fear the moment he raised that chilling weapon, but Xie Lian barked again, "Take this!"
The people could only gape, mute with fright.
"What…?" someone choked out.
Xie Lian held the sword like that, offering it to them under the pouring rain. "As long as you stab me with this sword, you won't be affected by the plague," he said grimly.
White No-Face's smile seemed to falter. A moment later, he asked with relative calm, "Crown Prince, have you gone mad?"
The people were bewildered as well.
"What… What are you saying?"
"Is he crazy?"
"Take the sword and stab him? Really? What is he planning?"
The crowd babbled and muttered, and White No-Face suddenly burst out laughing.
"Have you lost your mind? Or do you miss the taste of being pierced by a hundred swords—no, I'm afraid this time it will be ten thousand. Open your eyes and look properly at the sky!" His voice quickly lost all its mirth as he pointed up.
"The vengeful spirits have enveloped all of Yong'an! If you want to 'save the common people,' all of Yong'an will need to stab you—you will become nothing but a puddle of flesh within a day! This foolishness is no different from when you tried to defy the heavens and create rain! Do you really think you can save everyone?"
Xie Lian kept his back turned to him. "If a day isn't enough, let it take a month. If a month won't do, then two months, three months! If I can't save ten thousand, then I'll save a thousand. If I can't save a thousand, then I'll save a hundred, or ten, or even just one!"
"Why?!" White No-Face demanded in outrage.
Xie Lian raised the sword with both hands and roared to the skies, "I don't have a reason—just because I want to! Even if I explained it to you…" He cocked his head to glance at him. "…Useless trash like you wouldn't understand."
His condescension and disdain were too obvious and cut too deeply.
White No-Face couldn't retain the calm in his voice as he said, "You. What did you call me?"
Xie Lian pointedly ignored him and turned calmly to the crowd. "Just one stab and everything will be all right. I won't die—you've all seen that for yourselves over the past two days. However, everyone is only allowed one turn with no messing about, and you all must listen to my instructions.
If anyone tries to start anything, I'll smash your head. Trust me, I can smash a hundred of you with one hand."
White No-Face was incredulous. "The useless trash who brought ruin to his kingdom dares to call me useless trash?"
No one dared take the sword in Xie Lian's hand, but no one dared to flee either. As he was ignored, White No-Face sank deeper and deeper into anger.
"…Very well," he said coolly. "Then I will sit back and watch you be ruined by your obstinance. However, no matter how this ends, you've brought it upon yourself. I hope you don't fall apart and come crying to me in regret."
As the people shuffled around and waffled in confusion, the black clouds in the sky grew denser by the minute and pressed down heavier; they seemed ready to collapse. The shrieking cries of countless human faces were so loud, it was like they were right beside their ears.
Finally, one father was so scared he couldn't take it anymore. He dragged his child over and took the sword. "I… I'll give it a try with my Xiao-Bao, I guess…" The others in the crowd were still hesitating, and they exclaimed in surprise, "You're actually going to do it?!"
The father seemed just as hesitant, but he braced himself and stammered, "But… But…I really don't think he'll die! I'm sorry, buddy, I'm really sorry! My Xiao-Bao…" He raised a hand to cover the eyes of the small child in his arms and forced him to grip the black sword. White No-Face didn't interfere, just chuckled mockingly.
Xie Lian clenched his fists and waited for the pain to seize him. In his head, he told himself, It's all right. I've already been hurt so many times, I'll get used to this soon enough.
But just as the black sword was about to pierce his gut, someone unexpectedly knocked it aside.
The pain Xie Lian was expecting never came. Instead, he heard a loud, clear, "You can't!"
Xie Lian whipped his head around to look. The one who had knocked the black sword off course was the water merchant!
The water merchant had been in the crowd, but he stepped forward after his tolerance was exhausted. "Well, this is an ugly sight. Can't you see that huge bloody spot on his stomach? Are you really sure this won't kill him? And even if he doesn't die, he'll clearly still bleed!"
The father scrunched up his face miserably. "But…but…" The water merchant's wife subtly elbowed him again, but the water merchant turned and admonished her with a hushed, "Stop poking me! If you have a problem, we'll talk later!" Then he turned back around.
"Besides, for all we know, we could contract the disease from stabbing him.
So let's not just stab blindly, huh?"
The father pointed to the sky. "But soon…" Just then, the small child in his arms started crying, and the water merchant pointed at him. "Look, look! Your son is scared to tears because you're forcing him to stab someone!"
Sure enough, the small child started crying even louder and threw the black sword to the ground. He probably didn't understand what his father was thinking, but he was scared, nonetheless. This killed the father's plan completely, and he retreated into the crowd holding his son.
There were some among the crowd who had been ready to try, but they didn't feel as brave anymore when they saw how the first person who stepped up had been sent packing. They could only yell anonymously from the safety of the crowd, "Didn't you hear what he said? A plague of Human Face Disease is about to descend upon us! He's a God of Misfortune—he brought this on our heads!"
However, the water merchant countered, "Even if he's the God of Misfortune, you don't think he'd willingly ask to be stabbed, do you?"
His arguing had started to piss some people off.
"He said that he's willing, so what's the problem?! Do you want us all to die together?!"
"Just focus on selling your water. You shortchange people all the time, so what are you doing sticking your neck out now?"
The water merchant's wife had kept elbowing him through all this, but when she heard that accusation, her face went red and she exploded.
"Fucking bullshit—who shortchanged you?! Come the hell out here and say that to my face!"
The accuser instantly shrank back. The water merchant also flushed, but soon after, he hardened up again.
"I say! Whether he's willing is his business, but whether we act on it is our business! We're talking about picking up a blade and stabbing someone! If I had given him water or something over the past few days, maybe I'd be more willing to try this, but…I didn't! And who among us did?! If I injured him now…I'd feel ashamed!"
Everyone fell silent at this because he'd really had hit the nail on the head. Over the past two days, not a single person had tried to help Xie Lian.
The water merchant had at least wanted to help, but he still hadn't managed it. The rest of them hadn't even dared to spare a glance Xie Lian's way!
"Then what should we do? If we can't do this, why don't you come up with a better plan?!" someone grumbled.
The crowd was about to get rowdy again, and some even tried to push themselves to the front. Just then, another bellow echoed out.
"Who's making all this racket?! If anyone wants to get rough, this ancestor's got a knife!"
It was the chubby chef who had wanted to pull out the sword just after Xie Lian fell from the sky. He'd been provoked into action, and he roared at the crowd, "That fella's right! Yesterday, a bunch of people were so adamant about stopping me from going up to him—if not for them, I would've pulled out that sword! So why are the ones who stopped me the same ones making the most noise now? Pathetic! Think you're special?
Well, you certainly don't see such shamelessly thick skins every day!"
The chef was a large man with a booming voice at the height of his anger. It seemed he had just emerged from his kitchen, so he still had a butcher knife in one hand. Instantly, the ones who had been complaining the loudest didn't dare make another sound. Some members of the crowd had been absent from the area for the past few days, and when they asked what had happened, they were all surprised.
"No way… None of you tried to help him?"
"Yeah, you all just left him lying there for two days? You didn't even help him sit up or anything?"
The more questions they asked, the more shame the others felt.
"Don't act like you would've gone over to help! It's easy to say those pretty things after the fact," they countered. "Don't forget, none of us will escape when those hellish things descend!"
"Ha! I assure you, if I were there, I definitely would've pulled out the sword!"
"It's easy to run your mouth after the whole thing is over…" "Wait! What are you all arguing about? Pulling out a sword isn't the problem right now!"
The argument was wild and unruly on both sides; it was a brawl waiting to happen. The rain slowly receded and stopped. However, the black clouds were only growing thicker; their pressure was so intense it was suffocating the hundreds of people below. Suddenly, startled screams exploded from within the crowd, and fingers pointed to the sky.
"It's coming!"
Xie Lian's head shot up. The human faces churning within the black clouds began to riot, and they plunged to earth like black shooting stars, dragging long tails behind them.
The plague of Human Face Disease was descending!
The crowd was terrified and lost all sense. Some bolted, some retreated inside houses to hide, and there were also a few who went to grab for the black sword that had been knocked to the ground earlier—but they came up empty, as at some point it had gone missing.
Xie Lian had been too shocked by the people's reactions to notice this until now. "Where's the sword? Who took it?!"
No one had the time to answer, for they were fleeing in all directions.
But how could they possibly be faster than the falling vengeful spirits? The wails and screams of the living and the howls of the vengeful dead erupted from all directions!
Once the vengeful spirits had caught up to the living, they became like roiling, thick, black smoke, unrelenting and clingy as they burrowed into every pore and slowly melded into peoples' bodies. Xie Lian fought arduously to drive them out, but alas, there were too many and he couldn't manage it alone. He helplessly watched countless people wail and howl as the ghosts chased them down—the water merchant and his wife, the chubby chef, they all rolled on the ground, wrestling with the tangled, black smoke.
The whole while, White No-Face stood close by, watching everything and jeering.
Gripped by anxiety and fury, Xie Lian steeled his mind and roared at the spot that was densest with vengeful spirits. "Hey—!"
He caught the creatures' attention easily—he was the mastermind behind their awakening, after all. Xie Lian opened his arms wide.
"Come to me!"
The vengeful spirits that had already tangled up living victims hesitated, undecided on whether they should go, but the vengeful spirits still in the air instantly changed course and hurtled straight for Xie Lian.
Success!
Xie Lian's heart was beating so fast it was going to seize and stop. He didn't know what would happen…or what would become of him. But fueled by the hot blood rushing to his head, he was going to give this everything he had. Even if he could only hope to prove his point while that vile monster watched him be beaten black and blue, he would still never back down; even if another hundred thousand souls of the dead were to come, he would still be invincible!
You want to see me feel sorry for myself and self-destruct?
Well, I won't!
I will never!
Wave upon wave of the black tide that drowned the heavens and earth surrounded Xie Lian, and a vengeful spirit wailed as it passed through his body. It felt like Xie Lian's heart had frozen in an instant, and he shuddered.
Soon after, a second one came, then a third… The creatures sliced through him like sharp blades as they penetrated his body. Each time, they took away a sliver of whatever warmth Xie Lian still had left. His face grew paler and paler. Nevertheless, he remained firm and did not back down.
He had only been touched by a few hundred, and he had only stood his ground for a short time. There would be many more to come—they were the black clouds that blanketed the sky!
Xie Lian closed his eyes, gathering his strength to endure the flaming fury of all the vengeful spirits. Yet unexpectedly, the next attack never came. Confused, he opened his eyes, and to his surprise, the black tide surrounding him had vanished… It had transformed into a roiling black current—which was now flowing away from him!
Stunned, Xie Lian turned to look. At the end of the long street, there stood a black-clad warrior who gripped a long, black sword.
Wuming?
Xie Lian had ordered him to leave the area while he activated the plague of Human Face Disease. Why was he here now?
Xie Lian had no idea what Wuming was doing here, but he was only stunned for a moment before he charged toward him. "Wait! What are you doing?! Don't touch that! Give me back the sword!"
Wuming seemed to have heard his voice and looked up. Xie Lian couldn't see his real face; he only saw that mask with its drawn-on smile.
But Xie Lian had a strange feeling that beneath his mask, Wuming was really smiling.
The feeling was fleeting, however. The vast black torrent and the screaming tide gathered to form a tempest, and it swallowed Wuming whole in an instant.
And in that instant, Xie Lian heard a heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream.
He thought he had heard that voice somewhere before… No, he knew he had heard that voice somewhere before!
Pain. It hurt like he was feeling the same agony. It hurt like a fate worse than death. It hurt so much that his mind and body were being torn apart. It hurt so much he thudded to his knees, hugging his head as he screamed along too.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The explosion of excruciating pain in his heart came suddenly and left equally fast, and after some unknown time had passed, silence slowly descended upon the area. Xie Lian gradually dropped the hands that hugged his head.
Dazed, he looked up and scanned around him. The ground was covered with people, most of them unconscious. But all the vengeful spirits entangling them had vanished.
The scene confused him. What happened to the plague of Human Face Disease? What happened to the vengeful spirits?
What happened to him?
There was no trace of the black torrent. The only thing that remained where the black-clad nameless ghost had once stood was the black sword, which had fallen to the ground. Beside the point of the fallen blade, there was a tiny white flower.
Xie Lian staggered to his feet and walked over, picking up the flower and the sword.
He felt his face, looked at his arms. Nothing on his body seemed different—there was nothing to indicate he'd taken on some powerful curse.
As he stood there, mystified, he heard a voice behind him.
It said softly, "Ah."
Xie Lian turned around. White No-Face was standing behind him, his arms crossed and tucked into his expansive sleeves, which fluttered in the wind. Xie Lian hadn't yet processed what had happened, but he felt a vague sense of foreboding.
White No-Face glanced at him and started chuckling. The sense of foreboding was growing stronger, and Xie Lian knitted his brows.
"What are you laughing about?"
Instead of answering, White No-Face asked him, "You still don't understand what happened?"
"What?" Xie Lian asked.
"Do you know who that ghost was?" White No-Face asked.
"A… A soul of someone who died on the battlefield?" Xie Lian tried.
"Yes," White No-Face replied. "But he was also your very last believer in the world. And now, he's no more."
Believer…?
He still had a believer in this world?
It was a long moment before Xie Lian could squeeze out a few choked words. "What do you mean…no more?"
"His soul has been dispersed," White No-Face replied languidly.
Xie Lian had a hard time accepting this. "How did his soul just disperse?!"
"Because he was cursed on your behalf. The souls you summoned devoured him whole, leaving not a crumb behind," White No-Face said.
Xie Lian couldn't manage a reply.
The souls he summoned? Cursed on his behalf?!
"Oh yes, that's right. This wasn't the first time you've met him," White No-Face continued.
Xie Lian stared at him blankly. White No-Face seemed amused.
"That ghost had been following you for a while. At first, I thought he was simply deeply resentful, so I caught and interrogated him; his answers were quite interesting. The Zhongyuan Festival. A night of lanterns. A wandering ghost fire. Do you remember?"
"The Zhongyuan Festival? Night of lanterns? Wandering ghost fire?"
Xie Lian mumbled.
"In life, he was a soldier under your command," White No-Face lazily hinted. "In death, his soul followed you. He died in battle for you, turned into a wrath ghost because you were pierced by a hundred swords.
And now, his soul has been obliterated because you unleashed the plague of Human Face Disease."
Xie Lian seemed to vaguely recall something, but he hadn't even seen his believer's face, he didn't even know his name—what could he recall? How much could he really recall?
"Perhaps Your Highness has believers here who still offer worship."
Yes. There was a believer.
And he had been the one and only!
White No-Face was still speaking, going on and on about many things, but Xie Lian was lost in a daze and took none of it in.
Finally, White No-Face concluded, "A god like you is both sad and laughable. And he's even more sad and laughable to have believed in you."
"…" When White No-Face had mocked him earlier, Xie Lian hadn't reacted. But when he heard this creature insult his believer so condescendingly, it was like Xie Lian was jolted awake by the stab of a sword. An uncontrollable rage roiled up from within him and he charged at White No-Face. The creature easily seized him.
"You can't win against me like this. How many times must I tell you before you see the truth?" White No-Face said coldly.
Xie Lian hadn't wanted to win against him in the first place, and it didn't matter if he couldn't. He simply wanted to beat the creature to a pulp.
"What do you know?! How dare you mock him!" he cried angrily.
That was his last believer in this world!
"Of course I dare to mock the follower of a failure," White No-Face replied. "You're a fool, and your believer is even more of a fool. Listen! If you wish to defeat me, then you must obey my teachings. Otherwise, you can never dream of winning against me!"
Xie Lian wanted to spit at him with everything he had, but even breathing was difficult. White No-Face opened his hand with a flourish, and another cry-smiling mask appeared in his palm.
"Now, let us start over!"
As he was about to press the mask onto Xie Lian's face, there came a sudden, loud rumbling.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared on the horizon, and a mysterious light shot from within the clouds. White No-Face stopped in alarm.
"What is this? A Heavenly Tribulation…?" After a pause, he dismissed that statement. "No, that's not it!"
That wasn't it.
It was a Heavenly Tribulation, but that wasn't all!
A man's deep voice resounded across the entire sky. "If he cannot win against you, what about me?"
Xie Lian's head shot up.
A martial god had appeared at the end of the long street. He was clad in white armor and brimmed with a propitious aura. A thin sheen of white spiritual light enveloped his body, and he walked toward them step by step with sword in hand, carving out a path of light in this gloomy, dark world.
Xie Lian's eyes grew wide.
Jun Wu!
***
After the rain had ceased and the skies had cleared, Xie Lian sat on the burnt earth, panting lightly.
Jun Wu sheathed his sword and walked over. "Xianle. Welcome back to the ranks."
He wore a tired expression, traces of blood still on his face from the wounds inflicted by White No-Face. Jun Wu was covered in injuries, large and small. They were serious, but White No-Face's wounds were far more so—his body had been ripped apart and his form had been dispersed, leaving behind only a shattered cry-smiling mask.
When he heard him say "back to the ranks," Xie Lian blinked. He touched his neck, and only then did he notice that the cursed shackle was gone.
Jun Wu smiled. "As expected. I was not mistaken. It took you even less time to return than I anticipated."
Xie Lian slowly regained himself. He flashed a small smile in return, but his was a bitter one.
After catching his breath, he spoke up. "My Lord, I want to beg something of you."
"Permitted," Jun Wu said.
"Are you not going to ask what it is first?" Xie Lian asked.
"Since you would be asking for a gift upon return to the Heavenly Court regardless, let today's incident serve as my gift to you for returning to the ranks."
The corners of Xie Lian's lips tugged, and he rose to his feet. He looked Jun Wu squarely in the eyes and said with the utmost respect, "Pray My Lord banish me to the Mortal Realm once more."
Hearing this, Jun Wu's smile faded. "Whyever for?"
"I've done wrong," Xie Lian explained the honest truth. "I was the one who unleashed the second plague of Human Face Disease. Even though the consequences weren't as severe as the first."
This time, the only casualty was a nameless ghost, and perhaps no one in the world had cared for him. In the end, the consequences of this second plague weren't nearly as severe.
"If you knew what was wrong, then you are already in the right," Jun Wu said slowly.
However, Xie Lian shook his head. "Just knowing is not enough. If I make a mistake, I should be the one punished. But I committed the wrong, and the one who took the punishment for me was…" He trailed off, then raised his head once more.
"So as punishment, I pray My Lord will grant me a cursed shackle— no, two cursed shackles. One to seal away my spiritual powers, another to disperse all my luck and fortune."
Jun Wu frowned slightly. "Disperse all your luck and fortune? Will that not make you unlucky beyond belief—truly make you a God of Misfortune?"
Xie Lian had resented being called a God of Misfortune; he was repulsed by the very idea and considered it a great humiliation. However, he no longer cared about things like that.
"If I am to become a God of Misfortune, then so be it. As long as I know deep down that I'm not."
Once his fortune was dispersed, it would naturally flow to the less fortunate. It would be a form of atonement.
"It will be very embarrassing," Jun Wu reminded him.
"It doesn't matter," Xie Lian said. "And to be honest, it feels like… I'm almost used to it by now."
It wasn't something he'd wanted to get used to, but once he did, it really felt like nothing could harm him.
Jun Wu watched him. "Xianle, you have to understand that you will no longer be a god if you have no spiritual power."
Xie Lian sighed. "My Lord, I know that better than anyone." After a pause, he said in a tone that was a little frustrated and a little forlorn, "People say I'm a god, and so I have spiritual powers. But in truth, I'm… not the god they thought I was, and I might not be as invincible as they hoped.
"Would a real god be such a failure? I wanted to protect my people, but I let their corpses spread across the land; I wished to avenge them, but at the very last minute I abandoned the plot. White No-Face wasn't wrong about me being a failure.
"If I'm no longer a god, then so be it."
Jun Wu gazed at him intently, and after a long while, he said, "Xianle has grown up."
That should've been something Xie Lian heard from his elders.
Unfortunately, his father and mother had no more chances to say it.
A moment later, Jun Wu continued, "Since this is the path you have chosen, I will do as you ask. However, I will need a reason to banish you to the Mortal Realm."
He couldn't just casually banish a heavenly official like this was a child's game—otherwise, how would the world see the heavens?
But Xie Lian had an idea. "My Lord, I don't believe we've ever sparred with everything we've got."
Jun Wu instantly understood what he meant and smiled. "Xianle, I am injured."
"Me too," Xie Lian said. "So we're even."
Jun Wu nodded. "If that is the case, then I will not hold back."
Xie Lian smiled, his eyes brightening with excitement at the prospect.
"I won't either."
***
His Highness the Crown Prince was banished again.
After his smashing and grandiose second Heavenly Tribulation, the Crown Prince of Xianle rampaged across the heavens with fierce belligerence. Before even one incense time had passed, he was knocked down below once more by the Heavenly Emperor. None of the heavenly officials could figure out what that man was thinking.
But Xie Lian couldn't figure out what the other heavenly officials were thinking either.
Were they really that curious what he was up to? Watching him day after day, disguising themselves as mortals to watch him, disguising themselves as animals to watch him—they had been stalking him for days!
Was a grown man laying bricks really that interesting?
As he wondered about this, the foreman behind him began to shout.
"Newbie! You, yes you, I'm talking to you! Get back to work! Stop being lazy!"
Xie Lian hastily sat up with a loud, "Oh!"
And then, he picked up a ragged cattail fan and started fanning the flames in front of him. He was seated in front of a small stove stacked on several bricks, and upon the stove was a large pot of rice that bubbled as it cooked.
This was a construction site, where he was paid to haul earth and mud. However, the bricks had already been transported, so Xie Lian's task for the moment was cooking. He cooked and cooked, and as he worked, two carriages approached, hauling two very large divine statues for the two newly built temples nearby. Xie Lian absentmindedly tossed whatever was at hand into the pot, stealing glances at the statues as he did.
The two divine statues were carried into their respective temples.
From within the hall of the temple on the left, he heard cheers.
"General Xuan Zhen is great! General Xuan Zhen is generous and kind!"
Xie Lian was speechless. Using "generous and kind" to praise Mu Qing; were those devotees serious?!
But they apparently had their reasons—after all, everyone knew that Mu Qing had ascended because he had cleared away the vengeful spirits that stubbornly tarried about the old capital of Xianle. Calling that "generous and kind" wasn't unreasonable. In any case, everyone in the old capital of Xianle was very grateful for him.
From within the hall of the temple to the right, he heard roars from another set of devotees who refused to be beaten by those of the left temple.
"General Ju Yang is great! General Ju Yang is brave and mighty!"
Xie Lian nodded. To this, he had no objections—although that praise might not hold true in the face of women.
The devotees on both sides were screaming with all their might, doing all they could to be louder than each other until Xie Lian's ears ached. He sighed and rubbed his forehead as he thought, Why must they be like this?
If they hated each other so much, wouldn't their problems be solved by not building temples right next to each other?
The answer to that was: of course not! This area was a bustling domain with excellent feng shui, and the devotees of those two heavenly officials would never abandon such tempting land solely for the sake of avoiding each other. They had to do all they could to steal each other's worshippers and disgust one another.
It didn't take long before the devotees from both sides progressed from yelling to fighting. Over by the stove, Xie Lian determined that the time was about right, so he started banging the pot cover with the spatula and calling out loudly, "Everyone, stop fighting! Come eat!"
It was the height of the brawl, so who would bother listening to him?
Xie Lian shook his head and opened the pot cover, and the fragrance wafted ten miles around. Now he'd done it—the brawl instantly stopped, and everyone started howling.
"What the fuck…? What's that smell?!"
"Who's cooking shit?!"
"Not just shit—shit that smells like pot bottoms!"7 "What?! This is a hidden, treasured royal recipe—" Xie Lian began to argue back.
The foreman approached with his hand covering his nose, his face green, and he exclaimed as he jumped in anger, "Bullshit! What hidden, treasured recipe? Who's royalty—you?! Get the hell outta here! That's disgusting!"
"All right, fine, I'll go," Xie Lian agreed. "But will you please give me my pay first—" "You dare to even mention pay?!" the foreman exclaimed angrily.
"Why don't you tell me this—ever since you came, how much have I lost in damages?! Huh?! When it rains, lightning strikes—aimed right for you!
Houses have caught on fire three times—and collapsed three times too!
You're like a God of Misfortune! And you dare ask me for pay?! Get outta here! Come back again and I'll beat you up!"
"Hey, that doesn't work," Xie Lian said. "You just said all those things were coming especially for me, so that means nothing happens to anyone else. I think you just want to get out of paying your bill—" Before he could finish, the foreman and all the other laborers couldn't take the smell wafting out of the pot anymore. They all fled the area, leaving Xie Lian in the dust.
"Wait!" Xie Lian called out.
He glanced around and saw that all the brawlers had also been chased away by the stench. Xie Lian was speechless.
"If you weren't going to eat it, why make me cook such a large pot?
Don't waste it just because you've got money," he mumbled to himself.
Shaking his head, Xie Lian contemplated for a moment, then ladled out two large bowls of rice. He offered one at the Temple of Ju Yang and the other at the Temple of Xuan Zhen. Feeling that he'd made the best use of everything, he clapped his hands together, completely satisfied.
He went back outside to pack up his stuff. He rolled up the straw mat on the ground very seriously and tied it to his sword before strapping both to his back. The white silk band wrapped around his wrist nuzzled him furtively, and Xie Lian patted it before righting the bamboo hat on his head.
"Fine. Don't pay. I'll go busking."
He still had his specialty trick, after all: shattering boulders on his chest!
As he walked, Xie Lian suddenly noticed a tiny red flower on the side of the road, which looked absolutely precious. He crouched to gently touch its petals, feeling quite cheerful.
"I hope we shall meet again," he said to it.
Even after he had disappeared into the distance, the tiny red flower still danced in the wind.