Feng Xin was only shocked into silence for a few moments before he had an answer, but Jian Lan sneered before he could voice it.
"Forget it. You don't need to say anything. You're someone else's prisoner right now. Even if you dared to claim your son, it would be nothing but an empty promise—I won't believe a word you say, so don't bother saying anything. Even if you're willing to take him as your son, I might not be willing to have you as his father!"
The fetus spirit was curled in her arms, wagging its tongue at Feng Xin and snickering in a voice that sounded like a grown man's. Jian Lan gave it a forceful slap on the behind to scold it.
"Why are you still pulling faces? I told you not to run off—you're driving me crazy!"
The fetus spirit's ugly little face scrunched up, and it finally behaved.
The mother and child hurried out of the Palace of Nan Yang while Feng Xin called out from behind.
"Jian Lan! Jian Lan!"
No response. In the end, he was again left alone within the Palace of Nan Yang. Feng Xin slumped back. Supporting his head with his hand, he glared for a long moment at the giant white radish that had been left behind, covered in rows of crooked bite marks. Then he lay flat on the ground. He wasn't even left with the energy to curse.
Above the Palace of Nan Yang, Xie Lian sighed.
"Gege, do you remember that night on Mount Yujun?" Hua Cheng suddenly asked. "The fetus spirit appeared there as well."
Xie Lian knew he was purposely changing the subject, but the business with the fetus spirit appearing at Mount Yujun was also highly suspicious, so he forced himself to focus on it.
"I remember. While I was riding in the marriage sedan, it used a nursery rhyme to give me hints on how to find the Ghost Bride, Xuan Ji. It didn't let anyone else hear—it was a song for me specifically. I wonder why."
"It was probably acting on Jun Wu's direction," Hua Cheng said.
"Then the rhyme spelled out Jun Wu's objective," Xie Lian said. "As for why it's become a fierce spirit under Jun Wu's command…I'm afraid these are all questions for the state preceptor."
"Then let's go ask him," Hua Cheng said. "I've got good news for gege: the wraith butterflies have already found where the state preceptor is being held."
Xie Lian's spirits lifted. "Where?"
The Palace of Ling Wen.
The palace was no longer bustling inside and out with countless civil gods rushing around with scrolls stacked high as mountains. Instead, it was now patrolled by the rigid, expressionless Divine Might Guard.
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng dropped soundlessly onto the corner of one of the roofs.
"The state preceptor is locked up here? Is Ling Wen watching him?"
Xie Lian said.
"Correct," Hua Cheng replied. "With the Brocade Immortal on her, Ling Wen is currently considered both a civil god and a martial god."
After observing intently for a moment, Xie Lian commented, "Then this is going to be tricky."
Although the Brocade Immortal was no match for them, it still possessed a high level of cultivation and had keener senses than the guards patrolling the grand avenue of the Heavenly Capital. If Xie Lian and Hua Cheng were reckless while infiltrating the Palace of Ling Wen, the Brocade Immortal might detect them even if it couldn't defeat them—and once it had discovered them, Ling Wen would surely be alerted.
"Ling Wen and Jun Wu must be able to communicate with each other spiritually. If she discovers us, he will too," Xie Lian said. "She's a civil god without the Brocade Immortal and wouldn't be able to detect us. And the Brocade Immortal is a mere robe when it's not being worn, so it won't be able to alert Jun Wu either. We have to think of a way to separate them."
"We don't need to think of a specific plan. She'll have to take it off sooner or later," Hua Cheng said.
No explanations required; Xie Lian understood.
The Brocade Immortal was an evil object; its evil qi was thick and heavy. Since Ling Wen hadn't been formally banished, she was still considered a heavenly official, and it would be bad for her health to continue to wear it. Wearing it also required her to maintain her male form, which drained her spiritual power. Not many people could handle that level of exhaustion, and so there had to be a time every day when she took it off to rest.
They were whispering plans to each other when a black-clad man strolled out of the Palace of Ling Wen with one hand tucked behind his back.
After he gave some instructions to the soldiers on guard outside, he stepped into a side chamber, then exited the chamber a few moments later and entered the main hall anew.
That man was Ling Wen—in male form when he entered the side chamber and in her true form upon exit. Her black outer robe had disappeared, and her steps weren't as light and energetic as they had been when she was in male form, a sign of skill in martial arts.
She had in fact removed the robe—the Brocade Immortal was now in that side chamber! The two exchanged a look.
"Now they're separated," Hua Cheng said. "Gege, you've got pretty good luck."
Xie Lian puffed a breath and gave him a look. "It's San Lang's luck that's pretty good."
Hua Cheng grinned. "Main hall? Side chamber?"
After some thought, Xie Lian decided, "Let's go with the side chamber! Who knows what the situation is like inside the Palace of Ling Wen's main hall. If the state preceptor is being kept right next to Ling Wen, we won't be able to get around her. But maybe we can force a negotiation if we get our hands on the Brocade Immortal."
Thus, the two waited for a short while and took advantage of a changing of the guard to hop off the roof and sneak into the side chamber.
The moment they leapt inside, Xie Lian wiped away his cold sweat.
Sneaking into a lady official's private chambers wasn't something to be proud of, no matter the circumstances. However, his nervous expression faded a bit when he saw the state of the side chamber. Xie Lian's old rooms were more sumptuous than this, Feng Xin's more disorderly, and Mu Qing's more tasteful and exquisite. In any case, this didn't look like a lady official's private chamber at all, so Xie Lian didn't feel as stressed.
The chamber was sparsely furnished, so it could hardly hide anything.
It wasn't long before Xie Lian fumbled out a chest, but his face darkened the moment he opened it. It wasn't only because he'd gotten a face full of evil qi but also because the chest was packed full of identical black robes.
This again!
It was the same as last time, when they had to try and find the real Brocade Immortal among hundreds of different articles of clothing. It had been a circus looking for the thing, practically a nightmare. This time there weren't as many sets, only around a dozen, but each robe was black and almost identical to the rest. It was hard to tell which situation was more demoralizing. Was the Brocade Immortal even here?
Feeling his head throb, Xie Lian asked miserably, "San Lang…what's Jun Wu doing right now? Do we have enough time?"
Hua Cheng had been closely monitoring the movement of everyone in the capital. At Xie Lian's question, he replied languidly, "Gege, relax. We've got plenty of time. Jun Wu hasn't noticed you're gone. He's currently at the Palace of Divine Might and has brought Mu Qing in to interrogate. By the looks of it, it'll be a while."
Xie Lian was stunned by the news. "Mu Qing? He's interrogating Mu Qing? Why?"
"Wraith butterflies can't enter the Palace of Divine Might, so I can't hear clearly. But you know…" Hua Cheng said, staring at Xie Lian, "it must not be anything good."
Xie Lian remembered how Jun Wu had treated Yin Yu and anxiety gripped him. But worrying wouldn't help anything, so he said resolutely, "Let's hurry, then. Let me try on each of the robes. San Lang, come give me orders."
If the Brocade Immoral didn't want to be discovered or didn't want to take the life of whoever was wearing it, it could be worn casually. However, if someone made another person wear it and gave them orders, that person had to obey. They would be able to expose the real thing using that method, but it was slightly dangerous.
"Let me do it," Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian shook his head. "San Lang, you've worn the Brocade Immortal before, but it doesn't really work on you for some reason. Maybe it's ineffective against ghost kings? Only I can do this."
He removed his white outer robe and dropped it on the ground by his feet. Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow and picked out a black robe to hand to him.
"Then I will take you up on your offer."
Xie Lian swiftly put on the robe. Thank goodness, thank goodness;
Ling Wen's black robes weren't at all sensual or revealing in the chest area.
They were all very conservative and proper, so putting them on wasn't embarrassing. Xie Lian looked up.
"Okay, you can give me an order now."
"…" Hua Cheng's right hand held his left elbow, and his left hand propped up his chin. He looked at Xie Lian, seeming to think very seriously for a moment.
"Then, gege, my order is…" Hua Cheng smiled happily. The anticipated command came mere moments later.
"Borrow spiritual power from me."
"…" Of course, Xie Lian understood what he meant by "borrow spiritual power," and his head almost started smoking. He quickly took off the robe.
"It… It's not this one!"
"Ahh, what a shame. It's not that one," Hua Cheng lamented.
Xie Lian schooled his expression. "San Lang, you… This isn't right.
Be more serious, please. Don't give orders like those."
"Am I not being serious enough? Then what kind of orders do you mean?" Hua Cheng asked with humility. "Can gege be more specific?"
Xie Lian gave two soft coughs. "…Either way, you can't make me borrow spiritual power from you," he replied severely. "Anything else is fine —like 'turn around in a circle,' 'jump twice,' or something like that.
Whatever you want."
Hua Cheng cocked an eyebrow. "Everything else is fine, is it? Very well, I understand."
He handed Xie Lian another robe. Xie Lian swiftly put it on and looked up at Hua Cheng once more.
Hua Cheng watched him for a moment. "Gege…" A moment later, he broke into a wide smile.
"Don't borrow spiritual power from me."
"…" He'd been careless! How could Hua Cheng do this?!
Xie Lian hastily began to strip. "Okay! It's not this one eith—" Hua Cheng stopped him. "Wait, gege, who says it's not this one? You haven't proven it yet."
"Don't borrow spiritual power from me" had been Hua Cheng's order, and Xie Lian had to disobey it to prove the robe he was wearing right now wasn't the Brocade Immortal. Which meant he had to do the opposite thing:
borrow spiritual powers from Hua Cheng.
They had gone around in a circle and returned to the starting point!
Xie Lian was shaken as he stared at Hua Cheng's serious expression.
"That's… You're too sly; you can't do that."
Hua Cheng hugged his arms. "Why not? Gege, didn't you say it yourself? 'Anything else is fine, just don't ask me to borrow spiritual power.' Since you didn't like that command, I ordered you to do the complete opposite. How can you say I'm sly? Wasn't I just staying true to your words?"
At a loss for what to say or how to dispute his logic, Xie Lian raised his finger to point at him for a moment. "You…you… Ahh, I can't win with you! Stop playing around!"
Without any further delay, he rushed over and gave Hua Cheng a peck on the lips. Even though Xie Lian knew there was no one around, he still looked around after he'd done the deed as if afraid someone might be peeping.
Hua Cheng's face didn't twitch in the slightest. "Very good," he said calmly. "It's clearly not this one either; we've verified as much."
Xie Lian removed the second black robe. "…Don't give that order again either, all right?"
Hua Cheng passed a third one to him and smiled. "Fine, fine. As gege wishes."
Xie Lian took the robe from him, woefully thinking, It feels like San Lang is getting harder and harder to deal with… Is it just my imagination?
Although he was still worried Hua Cheng might give more prank orders, Hua Cheng did stop teasing him after those two jokes…but now it seemed strange that he was being so serious.
Xie Lian tried on each of the dozen robes inside the chest, but he didn't obey any of Hua Cheng's orders. Could the real Brocade Immortal not be here? That was impossible. Ling Wen had to have taken it off, and besides, the entire chest was tainted with its evil qi. It had to be in there!
Hua Cheng leaned against the door bar. "Gege, it seems the Brocade Immortal isn't just ineffective against me. It doesn't work on you either."
What could the problem be?