Xie Lian pulled out all the black robes and started blindly picking at them in a random attempt to find the Brocade Immortal, but he found no success. He could only put his cast-off white cultivator robe back on and turn to Hua Cheng.
"This really isn't working… Looks like we'll have to take the entire chest with us."
Hearing this, Hua Cheng let out a chuckle. Xie Lian was a little woeful, feeling rather ridiculous; it was so silly to drag dozens of robes around as blackmail material. But with things as they were, he didn't have any better ideas.
Just as he was stuffing all the randomly strewn black robes back into the chest so they could carry the whole thing out, the doors to the side chamber opened unexpectedly. Ling Wen walked in with hands clasped behind her back, looking exhausted.
"…" "…" She had probably finished resting and returned to put the Brocade Immortal back on. But she had run into two uninvited guests who had broken into her chamber—one looking incredibly innocent, the other looking nonchalant.
With no comment on the situation before her, she immediately pressed two fingers against her temple. She was going to inform Jun Wu!
However, Hua Cheng moved faster than she did. With one sweeping look, the two doors to the side chamber slammed shut. Ling Wen lowered her hand, her face dropping as well.
"Hua-chengzhu is quite impressive."
"San Lang, you've created a ward?" Xie Lian asked.
"A small one," Hua Cheng said, "in only this side chamber."
Jun Wu could establish a ward that spanned the Heavenly Capital, isolating everyone within from the outside world. And Hua Cheng could create a smaller ward within that one—a ward that sealed the spiritual powers of those within and prevented them from accessing spiritual communication.
The side chamber had become a chest within a chest. Such wards would need to remain small, lest Jun Wu notice—it was his domain in the end.
Xie Lian nodded. "Ling Wen, I'm sure you can see that the Brocade Immortal is currently in our hands. If you don't want it to be burnt to ash by ghost fire, please don't make any reckless moves."
Yet unexpectedly, Ling Wen only laughed.
"But Your Highness," Ling Wen said, "the Brocade Immortal isn't actually in your hands."
To be honest, Xie Lian had suspected as much. Nonetheless, he still voiced the most logical deduction. "Ling Wen, you weren't wearing it when you left this room earlier. I don't think the Brocade Immortal is anywhere but here."
"Your Highness, have you perhaps misunderstood?" Ling Wen replied.
"I only said that it's not inside the chest in your hands. I didn't say it wasn't inside this chamber."
Her words made Xie Lian think of another possibility, and he cocked his head. Hua Cheng must've had the same thought, as they both moved their gazes to the white robe that Xie Lian was currently wearing.
"You guessed right," Ling Wen said. "Your Highness is wearing it right now."
When Xie Lian was trying on the black robes earlier, he had casually thrown aside the white robe he was wearing. All the robes had gotten lumped together when he was inspecting them afterward. Somehow, the Brocade Immortal had secretly taken on the appearance of his white cultivator robes— and Xie Lian had picked it up and put it on!
Xie Lian looked down at his clothes and wondered, Then where's my original robe?
With a casual motion of Hua Cheng's hand, the chest of robes toppled over on its own and spilled its contents onto the floor. Buried deep beneath the dozens of black robes was one white robe crushed at the very bottom— the real white robe Xie Lian had been wearing before.
This must have been the work of a malicious spell cast by the Brocade Immortal. While he was trying on clothes at random, it seized the chance to drag Xie Lian's outer robe into the chest, then slipped out and transformed to look like that robe and replace it. It then let itself be picked up and worn by Xie Lian.
Xie Lian wasn't surprised in the least, but he was rather baffled. "Isn't that a little too cunning?"
It was only an article of clothing, after all! Besides, wasn't the Brocade Immortal itself supposed to not be very clever? Assumedly Ling Wen had taught it this trick.
Sure enough, Ling Wen said, "I gave it the idea, though I didn't actually think it'd see use. But that means that I was technically the one who made Your Highness wear the Brocade Immortal."
If Hua Cheng had handed the robe to Xie Lian and he put it on, then Hua Cheng would be considered the one in control. However, the Brocade Immortal had used Ling Wen's idea to trick Xie Lian into wearing it—and so the one in control now was Ling Wen. That meant Xie Lian would obey Ling Wen's word and heed her every order!
"Ling Wen," Xie Lian tried, "has it ever occurred to you that the Brocade Immortal might not work on me?"
Ling Wen smiled. "I won't know until I've tried. Your Highness—from now on, you cannot attack me. If you hear me, nod your head."
Although he didn't intend to do so, as soon as he heard the order, Xie Lian involuntarily nodded before he even knew what was happening!
Why was it working now?! It clearly didn't work earlier when Hua Cheng was the one giving orders! Was it only ineffective when the one in control was Hua Cheng?
If that was true, then the tables had suddenly turned. Xie Lian didn't move, nor did Hua Cheng. They exchanged looks, both remaining calm and steady.
Ling Wen was calm and steady as well. "Now then, will Hua-chengzhu please remove the ward from this side chamber?"
"Don't do it, San Lang," Xie Lian said urgently.
"Are you sure, Your Highness?" Ling Wen said. "I can order you to do anything."
Hua Cheng remained unflustered.
It's fine if I can't touch Ling Wen, Xie Lian thought. No one else is under such restrictions. We'll be in the clear as long as San Lang catches her by surprise and stops her from giving any orders.
However, Ling Wen was sharp and guessed their plans. "Hua-chengzhu, I suggest you don't waste your time thinking of ways to catch me by surprise and subdue me. Your Highness, listen well: you will attack Hua-chengzhu if he attempts to inflict any sort of harm on me."
With that, she blocked any plans they could've possibly used before they could even try!
"Now, Hua-chengzhu, time to remove the ward," Ling Wen said. "I still have work to do. The Palace of Ling Wen has an enormous backlog of reports I need to manage that haven't been gone through yet. Can we solve this little problem quickly?"
Hua Cheng only smirked.
The next moment, Ling Wen's eyes widened. She seemed as if she wanted to speak, but no voice came out.
If someone were standing behind her, they would discover that a wraith butterfly with fluttering silver wings had perched on the back of her neck. It was this tiny little creature that had stopped her body from moving and prevented her from making a sound.
Hua Cheng hugged his arms and flashed his incredibly fake and insincere smile before saying lazily, "Did you really think I'd need to catch someone by surprise to subdue them?"
"…" Ling Wen couldn't speak, but the words she wanted to say were clearly written on her expression: "Hua-chengzhu, have you forgotten? I've already given His Highness an order!"
The next moment, the Brocade Immortal activated its powers. Xie Lian abruptly turned around and lunged at Hua Cheng, hand raised to strike!
Some time passed before Xie Lian's vision cleared, and he came to his senses with a start. "San Lang…!"
Hua Cheng was standing before him. At the center of his chest, there was a crushing hand upon his red robe. It was Xie Lian's own.
Hua Cheng didn't dodge the blow at all. He had stood there and allowed Xie Lian to deliver a full-force strike to his heart!
"…" Xie Lian hadn't yet processed this, hadn't yet reacted, when Hua Cheng firmly gripped his wrist.
"There," he said in a low voice. "The attack is complete, and the command released."
Sure enough, once Xie Lian's attack landed, he felt his body slacken and his freedom return.
For the sake of releasing Xie Lian from the command Ling Wen had given, Hua Cheng had really just stood there and taken the blow without even trying to dodge. Once released, Xie Lian quickly withdrew his hand, his face dropping.
It was a moment before he asked, "San Lang…are you hurt?"
He examined Hua Cheng's face closely. He couldn't see any physical changes, but Hua Cheng wasn't a living human, and his skin was already a snowy pale shade—as if he'd gone years without seeing sunlight. However, judging by his tone, it didn't sound like he was affected at all.
"Gege is indeed incredible. What a beautiful blow," he complimented with a smile.
But Xie Lian continued to look upset, almost as though Hua Cheng had scared him. "I wasn't joking around," he said sternly. "I used almost three-quarters of my full strength in that attack. Are you really all right?"
When Ling Wen gave her order, the word she had used was "attack."
Typically, Xie Lian never used "attacking" as his intent when he exchanged blows with others—his moves were usually pure self-defense or to restrain a target. He wasn't sure what would happen if he unleashed a strike with "attack" as the driving force.
"I wasn't joking. Gege really is incredible," Hua Cheng replied slowly.
"Perhaps not even Jun Wu would be your match if you weren't wearing those things."
Xie Lian unthinkingly touched his neck, but he immediately dropped his hand when he felt the cursed shackle.
Hua Cheng added, "Gege, I have a question for you."
"What is it?"
"You had a chance to remove those cursed shackles that bind you. Why did you keep them?"
Xie Lian hadn't expected him to ask that. "Maybe…it was to remind myself of some things." He then quickly said, "San Lang, don't…don't change the subject. What kind of bad habits have you developed? That situation just now—you could have just restrained me. Why did you stand there and take the blow?"
"So you do know that it's a bad habit, gege?" Hua Cheng replied. "You have no right to lecture me when it comes to taking beatings, you know."
"Oh, really?" Xie Lian said, but he felt guilty the moment the words left his mouth—after all, he'd almost swallowed a sword back when he fought the fetus spirit in the water, and Hua Cheng had caught him red-handed.
"Yes, really. 'Why use other methods if I can solve the problem by taking a beating?' That's your bad influence on me," Hua Cheng replied.
Xie Lian waved him off. "Never mind, San Lang, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's look at these robes."
He tugged at the white robe's hem, feeling deeply frustrated. This was just great—they had definitely found the Brocade Immortal, but now they had to think of a way to take it off.