However, he didn't ask any further questions and said, "Since Sanlang thinks it's better not to watch, then we should be cautious."

Hua Cheng nodded slightly, and the two continued on their way. At this moment, they came to another fork in the road. Hua Cheng went straight left. Xie Lian paused, not following him. Hua Cheng turned back and asked, "What's going on?"

Xie Lian asked, “Sanlang has never been to this cave, right?”

Hua Cheng said: "Of course."

Xie Lian asked, “Then why did Sanlang choose the left side so decisively?”

Hua Cheng said, "I'm not sure, I'm just wandering around blindly."

Xie Lian said, “Since you’ve never been here before, how can you just wander around blindly? Shouldn’t you carefully consider which side you choose?”

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "It's precisely because I've never been here before that I'm wandering around blindly. I don't know anything about the situation here anyway, so I might as well take a chance. And my luck has always been pretty good."

While this was true, in reality, whenever the two of them traveled together, they always looked to Xie Lian for direction. Hua Cheng's initiative to lead the way was rare. Xie Lian nodded, and the two were about to enter the cave on the left when he suddenly said, "Wait! Sanlang, do you hear that?"

Hua Chengdao: "What?"

Xie Lian said, “There’s a voice on the right.”

Hua Cheng's expression changed slightly. He listened attentively for a while and said, "Brother, I'm afraid you heard it wrong. It's not true."

Xie Lian said, “It really is! Listen carefully, it’s a man’s voice!”

Hua Cheng listened for a while longer, then frowned and said, "I really didn't hear it."

Xie Lian was stunned for a moment, thinking, “Could this be another hallucination?”

Hua Cheng said, "Your Highness, something seems fishy. I'm afraid there's a trick going on. I suggest we get out first."

After hesitating for a moment, Xie Lian said, "No! Maybe it's Nanfeng and Fuyao. I'd better go check it out!"

After saying that, he ran off. Hua Cheng said behind him, "Brother! Don't wander around!"

However, hearing the faint shouting, he knew the other party must be in an extremely dangerous situation. He was afraid that he could not afford to lose time, so Xie Lian did not dare to be careless and quickly ran to the right. The deeper he went, the clearer the man's roar became. Xie Lian was delighted, "It really is Nanfeng and Fuyao!"

After wandering around for who knows how long, they finally found the source of the sound: a large stone cave. There were no statues in this cave, but there was a deep pit. The voices of Nanfeng and Fuyao came from the bottom of the pit. It seemed that both of them were trapped at the bottom of the pit, unable to climb out, but they were still energetic and cursing at each other from below. Their lives were probably not in danger for the time being. It was too dark to see clearly. Xie Lian was up there, hands cupped to his mouth, shouting down: "Hey! What's wrong with you?"

The two people at the bottom of the pit stopped arguing immediately when they heard someone coming. Fuyao's voice said, "Your Highness? Is that you? Pull us up quickly!"

Nanfeng remained silent. Xie Lian asked curiously, "Can't you climb out? Isn't this pit deep? What's going on down there?"

Perhaps because of the argument all the way, Fuyao was now quite angry. She said, "Nonsense! If you could have climbed up, you would have climbed up long ago. Your Highness, can't you see for yourself?"

Xie Lian narrowed his eyes and said, “I can’t see clearly. Do you still have any magic power? Can you raise a palm flame to see what’s going on down there? If you can’t, I’ll throw a fire down there…” But before he could finish his words, the two people below shouted in unison, “No!!!”

Their voices of stopping him were simply horrified. Fuyao said again, "Don't light the fire!"

If he couldn't light a fire, he would have to find another way to illuminate the place. Xie Lian's first reaction was to turn around and say, "San Lang..."

However, Huacheng didn't follow. Behind him, there was no one. Xie Lian was slightly startled, first feeling a little uneasy, then puzzled. There was no way he'd lost her, right?

Ever since entering this cavern of gods, Hua Cheng had become strange, and Xie Lian couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong. He looked around and suddenly noticed a small silver butterfly perched on his shoulder. Tentatively, he gently touched it and said, "...Hello?"

The undead butterfly fluttered its wings at the gentle touch of his fingertips, but didn't fly away, seemingly merely fluttering for his benefit. Along the way, Xie Lian had heard Hua Cheng mention that his silver butterflies came in several categories. He had no idea what this one was, or what it was responsible for. But no matter what category it was, it would be helpful to illuminate it. So, he asked, "Can you help me go down and take a look?"

As expected, the silver butterfly flapped its wings and flew down. Xie Lian said, "Thank you!" When it flew to the bottom of the pit, a faint silver light illuminated the scene below. Xie Lian couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly.

The bottom of the pitch-black pit was covered in a thick layer of white silk bed!

Nanfeng and Fuyao were practically wrapped in silk cocoons, like tiny flies caught in a spider web. Their faces were bruised and bloodied, perhaps from the recent fight. Xie Lian couldn't help but think he was lucky he hadn't acted rashly. Otherwise, if he had thrown a fire, the entire pit would have burst into flames. He asked, "What's going on? Is that spider silk? Could this be the lair of a spider spirit?"

Fuyao said, "I don't know! I can't break free anyway!"

He was anxious to escape. Nan Feng's expression was somewhat ambiguous, as if he was about to ask for help, but when he saw it was Xie Lian, he swallowed his words and said, "Don't get down yet. This thread is very tough. Once it sticks to you, it's hard to shake off."

Xie Lian said, "I'm not coming down."

After a moment's deliberation, he tied one end of Ruo Xie to the hilt of Fang Xin Sword, preparing to try to dangle the sword down. Unexpectedly, as Ruo Xie sneaked halfway, he was spotted by the spider silk. They quickly approached, as if to teach him a lesson, frightening him so much that he retreated. However, he was still a step too late. The spider silk entangled him, forming a knot, and yanked him down, taking Xie Lian, who was holding it, with him.

I never expected this spider silk to be so strong and sensitive!

As Xie Lian fell to the bottom of the pit, the white silk quickly pounced on him, binding him tightly. The remaining spider silk slowly flowed and crawled, strengthening the "cocoons" on Nanfeng and Fuyao. Fuyao was furious and said, "Why did you fall down too! This is great, the three of us are dumbfounded! Let's die here together!"

Nan Feng said, "What do you have to complain about? You did it all to save us!"

Xie Lian rolled over, saying, “Hahahaha, hahahaha, hahahahaha…”

The other two looked at him in astonishment. Fuyao said, "Did you fall and hurt your brain? Are you going crazy?"

Tears welled up in Xie Lian’s eyes as he managed to say, “No… no, hahahaha… what’s with all this spider silk… what am I doing… it’s so itchy, I can’t take it anymore… hahahaha…”

As he fell, the silk bed beneath him softly caught him, and the spider silk that wrapped around him was also very gentle and lingering. Although it was binding him, it tickled him back and forth, making him feel as if it was tickling him. Xie Lian curled up into a ball, resisting stubbornly, saying, "No, no, wait! Stop! Stop! I'm scared! Stop!!!" The white silk finally tied his hands behind his back, holding him still. Nanfeng and Fuyao both looked at him for a while, and Fuyao said, "Why do these spider silks bind us so tightly, but tie him so casually? They don't even cover his face."

Xie Lian finally managed to catch his breath and said, “Aren’t your faces covered too?”

Fuyao rolled her eyes and said, "I covered it with my hands before, and I tore it open with my teeth after I woke up. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to scream at all."

Xie Lian tried to struggle; the spider silk was indeed incredibly tough. Furthermore, he had been laughing so hard that his ribs ached, and for the time being, he couldn’t exert any strength. Deciding to rest for a while, he lay down and asked, “How on earth did you two get here?”

Fuyao said, "I don't know. There was an avalanche just now. The snow was falling like the sky was falling. When I woke up, I was here."

Xie Lian said, “No, no, no, what I’m asking is, why did you come to Tonglu Mountain?”

Fuyao got angry when she mentioned this: "I came here to chase the ghost Lan Chang and her child. Who knows why he came here?!"

Nan Feng said: "Me! I am also here to track down the mother and child..."

Fuyao said, "Then go after them! Why are you hitting me?! My... my general has already said that the fetal spirit has nothing to do with him, and he didn't kill it! Your kindness is really taken for granted, you can't be a good person!"

Xie Lian said as if it were normal, “Alright, alright, stop arguing. I understand the situation. You two should stop fighting for now. You guys just broke up the snowy mountain with your quarrels. Can’t you just calm down for a while? Let’s work out a solution together.”

Nan Feng was also angry: "Don't you know what kind of character our general is usually? No wonder others are suspicious of him now!"

Fuyao glared: "What did you say? Say it again if you dare!"

Nan Feng's eyes glared even more fiercely than his: "More guts than you! I'll say it again: you don't have good intentions at all. You're just secretly proud of the thought of showing kindness to someone you dislike. You're simply doing it to satisfy yourself and wait to see others laugh at you. Stop saying you're being kind and don't pretend to be a good person. A truly good person is nothing like you. You never have been one!"

Veins popped up on Fuyao's forehead, and the corners of his mouth twitched as he said, "You're just delusional and talking nonsense!"

Nan Feng said: "You know in your heart whether it is nonsense or not, don't I know you!"

Fuyao's veins crawled all the way to her neck. "What qualifications do you have to criticize me? Standing so high up and looking down at others, aren't you afraid of accidentally breaking your legs?"

Nan Feng said, "I'm better than you in every way! Do you think no one knows about the shit you did?!"

When he mentioned this, Fuyao seemed to get angry out of shame: "...Yes! Okay, I admit it! But how much better are you than me?! You claim to be loyal, but you've forgotten your boss because you have a wife. Your wife and son are the most important! Everyone is out for themselves, and they all value themselves! Aren't you ashamed of always picking on my little nitpicking?"

Hearing him mention "wife and son", Nan Feng flew into a rage: "Fuck you! ... Me? You?"

Though unable to move, the two men were strangling each other furiously. Unconsciously, their references to each other had morphed from "your general" and "my general" to "you" and "me." In their excitement, they were completely oblivious to their own exposure, only now realizing it. Xie Lian had already fallen silent.

Nanfeng and Fuyao turned their heads in unison to look at Xie Lian. He rolled silently on the silk bed, turned over, and gave them his back. He said, "Um... I didn't see anything. No, I didn't hear anything."

“…”

“…”

Xie Lian faced the stone wall and said gently, "Do you still want to continue? Regarding what you just said, I won't comment on anything else. But I actually think that my wife and son are most important. That's right. It's human nature. Let's not dwell on the past. Let's find a way out first..."

"..." Fuyao interrupted him, "You knew it a long time ago?"

Seeing that he couldn't keep giving it any more, Xie Lian could only say, "Hmm..."

Fuyao asked in disbelief, "When did you find out? Why did you find out?"

Xie Lian couldn't bear to tell the truth, so he just said, "I forgot."

The real answer was a long time ago. He had had a vague suspicion since his time with Junshan, and by the time he reached Banyue Pass, he was certain of it.

What little military officer from Zhongtian? That doesn't exist. "Nanfeng" and "Fuyao" are merely two little clones of Feng Xin and Mu Qing!

Fuyao seemed unable to believe that his true identity had been exposed like this. She kept insisting, "When did you find out? How did you find out? There must have been a trigger. Where is the flaw?"

“…”

Xie Lian simply couldn't bear to tell the truth. There was no need for an opportunity; these two were riddled with flaws!

After all, the three of them had grown up together. How could Xie Lian not be familiar with their mannerisms? From the innocently chosen aliases to their identical personalities, it was so easy to guess who they were. If he couldn't figure out who was beneath those two disguises, wouldn't all these years have been wasted?

However, there were some things he couldn't say, and some things he couldn't do. For example, to maintain his image as a priest, he couldn't just roll his eyes or curse. But with a different identity, he felt much more relaxed and unrestrained, so Xie Lian didn't see the need to expose it.

Fuyao, no, now, should be called Muqing. Muqing gritted his teeth and said grimly: "...So, you, have known who we are for a long time, but you still didn't say it, just, quietly watching us perform, right?"