Before Huacheng even got close, Xie Lian had already pounced on him.

That pounce was powerful, but Hua Cheng didn't even stumble back three steps. He didn't even sway. He simply placed his hands on his back, chuckling softly. Xie Lian was brimming with joy when he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "Wait, Sanlang! Emperor... Junwu is quite wary of you. You're supposed to be guarding the human formation in the Imperial City. He must have sent people down below to keep an eye on you. If you just disappear like that, he might notice. Besides, with Master Feng alone guarding the formation, will there be any problems?"

Hua Cheng said, "Don't worry, brother. This has been taken care of. There won't be any flaws for the time being."

Xie Lian guessed he'd probably plugged the eyes Jun Wu had sent, or perhaps left a fake skin underneath, and didn't ask how he'd done it. At that moment, Hua Cheng said leisurely, "It seems like Brother really does miss me."

“…”

Xie Lian recalled the chaotic mess he had spoken to Jun Wu in front of him, and then noticed his clinging posture. He quickly let go and stood up straight, saying solemnly, "...Yes, yes. The person you mentioned needing help, so it's Master Rain."

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "That's right. The Rain Master has been in the lower realms all year round. The opening of Copper Furnace Mountain happened to alert her. It's perfectly reasonable for her to return to the Heavenly Palace to take a look. And if Jun Wu doesn't let her up, or can't come up with a compelling reason, the Rain Master will surely notice something's amiss. So, of course, he has no choice but to let her up. Brother, it's okay. You can keep pouncing on her like you did just now. I don't mind."

Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, “Thank you, but no… But why didn’t he touch the Rain Master?”

Hua Cheng said, "Brother, you don't know. The Rain Master is the priest in charge of agriculture. Although this position may seem dignified and unprofitable, and therefore not many people are interested in it, it is a very special one. Currently, there is only one such priest in charge of agriculture, the Rain Master Huang."

Xie Lian seemed lost in thought, having figured out the key points. Hua Cheng continued, "If we kill the Rain Master outright, and if we can't find a better replacement to oversee agriculture, food is paramount. If agriculture isn't going well, chaos will reign. If you don't feed people, they won't feed you. Besides being dissatisfied with the Rain Master, the people might also become dissatisfied with the great god above him. In other words, the fire might even spread to him. If not properly controlled, it could lead to a rebellion."

That is to say, they demolished his temple and overturned his statue, just as the people of Xianle Kingdom did in the past.

Hua Cheng added, "Besides, the Rain Master doesn't have a temple, doesn't reside in the Immortal Capital, has no desire to rise to higher positions, and has no leverage. Externally, it would be difficult for him to find a suitable reason to demote the Rain Master, and it would be difficult to do so. Internally, allowing the Rain Master to continue to manage agriculture would ensure his position is secure. So, if he can avoid a falling out, he should do so. Keep it a secret for now, and then speak out when it becomes too late."

Xie Lian wiped his sweat off his forehead and said, "I see. That was a close call. Master Yu's willingness to help is truly a timely help. I hope her acting skills are exceptional. Oh, and by the way, we need to find the Imperial Master first! There are many things we absolutely must ask him for clarification."

Without further delay, the two of them hurried out of Xianle Palace. As soon as they stepped through the threshold, Xie Lian was startled by the row of guards guarding the door. Just as he was about to have Ruo Xie knock them unconscious, he discovered that each of them was like a wooden figure, their postures and even their expressions unchanged; they had actually been frozen in place by Hua Cheng.

As they walked, shimmering silver light emanated from Huacheng's wristbands, transforming into silver butterflies that gradually faded and vanished into the air. It was likely that by this moment, he had already spread hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of undead butterflies across the Immortal Capital. They rose and fell, appeared and disappeared, perfectly avoiding all patrolling guards.

Hiding in an alley, watching the patrolling guards march past in rows, Hua Cheng said beside Xie Lian, "We've passed this section. Let's go up the next one."

Xie Lian nodded and followed him up onto the roof. The two of them, one in front and one behind, flew over the eaves and walls, leaving no trace. After a while, Xie Lian landed on a corner of the eaves. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back at Hua Cheng, lost in thought.

Seeing him stop, Hua Cheng also stopped and asked, "Why, did you notice something?"

Xie Lian frowned slightly, shook his head, and thought, "No. I just feel that this situation seems to be happening somewhere..."

Before he could finish his words, Hua Cheng suddenly grabbed him by the waist. The next moment, they both "fell" from the eaves.

Xie Lian felt the world suddenly spin, upside down, and his hat slipping from his back, about to fall to the ground. He quickly grabbed it back with a fluttering dart. But it was Hua Cheng who was holding him, the two of them hanging upside down from the corner of a roof. Above the eaves, something clattered and scurried past.

Xie Lian was not unfamiliar with that voice; it was the sound of the fetal spirit crawling!

I don't know if it's patrolling around Xianjing or what. At this moment, another voice came from below: "Wrong, wrong, wrong?"

gladiolus!

Xie Lian felt something was amiss. The fetal spirit was still guarding the eaves, and Jian Lan was approaching from below. Wouldn't that mean Jian Lan would be discovered no matter what? Xie Lian didn't dare to say how Jian Lan would react. Would she remember Hua Cheng's life-saving grace, or would she scream for help?

The frivolous and messy footsteps were getting closer and closer, and were about to turn around. Thank God, at this moment, the fetal spirit finally jumped down from the other side of the eaves.

The two of them immediately climbed up to the roof. Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief.

Jianlan peeked out from behind a corner of the wall. Seeing her son jump to the ground, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No, no! Don't run around. This place is unfamiliar and scary. If you get lost, I don't know where to find you... Why are you here?!"

She casually glanced around, spotted the plaque on the main hall, and took two steps back. Seeing her reaction, Xie Lian suddenly remembered that the golden hall beneath their feet seemed to be the Nanyang Hall.

In other words, Feng Xin is now locked up in there!

Jianlan must have known this too. Her face twitched slightly, and after a moment, she lowered her head to teach the fetal spirit a lesson, scolding, "What are you doing here?"

The fetus was holding a thick, fat white thing, and was still "crunching" it, as if chewing it. Jianlan said again: "What is that? What are you eating? Spit it out!"

Xie Lian took a closer look and saw that it was a large, plump white radish. He was at a loss for words. She didn't need to tell him to; the fetal spirit also obviously thought the taste was bad. It spat out the radish with two vicious "Puh" sounds, screaming and spitting, as if it were in a rage. Jian Lan hurried over to it, picked it up, and coaxed it, "Okay, okay, good boy, if it doesn't taste good, then don't eat it. These are the food of poor boys and foolish gods. We won't eat them."

Only a biological mother could hold such a horribly deformed creature in her arms and comfort it so tenderly. The fetus twisted its plump, white body in her arms, purring contentedly. Xie Lian watched this scene with a sense of pity, yet also wondered, "How could there be such a large radish in the Immortal Capital?"

Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow and said, "Brother, have you forgotten? Master Yu brought you some local specialties grown in the fields."

“…”

It turns out that this is the gift that the Rain Master gave him!

Xie Lian tried to imagine Jun Wu's expression upon opening the wooden box and discovering a large white radish inside, but he found it impossible to imagine, and his attempt failed. Apparently, after Jun Wu had inspected it and found nothing suspicious, he simply fed the radish to the fetal spirit.

It's like feeding a dog.

After vomiting it out, the fetus kicked the radish away with its legs in disgust. Upon hearing Jianlan's words, it seemed lost in thought. It leaped from its mother's arms, hopped over, grabbed the radish, and hopped into the hall. If you didn't look closely, it really looked like a naked, hairless white dog. Jianlan said, "Don't go in! That's..."

The guards guarding Nanyang Palace, likely told by Jun Wu that the fetal spirit was his pet or hunting dog, stared intently and made no attempt to stop it. Jian Lan had no choice but to follow him in. The fetal spirit seemed deeply hostile to Feng Xin, and Xie Lian, worried it might harm him, turned and asked, "Sanlang?"

A transparent butterfly perched on Hua Cheng's fingertips. He said, "The Deathly Butterfly has attached itself to her."

Xie Lian nodded, and together they watched the situation inside Nanyang Palace. Jianlan crouched down and tiptoed into the palace, seemingly trying not to be seen. She whispered, "Wrong, wrong—"

However, it was impossible to remain undetected. The fetal spirit hopped into the main hall, where a man was meditating. When he opened his eyes, he met her face to face, and both of them were stunned.

Feng Xin was stunned at first, then delighted. He stood up and said, "Jianlan! Why are you here? Are you okay? You're here, help me..."

At this moment, the fetus suddenly let out a loud howl, jumped between the two of them, spat the radish onto the ground, and kicked hard with its hind legs. The large white radish that it had gnawed a few times flew up and hit Feng Xin in the face with a loud "bang"!

After the kick, it still held itself high and mighty, barking and grinning sinisterly, as if waiting for its mother to praise it. Feng Xin was practically knocked unconscious by the blow, a stream of blood streaming down his nose. He wiped it off and angrily shouted, "What are you doing?! Behave!"

He was fierce, but the fetal spirit was even fiercer, screaming and spitting its venom at him. Feng Xin rushed forward to grab it, but it opened its bloody mouth and bit his arm, and no matter how hard he tried to shake it off, he couldn't get it off. This familiar scene was both terrifying and hilarious. Feng Xin couldn't shake it off, and he became even more furious: "Fuck it!!! I really fucked it!!! Are you looking for a fight?! What the hell!"

Jianlan also came to her senses and said, "Stop it! What qualifications do you have to hit him and scold him?!"

Feng Xin was stunned by her yell, and his momentum dropped a bit. He defended himself, "He... he recognized the thief as his father?! How could he be on the same side as Jun Wu... How could he become like this?!"

Jianlan spat, "How could this happen? It's all because of you! It's the father's fault for not raising and educating his child. If it weren't for you being such an incompetent father, your own son would have been dug out of his mother's belly and made into something like this? What the hell, the ghost you gave birth to!"

She cursed, and Feng Xin took a step back, his voice much lower, and said, "But...but I didn't know anything. And at that time, you were the one who told me to get out first..."

Jianlan said, "Ha! I told you to get out, and I'm doing what you want! You come to me every day with a gloomy face, and I don't know what you're thinking even when I sleep next to you! You have to serve your prince, and raise money for my redemption, and you're so exhausted and tired! If you're too embarrassed to just walk away, then I'll just give you a ride!"

Feng Xin said, "I was very tired at that time! But I didn't bother you! I wanted to redeem you!"

Jian Lan poked him in the chest and said, "Come on! Redeem me, redeem me! You know in your heart that with your ability back then, could you redeem me for what I was worth back then?! You're so eager to spend every penny you can, performing on the streets every day to honor your father, the Crown Prince, the Emperor. I'm lucky I don't pay you out, but you're expecting me to redeem myself? It'll take forever!"

Feng Xin said, "That's not what you said at the beginning. We clearly agreed! I will definitely keep my word..." Jian Lan interrupted him, "You've made so many verbal promises, but think about it, what have you given me? What can you give me? Besides that gold belt, I can still show it off. Oh, that gold belt, you even told me not to sell it!"

Feng Xin was prodded back by her, his face stiff and embarrassed. Jian Lan grew increasingly angry as she spoke. "Still with that crappy amulet? I was so foolish I believed your idiotic amulet could bless me. Instead of any good luck, I've only had a barrage of bad luck! You, your money is getting less and less, and your temper is getting worse and worse. What else can I do if I don't let you go? Am I going to keep you going like this?! Are you going to keep complaining about me, hating me, annoying me, and wanting to stop seeing me?!"

“…”

Not only Feng Xin, but even Xie Lian who was in Nanyang Palace at that moment didn't know what to say.

So that's how it is.

Xie Lian recalled many things. Feng Xin, who went out early and came back late, looking tired, Feng Xin who was inexplicably happy and inexplicably sad, and Feng Xin who had once struggled to borrow money from Xie Lian.

All the previous minor anomalies suddenly had an explanation.

Feng Xin was Xie Lian's attendant, his good friend, but not his vassal. He could have had his own home, his own family, and he had already met them, but it happened during Xie Lian's first demotion, during their most difficult period.

At that time, Xie Lian could barely protect himself, so how could he care about these things?

He suffered, Feng Xin suffered, too. Everyone suffered. Finally, they couldn't endure it any longer. Perhaps Jian Lan had foreseen this outcome.

However, even then, Feng Xin still did his best to support him. He even gave Jian Lan his amulet that few people wanted, saying that it could bring good luck. That's why Jian Lan carefully put it away and placed it in the clothes of her unborn child.

Of course, it turned out that the amulet didn't bring them any luck at all.

Jianlan seemed to realize that she had said something she shouldn't have said, and she picked up the fetus on the ground and was about to leave. Feng Xin said, "Jianlan!!!!"

He scratched his hair and sighed, a rare expression on his face.

Feng Xin said, "You...you should come back. I still...ah, I think I, I...want to take care of you. I should take care of you. I have a responsibility. I promised you."

Jianlan turned around, stared at him for a long moment, then hugged the fetus tightly in her arms and snorted, "Forget it. I know you despise your son, and he's just a ghost in your eyes. It's okay, I don't despise him."

Feng Xin finally came to his senses and retorted, "I don't dislike it!"

Jianlan asked, "Then why are you always so mean to him? Do you really treat him like your own son?"

Feng Xin said: "As long as it can be improved, what can't I do?"

Jianlan sneered and said, "Then let me ask you again, you are a priest, do you dare to recognize it?"

Feng Xin was stunned.

This was only natural. The fetus lay in its mother's arms, baring its teeth at him, like an ugly, half-grown poisonous insect, or a deformed cub of a vicious beast, but not a human at all.

What priest would dare to agree to such a thing? To acknowledge such a bastard as his own son? This would be a huge stain, and the believers, the incense, and the prestige would all be damaged!