Chapter 249: The Prince's Strange Memory Drifting 4

The location the ghost-faced man had given was not complicated: it lay within a cave a few miles south of a certain mountain. Xie Lian was confident that, while ordinary people couldn't match his current speed, he would definitely reach the destination faster than Sanlang's men.

Sure enough, an hour later, he arrived at that place, rushed into the mountain and started to destroy and beat things wildly, making the mandrills and night cats howl like ghosts and wolves. Finally, he found that cave in the mountain.

Although the monster was quite impressive, with three or four hundred minions guarding its gate, to Xie Lian, it was no different from just three or four minions. Initially, he was concerned about the enemy's strength and held back from making any rash moves. However, after patiently guarding the cave for a while and listening to the minions' idle chatter, he realized that the monster had been having a rough time these past few days.

"...Yes, yes. The mountain master barely escaped from the clutches of a stinking Taoist priest. He was terrified and returned wounded. As soon as he got back, he abandoned his original cave and fled here in a panic."

"I see! I was wondering why they suddenly summoned everyone away. It turns out they were afraid of the Taoist priest's revenge!"

"There's no need to be afraid. The Taoist priest was bitten several times by the mountain master. Even if he could wake up now, he would definitely be confused and disoriented."

"How could I not be afraid? After all, the mountain master is a renowned demon who's hundreds of years old. It's said that the Taoist priest suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck him with two palms, leaving his nose and eyes crooked. If the Taoist priest hadn't had some injuries that allowed him to take advantage and bite a few times, I'm afraid the mountain master wouldn't have been able to return."

"Oh my god, where did this wild Taoist priest come from who is so powerful!"

After hearing this, Xie Lian felt that it was enough, so he walked out calmly and greeted them gently, "Hello."

The little demon minions were startled and jumped up, shouting, "Who is it?"

"Where did this pretty boy come from?"

Xie Lian smiled faintly, not giving him time to explain, as he charged straight into the cave. He casually grabbed several and tossed them dozens of feet away. Even without any magical powers, he still frightened the minions into screaming, "What's wrong with this pretty boy?! He looks so gentle! Why is he so brutal!!!"

He walked into the cave unimpeded as if he was pulling out weeds. Xie Lian was prepared for a fierce battle with a well-known monster, but after entering, he saw a monster in human form rolling on the ground, holding its stomach and crying out in pain.

At first Xie Lian thought it was pretending, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't. Its belly was swollen, as if it had swallowed something powerful. So Xie Lian squatted down and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The monster was probably in so much pain that it was losing its mind. The moment it saw Xie Lian, it screamed, "You've come just in time! You! I won't eat anymore! I don't dare eat anymore! Never again! I'll return what I swallowed to you! I can't digest it, I can't digest it!"

Xie Lian asked, “You’ve got the wrong person, haven’t you? You didn’t swallow anything from me, so what are you giving me back?”

The monster, however, rolled on the ground in agony, not even bothering to answer. Confused, Xie Lian casually drew a talisman and put it away first. Miraculously, as soon as the talisman was applied, the monster transformed into a chubby roly-poly doll, its belly even larger than the others, a truly comical sight. Xie Lian was amused and amazed, looking at the talisman he had drawn. He wondered how it had turned out like this. Had he made a mistake?

But that wasn't a big deal. This battle was incredibly easy. By the time Xie Lian emerged from the mountains, daybreak had arrived. He tucked the tumbler into his sleeve and hurried back to the city.

Xie Lian was elated, having finally done something for San Lang. He was already thinking about how he would show the monster he'd captured to San Lang. He warned himself that if San Lang showed surprise, he should remain reserved and avoid showing joy. After a night of running around, his legs and feet were a little tired, so Xie Lian found a stall to sit down and get a bowl of free tea.

As he was drinking, he suddenly heard someone shouting at him from behind: "Thank you!"

Xie Lian immediately put down the tea bowl.

Who was so audacious as to call him by his name in the street? Even among the royal family, few were so disrespectful. Everyone would call him "Your Highness" with trepidation and respect.

Looking back, he saw that the man was actually a civilian, carrying a large wooden box. He strode towards him and shouted, "Wait! Wait! You forgot Xie Lian! Take him with you!"

It turned out they weren't calling him, but someone else with the same name. Xie Lian was even more puzzled. Although he didn't care about avoiding taboos, he was still surprised that someone would dare to use the same name as him.

He immediately realized that the "Xie Lian" the man was talking about was not a human.

There was a man sitting near Xie Lian. The man holding the box walked over to the man and sat down next to him. He patted the box and said, "I've brought Xie Lian here. Remember to deliver it to the one you worship at home today! Don't be fooled by this. If you don't put these two together, you'll be in big trouble!"

"That's right. Of course I know..."

Xie Lian couldn’t help himself any longer and asked, “Excuse me…”

The two men turned to look at him. Xie Lian said, "Forgive me for being so intrusive. May I ask, what's in this box?"

The man said, "Didn't I tell you? It's Xie Lian inside."

Xie Lian was puzzled: "But... isn't Xie Lian His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

The two men seemed to find it funny and said, "No one said he wasn't the prince. He is. Look!" As they said that, they opened the box.

Xie Lian's eyes widened. The wooden box was actually a small shrine, and within it sat a dusty statue of a Taoist monk in white, wearing a bamboo hat.

He doesn't know him.

"..." Xie Lian was completely confused and asked, "Are you saying that this statue is Prince Xianle, Xie Lian?"

"What else?"

Others also gathered around him, partly because they were surprised by his strange behavior. "You are such a strange young man! You look like a Taoist priest, but how come you don't know such a simple thing?"

Half of them were looking at this "statue": "Wow! This shabby immortal statue is well carved! It's so depressing."

"Yeah, he looks so dejected, and at first glance he looks like he's going to be unlucky!"

"Okay, okay! The uglier it looks now, the better it will look once that person helps break it open. It will take at most eight days for the effect to show up."

“…”

Xie Lian was bewildered, “A tattered immortal? How did he become a tattered immortal again?”

Everyone said, "Master, you're really weird! Xie Lian is just a rag collector!"

“…”

Xie Lian wasn't someone who got angry easily, but at this moment he felt a little annoyed.

No one would be happy to hear someone mock him for being a rag collector. He stood up and said in a deep voice, "Do you have any grievances against the Xianle royal family? Even if you do, it's not very polite for you to insult the crown prince like this."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, laughing at him, saying, "What are you talking about? Which country's etiquette is this in line with? The Xianle Kingdom was destroyed over eight hundred years ago!"

…

An hour later, Xie Lian was walking on the street, still somewhat dazed.

It was horrible. Everything he had just received was too horrible for him.

"How could Xianle Kingdom be destroyed? My father, the emperor, and my mother, the queen, are clearly still alive and well? And how could it be me who destroyed it? Did I lose the battle? Did I destroy the kingdom? Was I demoted twice? Did I become a rag collector?"

He questioned himself over and over again, telling himself again and again: Impossible. Impossible. Impossible!

He tried to convince himself: "This is not true at all. There must be someone behind this."

Yet, everything about it felt vaguely wrong: the strange accents, the strange attire, the strange architecture, the strange wind signals, and the strange affections. All of this told him that this wasn't a nightmare, and this wasn't some illusion. No demon or monster could create such a vast and realistic illusion.

It really has been eight hundred years.

How come eight hundred years have passed?

How come he became like this after eight hundred years?

The Xianle Kingdom was destroyed; his father, the emperor, and his mother, the queen, died; Feng Xin and Mu Qing ascended to heaven. He became a rag collector.

how so?

It can't be like this. It shouldn't be like this!

Xie Lian walked faster and faster, finally breaking into a run, as if an endless darkness was closing in behind him, ready to devour him. Suddenly, a red shadow flashed, and a tall figure stopped him in his tracks, saying, "Master, where have you been? It took me so long to find you."

It was San Lang. He was still smiling, and was about to come over to hold his hand. But when Xie Lian saw him, his hair stood on end, and he shouted, "Don't come over here!!!"

He stopped talking as soon as he shouted. Sanlang paused, his expression unchanged, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xie Lian clenched his fists and said coldly, "Who the hell are you? What do you want to do?"

Sanlang said, "I thought we had a good discussion yesterday and didn't care about these minor issues anymore."

Xie Lian said, "You lied to me."

After a moment of silence, Sanlang said, "Do you already know?"

Xie Lian said, “I already know. Now it is…” Eight hundred years later.

He wouldn't have noticed something was wrong so late, but this person had been deliberately hiding it from him, confusing him to the point of losing his way. Otherwise, how could he have discovered the truth only after a day?

Sanlang took a step toward him and said, "Your Highness."

Xie Lian took several steps back and shouted, “Don’t come any closer! I’ll hit you if you come any closer!”

His voice and body were trembling. Xie Lian was terrified.

He wasn't afraid of demons or monsters, nor of the man before him, who was both celestial and demonic, but of this entire unfamiliar world. In this world, he had no pride or glory, no loyal subordinates, no loving parents, no country, no adoring believers. Nothing, nothing, nothing!

Sanlang still took a step towards him and said, "Don't be afraid, Your Highness."

“…”

Upon hearing this, Xie Lian’s expression changed.

He suddenly remembered the man who whispered in his ear, "Don't be afraid, Your Highness," in those fragmented memories.

How come he didn't notice?

Their tone and voices are exactly the same!

Xie Lian was shaking with anger, saying, “It’s you…it’s really you…”

Thinking of how this man had tricked him into submission, yet he was still filled with gratitude and affection, constantly calling him "brother," Xie Lian felt an unbearable surge of rage. He struck out with a palm, shouting, "You liar!"

This palm strike hit Sanlang right in the chest. Xie Lian was about to strike him again, but found that he could not move at all.

It was his own body that stopped him!

Xie Lian didn't understand what was going on, but San Lang grabbed his hand. Startled, Xie Lian said word by word, "Don't touch me! You liar, you lied to me. I will never trust you again. You..."

Sanlang said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, believe me."

Xie Lian angrily shouted, “I don’t believe it!!! I!…”

However, just like the stopped attack, the following "I don't believe" could not be shouted out.

The concern and pain in this man's eyes were genuine. Anyone who saw someone look like that at another person would never doubt their sincerity.

As if to separate Xie Lian from this strange world that frightened him, San Lang finally pulled him into his arms, his lips gently kissing his hair as he spoke softly, "Don't be afraid, Your Highness. It's over. Your Highness. You've made it through this."

“…”

After a long while, Xie Lian's body finally softened.

Now, putting aside his shame and annoyance, he thought carefully. In those fragmented fragments of his dream, the man's voice calling him had always been extremely gentle, without any force.

As for himself… although he did beg for mercy and sob, he could tell that he wasn't unwilling at all. It was just that he had been unwilling to face it before, so he didn't notice it.

Xie Lian finally understood why he had been so drawn to trusting this man the moment he laid eyes on him. Perhaps eight hundred years later, his relationship with Sanlang... was far from simple.

He completely gave up resisting his body and let himself follow his heart. He buried his face in Sanlang's arms and said in a muffled voice: "We..."

Sanlang said, "Yeah."

After a long silence, Xie Lian murmured, "Why... did I suddenly forget everything that happened in the past eight hundred years?"

Sanlang said, "It's my fault. The day before yesterday, you suddenly received a prayer in the dead of night, and I left in such a hurry that I didn't help you recover your magic power, nor did I have time to tell you that if you were bitten by that monster, it would devour your memory."

Xie Lian said, “Then this isn’t your fault at all. It’s my own carelessness.”

Sanlang said, "Your Highness will never be bad."

Xie Lian forced a smile, then said dejectedly, "Then, Sanlang, how could I...let Xianle destroy the country?"

He clearly cherished his people so much, and once had the ambition to make the music of heaven continue for another thousand years.

Sanlang hugged him tighter and said firmly, "It's not your fault."

Xie Lian murmured, "How could I be such a failure? How could I become like this?"

Who doesn't initially dream of accomplishing something earth-shattering, groundbreaking, and legendary, leaving a legacy for eternity? Even though perhaps only one in a million people could truly achieve their wish, Xie Lian never doubted that he was that one in a million.

Perhaps that was why Saburo hadn't let him realize it was already eight hundred years later.

Sanlang said: "You did not fail."

Xie Lian shook his head and said, "But I don't have any believers anymore."

Sanlang said, "You have it."

Xie Lian felt sad when he thought about it. He said, "I'm the Tattered Immortal, a rag collector. No one considers me a believer, and no one considers me a god. Who would respect a rag collector?"

This is totally different from his dream.

But Sanlang said, "Didn't I tell you that you have a believer?"

Xie Lian raised his head, and Sanlang smiled at him, "Your Highness, I told you that you would see Huacheng soon. Now, you have."

“…”

Xie Lian raised his head, staring at his face, and asked with a hint of bewilderment, "Sanlang, when... did you first meet me?"

Hua Chengdao: "From a long time ago, before you ascended."

Xie Lian blinked slowly.

Hua Cheng continued, "Your Highness, perhaps you now feel that you will be a failure eight hundred years from now. Perhaps you will be disappointed and unable to accept it, but please believe me, it is not like that."

His bright left eye stared at Xie Lian, the light in it as gentle as his voice.

He said, "You saved me. I have been watching you.

"There are countless people in this world who are more 'successful' than you, but none of them can save me like you did, nor can any of them do what you did—

“You don’t know how much courage you gave me to become who I am today.

"In my heart, you will always be the only god."

Xie Lian said, "And you will always be my most loyal believer."

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that he had just said this subconsciously, as if he had heard such a precious promise somewhere before. Hua Cheng smiled, took his hand, kissed the back of it, and said, "Yes."

“…”

After a long moment, Xie Lian seemed to have made up his mind. He pulled out the monster's tumbler from his sleeve and asked, "Is this the monster that swallowed my memory?"

Hua Cheng took the monster and said, "It is indeed you, Your Highness, who destroyed his new nest."

Xie Lian nodded and said, "If we want to restore our memories, we have to start with this, right?"

The tumbler opened its mouth in Hua Cheng's palm, and a few firefly-like points of light flew out of it, dancing around Xie Lian. Hua Cheng said, "Catch them, and you can regain His Highness's memories of the past eight hundred years."

Xie Lian listened and reached out to them. However, just as he was about to touch them, he stopped.

Restoring the memories of the past eight hundred years is like traveling through time again for eight hundred years, and experiencing everything again: the pain of having one's heart pierced by hundreds of swords, the shame of total defeat, and the anger of feeling powerless.

Although he knew it was only a moment, his fingertips still trembled slightly.

Hua Cheng stood behind him, making him feel as if he was leaning against a solid wall. He heard Hua Cheng's voice from behind: "Don't be afraid, Your Highness."

Xie Lian tilted his head slightly, and Hua Cheng put his arm around his waist, saying, "Trust me. No matter how long it takes, I will always be waiting for you. You will meet me again."

Yes. It will happen again.

So, Xie Lian reached out his hand towards those points of light.

Starlight mingled with his fingertips, and he felt a bright light before his eyes, as if something scorching hot was approaching. Before the bright light arrived, Xie Lian said, "I'm so glad to have met you."

After saying this, the tiny specks of light merged into his body and vanished. Xie Lian slowly fell forward, and was caught by Hua Cheng.

After a while, Xie Lian slowly woke up. As soon as he opened his eyes, Hua Cheng whispered, "Brother?"

Xie Lian slowly broke into a faint smile, stretched out his hand, caressed Hua Cheng's face, and said, "...I meet you again."

Hua Cheng also smiled and said, "I told you, believe me."

Xie Lian sighed, “Does this mean we’ve been waiting for each other for another eight hundred years?”

Hua Chengdao: "Didn't I tell you that no matter how long it takes, I will always wait for you. But..."

He pulled Xie Lian to his feet. They stood face to face. Hua Cheng squeezed his hand tightly and said with a smile, "I don't want to be apart from you for even a moment now."

The past cannot be changed.

Eight hundred years ago, seventeen-year-old Xie Lian, a child of destiny, had no idea what awaited him in the future. Fate had presented him with two doors: a fleeting glimpse of the Divine Martial Dao, and a bridge of thought where he encountered demons and immortals. He opened both.

After that, he would be left alone in the turmoil of an irreversible situation, struggling through long, agonizing years. Pain, anger, disappointment, hatred, despair, madness. A heartbroken despair.

Then it revived.

But, that’s all in the past.

·

"Brother, welcome back."

"Um……"

"See, I told you you'd meet me again, didn't I?"

Xie Lian glanced at Hua Cheng and said, "Really?"

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Of course, when have I ever lied to Your Highness? Brother, I..."

“…”

“…”

Xie Lian reached into Hua Cheng's arms, pulled out a piece of paper, and read: "Thank you, Brother Sanlang, for your care. I have no way to repay you. I would like to do my best to help you with your worries and difficulties. I will be away for a while. Brother Sanlang, don't worry. I will be back soon."

Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow, his hands clasped behind his back, and remained silent. Xie Lian finished his recitation, then imitated him and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Brother Sanlang, good brother. You are truly kind."

Hua Cheng laughed heartily and said, "Brother, don't you already know whether I'm good or not?"

Xie Lian blushed slightly and mumbled, "...I'm not sure what you're talking about. Anyway, you've been going too far these past few days. Reflect on this."

Hua Cheng said seriously, "Brother, you can't do this. I've been treating you with courtesy these past two days, and it's been very hard for me."

Xie Lian said, "How could you treat me with any respect? You clearly... clearly..." You clearly had a blast teasing him. Thinking of how he'd become the innocent, naive, spoiled seventeen-year-old he'd been tossed around by Hua Cheng these past two days, Xie Lian remembered the entire process so vividly that he couldn't even look at himself. He groaned and covered his forehead. Hua Cheng said seriously, "Really? Even if my brother calls me a despicable, shameless, and vulgar bastard, Sanlang has no regrets."

“…”

"If my brother is unhappy, he can scold me again. It's okay, Sanlang."

Xie Lian couldn't bear to listen any longer.

He covered his forehead and quietly slipped away. Hua Cheng turned his head and saw that he had disappeared. He said, "Brother? Don't run. Okay, it's my fault, brother!"

Don’t call me brother anymore!