Silver light flashed wildly. Without a second thought, Xie Lian's first reaction was to shield himself with his hands. Ruo Xie was wrapped around his wrists, ready to automatically repel the attack in times of crisis. However, the silver butterflies didn't strike him at all. Instead, they bypassed him and pounced on the two men who had just been wrestling behind him.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing had suffered heavy losses from these undead butterflies before and knew their power well. How could they be so careless? Almost instantly, they raised their hands and shouted, "Shield up!"

Thousands of silver butterflies swooped down on them, their wings flapping like a gust of wind. They were blocked by an invisible wall before them, crashing down like a torrential rain, emitting a fierce white light that shot forth like sparks. They had deployed two magical shields before them. But even with the shields blocking them, the undead butterflies were unstoppable and endless, like moths to a flame, frantically swooping. Even with their shields activated, the two men were still faintly retreating under the barrage of butterflies.

A moment of carelessness had given them the upper hand. Without their shield, the Undead Butterflies would have closed in on them. With their shield activated, they couldn't free their hands to draw their weapons. Feng Xin and Mu Qing silently groaned, gritting their teeth as they persevered. Feng Xin caught sight of Xie Lian still standing in front with his head bowed, and immediately shouted, "Your Highness, be careful not to stand there! Get behind the shield!"

Unexpectedly, Xie Lian turned around and saw that he was unharmed. He frowned and said, "Huh?"

The two of them took a closer look and almost spit out a mouthful of Ling Xiao's blood. Xie Lian was holding a dead butterfly in his palm, his face still a little confused. When the fierce butterfly wind blew by just now, one of them flew particularly slowly and couldn't keep up with the group. It flapped its wings and floated up and down in front of Xie Lian. Xie Lian saw that it seemed to be trying particularly hard, and he always felt that this little silver butterfly might not be able to fly anymore. He couldn't help but stretch out his palm and hold it lightly. The silver butterfly flapped happily in his palm and refused to move. Seeing this, Feng Xin's forehead veins bulged and he said, "Don't touch that thing with your hands!!!"

At this moment, Xie Lian's wrist suddenly tightened. Someone had grabbed him and pulled him hard. He was dragged into the pitch blackness behind the gate.

Yet, despite being in darkness, he felt neither apprehensive nor wary. The darkness seemed like a gentle armor, far from threatening, but rather inexplicably reassuring.

Although the person behind the darkness hadn't yet revealed themselves, Silver Butterfly had already arrived. How could she not know who the person was? Mu Qing said in disbelief, "You're so bold! You actually dared to come to Xianjing to cause trouble! You're really too arrogant!"

A voice laughed and said, "Same here. Isn't it quite arrogant of you to go to the Heavenly Court and be in my territory?"

Even though he had already anticipated who had captured him, Xie Lian was still startled by the familiar voice coming from so close. He then immediately said, "Huacheng, the Emperor is in Xianjing. Put him down!"

Hua Cheng scoffed, "That depends on whether you have the ability."

As soon as the words fell, the door slammed shut!

Xie Lian felt Hua Cheng's hand tightly grasping him, guiding him along at a rapid pace. Darkness surrounded him, and the jingling of the silver chain on his black boots filled his ears. The ground beneath his feet was uneven and bumpy. It was indeed not the bright and open streets of Xianjing, but a desolate valley.

Hua Cheng must have used the technique of shrinking the earth to connect the gate of Xianle Palace to this valley. However, connecting one part of Xianjing to another using the technique of shrinking the earth wasn't so easy, at least not for a non-celestial priest. How did he do it? Xie Lian was about to speak when a sudden roar exploded in his ears: "Your Highness! Where are you?!"

The roar was from Feng Xin. Though the voice was within his ears, the person wasn't there. He was roaring from within the spirit communication formation. Xie Lian's eardrums ached from the roar. Many of the priests were also shocked out, shouting fearfully, "What's wrong, General Nanyang? What happened?"

Mu Qing also entered the spiritual communication array and said, "Something's happened! Where is the spiritual text? Quickly inform the Emperor, Xie Lian has escaped!"

He usually spoke softly and politely, but now there was a hint of exasperation in his voice. Ling Wen said, "What? I'm going to Xianle Palace to take a look!"

A priest exclaimed in surprise, "The Third... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ran away? Isn't he confined to the Fairy Music Palace?!"

Shi Qingxuan also entered the spiritual communication array and said, "Just now I clearly saw a bunch of small martial gods from the Central Heaven Court outside the Xianle Palace watching. They can only enter but not leave. How could they have escaped?"

Feng Xin continued, "He didn't run away, he was kidnapped! Your Highness, can you still hear us? Where are you now?!"

When they heard that he was kidnapped, everyone was even more shocked: "This is Xianjing, who is so arrogant!"

For a moment, everyone wanted to speak loudly, and everyone wanted an answer. The matter between Master Fangxin and Lang Qianqiu has not been settled yet. Jun Wu restrained Xie Lian's feet, but he is gone. Isn't this just adding to the trouble and causing more arguments? No matter what, we must find him back first. So Lingwen went to check the situation and find out where Xie Lian is at the moment. Fengxin and Muqing shouted loudly in the formation, looking for martial arts officers who can spare a hand to chase him. Shi Qingxuan dispersed several waves of merit again. The people in the spiritual formation were in chaos, talking at once, and Xie Lian couldn't get a word in. He took a deep breath and was about to yell for everyone to calm down, but Huacheng suddenly turned around and extended two fingers. The cold knuckles gently rested on his temples. Huacheng smiled and said, "Haha, long time no see, how are you?"

With a light touch of his two fingers, he passed through Xie Lian and entered the spiritual communication array of the Upper Heaven Court. This calm and composed statement was heard not only by Xie Lian beside him, but also by all the priests who were busy and frantic in the spiritual communication array of the Upper Heaven Court. After hearing it, they instantly fell into a deathly silence.

“…” “…” “…”

There was a silent roar in everyone's heart.

No wonder he was so arrogant. I was wondering who he was. Turns out it was this person!

Hua Cheng added: "I don't know if you miss me, but I don't miss you at all."

“…”

Many of the priests in the heavenly realm did indeed secretly miss him every day, but when they heard him say he wasn't thinking about them, they silently chanted "Heavenly Official's Blessing, No Taboos, Thank You, Thank You, Please Don't Think About Us From Now On." At this moment, Hua Cheng chuckled, "However, I've been quite free lately. If anyone else is also free and would like to discuss things with me, I'd be more than welcome to do so."

“…”

In this situation, his words were very clear.

"If any of you are brave enough to catch up, I will challenge this person next time."

If you accept this challenge, you will definitely lose, and if you don't, you will lose face. Isn't this a naked threat?

Upon hearing that Xie Lian had escaped or been kidnapped, the spirit communication array erupted in excitement. After all, this was a rare disturbance, and everyone was extremely concerned. Several martial priests had already volunteered to join the pursuit. However, after Hua Cheng said those three words, they all vanished in an instant. If Jun Wu had issued an order assigning someone to pursue the enemy head-on, there would be no way around it; it would be a matter of impartiality. But the incident had just happened, and the chaos was raging, so naturally no one wanted to take the blame. No one wanted to be remembered by Hua Cheng. So, they all pretended to be absent, while keeping a close eye on the situation. All the while, their hearts were filled with turmoil: This Blood Rain Scholar was truly brazen, actually daring to kidnap someone in Heaven, and the target of this kidnapping was the laughingstock of the Three Realms—was there a deep hatred or something else?

Silence fell over there, with only Feng Xin's angry voices ringing out. Hua Cheng then removed the two fingers and said to Xie Lian, "Ignore them."

Xie Lian blurted out, “Sanlang…”

Hua Cheng let go of his hand and said, "This place is not far from Xianjing, let's go."

His voice was low, emotionless. He released Xie Lian's wrist so quickly, it was almost like he was shaking it off. Xie Lian suddenly remembered the first time they met, when he'd touched him and been shaken off, and he froze in his tracks.

He had wanted to ask Hua Cheng why he had suddenly appeared. Although he hadn't thought about it too deeply, he had a vague feeling that he might have come to save him, which was why he had felt a hint of joy when he heard San Lang's call. But when Hua Cheng let go, Xie Lian suddenly realized: Why did he think Hua Cheng had come to save him? Putting aside the question of whether Hua Cheng would be keeping such a close eye on his movements, he had just burned down Ji Le Fang and escaped from the Ghost Market. Wasn't it more likely that he had come to question him, to collect his debts and settle accounts?

It's true that the geomancer went undercover in the ghost world and was captured by Huacheng, imprisoned, and tortured. However, the undercover agent was ultimately at fault. He infiltrated the Ghost Market, dug deep into the ground in Paradise Square, searching for someone, and even set a fire. While Shi Qingxuan ultimately fueled the flames of most of Paradise Square, he was the one who started the initial fire in the armory. Otherwise, no one else might have considered setting the fire, so he bears primary responsibility.

As the two walked, one in front of the other, Xie Lian felt more and more guilty and ashamed. He couldn't help but say, "...Sanlang, I'm sorry."

Hua Cheng suddenly paused and asked, "Why are you saying sorry?"

Xie Lian paused, then said, “I went to the Ghost Market to investigate the disappearance of the Geomancer, and I didn’t tell you the truth before. You treated me so kindly, but I burned down your Paradise. I feel truly guilty.”

Huacheng remained silent. Xie Lian knew that his words, "I'm so sorry," held little weight, and he felt even more ashamed. He coughed softly and said, "But I'm probably going to be demoted soon. After I'm demoted, I'll definitely find a way to make amends. I'll see what it takes..."

Hua Cheng asked, "Why do you want to apologize to me?"

His tone was a little stiff, as if he couldn't bear to listen any longer. He turned around abruptly and said, "Have you forgotten that I injured your arm with a knife? I hurt you, not you hurt me. Why are you apologizing to me?"

Xie Lian hadn’t felt any pain in his right hand at all, and now he had almost completely forgotten that it had been injured. After a moment’s pause, he finally remembered and said, “You mean your right hand? My right hand is fine, it will heal soon. And it was me who went up to meet the attack that caused this, so it’s not your fault, is it?”

Hua Cheng stared at him intently, the light in his left eye unusually bright. Xie Lian suddenly noticed that he seemed to be trembling.

After a while, he discovered that it was not Huacheng who was shaking, but the scimitar Erming on Huacheng's waist that was shaking.

The silver scimitar hung above the red robe, trembling uncontrollably. So did the eye outlined by silver thread. If it were on a child's face, that child would surely be crying loudly at this very moment.