Xie Lian asked, “How is it?”
Mingyi fell face down on the altar with a "bang", seemingly unconscious.
On the other side, Shi Qingxuan remained silent, shedding two lines of tears.
“…”
Xie Lian hesitated and asked, "My Lords, what is going on? Could you please cheer up and comment on this matter?"
Shi Qingxuan came back to her senses, wiped away a tear, grabbed his hand, and squeezed it firmly, mumbling, "...Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Xie Lian grabbed his hand and asked, "What?"
Shi Qingxuan's tongue was slurred, unable to speak. After a while, tears streaming down his face, he pushed Mingyi aside and said, "Brother Ming...Brother Ming! Brother Ming, what's wrong with you? Cheer up, wake up!"
Mingyi lay motionless on the table. Shi Qingxuan, who could never tolerate a lack of response, pushed harder and harder, finally choking and shaking him. Xie Lian couldn't bear to watch any longer and couldn't help but remind him, "Master Fengshi, why don't you put down your broom first? We can talk things over."
Shi Qingxuan pinched the broom, turned around and shouted, "Ah? Your Highness, what did you say? I can't hear you clearly!"
Xie Lian was helpless and shouted into his ear, “Master Wind Master! That’s not Master Earth Master in your hand! Master Earth Master is over here, over here!”
At this moment, Mingyi suddenly sat up. He had unexpectedly returned to his masculine form in an instant, his face livid, and he blurted out, "I have a demon within me. Please help me get rid of it."
Xie Lian was shocked that a spoonful of soup could bring out his inner demons. He stammered, “…No…”
Shi Qingxuan pointed at Mingyi, his eyes wide, and said, "Wait, you! Who are you to dare to flaunt your skills in front of this Wind Master? Where's Brother Ming? Let me cover you, let's take him down together first." He grabbed the broom in one hand and unleashed the Wind Master's Fan with the other. With one blow, the entire roof would surely fly off. Xie Lian quickly rushed over to hug him, saying, "No, no, no! My Lords, please wake up!"
“Hahahaha hehehehehe hoohoo…”
Qi Rong pounded the ground outside the door and laughed, cursing, "Serves you right! You bastard official! Go to heaven! Feel free! Get some relief!"
The two priests in the room staggered back and forth, groaning non-stop. Hua Cheng leaned against the wall, his arms folded. Xie Lian looked at him, then at the Wind Master and Earth Master, huddled on the ground with their heads in their hands, and whispered, "Did we add too little water... Why is the reaction even greater than Qi Rong's?"
Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow and said, "I think it's good. It's probably just a matter of taste. It happens all the time."
Xie Lian hadn't considered what Qi Rong ate on a daily basis, and what the priests ate on a daily basis. The contrast between the two made the priests feel a greater disparity and shock, and their reaction was naturally more intense. Of course, he hadn't considered whether the pot of food had been enriched after passing through Hua Cheng's hands.
Melancholy and guilt-ridden, he poured seven or eight bowls of water each into Shi Qingxuan and Mingyi, and the two priests finally regained consciousness. Though their faces were still pale and their eyes were wide open, like Qi Rong's, they were at least conscious and articulate. The only minor issue was that Shi Qingxuan still couldn't stop crying, and he bit his tongue from time to time when he spoke, but it wasn't a big deal.
After a chaotic commotion and an hour, the four of them finally sat down neatly around the altar.
Ming Yi was still lying facedown on the table, motionless, like a corpse. Xie Lian said sternly, "Master Feng, you just said you had something important you wanted my help with. What is it?"
Shi Qingxuan, looking haggard, cast a soundproofing spell on the door to ensure that no one outside could hear. Then, his voice hoarse, he said, "...It's like this. Ahem, ahem. Your Highness, you've lived in seclusion in the world for eight hundred years. You've traveled a lot and seen a lot. You must have encountered many demons and monsters, right?"
Xie Lian folded his hands and said, “I have encountered some.”
Shi Qingxuan said, "Then I'd like to ask, have you ever met the 'Baihua Immortal'?"
Xie Lian was startled and said, “Weeping at a funeral at a wedding, a white-talking immortal?”
Shi Qingxuan lowered his voice and said, "That's right!"
Suddenly, Xie Lian felt a chill run down his spine.
At the same time, it seemed as if someone was whispering a cold laugh in his ear and humming an extremely strange tune.
The small Puqi Temple, once warm and bright with sunlight leaking in through windows and cracks, had suddenly dimmed, as if shrouded in a vast shadow. Xie Lian's limbs grew colder and colder, as cold as iron.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Xie Lian couldn't help but wrap his clothes tightly around him. He felt it was necessary to speak frankly, saying, "I'd like to ask... Who's laughing? Who's singing? Who's turning on the air conditioner behind me? Who made the room so dark?"
Shi Qingxuan wiped away her tears and said, "Oh, it's all me. I cast a little magic. Don't mind it. It was just to make the atmosphere more lively."
The other three people at the altar were speechless. After a long pause, Xie Lian held his forehead and said helplessly, "...Master Wind Master, why don't you just stop blowing that cold wind? No one's wearing much in this weather. Besides, the atmosphere was actually quite good, but you added the cold wind and the music... and it ruined it all."
"Ah? Is that so?" Shi Qingxuan said, waving his hand to dispel the chill wind that blew down upon the four men. "But let's keep the room dark. I'll light a candle, it'll make it feel better." As he spoke, he actually took out a candle and lit it. The dim flame illuminated two snow-white faces and two pale ones, creating a truly atmospheric and emotional scene. Qi Rong, who was watching outside, would probably scream and shriek.
The other three didn't want to say anything more. Huacheng leaned back, while Mingyi remained erect. Xie Lian rubbed his brow and said, "Let's continue... Where were we just now? 'White Talk Immortal'. You should have called him a rotten-mouthed freak earlier. 'White Talk Immortal', I hadn't even realized what it was."
Shi Qingxuan was shocked and said, "Your Highness, you are so brave! It's not nice to call me that!"
Although the Baihuaxianren is called "xianren," everyone calls it "xianren" just to give it some face, fearing that if it calls you something unpleasant, it will come after you if it finds out. In fact, everyone wants to call it "badmouthed immortal" or "badmouthed monster," the more offensive the better. Because it is truly abominable.
Yes, ordinary demons and monsters are at most scary, but this one is "hateful." This is because it loves to suddenly appear and pour cold water on someone's happiness. Imagine a newlywed couple getting married, and a creature like this appears at the wedding banquet, drinks the wedding wine, and suddenly says, "It won't be long before you'll be separated!" Or, if someone's master gets a promotion, it suddenly appears and, amid the crowd's congratulations, says, "In a few years, you'll be in jail!"
If it latches onto a person, it will follow them like a shadow, tightly bound to them, and constantly curse them when they have a happy event. You can imagine how detestable it is. Especially for those who are extremely sensitive to bad omens, encountering this thing is devastating. No one wants to be possessed by such a thing, but if you do, you can only consider yourself unlucky, as no one has yet figured out how it chooses its targets.
It looked like Shi Qingxuan was very afraid of this thing, but Xie Lian didn't care. He said, "It's nothing. There's nothing to be afraid of."
To be more precise, this thing is afraid of him. Shi Qingxuan perked up and said, "It seems that Your Highness has encountered this before? Is it possible to completely eliminate this kind of thing?"
After a moment's silence, Xie Lian said, "I did encounter two of them many years ago, but they haven't appeared since. I don't know if they were completely wiped out, but based on my experience, they shouldn't be too difficult to deal with."
Shi Qingxuan exclaimed in delight, "Two? You dealt with both?! Then I must have found the right person! What's going on?"
Xie Lian then told the story. The first one went like this: Many years ago, Xie Lian passed through a small town where a wealthy businessman was sending his daughter to study in the imperial city. He was convinced his daughter had made a name for herself, so he made a grand announcement and was beaming with joy. However, his joy would eventually lead to tragedy. At the farewell banquet, a voice suddenly shouted, "Your daughter will overturn on the road and fall to her death on the cliff!"
The rich businessman was furious and wanted to grab the person who was speaking, but after the person finished speaking, he crawled under the table and disappeared out of thin air.
Everyone was terrified. Just then, Xie Lian had just collected some scraps and leftovers from the family and was about to take them back. He heard about this incident and, realizing what had happened, told the wealthy merchant not to worry. He asked the merchant to hire over twenty guards, including himself, and they carefully escorted the young lady safely to the Imperial City. He stayed by her side for a while. A month later, the young lady won first place in a beauty and character competition, and her opportunity arrived.
That night, everyone held a banquet in a restaurant in the imperial city to celebrate for the young lady. As expected, another voice in the crowd said, "In the future, you will be..."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lian immediately captured the creature hiding in the crowd and grabbed its throat to prevent it from uttering those words. He then bound its body with a talisman and gave it a beating. He then ordered a carriage to be brought and carried it wildly along the cliff. At a corner, he cut the reins, causing the carriage to carry it off the cliff, fulfilling its own curse on the others.
The other three asked, "That's it?"
Xie Lian said, "That's it. To deal with the rotten... well, the White Talk Immortal. There are three ways to deal with the White Talk Immortal: First, don't let it open its mouth, nip it in the bud before it opens. You can prevent this temporarily, but not forever. It's impossible to prevent it.
"Secondly, if it speaks, don't let the person it curses hear it. Anyone who hears a curse while feeling happy will inevitably feel a sense of fear, and this thing feeds on this fear and delights in it. The more afraid you are, the happier it is. And if you are truly frightened to the point of losing your mind, and as it says, you mess up what you are doing, its power will skyrocket. But unless you are deaf, you will eventually hear it. In fact, even the deaf may not be able to escape it, as some people have pierced both of their ears to avoid it, but to no avail.
"On the other hand, if you ignore it no matter how it curses or pours cold water on you, it'll be helpless against you. Therefore, the most effective method is the third one: surround yourself with joyful events and completely ignore it. Whether it says something or not, just listen to it and forget it. Make yourself stronger and stronger, and completely disregard the tragic future it has predicted for you. In the end, it will no longer be able to gain pleasure from you and will most likely leave in disgrace. Of course, it may just be lurking temporarily, waiting for the next opportunity to take advantage."
While this third method was the most effective, it was also the most difficult to achieve. After all, who in the world could truly maintain a heart as hard as stone, unmoved by the slightest wavering? The more Shi Qingxuan listened, the tighter his brows furrowed. "What about the second time? Did you handle it the same way the second time?"
Xie Lian said, “A second time, it might not be of much use to others. After all, the circumstances are special.”
"What's the special method?"
Xie Lian said, “It came after me.”
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