Huacheng had learned the Wuyong language through his own deductive learning ability. He could decipher the meaning of the words, but without a surviving human to read them to him, he couldn't match the sounds to the characters. Therefore, he couldn't understand the mutterings of the corpse-eating rats.
However, Xie Lian, who had never been to Tonglu Mountain, understood it. What does this mean?
Hua Cheng knew what he was thinking and immediately said, "Brother, don't be nervous. I'll repeat what I said again, and listen."
Xie Lian said, “…Okay.”
Hua Cheng had a remarkable memory, and as soon as he left the place where the ghouls were gathered, he immediately repeated it clearly. Xie Lian stared at his lips, hearing a series of words that sounded neither fast nor slow, and slightly strange.
This strange string of words, with its ancient and alluring intonation, flowed from Hua Cheng's lips with a gentle, yet beautiful, tone, a truly captivating sound. Concentrating for a moment, Xie Lian said, "I don't understand."
This was very strange. He could understand the human language spoken by the ghoul rats, but now Hua Cheng was repeating it exactly as he had intended, yet he couldn't understand it. However, the moment he understood, it couldn't have been an illusion.
Hua Cheng continued, "Just now, when you heard those voices, you understood them instantly and naturally, right?"
Xie Lian said, “Yes. At the time, I didn’t even think about the translation process.” That’s why I didn’t even realize it was a different language.
Hua Cheng folded his arms, thought for a moment, and said, "I understand."
Xie Lian asked, “What do you understand?”
Hua Chengdao: "What you understood was not Wu Yong language, but the emotions of these dead people."
Xie Lian seemed to understand, but Hua Cheng continued, "That is to say, long ago, someone heard the voices of the dead, understood them, and remembered them. Then, unknowingly, they implanted this memory in you, infecting you with this emotion."
"Because that person already understands Wuyong, he's already gone through the stage of 'understanding'. So, you don't even need to understand Wuyong. These sounds have always been hidden deep in your mind. The moment you hear them, you will be directly brought into that emotion."
Xie Lian thought this was plausible, and continued, “But the question is, who could have passed these memories and emotions on to me? And when did they pass them on to me?”
After a pause, he murmured, "...National Master?"
Hua Cheng said, "It's not certain. Brother, you're already assuming your master is from Wuyong. But have you ever considered this? If that's the case, then they should have communicated in Wuyong language while in the mountain monster's belly. Why didn't they?"
This wasn't difficult to explain. Xie Lian said, "Because the Wuyong Kingdom collapsed two thousand years ago, that means if they had truly been active in the world for the past two thousand years, they would have used more of the language of later generations. When communicating, they would naturally use the language they are more proficient in."
Hua Cheng put his arm around his shoulders and said in a more serious tone, "Brother, don't always lead yourself to think in that direction."
Xie Lian then turned back and said, "Alright. Then, Sanlang, if you want to implant certain memories and emotions into someone else, what are the general requirements?"
Hua Chengdao said, "Two conditions: First, you must absolutely trust this person, be completely defenseless, and be willing to be guided by this person if necessary."
After a moment's deliberation, Xie Lian had a candidate in mind. Hua Cheng continued, "Secondly, you are completely powerless against this person, completely suppressed by them, and deeply afraid of them. Brother, think carefully about who you've met over the years who meets these two criteria."
Xie Lian thought for a moment, hesitated, and then said slowly, "About three."
Hua Chengdao: "Okay, which three?"
Xie Lian said, “The first one is the Imperial Preceptor.”
Although he loved his parents deeply and was completely defenseless, deep down, he and his father were on different paths. Therefore, he couldn't be said to be willing to be guided by his father. However, the Imperial Master who had introduced him to the sect and taught him everything met this requirement. This was expected. Hua Cheng asked, "Then, what about the second one?"
Xie Lian said, "Jun Wu."
He had great admiration for Jun Wu, needless to say, and that also met the first condition. Hua Cheng looked disapproving, but he didn't comment. He asked, "What about the last one?"
Xie Lian said, “The third one doesn’t meet the first condition, but the second.”
Hua Cheng understood. He said in a deep voice, "...Bai Wuxiang?"
Xie Lian closed his eyes, nodded, and placed a hand on his forehead. “…I won’t hide this from you. Although to everyone else, it seems I’ve never expressed this, even to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, I never said anything discouraging, but I actually…”
But in fact, deep in his heart, he was deeply afraid of this thing.
There was a time when he even shuddered at the mere mention of the name. Yet, Xie Lian never dared let anyone see even a hint of this. He was his only hope against Bai Wuxiang. If even he was afraid, wouldn't others be even more desperate? In that case, they would be completely defeated!
Of course, everything was much better now. Hua Cheng held his shoulders tighter and said, "It's okay. There's nothing shameful about being afraid of something."
Xie Lian smiled and said, “I’m just not brave enough.”
Hua Cheng said, "If there is no fear, there is no courage. You don't have to be so hard on yourself."
Xie Lian was slightly startled upon hearing this, and Hua Cheng immediately said, "So, there are only these three people?"
Xie Lian nodded. In other words, the person who had imbued him with the memories and emotions of the Wuyong people during the eruption was one of these three. Hua Cheng frowned thoughtfully, while Xie Lian remained silent for a moment before suddenly saying, "More than that."
Hua Cheng turned his head and asked, "What?"
Xie Lian took a deep breath and said, "Actually, there are more than just these three people. There's also a fourth person. This person meets the first condition. However, he definitely has nothing to do with the memories and emotions of these deceased people."
Hearing this, Hua Cheng turned around completely and asked, "Oh? How do you know? Your Highness has also been close friends with this person for many years?"
Xie Lian thought that while years of friendship didn't count, a close friendship... he thought it did. But he felt embarrassed to say so, so he mumbled, "Anyway... he's probably the person I trust the most, even more than my Master and Jun Wu."
Hua Cheng said, "How do you calculate this?"
Xie Lian coughed lightly and said a little embarrassedly, "I'm ashamed to say this. Because... if I made a huge mistake or caused a terrible disaster, the first person I would think of would definitely be him... and the trust I have in him is different from that in my Master and the Emperor..." Before he finished speaking, he noticed that Hua Cheng's expression was a little strange. He stopped talking and hesitated slightly, "Sanlang?"
Hua Cheng finally came back to his senses, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Oh. It's nothing, I was just thinking about something else. Does Your Highness really trust this person so much?"
Although he usually raised his eyebrows to show satisfaction or teasing, this time it looked unnatural.
Xie Lian nodded and said, "Hmm...any questions?"
Hua Cheng lowered his head slightly, adjusted the silver wristband on his sleeve, and said nonchalantly, "It's not a big deal. However, this is my personal opinion. Brother, you'd better not trust others so easily."
“…”
Hearing him say this, Xie Lian was a little unsure whether he could hear who he was talking about, but he didn't dare to reveal it further, so he just said "Oh..."
After a pause, he couldn't help but ask, "Saburo isn't going to ask who this person is?"
Hua Cheng said, "Hmm? Me? Since my brother said he trusts him and is convinced he has nothing to do with this matter, then there's no need to ask."
Xie Lian rubbed his brows, and then Hua Cheng added, "However, if Brother is willing to speak, San Lang is also willing to listen."
Although his words sounded appropriate, it would have been awkward for Xie Lian to have followed through on them at this point, like asking someone who he trusted the most. Xie Lian couldn't tell if it was a polite remark or if he truly didn't care. Just then, the undead butterflies, which had just been tearing blood and flesh apart with the ghoul rats, flew back. After such a fierce battle, the silver butterflies were flying a little lower, as if they were a little tired. Xie Lian quickly rushed over, reached out his hand, and caught an exceptionally slender silver butterfly, saying, "Thank you for your hard work!"
As he extended his hand, the butterflies paused in mid-air, then, as if they had sniffed a delicious treat, swooped down on him like crazy. Xie Lian, holding the tiny silver butterfly, nearly froze in shock. Hua Cheng coughed softly, and the butterflies froze again, obediently flying toward him, landing on the silver wristband on his arm and merging with the silver butterfly patterns carved into it.
The two continued to search for Yinyu. After walking for a while, Huacheng suddenly said, "It's not Fengxin, is it?"
Xie Lian had already started thinking about other things. He was startled when he heard this and said, "Huh? What?"
Hua Chengdao: "The person my brother was talking about."
Xie Lian immediately waved his hand and said, "Of course not!"
Hua Cheng's eyebrows twitched as he said, "It's not admiration, is it?"
A drop of sweat dripped down Xie Lian’s forehead. He moved his hands even faster and said, “That’s even more impossible! But, why are you suddenly asking about it now, Sanlang?”
Hua Cheng smiled and said, "I've thought about it, and suddenly I feel that this fourth person is the most suspicious. So, just in case, could you please tell me who this person is, your most trusted and long-time friend?"
“…”
Xie Lian looked at the smile on his face and had a nagging feeling that it was fake. Just as he took a deep breath and prepared to speak, the faint silver light from the pathfinder butterflies suddenly vanished.
The surroundings fell into darkness, and Hua Cheng quickly took Xie Lian's hand and dodged to the side of the street. Xie Lian sensed something was wrong and lowered his voice to ask, "Sanlang, is something coming?"
Although he was suddenly plunged into darkness and could not see anything, he still followed Hua Cheng's steps accurately and climbed into a house to hide. Hua Cheng's voice whispered in his ear: "Here I come."
Suddenly, a very strange sound was heard in the darkness.
Boom, boom, boom.
Although still quite far away, the sound was resounding, heavy and relentless. With each blast, it moved a great distance closer, its speed astonishing. Xie Lian felt the sound was strangely familiar, a sound he had definitely heard somewhere before. When it drew nearer, he looked outside.
Sure enough! A girl in a wedding dress appeared on the street of the underground city.
The girl was wearing a wedding gown, but it was tattered and eerie. Though her face was long and beautiful, it was lifeless. A faint green ghostly light hung above her head, making her pale face appear even greener. She was holding a small child in her arms, whose face was also pale, but still more alive than hers, clearly a living being.
Hua Chengdao: "See you again, old friend."
It turned out to be the female ghost Xuan Ji and Gu Zi!
The author has something to say: Fafa tried to pretend not to care.
Fafa's attempt failed! No, let's ask! Be sure to ask clearly!
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