He was still immersed in the screams of the vengeful spirits, unable to recover for a moment. His face beneath the mask was covered in cold sweat. He said absentmindedly, "...Don't call me by those two words."
Every time he heard someone call him that, it was like a reminder of something, making him extremely irritated. Every time he was called, he was startled. But Wuming said, "Your Highness will always be Your Highness."
Xie Lian looked over. Of course, he couldn't see the black-clad warrior's face, only a smiling face. And when the other man looked at his face, he could only see a pale mask.
He said coldly, "If you keep calling me that, I'll scare you to pieces. Don't think you're that strong."
The young man in black bowed his head in silence. Xie Lian calmed down and said, "Go explore the area around Lang'er Bay and find the most suitable location for setting up the formation and performing the ritual."
Wuming said: "Yes."
Xie Lian closed his eyes, paused, then opened them again. He looked at the black-clad warrior and frowned, "Why haven't you left yet?"
The black-clad warrior said, "The location is set, but what about the time?"
"time?"
"The dead souls are impatient. We must help them find the one to curse. We can't delay any longer."
We really couldn't delay too long. After a moment's silence, Xie Lian said, "Three days later."
Wuming asked again: "Why three days later?"
For some reason, Xie Lian felt a bit impatient the moment he spoke to him. He said, "The moon will be full in three days. By then, the power of the human-faced epidemic will be greatly increased. You're asking too many questions. Just leave."
Wuming nodded and retreated silently. Xie Lian closed his eyes again and covered his forehead, hoping to ease the headache. At this moment, he heard a few cold jeers from behind.
Xie Lian's blood seemed to freeze at the sound of that familiar, cold laugh. He turned abruptly, and sure enough, behind him sat a snow-white figure wearing a mournful and joyful mask and a wide-sleeved mourning robe. She was standing on the altar, her hands folded in her sleeves, staring at him.
White without form!
Xie Lian drew his sword and thrust forward. The man in white made a dinging sound and clamped the blade between two fingers, sighing, “As I expected, this look really suits you.”
Without their masks, the two men looked almost identical from head to toe. After a fierce struggle, the two men in white exchanged blows, making it impossible for an outsider to tell who was who. Bai Wuxiang easily dodged Xie Lian's sword as he spoke, "Your Highness, don't you feel you've wronged your parents by burying them in such a barren and desolate foreign land?"
Xie Lian's heart sank as he said, "You touched the bodies of my father, the emperor, and my mother? You destroyed their corpses?!"
Bai Wuxiang said, "No, quite the opposite. I'll give you a proper burial."
Xie Lian was startled upon hearing this. Bai Wuxiang said, "I brought them to the Xianle Imperial Mausoleum for you and even clothed them in precious jade garments, which will protect their bodies from decay for a thousand years. That way, the next time you visit them, you'll be able to see their remains, looking as if they were still alive." He then told Xie Lian the location of the mausoleum and how to enter it. This was something the King and the Imperial Preceptor were supposed to have told Xie Lian, but they were both killed and scattered before they could do so. Xie Lian was stunned and puzzled. He asked, "How did you know how to enter the Xianle Imperial Mausoleum?"
Bai Wuxiang smiled and said, "As long as it's about you, Your Highness, I know everything."
Xie Lian cursed, “You know nothing!”
He wasn't used to hearing such vulgar and explicit words coming out of his mouth. Bai Wuxiang, however, seemed to see through his thoughts. He looked at him for a moment and said gently, "It's okay. From now on, nothing will constrain you, no one will have extra expectations of you, and no one will know who you really are. So, you can do whatever you want."
After hearing this, Xie Lian felt a strange feeling in his heart.
What did this monster want from him?
Show goodwill.
Yes. Although it might sound ridiculous, Xie Lian's intuition told him that this thing was meant to show him good will. Whether it was burying his father and mother with honor or comforting him, it was all for this purpose.
He must have been incredibly happy, happier than Xie Lian had ever been before. It was as if seeing Xie Lian like this made him particularly happy, and he couldn't help but soften and become more affectionate. This warmth actually made Xie Lian feel a little bit grateful for a moment, but then, more than anything, he felt disgusted.
Xie Lian said coldly, "Don't be too happy too soon. Don't think I'll let a thing like you stay in this world. When I destroy Yong'an, be prepared for me to come and settle the score with you!"
Bai Wuxiang spread his hands and said, "You are most welcome, and I am very happy to do so. Even if you want to kill me, I will wait for you here. When you are really strong enough to kill me, you can become a disciple. But -"
The smile beneath his mask seemed to fade, and he asked, "Will you really destroy Yong'an?"
Xie Lian asked, “What do you mean?”
Bai Wuxiang asked, "You could have acted right now, so why did you choose to do it three days from now? Could it be that you hesitated when the time came? Could it be that even with your country and family ruined, you don't even have the courage to seek revenge? Am I going to witness another defeat for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
The word "failure" stung his ears. Xie Lian raised his sword to strike, but was met with a kick, knocking him to the ground.
Bai Wuxiang didn't know how he had snatched the black sword from his hand. His gentle and amiable tone suddenly turned to contempt. He said, "Do you know what you look like now?"
Xie Lian grabbed the snow-white boots on his chest, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge an inch; he was firmly pinned down, unable to turn over. Bai Wuxiang leaned forward slightly and said, "You're acting like a child sulking. You haven't made up your mind at all."
Xie Lian angrily said, "Who said I haven't made up my mind?!"
Bai Wuxiang said, "What are you doing now? What about your curse? What about your death? Your father, the emperor, your mother, your soldiers, your people, it's really pitiful that you have to deal with a god like you! You couldn't protect them when they were alive, and you can't even avenge them after they die! You are a piece of shit!"
He exerted force with his feet, and a few drops of blood immediately flowed out from under Xie Lian's sad and happy face, flowing out from his throat.
Bai Wuxiang held the sword in his hand, the black jade tip of the sword against Xie Lian's throat, slashing across the curse shackle, awakening some memories of Xie Lian.
He said, "Do you want me to help you practice the feeling of having a hundred swords pierce your heart?"
The extreme fear made Xie Lian hold his breath, not daring to move. But after frightening him, Bai Wuxiang became amiable again.
He moved his boots aside, helped Xie Lian, who was frozen in fear on the ground, to sit up, and twisted his face to face in one direction: "Look, look. This is what you look like now."
What he showed Xie Lian was the dilapidated statue on the dilapidated altar.
The flower and sword in the prince's hand had long since vanished. He had been burned by flames, chopped by axes and chopped by cabbages, and thrown to the ground. Half his body was charred, mutilated, and horrible to behold. Indeed, he bore a striking resemblance to himself in the fragments of Xie Lian's remaining memories.
Bai Wuxiang asked, "Who is responsible for you becoming like this? Do you think it's me?"
Xie Lian's mind felt as if it had been forcefully scrubbed clean, then repeatedly infused with new information, leaving him increasingly bewildered and suspicious. He even forgot his anger and asked in bewilderment, "...What exactly is your purpose? Why are you pestering me?"
Bai Wuxiang said, "I told you, I'm here to teach you. The third thing I'm going to teach you is this: If you can't save the people, then destroy them. Trampling them under your feet will make them bow down to you!"
After he said this, Xie Lian's head suddenly hurt so much that it felt like it was about to explode, and he held his head and screamed.
It’s those vengeful spirits!
Countless vengeful spirits screamed and wailed in his head, and Xie Lian felt a headache so severe he wanted to roll on the ground. Bai Wuxiang, however, smiled and said gently, "They can't wait any longer. In three days, if you fail to unleash the Human Face Plague and give them a target to curse, they will curse you. Do you know what you will become then?"
Xie Lian felt the cold black sword being thrust back into his hand. A voice whispered in his ear, "There's no turning back!"
When the headache slowly faded, Xie Lian let go of his hand and opened his eyes. He was still the only one in the tattered Prince's Palace. The other man in white who looked exactly like him had long disappeared.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but night had already fallen, and the Prince's Palace was dim and dark. Xie Lian's heart stirred, and he realized something.
One day has passed in the three-day period.
At this moment, a flash of white seemed to pass by in the pitch-black Prince's Palace.
For some unknown reason, Xie Lian turned his head, and after seeing clearly what that white spot was, the pupils beneath the mask contracted.
He snatched the thing away and said, "What's with this...flower?"
It was a bouquet of fresh, delicate white flowers, placed on the incomplete, charred left hand of the statue. It looked exceptionally white as snow, yet also exceptionally desolate. It seemed as if the statue had been scarred in order to protect the flowers.
Xie Lian didn’t know why he was so furious at this scene, so he shouted, “Ghost, come out!”
Soon, the black-clad warrior with the sword appeared. Before he could say anything, Xie Lian asked, "What's with this flower? Who made it? Did you make it?"
Wuming lowered his head slightly, his gaze fixed for a moment on the flower in Xie Lian's hand, which was being clenched so tightly that it seemed to be suffocating. Finally, he whispered, "It's not me."
Xie Lian asked, “Then who put this thing there?!”
Wuming asked, "Why is Your Highness so upset when he sees this flower?"
Xie Lian's expression darkened as he threw the flower to the ground, saying, "...This kind of prank is disgusting."
Wuming said, "Why does Your Highness think it's a prank? Perhaps there are still Your Highness's followers here who are worshipping you."
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