Countless faces identical to his were silent, and thinking about the scene was a bit terrifying. Xie Lian passed by a cave and glanced at it. Inside the cave was a statue of Prince Yue, with a kind face and gentle expression. He stood holding a flower and a sword, his posture graceful.
There are thousands or even hundreds of statues of gods here. I wonder how much time and effort it took to carve them, and I don’t know how many years they have been silent in the darkness.
Thinking of this, Xie Lian sighed, facing the stone statue, bowed his head slightly, and murmured, "It must be very lonely."
It refers to the person who carves the statue of a god, and also to the statue of a god.
The statue of Prince Yue nodded.
Xie Lian: “…”
This is so scary.
After a moment's pause, Xie Lian finally realized what was happening. So, it was probably because he had just replenished his mana, and his aura was now overflowing with energy. His presence had affected the statues, causing them to move.
Xie Lian hurriedly tried to gather his magical power, but it was too late. The statue of Prince Yue had already taken a step. Because Xie Lian's overflowing magical power had infected it, and he hadn't carefully controlled it, it moved clumsily and fell with a thud.
Xie Lian quickly helped it up and said, "Be careful!"
He lifted the statue to its feet, its smile unchanged, its head slightly raised, its expression noble and proud, as it nodded in gratitude. Seeing its pride, Xie Lian couldn't help but laugh, but he suppressed it and asked, "Have you seen Huacheng?"
A deity could make simple sounds, but it couldn't speak, unless it was a eloquent deity specializing in speech. The Prince Yue deity looked a bit confused when he asked, as if it didn't know who he was talking about. Xie Lian understood; at that point, he didn't even know Hua Cheng. So he changed the subject and asked, "Did you see a person in red?"
The statue finally smiled and nodded reservedly. Xie Lian asked, "Do you know where he went?"
He was unfamiliar with the cave, and feared getting lost. The statue paused for a moment, then pointed him in a direction. Xie Lian said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
After walking for a while, he looked back. The statue of Prince Yue had quickly mastered the key points of walking and was dancing with a sword on the spot with a graceful posture, as if he was at the much-anticipated Lantern Festival.
Unfortunately, no one appreciates it.
Not long after, Xie Lian encountered another fork in the road. Naturally, he prepared to seek help from his statue and walked into the nearest cave. Upon entering, he saw a figure sitting on a stone platform, guzzling wine from a jar.
Xie Lian: “…”
He rushed over and snatched the wine away, saying, "Don't drink it!"
The statue was also him, though his features were slightly pale, and his clothes were plain white, no longer luxurious. Xie Lian had taken the wine jar away from him. He tried to grab it, but in his daze, he couldn't. He was so angry that he spun around, then suddenly hugged Xie Lian and sobbed.
Xie Lian was stunned and said, "You don't need to cry..."
The statue wept even harder, as if filled with endless grievances. It stopped snatching the wine and simply clung to him, refusing to let go. Xie Lian didn't know why he was so clingy when drunk, so he embraced it, gently stroking its back and soothing it, "Alright, alright..."
He looked again and saw that there was no wine in the "wine jar" in his hand. It didn't matter if he returned it to him, so he asked, "Did you see a man in red? Where did he go?"
The statue showed him a way, and Xie Lian returned the wine jar to it and continued walking forward. The statue stopped crying and sat on the ground, hugging the wine jar, and fell into a daze again.
Xie Lian looked back at it, sighed, and continued on his way.
After a while, he heard a creaking sound, as if iron chains were rubbing against each other, and came to an empty cave.
A swing dangled from the dome of the cavernous rock ceiling. Atop it sat a statue, youthful and energetic. Dressed in the Daoist robes of a disciple of the Imperial Temple, he looked about sixteen or seventeen. He grasped the swing's chain, trying to get it to swing. But since he was sitting on it, it couldn't swing, and a look of annoyance crossed his face. Seeing this, Xie Lian stepped forward and gave it a couple of pushes.
The swing finally took off, and the young statue in Taoist attire finally rejoiced. Xie Lian took the opportunity to ask, "Did you see a man in red? Where did he go?"
The young statue held the swing with one hand and pointed in a direction with the other. Xie Lian pushed him twice more and said, "Goodbye."
But after the swing swung a dozen times, it slowly came to a stop. No one pushed it anymore, and the young statue sat there blankly, its troubled expression on its face once again.
After walking for a long time, Xie Lian thought, “It’s time to get there, right?”
At this moment, he suddenly heard a small, suppressed and painful sound, and was stunned: "What sound? ... Panting?"
The sound came from a cave up ahead. Xie Lian walked in and saw a stone platform within. On it lay what looked like a recumbent statue of a deity, a white veil covering it from head to toe, draping down to the ground. A figure loomed beneath the veil, sometimes curled up in a ball, sometimes tossing and turning, as if someone were suffering and struggling mightily beneath.
“…”
Xie Lian was about to pull the white veil down when suddenly, a hand covered his eyes from behind. A low voice came from behind, sighing, "Brother."
Xie Lian laughed and said gently, "Sanlang, do you think I won't know what this is if you don't show it to me?"
After a long while, Hua Cheng sighed again and said, "Brother, I was wrong."
Xie Lian took his hand away and turned back to ask, “The Land of Tenderness?”
Standing behind him was a tall man in red, it was indeed Hua Cheng.
He was caught red-handed, and with one hand on his forehead, he finally admitted: "...Yes."
No wonder. As expected, no wonder Hua Cheng had refused to let him see it. Xie Lian said, "You came here tonight because you wanted to hide the statue beforehand, didn't you?"
Hua Cheng looked away and said, "Yes."
Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was he really that afraid to let him see this statue?
He said, "Why hide it? It's actually no big deal. But now a very difficult problem has arisen..."
The tricky problem was that after Xie Lian arrived, he inadvertently caused all the statues to move.
This wouldn't have been a big deal, but for this particular statue, it was a real pain. This was because the statue beneath the veil depicted the seventeen-year-old Xie Lian, who had fallen in love with a gentle woman in a cave in a desolate mountain.
The other statues were either dancing with swords, drinking, or swinging on a swing, doing anything, but it was unlucky because it had been poisoned by the deadly flower demon. This caused it to suffer from the torment of the lust poison after it "came back to life".
The wheezing beneath the veil was unbearable, and Xie Lian couldn't bear to hear it. Thinking back to that thrilling and deeply enchanting night, he said, "...This is too pitiful. If I leave now, will it return to stone?"
That way, I wouldn't have to endure this torture. Hua Cheng said, "I'm afraid not. After all, my brother is almost at his most powerful right now, and the statues in the entire Pantheon Cave have been affected by you. Even if you leave, they will continue to flare up for a long time."
That would be too painful. Xie Lian asked, "Then...is there any other way?"
Hua Cheng always had a solution. He nodded slightly and said, "I was just dealing with this. Brother, come with me."
He led Xie Lian into another cave. As soon as they entered, Xie Lian's eyes widened slightly. Standing in the cave was a stone statue of a man. He had a tall figure, handsome features, a slightly raised mouth, and an eyepatch over his right eye. He looked almost identical to the man in red who had led the way.
It turned out to be a statue of the Ghost King!
Xie Lian said, “This is…”
Hua Chengdao said, "I carved this hastily after I realized something was wrong. I haven't touched it in years, so my hands are a little rusty. Take a look, brother. Does it still look like it?"
Xie Lian examined it carefully for a moment and said, “It’s very similar! But…”
Hua Cheng said: "But...how?"
Xie Lian smiled and said, “Not as good-looking as you.”
Huacheng also smiled.
Then, Xie Lian continued, “So, the method you mentioned, Sanlang, is…”
Is it to let this statue of the Ghost King "detoxify" the statue of God that has been bewitched by the gentleness of the world?
After a moment of silence, Hua Cheng suppressed his smile, straightened his expression, stared at Xie Lian's face, and said, "Yes."
Xie Lian hadn’t noticed the slight caution in his expression yet, and thought to himself, “This method is too…”
Although it is indeed a cure for the disease and has immediate effects, it seems absurd and seductive when you think about it - to put it bluntly, isn't it just using a statue of the Ghost King to break the body of the statue of his own youth, thereby suppressing the poison of lust?
It’s so hard to even talk about it!
He was still unsure how to respond when Hua Cheng suddenly knelt down on one knee before him. Xie Lian was startled and hurriedly reached for him, asking, "San Lang?" What was he doing?
Hua Cheng said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, I was disrespectful."
Xie Lian couldn't pull him up, so he squatted down as well, asking in confusion, "Why are you being disrespectful?"
Hua Cheng stared at him, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, please believe me. I had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure today. Although I carved this statue myself, I have never done anything disrespectful to your Highness's statue. If Your Highness finds this method inappropriate, I will find another way."
Xie Lian finally understood why Hua Cheng suddenly became so serious.
Ultimately, Huacheng had always worried that Xie Lian would find his private carving of so many statues of Xie Lian offensive and strange. Now that he had proposed this idea, he was probably even more worried that Xie Lian would think he was full of fanciful thoughts and disrespectful.
Xie Lian smiled and sighed. He grabbed Hua Cheng with both hands, finally pulling him up from the ground. He said, "Of course I believe you. I know you've always respected me."
However, "never the slightest blasphemy" was a difficult question to answer. After all, if one were to be more precise, ever since Hua Cheng returned from transformation into a butterfly, he had been "blaspheming" the gods at Qiandeng Temple every now and then, becoming increasingly bold.
Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, "I think this method... isn't bad at all. Very good, very good."
However, thinking about the essence of this method, his face heated up again, and he felt that his words were a bit unreserved. And with his consent, Hua Cheng finally regained his composure. Xie Lian placed his hand on the Ghost King's shoulder and said, "Shall I consecrate this statue?"
Hua Cheng blinked and smiled slowly, "If brother is willing, I would love it."
Xie Lian nodded. A moment later, the statue raised its eyebrows slightly. Seeing this, Xie Lian couldn't help but laugh. He withdrew his hand and said, "This is too similar!"
Perhaps sensing something, several figures slowly approached the cavern. Several statues gathered curiously, seemingly eager to examine the new, completely different statue within. The Ghost King statue also noticed them, blinked, and raised one eyebrow even higher, as if thinking of something, or searching for something. Xie Lian coaxed and shooed away the group of his own statues, but then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly asked, "Where's the Land of Tenderness?"
He had already used this to refer to the unfortunate statue. At some point, only a white veil remained on the stone platform, and the reclining statue of the gentle land had disappeared!
Xie Lian thought to himself, "Oh no!" Hua Cheng, who had just entered with his hands behind his back, also frowned. Xie Lian said, "The Cave of the Gods is huge. We won't be able to escape anytime soon. Let's search!"
Hua Cheng said, "I'm afraid not. Brother, look."
He pointed at the ground. Xie Lian walked over to take a look and discovered that there was actually a circular formation on the ground, drawn directly on the rock with extremely powerful finger force.
A Thousand Miles Shrinking Formation! How much of his magical power had this statue absorbed that it could actually create a Thousand Miles Shrinking Formation with its bare hands?! Xie Lian practically collapsed on the spot.
The statue is in a state of tenderness. What if he escapes and runs into a mortal woman? What kind of bizarre legends will be fabricated in the future?
He asked, "When did it escape? Where could it have gone?"
Hua Cheng said, "Brother, don't be anxious. Think about it first. If you were in love at that time, who would you think of first?"
This wasn't hard to imagine. Xie Lianyuan wasn't too anxious either, and quickly calmed down. He said, "I think I should go find..."
Before he could finish his words, a spirit suddenly attacked. Xie Lian was caught off guard and raised his hand to respond. Then he heard Feng Xin's voice ringing in his ears: "Your Highness! What the hell, a monster just pretended to be you!"
...As expected! Back then, Xie Lian's most capable assistants were Feng Xin and Mu Qing. When something like this happened, they were the first people he would turn to!
Fortunately, he had looked for Feng Xin first instead of running down the street. Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly, "No, no! That's not a monster, and it's not impersonating me."
Feng Xin was shocked: "What do you mean??? Not a monster nor an imposter? Could that be your true self??? No way!"
Xie Lian: "Not really! Well, how is it now? Did you catch it? Don't let it get away!"
Feng Xin said, "It's too late, he's already run away!"
Xie Lian said, “What? This is bad!”
Feng Xin: "Yeah, this is bad. Running around naked, what's going on if someone sees me?!"
Xie Lian: "Wait, what did you say? Naked? I... no, it's not wearing any clothes???"
Feng Xin said, "Almost! It's worn, but not too much. It's tattered, like someone tore it up. Oh, and if it's not a monster or an imposter, what is it? What's going on? It looks like a statue to me... Wait, a statue?" He exclaimed in horror, "Could it have come out from under the copper furnace? What are you doing???"
Xie Lian couldn’t quite remember how many clothes he had on when he was in the Land of Gentleness. He was so uncomfortable at the time that he might have torn them off himself in a daze. He said, “I’ll explain later! I’ll be right up!”
After he finished speaking, he cut off the spiritual connection and said to Hua Cheng, "Sanlang, we have to go to Xinxianjing!"
Over there, Hua Cheng had already gathered up the newly carved Ghost King statue, transforming it into a palm-sized statue. "Alright!" he said, quickly drawing a formation. Soon, the two of them had stormed directly to the Nanyang Palace in Xinxianjing. Feng Xin was immediately seen upon opening the door, and upon catching sight of Hua Cheng, his eyes widened. "Blood Rain Visiting Flower? Why are you here too? What are you doing here in Heaven?!" A Ghost King in dire straits, instead of staying in his own territory, simply went to Xianjing whenever he wanted. It was truly outrageous!
Hua Cheng ignored him, listened attentively for a moment, and said, "It's a report. The Heavenly Court wouldn't go back on its word, would it?"
Feng Xin naturally knew what report Hua Cheng was talking about. Wasn't it the report that "the Heavenly Court must report the heroic deeds of the Blood Rain Explorers who saved the immortals and gods for a whole year"? Veins bulged on his forehead as he said, "What's the point of reporting in the middle of the night? Everyone needs to rest, so reports will only be made during the day!"
Hua Cheng then uttered an "Oh," probably to let it go. Xie Lian said, "Well, whatever! Let's get to the point. Where's that 'I' you saw? Where did he go?"
Feng Xin pointed in a direction and said, "It ran over there. I was just about to chase it when you guys came up!"
Xie Lian suddenly felt a foreboding premonition and said, "Let me ask, could that direction be..."
Feng Xin said crisply, "In the direction of Xuanzhen Palace."
Xie Lian: “…”
Hua Cheng said in a deep voice: "Let's go!"
The two men didn't dare to delay and rushed to Xuanzhen Hall, broke open the gate and rushed in. Rushing in, they saw Mu Qing sitting on the altar, stunned as if he had just seen something incredible. Xie Lian walked up to him, waved his hand in front of him, and said, "Mu Qing?"
He finally came to his senses when he saw Xie Lian, but his expression was still shocked. After a long while, he said, "Xie Lian, what are you doing?"
Xie Lian: "...What did I do? I...I don't know what I did. Please tell me?"
Mu Qing still glared and asked, "What were you doing running into my palace in the middle of the night with your clothes disheveled?"
"..." Hua Cheng narrowed his eyes. Xie Lian said, "Don't be so misleading! Whatever you saw just now, it definitely wasn't me!"
Mu Qing covered half his face, as if trying to dig what he had just seen out of his eyes. His face sank, "It's you, but you're also responsible! It's the statue in the grotto, right? What are you doing? Letting that kind of immoral statue run around in the middle of the night? You and Xueyu Tanhua wouldn't do that, would you?!"
Hua Cheng scoffed, "What's it to you?"
Mu Qing said angrily: "What do you mean it's none of my business? This is my palace!"
Hua Cheng said leisurely, "I also have a role to play in rebuilding Xianjing."
“…”
To be honest, because they were severely weakened before ascending to Heaven, many priests had no choice but to secretly seek help from the Lord of the Ghost Market. After all, the construction of this new Xianjing was truly inseparable from the Flower City. Xie Lian said, "We're not kidding. This was an accident. Where is it now?"
Mu Qing said: "It stole a sword from me and ran to..."
Without him having to continue, Xie Lian knew where to go. From the garden outside Xuanzhen Hall, clanging sounds were heard. Simultaneously, the small statue of the Ghost King that Hua Cheng was carrying dropped down, hopping and bounding towards the garden.
Xie Lian rushed out immediately, and sure enough, the statue of the Land of Gentleness was standing on the rockery in the garden!
The statue's clothing was disheveled, revealing most of its smooth shoulders and chest. Its undergarments were vague, creating a rather ambiguous scene. The sculpture of the statue's face was a masterpiece, its brow furrowed, and one could almost see the blush and light sweat permeating its skin. It was truly a masterpiece of divine craftsmanship. And now, it was wielding the sword it had snatched from Xuanzhen Hall. Clang, clang, clang! It stabbed itself with the sword repeatedly, naturally attempting to detoxify itself, just as Xie Lian had done before, through self-inflicted wounds.
But because the stone refined in the copper furnace was so strong, the sword couldn't penetrate it at all, and instead bent. It seemed to be in despair, raising its palm, and was about to smash its own head into pieces. Xie Lian hurriedly shouted, "Calm down! Calm down!"
The statue looked at him with hazy eyes. Xie Lian flew up and struck it with a palm, sending it tumbling off the rockery and lying in a cave, unable to get up. Hua Cheng also flashed to Xie Lian's side and threw something down.
It’s the statue of the Ghost King!
It wasn't so much Hua Cheng throwing the Ghost King statue down as it was that it broke free after seeing the young statue. Once free from his grasp, it regained its original slender form in mid-air and descended, covering the statue. A startled gasp echoed from below. Xie Lian quickly jumped off the rockery and pushed Mu Qing, who had rushed over at the sound, into the Xuanzhen Hall, saying, "It's too late! Sorry, I can borrow the treasure land for a moment!"
Mu Qing was shocked: "What did you just do?"
Xie Lian said, “I’ll explain later. I’m so sorry!”
Hua Cheng said slowly, "What's there to be sorry about? You've saved this man's life so many times."
Mu Qing: "No, you should explain it clearly now. I seemed to see you throw a you down, and he threw a he down, am I right? So what are you doing? What's happening in the rockery now?"
Xie Lian practically grabbed him by the neck and dragged him into the hall. "This is urgent! I really admire you, don't go over there! Why are you doing this?"
Mu Qing roared, "Xie Lian!!! What are you doing in my palace? I'm fucked, I'm really fucked!"
"That wasn't us! It was just an accident, it's really too late... and you're mixing up your words again!"
·
An hour later, the two statues had finally used up all the magic power they had absorbed from Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.
After taking a look inside the rockery, Xie Lian held his forehead with his hand.
Hua Cheng dealt with the statue, while Xie Lian quietly went out to stop Feng Xin and Mu Qing, who wanted to come over to see what was going on. He said sincerely, "You don't want to see this."
Feng Xin wasn't a particularly curious person to begin with, so he sensed a bad premonition and wisely retreated. Mu Qing, however, couldn't let it go. His face darkened like the bottom of a stale pot. He swung his sleeves wildly, muttering frantically, "I can't believe it... I can't believe it! How could such a thing happen! How could such a thing happen in my temple!" Then, like a ghost, he drifted away, fearing he would never again gaze directly at the rockery in his own temple. Xie Lian strongly suspected he would later chop it down with a single blow.
To be honest, Xie Lian himself couldn't believe that such a ridiculous accident had actually occurred. He really didn't know whether he should feel ashamed or not. He turned around to look at the two statues—no, now it should be said that "one" statue, and said, "Are they... like this?"
Hua Cheng said, "Let it be. We can't be separated anyway."
Xie Lian covered his face.
How could a priest's statue be in this shape?! What if someone saw it? It's so inappropriate, it's outrageous!
He groaned, "...Sanlang, hide them... well. Don't let anyone see them."
Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Of course. Don't worry, brother."
After bringing the two merged statues back to the Pantheon Cave, where they had finally returned to their proper places, Xie Lian wiped the sweat off his forehead.
The other statues of Xie Lian in the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods gathered around curiously again, but were once again coaxed away by Xie Lian: "Don't look at anything inappropriate, don't look at anything inappropriate."
There was no other way, so they had to leave. Although they didn't see the statue's final form with their own eyes, they looked back as they walked, as if they were envious of the gentle "Xie Lian" who finally had a "companion".
The poison of the gentle land was cured, but the other statues still lacked perfection. The prince pleased the gods but no one appreciated him, he fell drunk but no one helped him, he swung but no one sent him...
Xie Lian couldn't help but feel greedy, thinking, "If only every Xie Lian could have a Hua Cheng."
Unexpectedly, Hua Cheng said the same thing: "Brother, don't you think it would be better if every prince had a Sanlang?"
The two hit it off immediately and stayed in the Cave of the Gods to show off their skills.
Soon, Xie Lian witnessed Hua Cheng transform a heavy stone into a nimble, delicate statue. The skill was beyond description, so fast it was impossible to discern the movements of Hua Cheng. It seemed Hua Cheng had already mastered the technique, which he could only admire.
In short, Hua Cheng turned and pulled a newly carved child from the rubble. Its hair was disheveled, its clothes were tattered, its face bandaged, and it looked pitiful. Its palms were tightly clasped around something. Xie Lian placed his hands on the child's head, blessing it, while Hua Cheng imbued it with a bit of magical power. After a moment, it blinked, turned its head, and looked around. It saw someone grabbing the back of its shirt and kicked it hard.
Hua Cheng seemed to have anticipated this move, easily dodging it and holding it in his hands, letting it struggle and kick. Xie Lian hadn't expected this little Hua Cheng to be so fierce, and laughed, "Oh, so fierce!"
Hua Cheng let out a click of his tongue and threw it away. The child fell to the ground with a thud, but quickly got up and stared at Hua Cheng with a fierce look in his eyes. Xie Lian was worried that he had thrown it too hard, so he reached out to it and said, "San Lang, you're throwing it too hard! Be careful not to break it." If you really count, this child should have just been born!
Hua Cheng said indifferently, "It doesn't matter. He has a very strong vitality."
The child was extremely vicious towards Hua Cheng, but very friendly towards Xie Lian. When he saw Xie Lian waving at him, he was about to walk over. At this moment, the statue of Prince Yue not far away seemed to sense something, walked down from its seat and looked over here.
The child froze at the sight of the statue of Prince Yue, his one eye exposed outside the bandages wide open, and he ran over with a thud, as if wanting to grab him and pounce on his clothes, but he didn't dare to get too close and dirty the god's robe. After a long time, he cautiously stretched out his hand to him, opening the palm that had been holding him tightly before.
It turned out that what he had hidden in his palm was a small flower.
The prince accepted the flowers, smiled, and held out his hand, picking him up. The two of them walked away happily. It seemed that one had finally found someone who could appreciate his sword dance, and the other had finally found someone to present flowers to.
Xie Lian looked on, feeling quite relieved. Suddenly, a thought struck him. He said, "Sanlang, by the time you've finished carving, won't there be countless statues of you and me in this Cave of the Gods? Will they mistake one for the other? After all, many of them look alike."
Hua Cheng smiled and said, "No."
"Why?"
Hua Cheng repeated it again and said, "No."
He looked up at Xie Lian, smiled faintly, and said, "Even if 'Your Highness' is mistaken, 'I' will not be mistaken. Because a Huacheng will only ever be a believer of Your Highness, loyal to only one person. So, it will never happen."
Xie Lian also stared at him and blurted out, "I wouldn't be wrong either. There will always be only one Xie Lian's most loyal believer, and 'I' will always remember that. I..."
After saying this, he suddenly felt embarrassed.
Now, they are like two little kids, eagerly promising each other, "You and only you will always be my favorite." Although sincere, it is childish.
Although childish, it is very sincere.
After a moment of silence, Xie Lian coughed softly and said, "Then... next, let's help His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who's swinging, carve a Ghost King, who's pushing the swing."
No one helped it push the swing, and it looked very lonely and distressed. Hua Cheng happily said, "Okay."
Xie Lian continued, “What about the one drinking? That one’s a bit troubling. It seems confused and even cries. Oh, there are so many statues here. I wonder when I’ll be able to carve them all.”
Hua Cheng smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? Take your time, you will eventually encounter them."
Xie Lian also nodded with a smile and said softly, "Yes, I will definitely meet her."
Inside the grotto, the two originally independent stone statues have now become one.
They hugged each other tightly, gazing at each other's faces so close to each other, their eyes and bodies as lingering and inseparable, truly inseparable forever.
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