Seeing him about to leave, Lang Qianqiu immediately said, "Stop!"
Xie Lian indeed stopped. Lang Qianqiu gritted his teeth and said, "You... need to give me an explanation."
Xie Lian asked, “What do you want to explain?”
Lang Qianqiu said: "The grudges of previous generations, the hatred of the country and the feuds of the family, I understand your hatred for Yong'an. But..."
He choked for a long moment before finally managing to continue, his voice trembling, "But Imperial Master—my father, the Emperor, and my mother—haven't my father, the Empress, and I been kind to the remnants of Xianle Kingdom? I'm good friends with many of the people of Xianle, and I've always done my best to protect them."
Everything he said was true.
After the fall of Xianle, many survivors of the old kingdom never forgot their identity. Even after Yong'an established the kingdom and began to rule, this group of people and their descendants still regarded themselves as Xianle people, and often clashed with the people of the new dynasty.
The first few generations of the Yong'an royal family used a heavy-handed policy to suppress the rebellion, slaughtering many of the recalcitrant Xianle residents. In turn, many Xianle people formed alliances, plotting assassinations of Yong'an's princes and nobles, and succeeding several times. Thus, the enmity between them grew deeper and deeper.
However, Lang Qianqiu and his parents' generation adopted a completely different and more lenient attitude toward the remnants of the previous dynasty. They constantly strived to integrate the citizens of the new dynasty with those of the old one, even considering the almost absurd move of enthroning a descendant of the Xianle royal family as king, despite opposition, simply to demonstrate sincerity and treat them with courtesy. Lang Qianqiu himself never harbored any prejudice against the Xianle people due to these grudges left behind.
The former Imperial Preceptor Fangxin was extremely secretive, never revealing her identity. Consequently, no one knew the true identity of the perpetrators of the bloodbath at the Gilded Banquet. However, the feud between Yong'an and Xianle ran deep, and whenever something happened on either side, they would always assume the other was behind it. The Yong'an royal family and court officials who had narrowly escaped the disaster believed that Xianle survivors were behind this. Consequently, many advocated for a complete extermination of the Xianle survivors from Yong'an. However, these suggestions were flatly rejected by Lang Qianqiu.
His determination saved the lives of countless innocent Xianle people, preventing them from being slaughtered for no apparent reason. However, looking back now, he felt a sense of injustice, as much as he had done well back then.
It's not that I feel it's not worth it, but I feel aggrieved. Doing the right thing is never worth it, but when I clearly put in goodwill but don't get the same goodwill from others, I can't help but feel aggrieved.
Lang Qianqiu's eyes were red as he demanded, "Master, what have I done wrong? What have my parents done wrong that forces you to treat me like this?!" The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became. With Ruo Xie's restraints, he managed to raise his upper body and said, "Don't you think you have to give us an explanation?!"
Xie Lian said, “I can’t give it to you.”
He answered bluntly, choking Lang Qianqiu back with a breath, and said, "Master, you have changed a lot. You were not like this before."
“…” Xie Lian rubbed his brow with his knuckles and said, “I remember I told you a long time ago, don’t presume to erect a sacred and inviolable monument for me in your heart. I’m not what you imagine. In the end, you’ll be the one disappointed.”
Lang Qianqiu lay back on the ground, muttering, "...the you before and the you now, which one is the real you? I can't figure it out anymore."
Xie Lian said, “It’s all me. But you were only seventeen years old back then, and now you’re this old, so naturally the things I taught you are different.”
Lang Qianqiu shut up, then suddenly asked, "Is it because your seventeenth birthday was a hurdle, so you want to make mine a hurdle as well?"
Xie Lian said nothing.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Lang Qianqiu was filled with anger. He held his breath and roared, "If that's what you're thinking, I won't do what you want!!"
Hearing this, Xie Lian’s eyes widened slightly.
Lang Qianqiu couldn't stand up, but his eyes shone brightly, his voice resonant, as if white flames burned in his pupils. He spoke sternly, as if in a fit of rage, as if declaring war. "If you want me to become filled with resentment like you, I won't! If you want me to become as self-destructive as you, I won't. Never! No matter what you do to me, I will never become like you!!!"
Xie Lian was completely stunned by these bold words. After a long while, he finally burst out laughing.
Lang Qianqiu's eyes welled with tears, his blood boiling with passion. He was roaring at the top of his lungs, but the laughter stifled him, leaving him stunned and furious. Xie Lian, on the other hand, laughed and clapped his hands, his laughter growing more and more unbridled as he shouted, "Great!"
He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard. He finally stopped laughing, rubbed his eyes, nodded, and said, "Okay. Remember what you said today. You will never become like me!"
Hua Cheng folded his arms and watched coldly. As soon as Xie Lian finished speaking, a burst of red smoke suddenly exploded in front of him!
Xie Lian was startled by the sudden explosion, thinking Lang Qianqiu had pulled some strange trick. He quickly dodged, keeping his guard focused. However, despite the loud blast, it seemed harmless. When the smoke cleared, the figure where Lang Qianqiu had been lying vanished, leaving only a roly-poly figure standing there, swaying from side to side.
This roly-poly doll had a round head and body, like a giant gourd, with long eyebrows and dark eyes, a tiger-like appearance, and a naive demeanor. At this moment, it was glaring, puffed up, with a broad-bladed sword strapped to its back, looking extremely arrogant. It looked exactly like Lang Qianqiu, but now it had been transformed into a giant toy that a child couldn't let go of. Xie Lian dropped his smile and asked, "Qianqiu?!"
Ruo Xie, now free of the person who bound her, whizzed her way back to his wrist. Hua Cheng leisurely walked over, flicked the tumbler, and sneered, "This guy looks so stupid no matter what form he takes."
Xie Lian lifted the tumbler, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He said, “This…this…Sanlang, is this Qianqiu? How did he become like this? Stop teasing him, change him back to normal.”
Hua Cheng said, "No. Let's take him with us."
Xie Lian asked, “Where are you going?”
At this time, the two of them had arrived in front of a narrow cave. Hua Cheng didn't answer. He threw a dice, which landed in his palm. He lowered his head to take a look, then entered the cave first.
This spell, which turned a person into a tumbler, was truly playful and very Huacheng-esque, but also incredibly difficult to undo. Xie Lian couldn't do it, and he couldn't guarantee that the other priests could. He simply grabbed the Qianqiu tumbler and set out to catch up. Suddenly remembering Fang Xin was still lying on the ground, he quickly turned back to retrieve his sword, slinging it onto his back, and followed Huacheng inside.
He wanted Huacheng to break the spell, but Huacheng remained noncommittal. After walking for a while, the narrow entrance widened, their footsteps echoing through the empty cavern. Ahead, they could hear the faint glow of fire and the sound of singing.
When Xie Lian was searching for the Paradise Pavilion in the ghost market, he had also heard a burst of singing. The songs of the spirit girls in Paradise Pavilion were sweet and charming, like the whispers of a gentle paradise, enchanting. But this burst of singing was like a riot of demons, chaotic and unpleasant. The two were completely different. Xie Lian couldn't help but ask, "Sanlang, what is this place?"
Hua Cheng whispered, "Shh."
Xie Lian's voice had been soft to begin with, but hearing this, he practically held his breath. Soon, he realized why the silence had been so strong. From the opposite side, several balls of green flame drifted toward them. As they drew closer, he could see they were actually several little ghosts in green clothing.
Each of these little ghosts had a ball of light on their heads, looking like a giant green candle from head to toe. There was nowhere to hide in this cave, a narrow road to encounter. Xie Lian reached back to grab the heart on her back, but then remembered that he should use Ruo Xie and lowered his hand.
Unexpectedly, the ghosts glanced at them and ignored them, continuing to walk forward, whispering among themselves. It wasn't as if they hadn't noticed them, but rather that they had seen them, but weren't surprised. Xie Lian glanced at Hua Cheng. Standing beside him was not the handsome, red-robed ghost king, but a pale ghost with a green flame on his head.
It turned out that Hua Cheng had already given them both fake skins at some point. Thinking that he must also be wearing a green lantern, Xie Lian couldn't help but touch his head and said, "Why bother..." Why bother with such a strange appearance?
Although he didn't say it explicitly, Hua Cheng clearly understood what he meant and said, "Green Ghost Qi Rong, huh? I've already told you he has low taste. All the little ghosts under him have to dress like this."
Unexpectedly, Hua Cheng actually brought him to the territory of Green Ghost Qi Rong.
In the past, whenever people in the heavens and ghost realms mentioned Green Ghost Qi Rong, they would always mock him for his low taste. Xie Lian had never quite understood why. Now that he knew that all of his little ghosts had uniformly requested this attire, he finally understood. Just hearing the phrase "Green Lantern Night Wandering" did have a certain eerie elegance to it. However, if it was meant to be a literal, crude, and crude "Green Lantern" night wandering, it was still a bit different from what he had originally imagined. Xie Lian said, "Didn't you already destroy his cave a long time ago?"
Hua Chengdao: "Yes, he was taken down, but he escaped. After escaping, he spent fifty years building a new lair."
Xie Lian tucked Lang Qianqiu's tumbler into his arms, checked to see if there was anyone around, and whispered, "Sanlang, are you here looking for the Green Ghost? Or why not break Qianqiu's curse first, let him go, and then I'll accompany you."
Hua Cheng said in a tone that brooked no refusal, "No, you take him with you. I want Lang Qianqiu to meet someone."
Xie Lian felt strange. Judging from Hua Cheng's reaction, it was clear that he didn't think much of Lang Qianqiu. Who would he specifically ask him to meet? He was caught between two odds, so he couldn't say much. After a while, the two of them finally emerged from the cave. Suddenly, the view opened up, and more caves appeared before them.
The mountain was carved into caves on all sides, caverns connected to tunnels, tunnels to caverns. Monsters with green lanterns atop their heads darted in and out of each entrance, like a giant beehive of ants. If Xie Lian had come alone, he'd surely have lost track of the way after a while. However, Hua Cheng felt at home, moving effortlessly through the caverns, as if he knew the route by heart.
Both of them were wearing the skins of the Green Flame Imps. Seeing that no one was blocking their way, Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief. Hua Cheng thought he was sighing and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xie Lian replied, "No, I thought you would attack the mountain head-on, but I didn't expect you to sneak in. I'm not very good at fighting, so I was relieved."
When he said, "I'm not very good at fighting," he meant it. Fighting is good, but cleaning up afterward is not. Hua Cheng seemed to smile when he heard this, then said, "Last time, I went straight into the mountains, but Qi Rong got the news and ran away. This time, I want to find him in person, so naturally, he can't find out."
Xie Lian thought to himself, "Could it be that the person Sanlang wants Qianqiu to meet is the Green Ghost? Are these two related? Sigh, I wonder what he's up to. Anyway, I'll just go with him for a bit, and slowly ask him to remove the curse from Qianqiu." He still remembered burning down Hua Cheng's Paradise, and he couldn't help but feel guilty. Just as he was thinking, he heard Hua Cheng say, "This idiot is good at nothing, but he's incredibly alert. Little ghosts can't get close to him, and his confidants can't disguise themselves. There's only one way to get close to him."
At this moment, four little ghosts approached, chatting and laughing. Hua Cheng slowed down his pace, and Xie Lian followed suit. Behind these four little ghosts in green, they saw a line of living people being dragged along by ropes.
This group of living people ranged from ragged to elegantly dressed. They all appeared to be young men and women under thirty, including a small child clinging to the hem of a young man's shirt. They were probably a captured father and son. Their hands were bound as they walked through this demonic den, each with a look of terror, nearly fainting. Hua Cheng brushed past them, then turned around imperceptibly and followed at the end of the procession. He nudged Xie Lian lightly with his elbow, and Xie Lian synchronized his movements. Looking at Hua Cheng again, he had suddenly transformed himself into a handsome young man. Perhaps he was a similar type.
The team wound their way through the cave in many twists and turns. The little green ghosts in the front seemed quite satisfied with their assignments, always eager to assert their authority. They would often order the team behind them around, saying, "Behave yourself! No crying! Crying with snot and tears all over your face is a turn-off for us nobles. We'll teach you a lesson about what it means to live a life worse than death!"
Among the so-called four evils in the ghost world, the other three have never been heard of eating humans, only the Green Ghost Qi Rong can't resist the temptation. No wonder he is ridiculed by his colleagues and enemies as "unpresentable" and "blind". Hua Cheng just said that there is only one way to get close to the Green Ghost Qi Rong without being noticed by him. It seems that is to blend into the food. Xie Lian walked while trying to grab Hua Cheng's hand. It was the first time he caught it and felt Hua Cheng stiffen and seemed to want to pull his hand away. Xie Lian was not unaware, but at this moment, he didn't have time to think too much. He held Hua Cheng's palm tightly and gently wrote a word on his palm: "Save".
Since he had seen it, this group of people had to be rescued. This was what Xie Lian wanted to do after telling him about it.
After writing this word, Hua Cheng gently closed his fingers and clenched his palm. A moment later, the team emerged from the tunnel and entered a huge cave.
As soon as he entered the cave, a dark mass of things came into view. Xie Lian squinted his eyes, but before he could see clearly, he felt Hua Cheng grab his wrist and write a few words on the back of his hand: "Be careful with your head. Don't touch it."
At first, Xie Lian thought the cave was covered in rags, hanging from above. But when he looked closely, his pupils suddenly constricted—those weren't rags at all? They were clearly a dense mass of people, feet upwards, heads downwards, hanging in mid-air.
A forest of hanging corpses!
Yet, despite the forest of hanging corpses, no blood rained down. These were all mummified corpses, long past their prime. The mummies' expressions were agonized, their mouths wide open, and their faces and bodies were covered in a layer of snow-like crystals. That was salt.
Deep within the cave, brightly lit, stood a giant chair, a long table, and golden cups and jade bowls. Its opulence reminiscent of a palace banquet hall didn't resemble a mountain cave. A little further away, beside the long table, stood a massive iron pot, large enough for dozens of people to swim and tumble about. The boiling water gurgled and swelled within. If anyone accidentally fell in, they would be scalded to death in an instant!
Four little devils were herding a group of people towards the pot. Some people were so frightened that they fell to their knees. Amidst the fighting, scolding, and pulling, Xie Lian suddenly felt Hua Cheng's arm stiffen beside him and he stopped in his tracks.
He turned around and saw that although Hua Cheng still had that handsome face of a young man, his eyes were burning with rage.
Although Huacheng was always smiling, Xie Lian was well aware that his emotions were always well hidden. Xie Lian had never seen such fury in his eyes before. He followed Huacheng's gaze, and the next moment, his breath seemed to freeze. He saw a person kneeling in front of the magnificent chair.
At first glance, it looked like a person, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a life-sized stone statue. This statue was peculiar, carved in a kneeling position, its back to the man, its head drooping. At first glance, it epitomized the phrase "a dog without a home." It's easy to imagine the sole purpose of carving this statue was to humiliate this individual.
Xie Lian didn't even need to turn the stone statue over to know that the face of the statue must be exactly the same as his.
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