The child, no more than seven or eight years old, was truly tiny and thin. Having fallen from such a height, its tiny body trembled in his arms like a newborn. Yet, through the slits in the tangled bandages on its head, a single, enormous black eye peeked out. Within it, a snow-white shadow reflected, staring at him unblinkingly, as if unable to see anything else.
Hearing bursts of gasps from all directions, Xie Lian raised his head slightly, his heart suddenly sinking. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something golden landing on the ground not far ahead.
The golden mask that covered his face fell off.
Xie Lian landed in the middle of Shenwu Avenue. The ceremonial guard was several feet behind him, not yet reaching this point. A sudden and unexpected change disrupted the warriors' steady pace, and even the fairies scattering flowers showed panic. The golden chariot stopped, and several tall white horses neighed with the sound of sheng and flute music. Some left, some stayed, and without a quick unified pace, the situation seemed to be spiraling out of control. The crowds on both sides of the street were still unable to react, but the Lord of Xianle Kingdom, high up in the building, suddenly stood up and gazed at his son with a look of concern and solemnity.
As soon as he stood, how could the other princes and nobles dare to sit? They all stood up in panic. The Imperial Master's seat had just warmed up, but now it was cold again. He was rapidly debating whether to immediately prostrate himself and repent, but Qi Rong had already jumped onto the railing, rolled up his sleeves, and shouted angrily, "What's wrong? What's going on? Why is the team in disarray? What are these useless people doing? Are you freeloaders who can't even pull a horse?!"
The Queen's face paled, her brows furrowed slightly as she quickly sent for him to be brought down. Just as the crowd began to stir, a major commotion threatened to erupt, Xie Lian suddenly stood up.
Normally, the venerable Crown Prince would remain hidden within the Imperial Palace or in seclusion at the Imperial monastery, rarely appearing before the common people. This was a first, and as a result, everyone was drawn to him, looking over. And this glimpse involuntarily made them hold their breath. The young man, with long eyebrows and beautiful eyes, was incredibly handsome, radiant with glory, dazzling and dazzling, making one dare not look directly. He held the child in one hand, while in the other, he slowly raised his sword, pointing it towards the platform.
The demon was originally on the stage overlooking the situation below. Seeing this action, he paused for a moment and suddenly tapped his foot.
The crowd exclaimed in surprise. The demon's figure was like a black cloud, passing through the air and flying to the pillar where the long sword had just escaped and was nailed. He grasped the hilt of the sword and pulled it out with the crack in the stone. Then he turned over and jumped, landing in the middle of the street, in front of the warriors.
Seeing that he understood what he meant instantly and came over to cooperate, Xie Lian gave a low compliment, "Good Muqing!"
With that, both the Yueshen warrior and the demon were out of the picture. One black, one white, one sword, one blade, they finally clashed once more, their blood boiling and their excitement once again rising. Up in the high building, the nobles' expressions relaxed, finally looking better.
The demon, poised to slay the child in the warrior's arms, gripped his sword with both hands, swung it horizontally, and slashed at Xie Lian. The two men feigned a few blows, then flew back to the Huatai. Feng Xin, taking advantage of everyone's distraction, rolled across the street, grabbed the mask, and rushed into the ceremonial formation, whispering, "Hold your ground! Hold still! Just act as if nothing happened and keep marching! Complete this circuit before returning to the palace!"
Several people in the ceremonial procession quickly gathered their minds, returned to their respective positions, and regrouped. Meanwhile, back on stage, Mu Qing's attack intensified. Xie Lian blocked several blows with clang clang clang. Then, he heard the child in his arms let out a cry of "Ah!" Presumably, the child was caught up in the flash of swords and was terrified. Xie Lian held him tightly with his left hand and said solemnly, "Don't be afraid!"
Hearing this, the child clutched the clothing around his chest. Xie Lian held the child in one hand while wielding his sword with the other, moving with ease. After a while, he felt the child in his arms tremble and raise his hand again, clinging tightly to his shoulders as if clinging to a lifeline. "It's okay, nothing can hurt you."
After saying that, he said in a low voice: "Mu Qing!"
The demon opposite gave an imperceptible nod, and Xie Lian thrust his sword forward.
So, in front of everyone's attention, the Yueshen warrior finally pierced the demon's heart with a sword and killed it on the spot!
Mu Qing, wearing a demon mask and covering his "wound", staggered back a few steps, struggled for a moment, and finally fell to the ground with a "bang", motionless.
Qi Rong laughed heartily upstairs, clapping his hands and saying, "Dead! Dead! The Crown Prince's cousin has killed the demons and monsters!"
Meanwhile, the mighty procession for the Heavenly Sacrifice continued its march toward the Imperial Palace, winding up and preparing to enter the palace gates. Thanks to the timely intervention and the thrilling plot, the people, far from complaining about the unexpected incident, were even more enthusiastic. Countless people, shouting "Your Highness" and "God," followed the Huatai, pouring toward the palace in their tens of thousands. Several officers were forced to dispatch several times more warriors and soldiers to intercept the overly excited crowd. However, they were ultimately unable to stop them; the crowd broke through the defenses and surged forward.
The Lord of Xianle said from a high building: "Guards! Warriors!"
At that moment, the entire ceremonial guard of several hundred men had already entered the palace gates. The vermilion gates creaked shut behind Huatai, and the fluttering colorful flags ceased to wave. The people, finding nothing, rushed to the gates, their banging and cheers deafening.
Inside the tightly closed palace gate, on the Huatai, there were two clangs, and the Yueshen warrior in white and the demon in black both threw down their weapons and collapsed heavily to the ground.
Xie Lian, drenched in sweat, tore off the layers of gorgeous divine clothing, exhaled a long breath, and said, "That was a close call. That was a close call. I'm so tired."
Mu Qing also took off the heavy demon mask and exhaled silently, but did not complain of being tired.
He turned around and saw Xie Lian still holding the child. He frowned and said nothing. Feng Xin, however, was chasing Hua Tai from below, asking, "Your Highness, why did you bring this child in here?"
The child lay on Xie Lian's chest, its tiny body frozen, motionless, not daring to breathe. Xie Lian sat up and said, "If you don't bring it in, are you just going to leave it outside? The streets are so chaotic, and such a small thing would be trampled to death in a matter of seconds if you let it out."
After saying this, he picked up the child, patted the little head twice, and said casually, "Little friend, how old are you?"
The child didn't blink, and didn't utter a single word. Xie Lian continued to ask him, coaxing him, "Why did you fall just now?"
Mu Qing said, "Your Highness, this child probably doesn't dare to speak. He must be petrified."
Xie Lian patted the child’s head twice more, then stopped patting him, finding him rather dull and uninteresting. He commented, “Foolish. Feng Xin, find someone to take him out through the side door later. Check to see if he’s injured. He’s got a bandage on his face.”
Feng Xin held out his hand and said, "Okay. Hand him over."
Xie Lian picked up the child and tried to pass him over. Unexpectedly, he failed. Feng Xin said, "Your Highness, why won't you let go?"
Xie Lian asked in surprise, “Did I let go?” He looked down again, to his amusing surprise, for it turned out to be the child’s hands, tightly grasping the hem of his clothes, and not letting go.
Several people were startled, then burst into laughter. Xie Lian was cultivating at the Huangji Monastery, and countless devout men and women, either out of curiosity or out of faith, racked their brains and went to great lengths to meet His Royal Highness. After meeting him once, they wanted to see him again, wishing they could become Taoist priests with him. Unexpectedly, this young boy, despite his young age, also had this aura. Many young Taoist priests who were also cultivating at the Huangji Monastery and guarding the Huatai laughed and said, "Your Highness, this kid doesn't want to leave!"
Xie Lian laughed heartily, "Really? That won't do. I still have my own things to do. Go home, kid."
Hearing this, the child finally loosened his grip on his clothes, and Feng Xin quickly scooped him up. The child, held in Feng Xin's arms, stared intently at Xie Lian with his large, gleaming black eyes. He looked as if possessed by a ghost. Seeing this, many Taoists began to wonder. Xie Lian, however, didn't even glance at the child. He simply said to Feng Xin, "Don't lift him like he's a piece of rag. You're scaring the child."
Feng Xin put the child on the ground and said, "Stop laughing. The Imperial Preceptor is going crazy. Your Highness, you should think carefully about how to explain this later."
Upon hearing this, everyone stopped laughing.
Half an hour later. Huangji Temple, Shenwu Peak, Shenwu Hall.
Incense lingered, and the sound of chanting filled the air. The Imperial Master and three Deputy Imperial Masters sat at one side of the hall, their faces shrouded in worry. Mu Qing sat before them. Xie Lian also knelt. However, he knelt in the direction of no one, only the golden statue of the Divine Martial Emperor. Feng Xin, following the lead, knelt behind him.
The Imperial Master picked up the meticulously carved golden mask and after a long pause, he sighed and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness."
Even though he was kneeling, Xie Lian knelt straight, raised his head and said, "Here."
The Imperial Master was filled with grief and said, "Do you know that in the history of Xianle Nation, despite all the numerous Shangyuan Festivals, there has never been a single one where the ceremonial platform only circled the city three times? Three times!"
Every ritual and arrangement of the Lantern Festival parade has its own underlying meaning. Each circle of the Huatai around the city symbolizes a year of prayer for national peace and prosperity. Therefore, for every number of laps the previous Lantern Festival parade completed, there would be no need for such a grand event for that many years. This is not only a good omen, but also saves money. Three laps, wouldn't that mean only three years of peace?
What's more, what's worse is that the golden mask on the face of the Yueshen warrior fell off during the ceremony.
Since ancient times, the Xianle people have believed that the human body's spiritual energy is concentrated in the five senses, and the head and face are where a person's soul resides. They must offer the best to God. Therefore, during the ceremony, warriors must wear a golden mask to cover their faces, because his face can only be appreciated by the gods in heaven, and mortals are not qualified to see it.
The Imperial Master was so disappointed that he said, "Previously, all the Spirit-Pleasant Warriors could at least complete five laps, and at best, fifteen or sixteen. How about you? You could even complete fifty laps with your eyes closed! A hundred! And yet you strangled yourself to death on the third lap—why didn't you strangle your master to death first?! Now, Your Highness, you're going to go down in history, and I'm going to go down in history with you!"
No one in the hall dared to speak. Xie Lian, however, remained composed and said calmly, "Master, look at it this way. If that child had fallen to his death and no one had caught him, and his blood had been splattered throughout the Heavenly Sacrifice Parade, wouldn't that have been a bad omen? Wouldn't the ceremony have been interrupted anyway? For now, at least it ended with some dignity; that's the best possible outcome. This incident can only be considered an accident."
The Imperial Master was speechless for a moment before continuing, "You kid! There are so many royal warriors here, any one of them could have caught it. Even if you miss, you might break an arm or a leg, but you won't die. If you move forward a few more steps and throw more beautifully, soon no one will care about what just fell."
Xie Lian raised an eyebrow and said, “Master, you know this. In that situation, besides me, there’s no way anyone else could react quickly enough, and no one else could catch him unscathed. If you don’t catch him, one will die. If you catch him, two will die.”
His tone was matter-of-fact and very confident. The other imperial masters also knew that he was telling the truth, so they could not refute him. Seeing him kneeling in front of the statue, but not taking it seriously at all, they were curious, amused, and proud. This precious disciple, Jingui'er, could not be angry with him anyway, so he could only pull out a few handfuls of hair, using the severe pain in his scalp to cover up his sadness. After a pause, the imperial master said, "And more!"
Xie Lian lowered his head slightly and said, "Disciple is listening."
The Imperial Master said, "You performed well today. But no matter how well you performed, you can't suddenly change your performance without prior notice. You scared His Majesty and His Majesty today. Do you know what will happen if you miss the deadline?"
Xie Lian raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, "Master, didn't I ask you about this before today?"
The Imperial Master was also startled and asked, "You asked me? Before today? When?"
Hearing this, Xie Lian frowned, looked to the side, and said, "Mu Qing?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
