Upon hearing this, the young soldier's back stiffened. He slowly turned, but didn't dare approach. The situation was urgent, and seeing him hesitate, Xie Lian felt a surge of anxiety. He suppressed his irritation and said, "Don't be afraid. I won't do anything to you. Come quickly!"
Finally, the young man took a step. He ran to within two feet of Xie Lian, then suddenly stopped. Xie Lian took a silent breath, extended a hand, and said, "...Help me up. Take me away."
The young soldier cautiously grasped the hand. Like a dying man finally finding support, Xie Lian instantly relaxed and collapsed onto the young man.
As he was immersed in the gentle embrace, his body temperature rose and his whole body was burning. However, the young man's palms were as hot as his and were still trembling slightly.
Xie Lian leaned on it for a moment, gathering some strength before taking a deep breath and managing to stand upright. Unwilling to rely on the full support of someone smaller than himself, he slowly took a few steps with the support. Unexpectedly, the flower demons said, "No, Your Highness, please don't leave. He's waiting for you on the road. If you leave here, you'll meet him."
"he"?
Xie Lian asked, "Who is 'he'?"
When this person was mentioned, the gentle people seemed to shudder slightly, and froze for a moment. After a moment, they muttered, "'He' is 'he'."
The flowers nodded to each other and said, "'He' is 'He'. He is the one who brought us here."
Although they didn't dare reveal the man's name or identity, Xie Lian immediately pictured the half-crying, half-smiling mask in his mind. He said, "You're saying that if I go back now, the man you brought here will kill me on the way; and if I stay here, he won't come looking for me, right?"
The flower demons were very satisfied, nodding their heads in a chatter. Xie Lian felt a sudden surge of anger.
He wasn't killed, but was trapped here, confined to this unspeakable situation. Was he deliberately trying to tease him, or what was he planning?! He might as well just come out and fight to the death!
After calming down a bit, he suppressed his annoyance. It seemed that the other party had no intention of defeating him head-on, but only wanted to reduce his magic power, lower his realm, and lose his followers.
What these flower demons said might not be true, but even if it wasn't, think about it carefully. Even if the young man supported or carried him all the way, they might not be able to return safely. If the other party deliberately abandoned a few women along the way, the situation would be even worse and more embarrassing.
After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, Xie Lian exhaled a hot breath, closed his eyes, and said, "Take me to the cave over there."
The young soldier obeyed, helping him through the scattered corpses and arriving in front of the cave. Xie Lian whispered, "Stop."
The soldier stopped. Xie Lian's hand trembled as he raised it. "Where's your sword?"
The young man supported him with his left hand, freeing his right to raise his sword. Xie Lian reached out and rolled up his sleeve, revealing a small portion of his arm. Under the bright moonlight, it looked like cold jade. The young man's breath hitched, but Xie Lian didn't notice. He whispered, "Stab me."
The hand holding the broken sword immediately dropped. Xie Lian said, "Don't be afraid. Just keep stabbing. Stab deep. I need to set up a formation. I don't have any other magic weapons at hand right now. I must see blood."
The young soldier said, "Your Highness, please use my blood!" He raised his own arm and slashed with his sword, holding nothing back. Xie Lian said, "No need! Your blood..." But it didn't catch up. A deep gash appeared on the young man's arm, and blood immediately flowed. Xie Lian sighed, "Alas... you... that's all."
His blood was a priceless treasure that could be consecrated. How could the blood of a mortal compare to it? Seeing the soldier's sincerity, he couldn't bear to say that his efforts were in vain. He only said, "Thank you very much, but you still need a little of my blood as an initiator." Then, he took the sword himself, his hands trembling. He cut several times before he aimed and stabbed the center of the forearm. The bright red divine blood flowed down the white arm, dripping in two arcs in front of the cave, like two barriers. It was a waste of natural resources. Xie Lian even specially mixed in some of the young man's blood. After the painting was completed, he became more and more dizzy and said, "...Go in."
The cave was pitch black. The young man took out a tinder from his pocket, lit it, and the fire illuminated the surroundings extremely brightly.
The young soldier's face was tightly covered by bandages, yet Xie Lian's current state of disarray was completely exposed. Cold sweat streamed down his face, his hair was slightly disheveled, and the corner of his lip was bloody and slightly swollen. It was the wound he had bitten when he consecrated the sword. The flames stung Xie Lian's eyes, and the heat burned him unbearably. Xie Lian immediately said, "Don't light the fire. Put it out."
The young man immediately threw away the tinderbox and stamped it out, plunging the surroundings into darkness again. Xie Lian was helped into the cave. He sat on the ground for a moment in a meditative posture, then slowly said, "I have a task for you. Can you complete it?"
"..." The young man half-knelt on the ground and said to him, "I will die!"
Xie Lian suppressed his rapid breathing and forced himself to remain calm, saying, "I set up two barriers in front of this cave. One on the outside, to keep things from outside in; one on the inside, to keep people inside from leaving."
After taking a few silent breaths, he continued, "Leave a space of one person between the two barriers. You will be there, guarding the entrance. No matter what noise you hear outside, do not go out. Similarly, no matter what you hear happening inside, do not come in."
The young man was slightly stunned: "Your Highness, are you alone in there?"
Xie Lian said, "Yes. I don't know what I would do... Anyway, no matter what, you can't come in."
In his current situation, he couldn't go back. And waiting for reinforcements, Qi Rong was probably still stumbling along the way. Just getting back to the Imperial City would take ages, and by the time reinforcements arrived, who knew when they would arrive. He could only lock down a territory, hold his ground, and find a way to dispel the gentle fragrance. He said in a deep voice, "The flower demon has borne fruit, and its allure is extremely strong. They're likely to mature soon..."
At this moment, the fragrance in the air suddenly surged, interrupting his words. The warmth and ambiguity were overwhelming, and the flower fairies giggled happily, saying one after another, "My root! My root is hard!"
"The fruit is ripe!"
Smelling that incredibly rich aroma, Xie Lian felt his heartbeat quicken, and blood rushed to his head. He gritted his teeth and said, "Get out now! Don't breathe in the aroma. If they get close, don't be afraid. Nothing can get past the blood line, but as long as you're still within the formation, you can draw your sword and kill them."
The young soldier glanced outside, nodded vigorously, and rushed out with his sword, stuck between two bloody lines at the cave entrance. Outside the cave, amidst the corpses, clusters of flowers appeared even more vibrant. The entire patch of flowers trembled faintly, as if its roots were about to burst forth from the earth. Soon, something emerged—a woman's head!
The "woman's" head emerged from the soil. She breathed in the fresh air, seemingly intoxicated by the pleasure, her eyes narrowed into slits. Then, half a round shoulder emerged from the soil, and an arm also emerged.
The gentle and fragrant fruits grow beneath the roots, and when they mature, the fruits that grow out are in the shapes of women of all colors.
The time had come. Countless naked women burst forth from the earth, plucking the bright red flowers from their hair. They bathed in the moonlight, stretching their limbs to their heart's content. Previously, it had been the tiny flowers that exuded the fragrance, but now it was these alluring women who emanated the scent. They brushed the dirt off their voluptuous bodies, smoothed their long hair, and approached the cave entrance, smiling seductively, "Your Highness, we're here!"
The cave was also filled with a rich, suffocating aroma. Xie Lian sat with his eyes closed, silently reciting the Tao Te Ching. However, it didn't help much. The flower demons spoke without shame, and countless chirps murmured outside the cave, calling out things like "darling" and "brother and sister." This chaotic noise made him feel upset, so he changed his silent recitation to reading aloud: "The five colors blind the eyes, the five sounds deafen the ears, galloping and hunting drive the heart mad, and rare goods hinder one's progress... Stillness overcomes restlessness, cold overcomes heat, and tranquility is the right path for the world... The good I will be kind to, and the bad I will also be kind to..." He didn't notice that the scriptures he usually recited by heart were now recited upside down. The female demons outside the cave clapped their hands and laughed, "Good prince, good darling, my dear prince, you are not a monk, why are you reciting scriptures... Ouch!"
There were only screams everywhere. It seemed that the young soldier said nothing, but his hands were furious. He slashed with his sword wildly, causing the group of female demons to flee. He shouted, "Kill the demons!"
Some cursed from afar: "You damned little devil, you ruthless little monster who destroys flowers! You don't know how to be gentle with women at all!"
"It's so scary, so scary. Such a young boy, but he's so cruel! What will happen when he grows up?"
The group of flower demons eagerly pressed their way into the cave, but they couldn't get in. They didn't notice the bloody formation on the ground and thought someone was blocking the way. After a while of discussion, they gathered in a small area and said, "Brother, why are you blocking us here? We're not going to do anything bad. We just want to have some fun with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"My dear little general, please don't disturb us from doing good things for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"This little brother is quite fierce and powerful, but unfortunately, he is too small and too immature. He probably doesn't even know what a 'good thing' is!"
Amidst the cackling laughter of the flower demons, Xie Lian opened his eyes slightly and saw a dark silhouette standing at the cave entrance. It was a young man, sword in hand, refusing to budge. Suddenly, a female demon said, "Hey, little brother, stop standing there like a fool. What are you trying to do? Why don't you come with me and have some fun over there? What kind of person do you like? How about me?"
The young soldier remained silent. The demon girls thought they had to get past him to enter the cave, so they used all their tricks on him, shouting, "What about me?"
"So what? Do I look good to you?"
"Look at me, do you like it?"
Yet, from the initial teasing, to the later complaints, to the final curses, the young man remained consistent, ignoring those who were far away and slashing at those who were close. Xie Lian knew that before the land of gentleness was unearthed, it could freely shape its own appearance in the soil. He wanted to warn them, but for some reason he dared not speak. After finally enduring the waves of overwhelming heat, he said, "Don't look at them..."
Just resisting the blood rushing to his head had exhausted him, so even though his voice was very soft and low, the young soldier heard it immediately and shouted, "Yes! Your Highness, you...what's wrong with you?"
Xie Lian said, “It’s fine. If it’s too much, I’ll seal your eyes, mouth, and nose…”
Before the young soldier could answer, a female demon suddenly burst into laughter and said, "I know! Little friend, I guess your favorite thing must be this, right?"
It looked like a new tender land had sprouted from the ground. Outside the cave, there was a sudden, dead silence. The young soldier seemed to hold his breath.
The next moment, the terrifying laughter of the female demons almost knocked Xie Lian over.
They clapped their hands and screamed, "Oh! This is really terrible, really terrible!"
"Oh my god! How did you come up with that? It's incredible, hahahahahahahahahahahahaha... Look at that! This kid is completely stunned. I think this is probably the case!"
"That's right! I thought this damn kid was a rock, but I was wrong. He's so brave at such a young age!"
"I admit defeat, I admit defeat! What do you think, little one? With such a beautiful and charming scene, why don't you come over and enjoy yourself?"
"If you miss this opportunity, you'll miss it forever. If you don't come now, you'll never get to eat it even if you want it for eight hundred years! Or, do you want us to help you? Right now... hehehe..."
The young soldier was completely enraged, his voice becoming cold and gloomy: "...You, are seeking death!"
At the same time, Xie Lian in the cave was almost reaching his limit.
He felt a haze in his eyes and ears, and could no longer sit still. He fell forward, but luckily, he managed to hold on to the ground with his hands. However, when he fell, his teeth couldn't clench tightly, and in a trance, a groan of unbearable pain escaped his lips.
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