“…All right,” Hua Cheng agreed.
“Who exactly is that ‘noble, gracious special someone’?” Xie Lian asked solemnly.
Hua Cheng’s finger—the one that was tied with the red affinity knot—subtly twitched a few times. He was silent for a while before he eventually answered, “If Your Highness already knows, then why ask?”
Xie Lian nodded. “I see. So I didn’t misunderstand you. It really is true.”
Hua Cheng didn’t respond.
After a pause, Xie Lian asked, his tone flat, “Don’t you want to know…how I feel about this?”
“…”
Hua Cheng inclined his head slightly—it was like he wanted to glance back but was too afraid to look Xie Lian in the eye. Only the two streaks of blood on his cheek could be seen.
“Your Highness, would you please…not tell me?”
His voice cracked as he asked.
“I’m sorry,” Xie Lian said. “Something like this has to be made clear.”
Hua Cheng didn’t need to breathe, but he still sucked in a deep breath. Although his face was awfully pale, he still smiled and replied courteously, “That’s true. It’s for the best.”
He was like a criminal on death row, waiting for his sentence. He closed his eye.
Yet his eye didn’t remain closed for long—soon it snapped open once more as a pair of arms suddenly circled him from behind and caught him in a forceful embrace.
Xie Lian buried his face in Hua Cheng’s back, but he didn’t speak either. Though nothing was said, it was enough.
It was a long time before Xie Lian felt the man he was hugging turn around. Hua Cheng fervently returned the embrace, engulfing Xie Lian in his arms.
From above his head, Xie Lian heard Hua Cheng’s staggering response. “Your Highness… You really will…be the death of me.”
Just then, the sound of an explosion echoed through the deep recesses of the cave. A blinding white light flashed through the darkness, followed by a series of shrieks from the silver butterflies.
They both looked up, and their expressions changed. Xie Lian loosened his grip on Hua Cheng’s sleeves.
“Let’s talk later!” Xie Lian said.
And thus, the two continued on—except now they were running hand in hand.
Xie Lian’s face was still hot, but he spoke with forced calm like nothing had happened. “San Lang, how did you discover that the Feng Xin and Mu Qing who approached us were dummies? Where are the real ones?”
Hua Cheng was in essentially the same state. “I left behind wraith butterflies to monitor the two useless pieces of trash. How could there be two more of them? Don’t worry, Your Highness, they’re fine. They won’t die!”
“Then we have to release Feng Xin and Mu Qing from the chrysalises,” Xie Lian said. “It’ll be bad if he finds them while they have no way to fight back!”
“This way—follow me!” Hua Cheng answered.
The Cave of Ten Thousand Gods was indeed his territory. Even when they came to crossroads that branched into multiple different paths, he immediately and accurately knew which one to take. It wasn’t long before they returned to the area where they’d left Feng Xin and Mu Qing. Even from a distance they could hear those two flinging accusations at each other and yelling.
“Why did you tell His Highness to run?! Now you’ve done it—he’s been carried off!”
“What, should I have had him stand around to be butchered?!”
“Huh?! You just wanted him to distract Hua Cheng and lead him away! Am I wrong?!”
Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Both men in the giant white chrysalises on the wall were simultaneously gnawing at the silk and yelling at each other, and they were so surprised when they saw him return that they forgot to spit out the white silk dangling from their mouths.
“How did you escape?”
Xie Lian’s bamboo hat was still on the ground where he dropped it, and he quickly picked it up and tied it around his neck. The heavy white silk released Feng Xin and Mu Qing before retreating into the shadows. The two of them tumbled to the ground, beaten black and blue. When they saw Hua Cheng emerge from behind Xie Lian, their faces twitched—they probably thought they were in for another round of beatings or that things would otherwise get rough again. However, when Feng Xin reached out to grab Xie Lian’s arm and pull him back, Xie Lian grabbed hold of Hua Cheng first.
“Your Highness…?!” Feng Xin was flummoxed.
Hua Cheng was already starting to lead the way once more. “Gege, this way.”
As if those two dared to follow him.
“Your Highness, why are you still with him?” Feng Xin questioned.
“Didn’t I tell you he’s lost his mind?” Mu Qing said. “He’s completely enchanted.”
Xie Lian didn’t bother to argue; he just gently but very firmly held on to Hua Cheng. “There’s no time to explain now. Let’s get out of here first—there’s an enemy after us!”
With Xie Lian holding him like that, Hua Cheng’s eye began to twinkle. A moment later, he smiled. “I suggest you both hold your tongues and follow. I’m in a good mood, so I won’t fight you—for now.”
Feng Xin and Mu Qing were left in complete disbelief by this display, complicated expressions plastered on their faces. They just couldn’t comprehend why Xie Lian still walked so nonchalantly beside a terrifying devil who had stalked him for over eight hundred years with a mind full of unspeakable thoughts. It was like playing with fire and delighting in the burns.
Mu Qing was skeptical but eventually chose to focus on the other point. “You said there’s an enemy here? This Cave of Ten Thousand Gods is his territory, so what kind of enemy could there possibly be? Did this enemy give him those scratches on his face? I doubt there are many out there who can injure Crimson Rain Sought Flower.”
“It’s White No-Face,” Xie Lian replied.
At the sound of that name, Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s faces both changed, and they followed Xie Lian without another word. They knew well that Xie Lian could joke or lie about anything except that one man. Xie Lian would never make light of him, nor would he ever mistake him.
Even though they’d just been fighting each other to the death in this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods, now they were fleeing like mad together.
“Just what is going on?!” Mu Qing demanded.
Xie Lian gave them an account of the white-clad man who had stolen their appearances, and they were both stunned.
“Disguised as us?! How is that possible!”
“It’s true!” Xie Lian said. “Everything happened so fast, and I didn’t get a good look, but it was absolutely you two at a glance!”
Feng Xin was dumbfounded. “But how can White No-Face still exist? Didn’t the Emperor kill him?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that thing can’t be killed so easily,” Mu Qing said. “Maybe it died at the time, but I’m sure it could revive itself given the right chance!”
That reminded Xie Lian of something, and he turned to Hua Cheng. “San Lang! Right after we made it into Mount Tonglu territory, you woke from your stasis with a start and urged us to hide from something. Did you sense him then?”
Hua Cheng gave a slight nod. “Yes.”
“I knew it!” Xie Lian mumbled. “We chose the path to the west after that, but he was the one on the eastern path who’d killed thousands of ghosts. He’s been reborn, but he’s still a little weak—he needed to use the nefarious creatures coming to Mount Tonglu as a stepping stone… Now he’s recovered and might be even stronger than before.”
After all, he was the world’s first Supreme Ghost King!
As they talked, Mu Qing noticed something amiss. “Your Highness, do you know where he’s taking us? I don’t think this is the way out.”
It was Hua Cheng who replied. “Of course this isn’t the way out, because there is no way out right now.”
Feng Xin was astonished. “What? Isn’t this cave your territory? You can’t be lost!”
“Of course not…” Xie Lian replied in Hua Cheng’s defense.
