Ch.52: Truth or Deception; Difficult to Discern 2
"Will I finally have my answer here?" Qian Qiu asked Lynn who was trying to see how many marshmallows she can fit in her mouth.
"I dwunno." she answered, slightly incomprehensible due to the amount of food in her mouth.
"...Let's just continue." Qing Xuan said, looking a little disgusted at the mess Lynn has made as many nod in agreement.
Xie Lian's gaze moved back to Qi Rong. After staring at him for a moment, Xie Lian said, "Qi Rong, it looks like you've been living colourfully these past few years."
"I wouldn't say colorfully considering he's always surrounded with only one color - green." Wu Du said, sounding a little like a smart ass.
Right after he finished his words Hua Cheng removed his fake skin. Qi Rong's eyes widened as each three of the intruders revealed themselves. Lang Qianqiu was bewildered, "Cousin?"
"...Don't you see their similarities?" Mu Qing mocked with a raised brow.
"Well, forgive my future self for being overwhelmed with all of the news he is continuously receiving." Qian Qiu deadpanned.
Even if earlier when he heard Qi Rong say "Us Xianle" and could guess the identity of the Green Ghost's past life was one from the kingdom of Xianle, he hadn't imagined that he and Xie Lian were actually related on a personal level.
"Fair enough." Yin Yu agreed. "Without these...videos, I doubt anyone would realize their connection from each other."
"They are too different." Yushi Huang also agreed.
"Too different." Quan Yizhen said. "A god and a ghost. A kind-hearted prince and a reckless blood-seeking dead."
Qi Rong stared at Xie Lian's face, and looked him up and down; it was a gaze hungry with curiosity and fascination.
Hua Cheng twitched, his hands itching to beat a certain green ghost.
When his eyes stopped at the sword Fang Xin on Xie Lian's back, he suddenly burst out laughing, "SO THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT! FANG XIN WAS YOU! YOU WERE FANG XIN! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHA!!!"
Similarly, Qi Rong also laughed, amused at everything.
Although he couldn't understand why he was laughing, Lang Qianqiu's guts told him it wasn't anything appropriate, and demanded angrily, "What's so funny?"
"At least you're not completely helpless." Pei Ming praised.
"Like you?" Ling Wen immediately countered, earning a glare and a snicker.
"I'm laughing at my good ol' cousin, what's it to you!" Qi Rong bit back in a fit. "Just now I said my lord's stupidity spanned hundreds of years. I'm sorry. I apologize. The best way to learn is to learn from the best; look at your master, no wonder you're so fucking stupid!"
"Can I transfer gege to another room with a proper bed?" Hua Cheng politely asked Lynn who almost chocked to death.
"Y-yes, absolutely, certainly, let's go!" she stuttered, immediately bringing Hua Cheng who was gently carrying Xie Lian into the room next to the current room. Once they returned, Hua Cheng threw off all of his previous kind character and nastily glared at Qi Rong, promising a deadly death for the green ghost who give no care.
He turned to Xie Lian, "You went to YongAn and became their Guoshi, and ended up stabbed to death by your own disciple, is that not exciting? Is it not hilarious? You deserved it; making a fool of yourself!"
Qian Qiu winced at the reminder, wanting to bash his head again. Really, why was he so eager to punish his guoshi who taught him a lot of things to the point of not doing a complete investigation? Sigh, regrets.
The moment he uttered the word "fool" Hua Cheng smashed his head down again violently.
"Should have done it harder." Pei Ming scowled.
"I will." Hua Cheng promised.
Qi Rong had always been tough skinned, and for some reason, seeing Xie Lian made him ten times more excited than usual. Even with his face bashed into the ground he yelled unceasingly, "A FOOL! A FOOL! A FOOL!"
"He's literally asking for a beating." Ling Wen sighed.
"...I need a punching bag." Feng Xin said after a few seconds of hesitation. "Do you want to?"
Qi Rong just stared at him with an unamused stare. Did he look like someone who wanted to get beaten up for free?
Each time he said it, Hua Cheng would smash his head down again. It was a bloody scene and Xie Lian stopped the hand that was about to strike again, "San Lang, let it go!"
"How kind." He Xuan scowled.
"Why should I?!" Hua Cheng said sharply.
"Agreed." many echoed.
"It's nothing, don't let any of it get to you." Xie Lian said, "He has problems and is extremely troublesome. I can take care of him. You just sit back and ignore him."
"How can he when his loved one is being insulted?" Yun Yu murmured.
He gently rubbed Hua Cheng's shoulder, and it was a long time before Hua Cheng finally replied in a low voice, "Fine."
'Maybe I should ask his highness for some help on handling ghost matters when we get back.' Ling Wen thought. 'It would make everything faster.'
Qi Rong plucked his own head from the ground and rolled to the side with difficulties.
He spat, "Why play pretend false kindness? If you really didn't want him to hit me, then you should've stopped him from the beginning! Faking indifference and only telling him to let it go now, no one's gonna praise you for your generosity!"
"You-" Mu Qing's mouth was suddenly covered, his words not appropriate for anyone.
"I stopped him because I don't want him to dirty his hands, did you misunderstand something?" Xie Lian said.
"Damn." Pei Ming whistled with a smirk, enjoying the look on the green ghost's face.
"General Hua became more..." Banyue hesitated, finding the right word. "Blunt with his words."
"A good thing." Feng Xin said with a frown. "At least no one will step on him again with that attitude."
A trace of anger flashed through Qi Rong's bloodied face, but then he started giggling, "Yooo, cousin Crown Prince, you're getting along pretty well with Hua Cheng. And here I was just wondering why none of the underlings this little brother of yours sent to greet you on ZhongYuan ever returned, so it was because they ran into Hua Cheng!"
"...I kind of pity those innocent ghosts." Qing Xuan said. "They didn't know that they were being sent to their deaths."
Xie Lian had no idea that Qi Rong had actually sent any underlings to go find him. That night of the ZhongYuan festival, it was a coincidence to have bumped into Hua Cheng, and taking him back to Puqi Shrine wasn't in the plans. It seemed that all of Qi Rong's underlings had been taken cared of by Hua Cheng. Xie Lian couldn't help but steal a glance at the person next to him.
"Hoho, it seems that you've been protecting him even before he knew you." Pei Ming said with a small laugh.
'He really is romantic, perfect for his highness.' Yushi Huang thought with a soft smile, approving of their relationship.
Qi Rong continued, "Calling him 'San Lang', tsk tsk tsk, so familiar! Cousin, you're a big shot heavenly official, how can you hang out with ghosts and demons? Aren't you worried about your reputation? You're so perfect after all, so pure and flawless, your halo shines upon all on this earth, hahahahahahaha..."
"Did you, of all people, think he cares about his reputation?" Mu Qing asked rhetorically with a raised brow, remembering the mocking words the fallen prince always endured with a smile on his face.
Many in the Heavenly Court had more or less thought the way Mu Qing spoke was sarcastic, but if they were to listen and compare, they will learn what is truly sarcastic. Truly, they had wronged Mu Qing.
"Pfft, you should learn from the pro." Feng Xin laughed as Mu Qing glared at him.
Qi Rong didn't just speak, he'd act too. He folded his hands over his heart and exclaimed, "Cousin Crown Prince, this little brother had constantly thought of you over the years. Look, I even meticulously carved this statue to keep you by my side, so I can gaze upon your heroic form every waking moment of every day. What do you think? It's pretty well done, right? Do you like it? Don't worry, if you don't like it then even better, I'll carve more, hahahahaha..."
Many in the room also scowled, finally remembering the statue on the side as they glared at Qi Rong.
The moment he mentioned the statue, Hua Cheng's face immediately darkened, and if it wasn't for Xie Lian holding him back, he would've stepped on Qi Rong's face by now. However, Xie Lian knew perfectly well the kind of person Qi Rong was; he's a little mad in the head, and the more extreme the reaction, the more excited he'd get, and the more outrageous he'd become. Reverse psychology would be the most effective, so Xie Lian only smiled faintly, "It's only alright. Sorry, but the craftsmanship is kind of low class."
"Make sure to take notes." Yizhen told Qian Qiu who was beside him, having enough of the latter's annoying actions even if it was from the future.
As expected, Qi Rong's face immediately fell. He said coldly, "Enough. If it wasn't for my past affections and carved you a couple statues, who would even worship you? You probably sniveled and whined at Jun Wu's feet and hugged til your knees busted in order to ascend this time. Go around the heavens and see for yourself, which official isn't more dignified than you? Even a two hundred year old ascendee can walk all over you. You're pretty much eight hundred years old but only got so far. What a failure."
"On the contrary, he didn't do anything and still ascended." Qing Xuan defended his friend.
"Indeed." Jun Wu, who has been silent until now, agreed. "It goes to show how much potential he has."
Xie Lian smiled, "I am quite the failure, not like cousin, already a 'Savage' after eight hundred years."
"Pfft." Wu Du let out a small laugh. "He should remain like this."
Xie Lian knew way too well how to put Qi Rong down. Next to him, Hua Cheng snorted, and Qi Rong's face darkened. He looked between all those present and suddenly said,
"This stance... did you beg Hua Cheng to fuck with me today to settle our differences?"
"...That sounds wrong." Qian Qiu said with an awkward look in his face.
"Only for people like you." He Xuan said with a look of disgust to him.
Xie Lian was taken aback, and thought about the current picture they painted, and actually couldn't argue back.
No one could argue as it does like it without the proper context.
Qi Rong continued, "Look at you all. The moment I say anything bad about you, wow! Look how mad he'd get. Was he blinded by that holy light from your halo? My fucking god, I forgot! Wasn't he already blind in one eye? HAHAhahaha..."
'I must not ask, I must not ask.' Banyue resolutely thought although she stole some glances to the red-dressed ghost.
Before he could finish, his eyes went dark again, and his cheek exploded in agony, spewing blood from his mouth – he got punched again! However, this punch wasn't from Hua Cheng but from Xie Lian.
Many looked surprised, not expecting this but also because no one noticed it until it landed.
Xie Lian's fist was faster than the eye could see, and he said coldly, "Just because I've never hit you before in the past, doesn't mean I would never hit you."
That punch was a solid one, and it was a long while before Qi Rong could make any sounds.
'...Do I still want him to be besides Hua-chengzhu?' Yin Yu thought. 'I have a feeling that he'd make my anxiety worse...oh well, not like it can get any worse. Go prince, go marry Hua-chengzhu!'
He laid on the ground like a mangy dog, clubbing the ground with his fists as he cackled, "Cousin Crown Prince, you hit me! You actually hit me! Heavens, our noble, kind, compassionate, charitable Crown Prince who's scared of stepping on even a small ant, actually got pissed, and swung a fist! HE'S HITTING PEOPLE! INCREDIBLE! AMAZING!!!"
"Can we mute his voice? It's hurting my ears." Yizhen finally had enough and complained.
"Agreed." many echoed his sentiment.
"Sorry, no." Lynn denied, much to their annoyance.
He was unbelievably excited, going insane with elation. Lang Qianqiu had never seen anyone whose words and actions were so mad, and was shocked into bemusement after witnessing this singular act. He mumbled, "Is... is he crazy?"
"I probably said that after calming down." Qian Qiu immediately said when he saw some people beginning to open their mouths.
Xie Lian was used to seeing Qi Rong's madness, and didn't think much of it, "You've heard it. He's insane. His heart and mind are unbalanced, so nothing he said is believable."
Multiple sighs of annoyance and frustrations filled the room as many wanted to drag the sleeping prince into the room and etch in his brain that lying to protect someone is a no go, especially if it's affecting his own self.
Qi Rong's laughter came to a sudden stop. He schooled his face and sneered, "Don't be so quick to tell people I'm psycho. Let me ask you, how did Prince An Le die!?"
Qian Qiu bit his lower lip, clenching his fingers as he took a deep breath to prepare himself for the onslaught of facts he will have to face.
This was the question Hua Cheng had posed to him, and now he asked it to Xie Lian instead. Lang Qianqiu's attention was suddenly focused on it again.
Xie Lian's heart culled, and couldn't immediately respond.
"How hard is it to say the truth?" Mu Qing said with a frown.
Some wanted to say that it was hard but the prince was being too extreme with his overprotectiveness so they stayed quiet.
Really, he needed to learn that sometimes, it's better to confess the truth.
Qi Rong on the other hand, slowly pulled himself up, and sat while leaning on the kneeling statue, "After An Le died, I cut open his corpse to inspect it,
"Disgusting." Wu Du scowled.
and all of his organs were pulverized by the vibrations of an exceedingly powerful sword, which was why he didn't have any external injuries but couldn't stop hacking up blood. This was something no regular swordsman could do.
"Indeed, whoever did that is extremely powerful." Yin Yu agreed.
"And efficient." Pei Ming added. "That swordsman really aimed to not make it obvious to anyone unless they're crazy like Qi Rong and cut the body open."
At first I thought YongAn thugs had brought in some strange hitman so as to fake An Le's death as illness. But now that I think about it, there's another person who can do this, and it's none other than my good ol' cousin, defender of justice. After all, our Flower-Crowned Martial God, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a holy, pure, one and only, snow white lotus of the heavenly mountains..."
Many looked shocked at the revelation, especially Qian Qiu who knew that An Le was a royal from the prince's own nation.
"Why would he do that to his own relative?" Qian Qiu asked in shock.
This was when everyone realized/remembered that An Le was part of Xian Le's royalty and looked more grim compared to before as they wondered what horrible sin the man did for the kind-hearted prince to kill him so...brutally.
Hua Cheng stomped on him, and Qi Rong yelped miserably. Lang Qianqiu felt like his head was going to explode; he held his head, his eyes laced with red, "Shut up! Just tell me what you know! Who's the real murderer? What happened at the Gilded Banquet? And what happened to Prince An Le? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???"
"At least lower the volume when they shout" Qing Xuan asked with a wince as Lynn obeyed, also wincing in pain.
"Lang Qianqiu why are you still confused?" Qi Rong said, "Even I pretty much figured out what happened. Looks like you really don't understand the kind of person your master is! Come, come, come, let me dissect my good ol' cousin for you: this former Crown Prince of Xianle went and became YongAn's Guoshi, and taught you swordsmanship for five years..."
He'd only spoken a few words, and Xie Lian reached for his sword, but before he could charge forward, Lang Qianqiu's longsword was blocked before him, "Let him finish!"
"Yeah!" Qian Qiu cheered for his future self, immediately shutting up when Hua Cheng turned to look at him.
"You know he's insane and yet you still listen to his mad conjecture!"
"Hahahaha, oh dear cousin, I'm insane?" Qi Rong laughed with a crazed grin. "Of course I am but besides that, my words are still true."
Fang Xin was swung, and even though it's a slender blade, its shockwave almost made Lang Qianqiu loosen his grip on his longsword. But just then, a silver curved blade knocked Fang Xin, hooked it up and pulled it aside. Xie Lian was startled and cried, "San Lang!"
Some gasped in shock, seeing the ghost go against his crush's wish.
"...Thank you." Qian Qiu told Hua Cheng, knowing that if the ghost didn't do that, the prince would have already shut the green ghost and he wouldn't know the truth.
"I didn't do it for you." Hua Cheng coldly said. "I did it for his highness."
"Of course you did." Qi Rong rolled his eyes.
Qi Rong saw how much Xie Lian didn't want him to speak and how desperately he didn't want Lang Qianqiu to hear the story, so Qi Rong had to do the opposite, and grabbed this chance,
Qian Qiu prepared his mind and heart, blood seeping out of his bleeding palms from the extreme force he placed on his fingers.
"Prince An Le was our good Xianle boy, very obedient! He heeded my instructions to be false friends with you, but your master bumped into us cleaning out the YongAn rat nest at the Gilded Banquet so An Le escaped. You got to the Gilded Banquet, saw what happened, and the Guoshi Fang Xin became the most wanted man in the kingdom. This was the previous story, not a word of lie..."
The smarter ones realized the truth and understood why the prince did what he did.
'He really is a foolish self-less child.' Yushi Huang thought with teary eyes.
Xie Lian tried to charge forward to shut his mouth a few times, but each time Hua Cheng stopped him. Xie Lian cried again, "San Lang!" However, Hua Cheng didn't say a single word and only continued to block Xie Lian.
Hua Cheng grimaced, feeling his heart, or at least what was left of it, shatter each time Xie Lian cried out his name with a tone of betrayal.
'It's for your own good, Gege.' he thought while closing his eyes, willing himself to ignore the pain. It was easy, well easier compared to trying to ignore the pain of the sight of the prince stabbed a hundred times.
The more Xie Lian wanted to charge over, the faster Qi Rong's lips moved. "This saintly cousin of mine, when he saw with his own eyes the people of Xianle committing murder, he must've thought: How can this be? That's not right! So he went to find Prince An Le to educate him a little, but when he sought him out – my GOD what did he discover? An Le's major plot! It wasn't only just assassinating some thugs! There's no way cousin could educate him, so he hardened his heart and killed the last blood of our royal house with his own hands! – Afterwards you caught your master, and nailed him dead in that coffin, and so ends my cousin's magnificent life as Guoshi. Cousin, am I wrong?"
By this time, Qian Qiu had already fallen to his knees, blankly staring at the screen while having a mental breakdown as he felt his world collapse.
His best friend wanted to kill him.
His guoshi wanted to protect him.
He loved his best friend.
He killed with teacher.
Others stayed silent, knowing that they couldn't say anything to cheer the man up while some were too busy trying to stop their tears.
"Sniff, why does the crown prince have to suffer so much?" Qing Xuan asked with tears running down her face as He Xuan hesitantly tried cheering her up.
He spat a mouthful of blood next to the feet of the statue, "I know you too well. You love doing shit like this. Ancestors above, look at what a good descendant you gave birth to! Not only has the Xianle Xie clan lost everything, even the bloodline is cut! XIE LIAN! YOU OMINOUS STAR, YOU GOD OF MISFORTUNE! YOUR EXISTENCE IS XIANLE'S GREATEST TRAGEDY! WHY WON'T YOU DIE? HOW DO YOU EVEN HAVE THE FACE TO KEEP LIVING???"
Hua Cheng took a deep breath, not wanting to accidentally wake up the prince although he was in the next room sleeping.
"But I saw with my own eyes he killed my father with his sword!" Lang Qianqiu said, "How do you explain that?"
"Maybe he was framed?" Yizhen suggested.
"Maybe he tried to help by removing the sword." Banyue added. "And you caught him."
"If it's not water getting into your fucking senior eyes and ruining your sight, then I can only think of one reason." Qi Rong replied, "Which is An Le for sure stabbed your old man, but he didn't die."
"Did... did he drive the blow home?"
Qi Rong howled, "What are you saying! My good cousin is such a kind soul, how could he drive any attacks home? When he arrived, he wouldn't have attacked right away, he'd have to do a little show of trying to save the poor guy first. But, heh, your old man probably killed himself."
"My father...wouldn't..." Qian Qiu stopped speaking, fearing that he would once again be proven wrong. What's new, anyway? He was always wrong.
"What do you mean he killed himself?" Lang Qianqiu demanded.
"What's the first thing someone saved from the brink of murder will do?" Qi Rong asked, "After seeing so many massacred at the Gilded Banquet, what's your first reaction?"
"Find the murdered to avenge my people who are killed?" Pei Su tried.
"Naïve." Hua Cheng said without explaining any further.
Lang Qianqiu still hadn't completely deduced it, "...Find the murderer."
Pei Su looked nervous at his thoughts being echoed by Qian Qiu. Don't get him wrong, he had nothing against him but he was always wrong in the viewing so hearing Qian Qiu's future self agreeing with him made Pei Su nervous.
"WRONG!" Qi Rong cried, "After my good cousin saved your old man and he revived his breath, he would've certainly said: 'Quick! Guoshi! It was Prince An Le who'd done it! Go and kill Prince An Le!' No, no, no, not just that, he must've said something worse, like: 'Guoshi! Bring forth Qianqiu! Call upon everyone! I want the entire population of Xianle wiped out! I want to bury them all with the dead!!!'"
Many winced at the harsh words spoken, knowing that the words the green ghost said was true. After all, what kind of king would want to spare the people of the ones who murdered them in cold blood?
"...My father...what?" Qian Qiu once again looked at the screen blankly, causing some to worry that he'll die right now. It wouldn't do anyone good to have so many truths come out in a span of minutes. In fact, some praised him for being able to still listen and understand what was happening even if it all broke his heart.
His imitative tone of despair and fury was disturbing to listen to, and Lang Qianqiu was growing paler by the minute. Qi Rong continued, "Even if he wasn't killed on the spot, your old hag had an entire nest of thug relatives that were all killed before him. He'd have to open fire on the people of Xianle sooner or later. Your good master realized this, considered his options, and decided, no, the old man couldn't be saved, so PLORK and the old man's heart goes cold.
"I don't want to break the mood but seriously, green ghost, plork?" Pei Ming asked with a raised brow. "Can't you be more creative and make it sound more accurate? What kind of sound it plork?"
Ling Wen sighed at Pei Ming's question, slightly thankful as the atmosphere of the room was starting to freeze her as Qi Rong rolled his eyes.
"What do you expect from a man, well ghost who doesn't use a sword?" Feng Xin rhetorically asked.
"Oh right," Pei Ming realized. "he wouldn't know what a sword cutting others sound like because he never experienced it."
'Why did the conversation turn gruesome?' Yushi Huang wondered.
That's the kind of person my good cousin is, a saint who can't have sand in his eyes, always doing shit that harms others and hurts himself; he wanted to please both sides but succeeded with neither, hehehehe, hahaHAHAHAhahah..."
"...So, um, do you all want a break or should we continue on?" Lynn asked when it was obvious no one wanted to voice out their thoughts.
"Continue." Qian Qiu ordered.
"Are you sure?" Jun Wu asked with worry. "It might be a better idea to rest for a while."
"I'm fine." Qian Qiu insisted. Seeing how he wouldn't budge, Jun Wu just solemnly nodded and asked Lynn to play the video which Lynn did with a glare.