Hello~ Wow, I can't believe we're finally finished with book one (even though we started, like, halfway through it hehehe) but I'm more surprised by how many of you liked this book. I originally wrote this without expecting much because the TGCF fandom isn't that large compared to others like MDZS but wow was I proven wrong. I'm really happy there's a lot of people enjoying MXTX's book and also this one. I hope I don't disappoint in the following chapters. Well, that's all for now, enjoy reading! ^_^
Ch.57: In Search of the Past; Retracing Steps to Mount Taicang 2
Xie Lian shifted his body and evaded the object.
Relieved sighs echoed inside the room, mostly everyone glad that he was safe.
"And here I thought his bad luck would cause him to get hit." Yizhen said. "Oh well, guess it's good he fucking avoided it."
"Was someone targeting him, though?" Qing Xuan asked in worry. "I doubt it's a coincidence. What even is that object?"
"It was too fast to see properly." Feng Xin said with a scowl, angry they weren't able to properly see it.
"His highness has an incredible amount of bad luck, is it really a surprise something like that happens?" Mu Qing asked rhetorically.
No one could say anything.
At first he thought it was a broken branch or a nest, but when he looked closer, it was a plank so rotten and rusty its original shape was indiscernible, and it had two steel chains connected on either side. If it was anyone else they might not be able to tell what it was, but Xie Lian knew immediately that it was a swing.
"A...swing?" Wu Du was the first to voice out and snap out of his surprise. "He really is unlucky."
"...At least no one is targeting him?" Banyue said, trying to look at the bright side.
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not." Pei Su said with a sweat drop. "On one hand, it's great no one wants to take his life but on the other hand, doesn't this just show how dangerous his life is for even objects to target him?"
In the past, Mount Taicang had swings installed everywhere, both for fun and for training.
"Training?" Pei Ming asked in interest.
"Ah yes, there are those who used the swings to train their balance, jumping ability, and more." Xie Lian kindly explained. "I can tell you more during our break."
"Thank you." Pei Ming said before adding something else with a sly smile. "Want to join us, Crimson Rain? I'm also curious on how you keep yourself strong."
"I will." Hua Cheng simply replied.
Back when Xie Lian only just started to retain memory, there was once when he accompanied his parents to visit the Royal Holy Pavilion to pray for blessings and saw a group of young trainees sparring, flipping and flopping all over the swings.
Xie Lian quietly let out a sad smile, various memories flashing before his mind.
'I miss you two.' he thought bitterly before shaking it off. There was no use being stuck in the past when the present was there for him to live in. Besides, he was sure that would be his parents' wish too.
It was an exciting performance; the king and queen enjoyed it, and Xie Lian clapped and shouted his appreciation.
'I really want to know what happened to his highness for him not to be like that anymore.' Pei Su wondered. While Xie Lian still remained kind, he wasn't too outgoing anymore and was more reserved without showing his raw emotions or at least like his past self like the one on screen.
The king and queen were so pleased they heavily rewarded the young trainees, and ever since then the impression that cultivation was something awesome and fun was left deep in Xie Lian's heart.
Qi Rong quickly hid a fond smile that unconsciously grew on his lips as he remembered the times his cousin used to talk to him about cultivating with a wide smile and shining eyes.
Oh how the times have changed.
However, as for him formally entering the sect for cultivation in his later years, the reason was no longer because it seemed fun.
"Hm? Why is that?" Qing Xuan asked but received no answer, mostly because only Xie Lian knew and he only gave them a close-eyed smile.
After some rest, Xie Lian continued hiking. The higher he climbed, the thicker the bushes became, and every so often a critter would flash by, leaving behind a shadow of a bushy tail.
Some shivered in disgust, wondering why the prince had to go to an obviously abandoned place.
There were also a number of squirrels huddling on the trees, munching on pinecones, peeking at this uninvited guest.
"Pfft, 'uninvited guest'." Qi Rong laughed before speaking mockingly. "Even the animals are judging you, dear cousin."
Thorns blocked his path, ripping at his clothes and limbs, but Xie Lian didn't notice at all.
Hua Cheng frowned, already planning on buying clothes for the prince or, even better, go shopping with him as Yin Yu unconsciously shivered, feeling like more work would be added to his plate once they returned.
'Please no.' he once again begged inside, wondering if praying to his highness would work.
Finally, he reached the peak of the Crown Prince Summit.
"It was named after you?" Pei Ming asked curiously.
"It wasn't." Xie Lian denied. "At least in the beginning. The only reaso-"
"This will explain." Lynn interrupted, not wanting the prince to explain something already explained.
Of course, the Crown Prince Summit wasn't originally called the Crown Prince Summit, but changed to this name after the Crown Prince Temple was constructed. Amidst the bushes and weeds, there were still remnants of pebble paved grounds here and there, traces of a large, burnt foundation hidden.
'Burnt?' some wondered while others scowled, realizing the implication.
"This is why mortals are useless." Hua Cheng murmured with an evil glare.
That was once the foundation of the temple. Going across it, through the rubble and ruins, through glass debris, was a fractured old well.
'Maybe I should fix that place.' Mu Qing thought, scowling at the fact the prince he once served became used to living and visiting such a place.
Looking from above into its bottom, it was easy to tell the old well had long dried up; the distance to the bottom but only a few feet, only mud visible on the ground. Without hesitation, Xie Lian crossed his legs over, and jumped in.
"In white robes?!" Qing Xuan gasped in shock and dread before speaking mournfully. "The amount of time it will take to clean it..."
He didn't tumble onto the muddy ground, but instead traversed through that illusion, and descended for a number of meters before his feet touched solid ground.
"Good thing you didn't trip." Banyue said with a smile.
The surroundings were so dark if he were to raise his arms he wouldn't see his hands. He raised his head to look up, and there was no sunlight either, as if a heavy piece of fabric had blocked it out.
Those who hated complete darkness shivered a little, including He Xuan who was reminded of his mortal life.
Xie Lian felt around the bottom of the well, feeling up several bricks, and pressed them down in a certain order. With a rumbling noise, a short, small door opened on the side. Xie Lian dropped down on all fours and slowly crawled through the path opened by the small door. The moment he entered he could hear another rumbling noise behind, shutting the opening. After half an incense time, he finally crawled to the end of the tunnel. Xie Lian stood and straightened his back, snapped his fingers and held up a small flicker of flames.
"I thought you had no spiritual energy?" Yizhen asked in surprise.
"I can use a tiny bit." Xie Lian explained. "Nothing much more than that, though."
After that small ball of flames was ignited, as if in response, not far in the distance another faint light appeared like a pearl, waking up from its deep slumber, blinking open its bright eyes.
"I wonder what's hidden there." Qi Rong said in amusement. "Treasure, perhaps? Or something...greater."
Xie Lian glared at him, daring him to continue.
Soon after, more and more pearls lit up, spreading throughout and illuminating the surroundings that appeared clearer and clearer to be the Great Hall of an underground palace. Above the Great Hall. thousands of sparkling stars were embedded.
"How beautiful." Banyue breathed out in awe with Pei Su nodding in agreement, also captivated by the sight.
"Can I use that idea to decorate my own palace?" Qing Xuan asked Xie Lian who sincerely agreed.
It must be hard to imagine that the Imperial Mausoleum of the ancient Kingdom of Xianle was hidden beneath the scorched earth of Mount Taicang. Those brilliant stars were night pearls* and diamonds implanted on the ceiling; the night pearls brighten with light, and diamonds reflect radiance. When they cross paths, the result was a brilliance bedazzling like a dream. It was like a miniscule milky way hidden below ground.
'Wait...couldn't he have taken some of that to sell for food and our necessities before?' Feng Xin realized but decided not to ask the prince. He was sure the prince had a reason as to why he didn't do it.
Each of the night pearls and diamonds were priceless; every single one was worth an entire lifetime of endless riches. However, Xie Lian didn't spare them any looks, and walked directly through the Great Hall, entering the crypt at the very back.
'His country really was rich.' Qian Qiu thought with a bitter smile. 'How much of our wealth was taken from them? Were we really wealthy at all or were those stolen from his country?'
In comparison to the Great Hall, this tomb was exceedingly simple, only because the chamber wasn't fully completed, so there was no glamourous decor, only two coffins.
The mood of the room turned sober as many wondered whose coffins were there.
'So that's where he buried the king and queen.' Mu Qing and Feng Xin both realized as Xie Lian closed his eyes, not prepared to see his parents' coffins so suddenly.
Between the coffins stood a person, dressed in exquisite clothing, a golden mask on its face, and a sword extended, sharp and dazzling, pointed at him.
"Who is that?" Pei Ming asked. "Is that a puppet?"
However, this person only maintained that position and didn't make any movement. Xie Lian approached, minding his own business, without a single care for that person.
"Be careful." Feng Xin said with a frown.
"Don't worry, it won't attack." Xie Lian assured.
However, that was because Xie Lian knew, behind that golden mask there was no face, and under those exquisite clothes there was no person. The only thing standing was an empty stack held together by bundles of dried hay.
"Ah, so it was just a mannequin." Ling Wen said as Xie lian nodded.
For so long, only this set of elegant dress and this mask stood by the sides of those two solitary coffins in his stead. On top of each coffin was a small golden plate, but the things in those plates were wildly disparate: fruits of some sort dried and shriveled to the core, and blackened, rotten, hard blocks of who knows what.
"It's been quite some time since I visited, after all." Xie Lian said with a sweat drop, swearing to himself to visit their graves once they return.
After Xie Lian entered the chamber he cleaned out those things and threw them out by the corner of the crypt. He felt around his sleeves and folds. Originally he had a half-eaten bun on him, but that bun was given to Hua Cheng, so now he had nothing.
Hua Cheng smiled at the reminder as some glared at him. How dare he look so proud of himself after scamming the innocent prince.
Thus, he said, "Father, mother, I deeply apologize. I've forgotten to bring something for this visit."
"Don't look so sad, I'm sure they won't mind it as long as you remain healthy." Hua Cheng assured him. "Why don't we visit them next time with gifts?"
"Sure." Xie Lian easily agreed.
'Isn't he moving too fast?' Lynn thought with a raised brow. 'They're meeting his highness' parents' now.'
Naturally, no one answered him. Thus, Xie Lian slowly sat down, and leaned against one of the coffins.
Some couldn't help but feel sad, seeing the lonely picture on the screen.
After zoning out for some time, he finally spoke again, "Mother, I saw Qi Rong."
Qi Rong barely hid his surprise at being mentioned by his cousin, not expecting it.
"Qi Rong didn't die, he turned into a ghost. I really don't know how he lived these past hundreds of years."
"It's quite easy to know." Ling Wen said. "Do you want to see the list we made about him when we return?"
"Or I can easily tell you all about his boring adventures, Gege." Hua Cheng offered.
"Ah...I'm fine." Xie Lian rejected. "I already have a feeling I know the answer."
Xie Lian shook his head, "He... killed a lot of people, and now there are people trying to kill him. The heavens probably won't forgive him either. Sigh, I really don't know what to do with him."
"Let him be." Qian Qiu coldly said before flinching a little, not having wanted to voice that out.
'That's the problem,' Xie Lian thought. 'I can't.'
He was going to say more when suddenly, from some place extremely close, came a string of soft wailing.
Xie Lian froze, his face changed drastically.
Almost everyone also froze as Xie Lian's expression hardened, everyone wondering what that sound came from.
He listened closely; it wasn't his hallucination. It really was the sound of crying. The cry was low, soft, and would've been easily missed if he didn't pay close attention. The sound was also high pitched; if it wasn't a child then it must be a woman.
"Why is a child there?!" Qing Xuan asked in worry. "Or a woman?!"
"That's what I want to know." perhaps his voice was too cold but many flinched in surprise at Xie Lian's words.
The cries were nearby, as if they were only separated by a thin wall, the sound clinging close to him. Xie Lian whipped his head around, and at last confirmed – the sound came from the coffin he was leaning on!
Xie Lian's glare turned darker, eyes promising death as many couldn't believe the smiling prince could look so bloodthirsty. If they didn't know better, they would have thought he was Qi Rong.
Amidst his shock, the first words that came blurting out were unconsciously joyous, "Mother, is that you?!"
Many winced at the words he stated and the joy in it as Xie Lian wanted to bury himself in embarrassment while Hua Cheng tried cheering him up.
However, Xie Lian snapped out of it immediately, knowing that what he had desperately hoped for would never come true. His mother had passed eight hundred years ago, relieved of suffering, and had never devolved to a grudging ghost.
"That's good to hear." Wu Du said, not wanting to see his sibling's friend suffer much.
The emotion behind those cries was also not of despair, but terror.
In that very moment, who in the world would be hiding in his mother's coffin and cry?!
"Take a deep breath, Gege, and calm down." Hua Cheng instructed Xie Lian who was seeing red. "I'm sure there's a misunderstanding."
Xie Lian nodded once, following his order as he calmed himself. Yes, getting heated up was useless until he learns what truly happened. If it was an accident, then he can forgive it. But if it isn't...well, blood will spill once again.
Xie Lian couldn't hold back for another second, and threw open the cover of the coffin with his left hand, his right on Fang Xin, ready to strike. But, the moment he saw what was inside, the striking sword stopped in its path. Lying in the coffin, singularly, was the form of a person covered in elegant, black attire, its face wrapped with a face cover.
The only possible person who it could be should've been his mother, but the one lying in the casket, was most definitely not her. The form was small and short, its body type completely different, and the most significant thing was, this person was trembling – it's a real, live person!
Some inched away from the trembling Xie Lian who was trying his best not to be impatient or bloodthirsty.
'How fascinating.' Jun Wu thought. 'I see now how to corrupt him.'
Xie Lian ripped off the face cover. Sure enough, beneath the fabric was the face of a young child!
Xie Lian finally calmed down, seeing that everything was a misunderstanding before noticing something and freezing as he heard his future self voice out his concerns.
His heart froze that very moment. He grabbed the child and lifted him, his voice shocked and panicked, "Where's my mother? WHERE'S MY MOTHER?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY MOTHER'S BODY???"
"C-calm down for a moment." seeing the child being lifted, Yushi Huang slightly panicked and said, forgetting everything was happening in the future.
"What do you mean by that?" Pei Ming's focus was on another thing. "Your mother's body?"
"Don't worry." Xie Lian assured. "I was just panicking."
Although that elegant black dress didn't look anything out of the ordinary, it was in fact woven by the silk of an extremely rare worm. The silk was a tribute from a small foreign nation, and weaving it to clothing took intricate craftsmanship. Interwoven with fragrant herbal satchels and sealed into the coffin, the cadaver would remain preserved for thousands of years, allowing the dead to look as if it's still among the living. However, at that moment, the one wearing that silk black dress was this child, so where did the body of his mother go? What condition would it be now?
"Oh." was the only thing Pei Ming can say as Xie Lian took another deep breath.
'He's just a child.' he kept repeating in his head. 'I can't kill him.'
Xie Lian didn't dare to think deeply on it, and could only demand answers from this unknown child in his hold, "Where's my mother? Who are you? Why are you here? What did you do with my mother's body??"
But how could a child scared to tears answer any of his questions? He was too scared to even speak. Xie Lian dragged him out of the coffin, and realized suddenly that some ashen white powder had been shaken out of the black dress from the movement.
Xie Lian paled, almost falling from his seat if Hua Cheng didn't grab him on time.
"Do you want to leave for now?" Lynn asked him worriedly.
"No...it's fine." was the only reply Xie Lian gave, his face grave and his voice solemn.
Face white as a sheet, he looked into the coffin and found the bottom of the casket was also covered with a thin layer of powder. The world spun and Xie Lian felt his heart stop. His grip loosened, letting the child go, and he fell to his knees before the coffin, paralyzed.
Some looked away, not being able to handle the broken expression on the prince's face.
He didn't dare to touch that powder with his hands, but he couldn't just let it sit and sift either, like incense ashes flying in the wind. Although in denial, he knew deep within what that was.
'I guess it's time to say goodbye.' Xie Lian thought with a defeated smile. 'Permanently.'
He should have known nothing last forever. Still, that doesn't remove the stabbing feeling in his heart.
After having forcibly removed the silk funeral garb, what else could a sealed cadaver of eight hundred years become?
'I'll turn whoever put that child in the coffin into ashes.' Xie Lian viciously thought.
Instantly, Xie Lian's mind fell into chaos, unable to think; he held his head with his hands and there was ringing in his ears.
"We'll visit immediately once we return." Hua Cheng told him. "That way, the child wouldn't be able to enter."
Xie Lian nodded, silently thanking him with a smile as he couldn't trust his own voice to not crack.
Just then, his back tensed, his instincts sensed danger behind, and he whipped his head around, his hand fast like lightning, and grabbed, bare-handedly, the blade of a sword.
"Amazing!" Pei Ming praised.
"Who would dare do such an underhanded trick?" Wu Du asked with a frown.
Someone behind his back had tried to stab at him, and this person was that stack of bundled hay!
"Weak ass bitch." Xie Lian mumbled although it was heard by most because of how quiet the room was.
'His highness is scaring me...' Qing Xuan thought with slightly teary eyes.
Turns out, someone had long since snuck in, dressed themselves in that exquisite attire, put on the mask, and disguised themselves as a lifeless wooden stack, waiting for him silently.
"Two questions." Mu Qing said. "First, who is stupid or stalker-ish enough to know the prince will go there. Second, are they stupid? Why wait for a long time instead of attacking him anywhere else?"
"Quiet." Xie Lian said. It wasn't demanding nor was it friendly, it was neutral like how Xie Lian would speak most of the time yet it scared Mu Qing enough to immediately shut up.
A loud clanging sound rang in the air, and Xie Lian broke that blade into two halves with his bare hands, face unchanging with the blood now pooling in his palms.
Hua Cheng and Yushi Huang frowned at this, silently wishing for the prince to be more caring towards his own body.
In a flash, he raised his leg and kicked that person in the abdomen, stepping them firmly onto the ground.
"Go, your highness, kick his ass!" Qing Xuan cheered as He Xuan looked at her with incredulousness. "What? He disrespected my friend's parents' resting place, it's only right."
"Indeed." Ling Wen agreed. "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
With their chest solidly stepped on, that person grabbed at his boot and struggled yet unable to move an inch, as if they were nailed to the ground. Xie Lian bent down at the waist, and slapped away the golden mask with one hand, revealing the face of a young man. Xie Lian yelled, "Who are you?? Graverobber??? How did you get in???"
Just then, the child on the side cried, "Daddy!"
"The man dared to bring his child and place him in such a disturbing place?" Feng Xin asked in shock. "What the fuck is wrong with him?!"
This cry finally made Xie Lian remember. This man and child had looked familiar – weren't they the pair he saved that Qi Rong almost cooked and ate back at the Green Ghost's lair?!
"Oh yeah." Yizhen sounded, realizing it the same time as the others. "Hey, prince, it seems your cousin is the one..."
He didn't continue, mainly because Xie Lian stood up from his seat with a dark aura surrounding him as he calmly yet dangerously approached Qi Rong who was stuck between running away or smirking proudly. Naturally, he chose the latter option.
"What is it?" he mockingly asked as Xie Lian just smiled at him before grabbing his collar, dragging him outside of the room.
Everyone stayed silent before deciding to continue the show, knowing they would take a long time.
Xie Lian understood the situation instantaneously, and swung a punch like thunder at the man's jaw, roaring, "QI RONG, GET THE HELL OUT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"
"His highness really show no mercy towards his cousin." Pei Su said with a sweat drop.
"He deserves it." some said in unison.
That man laughed as he spat blood, "Cousin Crown Prince! What a joyous occasion! We meet again! Hahahahahaha!"
Although the face was different, but who else could this insane psychotic laughter belong to if not Qi Rong? When he became formless, he possessed that young father!
"He really is crazy." Qian Qiu, who gained more confidence in speaking without Xie Lian in the room, said which earned nods of agreement.
"He really loves getting beaten up." Hua Cheng said with a smile. "Maybe I should visit him more often."
No need for further explanation, but after his material body was thrown into that cauldron by Lang Qianqiu and melted, to avoid pursuit, he must've used the chaos of everyone running for their lives to possess the young man, and came to the Imperial Tomb of Xianle. Otherwise, how could any commoner know of the secret catacomb of Xianle royalty? And how could they have come in such a short period of time?
"He should create a new lock for that." Wu Du said.
"I'm already on it." Yin Yu said as he wrote that down in a notebook given to him by Lynn the moment Hua Cheng turned to look at him.
The child he brought along may have been for food, or maybe it was for hiding him in the coffin to divert Xie Lian's attention so as to ambush him from behind. Qi Rong held his face, looking wronged by Xie Lian's punch, and shouted, "Cousin why are you so mad? It's not like you'd die from a stab wound, hehehehehehe!"
"If his highness hasn't killed his cousin, I'll believe he has infinite patience." Pei Su said.
"No, if he didn't kill him then that means he's reserving him for me." Hua Cheng simply said with a smirk, eyes glowing.
'Thud, thud', and Xie Lian punched him again twice, his eyes red around the rim, "How had my mother treated you?? And you treat her like this?! How could you, to her body –?!!"
"He's done many despicable things, this is hardly crossing the line." Feng Xin scowled.
Qi Rong humphed, "Auntie is long dead. The person is no more, so what difference do corpses or ashes make? The corpse only changed form, isn't it still there? Here you are, tears and snot, weren't you much tougher when you killed An Le? Can't believe my good cousin actually has two faces, hehe!" He then changed face and spat, "How could I treat her like this? You're the one to blame! Don't you even know how to reflect on yourself? This is all your fault! You God of Misfortune have the galls to come cry at the Imperial Tomb of Xianle?!"
"That bastard really deserves death." Mu Qing mumbled darkly.
Xie Lian stomped down again hard and Qi Ron screamed, spewing blood from his mouth, but he looked even more excited, using both his hands to hold on firmly to the now blood soaked white boot while howling, "THAT'S RIGHT! THAT'S RIGHT! JUST LIKE THIS! THIS IS MORE LIKE YOU! FIGHT, FIGHT, KILL, FIGHT RUTHLESSLY! KILL CRUELLY! Don't give me that saintly look as if you are so burdened with unspeakable sin! Disgusting! UGH!"
"He's not pretending to be a saint," Qing Xuan heatedly said while standing up with a glare towards the screen. "he really is saintly!"
"We know." He Xuan assured her. "So calm down right now."
That child came crawling over, bawling, "Wah! Dad! Dad are you alright!" He couldn't understand what was happening, only that his father was being trampled. From his point of view, Xie Lian was like a violent demon, but scared of losing his only father, he wouldn't back down, and tried desperately to pull off the boot on his father's chest.
"Ironic how the prince is being viewed as a demon when the real one is just there." Feng Xin scoffed. "Children really are blind."
That young man wouldn't stop spewing blood, scaring the child half to death, and he used his hands to cover his father's mouth, as if that could stop the bleeding. Seeing this, Xie Lian slowly calmed down, realizing that the owner of this body was innocent, and eased his foot slightly.
"Tch, should have just went on with it." Qian Qiu scowled. "It's a sacrifice for the better good."
He pointed the tip of Fang Xin down, nudging it to Qi Rong's cheek and said forebodingly, "Qi Rong, you, get the hell out yourself. Don't believe I won't pull out your spirit with your tongue!"
"He really doesn't sound threatening." He Xuan sighed in disappointment.
"He's trying." Qing Xuan said optimistically.
Technically, to pull out the tongue of another from the root, one could certainly pull out the attached haunting ghost along with it. Qi Rong cried derisively, "I won't! I won't get the hell out! What are you gonna do? Go on, pull! Come, come come, gonna kill me? I might just die, so don't miss this chance, otherwise you won't ever find my ashes in this lifetime!"
"I should have been there." Qian Qiu said with regret. "I would have done it for him."
He even stuck out his tongue intentionally, as if he couldn't wait for Xie Lian to do good by his threat, and use that bloody method to pull his spirit out from this fleshy body. He blew many raspberries, "It's not like the person I'm possessing is anyone important, so why don't you? No one would know, no one would care, Your Highness' holy radiance won't be damaged. Look! I crumbled your mother to ashes, aren't you gonna kill me? Hahahahaha..."
"Pull it out, pull it out!" some people in the room chanted, hoping against all odds that it would happen.
That child couldn't move Xie Lian's boot, so he hugged his leg and cried louder, "Don't kill my dad! Don't kill my daddy!"
"Just knock the kid out and kill." Yizhen said with a roll of his eyes. "What's taking him so long to decide."
"Xian Le has always been a kind one." Jun Wu sighed.
Xie Lian's breathing was becoming more laboured, his head dizzy, his body shaking, his hands itching to crush Qi Rong's skull, but he couldn't do it. Qi Rong spread his hands, "Hahahaha cousin Crown Prince, what a failure, what an absolute failure!"
Xie Lian picked him off the ground, raised his fists and rained punch after punch on Qi Rong's face, yelling with each punch, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
"I guess we should be satisfied with this for now." Pei Ming said with a sigh, knowing that the prince wouldn't really kill Qi Rong.
Yet, the more enraged he got, the happier Qi Rong became. To be able to drag the both of them to the same hell, Qi Rong was filled with rapture, his eyes shone brightly, "See! There's your true face! Cousin Crown Prince, who knows you better than me in this world? You might look like a pathetic, drowned dog that anyone can trample now, but I know. You're still proud on the inside; you couldn't stand anyone calling you a failure!
"Who would?" Ling Wen said with a frown. "Even those without pride don't want to be called a failure."
You must hate me for calling you a failure! Have I stabbed your heart enough to bleed? Hurry! Come! Or are you gonna tell me loudly that this body is innocent, so you won't kill me in order to spare him? Come! Show me what you'll do!"
"Just follow my instructions and everything will be alright." Hua Cheng said with a kind smile. "Raise your sword, stab him, then call me to finish him off."
"You know he isn't here, right?" Pei Ming asked him.
"I do." Hua Cheng agreed. "I can't say this to him, unfortunately, so I'm saying it now."
With so much provocation blended in that cocky, crazed laughter, Xie Lian couldn't stand it anymore.
'Schwing' and Fang Xin was unsheathed.
"Is he going to..." Yushi Huang let out a surprised look as many leaned forward in excitement.
"General Hua is finally going to get rid of his problems." Banyue cheered.
With a flash of a swing, the ominous black blade struck down!
Book 1: End
"Wha-you can't end it like that!" Pei Ming scolded Lynn who quickly defended herself.
"It's not me who decide on that!" she argued. "I'm just following the script!"
"Um, are they not yet done?" Pei Su asked.
"I guess not." Lynn shrugged. "Let's have a break first and eat while waiting for them."
Everyone looked at each other before agreeing, seeing no other alternatives. They wanted to watch his highness beat the ghost but decided against it, giving the two the privacy his highness wanted.