Ch.176: Cave of Ten Thousand Gods; Faces of Ten Thousand Gods Revealed 2
Those hundreds of charmed talismans and heavy piles of boulders couldn’t stop him at all!
Feng Xin and Mu Qing both reacted swiftly; Feng Xin shot out his arrows one after the other while Mu Qing swung his sabre, sending an air strike towards him, then grabbed Xie Lian and ran. Feng Xin then employed the same tricks and struck wildly at the rocks as he yelled, “WHAT THE FUCK! HOW DID HE FIND US SO FAST?”
“How should I know??” Mu Qing yelled back, “…The red string! The red string! His finger is still tied with that red string!!”
When it dawned on the two of them, they both turned back to seize Xie Lian’s hand. As if Xie Lian would let them. His other hand reached out and held to protect that hand with the red knot and exclaimed, “YOU CAN’T!”
Feng Xin exclaimed, “You highness, if you’re tied with this red string, he’ll find us. If you don’t want him to catch up then it must be untied!”
However, Xie Lian held on to his own hand and said, “Even if he catches up I’m not afraid? I… want to ask him about this directly.”
Mu Qing’s eyes widened, “You want to talk to him still? I think he’d have to devour you completely for you to fully understand just how powerful he is.”
“But I already know he’s powerful.” Xie Lian countered, “You guys won’t tell me what that mural was and you won’t let me go near him. You can’t convince me of anything like this.”
“He’s a ghost king, his behaviours are abnormal. Normally people would stay far away with just these two points without needing anyone to convince them of anything!”
Xie Lian extended two fingers, “Two choices: either you let me go back and ask him to explain, or you let me go back to look at that mural.”
Feng Xin and Mu Qing seemed to have recalled something terrifying, and one had his lips twitching while the other’s brows could not furrow and deeper, and they both blocked in front of him, yelling at the same time, “WE’LL ALLOW NEITHER!”
Thus, Xie Lian rolled up his sleeves, “Since you both said no, then let’s solve this with our fists! Who’s first? Or will you both come at me together?”
Mu Qing turned to Feng Xin, “You first!” Then he backed away to the side. Feng Xin looked like he wasn’t too sure if he could win against Xie Lian, but in order to rescue a lost youth, he would give it his best shot, so he gripped his bow, “VERY WELL! Your Highness, pardon the insolence!”
Xie Lian also returned, “Pard…” Yet unexpectedly, before he even finished the opening courtesy, something hot was tapped onto his back, and someone behind him shouted, “STAY STILL, DON’T TALK!” And his entire person froze into an iron board.
Not just that, his voice couldn’t come out anymore either!
Mu Qing came out from behind Xie Lian and said to Feng Xin, “Let’s drag him away. This talisman can suspend him temporarily, but it won’t last too long.”
Feng Xin was slightly dumbfounded, “Why did you ambush him? Didn’t we agree on a one on one?”
Xie Lian hadn’t imagined that Mu Qing would immediately go back on his word either. If it wasn’t because he wholly trusted both of his once subordinates, he wouldn’t have been deceived so easily either.
“Who has the time for you to go one on one right now?” Mu Qing said, “He’s doing it on purpose. It’s easy to see he’s dragging time out for Hua Cheng to catch up. Do you not see the state he’s in right now? Completely infatuated! No matter what you tell him right now nothing will go through. Maybe once they meet, Hua Cheng will only need to humour him with a couple of sweet words and he’ll believe him, just like one enchanted by a fox spirit*”
Feng Xin contemplated and felt what Mu Qing said made some sense and sighed, “Your Highness, it’s not that we’re deceiving you intentionally, but how he is towards you really is… unseemly. I really can’t say it out loud! Please just come with us.”
“Let’s go.” Mu Qing said too.
Mu Qing’s words weren’t a suggestion or a plead, but a command. What he slapped on on Xie Lian’s back earlier must be a commanding spell talisman drawn with his blood. The Command Talisman could make the target obey the castor’s orders, but in truth, it could only realize simple commands such as “do not speak”, “walk”, “stop”, “run”, etc. The more complicated commands were harder to execute, and the talisman couldn’t confound the mind either. Only powerful ghosts like the Brocade Immortal could perform such a thing.
The two speed walked with Xie Lian in tow again but was suddenly stopped by a pile of rubble blocking the way. Feng Xin saw the path was cut off and wondered, “Why are there rocks here blocking the way? We can go anymore?”
“Weren’t you the one who knocked down those rocks? Why are you asking me?” Mu Qing said.
Feng Xin questioned, “You were the one leading the way, so you’re the one who messed up. If we’ve passed through here before, why did we come around back?”
Mu Qing refused to be questioned, “What a joke, I don’t know the roads here at all, how can I possibly lead? Weren’t we just running without direction earlier?”
It looked as if they were about to get into another argument, and Feng Xin waved his hand, “Nevermind, I’ve got not time to waste my breath on you. Let’s just dig through this!”
Hua Cheng was pursuing them from behind, so they could only go forward. Retreat was not an option, otherwise they would run into each other. Blocking roads was easy but digging through one was much harder. The two made Xie Lian stand obediently in the corner while Feng Xin punched randomly and Mu Qing, popping veins on his forehead, swung his sabre impressively, and it was no time before the path was dug through. Rubbles rolled and dust clouded. They were just about to call Xie Lian over when unexpectedly, once all the dust cleared away, what stood before them was a red clad figure. Xie Lian’s eyes instantly lit up. It was Hua Cheng!
His eyes were cold and he stood with hands behind his back, silent and wordless. Feng Xin blurted on the spot, “WHY WON’T YOU GO AWAY?!”
He was truly the very definition of persistence. He was clearly left behind in the dust earlier, so how did he suddenly appear ahead of them the next second??? And who knows how long he had been standing there, waiting soundlessly as they cleared away the obstacle blocking their way to offer themselves up. Was this not incredibly persistent and creepy?
Feng Xin and Mu Qinginstantly backed away for a long stretch. Hua Cheng didn’t look at them.
Hie eyes moved to the side and took a step in Xie Lian’s direction. Feng Xin and Mu Qing realized who he was here for, and instantly flashed to Xie Lian’s side to block before him, shouting together, “DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!”
Hua Cheng’s face was extremely dark.
Usually, if there was anyone who told Crimson Rain Sought Flower not to go over, he wouldn’t give a damn, and it’d be more weird if he didn’t laugh and go over anyway. However, this time, it was as if he was genuinely wary, and didn’t dare to move recklessly, pausing in his step.
After a brief moment, he finally spoke up, his words slow, “What do you two mean by this.”
By his tone he sounded fairly calm. Feng Xin however, was much more straightforward, “You don’t need to pretend anymore, we know this is your old lair. We’ve already seen what’s with those divine statues, and those paintings, we’ve seen everything!”
Hua Cheng wasn’t facing them directly, standing sideways, and hearing him, the hands behind his back seemed to have jerked, two of the fingers curling up stiffly.
“…”
He inclined his head and questioned softly, “His Highness, also saw?”
His voice was very, very low, and while it still sounded unfazed, it was a little cracked, obviously off. Xie Lian cried mentally, ‘No!’
Truthfully, he didn’t see a lot, but, Xie Lian could’t move nor speak at the moment, and could only lean dutifully against the stone wall in the corner, looking like he was hiding behind the other two, afraid to face Hua Cheng and refusing to speak with him. Feng Xin pulled his bow, “That’s right. We’ve now understood what… intentions… you have. In respect of you as a ghost king, if you should still have some dignity, please don’t come near His Highness again.”
In this moment, Xie Lian’s feelings were like a cottage on fire, black smoke heavy and thick.
Hua Cheng should’ve noticed that there was something wrong with him, and Xie Lian could only hope that Hua Cheng would question him to notice. But, Hua Cheng seemed to not be in the mind to notice anything and only said coldly, “Don’t go near him? And what right and position do you two have to say that to me?”
No waiting for their response, Hua Cheng’s eyes flashed dangerously, “But you have reminded me that we still have unfinished business to settle!”
The moment his words ended, countless silver butterflies shot forth towards the two of them, shrieking.
Facing such a storm-like attack, the only option was to use spiritual shield. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both cried, “SHIELD!”
That butterfly deluge was blocked by a formless spiritual shield, and shattered into shimmering silver light in the air, then they rapidly recrystallized into new silver butterflies, and attacked once more, completely unstoppable. They backed away as they blocked, and Hua Cheng steadily moved forward step by step. The whirlwinds raised by his spiritual aura stirred his raven hair and it danced wildly with the gusts; and under the blinding light of the silver butterflies, the mad fury and violence brimming in his eyes were completely exposed. To just keep shielding like this was too passive, and Feng Xin and Mu Qing exchanged a look, agreeing to attack directly, and they held the spiritual shield as they charged, each flashing their own weapon. The three thus started fighting in this narrow stone corridor. Feng Xin engaged with the wraith butterflies while Mu Qing faced Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng flung out an arm and the scimitar E-Ming appeared in his left hand, ready to strike back!
This was the first time Xie Lian witnessed E-Ming fight seriously. The scimitar was long and slender, chillingly murderous, its silver light threatening – It was indeed, genuinely a wicked blade overflowing with evil!
This battle was truly exciting; Hua Cheng stood his ground in a one against two faceoff, and Xie Lian watched unblinkingly with held breath, and soon, the tip of the E-Ming blade flicked, sending Mu Qing’s sabre into the rocks. Although Mu Qing still had the hilt in his grip, he couldn’t pull his weapon out. In his moment of shock, Hua Cheng already swung his fist and punched him squarely in the jaw, sending his entire person practically flying in the air, the hilt finally loosened from his grip. On the other end, each of the arrowheads of Feng Xin’s arrows were snapped by the wraith butterflies’ sharp wings, and there were ultimately too many in numbers, difficult to deal with!
Victory and defeat were obvious at this point, and from the corners, countless white silk slithered out, and wrapped those two into two giant cocoons once more; the more they struggled, the tighter the bind, and Mu Qing tore at that silk as he yelled, “I KNEW IT WAS YOU WHO THREW US INTO THAT PIT!”
Feng Xin exclaimed, “This isn’t spider silk! This is…!”
It dawned on Xie Lian too. It was butterfly silk!
Before cocoons were broken through for butterflies to emerge, pupas were formed. Those spider silk-like strange white silk was completely of Hua Cheng’s making, and it was probably linked to those exceedingly aggressive wraith butterflies!
With the match decided, Hua Cheng withdrew the scimitar and jeered, “I threw you in to save you from disaster. At the end of the day, if it wasn’t for your loud yelling that caused the avalanche, there would’ve been no chance of you entering this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods.
Why don’t you thank me for saving your puny little lives?”
Hua Cheng’s original plan was probably waiting out the avalanche, and once the snowy mountain had quieted down he would take Xie Lian out, leaving Feng Xin and Mu Qing behind to their own devices. Yet unexpectedly, those two had gnawed through the cocoon and made noise, leading Xie Lian into discovering them, which consequently caused all the incidents that followed after. If it wasn’t for all that, Xie Lian might have really just followed Hua Cheng straight out without looking at a single divine statue.
Yet now, things had evolved into the worst case scenario. Every secret was pulled out and exposed under the sun.
Xie Lian’s heart was anxious but his body still sat obediently in the same spot. The cold in Hua Cheng’s eyes was growing heavier, and he looked down on Mu Qing from above, asserted in a light voice, “It seems, the one with the talent for sabres is me. Not you.”
Mu Qing’s throat was bound by a few bands of white silk, his face alternating between blue and red from the strangling, foam leaking at the corners of his lips, and he choked out, “You! … you…? I see, I get it…”
Feng Xin was also gritting his teeth, “…What… did you get?”
Mu Qing said, “I get… why this bastard hates me so much now… it’s probably the same reason for you!”
“Wh… cough, what reason?” Feng Xin demanded.
Mu Qing said hatefully, “Because he’s mad! Have you forgotten what was on that mural? He’s that… that young soldier His Highness wanted to promote after returning from BeiZi Hill. His Highness had said, his sword work was good, well suited for the sabre… cough, cough.”
“What’s that got to do with the hatred he has for you??” Feng Xin questioned.
However, Mu Qing stopped talking. BAM! Hua Cheng’s punch landed on his face, and he smiled chillingly, answering for him, “Because, he booted me from the army.”
Mu Qing had done something like that?!
Feng Xin was astonished, “…WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY DID YOU BOOT HIM FROM THE ARMY? DID HE PISS YOU OFF??”
Mu Qing replied, his face covered in blood, “I only made him go home, it’s not like fighting a war is a good thing! How should I know he’d end up this crazy, holding grudges until now!…”
Before he finished another forceful punch landed, BAM!, and his face was almost contorted.
Hua Cheng smiled, “Think I can’t guess why you booted me back then? Hm?”
Mu Qing’s eyes flashed. Hua Cheng then snickered, “Isn’t it more than obvious now who the useless trash is?”
“…”
It was as if Mu Qing was stabbed where it hurt and he spat out a mouthful of blood, then he said, spitefully slow, “Thank goodness I kicked you out, otherwise if we kept you in the army and allowed you to get closer to His Highness, were you just going to watch him all day with your mind full of unspeakable filth? Disgusting!”
Xie Lian’s heart violently squeezed. By Mu Qing’s last line, Hua Cheng already had his fist raised, but when the word “disgusting” was spat out, the hand in mid air froze, and veins popped on the back of that pale hand. The fingers clenched and loosened, loosened then clenched.
A brief moment later, Hua Cheng said chillingly, “I won’t argue with you on that for the moment.
You just tell me now, honestly, was what you both were yelling about before the avalanche true?”
Mu Qing’s eyes abruptly widened and he looked over to Feng Xin. Feng Xin also looked over to them, his eyes round and bulging.
Neither of them knew how to respond. Hua Cheng said sharply, “My patience is limited. Answer me on the count of three. One! Two!”
That he would actually act in such a sweeping manner! Just then, Mu Qing thought of an idea amidst his panic and he cried, “Your Highness, RUN!!!”
The moment that command came out, Xie Lian, whose back was taped with a blood talisman, instantly responded and moved to flee. Hua Cheng immediately turned around, and from the corners two bands of white silk shot out, forcibly binding Xie Lian, and before he even took more than two steps, he fell to the ground.
In this situation, it looked as if he was shaken and shocked this whole time, or was having difficulties accepting the truth, or unwilling to intercept the fight, standing there in a daze and finally decided to flee but did not succeed. But the truth was, he had never thought of running away!
Both Xie Lian’s hands and feet were tightly bound by heavy white silk, and he laid sprawled on the ground, his black hair and white sleeves scattered all over the ground, his bamboo hat rolled to the side. Hua Cheng turned around slowly, and after a long pause, he walked towards him.
He didn’t take more than a few steps before Feng Xin couldn’t hold back and yelled, “HUA CHENG!”
Hua Cheng paused in his step and turned his head slightly.
Feng Xin forced himself to plead, “Let… Let His Highness go! He’s already suffered enough. Don’t, to him…”
Hua Cheng didn’t speak. He came by Xie Lian side, put his hands behind Xie Lian’s knees and back and swept him up, securing Xie Lian in his carry.
Xie Lian leaned against his arm and could see behind the expressions on those two giant white cocoons. Feng Xin looked like he was witnessing a lamb entering the mouth of a tiger, like Xie Lian was going to be ripped apart and devoured, and he started yelling. Mu Qing began trying to use his teeth to bite at the white silk again, but due to the harsh angle, it was all work for nothing. Hua Cheng knew the paths of the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods like the back of his hand, and after many turns and corners, the figures of those two soon disappeared along with their voices.
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●Fox spirits in Asian folktales are seductresses, known to enchant and charm innocent people, and make them fall helplessly in love with the spirit.
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