Ch.3:

The master of forgone days, fallen so low as to be the laughingstock of the three realms with

neither offerings, temples, nor believers, while the two servants under him had both passed a

heavenly calamity and became great martial gods themselves who ruled over their own regions.

With such a situation, it was impossible for anyone not to think too much on it. If Xie Lian had to

choose between Feng Xin and Mu Qing and say who made him feel the more awkward, he

would answer “they’re both fine!”. But if bystanders had to choose whether they more wanted to

see Xie Lian and Feng Xin brawl or Xie Lian and Mu Qing, then that would depend on the

individual’s taste. After all, all three had sufficient reasons to beat each other up, so it would be

a hard pick.

Which was why everyone was severely disappointed when Feng Xin hadn’t responded for the

longest time, not answering a single word, then went invisible directly.

And so, Xie Lian concluded the scene on his own. He said, “I didn’t think things would get this

out of hand. It wasn’t intentional, I do apologize to everyone for having caused trouble.”

Mu Qing replied sarcastically, “Oh, then what a coincidence.”

Coincidence. Xie Lian also thought this was such a coincidence. How did he so coincidentally

hit Mu Qing and wreck Feng Xin’s palace? By any bystander’s perspective, this was practically

an intentional revenge. But the truth was thus: he was just the type that could pick up the one

poisoned cup in a thousand cups of wine.

But, it wasn’t like one could do anything about what others thought. So, Xie Lian could only

reply, “I will do my utmost in compensating everyone’s golden palaces and the other damage,

and pray you’ll all give me a little time.”

Even thinking with the tail of a whisk, it was obvious Mu Qing must’ve wanted to keep making

snide remarks. But his golden palace didn’t suffer any damage after all, and the bell that fell on

him was also chopped into two; if he continued to be so overbearing it’d be unseemly for

someone of his status, thus, he also fell silent and went invisible. When Xie Lian saw that the

awful messes themselves had already gone, he quickly fled too.

He was still contemplating deeply and seriously on where he could go to get these eight million,

eight hundred and eighty thousand merits. Then the next day, Ling Wen requested for him at

the Palace of Ling Wen.

Ling Wen was a heavenly official who managed the affairs of celestial personnel, and controlled

the smooth-sailing and rapid career rise of humans. The entire palace was stacked full of official

documents and scrolls from the ground to the ceiling; quite a shocking sight, and it could make

one’s feet tremble. On the way over, every heavenly official who emerged from the Palace of Ling Wen was hauling piles of documents that were taller than the average person, their

complexions ghastly pale, looking either like they were breaking down or numb.

After Xie Lian entered the great hall, Ling Wen turned around and got straight to the point.

“Your Highness, the emperor has a matter to request of you, will you give him a hand in

assistance?”

There were plenty of “Zhenjun”s and “Yuanjun”s in the heavenly realm, but there was only one

who could be addressed as the emperor. If this lord wanted to do anything, he needn’t to have

asked anyone.

Thus, Xie Lian was a little taken aback before he replied, “What is it?”

Ling Wen handed him a scroll. “Recently, there have been a large number of grand believers

from the north praying frequently, so things must not be peaceful there.”

What was called a “grand believer” usually referred to three types of people: the first type was

the rich, those who paid for incense and religious services, and built temples for the gods; the

second type was missionaries, who could promote the religion and give sermons; the third type

was believers who possessed absolute faith in both heart and body.

Among the three, the first type dominated; the richer someone was, the more they feared and

respected gods and ghosts, and there were as many rich people as there were fish in the sea.

The third type was the least common, because if someone could genuinely reach that level,

then their spiritual state must be extremely high, and they wouldn’t be far from ascension

themselves.

The one spoken of here was, obviously, the first type.

“The emperor cannot attend to the north right now,” Ling Wen explained. “If you’re willing to

make a trip over on his behalf, then in the future, regardless of the amount of offerings these

grand believers give as a gesture of redeeming their vows, everything will be counted under

your altar. What do you think?”

Xie Lian received the scroll with both hands and said, “Thank you.”

How could Xie Lian not tell that this was clearly Jun Wu helping him? He had only made it

sound like he was asking if Xie Lian was willing to help him. At the moment he couldn’t find any

phrase to express how he felt, besides those two words.

Ling Wen replied, “I’m only responsible for getting things done. If you want to say thanks, then

wait ‘til the emperor returns and go thank him directly yourself. By the way, do you need me to

lend you any spiritual devices?”“No,” Xie Lian said. “Even if you gave me a spiritual device, I don’t have any spiritual power

once I go down, so I can’t use it anyway.”

Having been banished twice, Xie Lian had lost all of his spiritual powers. Things were fine in the

heavenly realm; the heavenly realm was the place where all the divine palaces stood, and

spiritual qi was abundant, endless, and right at his fingertips for his own use. However, once

back in the mortal realm, he was stunted. If he wanted to have a spiritual battle with anyone,

he’d have to borrow said power from someone to make do; quite the inconvenience.

Ling Wen pondered for a moment. “Then it’s best if we call a few martial officials over to give

you a hand.”

The martial gods that were currently in office either didn’t know him, or loathed him. Xie Lian

knew that, at least. “Forget about that, too. No one will come.”

Ling Wen had her own considerations, however, and said, “I’ll give it a try.”

It wouldn’t matter whether she tried or not, but Xie Lian neither agreed nor protested and let her

go off to try on her own. Thus, Ling Wen entered the communication array and clearly and

loudly asked:

“Everyone, the emperor has an urgent matter in the north and is in desperate need of capable

hands. Is there any martial highness who can assign two martial officials over from your

palaces?”

Just as the words were spoken, Mu Qing’s voice popped up lightly. “I hear the emperor isn’t in

the north at the moment, so this is probably a call for assistance from His Highness the Crown

Prince, am I right?”

Xie Lian thought to himself, “Are you just guarding inside the communication array every day…”

Ling Wen thought the exact same thing, and dearly wanted to slap Mu Qing out of the array for

obstructing her work, but still she smiled outwardly.

“Xuan Zhen, how come I keep seeing you inside the array these days? Seems like you’ve got

free time on your hands lately? Congratulations.”

Mu Qing replied coolly, “My hand is injured, I’m currently nursing the injury.”

Every heavenly official thought to themselves, “That hand of yours can chop the mountains and

the seas without breaking a sweat, what can splitting a bell do to you?”At first, Ling Wen had wanted to wait until she had deceived two people into volunteering before

saying anything. Yet not only did Mu Qing figure it out so easily, he had to say it out loud, too.

Now for sure there wouldn’t be anyone available. As expected, not a single soul responded, but

Xie Lian didn’t think anything of it.

He said, “I told you nobody would come.”

“If Xuan Zhen didn’t say anything, I would’ve succeeded,” Ling Wen said.

Xie Lian chuckled. “You worded it like a pipa player with half her face covered, and within the

fog the flower looks three times more beautiful. Other people thought it was to do work for the

Emperor, so of course they would’ve come. But if they came and discovered they’d be working

with me, there would probably be a riot, and how can we cooperate under those conditions?

Either way, I’m used to being alone; it’s not like I lost any limbs during all these years, so we’ll

leave it as it is. Thanks for all the trouble, I’ll be off now.”

Ling Wen was out of ideas too, so she cupped her hands in salute. “Alright. Wishing everything

goes smoothly for Your Highness down below, may heaven officials give their blessings.”

“No paths are bound!” Xie Lian replied, waved his hand, and left in a dashing manner.

Three days later, the mortal realm, in the north.

There was a teashop by the side of a major street. Its storefront wasn’t big and the shopkeepers

were simple, but what was good about it was the scenery. There were mountains and waters,

people and the city. It had it all, but not much; not much, but just right. If one was to have a

chance meeting here in this landscape, it would definitely become a beautiful memory.

The Tea Master inside the shop was extremely idle, and when there weren’t any customers,

he’d bring a stool out to sit by the entrance to watch the mountains and the waters, the people

and the city, quite cheery as he watched on. Today, he saw a white-clad cultivator who had

come from the road in the distance; travel-worn, like he had walked for a long time.

When the man came close, he brushed past the small shop at first, but suddenly, he halted.

Then, very slowly, he backed up. Lifting the tip of his bamboo hat, he looked up, glanced at the

shop sign, and smiled.

“‘Small Shop of Chance Encounter’, what an interesting name.”

While this man appeared somewhat tired, his expression was a cheerful one, so much so that

the one watching him couldn’t help but lift the corners of his lips too.

The man then asked, “Excuse me, is Mount Yujun . nearby here?”

The Tea Master pointed in a direction for him. “It’s around here.”

That man let out a breath, and managed not to let out his entire soul while he was at it. He

thought to himself: “I’ve finally made it.”

This was indeed Xie Lian.

When he left the Heavenly Capital that day, he had originally set the desired landing location in

the mortal realm, and it was somewhere nearby Mount Yujun. Yet who knew that when he left in

such a dashing manner, and jumped down dashingly, his sleeve was caught by a dashing

cloud. Yes, it was caught by a cloud. He didn’t know how his sleeve got caught, but either way

he tumbled across the million-mile-high sky, and by the time he tumbled down he no longer

knew where he was. After walking on foot for three days, he finally made it to the originally-

intended landing point.

Xie Lian entered the shop and picked a table next to the window, ordering tea and snacks. After

he finally settled, there was suddenly the sound of gongs being drummed, and the sound of

weeping, outside.

He gazed towards the street and saw a group of men and women, both young and old,

escorting a bright-red marriage sedan as they passed by.

The air surrounding this procession was downright odd. At first glance, it seemed like a

marriage procession, but upon a closer look, the expressions on those people’s faces were

solemn, full of grief, fury, and terror. The only emotion not present was joy. It didn’t look like they

were festive at all, yet still they all wore red with flowers and made an ostentatious show. Such a

scene truly was exceedingly peculiar. That Tea Master raised the copper teapot in his hand high

and tipped it to pour tea. He also saw this scene play out, but he only shook his head before

moving on.

Xie Lian watched as that bizarre procession disappeared into the distance and was deep in

thought for a moment. Just as he was about to take out the scroll Ling Wen gave him to read it

over once more, he suddenly sensed something dazzling flit by.

When he looked up, a silver butterfly flew past his eyes.

That silver butterfly was glittering and translucent, and as it fluttered through the air it left behind

a sparkling bright trail in its wake. Xie Lian reached out towards it in spite of himself. This silver

butterfly was incredibly intelligent; not only was it unalarmed, it even stopped on the tip of his

finger. Its wings shimmered, beautiful and serene, and beneath the sunlight, it felt like the

illusion of a dream that’d shatter with just the touch of a finger. A moment later, it flew away.

Xie Lian waved at it as a farewell, and when he turned his head back around, there were two

more people sitting at his table.

There were four sides to this table; these two each took a side, one left, one right. They were

both young men of eighteen or nineteen years of age. The one on the left side was taller, his

brows deep and handsome, and his eyes carried a sort of unbridled wildness. The one on the

right was extremely fair, elegant and poised; the only thing was, his expression was a bit overly-

distant and cold, making him look as if he was extremely displeased. Actually, neither of them

looked pleasant.

Xie Lian blinked. “You two are?”

The one on the left replied, “Nan Feng.”

The one on the right said, “Fu Yao.”

“I wasn’t asking for your names…” Xie Lian thought.

Just then, Ling Wen suddenly transmitted a voice message. “Your Highness, there are two

junior martial officials from the Middle Court who have volunteered to come assist you. They’ve

already descended to go find you, and should be there by now.”

This Middle Court was naturally the opposite of the Upper Court. The heavenly officials of the

heavenly realm could be crassly divided into two groups: those who ascended, and those who

didn’t. The Upper Court consisted of heavenly officials who ascended on their own abilities, and

there were only about a hundred of them in the entire heavenly realm, extremely eminent. As for

the ones in the Middle Court, they were brought up as “appointed generals”. Strictly speaking,

they should be addressed as “Peer Heavenly Officials”, but when everyone addressed each

other, they’d often take out this “Peer” in the name.

Then, if there was an Upper Court and a Middle Court, was there a Lower Court?

No.

Actually, there really was one when Xie Lian first ascended. At the time, the division was still

“Upper Court” and “Lower Court”. However, later everyone discovered a problem: when one

was giving a self-introduction, it really sounded bad to say “I am xxxx, from the Lower Court”.

With the word “lower”, it felt like one was lower compared to the others. It must be known that

there were definitely geniuses and outstanding figures with impressive spiritual power among

them; what they were missing was only that one heavenly calamity before they could become

real heavenly officials. Who knew when that day would arrive? Thus, it was proposed that one

word be changed, and it sounded so much better to say “I am xxxx, from the Middle

Court”...even though they both meant the same thing. In any case, after it was changed, Xie

Lian couldn’t get used to its for the longest time.

Xie Lian stared at these two junior martial officials, each with an expression more upset than the

other, looking fully unlike they had come “voluntarily”.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Ling Wen, they don’t look like they’re here to help me work, more like

they’re here for my good-for-nothing head.”

Unfortunately, what he said couldn’t be transmitted, and he couldn’t hear Ling Wen’s voice by

his ears anymore either. He figured it was because he’d been away from the Heavenly Capital

for too far and too long, and his spiritual powers had been depleted.

Without any choice, Xie Lian first flashed a smile at these two junior martial officials, then said,

“Nan Feng and Fu Yao, was it? Let me first thank you both for volunteering to come help.”

The two only nodded, giving quite the attitude; so it seemed they must’ve come from the

retainment of distinguished martial gods. Xie Lian got the tea sommelier to bring two more cups,

then he raised his own teacup, and scraped the tea leaves aside.

He asked casually, “From which Highness did you guys come?”

“The Palace of Nan Yang,” Nan Feng replied.

“The Palace of Xuan Zhen,” Fu Yao answered.

“...”

Well, this was certainly horrifying.

Xie Lian gulped down his mouthful of tea and replied, “Did your generals tell you guys to come?”

The two answered in unison, “My general didn’t know I was coming.”

Xie Lian pondered for a moment, and asked again, “Then, do you guys know who I am?”

If these two junior martial officials had come after they were deceived by Ling Wen and helped

him, then when they went back they would get scolded by their own generals. It wouldn’t be

worth it.

“You’re the Royal Highness the Crown Prince,” Nan Feng said.

“You’re the justice of the mortal realm, the centre of the world,” Fu Yao said.

Xie Lian choked for a moment, then asked Nan Feng, uncertain, “Did he just roll his eyes?”

“Yes,” Nan Feng replied. “Make him scram.”

It wasn’t any secret that Nan Yang and Xuan Zhen didn’t get along. When Xie Lian first heard of

this, he wasn’t surprised in the least, because Feng Xin and Mu Qing didn’t share any great

friendship in the past. The only thing was that, back then, they were subordinates; so when the

crown prince said “don’t fight, you have to be good friends”, then everyone held back and didn’t

flip out. When they were really upset they’d stab each other with words at most, but with how

they were now, there wasn’t any more need to be all fake.

Even the two heavenly officials’ common believers in the southeast and southwest looked at

each other with contempt; throughout the years, the Palace of Nan Yang and the Palace of

Xuan Zhen had always seen each other as enemies. The two before him now were a classic

example.

Fu Yao sneered. “Ling Wen Zhenjun said that all willing volunteers are welcome, so on what

basis are you telling me to scram?”

The word “willing”, said using that expression of his, really wasn’t persuasive. Xie Lian said, “Let

me just confirm. You two really came as willing volunteers? If not, then please don’t force

yourselves.”

The two answered in unison, “I’m willing.”

Looking at those two grim and dispirited faces, Xie Lian thought inwardly, “You guys actually

meant ‘I want to kill myself’, right?”

“Well, in any case,” Xie Lian continued. “Let’s talk business first. I’m sure you both know what

we’re doing here in the north, right? So, I’m not gonna go over it from the top…”

“Nope,” the two said in unison.

“...” Without any choice, Xie Lian could only take out the scroll. “Then I guess I’ll start from the

very beginning for you two.”

It was said that, many years ago, there was a couple at the foot of Mount Yujun.

This couple were deeply in love. That groom waited for the marriage procession to arrive, but he

waited for a long time and still there was no sight of the bride. Anxious, the groom went to the

bride’s house, but his father- and mother-in-law told him the bride had long since set out. Both

families reported this to the authorities, and they searched all over to no avail. If she was eaten

by the beasts of the mountain, then at the very least there’d be a leftover arm or leg; how could

she just vanish from mid-air? Thus, it couldn’t be helped that there were those who suspected

that the bride wasn’t willing to marry, so she colluded with the marriage procession and ran off.

Yet who knew that many years later, when another couple was to marry, the same nightmaree

replayed.

Once again, the bride was gone. However, this time there was something left behind. On a

small road, the search party found a foot that had not yet been fully eatan.

TBC...

*OMG so much typing my hand hurts I even asked my friend if I made mistakes in my English writing, I am sorry if they are any mistakes please correct me if they are. Vote, like and comment please 🥺🥺🥺... *

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