Chapter 132: How My Lord Aches for the Flower, How I Ache for My Lord

XIE LIAN TUCKED the pearl away and went to investigate the commotion.

Several heavenly officials emerged from the giant crude hut, asking, “What’s going on with General Nan Feng?”

“Look who I’ve captured!” Feng Xin called out.

He crashed out of the woods, dragging a black-clad individual by the arm. The heavenly officials were shocked as he hurried over.

“Ling Wen!”

The one whom Feng Xin had seized was indeed Ling Wen.

“Just as you predicted, Ling Wen returned to try to steal the Brocade Immortal!” Feng Xin told Xie Lian.

After removing the cursed shackles, Xie Lian’s spiritual powers had increased explosively to the point where he was practically Jun Wu’s equal—the Brocade Immortal could no longer exert control over him. Ling Wen had gone missing during the great battle and was nowhere to be found afterward; she had been turned into a budaoweng doll by Hua Cheng, but the spell on her was set to release automatically after a certain amount of time. Xie Lian figured she would likely return to steal the Brocade Immortal, so he took off the robe and asked Ghost City to spread the word. Sure enough, Ling Wen took the bait.

Even as an apprehended fugitive, Ling Wen still didn’t seem panicked as she was taken to the conference hut. The moment Pei Ming came in, he grasped her firmly by the shoulders and sat her down in front of a table.

“Ling Wen—we’ve finally found you! You must pay for your sins!” he admonished, his voice dark.

“…”

Dozens of heavenly officials surrounded her. Their eyes were like those of starving wolves and bloodthirsty tigers, their expressions practically savage. Ling Wen finally felt a twinge of trepidation.

“…What are you all planning?”

Thump! A towering stack of reports and scrolls was thrown before her. It was nearly the height of a full-grown man, and so heavy that the table and chairs shook.

Pei Ming slapped the scrolls with a resounding thwack. “These. Take care of them.”

“…”

Although Ling Wen breathed a sigh of relief, it was quickly followed by bafflement. Before she could even fully exhale, there was another round of noise. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!

Many thumps later, dozens more stacks of documents and reports had crashed down around her, each looming high overhead. Ling Wen was completely surrounded. Dozens of heavenly officials babbled at her from the cracks between the stacks.

“We’ve been waiting for you for days now! Hurry and help us figure this out!”

“Take care of these too.”

“Remember to fill out the missing sections.”

“You better get it done within the hour!”

Ling Wen was speechless. “…”

After a grueling battle that lasted a full day and night, Ling Wen was finally released from the temporary conference hall. The mess of scrolls and reports had been taken care of—every single one had been categorized and organized neatly, and everything was in order. The heavenly officials cheered as they received their palaces’ accounts, and each scurried away to double-check. On the other hand, Ling Wen’s face was ashen. The dark circles under her eyes had disappeared while she was on the run, but they had now returned with a vengeance.

Once everyone had finished checking her work, there was much rejoicing.

“Noble Jie is the most efficient of us all, that’s for sure!” Pei Ming praised. “Now everything’s squared away!”

“Everything’s in order! Many thanks to Lord Ling Wen!”

Amidst all the praise from the crowd of heavenly officials, Ling Wen could do nothing but chuckle dryly—such was the fate of a criminal. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

There were still many heavenly officials in the hall with accounts that needed sorting. They hadn’t been as quick to shove their work on Ling Wen, but at the sight of this display they could sit still no longer, and she was surrounded once more.

“Umm, actually, I’ve got some books that I forgot to give you, my lord. I was wondering if you might take a look…”

Ling Wen was, yet again, speechless.

Xie Lian had been crouching outside the temporary conference hall eating a steamed bun, and after he finished, he brushed his hands clean and finally rescued Ling Wen from her suffering.

“Everyone, let’s figure this out later. Let Ling Wen catch her breath first.”

No one had cared when he spoke up in the past, but things were different now. Several people responded, “Your Highness is right,” and didn’t dare say another word. Ling Wen, her eyes closed and a hand over her forehead, sat in her chair waiting for the other heavenly officials to exit. Only once the conference hall was deserted did she turn to Xie Lian.

“Congratulations, Your Highness—your spiritual powers have returned. What a good strategy; now, you can even count ghosts among your worshippers and make them obey your orders. How incredible.”

“They’re not my worshippers,” Xie Lian replied. “They’re just friends from Ghost City. I asked them to help out.”

Ling Wen nodded, her face full of understanding.

A moment later, Xie Lian spoke again. “Ling Wen, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you.”

“Your Highness can go ahead,” Ling Wen said.

“San Lang—I mean Hua-chengzhu,” Xie Lian started. “He wore the Brocade Immortal you created, but it didn’t work on him. Do you know why?”

“So it’s this question,” Ling Wen said. “I thought Your Highness already knew.”

Xie Lian blinked.

“Tell me.”

Ling Wen shook out her sleeves and straightened her posture. “Your Highness, you’ve heard the legend of the Brocade Immortal, right?”

“I’ve heard it,” Xie Lian replied. “You forged it yourself.”

“You could say that,” Ling Wen said. “Although I never imagined the resentment gathered on the robe would transform it into an evil being. But I did kill Bai Jing to hasten the Kingdom of Xuli’s collapse. That’s not untrue.”

Xie Lian listened intently as Ling Wen continued.

“The robe made the rounds throughout the Mortal Realm and passed through countless hands. So many people chose to use it to murder, to harm, to deceive. While they could theoretically dispel some of its resentment by doing so, Bai Jing isn’t that kind of person.

“He didn’t like being used by those people; he hated them. But his resentment wasn’t provoked when he met recipients who were more like him, and a special sort of giver—instead, they’d make him happy.”

“And how are those special givers and recipients different?” Xie Lian asked.

“You put the Brocade Immortal on Crimson Rain Sought Flower, but there was not a single trace of malicious intent or desire to harm in your heart,” Ling Wen answered. “And you trust him with your whole being. Crimson Rain Sought Flower is the same when it comes to you—no, in fact, he’s even more so. But what really made Bai Jing resonate with him was that he would already do anything you asked of him without hesitation—it didn’t matter if he was wearing the Brocade Immortal or not. And that includes dying for you.”

“…”

“That was also how I managed to guess that the boy next to you was Crimson Rain Sought Flower,” Ling Wen said. “Although I don’t know much about the affairs between you two, I figured there wasn’t a single other person who could fit the bill.”

“Why’s that?” Xie Lian asked.

Ling Wen raised her hand and pointed. “Your Highness, what’s that around your neck?”

Taken aback, Xie Lian moved on reflex to cover it with his hand.

“I’ve seen similar trinkets before,” Ling Wen said. “Some unusual ghosts give their ashes to their lovers.”

Countless scrolls and reports had passed through the Palace of Ling Wen, so it wasn’t strange that she had seen such things before. Truth be told, Xie Lian had already guessed the truth of this crystal-clear ring…but he still squeezed it tight when he heard Ling Wen say it out loud.

“Something like that is rare and precious indeed,” Ling Wen said. “But because it’s too beautiful a gesture, it often ends in tragedy. Thus, the concept left a rather strong impression in my mind.”

“What do you mean, ‘it often ends in tragedy’?” Xie Lian asked.

“To be so deeply in love that it blinds your reason… Giving someone an object tied to your life can have many tragic or terrifying consequences,” Ling Wen said. “A pure heart is made to be trampled. All those keepsakes made of ashes…some were stolen by interlopers, some were shattered by their recipients. Basically, none of the stories ended well. Although, Your Highness is an exception; you’ve kept it almost flawlessly.”

After a long silence, Xie Lian said, “You said ‘more like him’ and ‘resonate with him.’ So was General Bai Jing like that as well?”

Ling Wen smiled lightly. “How else could I have deceived him?”

“It wasn’t really deception though, was it?” Xie Lian said. “I’m sure you knew I was intentionally spreading the word, but you still took the bait.”

“Come now, it’s a good defensive device,” Ling Wen said.

“If you only thought of it as a defensive device, you wouldn’t have taken such risks to steal it in the first place. And after you failed, you still took it to Mount Tonglu.”

“What else was there to do besides take it to Mount Tonglu?” Ling Wen said apathetically. “I was already exposed, wasn’t I? Your Highness was the one who caught me red-handed.”

“Honestly, you could have covered the matter up with excuses,” Xie Lian said. “Just spread a few bribes around; you might’ve been demoted or had merits deducted, but you wouldn’t have ended up a fugitive. My point is…you wanted to help General Bai Jing become a supreme, which would allow him to return to his senses. Right?”

Ling Wen let out a small laugh. “Your Highness, don’t say it like I would do anything for him. I’m the cold-blooded type who doesn’t truly love anyone, after all. Why would I do something like that?”

“Is that so?”

“Let it be so.”

***

After cleaning up the ruins of the Royal Holy Temple’s Crown Prince Summit, Xie Lian erected a simple cottage to use as a temporary residence. It was farther away from the conference hall, more remote. When they needed him, he’d go over to help; when they didn’t, he’d stay quietly in the cottage by himself.

Several days passed, and Mu Qing finally finished repairing Ruoye and came to deliver it. The moment Xie Lian opened the door, something pounced at him, and his vision was filled with white. He raised his hand to yank the thing off. Ruoye began to wind and swivel again, like it was showing off its beautiful body after being reborn.

“Don’t twist around like that right after you were repaired. Be careful, or you’ll tear yourself again,” Xie Lian admonished.

The moment Mu Qing heard, he had to interject. “How is that possible? What robes of yours have ever torn after I patched them up for you?”

“That’s true,” Xie Lian said.

He caught Ruoye, which was twisted like seaweed, and carefully checked it over. It had been stitched up extremely well; there was practically no trace it had ever been torn. “Your craftsmanship is still amazing,” he praised.

“A compliment for something like this won’t make me happy,” Mu Qing said. “I’m only doing it once; there won’t be a next time. Never again.”

You’re clearly super proud of your work… Xie Lian thought.

After grumbling a while more, Mu Qing said, “All right, I’ve done my job. I’m out of here. I’m in the middle of getting some personnel and other stuff taken care of at the Palace of Xuan Zhen.”

“You’re leaving too?” Xie Lian asked. “All right, I’ll go over to help in a bit. Remember to give me a shout when you leave so I can see you off.”

After capturing Ling Wen and forcibly enlisting her to organize all the missing and messed-up accounts, the heavenly officials finally decided to rebuild the Heavenly Capital. That meant the temporary conference hall at Mount Taicang could now be left behind.

Neither dismissing nor agreeing to anything, Mu Qing waved and made to leave. After only a few steps, he stopped and looked back.

“Are you…going to stay on Mount Taicang?”

Xie Lian nodded. “Yes.”

After a moment of hesitation, Mu Qing asked, “Why don’t you come with us instead?”

“Nah. I’m waiting for someone,” said Xie Lian, smiling.

“You can wait in the Upper Court of the new Heavenly Capital,” Mu Qing reasoned.

Xie Lian shook his head. “I think he’ll come here first when he returns, so I’ll be able to meet him the moment he arrives. If not, he might go to Thousand Lights Temple in Ghost City, and it’s not far from here. It’s much more convenient to get there from here than from the new Heavenly Capital.”

Mu Qing had held his tongue for a long while now. Wearing a complicated expression, he finally asked, “…You really believe he’ll come back?”

Like it was an absolute certainty, Xie Lian replied, “Of course.”

***

People came like the tide and then left like the tide. Lonesome Mount Taicang was quiet and deserted once more.

There used to be an enormous forest of maple trees there. The forest had been razed by countless fires back in the day, but after nearly a thousand years, it had been reborn. Although they were no longer the same trees Xie Lian had leapt through to train once upon a time, the landscape was the same.

Xie Lian often strolled the maple forest by himself. There was an entire mountain’s worth of red maples, consuming the world around him like a passionate wildfire. It made him feel as if he were in a giant, warm embrace.

He had whiled away the days of his life on his own for over eight hundred years, so he was used to it. If there was work to be done, he’d go down the mountain to answer some prayers and collect some junk. If there wasn’t, he’d plant some vegetables and do some cooking.

Days spent on his own, just like this, used to be the most normal thing in the world for Xie Lian. But strangely, passing the days in solitude had somehow become very difficult. It was a long time before he got acclimated to it again.

Perhaps when a person has only ever eaten bitter fruit, they become used to the taste. But if given a taste of sweetness, it’d bring a frown to their face to return to their original fare with the memory of something better, however fleeting it was.

Back when Xie Lian passed his endless days in simplicity and quietude, he often secretly hoped someone would come looking for him—to seek him out to chat or for assistance. Whatever the reason, at least it would’ve been a sign of life.

But he didn’t like the idea as much anymore. Every time he heard a knock upon his door, his heart would jolt in happiness and fill with hope—but when he dashed over to open it, the person standing outside was never the one he was waiting for.

Sometimes it was Feng Xin, sometimes it was Mu Qing, and other times it was Shi Qingxuan. Sometimes it was some of the many ghosts from Ghost City, there to “offer respects to His Elderliness.”

Everyone was welcome. It was simply that none of them were the one he was waiting for.

***

During the first month, Xie Lian hauled over several flowering trees to plant by the cottage’s entrance, in hopes of beautifying the surroundings a little and hiding the crudeness of the dilapidated building. He thought they might be in bloom when Hua Cheng returned.

During the second month, Xie Lian tore down the cottage and rebuilt it from scratch. He also weeded the entirety of Mount Taicang. Otherwise, Hua Cheng would surely send people over to help him clean when he came back and saw this mess.

During the third month, the flowering trees blossomed. Cherry red blanketed the branches. Xie Lian stood beneath their canopy, gazing upward. As he enjoyed the sight, he thought, The flowers are in full bloom—he should be home soon.

During the fourth month, he fixed up all the paths. That way, Hua Cheng could hike the mountain and find him faster when he returned.

During the fifth month, Feng Xin and Mu Qing came to visit again. They asked if he wanted to leave the cottage for a bit to take a walk outside. Xie Lian invited them for a meal, and they ran off.

During the sixth month, the flowering period ended.

…

He waited and waited, waited and waited. Xie Lian wasn’t anxious. He didn’t break down, nor did he weep in agony. Instead, he only became more and more composed, more and more patient.

And as he thought, he realized, who hadn’t experienced long years of being alone?

Hua Cheng had waited for him for over eight hundred years. What did it matter if he waited for Hua Cheng for eight hundred more?

It could be a thousand years, ten thousand years, and he would still wait. He would still keep waiting.

It was fine…it had only been a year, after all.

***

One day, as usual, Xie Lian had collected a large pile of junk. He heaped it high on a cart pulled by an ox—both of which Xie Lian had recently saved for and purchased—and guided it up the mountain.

When he had driven halfway up the path that passed through the maple forest, Xie Lian turned and saw some glimmering lights in the night sky. As he stared, it dawned on him—they were Blessings Lanterns of Everlasting Light.

“So, it’s the Shangyuan Festival today,” he murmured to himself.

Right now, the heavenly officials of the Upper Court were probably having another lantern battle. Despite himself, Xie Lian pulled the reins and stopped where he was to watch the Blessings Lanterns in a daze.

As he did, he recalled that he and Hua Cheng had first met during Shangyuan.

That year, a small child with a battered, filthy face squeezed through the swarming crowd and looked down from the city wall. The seventeen-year-old Crown Prince of Xianle was glowing. He looked up and saw a figure falling, and without thinking, leapt into the air.

The auspicious Shangyuan Festival on the Grand Avenue of Divine Might, and the awe-inspiring first impression that had led to centuries of pining…

A smile hung on Xie Lian’s face as he reflected on the past. In the end, Hua Cheng wasn’t the only one who’d fallen.

Turning around, Xie Lian bowed his head and continued up the mountain path. The cart clattered and creaked as it rolled along, and as he went, the path seemed to get brighter. There was light coming from somewhere far ahead.

Xie Lian lifted his head once more, his eyes widening.

The light was from lanterns.

Like millions of fish swimming through gorges to the sea, countless Blessings Lanterns drifted languidly from the mountain peak. They glowed and shimmered brilliantly against the black night. A magnificent, beautiful dream had brightened his path.

Xie Lian had seen this sight before. Now that he was seeing it again, his breath and heartbeat nearly stopped. He came to a bend on the mountain path, and the wheels spun as the cart turned. The little dilapidated cottage he had built came into view.

And someone was there.

A man clad in red stood before the crooked little cottage. His figure was tall and slender, and a silver scimitar hung at his waist. He had his back to Xie Lian while he lifted and sent off the last Blessings Lantern, which took to the skies on a meandering path.

Frozen in his seat, Xie Lian wondered if he was still in a dream, wondered if this was a hallucination. The cart’s wheels turned, bringing him closer and closer. The man spun around, and in Xie Lian’s sight, his face grew clearer and clearer.

Three thousand Blessings Lanterns rose into the night behind the man who had turned to gaze at him. Robes redder than maple, skin as white as snow. A face so handsome that one couldn’t bear to stare for long. There was still a wildness about him and a feral aura on his brow—and a pride that could never be felled.

Although he wore a black eyepatch, his remaining eye was as bright as the stars above as he gazed unblinkingly at Xie Lian.

Xie Lian scrambled down.

There were no words. They both started walking toward each other.

One step, another step, each one faster than the last. Then, finally, they started running.

As he ran forward, tears fell and were left behind.

In his heart, Xie Lian swore it once more: I believe.

He believed this man would die for him again and again and would be reborn for him over and over; even if he fell into the depths of hell, he would break through the abyss in the name of his faith.

Last time, they spent eight hundred years running toward each other.

This time, it only took an instant to fall into each other’s embrace.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***