Chapter 87: Gilded Figure; Exertion to Block Celestial Ruin
Xie Lian was beyond outraged. He pulled out the sword impaled on that chest and was about to thrust again when he realized there wasn't a trace of blood on the blade. Instantly, he understood, and changed the course of the blade, slashing off the head of that white-clothed youth. The decapitation was swift, and when that head and its body were separated, both shriveled up and became a heap of skin bags.
That body was an empty shell!
Twice he met that creature he had used a fake body, and not once did he show himself in his true form. Although not surprised, Xie Lian was still filled with angry resentment, his sword venting his anger on that soft and limp body, the sharp aura of the blade slashing the skin bag into shreds, and still he wasn't relieved. Feng Xin couldn't watch anymore and tried to stop him, "Your Highness! It's only a shell."
Still, that shell looked exactly like Xie Lian's younger self, so it looked like Xie Lian was cruelly mutilating himself, painting a distressing picture. Xie Lian heaved a few long breaths, threw the sword away to the side, and sat on the ground, "I KNOW! BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE HE DARED USE MY FACE!"
He was furious to the core, and the other two knelt down next to him, silent. A moment later Feng Xin spoke up, "Your Highness, do you feel better? Don't take his bullshit to heart, he's only playing with you."
However, Xie Lian said, "No, he said some things that weren't a joke, just..."
Feng Xin was shocked, "He actually told you the way to lift the curse?"
Xie Lian's right hand grabbed at his own hair, "He didn't tell me how to cure the Human Face Disease, what he told me was... the way to inflict the Human Face Disease!"
The other two were aghast, "Inflict?"
Xie Lian nodded, looked around, and felt it was still best not to stick around at BeiZi Hill, and decided to leave first. He didn't want to see the soldiers' averting gazes nor the cries and whines of patients, so he returned to his crown prince bedchambers in the palace that was left empty for many years.
It was after closing the door did Xie Lian somewhat calm down and sat down, speaking in a grave voice, "Those 'faces' grown on those people were all the dead souls of Yong'an. A part were those who died on the battlefield, but the majority were those who died in the drought."
Mu Qing wasn't surprised, "No wonder none from Yong'an were infected with the Human Face Disease; of course they wouldn't attack their own people."
Feng Xin frowned, "Those who died in the drought weren't killed by those in the royal capital, so even if there's a grudge, there was no reason to strike here?"
Xie Lian breathed a sigh, "Even if that's the case, you both know that when a person dies, there's a period of confusion."
When a person had passed away, there was a time when their souls were like a newborn, barely conscient, half cognizant, unknowing of who they were, where they were, what they were doing, and that period could be long or short depending on their own affinity. That period was called the 'Period of Confusion'.
Under those circumstances, the family or lovers of those spirits could guide them or influence them. The common custom of 'Calling Spirits on the Seventh Day'* was based on this rationale.
Xie Lian continued, "He... told me, that the soldiers of Yong'an harboured an intense animosity and hostility towards the royal capital, and their parents, spouses, children, many of them all died in the drought."
"Those souls of the dead would unconsciously be affected by their family's emotions, and so he used the strong wills of those soldiers to instill enmity within the spirits and urged them to take on living flesh as a host and fight for nutrients within their host's body"
"And this worked because those spirits in their period of confusion were repeatedly indoctrinated by one thought: that if not for them, you could've survived."
"What kind of bullshit belief is that, who deserves to live and who deserves to die??" Feng Xin commented.
Xie Lian covered his forehead, "Before, Lang Ying had unintentionally buried the body of his son here at the royal capital, and that became a fuse for his curse. I told him to give me a cure, but with so much talk, all he told me was the entire process of how to cast this curse. What the heck?"
A curse couldn't be lifted just by knowing how it was casted. Feng Xin cussed, "He's playing with you. What the hell. What the fuck!"
Mu Qing, however, piped up, "He wasn't playing with you. He did tell you the way."
Between Xie Lian and Feng Xin, one looked up and the other turned his head, "What way?"
"The way to lift the curse!" Mu Qing replied.
His eyes brightened as if he discovered a secret, "Yong'an's curse works because they harbour hatred towards Xian Le. As for Xian Le, there isn't any less hatred harboured for Yong'an!"
Xie Lian's eyes widened slightly, his breathing hitched. Mu Qing added, "Since he told you how to cast the curse, then, an eye for an eye, you can cast the same curse and inflict the Human Face Disease upon those in Yong'an! Just think, the curse can only work if there are live people working it. Once they're infected by the disease, they'd be too busy dealing with it, and maybe in the long run there wouldn't be any of them left, so the curse would break itself!"
Xie Lian had never thought of it that way. Listening to him explain, Xie Lian was temporarily dumbfounded. A moment later, he blurted, "Definitely not!"
"Why not?" Mu Qing pushed, "Don't forget, the ones who casted the curse first were them."
Xie Lian instantly rose to his feet, "No means no. Also, you're wrong. And it must also be difficult for the Yong'an soldiers to get infected just like the soldiers of Xian Le. Don't ask me why, I–"
Mu Qing immediately cut in, "Then just infecting civilians is fine too! They don't have a complete set of first aid resources and hands like the royal capital, and the moment the human face disease erupts, it'd spread much faster, and they'd have no way to fight back! Threatening the safety of the civilians behind their backs to stop their curses and force them to surrender is the same thing, they can't compete with the royal capital in exhausting resources!"
Xie Lian instantly rejected the idea, "Absolutely not! Don't forget what we called them when they attacked the innocent civilians of the royal capital: Despicable. If we do the same thing, then won't we become the same despicable people? How is that different from them?"
Mu Qing schooled his excitement, "Your Highness, don't forget just the kind of people who died to lure you into the Land of the Tender. They're what you called 'innocent' civilians."
Once that was said, Xie Lian fell into hesitation.
To be truthful, there was no way for him not to take that to heart. However, he still replied, "That's right, there were certainly those kinds of people. But that was because those who charge at the forefront are the most passionate, so you only saw those types of people in your eyes. But in reality, the majority of the civilians know nothing. Go to BeiZi Hill and you'll see. A lot of them don't even know why they're fighting. They'll go where there's food; they just want to survive. Mu Qing, what you're advising me to do right now is to save a group of innocent people by killing another group of innocent people. I..."
He sighed, "Let me try and think of another way."
Mu Qing's tone was growing impertinent and somewhat mocking, "Why would I want to go to BeiZi Hill to care how enemy civilians get on? Please. Your Highness, you're so considerate of others, but they have never been considerate of you, doesn't that suck?"
Xie Lian was despondent, and lowered his head, yet the image of that leg packed with those faces that continued to squirm even after having been cut off floated in his mind. After hesitating for a long while, in the end he still shook his head, "At the end of the day, this isn't in consideration of others. Even in consideration of ourselves, a curse is a double-edged sword in itself; it hurts others and ourselves. In order to curse others, the living caster must have a heart filled with poison, and those who died also cannot rest in peace. They already suffered enough whilst alive, and even in death they must live on in another's flesh, turning into monsters. You saw those things on that man's leg that day. How were those 'faces' that were desperately trying to live any better than those infected by the disease? A curse will always rebound one day, and no one will receive a good end."
Having been spurned repeatedly, Mu Qing was losing his patience, "BEFORE THEY REACHED THEIR BAD END, WE'LL ALREADY HAVE PERISHED! YOU DON'T HAVE A THIRD PATH AND THERE IS NO SECOND CUP OF WATER. WAKE UP, YOUR HIGHNESS! YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME."
Xie Lian could feel his head burning and closed his eyes, "...don't say anymore. Let me think some more."
"..."
Finally, Mu Qing couldn't hold back anymore and started cursing under his breath, "You really are... the one suffering indecision is you, now with a cure in hand, the one refusing it is also you. You're really... really annoying. Look at the state of you, just looking at you is a pain. Your worshippers must've collected bloody misfortune for eight lifetimes!"
At first Feng Xin was listening to their argument glumly but because he couldn't contribute any better ideas he didn't join in. Right then he suddenly raised his hand and shoved, yelling, "ARE YOU DONE!"
Mu Qing was shoved back a few steps, and Xie Lian looked up, "Feng Xin?"
"YOUR HIGHNESS, DON'T MIND ME!" Feng Xin shouted, then turned to Mu Qing, "WHY ARE YOU SO IRRITATED? TELL US, JUST WHAT EXACTLY IRRITATES YOU? I'VE TOLERATED YOU FOR A LONG TIME, BUT I WON'T HOLD BACK TODAY. I CAN'T FUCKING STAND YOU. YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A DEPUTY GENERAL; WITHOUT HIS HIGHNESS' APPOINTMENT WHO KNOWS WHERE YOU'D BE, SO WHY DO YOU ALWAYS ACT LIKE YOU'RE SMARTER, SHARPER, AND STRONGER THAN HIM? IF YOU'RE REALLY THAT AMAZING, WHY DID HIS HIGHNESS ASCEND AND NOT YOU?"
"I–!" Mu Qing cried
Xie Lian pulled at him, "Let it go, Feng Xin, Mu Qing is just anxious over the current situation–"
Feng Xin cut in, "ANXIOUS MY ASS! YOUR HIGHNESS I'M TELLING YOU, HE ONLY WANTS TO FIND A REASON TO LECTURE YOU; HE WON'T LET GO OF ANY CHANCE HE GETS TO SHOW HOW HE'S BETTER BECAUSE HE BELIEVES HE'S BETTER! A COLD PERSON LIKE HIM, YOU DON'T USUALLY SEE HOW MUCH HE ACTUALLY CARES FOR THE KINGDOM OF XIAN LE, SO NOW HE KNOWS TO BE ANXIOUS?"
He turned to Mu Qing again, "YOU DON'T THINK I CAN'T TELL YOU THINK HIS HIGHNESS IS A FOOL? I CAN TOLERATE YOUR SARCASM AND ROLLED EYES, I CAN ALSO TOLERATE YOU STANDING WHERE YOU SHOULDN'T. YOU LIKE TO SHOW OFF, IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME, SO FINE, GO SHOW OFF, YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO WOW THE HEAVENS ANYWAY. HIS HIGHNESS DOESN'T MIND SO I DON'T GIVE A SHIT EITHER. BUT SINCE YOU'RE GONNA CROSS THE LINE, I'M NOT GONNA STAND BACK. LISTEN UP: I'M NOT SURPRISED YOU LIKE USING DESPICABLE TRICKS, BUT HIS HIGHNESS IS HIS HIGHNESS, NO MATTER WHAT HE DECIDES, YOU BETTER RESPECT IT. DON'T YOU BE POINTING FINGERS AND FORGET WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE!"
While Feng Xin yelled, Xie Lian tried stopping him multiple times, but it might be because he'd been holding back for too long and so couldn't be stopped at all, spilling everything in one go. With every word, Mu Qing's face paled a shade. At first he jerked as if wanting to fight back, but at the end, he stopped, unspeaking, and glared at Feng Xin gravely. Xie Lian was furious, "ARE YOU DONE? DO YOU WANT ME TO KICK BOTH OF YOU OUT?!"
Feng Xin's face was completely red, blood obviously rushed to his head, and he stiffened his neck to counter, "Kick me out for all I care. I don't give a shit about being a heavenly official! If it wasn't for Your Highness' appointment, I really don't care for it. But even if you boot me back to the mortal realm and I become human again, I will still be loyal to you, Your Highness. At your command, I will be the first to charge forward, but I will not stand for a traitor! This guy, if he can't use you to become a heavenly official, he might not even follow you. I bet he doesn't even have anything good to say about you. THERE! I'm done!"
At first, Mu Qing was silent, his hand covering his mouth, but having held back for so long too, he couldn't put up with it anymore either and yelled back, "FUCKING USE HIM? WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SPEECH, WHAT DO YOU KNOW!"
Xie Lian was going mad, "BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!!"
The two bit back their retorts with immense difficulties. The dispute this time was too big, and even idiom trains couldn't save them. It was a while before Xie Lian could push down his fury and scowled, "...in any case, cursing is a no go."
Mu Qing sneered but still he acknowledged, "Hm. You're the boss."
Feng Xin was more succinct, "Yes sir."
Mu Qing cleared his expression and said, "If there's any consequences, Your Highness would take on the burden yourself anyway."
Feng Xin clicked his tongue but didn't say another word. Xie Lian acquiesced immediately, "Of course. I've already decided—"
Just then, the three of them all felt violent quaking, their bodies swaying, and Xie Lian was bewildered, "What's going on?"
Feng Xin was the first to react, "Earthquake!"
With earthquakes come casualties. Xie Lian shouted, "SAVE THE PEOPLE!"
Just as they were about to rush out, a person rolled out from under the bed and he extended his arm, "Cousin! Cousin, don't forget about me!!! Take me along too!!"
Seeing him, Xie Lian was even more perplexed, "Qi Rong, why are you in my chambers?!"
He couldn't possibly fathom the bizarre life Qi Rong led, having nothing better to do than to gather and collect anything related to Xie Lian all day. He also didn't know how long Qi Rong's been listening in on them in secret, but with such a dire situation at hand, he didn't have the time to question him. He grabbed Qi Rong's arm and ran, and disposed of him in an open area. It was chaos within the palace, and countless attendants screamed as they rushed out from that extravagant building. He cried loudly, "IS ANYONE HURT? IS THERE ANYONE STUCK?"
Fortunately, it didn't take long before the earthquake stopped, and after inquiring, it seemed there were no wounded or dead. Still, his heart was tight. Suddenly, there was another scream, and many were pointing at the sky behind him. Xie Lian whipped around and his pupils shrank. At the centre of the palace was a gigantic, glamorous pagoda, and it was slowly leaning.
The Celestial Pagoda was going to collapse!
This Celestial Pagoda, its full name being 'The Pagoda of Celestial Being', possessed centuries of history, and was one of the symbols of the Xian Le Palace. It was also the tallest building in all of the royal capital, sitting in the heart between the palace and the fortress city. It was a renown landmark. If this pagoda fell, there would be innumerous casualties; the palace attendants and the pedestrians on the streets outside the palace all started fleeing with even more madness. Seeing this, Xie Lian's right hand immediately moved to cast spells, and yelled in the direction of Mount Taicang: "COME!"
That pagoda continued to lean slowly, and just as it had bent to one third of the way down, the masses suddenly felt another wave of quaking.
This tremor also came from the ground, yet, it was different than that of an earthquake. The tremors came one at a time, having its own regular rhythm, and it became faster and faster, closer and closer. When that pagoda seemed to have leaned some more, the people finally realized that tremor was the footsteps of something.
A giant golden statue of over five meters tall, a sword in one hand, flower in the other, its body glowing, and it was walking towards the palace in large strides!
Someone immediately shouted in amazement, "ISN'T THAT THE CROWN PRINCE STATUE FROM THE XIAN LE PAVILION AT THE HUANG JI PAVILION?"
Soon, many more recognized it, "IT'S TRUE! IT'S THAT GOLDEN STATUE! LOOK, IT'S COMING FROM MOUNT TAICANG!"
Every step that golden statue took was a number of miles, but it didn't step on anyone. Thump-thump, thump-thump, it stepped into the palace like it was flying, and caught the Celestial Pagoda that was falling, stopping the ruinous situation.
Under the setting sun, that golden light shone, that glowing gilded figure raised both hands, and with its might, it exerted all its strength to hold up the gigantic pagoda that was almost collapsed. It was the very picture of a miracle, shocking countless witnesses into awed silence. Xie Lian slowly dropped his hand and looked to that divine statue. Seeing that handsome, calm gilded expression, a flicker of bemusement flashed in his mind.
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●[頭七叫魂/ 頭七] Calling the Spirit on the Seventh Day – it's a common belief that souls of the dead return home on the night of the sixth day to the morning of the seventh. There are many different rituals depending on the region on what is done when the spirit returns.