Chapter 76: I Decided the Path I Walk

Xie Lian suddenly remembered something—that fateful day at the Palace of Divine Might, Lan Chang had randomly accused everyone, but she had never pointed her finger at Feng Xin even though he was standing in the most conspicuous spot.

Jian Lan immediately denied it. "He's not!"

Disbelief was plain on Fu Yao's face as well; he seemed dumb-founded at the revelation that Feng Xin and this woman were connected.

Hearing her speak, he finally snapped out of it.

"He hasn't even asked anything, so why did you answer so quickly?"

"Please! It's obvious what he was going to say," Jian Lan said. "And I'm telling you, he's not!"

However, Feng Xin was staring at the fetus spirit. "What did you call him? Cuocuo?"

That name, "mistake," seemed to have a special implication. Jian Lan opened her mouth, then closed it, no longer willing to argue.

"What's a big man like you doing, talking so much?" she said instead, frustrated. "If I said he's not, he's not! Who the hell's so eager to recognize their bastard?!"

"What are you saying?" Feng Xin replied angrily. "If he is, then of course I'll…" "Of course you'll what? Recognize him? Raise him?" Jian Lan countered.

"I…" Feng Xin was stuck.

He looked down at the deformed little monster hanging off of his arm. The fetus spirit seemed to bear a particularly deep hatred for him; it was latched on, tearing and chomping and crying wah wah wah. Feng Xin didn't know what to do; he couldn't hit it, nor could he not hit it. His bloodied hand clenched into a fist.

Seeing that he was stumped, that it looked like he couldn't accept the truth, Jian Lan tsk-ed at him. "I already said he's not, but you're still pushing! He's got nothing to do with you. There. Feel better?!"

"Bullshit! He has to!" Qi Rong yapped. "See, I wasn't wrong—it really is the spawn of a pleb! Everyone come check this out; Feng Xin's own son was carved out of his ol' ma's belly and turned into a little ghost, hee hee. I can't believe people actually pray to this shitty 'Son-Gifting' Nan Yang! Watch out, the more you pray, the more your sons are gonna be…" Xie Lian raised his hand and Ruoye sealed Qi Rong's mouth. Jian Lan also stomped heavily on his head a few times, which led to some muffled screams.

Just then, Guzi blearily woke up to see Qi Rong getting trampled, and he lunged forward. "Don't… Don't step on my dad…" With Guzi clinging to Qi Rong's head, Jian Lan couldn't stomp anymore. Instead, she changed course; she seized the fetus spirit by its little blanched legs and bolted, yelling at it angrily as she went.

"I told you to stop biting! So disobedient!"

Feng Xin was spacing out and didn't manage to catch them in time.

"Ruoye, chase!" Xie Lian cried on reflex.

Ruoye chased as commanded, but only once the white silk bandage flew out did Xie Lian remember that it had been binding Qi Rong. He looked back, and sure enough, Qi Rong had leapt to his feet looking pleased, with Guzi still clinging to his head.

"This ancestor's free again!" he announced.

Seeing that Feng Xin had finally snapped out of it, Xie Lian changed Ruoye's orders.

"Ruoye, come back after all."

Thus, Ruoye came flying back to give Qi Rong a sound slap— thwack! Qi Rong had been singing the song of freedom, but now he was clobbered hard enough to spin in place three times. He tumbled to the ground, covering his face. After sprawling there for a moment, he went berserk and seized hold of Ruoye, shouting at it.

"Even a rag like you dares hit me?!"

This time, Ruoye was stuck in his clutches; it couldn't free itself no matter how it twisted. It was as if Qi Rong's strength had suddenly exploded. Xie Lian was about to take care of him personally when Qi Rong realized there was a small child on his head. He yanked Guzi down, holding him like a shield to protect himself.

"Don't come a step closer! Do it and I'll strangle him! Hey, hey, hey, look behind you, that dog Hua Cheng is gonna die!"

Shocked, Xie Lian whipped around. Sure enough, Hua Cheng's brows were tightly knit, and his hands were trembling at his sides. It seemed like he was forcing himself to endure something, but when he saw Xie Lian looking over at him, he immediately declared, "I'm fine!"

The agitation of ghosts!

The tremors this time seemed stronger than any so far. In a split-second decision, Xie Lian rushed back to Hua Cheng's side to hold him in his arms. Qi Rong took this chance to make his getaway with Guzi in his clutches.

Jian Lan also seemed to be suffering a throbbing headache, and she vainly covered her ears to muffle the tremors' calls. The fetus spirit bit and tore even more violently under this aggravation. Feng Xin had been bitten over a dozen times, and blood was pouring freely from the wounds, but he still didn't dare hit the creature; he instead reached out to tightly grab hold of Jian Lan's arm. The fetus spirit, however, didn't hold back, and swung its claws toward Feng Xin's face to give him a nasty scratch. Feng Xin grunted and covered the new wound; it wasn't clear if his eyes had been injured.

Xie Lian was mortified and was about to send forth Ruoye, but Jian Lan furiously stomped her feet.

"If you keep this up, I'm going to get angry!"

Only after being scolded by its mother did the fetus spirit jump back into her arms, obediently curling up into a bundle. Jian Lan gave Feng Xin a look and gritted her teeth.

"He has nothing to do with you. I'm warning you, leave us alone!"

And then, with one hand hugging her head and the other hugging her son, the mother fled with her child in tow.

Fu Yao cried, "Let me go!"

Feng Xin knelt on the ground, covering half his face. Xie Lian crouched next to him with Hua Cheng in his arms.

"Are you all right? Let me take a look at your injuries. Was your eye scratched?"

Blood dripped through the cracks of his fingers, and Feng Xin replied with his eyes closed. "…No. And don't ask me."

"Feng Xin… Lan Chang… Miss Jian Lan, what was she talking…" Xie Lian had only just started to ask when Feng Xin swung out his fist. With a loud crack, the tree beside them was punched in half.

"I told you not to ask me!" he roared.

That response sounded unexpectedly resentful, and Xie Lian could tell the resentment was directed at him. He couldn't help but be taken aback.

But Hua Cheng commented coldly, "Who turned your wife and son into ghosts? Go burn the right person with that fire of yours."

At this, Feng Xin raised his head slightly to stare at Fu Yao, his eyes red. Fu Yao was at first stunned, then furious.

"What are you looking at? You don't actually think it was m…my general? What is this terrible luck?! All he did was notice that the woman was a surviving citizen of Xianle and had some relation to the royals and nobility, so he lent her a helping hand. He had wanted to save that fetus spirit, but it refused to see sense; not only did it not want to be saved, it even turned into a fierce! Nothing good came of his help, and he ended up coated in crap. Had he known it'd end like that, he wouldn't have bothered!

That little ghost doesn't even recognize who gave birth to it; you think it actually knows who killed it?!"

Perhaps it was because he had gotten tangled up in too many upsetting things lately, but his words were quite rude indeed.

"Your general calls a trifling incident like this 'terrible luck'? Should people who suffer worse luck simply die, then?" Hua Cheng said.

Feng Xin shook his head. "…How did things end up this way?" he murmured. "How did it get like this?"

"Why…don't you take care of your injuries first," Xie Lian tried.

"Did you bring any balms?"

Feng Xin glanced at him and said darkly, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me!"

He didn't bother tending to his wounds. With one hand covering his injuries, he stood up and stumbled away. Xie Lian and Fu Yao called after him a few times to ask if he was going back to the Upper Court or planned on giving chase, but he didn't answer, and soon his silhouette disappeared.

Fu Yao struggled again. "Your Highness!" he cried angrily. "If you won't give chase, will you at least let me do it?"

Xie Lian snapped out of it. After weighing the options, he agreed, "All right."

And then he actually let go. Fu Yao didn't seem to think he would actually comply, and he humphed as he worked out the kinks in his wrists.

"Why are you so willing to let me go now?"

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead. "The…situation…in the Upper Court is probably even worse than I imagined…" He sighed. "Rather than advising your general to return, I now think he should continue to act on his own."

He paused briefly, then added, "What are you going to do now? I don't think the fetus spirit was throwing around that defamation as simply a means of escape. There might be someone directing it behind the scenes."

Fu Yao dusted off his sleeves. "Who cares? It's heading for Mount Tonglu, so I'll figure that out after capturing it!"

He rushed off. The inn, once lively with so many groups of people, was suddenly quiet and deserted. Xie Lian turned and went to check the collapsed cottage. He flipped and pulled aside the beams and straw to look around and made sure that those monks and cultivators really were only unconscious. Upon reassuring himself that they would probably come around soon, he left as well.

He and Hua Cheng traveled for a while, and once they had left the barren hills behind, they finally found a real inn and stopped to rest.

The past few days felt like a flurry of chaos to Xie Lian. He sat on the windowsill, lost in thought. Ruoye curled around his arm, rubbing against him gently as if it were purring, and Xie Lian scratched it absentmindedly.

Hua Cheng came to the window to bathe under the same moonlight.

He spoke his mind.

"It has nothing to do with you."

Xie Lian was shaken out of his reverie. He soon understood what that meant, but he shook his head.

"I don't know if that's true… Feng Xin must've befriended Miss Jian Lan after the fall of Xianle and before his own ascension. That would've been during the years of my first banishment."

"But that doesn't mean you're at fault for how things turned out," Hua Cheng said.

After some thought, Xie Lian said, "San Lang, I've never talked about my first banishment, have I?"

"No," Hua Cheng said.

"I've never told anyone. I hope you don't mind if I make you listen to me babble," Xie Lian said.

Hua Cheng lightly pushed himself up onto the windowsill to sit there as well. "I don't mind. Go ahead."

Xie Lian began to speak, chasing his memories. "Back then, the only subordinate I had left was Feng Xin, and life was very difficult. The possessions I had while I was a martial god, while I was a crown prince, were all pawned off."

Hua Cheng chuckled. "Including Hongjing, right?"

Xie Lian smiled gaily. "Ha ha ha…that's right. Jun Wu can't know about that; do keep it a secret for me. And those dozens of golden belts— they were pawned too."

"Mmm. So Feng Xin took one of your golden belts and gave it to Lan Chang?" Hua Cheng asked.

Xie Lian shook his head. "I don't think that's true. Feng Xin wouldn't have taken my things so frivolously. I was the one who told him to sell it and to keep the money for himself."

That was essentially Xie Lian giving him a lot of money for no reason. Feng Xin had repeatedly declined the offer at the time, but Xie Lian was relentless, and in the end he had said, "I'll keep it for you for now."

"It's shameful to admit this, but the reason I made him sell those things and keep the money wasn't just out of guilt—it was also out of fear."

With all his devotees gone, only Feng Xin still treated him like the Flower-Crowned Martial God and His Highness the Crown Prince. Only then did Xie Lian realize that, even though they had grown up together and Feng Xin was his trusted servant and bodyguard, he had not once received any special reward.

Suddenly, Xie Lian knew fear—fear that Feng Xin would decide this life was too hard and stop following him.

Thus, that golden belt wasn't meant as a reward. It wasn't purely a gift or a show of appreciation—more one of compensation and ingratiation.

Xie Lian had seen a protection charm in the illusion created by the fetus spirit; it was probably something Feng Xin had given to Jian Lan.

After Xianle fell, all of Xie Lian's temples and shrines were burned down.

Not a single soul believed in the Crown Prince of Xianle anymore, and his protection charms were seen as trash. However, Feng Xin was still determined and tirelessly handed them out—all the while telling Xie Lian, "Look, you still have devotees." But Xie Lian knew deep down that all those protection charms were most likely thrown away.

"Even after so many years, I never knew if Feng Xin fancied anyone.

I never asked, and I never paid attention," Xie Lian said slowly.

After all, he had been the darling of the heavens since birth, high and mighty and above all. Feng Xin naturally orbited around him like he was the sun, so how could he possibly have his own life and own heart?

"It might not sound great to give a girl something you yourself had been given, but that golden belt was genuinely the best gift Feng Xin could manage at the time. After all, we were frequently missing meals, and Feng Xin wasn't someone who'd spend wastefully. It's easy to imagine how much he liked Miss Jian Lan. But if he liked her so much…why did they split up?"

Whether or not the fetus spirit was Feng Xin's son, Xie Lian couldn't forgive himself if that time of poverty made Feng Xin lose the girl he loved.

"If he liked her but they separated in the end," Hua Cheng replied, "then it proves that what they had was only like."

Xie Lian smiled wistfully. "San Lang, things aren't always that absolute. Sometimes, it's not up to you to decide if the road is easy to walk."

"I might not be able to decide if the road is easy, but whether I walk it is entirely up to me," Hua Cheng said quietly.

Xie Lian blinked. He felt like a knot in his heart had been untied, and he stared wordlessly at Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng tilted his head.

"Gege, am I wrong?"

As he watched Hua Cheng's twinkling black eyes, Xie Lian suddenly grabbed hold of him and settled him on his lap.

"Ha ha ha, San Lang, you're very right!"

"…" Hua Cheng seemed stunned by this and allowed himself to be lifted high in the air. Xie Lian laughed.

"Let me be blunt for a moment. The brash way San Lang said that—it quite resembled my younger self."

Hua Cheng seemed to have grown accustomed to being hugged and tossed around like this, and he quirked his brows. "Wow, what a dream."

They played around in the room for a while, then Xie Lian tossed Hua Cheng onto the bed before climbing on himself. He rolled over to face the ceiling and was about to speak when Hua Cheng abruptly sat up. His pupils shrank and his eyes turned sharp as he looked across the room.

Sensing something wrong, Xie Lian quickly sat up as well. He was awash in a cold sweat the moment he saw what it was.

Another person had silently appeared in their room. Somehow, neither of them had sensed a thing until now.

The person sat by the table, upon which there was a pot of tea brewed and ready, its fragrant scent permeating the air. And yet Xie Lian hadn't even noticed!

He couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine as he leveled Fangxin in a defensive stance.

"Who's there?!"

"Do not be afraid," a man's voice replied evenly. "Tea, Xianle?"

"…" That voice and figure were both suddenly very familiar. Even as his heart was still thumping, Xie Lian sighed a breath of relief. Some strands of hair had come loose during their play, and he brushed them back behind his ears.

"My Lord…" Before he'd fully exhaled, he yanked up the blanket to hide both Hua Cheng and his own body.

"…Why has My Lord descended?"

The hand under the blanket grasped Hua Cheng tightly, gesturing for him not to worry. Jun Wu leisurely poured three cups of tea before he rose to his feet.

"You did not return, so naturally, I had to descend and see for myself what was keeping you."

He folded his hands behind his back as he spoke and slowly stepped out from the shadows to walk toward Xie Lian. Xie Lian's eyes traced up Jun Wu's white robes to land on the sword in his hand. Startled, he swiftly jumped off the bed.

"My Lord, I can explain…" Unexpectedly, behind him, Hua Cheng pulled off the blanket and sat up. He wore a smile as he sat cross-legged with his arms casually resting on his knees.

"I don't think that's necessary," Hua Cheng said.

Xie Lian stood between them.

"I think we can probably sit down first and talk. Look at this child, My Lord, doesn't he look like—" "Your son, correct?" Jun Wu finished the statement for him and smiled.

"…Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha ha…" Xie Lian laughed awkwardly for a bit.

"How did My Lord know what I was going to say?"

Jun Wu finally moved his gaze off of Hua Cheng. He lightly patted Xie Lian's shoulder and, without another word, turned to sit at the table once more. Xie Lian understood this meant there would be no confrontation for the time being. He sighed an unconscious breath of relief.

If Jun Wu intended to kill, Xie Lian had personally witnessed just how terrifying he could be after he unsheathed his sword. Under no circumstances did Xie Lian want Hua Cheng to face that head-on.

Still, Hua Cheng's expression remained unfriendly, and his eyes never left Jun Wu. Jun Wu pushed the teacups forward.

"Good sir, although this is not the first time we have met, it certainly is the first time we have been in such close proximity. Since it is a peaceful occasion, why not take tea for wine and let us smooth over this situation?"

Xie Lian lightly cleared his throat and tried to appear as casual as possible while he donned his outer robe. Slipping on his boots, he asked, "My Lord, how are things in the Upper Court?"

Jun Wu didn't reply for a long moment. He set down his teacup and gazed out the window to watch the moon, then sighed. "I do not wish to speak of it."

"All right…I won't ask," Xie Lian said.

It would seem things were truly terrible. However, Jun Wu turned to look back and said, straight-faced, "I kid. Even if I do not wish to speak of it, I must. Xianle, leave your little friend for now and follow me outside for a moment."

Apparently, there were things to discuss that shouldn't be overheard.

Xie Lian was about to comply when Hua Cheng made a leisurely comment from behind him.

"Your Upper Court is in complete chaos; it's not a secret. Even rube ghosts out in the countryside know that the ghosts' gathering couldn't be stopped this time, and they're howling nonstop in excitement. So why bother speaking in private?"

He climbed off the bed and languidly strolled to the table, then picked up a teacup to idly toy with—he seemed quite uninterested in actually drinking from it.

A few moments later, all three were seated at the table. Hua Cheng's current appearance looked young, but his expression and manners almost made one forget it.

"Nothing can deceive your eyes, good sir," Jun Wu replied evenly.

The tea had been poured by Jun Wu, and due respect must be given, so Xie Lian sipped from his cup. As he did so, he asked, "Isn't there still some time before Mount Tonglu's gates officially open and seal? Has it been confirmed that it's happening right now?"

Feng Xin had told him this as well, but Xie Lian suspected he was exaggerating. He doubted this was as certain as he'd claimed.

However, Jun Wu affirmed, "Indeed, it cannot be stopped."

"I suppose you had planned on doing what you've always done— deploy all the martial gods to blockade every road leading to Mount Tonglu and stop the ghosts en route," Hua Cheng commented. "But then Mu Qing broke out of prison and went on the run. His whereabouts are unknown, and his absence leaves a gap in the southern defense."

"Did Feng Xin return to the Heavenly Capital?" Xie Lian inquired.

"How is he? Did he say anything?"

"I suppose you had planned on doing what you've always done— deploy all the martial gods to blockade every road leading to Mount Tonglu and stop the ghosts en route," Hua Cheng commented. "But then Mu Qing broke out of prison and went on the run. His whereabouts are unknown, and his absence leaves a gap in the southern defense."

"Did Feng Xin return to the Heavenly Capital?" Xie Lian inquired.

"How is he? Did he say anything?"

"He returned, but not in good condition," Jun Wu replied. "Nan Yang came back wounded and gave a rushed report of the situation, then pleaded for me to order all heavenly officials not to touch the female ghost Lan Chang and her son. He had wanted to descend again after reporting in, but his injuries were severe; he can barely move his right arm. I detained him to recover in the Heavenly Capital. However, that leaves the southern defense full of holes."

If this were any other matter—for example, if they needed someone to go kill a monster or steal spiritual pills or something—Xie Lian would volunteer in an instant. But one couldn't lead troops by charging ahead alone; one man might break through an army of millions, but there was no way he could defend against that army. Xie Lian had long understood that leading people and armies wasn't his strength. Rather than forcing himself to step up, it would be best if someone more suited for the position was nominated. Thus, he wasn't quick to volunteer.

Instead, he asked, "Is there no other martial god who can take up the task?"

"Other martial gods have their own domains and assignments to handle and can take on no more," Jun Wu replied. "Pei Xiu from the Palace of Ming Guang might have once been available, but he has long since been exiled. As for Qi Ying, he is the same as you: a free spirit who prefers to charge around the world alone, doing as he wishes—his whereabouts are also currently unknown, and that child never answers spiritual communication. The head official of the Palace of Ling Wen is also missing. There is a temporary chief, but while the other civil gods are certainly skilled in the arts…they are incapable when it comes to facilitating communication, making decisions, and coordinating management. These past few days…" He made it sound like the Upper Court was about to fall apart. Xie Lian couldn't bear to hear it, and his sympathy only grew.

"I remember My Lord once said that there is another remedy to this, even if the gathering of ghosts can't be stopped. What can be done?"

"'Remedy'?" Hua Cheng echoed. "Probably a suicidal one, I bet."

Jun Wu gave him a look and sighed. "I also said that I did not want to take that step unless absolutely necessary."

It clicked in Xie Lian's mind. "Could it be…?"

"Correct. With things as they are, the only way to remedy the situation is to send a martial god to infiltrate the gathering of ghosts at Mount Tonglu," Jun Wu slowly confirmed.

If the slaughter couldn't be stopped, then they had to ensure that it was thorough—that not a single ghost was left behind!

Xie Lian crossed his arms into his sleeves and knitted his brows. "I'm not too familiar with Mount Tonglu, and I don't really know how the rules work. How should this be done—exterminate every last nefarious creature that reaches the mountain?"

But that was an inconceivable task. A god would have to conceal their identity to infiltrate Mount Tonglu, and they couldn't bring much help along. Otherwise, the ghosts would discover that there were heavenly officials in their midst and would surely surround and annihilate them.

Mount Tonglu was also a locus of great evil; a heavenly official's spiritual powers would be severely restricted while in its perimeter. It would be even worse than the suppression they experienced at the Black Water Demon Lair.

"No," Jun Wu replied. "There is no need to make that much effort."

"I'm familiar with Mount Tonglu. Gege, look outside," Hua Cheng said.

Following where he was pointing, Xie Lian looked out the window.

There was a large field outside planted with some flowers and herbs, and there was also a tiny flowerpot tucked into a corner. Hua Cheng hopped onto the windowsill and pointed at the flowerpot.

"In the heart of Mount Tonglu lies a giant kiln."

Just as the words left his lips, the little flowerpot fell over and rolled to the center of the field, then righted itself. The once-flat ground pulsed outward in waves from that flowerpot heart, and the field was transformed into an expanse of rolling mounds of various sizes.

"Mount Tonglu, the central volcano, is fully encircled by mountains," Hua Cheng continued. "These are the Tonglu Mountains, an area as big as seven cities."

Xie Lian watched, amazed, and then leapt lightly out the window. As he stood in the field among the tiny hills, it made him feel like a giant looking down upon the vast earth.

"The slaughter begins at the outer edges of the mountain range," Hua Cheng continued. "The goal is to reach the center and enter the mountain's heart—that is, the Kiln."

With a casual wave of his hand, many small things on the ground started to move. Xie Lian crouched for a closer look and discovered that dozens of weeds and leaves were twisting through the hills, as if they were tiny people crossing a mountain range.

"Which is to say, the ghosts are stronger as one approaches the center —as they close in on the Kiln?" he remarked.

"Yes," Hua Cheng said. "Because the weak weeds were already annihilated at the edges."

With another light wave, a breeze brushed by; the weeds were completely cleared away. The empty little hills became desolate, appearing almost sad. However, the flowerpot at the center suddenly emitted flashes of red light—looking very much the part of a tiny kiln, reddened by flame.

As Xie Lian stared at it, he noticed a tiny red flower among the unremarkable weeds that had jumped onto the flowerpot. They all spun around the edges of the pot like people dancing, and the little red flower danced the wildest.

Hua Cheng half crouched next to him. "Only a handful of ghosts at most can enter the Kiln's interior. Once they've done so, the Kiln will close."

Those little "people" danced and danced, then fell from the flowerpot's rim one by one to be swiftly swallowed by the black soil.

"One ghost must break out of the Kiln within forty-nine days of entering," Hua Cheng continued.

The flowerpot shuddered violently, then a flash of blinding red light exploded from the pot with a bang, sending out a shock wave of dust.

The little red flower leapt out of the mud, fresh from its "earth"-shattering rebirth. It raised its two tiny leaves skyward as if shouting to the winds and announcing its might to the world. Xie Lian couldn't help but puff out a laugh at the sight.

However, perhaps it had gotten overly excited—the little red flower slipped and nearly fell from its perch on the edge of the flowerpot. Xie Lian hurriedly reached out and gently caught it, and he cradled it in his palms.

The little red flower seemed dizzy from the fall. It shook its head, then raised its face to gaze at its rescuer.

Xie Lian brushed off some specks of dirt that had splattered onto his hair. "So this little one born from Mount Tonglu is the next generation's ghost king?"

Hua Cheng nodded. "Correct. The initial slaughter is a strengthening process; it cannot be skipped. If a ghost isn't strong enough and can't break out of the Kiln after it enters, it will be suffocated inside and burned to ash.

It will become nothing but fuel for a more qualified candidate."

He rose to his feet and called to Jun Wu, who was still sitting inside.

"Your plan is to cut down the mighty and leave the weeds. There are only so many with the potential to become a ghost king—once those candidates are annihilated, the remaining weak ones might get into the Kiln, but they won't have the strength to leave. If they can't break out, they won't be recognized as ghost kings."

Xie Lian nodded. "Sounds doable. But will it work? Has it been attempted before?"

Jun Wu approached the window. "I do not know. And no, it has never been attempted before. In the past, the ghosts have always been stopped before they managed to assemble."

Hua Cheng crossed his arms. "I'm afraid it's impossible. Fighting under these conditions is suicide in all but name. I suggest the one who came up with such a brilliant idea go do it himself."

"I intend to," Jun Wu replied easily.

Xie Lian was taken aback. "My Lord?"

"Xianle, this is precisely why I descended," Jun Wu said. "I will be going to Mount Tonglu. I need you to return to the Upper Court and take up my duties for the time being."

Xie Lian dropped his hands and leapt to his feet. "There's no way!

Temporarily take your place? Me? My Lord, please don't joke! No one will listen to me."

Jun Wu grinned. "Then this will be a very good chance for you to convince them to do so."

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead. "My Lord, pardon me, but I really cannot agree with you this time. This is too absurd. To use a vulgar example from the Mortal Realm, an emperor can ride forth onto the battlefield, but have you ever heard of an emperor infiltrating and assassinating? The Heavenly Capital can soar so high in the heavens because you are there to hold it up. No other heavenly official can do that; it is through My Lord's power alone. The sky will not fall if you are there to support it, but if you aren't there, it will."

"Xianle, the sky will not collapse for anyone in this world," Jun Wu replied, folding his hands behind him. "Once you become accustomed to the way the world works, you will understand that life goes on even without those lost along the road. There will always be new to replace the old. If a new ghost king is born, and they are another Crimson Rain Sought Flower or Ship-Sinking Black Water, there will not be an issue. But if they are another White-Clothed Calamity, the world will fall into chaos."

He looked Xie Lian in the eyes.

"You have witnessed for yourself how difficult it is to kill a supreme like him. If I do not go, there is no other way."

Xie Lian knew that Jun Wu wasn't being humble. Managing to accurately identify and subdue the strongest among millions of ghosts while trapped in a weakened state and sealed off from any hope of outside aid— Xie Lian couldn't say with any certainty that he could manage to do it himself. Jun Wu alone had a real chance at success. But he might be away for a decade—what about the outside world? What about the Upper Court?

Just then, Hua Cheng spoke up.

"Who says there's no other way?"