Paradise to Ashes; The Second Coming of Fang Xin
Xie Lian didn't think Shi Qing Xuan would suddenly light a fire and didn't even have the time to stop him before it was too late. The flames were exceedingly bright and revealed the silhouette of a black clad man.
The man in black had his head hung low against the stone wall at the end of the path, his face as white as a sheet, his hair a mess; but underneath that unkemptness was a pair of eyes that shone with determination, like burning ice. Although he sat cross legged without a trace of discomfort, the stench of thick blood in the air indicated he was gravely wounded, and was obviously imprisoned here. His "I have nothing to say" was probably him mistaking them for interrogators.
Shi Qing Xuan saw his face and cried, "It's you!"
That man didn't seem to expect other people either and was taken aback, looking like he wanted to say "its you!" too, but alas, held back. Xie Lian calmed the RuoYe that was ready to attack. "So you two know each other?"
After crossing so many hurdles and found someone, Shi Qing Xuan looked relieved and was about to respond when that man cut in and said in an indisputable tone, "I don't know him."
Shi Qing Xuan raged at those words and pointed at him with his fan, "Is it so shameful to know me? What hurtful words, Ming-Xiong*! I'm your best friend!"
The man denied it resolutely, "I have no friends that would run around in that sort of attire."
"..."
Shi Qing Xuan was still in his ragged purple silk dress, truly... a shameful sight. Xie Lian wanted to laugh and thought there's really people in this world who would use 'someone's best friend' to validate themselves; it's definitely Shi Qing Xuan's style. But "Ming-Xiong"? If he remembers correctly, of the five elemental masters, the Earth Master's name was Ming Yi. Xie Lian spoke up, "Are you perhaps the Lord Earth Master?"
"It's him. You've met before." Shi Qing Xuan replied.
Xie Lian looked Ming Yi over and said, "Have we?" He didn't recall ever meeting such a character.
"You have." Shi Qing Xuan said.
"We haven't." Ming Yi stated.
"Yea, you have!" Shi Qing Xuan said exasperatedly, "Last time at the BanYue Pass! You guys didn't forget that fast, did you?"
"..."
Seeing Ming Yi's face go from pale white to grim, Xie Lian finally remembered! Last time when they met at the BanYue Pass, wasn't there a black clad lady next to Shi Qing Xuan?!
Hua Cheng already told him at the time that that wasn't the Water Master, but must also be one of the five elemental masters. As expected, Shi Qing Xuan was not only passionate about transforming into his female form, he's also passionate about dragging others into doing the same. No wonder the black clad lady at the time looked extremely pissed and disgusted. Thinking back on how Shi Qing Xuan begged him to "join in the fun", Xie Lian sighed thinking that was close, and was glad he didn't relent.
"Lord Earth Master, was the Ascending Fire Dragon set forth by you?" Xie Lian asked.
"It was." Ming Yi answered.
They found the right person. Xie Lian nodded and said, "The Lord Earth Master is probably heavily wounded. We best make our escape now and talk later."
Without any prompt, Shi Qing Xuan knelt down and carried Ming Yi on his back, "Then let's get out of here."
The three retraced their steps and Shi Qing Xuan talked as he walked, "I say, Ming-Xiong¹, aren't you good at fighting? You were perfectly fine back at the BanYue Pass, so how did you get beat up this bad in just several days? How did you piss off that Crimson Rain Sought Flower?"
His tone was a teasing taunt and Xie Lian mentally noted, 'Fearless of getting punched in the face, that's definitely the way to talk to a good friend.' Ming Yi looked like he's had enough of listening to Shi Qing Xuan talk and only said, "Shut up!"
Xie Lian also wanted to know the answer to the same question but changed his wording, "Lord Earth Master, why would Hua Cheng want to provoke you?"
Ming Yi didn't tell him to shut up but didn't answer either. Xie Lian turned his head slightly to look at him and saw he had his eyes closed. After having been imprisoned and interrogated for days and heavily wounded, Ming Yi must've finally let down his guard after being rescued and could relax at last. It wasn't anything urgent anyway, so Xie Lian didn't try to wake him. The three ran up the stairs and Xie Lian threw out his dice at the top. He didn't know what number he tossed out in the dark, only that before them came a soft creaking sound, and a crack of light appeared. Xie Lian pushed at the door and was just thinking whether if he'd have the chance to take Lang Ying away too when he realized the first step his took was hollow.
The moment he felt himself fall forward he cried, "Don't come out!"
Xie Lian flipped in the air and fell on something hard. He was just feeling relieved that it wasn't some bladed mountain or a sea of fire he fell into when he raised his head and realized a bladed mountain or a sea of fire might've been a better alternative. Hua Cheng's exceptionally handsome face was inches away from his, his brows raised, looking at him.
This time when the stone door opened, his hollowed step made him fall on top of Hua Cheng!
The place of his fall was the armoury! Hua Cheng was seated on the throne of the armoury, composedly wiping the scimitar E-Ming. Even when someone suddenly fell on top of him from above he'd only moved his hands away and stopped the cleaning without any air of surprise. He calmly looked at Xie Lian, as if waiting for an explanation.
Of course Xie Lian had none, and could only lay in his lap and stare back boldly. Suddenly, he saw another person at the peripheral of his vision, and when he turned around, he saw it was Lang Ying.
That bandaged boy was sitting on the floor looking frightened, his hands grabbing his head, staring at the two of them. Why was Lang Ying here too? It looked as if Hua Cheng was interrogating him? And when Xie Lian's eyes moved upwards, he saw half of Shi Qing Xuan's white boot stepping out. There wasn't time to think, and in a hurry, Xie Lian gripped Hua Cheng's shoulders.
"I'm sorry!" Xie Lian cried, then pushed Hua Cheng aside.
This push threw Hua Cheng over a meter away and he even tumbled a couple times. After tumbling, Hua Cheng immediately stood and steadied himself, and by then Shi Qing Xuan, carrying Ming Yi, already jumped and landed with ease the same spot Hua Cheng was just sitting. Xie Lian forced himself to look back, and Hua Cheng was still looking at him without a word, but his brows were raised higher.
Xie Lian leapt to his feet and backed off a few feet, apologizing as he did so, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Lang Ying ran towards Xie Lian while watching Hua Cheng, still appearing quite afraid, and hid behind him. Xie Lian shielded him and said, "San Lang, allow me to explain."
"I'm waiting." Hua Cheng responded.
"Wait, isn't it the opposite?" Shi Qing Xuan spoke up, "He should be the one who owes you an explanation! He's the one responsible for the missing heavenly official; be wary, Your Highness!"
This was exactly the situation Xie Lian didn't want to face. He looked at Hua Cheng intently, "San Lang, I don't know what the misunderstanding was between you and the Lord Earth Master, but let's all calm down and talk this out."
The best case scenario would be Hua Cheng letting them go without harm. Although the Earth Master was wounded, his life was not at stake and he wasn't missing any limbs. If he could drop it, then all of this wouldn't have to devolve to the worst extreme case. If Hua Cheng let them leave and they report back to the heavens, then they'd be in his debt and Xie Lian could use it as a chance to ask Jun Wu to dismiss the whole thing.
However, Hua Cheng said instead, "Earth Master? What Earth Master?"
After a pause, he continued, "Oh, did you mean the one the Wind Master is carrying? He's nothing more than an inept subordinate of mine."
Hearing this, both Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan were taken aback. "He's obviously one of the heavenly officials, how dare you say otherwise!" Shi Qing Xuan said.
Hua Cheng laughed, "Then, I wonder why your honourable heavenly official would hide his identity, drop his respectable title and come work as an officer under me?"
Hua Cheng drew out E-Ming in a flash of crescent moon, "If that is truly the Earth Master, then what patience to put on an act for ten years. In the past ten years I had thought him suspicious from time to time, but there was no proof. If it wasn't for bumping into him and the Wind Master at BanYue, I'd still be in the clouds."
In that moment Xie Lian understood everything.
So that's what happened!
The Earth Master went missing and was imprisoned ultimately was because he had hidden his true identity ten years ago to go undercover as a ghost officer under Hua Cheng. In other words, he was a spy. Hua Cheng had thought his actions surreptitious, but without concrete evidence, he'd only kept him under his watch. And it was only recently that Hua Cheng finally uncovered his identity as the Earth Master.
During that journey to the BanYue Pass, Hua Cheng had seen the Earth Master next to the Wind Master.
Even under the disguise of a woman (thanks to the Wind Master), Hua Cheng still saw beneath that fake skin, and discovered that black clad lady was the ghost officer he suspected, and locked his identity on as one of the five elemental masters.
After the whole ordeal at BanYue had concluded, Hua Cheng probably left PuQi Shrine to go conclude things with the Earth Master. It may have been during Hua Cheng's pursuit to kill, whilst under dire circumstances, that Ming Yi set off the distress signal. Then, Jun Wu summoned Xie Lian and gave him the mission to run this rescue.
That a heavenly official did not mind his duties but went undercover in the ghost realm for over a decade was quite the scandal. Nevermind the politics behind it; if Ming Yi was to remain imprisoned and tortured, if he was to actually die under Hua Cheng's hands, then all heaven would break loose; it would be absolute chaos in the world. If that day were to come, no one would be spared. After thinking all this through, Xie Lian could only say, "I understand that the fault is ours. But, San Lang, I hope you will let us go this time around."
Hua Cheng watched him intently, and after a moment, said in a calm tone, "Your Highness, some things are best not to be involved in too much."
Suddenly, Shi Qing Xuan cried from the side, "Wind: come to me!"
The moment the fan came out, wild gusts started blowing through the armoury. The many weapons hung on the walls and on the shelves started rattling. "Lord Wind Master! We haven't done anything yet??" Xie Lian said, alarmed.
"I don't think either of you are going to make a move first," Shi Qing Xuan said, "So I'll be the bad guy this time. WIND! WIIINNNNNDDD COME TO ME!!!"
There was a huge cracking sound, and Xie Lian could feel layers of dust falling on his head from above. He raised his head and saw that it was the roof that was being raised by the gusts, breaking at the seams into a large crack.
The armoury had no windows or other visible exits, and Shi Qing Xuan had no intention to fight but to escape through the crack of the roof!
Within the mad gales, Hua Cheng's raven black hair and maple red clothes flew wildly with the winds, but his person never moved, He smirked, "You have a fan, and coincidentally, so do I."
From one of the many shelves, Hua Cheng retrieved a fan. It was small and intricate, its spine and leaf made of pure gold, serene and beautiful. Hua Cheng twirled it in his hand, snapping it open. He grinned wordlessly, elegant amidst his murderous aura. He flipped his hand and fanned, and a strong gust shot towards them with a blinding silver flash. The three dodged and heard behind them the sound of hail like darts smashing against the walls and ground. When they turned their heads to see, it was long rows upon rows of golden foils nailed to the ground. Each foil thin but deeply embedded, its sharpness apparent and vicious.
Each weapon within this armoury was a treasure to behold; a simple hand could have such murderous effect!
Hua Cheng flipped his hand again and another golden gust blew. The winds called forth by Shi Qing Xuan were strong, but the stronger it was, the more dangerous the situation became. The armoury was a mere chamber, its space limited. A portion of the winds raised by the Wind Master fan would rebound around the interior, hauling the golden foils along, dancing in this madness. Xie Lian was afraid the golden foils would harm people, so he shielded Lang Ying and cried, "Lord Wind Master, please stop for now!"
The golden foils had continuously brushed closely against Shi Qing Xuan and Ming Yi. Shi Qing Xuan wanted to stop too, however the roof had been raised by his winds, revealing a crack, and if he should stop now all of his efforts would go to waste. Just then the golden foils encircling them suddenly flew upwards uniformly. There was a cacophony of crackling before a person broke through the roof and jumped through the crack, debris and dust coming down with him.
The moment he landed that person shouted, "Lord Wind Master, I apologize but I just couldn't sit still anymore!"
Shi Qing Xuan was overjoyed, "Qian Qiu you've come in the nick of time!"
That young man carried a longsword, its blade the size of a grown man's palm – it was indeed Lang Qian Qiu. His longsword was a shimmering gold, but looking at it closely, it wasn't because his sword was golden, but because it sucked up all the golden foils, covering the blade completely, making it look as if it was a golden sword.
Lang Qian Qiu's longsword was forged by a curious metal borne of a lodestone mountain and had the ability to magnetize metals. As long as the object of suction did not exceed a certain level of spiritual power, once he had the sword in hand, he could mentally release its ability and magnetize all surrounding metals, melting it into his blade. Sure enough, soon the innumerous golden foils were all sucked into the sword and dissolved into the blade. Seeing this, Hua Cheng laughed out loud, closed his fan and threw it away behind him. "Are the heavenly officials so pathetically poor that they couldn't let a teeny bit of gold go?"
If those words were directed at Xie Lian he would only pretend not to have heard them. But they were directed at Lang Qian Qiu, a noble born of royalty. He hadn't cared for riches his entire life, and although he knew the enemy was intentionally taunting him, he was still boiling with rage. He raised his sword with both his hands and struck towards
Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng drew out his scimitar with one hand, generating silver shimmers in the air, calmly ready to welcome the attack.
Lang Qian Qiu's strike used all of his power. He was born a charging bull fearless of tigers, but Xie Lian had clearly seen the difference between their strengths, and if this strike was to land, he will die for sure!
On the sidelines, even Shi Qing Xuan who was no swordsman watched with alarm and yelled, "Qian Qiu! Don't!!!"
But in that split second, how could a shout stop the arrow that's left the bow?
Just as the blades of a sword and a scimitar was about to make contact, a blinding white light blew up within the armoury.
It was a light so immense it covered every inch of the armoury, and everyone lost their sight temporarily. All they could see was white. Xie Lian, however, was prepared, and could somewhat see. His right hand gathered all of the powers he borrowed from Shi Qing Xuan and created a giant flame and blazed it towards a random direction.
A corner of the armoury immediately caught on fire. Soon after, Xie Lian released RuoYe, wrapped himself, Shi Qing Xuan, Ming Yi, Lang Qian Qiu, and Lang Ying, and shouted, "Lord Wind Master, blow us upwards!"
Even though Shi Qing Xuan couldn't open his eyes, he still followed Xie Lian's direction. He raised his fan and snapped downwards, and a violent twister formed from flat ground, blowing towards the ceiling and at last broke through the shaky roof!
RuoYe had the five of them in a bundle and flew towards the sky. In midair, sight finally returned to many of them, and Shi Qing Xuan could see down below them giant flames ablaze, black smoke heavy in the air; the armoury was burning. He was afraid Hua Cheng would give chase and flapped his fan. Now it really became 'fanning the flame'; the blaze instantly erupted in size, and kindles landed on all the nearby buildings. Now over half of Paradise Manor was ablaze!
With great difficulty, Xie Lian finally grabbed hold of the Shi Qing Xuan who was fanning with all his might. "Lord Wind Master, please stop fanning! The whole place is going to burn down!"
Startled, Shi Qing Xuan cried, "Alright, alright I'm stopping! Let me go, Your Highness, your grip is too strong!"
It wasn't until the Wind Master stopped his winds that Xie Lian let go. He looked down and amidst the red flames, Xie Lian was still able to spot a crimson silhouette. They were too high in the sky and he couldn't see clearly, but his gut instinct told him that in that moment in time, Hua Cheng was standing there watching him.
He didn't give chase and didn't put out the flames. He only stood there, letting the wildfires devour capriciously.
Outside the Paradise Manor, screams and howling roared from all over the Ghost City streets, and crowds of ghosts ran amok. Xie Lian couldn't breathe, and his voice cracked, mumbling to himself, "I... only wanted to start a small fire to create a distraction, how did it turn out like this..."
It was only earlier that Hua Cheng had leaned against the doors of that armoury, half jokingly telling him he wanted to gift him the entire armoury with every weapon inside, but now everything was engulfed in a sea of fire. Although there may be many golden devices that were unafraid of intense heat, there were surely also many that could not touch flames. After all this burning, many treasures would become ashes. Xie Lian had not expected the flames to grow so violently, devouring the entire Paradise Manor.
Even if Hua Cheng didn't consider it a 'home', it was still his residence!
Seeing how crushed Xie Lian was, Shi Qing Xuan also felt bad, "Um... I'm really sorry, Your Highness! I didn't think things through and only wanted to escape faster. This is all my fault! It was most definitely only a small flame at first... if the Crimson Rain Sought Flower comes knocking for paybacks you just tell him to come to me! Don't worry I can pay whatever amount! Money is never an issue!"
But money was definitely not the issue. Xie Lian closed his eyes and couldn't speak. Shi Qing Xuan patted his shoulder in consolation but suddenly felt wetness in his palm and a strange, stark smell of blood. He turned his head to see and his face lost colour, "Your Highness, what happened to your hand!"
Xie Lian's right hand was covered in blood. His entire right arm was thoroughly dyed with blood, and the trembling was not slight. Yet both his hands still sternly held onto that white silk band to keep everyone from getting blown apart by the wild winds.
"What's going on with you?!" Shi Qing Xuan cried.
Xie Lian blinked back and strained to steady himself before shaking his head, "It's nothing... just a small injury. It'll get better once we get back."
"That white light was you?" Shi Qing Xuan remembered. "Your Highness, you broke those two off?"
"I'm a swordsman after all." Xie Lian replied.
Shi Qing Xuan had guessed right. Right then when the blades of Hua Cheng and Lang Qian Qiu were about to make contact, Xie Lian flashed in.
He picked up a sword from the pile of weapons on the shelves and made two moves between the sword and the scimitar.
The first move, he knocked back Lang Qian Qiu's longsword. The second move, he blocked the scimitar E-Ming.
The strength of those two moves were not only powerful, but extremely well controlled. Even when Xie Lian blocked both blades, the force of the strikes were not rebounded onto the attackers.
Because, with Xie Lian sandwiched in the middle, he used his sword and his own arm to absorb both attacks completely.
Lang Qian Qiu's longsword was manageable, but Hua Cheng's scimitar was a force to be reckoned with. The sword Xie Lian used was one from Hua Cheng's collection, so naturally it was also a formidable blade. When the two blades met it blasted that blinding white light. With the two moves, the first strike against Lang Qian Qiu's longsword created a crack, and the second strike against the scimitar E-Ming shattered the sword to pieces.
All of this was done within a fraction of a second, faster than the eye could see. Shi
Qing Xuan looked at the miserable state of Xie Lian's right hand, the whole right arm a bloody mess and commented, "Your Highness... you're way too intense. I can't believe you blocked them single-handedly!"
The Flower-Crowned Martial God; Sword in One Hand, Flower in the Other. Shi Qing Xuan only remembered the flower, but had forgotten. Xie Lian ascended because of his sword.
Thinking back on how close of a call it was, Shi Qing Xuan's heart was still racing. "Thank goodness Your Highness had the moves, otherwise who knows how many pieces Lang Qian Qiu would be cut by Hua Cheng."
The strange thing was, next to them Lang Qian Qiu appeared to be unharmed, but his expression was frozen, like his soul had left his body. "Qian Qiu?" Shi Qing Xuan called, "Qian Qiu are you alright? Wake up! What's with you? Have your sight not returned yet???"
Riding on tailwind, the group of them finally reached the heavenly capital. Dragging and carrying, they rushed past the Ascension Gates and ran straight for the Great Martial Hall. Lang Ying couldn't enter the hall, so Xie Lian settled him in a small side chamber. No one seemed to be on duty, so he called within the communication array: "Is any honourable official here? Please everyone, come quickly to the Great Martial Hall! It's an emergency, we have a wounded official!"
As he shouted, next to him Shi Qing Xuan snapped his fingers and switched back to his white cultivator robe, and released a hundred thousand merits. "It's two wounded officials!"
Xie Lian said hurriedly, "Lord Wind Master don't be so excited. We can just talk, there's no need to release any merits. Everyone will naturally come."
"No, Your Highness," Shi Qing Xuan said, "You have to know, spreading merits works faster than talking by a hundred times!"
Soon enough, a voice came from afar, "Who's wounded?"
When the word "who" was uttered, the voice was still far away, but by the last word the person had appeared, and it was Feng Xin. He entered the hall and looked at Xie Lian, then at Lang Qian Qiu, his face faltering.
"I'm fine, but the Lord Earth Master seemed to be heavily wounded." Xie Lian said.
"So what?" Another voice came, "There's so many heavenly officials. Whoever returned unscathed after each round of patrol?"
The voice was decorous and mellow, but the words sharp. It was Mu Qing. He crossed into the Great Hall and also took a look at Xie Lian then at Lang Qian Qiu. Yet his expression was the opposite of Feng Xin, having only raised a brow, as if ready to spectate a good show. He saw that Feng Xing moved to check on Xie Lian's arm so he bent to check on Ming Yi and said, "So this is the Lord Earth Master?"
During that exchange, a number of heavenly officials poured into the hall. The Earth Master Yi had always been inconspicuous and out of sight, so for many it was the first time they had ever seen his person, and they cluttered around staring at him curiously. The masses were mostly confused, not knowing the reason they were called to the Great Martial Hall, but having collected the Wind Master's merits, they had to come and check things out.
"Thanks, but I'm alright. It'll get better by itself after a while." Xie Lian said to Feng Xin.
Feng Xin didn't mince words either, "Watch yourself."
Xie Lian uttered another thanks softly, but when he turned around, Lang Qian Qiu was watching him with a frozen expression. "Your Highness Tai Hua, what's wrong?" he asked.
Feng Xin also noticed something off about Lang Qian Qiu and questioned, "Was His
Highness Tai Hua also injured somewhere?"
"I don't think so. Let me see." Xie Lian said and extended his hand, reaching for Lang Qian Qiu's brow. Yet, in a flash, Lang Qian Qiu seized Xie Lian's wrist.
There was hesitation on Lang Qian Qiu's face, as if he discovered something but wasn't sure, but a fire had started burning within his eyes. Xie Lian felt a wave of rage trembling from Lang Qian Qiu's arm to his.
Now all the spectating officials had noticed this strange situation and started whispering
amongst themselves. Shi Qing Xuan and Mu Qing both started to rise and Feng Xin spoke, "Your Highness Tai Hua, what are you doing?"
Lang Qian Qiu finally moved his lips. He only said two words but Xie Lian's heart sank to the very bottom.
"...Guoshi?" Lang Qian Qiu gritted his teeth.
Xie Lian's pupil shrank slightly.
The onlooking officials half guessed half confused, muttering, "What Guoshi? Who's the Guoshi?" Some were more astute and figured it out.
Lang Qian Qiu was the Crown Prince of YongAn, and the Guoshi of YongAn during his time was the second of the Two Wicked Masters: The Guoshi Fang Xin. No one knew of his origin or his real identity. Yet here, Lang Qian Qiu had Xie Lian in his grip and called him "Guoshi", meaning... Xie Lian was the evil that brought ruin to YongAn – the Guoshi Fang Xin?!
However, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of XianLe. The kingdom of XianLe had fallen in the hands of the kingdom of YongAn, so why would he go and become the Guoshi of YongAn?
The Prince Tai Hua was renown for his optimism and cheerfulness, never having played mind games nor made things difficult for anyone, and he had never exhibited such an expression; half despair half rage, half enmity half hatred.
Lang Qian Qiu had Xie Lian in a deadly grip, his breathing becoming harsher, and finally said in a strained voice, "You... I killed you with my own two hands. Sealed you in that coffin. You... Guoshi, you certainly are a crafty one!"
Heavens. It looked like something big was about to go down today.
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Translator Notes:
¹'Xiong' is a more formal way to say 'older brother' than 'gēgē', but also used
informally between male friends meaning 'bro'.