Chapter 79: Panic Left and Right, East or West Road Undecided

"Did General Pei win or lose?" Xie Lian asked.

"Won. And lost," Pei Xiu answered.

All the insurgents died by Pei Ming's sword. There were many of his former subordinates among them, men who he'd shared decades of friendship with. Pei Ming had always used his sword Mingguang to fight by their side. Now it was the weapon he used to butcher them.

As the slaughter was coming to an end and the results of the battle were clear, it was unsurprising that the King of Xuli ordered for the injured, nearly immobile Pei Ming to be surrounded and charged with treason.

Pei Ming was good at fighting wars, but legal battles were never his strong suit. He had clearly been fighting for and defending the throne, but in the end, he only earned a declaration that he should be put to death.

Pei Ming held the pot in his hand. While he heard what Xie Lian and Pei Xiu were discussing, he didn't have the energy to care. "I should've known it was you. This is very much your style."

Rong Guang's resentment must have possessed the broken sword that had been so thoroughly dyed by the blood of millions. He'd connected with its bitterness, which had allowed him to survive this long.

However, the voice inside the pot was cold. "Your brothers are long dead. I'm nothing but a sword."

Xie Lian knew that he might never admit to it and that continuing to question him would be fruitless. "Never mind, General Pei."

Pei Ming nodded and returned the pot to Pei Xiu.

Thus, they subdued two particularly nasty ghosts. Setting aside everything else, this could be considered a good start.

"General Pei and I will continue further toward Mount Tonglu," Xie Lian said. "Banyue, how about you two? Will you go and find Lord Rain Master?"

"Lord Rain Master has already gone on ahead to chase the evil creatures who kidnapped the farmers," Pei Xiu said. "To catch up, we'll need to head in the same direction as the general and Your Highness, so we are willing to join you and assist."

Pei Ming snapped out of it and knitted his brows slightly. "Then we'd best hurry. The Ruler of Yushi isn't a martial god, and the road ahead is likely full of dangers."

And so Xie Lian picked up Hua Cheng, Banyue tucked the two pots away, and the party hastily made their way deeper into the dense woods.

Since they were still situated on the outer edges of Mount Tonglu territory, they didn't run into any impressive characters—most were nothing but weeds. They weren't interested in picking pointless fights, so they ignored the rabble. Some of those weeds were foolish enough to challenge them, but they were quickly scared away by Banyue and Pei Xiu's scorpion-snakes.

After a day of journeying, they finally emerged from the forest and reached the second layer of Mount Tonglu.

Here the trees gradually became sparser, the roads grew progressively wider, and there were more traces of habitation. Xie Lian even saw a broken-down, blackened little house on the side of the road—an exceedingly bizarre sight in this isolated land.

"How are there houses here?" he couldn't help but wonder.

Banyue and Pei Xiu both shook their heads to indicate they also didn't know.

"I'm afraid that's something you'll have to ask the Lord Ghost King in your arms," Pei Ming replied.

The same thought crossed Xie Lian's mind as soon as he asked the question. Had Hua Cheng been awake, then he'd surely have the answer. He glanced down. Hua Cheng's unusually hot body temperature was gradually cooling, but his eyes were still tightly shut. Xie Lian couldn't help but worry.

"Your Highness, we're about to enter the next layer," Pei Ming reminded him. "The things we'll run into further ahead will be even more powerful. Shall we take a break and wait for Hua-chengzhu to wake?"

The group had come to a fork in the road. One path headed east, and the other headed west. Xie Lian contemplated, then stated his decision aloud.

"The night has deepened. Let's camp here for now."

After traveling for a day, it was high time to rest—to focus on protecting Hua Cheng and helping him recover.

"That's good," Banyue spoke up. "Pei Xiu-gege also needs rest."

Only then did the group remember that Pei Xiu was mortal at the moment and required both rest and sustenance; he had been silent about his discomfort throughout the whole trip. The cursed shackles on Xie Lian's body meant he had similar needs, but his worry for Hua Cheng had pushed any other thoughts from his mind.

The group stopped at the fork in the road and set up camp. Banyue started a fire, and Pei Xiu went hunting. Seeing that everyone was busy with their own matters, Xie Lian stared at Hua Cheng's face again.

A moment later, instinct made him whip his head around, and sure enough, Pei Ming was watching the two of them. They stared at each other, and Pei Ming huffed a dry laugh.

"Fine. I'll go away."

"No, it's fine," Xie Lian said.

It wasn't like he was thinking of doing anything unfit for the public!

Why did Pei Ming have to make it sound like he was sneaking around?!

Just then, Banyue walked over holding a pot. "General Hua…" Xie Lian and Pei Ming both turned to look.

"What is it?" Xie Lian asked.

Banyue showed them a terrified wild chicken that was tied up and stuffed inside the pot. "Pei Xiu-gege caught this for me to cook, but I don't know how."

After Pei Xiu had finished hunting, he left to scout the area. Pei Ming seemed dissatisfied with Banyue no matter how he looked at her.

"Aren't you a girl?" he berated her presumptuously. "Fighting and killing things all day! Never mind not bothering to paint your face—how come you don't even know how to cook?"

Xie Lian and Banyue were both speechless. Banyue wasn't a delicate girl raised in a normal household, and she hadn't a clue of how Pei Ming judged beauty. She couldn't understand his comments and was left quite puzzled. As for Xie Lian, he had pretty much figured Pei Ming out by now —he was simply impossible when it came to women.

"Put it down, Banyue. I'll teach you," Xie Lian said.

Banyue already had great faith in him, so she happily followed his instructions. An incense time later, Xie Lian was plucking the colorful feathers from the wild chicken, and Pei Ming was staring at his own blood-smeared hands.

"There could be some new famous tales now—the Chicken-Killing General and the Feather-Plucking Crown Prince," he lamented.

Xie Lian had watched him kill the chicken with his bare hands; it had been a bloody and grimy sight.

"General Pei, couldn't you have used a knife or something? It would've been cleaner."

"Is there one lying around?" Pei Ming retorted.

As soon as he spoke, they both glanced at the two pots sitting on the ground. Rong Guang seemed to have noticed the two peculiar looks even from inside his prison, and the pot shuddered violently.

"Get outta here! Scram, far away! Careful, I might just smear venom on my blade and poison you all!"

They hurried away. Once they were sure the pot couldn't hear them, Pei Ming shook his head and said to Xie Lian, "And he keeps denying it.

He's always had that temper. It's him for sure."

Xie Lian had heard Rong Guang cussing ceaselessly at Pei Ming, and he had long since developed an odd sense of sympathy.

"I understand completely. I have a little cousin who's somewhat like General Rong. He knows more curse words, but he doesn't know how to do much other than spew them."

At least Rong Guang could help Pei Ming fight battles. If Qi Rong was to help Xie Lian fight, he'd ruin Xie Lian long before he had a chance to be killed by the enemy.

Pei Ming seemed to have imagined what Rong Guang would be like if he couldn't fight, just cuss, and he earnestly remarked, "That's honestly terrifying."

Xie Lian threw the fully plucked wild chicken back into the pot, filled it with water, and started cooking it atop the fire. Every now and then, he'd toss in some wild fruit or herbs for flavor. Banyue copied him and tried very hard to find something that looked edible to stuff into the pot. Pei Ming didn't understand what they were doing, but he didn't see any glaring problems since he'd never entered a kitchen himself. He helped by adding firewood to the campfire.

"Your Highness, I have a question I've always wanted to ask you. It's never been an appropriate thing to ask, since we haven't had more than a passing acquaintance."

It was true that they'd never been close. Xie Lian's early impression of Pei Ming was that he was a skilled martial artist, but a villain and a womanizer. They'd even faced off against each other more than once. Now that they'd crossed paths a few times, his opinion had changed without him realizing it, and their relationship had grown somewhat friendlier.

"By all means, General Pei, please ask."

"You've been banished twice and bear two cursed shackles on your person," Pei Ming said. "You could've asked the Emperor to remove them after you ascended the third time. So why didn't you?"

Xie Lian watched as Banyue scrunched her face up in deep thought.

She then brightened up and cheerfully pulled out a few long, wine-red scorpion-snakes to put into the bubbling pot.

"Then, General Pei, I've also got a question I want to ask you," he replied, appearing unperturbed.

"Please," Pei Ming said.

"After you snapped Mingguang, why didn't you forge a new spiritual sword?" Xie Lian asked.

Pei Ming raised his brows. "What an unpleasant question."

Xie Lian matched his expression. "Likewise."

The two shared a chuckle.

Suddenly, Pei Ming said, "I never thought it was a beautiful story."

"I get it," Xie Lian said.

He was about to elaborate when there was movement behind him. He sensed something and looked back.

"San Lang?"

Sure enough, Hua Cheng had sat up! Surprised and delighted, Xie Lian went over to help hold him up by the shoulders.

"San Lang! You're awake! You seem…bigger?"

Before, Hua Cheng had looked like he was only a little older than ten, but now he appeared to be at least thirteen or fourteen. When he spoke, his voice had changed from that of a child to a teen's slightly raspy tone.

"Yes. Thank you, gege, for giving me relief."

"What a joyous occasion," Pei Ming commented.

"No need to thank me, I…" Xie Lian replied, trailing off as he realized that he had said the word "relief." His smile froze, and he wondered to himself, That doesn't mean what I think it does, right?

A moment later, Hua Cheng grabbed his shoulders. "Your Highness, listen to me," he said darkly. "Something is rapidly approaching from the east. You must get out of its way!"

Xie Lian was taken aback. They both looked to the east, like they could see through the endless black night and spot any figures skulking in the darkness. Although Xie Lian didn't sense anything, still he said, "Very well! We'll leave."

"Where to?" Pei Ming asked.

The road only forked into two paths, and Xie Lian said, "The west!"

Banyue grabbed the pot that was cooking over the flames, looking like she planned to bring it along. "Pei Xiu-gege hasn't returned yet!"

Just as she spoke, a shadow came hurrying from the road to the west.

It was Pei Xiu, who had returned from scouting.

"General! Don't go down this road! There's a large group of nefarious creatures coming this way right now!"

"How many?" Hua Cheng demanded.

Pei Xiu was momentarily stunned when he noticed that Hua Cheng was the one who'd asked.

"Judging by the ground tremors, at least five hundred!"

A martial god would never consider retreat unless there was absolutely no other choice.

"Do we go west or east?" Pei Ming demanded.

"West!" Hua Cheng said with conviction.

Xie Lian also replied, "West."

For some reason, although there were more ghosts coming from the west and not a single shadow in the east, Xie Lian's instincts told him the west was the safer choice.

Without further ado, the group hurried on their way. Xie Lian was originally prepared to kill without hesitation if they ran into any roaming hordes, yet he hadn't spotted a thing even after running for several kilometers. He couldn't help but find it strange.

"General Pei Junior, where and when did you hear that over five hundred ghosts were approaching?"

"Not far from here," Pei Xiu said. "They were only a few kilometers behind me at the time and moving with great speed."

"Then this is very strange!" Xie Lian commented.

The group was running westward, and the horde of five-hundred-some ghosts was rushing eastward; both parties were moving quickly, so they should've run into each other by now. So why wasn't there a single ghost—and not even any commotion?

"Little Pei wouldn't have heard wrong," Pei Ming said. "Maybe they went back the way they came?"

"I don't think that's likely," Pei Xiu said. "Their pace really was extremely fast. It sounded as if they were…" "Running for their lives," Hua Cheng said.

Suddenly, Xie Lian stopped in his tracks. And not just him—the entire group stopped. Just ahead of them, a field of corpses was blocking their way.

Of those corpses, some were beasts and some were men, their bodies in all shapes and sizes. There were even battered souls, wisps of black smoke and ghost fires floating in the air. It was an exceedingly chilling sight.

Xie Lian crouched to check. "They really were running for their lives. They just…didn't succeed."

When Pei Xiu heard this horde's approach, he'd turned back to inform Xie Lian and the others. And right after he left, something had chased them down and killed them all at once.

"This is the work of one person," Hua Cheng said.

Xie Lian nodded in agreement. If the clashing parties were both great in number, the kill wouldn't have been this clean, and the battle wouldn't have ended so straightforwardly.

Killing over five hundred nefarious creatures in such a short period of time… The perpetrator of this massacre was doubtlessly stronger than Demon of the Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade. It seemed this was another one they should keep an eye on.

"I hope Lord Rain Master didn't choose this path…" Banyue said, holding her soup pot.

"No need to worry. My Lord has the Guardian Steed," Pei Xiu said.

Just then, Xie Lian heard a strange clacking noise from not far away.

When he went over to look, he found a skull whose jaws were chattering— the noise was coming from it.

When it realized that it had been discovered, it cried out in terror.

"Mercy! I'll never come again; I wanna go back, I wanna go home!"

Xie Lian cupped it in both hands and spoke to it gently. "Don't be scared, we're only passersby. Can you tell us exactly what happened here?"

The skull's jaws continued to chatter as it bit out a reply. "Y-you're passersby? Don't go any further onward, there's someone really scary ahead… Counting us, he's already killed over a thousand ghosts, and he's still dissatisfied… He's still, he's still…" Over a thousand! That was far more than they'd imagined.

"Who is it that you speak of?" Xie Lian asked. "Do you know his name or his moniker? Or what he looks like?"

"N-no," the skull said. "I didn't get a clear look. It didn't take long for him to kill us. I only faintly saw that he was a man clad in black, very young, his face very pale…" "Sounds a bit troublesome," Pei Ming said. "Your Highness, Hua-chengzhu, are you sure we should be heading westward right now and not east?"

The skull heard that and shrieked. "The east won't do either! Not the east!"

"What's wrong with the east?" Xie Lian asked.

"We…didn't dare go east, which was why we chose the west," the skull said. "On the road to the east, there's a young man dressed in white who has killed over two thousand ghosts in a single day. He's far more terrifying than the one in the west…" Over two thousand!

Everyone's expressions stiffened.

Xie Lian glanced at Hua Cheng. "It seems the west road was the right choice."

The skull sighed through its chattering teeth. "Either road is a mistake! There is no path to take!"

Indeed, for normal little minions, either direction was oblivion. East or west, they would be crushed easily; no matter which road they chose, in the end they would be blown to smoke and become someone's fertilizer.

After howling a few more dry wails, the ghost fires in the skull's empty sockets gradually went out.

Xie Lian gently placed it down on the side of the road. "San Lang, do you know what the creature in the east is?"

"Can't be sure right now," Hua Cheng replied. "But it's coming this way. Under the current circumstances, I don't recommend we face it head-on. This one to the west is a little easier to deal with."

Xie Lian nodded. "Very well. Then we'll continue westward."

The group crossed through the field of corpses and hurried on their way. They traveled all night but never encountered the black-clad man the skull spoke of, nor did they see any trace of the Rain Master. Xie Lian couldn't help but start to worry.

As they journeyed on, the houses and buildings alongside the road increased in number. Soon, they could even recognize general locations— these were the city's impoverished slums, this was the theater house, this was a general store, this was the courtyard of a wealthy household… The road beneath their feet had been paved by human hands, and the patterns of the bricks could still be faintly seen. This had once been a prosperous little town, but it was now empty of the living, strangely desolate, and deafeningly quiet.

There was an old well by the roadside, and when they pulled up water it was relatively clean, so the group decided to rest there for a while. Xie Lian and Pei Xiu both drank some water and took the chance to wash their faces. When they looked up, they were greeted by the sight of Banyue coming their way.

Banyue had held onto the black clay pot the entire time and had been waiting for them to finish. "General Hua, Pei Xiu-gege, eat something."

"All right. Thank you for the trouble," Pei Xiu said.

"Everyone's worked hard traveling today. Let's all give this a try," Xie Lian said.

The group gathered around, but their faces froze the moment Banyue opened the pot.

Although "smell" was something colorless and formless, it was as if some mysterious, tangible force had twisted the air around the mouth of the pot the moment Banyue removed its cover.

The group stared into the pot for a long time. Their eyes reflected an endless, bottomless darkness; it was as if they were about to be pulled into the abyss. No words could describe the sentiment expressed on their faces.

A moment later, Xie Lian patted Banyue's shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.

"Not bad. It's good for a first attempt."

Pei Ming looked at them in disbelief. "It's her first time, but is it Your Highness's first time too? If I recall correctly, you made her follow your every step, and you did more than her. I knew something didn't seem right with what you two were doing. So it wasn't just my imagination."

Hua Cheng spoke up. "Is that right? Well, since gege made this, I gotta try it."

Pei Ming and Pei Xiu's heads both jerked to look at him. Their eyes were full of awe, terror, respect, and other such emotions.

"Gege, what's this dish called?" Hua Cheng asked.

Xie Lian lightly cleared his throat. "…Toppled Phoenixes."1 "Good name," Hua Cheng earnestly complimented, then reached into that infinitely dark pot.

The way Pei Ming and Pei Xiu watched him, it was like they were anxious he was going to be swallowed whole by the pot. However, Hua Cheng calmly and easily took out a small, burnt piece of something that resembled a broken corpse and serenely placed it in his mouth.

"How is it?" Pei Ming asked.

"Tastes like its name," Hua Cheng said.

Pei Ming turned to Pei Xiu, whose expression was unreadably complicated.

"It was made for you. Enjoy."

"…" Pei Xiu commented stoically.

His face expressionless, he took the pot from Banyue's hands and reached inside.

Xie Lian used the cold well water to wash his face again and fixed his hair, then turned away from the others. He surveyed their surroundings.

"How come this place has so many traces of settlement, even though it's so isolated from the rest of the world? Could the area within the Tonglu Mountains actually be habitable?"

He had already asked this question the day before, but there was no one who could answer him at the time. Now there was.

"It was habitable, but that was a long time ago," Hua Cheng replied.

"Mount Tonglu's territory is the size of seven cities, spread out far and wide. These houses are the remains of historical cities and towns from an ancient kingdom. As we get closer to the Kiln, you'll see more relics and more prosperous sites."

Xie Lian believed him without a doubt. "I see."

Just then, Pei Ming's voice came from behind them. "Little Pei, what are you doing? Men don't kneel so easily—get up!"

Xie Lian didn't turn around. "What's the name of this ancient kingdom? San Lang, do you know?"

Hua Cheng didn't turn around either; his hands were clasped behind him. "The Kingdom of Wuyong."

"Your Highness? Your Highness, do you have an antidote or something? You can't just kill someone and not bury the body. And you!"

Pei Ming admonished Banyue. "Is this how you cooked for him? What's with this snake? It's still moving even after it was cooked for so long—is it a spirit now?!"

Banyue seemed to be ceaselessly kowtowing in apology. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry… It's indeed turned into a spirit, I didn't know how long a spirit would need to be cooked for…I'm sorry…" Xie Lian propped up his cheek with one hand in thought. "I'm ignorant and ill-informed; I don't recall ever hearing this particular kingdom's name. How ancient is it?"

However, as soon as the words left his lips, he wasn't so sure anymore. Wuyong, Wuyong… It did sound foreign without context. But when he thought deeply, he felt that he had heard someone utter that name a long, long time ago.

"The details aren't clear," Hua Cheng said. "But it must predate the Kingdom of Xianle. It's likely at least two thousand years old."

Xie Lian scanned their surroundings. "These buildings don't look like they're millennia old."

"Naturally," Hua Cheng replied. "Mount Tonglu's perimeter isn't open most of the time, so it's like they're sealed in a massive mausoleum.

Since they're isolated from the outside world, they of course remain in a pristine state."

Xie Lian bowed his head and grew pensive. Pei Ming finally left Pei Xiu to his own devices and came over.

"Lord Ghost King sure knows everything. But isn't this information a little too wild to believe? Might I ask what your source is? I've never heard a single word about this on the outside."

Hua Cheng didn't look at him. "And might I ask General Pei something? What kind of person could enter Mount Tonglu to gather this sort of information?"

"Logically, any ghost could," Pei Ming said. "But if they wished to obtain a wealth of valuable information, they would have to gather it over a considerable amount of time. And taking Mount Tonglu's rules about slaughter into consideration, your source would have to be a powerful individual."

"And after gathering that information, what kind of individual could emerge from Mount Tonglu?" Hua Cheng asked.

"They would have to be a Supreme Ghost King, like My Lord," Pei Ming said.

"So I gathered the information myself, and there won't be any words spread for you to hear if I'm not the one saying them." Hua Cheng finally turned his head to look at him, and his tone turned slightly mocking.

"Perhaps for a heavenly official of the Upper Court, keeping a secret is more difficult than passing a Heavenly Tribulation. But that is not the case for me."

"…" He wasn't wrong. If a heavenly official in the Upper Court had stumbled upon knowledge of such importance, not even two hours later it would have spread to excited and open discussion in every spiritual communication array. Yet Hua Cheng had kept this under wraps for centuries, never selling it to anyone or boasting about it. It showed the magnitude of his ability to play things close to his chest.

"I get it," Pei Ming said. "It appears that when it comes to His Highness, Hua-chengzhu is all-knowing and will tell him all that he wishes to learn."

"That's not right," Xie Lian suddenly said.

Everyone turned to look. "What isn't?"

Xie Lian had been thinking hard for a while, and now his right hand folded into a fist and lightly tapped his left palm. "I said that I hadn't heard the name Wuyong before, but I was wrong. I have heard that name!"

Hua Cheng became a little serious. "Gege, where did you hear of it?"

Xie Lian turned to address him. "When I trained at the Royal Holy Temple of Xianle in my youth, my master was the state preceptor. When he first took me in as a disciple, he told me a story."

It wasn't actually a proper story; it was more like he was trying to instill some grand, glorious, legendary imagery in Xie Lian's young mind.

Once upon a time, there was an ancient kingdom. In that kingdom, there was a crown prince who was ingeniously talented, intelligent, and clever. He was skilled in both martial and literary arts. He was a scintillating character, the kind that would only appear once in history. He loved his people, and his people loved him. Even long after he died, his people never forgot him.

"My child, I hope you will become a person like him," the state preceptor said, solemn and tender.

Young Xie Lian sat there poised and proper, and he said without thinking, "I don't want to become a person like him. I want to become a god."

"…" "If that crown prince was really as amazing as you say, how come he didn't become a god?" young Xie Lian went on.

"…" "If the people really never forgot him, then how come I've never heard anyone speak of this crown prince before?" young Xie Lian continued.

"…" Xie Lian still swore that he had never intended to be provocative or rebellious when he raised those questions. He was genuinely curious and looking for answers to his queries. However, when the state preceptor heard him, his face turned quite the shade.

Why could Xie Lian recite Dao De Jing forward and backward as if it were a simple feat? Because the state preceptor made him transcribe Dao De Jing a hundred times that night, to do good by its name and "cultivate both the body and mind." Xie Lian sincerely suspected that if not for his status as the honorable crown prince, the state preceptor might've had him kneel on nails as he wrote.

In any case, every word of Dao De Jing was deeply burned into Xie Lian's brain after that incident, and a faint impression of the "Crown Prince of Wuyong" also remained.

Xie Lian had always enjoyed reading, but he had never come across records related to the Kingdom of Wuyong in any old scrolls. So he figured the story was something the state preceptor had fabricated on the fly to educate him—or perhaps the state preceptor had played too many games of cards and mixed up some of the details. However, he didn't feel the urge to blow his cover, nor the urge to copy Dao De Jing another hundred times, so he didn't take it seriously nor to heart.

"Your Highness, it sounds like the state preceptor of your Xianle had quite the background and was very knowledgeable," Pei Ming said. "Might I ask what happened to him?"

After some hesitation, Xie Lian replied, "I don't know. After Xianle fell, there were many people who I never saw again."

Just then, he felt something tighten around his ankle and froze.

"Who's there?!"

He was about to stomp and break the bones of whatever it was, but he looked down first. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"General Pei Junior, what are you doing announcing yourself like this? That was close—I almost ruined your hand."

The hand did, in fact, belonged to Pei Xiu. His entire body was sprawled on the ground, face planted in the dirt. His arms were outstretched, one hand gripping Pei Ming and the other Xie Lian. The two of them crouched to hear him speak.

"What are you trying to say?"

Banyue was still holding the cooking pot. "I don't know. Pei Xiu-gege has been crawling all over the ground, and it seems like he's discovered something important."

"Oh?" Pei Ming was amazed. "You managed to detect something even in your current condition? As expected of Little Pei. So what did you find?"

Pei Xiu loosened his hand's grip and pointed in a direction. Xie Lian looked where he pointed.

"These are…" Xie Lian said.

The group all gathered to examine them.

"Ox hoof marks?"

Pei Xiu finally lifted his head from the mud. "These, are…marks left behind by, Lord Rain Master's, Guardian Steed," he croaked out.

"Pei Xiu-gege, your sentences are broken," Banyue remarked.

"I'm, all right," Pei Xiu replied. "Lord Rain Master, Lord, Lord…" He was stuck on the word "Lord" and could no longer continue.

"Could he have been…poisoned by a scorpion-snake?" Xie Lian wondered.

"Their poison doesn't work like this…" Banyue said.

"The Rain Master already ran into the black-clad man in the west and fought him," Hua Cheng said.

"Really? How can you tell?" Xie Lian asked.

Hua Cheng was about to speak when Pei Xiu, whose speech was now fully broken, extended a shaky finger and started to write on the ground.

Out of some odd sense of respect, the group gathered to watch him. The words "battle formation" were scrawled in crooked characters by his finger.

Once he was done writing, it was like he had exhausted the last bit of his energy; he clenched his hand into a fist and moved no more.

Hua Cheng looked back up. "That's it exactly. The Rain Master's steed is a black ox transformed from one of the golden beasts on the gate knocker of the Kingdom of Yushi's Royal Cultivation Hall. The steed is usually steady and leaves no traces when it walks, but it changes form when it enters battle. And this hoof print's shape is different from its normal hoof marks—it's much bigger."

"Lord Ghost King is shockingly well informed," Pei Ming commented.

Hua Cheng pointed at the marks on the ground and continued to speak to Xie Lian. "Gege, look here."

Xie Lian moved his head closer. "Yeah, you're right… These hoof marks show up very abruptly, so the enemy must have caught them by surprise."

"Yeah," Hua Cheng said. "And the mark is deep, so it's obvious the enemy was strong. The ox grappled the enemy with his horns and was pressed deep into the earth during the confrontation—at least half a dozen centimeters."

They simulated the fight scene that had occurred, and Pei Ming also didn't back down.

"But in the end, it was a draw."

"That's right," Xie Lian agreed.

There was no trace of blood nearby, nor ghost qi dispersing in the air.

It appeared that when they met, their match was quick and fierce, but they both abandoned the fight once they found the other too tough to handle.

Hua Cheng informed them that the movement of the creature in the east had changed direction, and the group continued westward, though at a slower pace. Soon, they came upon a peculiar-looking giant building on the side of the road. Looking at it from afar, it was more impressive than all the other houses around. Even though some of its enclosures and eaves had collapsed, it was still a sight to behold. Xie Lian unconsciously paused in his steps.

"What is this place?"

Hua Cheng gave it only a glance. "A holy temple of Wuyong."

Pei Ming had one of Pei Xiu's arms hooked over his shoulders to drag him along. "And how does Hua-chengzhu know it's a holy temple?"

"Because that's what's written on it," Hua Cheng said.

Hearing this, the group looked up. A row of giant characters was engraved on the stone beam hanging before the gates of this building. While worn from age and scratched by strange marks, they were still quite clear.

However, after some silence, Xie Lian said, "There's certainly writing, but…" But he couldn't understand this writing at all! He was stunned that not even something like this could trip up Hua Cheng.

Hua Cheng turned to Xie Lian. "The gist of the meaning is, 'The Eminent Crown Prince descends with shining light to eternally protect the Land of Wuyong.' Nothing but nonsensical praise. Gege, look at the last two characters at the end—don't they resemble the modern characters for 'Wu' and 'Yong'?"

The mention of "The Eminent Crown Prince" stirred something slightly within Xie Lian. Taking a closer look, the row of characters looked like a child's drawings, all circles and curves mixed with odd symbols.

However, the word "Wuyong" was in shapes and strokes he was familiar with, as if this writing was a variant of his own language.

"Hua-chengzhu can actually read and interpret the lost writing of an ancient kingdom. I am truly in awe," Pei Ming said.

Hua Cheng cocked an eyebrow and gave a fake smile.

"I stayed at Mount Tonglu for ten years. Much can be done in a month; if I can't even interpret a few words after ten years, then what am I doing on this earth? Am I right?"

Not even the top ten civil gods in the Upper Court would dare proclaim such things, so as a martial god, what could Pei Ming do? He could only give his own fake smile.

"Perhaps."

Xie Lian puffed a light breath. "Thank goodness San Lang is here."

"I can only translate some rough Wuyong phrases," Hua Cheng said.

"If we run into anything difficult, gege will have to help me. We'll evaluate it together."

Xie Lian felt himself sweat nervously. "Um… I'm definitely not as good as San Lang at this. But was the god worshipped by Wuyong also their crown prince?"

Hua Cheng folded his arms. "I think so, yes."

Xie Lian frowned as he voiced his thoughts. "If my master knew of the Crown Prince of Wuyong, then he must also have known that he ascended. So why did he tell me that the crown prince died?"

"There are three possibilities," Hua Cheng said. "First, he didn't actually know. Second, he was lying. Third, he didn't lie—the Crown Prince of Wuyong really did die, but it wasn't a typical death."

"If the Emperor were here, perhaps we could ask him if he knew of this kingdom, or of such a person," Pei Ming said.

"Unlikely," Hua Cheng replied. "The Kingdom of Wuyong disappeared over two thousand years ago. Jun Wu is a youngster in comparison; they're of completely different generations."

Jun Wu ascended around one thousand five hundred years ago. He was a famed general of a warring era who later proclaimed himself king and, after ruling for some time, successfully became an immortal. As the top martial god who had ruled for over a thousand years, his background was completely out in the open. As for the "generations" Hua Cheng spoke of, he was referring to the dynasties of the heavens.

Jun Wu was the ruler of the current heavenly dynasty, and hundreds of heavenly officials formed the current Upper Court. The gods and government that preceded them belonged to a different generation. Just as regimes changed in the Mortal Realm, the Heavenly Realm also went through dynastic changes. It took considerably longer, but it was fundamentally the same. New worshippers replaced the old, and so too did new gods replace the old.

Sometimes, a god's decline wasn't the result of mistakes they made or a resulting banishment. Sometimes it was because another, more powerful god appeared. And sometimes it was for no reason other than gradual changes in people's lives and beliefs, and the inevitable irrelevance that resulted.

For example, a heavenly official who managed horses was likely quite comfortable in their position. People always needed reliable transportation, and they couldn't very well leave the condition of their horses and carriages to the whims of fate; who wouldn't want their horses to be strong and healthy, and their travels safe? Thus, this sort of heavenly official would always see regular devotion.

However, what if one day mortals discovered something completely novel that ran faster than a horse? When this new invention inevitably overtook horses, worshippers of the heavenly official who presided over horses would decrease in turn. Heavenly officials such as these made up most of the heavens, blinking to life and flashing by like shooting stars.

This was the cruelest way gods declined because the process could not be reversed. A heavenly official in that situation was destined to watch their own decline until they disappeared entirely—unless they jumped down from the heavens, returned to being mortal, re-cultivated a new path, and then ascended once more as a brand-new god. Not everyone possessed the courage and fortune to do something like that.

The gods of the previous generation had faded in such a way. Some said it was because they caused a great calamity and waged a chaotic war, which was why they all fell from grace at the same time—but nothing could be proven, and it was no longer important regardless. A few centuries later, Jun Wu was born, and he heralded a brand-new heavenly era. An endless number of heavenly officials rose after his arrival, filling in the gaps for worshippers. Gradually, the stable Upper Court of the current day was formed.

Which meant that unless there was a heavenly official who was older than the one-thousand-five-hundred-year-old Jun Wu, there was no one who could know of the god worshipped in the Kingdom of Wuyong or how he had been silently wiped from history.

Their group crossed through the mostly collapsed wall that once enclosed the premises and entered the darkened great hall. They hadn't gotten too far inside before Xie Lian noticed something amiss.

He had initially thought the great hall was dark because the interior hadn't seen light for years and all its windows were shut. But the more he looked around, the more he found their surroundings peculiar.

He walked to the wall and lightly brushed his fingers over it. When he brought them to his eyes to look, he blurted, "This is…" "Black," Hua Cheng said.

It wasn't that the light was dim—it was that the walls of this immense holy hall were completely black!

"Based on what I've seen, almost all the holy temples on Mount Tonglu are like this," Hua Cheng said.

It was a chilling sight. Why would the walls of a holy temple be painted a hellish black? The color alone would make one anxious; how could anyone worship the divine with a sincere heart when surrounded by it on all sides?

"All of them are like this?" Pei Ming wondered. "Rotted away from neglect, perhaps?"

"The houses we passed by earlier weren't black," Xie Lian said.

"Logically, those houses are the same age."

As he spoke, he continued to feel lightly around and explore the walls of the holy temple. Not only were the walls horrifyingly black, they were also rugged in texture, covered in terrifying scars like a woman's ruined face. They were also extremely solid. Something clicked in Xie Lian's mind.

"This holy temple was burnt by fire."

"How can you tell?" Pei Ming asked.

Xie Lian turned around. "The walls would've originally been covered in murals. They would have been done with a special type of paint in a very heavy layer. After fire burned them, they would turn black and parts would melt and change shape, and they would feel rugged and hard like this after cooling and solidifying again."

"Your Highness certainly knows a lot. I might as well be in awe of you too," Pei Ming said.

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and lightly cleared his throat. "This… isn't anything to be impressed by. I only know because many of my crown prince temples ended up like this after they were burnt."

At that, the group fell silent. Xie Lian suddenly remembered another thing.

"And that stone beam outside! There were scratch marks all over the praise engraved on it. It didn't look like regular wear and tear; people must have slashed at it with blades."

Pei Ming frowned. "Why would they do that?"

"Because they didn't agree with the words," Hua Cheng coldly replied.

"That's right," Xie Lian said. "It's the same as smashing an establishment plaque."

Banyue was slightly taken aback. "So this holy temple was burned down by the people of Wuyong themselves?"

They fell into silence again. Xie Lian was about to speak when Pei Ming said, "What is the meaning of this?"

Xie Lian turned to see. Pei Ming had his left arm raised, and a scorpion-snake was biting deeply into his hand. Its tail was also swinging vigorously, attempting to sting him.

Banyue was about to kneel again. "I'm sorry, I have snakes all over my body…" Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry and held her upright.

"Banyue, don't get into the habit of kneeling to apologize. General Pei, how did you get yourself bitten by her snakes?"

Pei Ming's face was dark. Still holding up his arm, he replied, "How should I know? I only put my arm around her, and this happened."

"Then, General Pei, what were you doing putting your arm around her?" Xie Lian asked patiently.

Pei Ming fell silent; it was only as he started to contemplate the question that he seemed to notice the problem. A moment later, he answered, "Habit. Isn't it normal to hold women in your arms in a dark, creepy place like this, to comfort them and calm their fears?"

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't scared," Banyue said.

"…" Xie Lian understood. This was nothing more than a tragedy inflicted on Pei Ming by his own itchy hands. Pei Ming finally yanked off the scorpion-snake, but his left hand was already hugely swollen.

"Give me the antidote, quick."

"I'm sorry, I already used up the shanyue ferns I had on me," Banyue said.

"It's all right," Xie Lian said. "General Pei, you're a heavenly official. The swelling will go down soon enough."

Then he turned around and continued to examine the walls. As his eyes swept over a blackened area, he froze.

"Everyone, come see," he called. "There's still a face on this wall!"