Chapter 94: From the Sealed Kiln, One Supreme Shall Emerge

Lang Ying's head had drooped to the side as though he'd lost consciousness. When Xie Lian saw it was him, he moved to save him without thinking—but he stopped dead in his tracks as his mind caught up with the situation. There was no one besides White No-Face here, so why would Lang Ying suddenly appear?

Seeing that the pure, holy statue of the God-Pleasing Crown Prince had been corrupted by dripping blood, Hua Cheng was obviously furious.

His dark expression radiated rage, and the scimitar Eming exuded a chilling aura.

"Get the hell down," he said.

With that, "Lang Ying's" drooping head actually heeded and righted itself. He blinked open his eyes, then slowly pulled himself off the sword and dropped to the ground.

When White No-Face blew up the wave of silver butterflies that had surrounded him, he had used the distraction that the blinding silver light provided to hide himself under this divine statue's white veil, then he'd transformed. If he could disguise himself as Lang Ying, it meant he must've seen the boy somewhere before.

"Where's the real Lang Ying?" Xie Lian demanded.

"Your Highness, maybe there never was a 'real' Lang Ying," Hua Cheng said.

If "Lang Ying" had never existed to begin with and was only White No-Face in his weakened form, everything would be easy to explain. But when Xie Lian remembered the girl Xiao-Ying who had died on Mount Yujun, he wished that explanation made less sense than it did.

Xie Lian swiftly thought of another possibility. "Or perhaps…he devoured Lang Ying."

The "Lang Ying" before them was growing taller. His body stretched upward, and the bandages on his face unwrapped and dropped away to reveal the mask beneath. He lifted his head slightly when he heard Xie Lian's guess and seemed to smile.

"You guessed right."

So it was true.

After White No-Face was pulverized and dispersed by Jun Wu, all that was left of him was a wisp of a broken soul wandering the Mortal Realm. He drifted for who knows how long—and at some point in all that time, he met the ghost Lang Ying. He must've somehow coaxed or deceived Lang Ying into hosting him within his own body since his remnant soul might have been too weak to devour him outright. He had stayed glued to Lang Ying's body and gradually recovered, and the end result was standing before Xie Lian and Hua Cheng. Ghost-devouring ghost —White No-Face had bitten the hand that fed him, his host Lang Ying. Just as He Xuan had devoured the Reverend of Empty Words, Lang Ying had become White No-Face's slave.

It only took a few moments for "Lang Ying" to completely transform into White No-Face.

Hua Cheng eyed him. "Why would Lang Ying agree to lend you his spirit body?"

A request like that would be like a stranger asking a homeowner to open their doors and allow them to live there and eat their food. Lang Ying had survived as a ghost for hundreds of years—although he was timid and hesitant, he shouldn't have been so foolish.

"I can of course provide an answer to your question," White No-Face replied amiably. "But are you sure the one beside you wants to hear it?"

Hua Cheng looked at Xie Lian, whose expression was slightly strange. He surprisingly didn't notice the gaze sent his way.

"Surname Lang, Yong'an, and he suffers from Human Face Disease," White No-Face said. "Why did he agree to let me eat him? Can't you guess?"

Xie Lian's face instantly went pale. Veins popped on the backs of his hands, and he swung his sword with a shout of, "Shut up!"

White No-Face sidestepped and avoided the strike, but Xie Lian's attack sliced through the sword in the hands of his own divine statue. Now he'd done it—he'd left the God-Pleasing Crown Prince statue wielding a broken sword, making the statue itself a ruined artifact. Xie Lian snapped out of his frenzy like he'd been drenched by a bucket of cold water.

The wraith butterflies seemed outraged and swarmed over. White No-Face appeared completely unbothered and gave a toneless laugh as he covered his face with his sleeve. In an instant, he vanished into the darkness, leaving their conflict entirely.

Xie Lian stared at the broken stone sword on the ground. "I'm sorry —" he murmured to Hua Cheng automatically.

Hua Cheng cut him off. "Isn't it silly for Your Highness to apologize to me? He's gone. Now what?"

Xie Lian pulled himself together somewhat. "Did he flee? We can't let him enter the Kiln!"

The pair hurried out of the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods and back onto the snowy mountain. Right as they made it outside, they felt the earth quake and the mountain shake. Looking up, they saw even more waves of snow crashing down. This roaring avalanche was even larger than the one they had experienced before—it was as if something massive buried under the heavy snow was just waking up, and it was roaring and shaking off thousands of years of built-up snow.

"Can we still make it up there?!" Xie Lian cried.

Hua Cheng gripped his hand firmly. "We can if you follow me!"

They faced off against the crashing current of ice and snow. Their passage was grueling and perilous, and for every step forward they were forced three steps back, but they managed to avoid the most violent waves of snow and rubble and the countless pits as they blazed their trail up the mountain.

Finally, they reached the highest point. The volcano's peak was coated in an unfathomably thick layer of ice. Xie Lian thought he'd slip if he tried going even a bit faster, but Hua Cheng led him by the hand and moved forward with steady, fearless steps.

The pair came before the volcano's enormous mouth—a cavernous maw that seemed to snarl at the heavens. When Xie Lian peered into its depths, he saw nothing but complete darkness. Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a red light pulsing horribly in the deepest recesses. Sometimes it was there, sometimes not.

Xie Lian could feel himself starting to panic. He held his bamboo hat to his head to keep it from being torn away by the snowy winds. "Did he go in already?"

Hua Cheng glanced inside, and his expression turned grim. "Yes."

"How do you know?"

"The Kiln is closing."

That caught Xie Lian off guard. "What's going on? Why is it closing so soon? Don't there need to be at least a few ghosts inside before the slaughter can begin?"

"That's usually true," Hua Cheng said. "However, if the Kiln believes an entrant has an extremely high chance of breaking through, it will close upon their request." After a pause, he added, "That's what I did back then."

"So is he a supreme or not?" Xie Lian asked. "What will happen if a Supreme Ghost King enters the Kiln again?"

"The same thing that happens to an ascended heavenly official facing another Heavenly Tribulation."

In other words, his strength would increase exponentially! If they allowed White No-Face to pass this obstacle, the consequences were unimaginable—and once he emerged from the mountain, Xie Lian would surely be the first one he'd seek out.

After eyeing that infinite, bottomless abyss for a while, Xie Lian said slowly, "San Lang, I…I might need to go down there to resolve this."

"Then go. I'll come with you," Hua Cheng replied quietly.

Xie Lian gazed at him. Hua Cheng looked up and met his eyes. He cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

"All we're doing is heading inside to eliminate an eyesore, then breaking through the Kiln again. That's it. It's not like it's hard."

Seeing him so relaxed, Xie Lian's tensed emotions loosened a little as well, and he smiled.

A moment later, Hua Cheng said, "However, there is one thing."

Xie Lian made a curious noise and tilted his head. One of Hua Cheng's arms suddenly snaked around Xie Lian's waist and pulled him into his arms, and he lifted Xie Lian's chin gently with his hand. And then, Hua Cheng enveloped Xie Lian's lips with his own.

They kissed and embraced for a long time in the snowstorm before their lips slowly parted. Xie Lian was dazed for a good moment before he jolted out of his stupor. Flushed, he opened his eyes.

"Wh-what was that all of a sudden?!"

Although it wasn't the first time they'd done this, they had always used grand, dignified reasons to justify their actions—things like "lending spiritual powers," "transferring air," or "it was simply an accident." But now that certain things had been made clear, those excuses were exposed as falsehoods, and their actions were abruptly far more significant.

Xie Lian didn't know where to put his hands—should he cling to Hua Cheng's arms or push him away? Should he press Hua Cheng's head down or block his face?

Hua Cheng puffed a breath into his ear. "I'll lend Your Highness a bit of spiritual power in case of an emergency…" he whispered. "Won't you accept it?"

Xie Lian unconsciously gulped. "Th-this is 'a bit'?" he stuttered. "It seems like too much… I haven't…I haven't paid you back for all the times before…" "It's not that much. And there's no rush," Hua Cheng said. "Take your time paying it back. The account will clear one day."

Xie Lian made a few vague noises of agreement and was just about to run away when Hua Cheng pulled him to a stop.

"Your Highness! Where are you going? You're running in the wrong direction," he pointed out.

Only then did Xie Lian realize that he was running back the way they'd come. He quickly turned back around, slipping on the ice in the process. He pulled his bamboo hat down.

"I…I wasn't… I-I'm just a little cold. Thought I'd jog around a bit to warm up…" He put on the bamboo hat, then pushed it off to carry it on his back, then put it on again. Finally, he grabbed Hua Cheng's hand and held it tight.

The pair stood side by side and looked into the immense abyss below.

Hua Cheng's voice was casual. "After this is resolved, I'll show gege my proudest achievement in sculpture."

"Okay," Xie Lian replied.

They jumped down together.

Gusts of wild wind whipped past his ears so fiercely that it felt like waves crashing into him. But even that force couldn't separate their hands —they held on to each other even harder.

Yet somehow, halfway down, Xie Lian's hand was empty.

His grip hadn't slipped, and Hua Cheng hadn't let go—the hand he'd been holding in his own had simply disappeared in an instant, leaving behind nothing but emptiness.

Xie Lian's heart lurched, and he shouted, "San Lang?!" He was falling so quickly that his cry was left dozens of meters above his head. It sounded unreal.

It was a long time before Xie Lian finally landed steadily on his feet.

He immediately stood upright and called out again.

"San Lang?"

There was no answer. The hollow echo of the name told him of the immense size of the empty space where he was standing.

There was darkness all around except for above. Xie Lian looked up.

He could see a snow-white sky above his head, but it was gradually shrinking. That had to be the Kiln's mouth closing.

But where was Hua Cheng?

Crackle, whoosh. Xie Lian lit a palm torch, hoping to illuminate his surroundings and see what things were like down here. But the darkness was immeasurably deep, and this little flame couldn't show him anything.

The firelight itself seemed to be absorbed by the indifferent, dark void.

Xie Lian hadn't controlled his powers well in his haste, and the flames erupted a little too high, nearly burning his face. He quickly tossed the fire to the ground.

As it fell, the firelight just happened to illuminate the back of a faint white silhouette looming not far away.

Xie Lian was instantly on guard. "Who's there?!"

The white silhouette turned around and answered evenly, "You know who I am."

Although he answered, the muscles on the man's face did not move an inch. That was only natural, as he was wearing a half-crying, half-smiling mask.

"San Lang!" Xie Lian blurted.

Even though the sight of that face sent terror shivering through him, Xie Lian hadn't cried out due to fear but due to worry. Of course, there was still no answer, and the crying-smiling mask came another step closer.

"You're wasting your time yelling. The Kiln is sealed. It's only you and me here.…no one else."

Xie Lian automatically looked up again. Earlier there had still been a small snowy-white sliver of sky, but that bit of light had been completely swallowed by the darkness around them. The Kiln had truly sealed itself.

Xie Lian had never expected things to turn out like this—trapped alone with White No-Face, just the two of them, locked inside the Kiln.

Just the two of them? Why was it the two of them?!

Xie Lian gripped Fangxin and pointed the sword at him. "What is going on here? Are you meddling again? Where is he? Where is he right now?"

White No-Face clamped the edge of the sword between two fingers and flicked the blade with his other hand, making it ring clear and crisp.

"He's gone."

Xie Lian watched this, and his eyes went cold. "Explain yourself clearly. What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"He doesn't want to follow you anymore. He left. He's dead. What do you think?" White No-Face said leisurely.

Xie Lian's heart dropped at first, but that was followed immediately by a violent rage, and he struck. "Stop your nonsense!"

White No-Face once again caught the blade effortlessly. "Fine, fine. I was indeed talking nonsense. Don't worry, I simply sent him outside the Kiln. Even if he wants to rush back in here, it's too late now."

Xie Lian was fine with Hua Cheng trapped outside as long as it meant he was okay. He quietly sighed a breath of relief.

"But it's probably for the best that he doesn't come in," White No-Face continued. "Even if he wouldn't agree right now, who knows if he'll still want to be with you when he sees what you'll become."

Xie Lian couldn't formulate a response. His patience fully gone, he swung his sword again, yelling, "Shut up!"

White No-Face easily dodged every single one of his strikes, and Xie Lian cried out in rage.

"I've had enough of you! What do you want? What exactly do you want?! How long are you going to keep clinging to me?! Why aren't you dead? Why did you come to the Kiln?!"

"Because of you!" White No-Face replied.

Xie Lian's movement faltered, and he huffed. "What do you mean?"

"You came here, so I did too," White No-Face answered languidly.

Xie Lian's expression twisted upon hearing that. But no matter how furious he was, how strong his murderous intent, it was as if White No-Face could always predict his next strike and avoided each attack by mere millimeters. The more Xie Lian struck, the more he understood one cruel fact:

He couldn't win!

"That's right," White No-Face said, like he was reading his mind.

"You can't win."

As soon as he spoke those words, a blade pierced Xie Lian's wrist.

Excruciating pain spread throughout his body, and Xie Lian's grip on his sword faltered. In the next second, White No-Face grabbed him by the hair and yanked him backward, bashing him into the ground!

Xie Lian's ears were ringing, his nose and mouth were filled with the metallic taste of blood, and his head swam.

A little while later, Xie Lian felt a hand pull his head up from the shattered ground. A voice came from above.

"So sad, so pitiful."

Xie Lian choked out a mouthful of blood.

"Every time I meet Your Highness, you always look like this," White No-Face said. "Makes one ache. Makes one excited."

Xie Lian swallowed another mouthful of blood, refusing to cough it out. "…Don't be too smug," he croaked. "I might not be able to win against you, but…someone can. Even if you emerge from the Kiln, Jun Wu will just kill you again."

Besides, there was still Hua Cheng!

Yet White No-Face replied, "Who says I'm the one who will emerge from the Kiln?"

Xie Lian was shocked.

Not him? Who else could it be?

White No-Face lifted Xie Lian's face to look him in the eyes. "Your Highness, I think you might have misunderstood," he said amiably. "A supreme certainly will emerge from the Kiln, but it won't be me. It will be you."

"…What did you say?" Xie Lian stammered, shaken to the core. "I'm not…" He understood before he even finished his sentence. His body broke out in a cold sweat.

"That's right. That's exactly it," White No-Face said. "Congrat-ulations, you finally understand my real objective. Isn't this the 'Third Path' you love so much?"

Right now, the only beings inside the Kiln were one supreme ghost and one god. On the surface, there were only two paths to take: either White No-Face would kill him and break through the Kiln, or they could forget about leaving and remain trapped inside forever.

But there was a third path. If Xie Lian killed himself, became a ghost, and defeated White No-Face, then he could become a supreme and break through the Kiln!

Xie Lian struggled to snap out of his shock. "…What the hell do you want?! Don't even think about it! Why must you go this far—why would you force me to become a supreme? I'm not as crazy as you! Even if you want me to kill you, we both know that I can't! And if you feign defeat, the Kiln might not recognize me!"

But White No-Face replied, "Is that right? You can't defeat me?

Don't be so sure."

As he spoke, he extended a hand. Thanks to the nearby firelight, Xie Lian could see that he was holding a mask—an exact duplicate of the one White No-Face wore.

"Do you remember this crying-smiling mask?" White No-Face asked.

"It suits you well."

Xie Lian's eyes bulged. Terror crawled into his mind like a densely packed tide of insects.

"Take it away, take it away…take it away!" he forced out weakly.

White No-Face started to laugh. "It seems Your Highness's memory isn't very good. So why don't you let me help you remember, hmm?"

He had no chance to protest. The tragically pale crying-smiling mask melded with the infinite darkness as it was pressed heavily onto Xie Lian's face.