Chapter 73: To Meet You in the Mortal Realm; To Find Flowers Beneath the Rain (Part 2)
Xie Lian made a small sound as if he had just remembered something in the back of his mind.
The face that was wrapped under the layers of bandages inevitably reminded him of the child he had met three years ago. However, he wasn't completely sure. Pessimistically speaking, could that child still be alive three years after escaping from Mount Taicang?
Just then, the young boy came forward. He lifted himself up on tippy-toes and swapped the flower on the clay statue with the one he had in his hands. From atop the altar, Xie Lian could see it as clear as day. The petals on this new flower was fuller and even more delicate. It contained twice as much dew drops and from the strong fragrance, one could be certain that it was freshly picked. Could it be that the sole reason for this boy to visit an inconspicuous shrine like this everyday was just to replace the flower with a fresher one?
Moreover, after offering the flower, the young boy stood in front of the clay Prince statue. Unlike the others who stubbornly wanted to kneel, he interlocked his fingers, and silently made a prayer while standing. He had actually followed Xie Lian's wishes.
It's been three years. Among all of Xie Lian's followers that had prayed, there were officials, nobles, names that travelled across this land, and talents that would even impress the heaven. Yet the one Xie Lian felt was the most sincere was actually this child who looked barely over thirteen. Furthermore, it's a child who had probably been kicked out of those fancier golden temples simply because of his patched clothing, and could only come to this kind of shabby, run-down shrine to offer his prayers.
Truly an indescribable sentiment.
Just then, more sounds of wet footsteps came from outside the shrine. A group of children with umbrellas rowdily ran past. At first, Xie Lian thought that they were only passing by, but unexpectedly, they circled back again. Acting like they discovered something extraordinary, one child clapped his hands, "Wow, wow. The ugly monster got kicked out again!"
Even though the group of kids and the boy in the temple were all around the same age, every one of them was taller than him and looked as if their parents had fed them well. There was probably a holiday coming up as all of them were dressed in new clothes and new shoes. As they splashed around in the puddles playfully by the shrine entrance, their innocent smiles were full of life and void of any ill intent. It was as if they didn't really understand that 'ugly monster' were awful words and didn't think that their own words would be hurtful. They had probably thought that it was funny. The boy tightened his fist, but his fist was so small that it wasn't threatening at all. The kids by the door teased, "Hey ugly monster, you sleeping in the shrine again tonight? Better watch out, that 'mom' of yours' gonna beat the living hell outta you when you get home!"
Xie Lian frowned. Under the wrapped bandages, the boy's one eye flashed with anger, he raised his fists and yelled, "I don't have a home!! I don't have a mom! She's not my mom! Get out! Get out! Keep talking and I'm gonna beat the crap outta you!"
Yet the group of kids couldn't care less. They stuck out their tongues and challenged, "You dare? Careful we might just tell on your dad again and let him teach you a lesson."
Some raised their brows and sneered, "Oh right, you don't have a mom, because your mom didn't want you. You don't have a home, because your family doesn't want anything to do with you. That's why you can only sleep in this pitiful shrine..."
The young boy couldn't endure it any longer. With a loud cry, he lunged at them.
For such a scrawny kid, he sure could pack a punch. The loud cry had almost sent a couple of kids running in fear, but the kid that had originally started the fight held his ground, "What's there to be scared of?! We have more people!" Upon hearing that, the ones who wanted to run away returned and joined the fight, pulling at the boy's hands and feet. Xie Lian finally couldn't stand it anymore. With a wave of his hand, an invisible force shot out of the blue and separated the boys. Immediately after, a powerful wave of puddle water flew up from the ground and knocked the group of children off their feet.
In the end, they were still kids. After falling to the ground without knowing why and getting a whole mouthful of muddy water, their new clothes were completely soaked. Now that they became even filthier and uglier than the kid they made fun of, the happy laughters from before were replaced with loud wailing. They crawled up from the ground and ran away sniffling with umbrellas in their hands.
Xie Lian shook his head in disappointment. As a proper martial god whose job was to ward off evil ghosts and bring protection and peace, this was the first time that he got tangled in this kind of juvenile dispute. Even though he had chased away the wrongdoers, he didn't feel accomplished at all. His gaze returned to the young boy.
During that chaos, the bandages on the boy's head was yanked off half way. The half revealed face was swollen with blue and purple bruises. It was obvious that these weren't caused by the brawl just now. Before Xie Lian could get a better look, the boy had already re-wrapped his bandages without a word. He sat down by the clay statue's feet and hugged his knees close.
Xie Lian had originally wanted come to this Crown Prince shrine to think. He had planned on summoning Feng Xing and Mu Qing to discuss an important matter, but the child that he had unexpectedly bumped into had drawn his attention. He sent out a summoning, then squatted down beside the boy and stared. Not long after, a rumbling sound came from the boy's stomach. The offering plate still had a couple of fruits and sweets. Although they looked dried out and probably wouldn't taste that good, but it was better than nothing. Xie Lian picked one and lightly tossed it towards the boy's body.
Having gotten hit by the fruit, the young boy immediately wrapped his arms around his head and curled up defensively as if the thing that hit him was a rock and that it would be followed by more. After a while, he finally looked around and realized it was only a fruit and that there weren't anyone nearby. Hesitantly, he picked up the fruit, dusted it off twice against his clothes, and returned it to the offering plate. Turns out he would rather endure the hunger than eat the offerings on the plate.
After that, he walked towards the door, looked at the heavy downpour outside of the shrine as if debating whether to venture out to find food. However, the rain was coming down too hard. Since he didn't want to get soaked again, he walked back and curled up on the ground by the clay statue's feet.
Just then, Feng Xing and Mu Qing arrived after receiving the call. The two stepped out from behind the shrine. Feng Xing gloomily said, "Your Highness, how did you find such a small Crown Prince shrine? Why did you send out a call from here?" When he looked down he suddenly noticed a curled up figure on the ground that he could've almost stepped on unknowingly, and blurted out, "What the hell is this kid doing here!?"
Mu Qing also looked down, took a good look and immediately asked, "Your Highness, is this the child that ran from Mount Taicang three years ago?"
Xie Lian shook his head, "I'm not sure. I didn't know what his name was nor what he looked like."
As the three surrounded the unsuspecting child and chatted, the boy on the ground shifted. As he wiped his face he realize there was blood running down his nose and the corner of his mouth. Seeing this, Xie Lian felt he couldn't just do nothing and said, "Let this child leave first. It's getting dark. This shrine isn't a good place to pass the night."
"Could it be that he has nowhere to go? If that's the case, then I'm afraid this is the only place that he could spend the night in." Feng Xin said.
"He has a home, though the situation at home might not be great." Xie Lian said, "Even so, this shrine isn't any better. If he leaves, then we can find something for him to eat. This child is also injured."
Mu Qing spoke up, "Your Highness, please excuse my frankness, but we don't have time to bother with these minor things. Did you call us here because you've come a decision?"
Of all the heavenly officials who resided in the Upper Court, there had never been one that would accept every prayer from all of their devotees. With countless amount of followers, if one was to care for every single one of them, it would be exhausting. Which was why sometimes, they would turn a blind eye to those minor and less impactful wishes and pretend that they didn't hear to lessen the workload. Maybe it was due to Xie Lian's young age, with a body bursting with energy and passion, that he has yet to learn about how to properly prioritize and work those things out. After some thought, he walked towards the entrance of the tiny shrine while carrying the umbrella that was gifted him earlier by those pedestrians on the street.
Xie Lian slowly opened the umbrella. The falling raindrops beat down on it, creating a pitter-patter sound. On the ground, the young boy heard the noise and thought that someone had entered and shifted slightly. But after thinking no one would really bother with him, he laid back down again. Xie Lian placed the opened umbrella by the entrance. The young boy had waited for the sound to disappear, but when it didn't, he sat up in suspicion to take a look. When he saw a red umbrella leaning against the ground under the rain like a lonely crimson flower that had bloomed by itself, he froze in surprise.
Watching the boy rushing forward to grab the umbrella, Mu Qing lectured, "Your Highness, you've done more than enough here. If you're too obvious and he finds out, it would be troublesome."
Before Xie Lian could reply, the young boy ran back and shouted from behind them, "Your Highness!"
The three gods almost jumped in surprise and turned around. That boy, cradling the umbrella in his arms, had an eye red and filled with emotion. He lifted his head and shouted to the clay statue, "Your Highness! Is that you?!"
Feng Xin didn't know Xie Lian helped the boy to chase away the other group of kids and had even chucked a fruit at him prior to this. He mused, "This kid is quite clever, he actually figured it out." Mu Qing on the other hand, suspected that something must have happened before and eyed Xie Lian.
The boy begged, "If you're here, please, answer my one question!"
From his place high atop the altar, Xie Lian would hear countless pleas of "please appear before me" every day. When a sound becomes repetitive, it would numb the ear and eventually fade into the background. Even so, whenever he hears a voice like this, he couldn't help but drop matters at hand and perk up his ears. From his side, Mu Qing cautioned, "Your Highness, just leave it be."
Xie Lian didn't speak. The young boy clutched onto the umbrella tightly with both hands, gritting his teeth, "I'm suffering! Everyday, I wish I'd die. Everyday, I want to kill off everyone in this world, and then kill myself! I'm living in agony!"
From a boy that couldn't be older than thirteen, shouting words like "suffering" and "kill off everyone" sounded almost ridiculous and laughable. However, hidden inside this tiny body was something explosive; something that nurtured his rage and roar.
Feng Xing scoffed, "What's wrong with him? 'Kill everyone in this world', is that something a kid could say?"
Mu Qing said flatly, "He's still young. When he gets older, he'll know that what he experiences now is really nothing much." After a pause he looked at Xie Lian, "There are too many suffering in this world. Take Yong'an's drought for example, name one Yong'an citizen that has it better than him. There's no need to bother with this, Your Highness. Let's focus on our priorities."
Xie Lian said softly, "Perhaps."
To another, the suffering of one probably only looked like trivial problems.
The boy was still looking up at the statue. His eye was becoming even redder, yet there were no tears. With the umbrella in one hand, he reached out with the other and tugged on the clay statue's robes, he persisted, "For what should I live for in this world? What does it mean to live?"
However, his questions were met by silence, not a soul to give him answers. It seemed that the young boy had expected as much and, slowly, dropped his head.
To his surprise, suddenly, a voice from above broke through the dead silence, "If you don't know how to live on anymore, then live for me."
Next to Xie Lian, both Feng Xin and Mu Qing had not expected him to actually answer, and such an answer too! Their eyes widened, "... Your Highness?!"
The young boy's head shot up but there was no one there. Only a soft and gentle voice came from that clay statue: "I have no answer to the question you asked. However, if you don't know the meaning to your life, then make me that meaning, and use me as the reason to live."
Feng Xing and Mu Qing's faces looked as if they were about explode, and both reached out their hands to smother Xie Lian's mouth, sputtering, "No more, Your Highness! You're violating the rules! The rules!!"
But before they could fully cover up his mouth, Xie Lian managed to shout out, "Thank you for your flower! It's beautiful, I like it very much!"