HOB – Chapter 58-60
Bab.58: Pada yang Martial Deity Avenue; An Saya Menginspirasi First Impression
“Pedang” yang dipercaya, “Menembus”, “Hati”, “Yang”, “yang” dan “Dibunuh”, “Tidak”, “”, dan “”. “
“By the heaven’s blessings, ostghosts are slayed and evil is subdued!”
On either sides of the Martial Deity Avenue, cheers erupted like ocean current, coming
setelah gelombang, satu lebih tinggi setelah the lainnya. eSebelume crimson red gates of the
istana, in the courallet, the two cultivators yang memainkan the roles of god and ghost
membungkuk to the sekeliling crowds and stood down after to the side. The martial match
bahwa “terbuka”, “bertindak”, terangkat “”, “kenikmatan”, “di” kota; “” tidak “hanya” di “jalan” di jalan “di mana”
siku-ke-siku rowcrowded, even the roofs were itterlittered dengan brave climbers, clapping,
berteriak, the crowds going wild.
“Persembahan”, “dari” ini, “besar”, “benar-benar” berkilauan “” dan “berkerut.” “Di dalam” sejarah “sejarah” “di”
Kingdom of Xianle, if any festival of ShangYuan * adalah to be dituliskan thus, it harus be
hari ini!
Setelahmenurunkanowerlatformatform ,obobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobob
sopan smiles on their faces, overlooked di bawah to the crowd. Dengan the palace, a
long line of hundreds ditunggu silently. Ketika the bell chimed, uGuoshi smoothed his
tidak ada moustache and disebut, “Pembukaan Jalur Para Prajurit!”
“Hadir!”
Crown Prince Celestial fairies! ”
“Hadir!”
“Musisi!”
“Hadir!”
“Kalvari!”
“Hadir!”
“Hantu!”
“Hadir!”
“The God-Pleasing Martial Warrior!”
No one answered. Guoshi frowned, noticing a complication, and turned his head, “The
Hal yang Menyenangkan Tuhan Martial Prajurit? hereDimana the Crown Prince? ”
Tetap saja, tidak ada satu yang sesuai. Satu satu yang menjawab to ”“ hantu ” lebih awal dipurisi, lalu
dihapus the horrifying mask, revealing a clean, pale face.
Ini young man muncul to be tentang sixteen atau tujuh belas, ini skin and lips were both
cahaya, warna, warna, warna, dan warna, dengan warna rambut, warna rambut, warna rambut, seperti benang, benang rambut, warna rambut, bulu mata
rambutilililililililililililitteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritteritterekseksekseks
Diaediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediedistststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststst
Dia menjawab dengan tenang, “miliknya Yang Mulia the Menggigit Prince has left.”
Guoshi almost fainted.
Tapifor iniouldouldouldouldouldaintaintaintaintaintaintaintaintaint,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,outoutoutoutoutoutoutoutoutoutout
angry asexasperation, “Wha – ?! He left?! Ketika did His Highness leave ?? The seremonial
parade is about to leave the palace gates !! Ketika memandang pertinggi ad ditampilkan dan
di sana hanya “hanya” saja “tetapi” tidak “,” aku “mengatakan” sudah “, berkata” jangan “” ke “” katakan “jika tidak” ke semua “
itu akan hasil ketika at aku! Mu ingQing, mengapa iddidn’t you stop him ??? ”
MuQing lowered his head, “When His Highness left he takan me to pass on the
pesan, or or or or or or or, very very very anned anned
segera. “
Guoshi was hysterical, “Bagaimanaorororororanananananananananompompomp
‘Segera’? Apakah jika ia tidak membuat membuat itu ?? ”
Di luar gerbang the palace, some of the people who had been waiting since early
pagi,, , , ,enceartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartartart
penggarap came rushing maju, “My Lord Guoshi, the queen sent a messenger asking
mengapa- bagi parade harus tidak mulai? Menguntungkan MU * ad langsung menyinggung, jika kita kita dak akan
tinggalkan sekarang Kita akan miss it! ”
Mendengar ini, uGuoshi diucapkan bahwa a rebel army akanlah dengan tiba-tiba invade and isdisrupt the
ShangYuan Parade completely.
Bahwa sakit kepala ini akan terjadi tepat pada saat yang paling penting!
Jika- ini Headache apakah anyone else, he dak akan dibagikan dengan rage ready sudah, banyak meningkat
miliknya pedang to kill tidak akan be strange. Tapi ini Headache so happened to be his pride
dan bersenang-senang, dan semua, sangat, sangat dibedakan, ecrecious son of another. He couldn’tt beat
dia, he couldn’t yell at him, and he definently couldn’t kill him. Hubungi than kill him, he
lebih lanjut kemungkinan kill imdimasukkan dirinya sendiri!
Just then, soneone ran across the black palace path, rushing into the palace, shouting,
“Tuhan Guoshi, mengapa tidak memiliki parade mulai? Memang meminta tentang untuk untuk lewati, semua orang
di luar is on edge! ”
The one who came was also a young man of sixteen or seventeen, his form upright and
tinggi, ini skin the warna of wheat, his back carried a long black bow and a snow-white
quiver. His lips were pressed tight, his brows knit. Even at such a young age his eyes
adalah strong and determined. The ommoment Guoshi saw him, he grabbed him, “Feng Xin!
Di mana His Highness ?? ”
Feng Xin tambil aback, tapi segera muncul to memiliki dapat dipahami mencapai sesuatu, dan
angry filled his eyes, urnturning his gaze to Mu Qing. As for Mu Qing he had sudah siap put his
ghost mask back on without a word, his expression unseen. Feng Xin said gravely,
“Ada no waktu untuk jelaskan! Silakan mulai pohon parade Segera, His Highness the
Crown Prince will not disappoint you! ”
Di sana was no escape. Membawaithithithithithithithithithithith
Warrior was death; delaying the procession and missing the fortuitous hour was also
kematian. “” Jelas, Guoshi waved his hand, “Mulai the musik; depart!”
Setelah menerima perintah, seruling dan string mulai bermain, dan ratusan
bangsawan prajuritri at the front of the prosesi ried teriak, memulai their march, pemimpin the
besar-besaran, impressive parade. Mereka memiliki diposkan!
“Pejuang”, “Pedang”, “Depan”, yang disimbolkan “”, “Duri”, “Jalan”, “Jalan”, Dunia. “” Langsung saja, “
mengikutiposenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenosenegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegeg egegegegegeg
tangan, mencetak bunga di di air sukai peri, memasang memiliki jalur dengan blossom dan mengisi it
dengan fragrance. The musicians rode in carriages of gold. The moment the procession left
the palace gates, the crowds were amazed and astonished, fighting to catch the
bunga. Namun, no matter how glamourous, how grand, ini was only the warm-up
act. The grand float, a glorious stage was tentang to emerge.
Enam belas putih instalasi putih dicek di emas diambil di atas ganda tahap dari depths dari
istana gerbang, lambat datang into lihat sebelumionsionsionsionsions
hitam clad ghost, a monstrous mask on his face, a nine feet zanbato in his hand before
dia, and gravely, he shifted to a fighting stance.
Guoshi’s heart was tense, waiting for a miracle. etTetapi, no miracles happened. The crowd
pecah into chatter. Di atas on pada platform tinggi, the royals and nobles frowned, looking at
masing-masing lain, all bertanya-tanya, “Apa yang sedang terjadi pada? Mengapa adalah mereka Menyenangkan Tuhan Martial Warrior
bukan- di panggung?? ”
“Sudahkah His Highness the Crown Prince not arrived yet?”
“Di mana brother Lian?”
Dalam the centre of the tall platform sat a dignified, handome man, and a pale skinned,
amiable and gracious noble woman. Merekainginginginginginginginginginginginginginginging
Xianle. Tidak melihat the one siapa yang harus be ada yang lain, the queen muncul worried and gave
the king a look. The king took hold of her hand, using his gaze to nyaman, telling her not
to orworry, and watch and see what wapp happen. row crowds bawah however had no
satu to nyaman mereka, dan disuruh dengan tergesa-gesa, the shouting so loud it could almost raise
roofs. The Guoshi wished he had the ourcourage to kill himself. Tetapi, Mu Qing who was on
panggung adalah kurangnya calm. Bahkan tanpa dana ini dapat dilihat at hasil, mengambil perawatan dari his
memiliki pengiriman, dan KUANG, melemparkan ini tinggi sabre down, menahan it upright sebelum him.
Pertunjukan a round of chilling pertunjukan, the bllad clad youth impresif ended the
pembukaan act of becoming a ‘ghost’.
By face and by form, Mu Qing dengan baik and elegant like a gentle scholar, tapi an
mustahil heavy nine feet zanbato was masih diayunkan seperti it adalah lembut di cahaya dalam di ini ini andshanya,
as if it was weightless. Another group of cultivators playing ghosts leapt onto the stage
– mereka adalah segera hati efdikalahkan, dan berdasarkan dari tahap. Mereka dari pedang diperbaiki dengan terampil,
tenang dan dipilih, dan buat performa cukup cmenarik untuk tonton, juga beberapa dalam
orang banyak yang dicuri untuk him. Namun, orang orang didn hasil to watch ‘Selamathost Menyebabkan
Havoc ’, so after th act there were noise meminta, “ Di mana the God-Pleasing
Martial Prajurit ?? ”
“Di mana Hisigh Highness the Crown Prince ??”
“Kami ingin to see His Highness playing the Great Martial Emperor! efFeat evil!”
Setelah platform yang menjulang tinggi, suara marah berteriak, “Where’s sepupu saya? Apa yang
neraka !! Siapa yang ingin untuk tonton ini bullshit? Dimana fuck is my cousin the Crown
Pangeran ??? ”
No need to see who it was, jelas that loudest voice to to none other thi Qi
Rong, the Prince Xiao Jing. Tentu, ough many tampak up and saw a young man manely
berpakaian in a light turquoise brocade dengan a necklace rush to edge of that platform,
membesarkan his fists angrily. This young man was no more than fifteen or sixteen, his face
pale and his brows black, rather good memandang, but his face was twisted, as if he would
lompati dari tower pada any any sampai pukul seseorang. owNamun, bagi tower was too tak, juga jika
he umpjumped he’d break his legs if not die. Jadi mungkin, he mengambil a hitam jaded teapot
dan threw it.
Itu mengirim teapot adalah ditujukan tidak langsung pada balik dari dari dipimpin dari dari ghost, ditambahkan at him
cepat menatap sukai it mungkin mengetuk him tentang pada spot, tapi sangat mengejutkan, the ghost
menggeser ini semua orang, raised the zanbato sederhana, dan tidak tertangkap the teapot on his blade.
The quivering teapot came to a stop at tip of the blade, mempersiapkan another wave of
cheers. Mu Qing then flicked the long sabre and teapot was hurled into the air, later
tertangkap dengan seseorangomeome di bawahditanggal. Dia melanjutkanontin untukmemainkan
dengan lesu, mengayunkan the zanbato, laslaughtering humans. Qi Rong was enraged and was
pergi to throw something else tapi the queen had ordered someone to drag him down,
and so he was dragged down dengan ragu-ragu. Tetapi, the faces of the nobles were looking more
and more grim, some becoming restless.
Itu the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior akan disingkirkan right sebelum the Heavenly
Prosesi dariShangYuan Festival adalah tidak ada yang lucu matter!
Just then, a roaring cheer like the storm exploded dari amongst the people, oulouder than
the cheers dari before. A nowsnow-white silhouette dirangkat dari the sky and landed
benar sebelumHitam clad! !Hebat!
Setelahinginging,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, , ,ututututututututututoveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroveroverover
shape of a giant flower, a golden mask hiding his face. He held a sword in one hand,
danebebebebebebordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordordlelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelele
telinga. Ini Terbesar adalah serene dan onfkepercayaan diri, seperti jika segera hantu tidak ada tidak ada untuk untuk him. Lalu
ghost slowly raised his zanbato and pointed it at him, and the white clad martial warrior
tanpa tergesa-gesa rose to his feet.
Qi Rong’s eyes were shining brightly, his face red. He jumped up and down, berteriak,
“Sepupu Crown Prince! COUSIN CROWN PRINCE HAS COME !!!”
Di atas dan di bawah ini, semua di mana dipintal untuk silensi.
Ini perhatian adalah seperti suka a real descent of a heavenly being, cukup terang sangat ramah!
Bahwa baik tower adalah tidak sedikit lebih baik ten meteran menceritakan, dan as mereka yang terkenal Kapal Prince
yang pribadi adalah langga a tanda dan gold, he masih tinggal jumped down dari !it! In that ommoment,
ribuan had mikir a god had truly descended. Ketika mereka dipulihkan dari their
kaget, fervor penuh their veins; the crowd went hysterical, plapplauding with intensity. Qi
Rong too was shouting, leading the crowd in mad apapause, shouting until his voice was
serak, bertepuk tangan until baik ini tangantangan red. Mereka king dan the queen share a lihat,
sambil tersenyum, dan applauded too. obobobobobobobobobobobobobobighigh
nafas dari bantuan sebelum berjalan di mereka cheer. Samping samping of the Martial Deity Alvenue,
kerumunan dimana datang wild sukai menjentikkan gelombang, ratusan undreddan tiga ribu dari men so excited
mereka ushdipukul against the royal penjaga, ingin to approach closer and holler.
Setelah the grand stage, two forms, one black, one white, faced each other. Each with
mereka own weapon in hand, God and Ghost would akhirnya face off.
Melihat semuanyavery bekerja, Guoshi akhirnyaaxaxaxmenghindariouldouldouldountountountount
the owertowering platform. Setelah nodding to filows in salam sambutan, he found a seat for
sendiri and sat down. The king chuckled, “Guoshi, how did you come up with such an
menggembirakan entrance? Cara mengeksitasi. ”
Guoshi wiped sweat dari his face and smiled, “Ini indeed exciting. Tapi sayangnya,
ini lambat tidak tidak dapatn datang dengan dengan it. Aku takut Ini His Highness the Crown Prince’s
miliki idea. ”
The queen patted her heart, “That mieviev child. To jump dari such a height
tanpa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !rightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightright ”” ”” ”” ”” ”
Guoshi bisa tidak membantu tapi menggantikan ini dengan katadengan langkah, “My queen lady can be at ease. The
bela diri might of His Highness the Crown Prince is extraordinary. Tens of meters is
tidak ada untuk him, dan bahkan dengandayaighighighighighigh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,
dan dengan mudah jump dengan ini eyes ditutup. ”
The queen muncul pesan dan said dengan lembut, “Terima kasih untuk untuk pengaturan dari Guoshi.
Guoshitertawa, “Tidak apa-apa, othingothingothingothingothingrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
surga, is divinely iftbifted, marvelously tentented, and dengan anggun brilliant. It is the fortune
dikumpulkan for three lifetimes that gave this servant the chance to become his
guru. I memiliki a peringatan bahwa denganHis Highness the Crown Prince’s presence,
hari ini akan go turun in historis as merupakan paling mengesankan Martial Match of the God-Menyenangkan
Upacara. “
“Kata-kata” -nya rapraise di sini pandai and dipahami the heavens. king smiled Flyly and
berbalik ini tidak mundur ke tonton performa. “Aku harap hope bahwa itu tidak kotak.”
In the Heavenly Proses of the ShangYuan Festival, the God-Menyenangkan Martial
Warrior and the Ghost were the two most import roles. Kedua harus be young men
sangat terampil di martial arts. Terutama mereka -Menyenangkan Tuhan Martial Warrior; the
presentasi dan membuat dari dimana ini ostditambah dana, ketat, transenden glamourous; dan Setelah
berpakaian, segala sesuatu dikenakan disimbang untuk tentang tentang sampai lima lima puluh pounds. The Martial Warrior
harus, di bawah ini tinggi ini beban, sebelum mereka mereka dari jutaan, march around the capital
banyak kali, dan berperforma dalam dalam, martial memenuhi untuk at least makan siang jam. Ada harus tidak ada
kesalahan dibuat langkah keluar, dan Jadi performa harus be extraordinarily terampil.
Untungnya, kedua young men di takdirentedentedababababab
pedang, one lash, another struck; the thrilling match was a ight to behold. The
bergerak tidak jugadihitung untuktidakut minimumetdetail, tampak jelas memiliki dipraktikkan dan
berlatih a nomor of times.
“Siapa yang ‘bermain’ satu ‘bermain’ ” ‘bermain’ ‘dan’ bermain ‘dengan’ ” ‘Curang’ ‘Pangeran?’ ‘”‘ ” ” ‘
Guoshi lecleared his throat, “Your majesty, hes a young trainee dari the Royal Holy
Pavilion. His name is Mu Qing. ”
The queen said gently, “Akuightightightightightightight,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,
dari my son. Mungkin tentang the sama level as Feng Xin? ”
Guoshi didn’t appear to agree to her sentiment. Qi Rong been laying on the lap of
the queen munching on grapes, and spat out skins in a rush, “Psh, shpsh, shpsh! shpsh! Tidak!
cara, tidak jalan! Tidak hanya a bit weaker, dia farrrr weaker! Not just anyone can compare to
sepupu Menggigit Prince! ”
Hearing this, the queen patted his head, smiling, and the rest of the nobles all laughed,
their bodies swaying back and forth in mirth. They teased, “Little Rong certainly clings to
his cousin! If he doesn’t praise him for a day he’s miserable.”
Down below in the crowd, the cheers and hollers were rising to the heavens: “FIGHT!
FIGHT! KILL HIM!”
“SLAY THE EVIL!”
The roars of excitement was growing stronger. Qi Rong was also adding to the noise,
both his hands around his mouth like a trumpet, shouting and laughing, “COUSIN
CROWN PRINCE, GO! YOU CAN EASILY KNOCK HIM DOWN WITH ONE HAND,
SHOW HIM OFF!”
Suddenly, the ghost on the stage slashed forward. The Martial Warrior repelled the
attack with his sword, but “Hmm?”-ed.
Technically, during the Heavenly Parade, the martial match was a performance for
pleasing the gods, and at most one should only use a seventh of their power, ceasing
after swords touch. However, the strike he received just now, the sword in his hand
almost flew out. Obviously his opponent had used all of his might in that blow.
Xie Lian raised his head slightly and called out, “Mu Qing?”
The young man playing the ghost didn’t say a word, and slashed at him again. Xie Lian
had no time to think, and received one attack after the other, their weapons clanging.
‘Well this is more exciting than fake play.’ Xie Lian thought, and his spirit heightened,
getting more into the fight.
Thus, under the crashing roars of cheers, the weapons clashed and sparks flew. The
more invigourating the fight was on stage, the louder the cheers below. Suddenly, there
was a deafening schwing, white light flashed, and the crowd “Ah”-ed, their breaths held.
That nine feet zanbato of the ghost was snapped out of his hand by the long slender
sword of the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior, and it flew towards a stone pillar of the
towering platform, nailing into it. A few bystanders tried to pull it out, but even when they
pulled with all their strength the zanbato didn’t move an inch.
“What kind of sabre is this? What strength you must need!”
Upon the grand stage, the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior shook his sword, and flicked on
the blade again. Another tinkling sound, and behind the golden mask came soft
chuckling.
“You fought well, but you still lost.” Xie Lian said calmly but cheerfully.
The ghost lost his weapon, half kneeled on the ground, still silent but his fist gripped
tighter. Xie Lian craftily spun his sword, and under the cheers from all around, was
about to lunge his final strike, ‘slaying’ the ghost, when just then, there was screaming
from above!
Shocked, Xie Lian lowered his sword and looked up, and saw a blurry shadow falling
rapidly from the city wall.
In that moment, he didn’t have time to think, and in a flash, he tipped his feet and
pushed off the ground, leaping into the air, darting upwards weightlessly.
He surged and flew, his sleeves fluttering open like the wings of a butterfly, then landed
gracefully, light like a feather. Tightly in his hold was a person, and only when he
touched solid ground did Xie Lian sigh a breath of relief, and looked down.
In his arms was a child, head wrapped full of bandages, dirty and unkempt, curled in his
hold, watching him dazedly.
——–
●ShangYuan Festival is also known as the Lantern Festival, marking the 15th and
last day of the Lunar New Year. It’s a day for worshipping and celebrating the
celestial heavens.
On a separate note, ZhongYuan celebrates the dead, and XiaYuan celebrates
the waters. Yuan [元] means the origins of the universe in Chinese Foundation
Philosophy (Iching), and the Yuan festivals divided the lunar year into three: the
Upper (Shang), the Middle (Zhong), and the Lower (Xia), each celebrating the
divine forces that invigourate the world.
●Fortuitous Hour: the best time to do something based on the daily fortune
calendar that stipulates how lucky each hour is based on the date, month, year,
and the stars.
——–
Ch.59: On the Martial Deity Avenue; An Awe-Inspiring First Impression 2
This child was no older than seven or eight, and quite the gaunt and small creature.
Falling from such a height, his little body was shaking uncontrollably in his arms like a
newborn of an animal. However, from that mess of bandages wrapped around his head
peaked a large eye black in colour, reflecting the shadow of a snow-white figure within,
watching him unblinkingly as if he could no longer see anything else.
Loud gasps were heard from all around, and when Xie Lian raised his head, his heart
sank. In his peripheral vision he saw lying on the ground not far away a golden object.
The golden mask that hid his face had fallen.
Xie Lian had landed in the middle of the Martial Deity Avenue, and the ceremonial
parade was miles behind him, the procession not having made it that far yet. The
sudden commotion broke the steady march of the warriors, the flower tossing celestial
fairies looked panicked, the golden carriages stopped, a number of white stallions
stomped their hooves and neighed in alarm, and the strings missed notes and their
rhythms disrupted. Some kept going, and some stopped. Without being able to
coordinate their march again, the entire situation was going out of control. The crowd on
both sides of the street still haven’t had the chance to react, but the King of Xianle upon
the towering platform stood up immediately, watching his son’s silhouette, his
expression worried and grave.
The moment he stood, how could the rest of the nobles remain seated? So they all rose
to their feet in a frenzy. Guoshi’s bottom had only just warmed his seat but now it’s cold
again. He was rapidly thinking whether if he needed to prostrate on all fours
immediately to beg for forgiveness, and Qi Rong had already leapt onto the railing, his
sleeves rolled up, shouting in rage, “WHAT’S GOING ON NOW? WHAT’S
HAPPENING? WHY DID THE PROCESSION FALL INTO CHAOS? WHAT THE HELL
ARE YOU USELESS TRASH DOING? DID YOU ALL EAT NOTHING BUT PLAIN
RICE, SO DUMB YOU CAN’T EVEN HOLD YOUR HORSES???”
The queen’s face was pale, her brows slightly knitted, and hurriedly sent for another to
drag him back. The crowds were growing agitated and a riot was about to erupt when
just then, Xie Lian rose to his feet.
Usually, the honourable Crown Prince was hidden deep within the palace or training at
the Royal Holy Pavilion, and rarely had the chance to show his face to the people. This
was such a rare occasion that many couldn’t help but be intrigued, their gazes all falling
on him. Seeing his face, they all held their breaths. That young man had long brows and
charming eyes, dignified and handsome, radiating nobility, his aura blindingly bright,
forcing down the eyes of those looking. With the child in one arm, he raised the other
with the sword in hand, and pointed it to the grand stage.
That ghost had been observing the situation from above the stage, and seeing that
gesture, he paused for a moment before leaping off the ground.
The crowd wowed in amazement as the ghost, his form like a streak of black cloud, flew
across mid air to the stone pillar where the sabre was deeply embedded, pulled it out
from the crack, then flipped again, landing in the middle of the street before the martial
warrior.
Seeing that he instantaneously understood his intentions and came forth to cooperate,
Xie Lian lauded under his breath, “Good Mu Qing!”
Now both the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior and the ghost had descended the stage.
One black one white, sabre and sword clashed once again, heightening the excitement,
electrifying the crowd. Upon the towering platform, the faces of nobles finally relaxed,
looking appeased.
The ghost made the act to aim for the child in the warrior’s arms, both hands holding the
sabre, gripping it to the side and rushed towards Xie Lian. The two faked parrying,
moves after moves, strike after strike, and leapt back onto stage anew. While the crowd
was distracted, Mu Qing used the chance to do a somersault on the street, grabbed the
mask, then dashed through the procession crying in a low voice, “Don’t scramble!
Compose yourselves! Pretend nothing’s happened and continue the march! Finish
marching this round and return to the palace!”
All within the procession immediately steadied and returned to their own posts, their
spirits renewed. The moment Mu Qing returned on stage, his attacks became even
more vigorous, clinking and clanking, Xie Lian received more slashes. Just then, the
child in his arms cried out, probably terrified by being stuck between the clashing
weapons. Xie Lian’s left hand held him tighter and whispered, “Don’t be scared!”
Hearing his words, the small child gripped on to the folds of his clothes by the chest.
Even with a child in one arm and the other hand handling the sword, Xie Lian was still
fighting with ease. Parrying for another while, he felt the child in his arms raise his
trembling arms and grabbed hold of his shoulders in a deadly grip, as if he’s hanging on
for dear life. Xie Lian soothed again, “Don’t worry, nothing will hurt you.”
After speaking those words, Xie Lian called in a low voice, “Mu Qing!”
The ghost facing him inconspicuously inclined his head, and Xie Lian struck.
Thus, before the eyes of millions, the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior pierced the heart of
the ghost, slaying it on the spot!
Mu Qing, with his ghost mask on, clutched his ‘wound’, stumbled back a few steps,
struggled for a moment before finally thud falling to the ground, and stopped moving.
Above on the platform Qi Rong laughed out loud, applauding, “DEAD! HE’S DEAD!
COUSIN CROWN PRINCE HAS SLAIN THE GHOST DEAD!”
While all this was happening, the magnificent Heavenly Procession had continued to
march, and soon moved onto the path back to the palace. Because of how well the act
was saved and the unexpected improvised act was exhilarating to watch, not only did
the people not complain, but rather their excitement grew even stronger. Countless
within the crowd were shouting “Your Highness”, hollering “God”, and followed behind
the grand stage, thousands and millions rushing to the palace. A few of the generals
had to send out many more troops of warriors and soldiers to block the overly excited
people. However, in the end they still couldn’t hold them back, and the crowd broke
through, pushing themselves towards the palace gates.
The King of Xianle called from the top of the towering platform, “Guards! Warriors!”
At the same time, the hundreds within the procession all had re-entered the palace, and
the giant crimson gates closed soundly shut after the grand stage, the colourful banners
of the performance now out of sight. The people rushed the gates, knocking and
slapping upon it, their cheers ringing to the heavens.
Inside the tightly closed palace gates, upon the grand stage, the white clad
God-Pleasing Martial Warrior and the black clad ghost both threw their weapons onto
the ground in two clanking sounds, and collapsed heavily on the ground.
Xie Lian was covered in sweat, and ripped open layers and layers of his elegant
costume, and exhaled deeply, “That was close. Too close. I’m exhausted.”
Mu Qing also removed his heavy ghost mask, and let out a long breath silently, but
didn’t complain about being tired.
When he looked over, he saw Xie Lian was still holding onto that young child, and
frowned wordlessly. Feng Xin on the other hand, called out as he followed after the
grand stage in a jog, “Your Highness, what are you doing bringing the child in too?”
That young child was lying over Xie Lian’s chest, his small body frozen and unmoving,
afraid to even breathe loudly. Xie Lian sat up, “What was I to do, throw him back out on
the streets? It’s a mess out there, he’s such a tiny creature he’d get trampled to death.”
He held up the small child and patted his head, asking casually, “How old are you, little
guy?”
That child didn’t blink, and his lips uttered no sounds. Xie Lian continued his query, his
tone soothing, “How did you come to fall earlier?”
“Your Highness, the child probably doesn’t dare to speak, he’s obviously scared
witless.” Mu Qing said.
Xie Lian patted the head of that young child again, but the unresponsive child made him
lose interest, so he stopped patting. “So silly.” Xie Lian commented. “Feng Xin, go find
someone to take him out through the side doors when you get a chance, see if he’s
injured, his head is wrapped in bandages.”
“Alright.” Feng Xin extended his hand, “Give him here.”
Xie Lian held the young child up and passed him over, but before he could do so, Feng
Xin said, “Your Highness, why haven’t you let go?”
“I did let go?” Xie Lian was puzzled, but when he looked down, he laughed
exasperatedly. Turns out it was the child who was still gripping tightly onto his clothes
refusing to let go.
A few were taken aback and started laughing out loud. While training at the Royal Holy
Pavilion, so many devoutees, men and women alike, tried their hardest to get a glimpse
of Xie Lian, whether it be out of curiosity or devotion. But once they’ve seen him once,
they’d want to see him again, if they could train next to him then even better. They
couldn’t believe that a child at such a young age would also be the same. Guarding
around the grand stage were many young trainees from the Royal Holy Pavilion, and
they all snickered, “Your Highness, this child doesn’t want to leave!”
Xie Lian also laughed, “Is that right? That won’t do. I’ve got my own things to do. Go
home, little kid.”
Hearing this, that child finally loosened his grip slowly, letting go of his clothes, and
Feng Xin picked him up. Even when the person holding him was now Feng Xin, the
child was still staring at Xie Lian with his large, dark eye, looking as if he was
possessed. Many who was witnessing this started muttering silently, noting that intense
stare. Xie Lian himself however, wasn’t even looking at the child anymore, and only
spoke to Feng Xin directly, “Don’t pick him up like you’re picking up trash, you’re scaring
him.”
Feng Xin put the child back down on the ground, “Enough joking around. Guoshi is
freaking out. Your Highness better think about how you’re going to face him later.”
Hearing this, everyone stopped laughing.
An hour later, at the Royal Holy Pavilion, on the Martial Deity Summit, inside the Great
Martial Hall.
Clouds of incense wafted in the air, and the sound of chanting came in waves. Guoshi
and three other Deputy Guoshi sat in a line by the side wall within the great hall, their
faces clouded, and Mu Qing was kneeling before them. Xie Lian was also kneeling, but
before him was no one but the golden statue of the the Great Martial God. Feng Xin
followed his master, and knelt behind him.
Guoshi picked up that exquisitely crafted golden mask, and after a moment he heaved a
heavy sigh, “Your Highness, Your Highness.”
Even when kneeling Xie Lian’s back was straight, his posture perfect and his head
raised, “Present.”
Guoshi looked pained, “Do you know that in the history of Xianle, having held so many
ShangYuan Heavenly Ceremonial Processions, never once did the grand stage only
circle the capital thrice. Thrice!”
Every ritual of the ShangYuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession, every decoration of
every place, had a meaning behind them. To have the grand stage circle the capital
once symbolized the kingdom’s prayer for the peace and happiness of the people for
one year; thus, however many rounds the grand stage made meant however many
years another such grand ceremony need not take place. Not only signified good
fortune, it also saved money. Having only made three rounds, didn’t that mean the
kingdom would only be protected for three years???
The worst thing on top of that was the golden mask on the face of the God-Pleasing
Martial Warrior had fallen mid-ritual.
Since ancient times, the people of Xianle had believed that the spiritual aura of a person
resided upon the five facial features; the spirit of a person was on their face, and the
best must be offered to the heavens. Thus, in the midst of a ceremony, the Martial
Warrior must wear a golden mask to hide their features, because his face could only be
appreciated by the gods, and the mortals have no right to see it.
Guoshi was both furious and disappointed, “The God-Pleasing Martial Warriors of the
past circled the capital at minimum five times, at most fifteen or sixteen times. You? You
can do fifty with your eyes closed! A hundred even! But you killed yourself dead at three
– why didn’t you just kill me, your master, first??? Now look at you. Our dear Highness
the Crown Prince is going to go down history, dragging me along with you!”
No one dared speak in the great hall. Yet, Xie Lian still looked to be at ease and calmly
responded, “Guoshi, why don’t you look at it this way. If that child had fallen to his death
with no one to catch him, spilling blood on the path of the procession, wouldn’t that be
equally ominous? Wouldn’t the parade still have to come to a stop? At the very least,
the ceremony ended decently, and that’s the best case scenario. Let’s just call what’s
happened an accident.”
For a moment, Guoshi’s words were stuck in his throat, but then blew up, “You child!
With so many royal guards on site, anyone could’ve caught him! Even if the catch is off
and he breaks an arm, he wouldn’t die. You could’ve just marched forward a few steps,
perform a little flashier, and everyone would forget whatever had fallen and move on.”
Xie Lian raised his brows, “Guoshi, you understand as well as I. Under those
circumstances no one else but me could have reacted as fast, and there was no second
person who could’ve caught him without injuries. Let him fall, there’d be one dead.
Catch him, and there’d be two dead.”
His words were confident and self-assured.Guoshis also knew that what he had said
was true, and couldn’t refute. But seeing him kneel before the statue of god, looking like
all was well and nothing was the matter, Guoshi was all angry, all amused, and all
proud. Before his precious, darling disciple, he just couldn’t get angry, and could only
pull at his own hair, and use the pain of his scalp to relieve the worry in his heart. After a
pause, Guoshi spoke again, “Another thing!”
Xie Lian inclined his head, “This disciple is listening.”
“You did well today on stage.” tate Preceptor said. “But no matter how well you
performed, you can’t just suddenly change things up right before the start without a
word of warning. Both majesties were terrified by your act today. Do you know what
would happen if we miss the fortuitous hour?”
Xie Lian knitted his long brows, looking puzzled, “Guoshi, in regards to this, haven’t I
already asked for your permission before today?”
Guoshi was taken aback too, “You’ve asked already? Before today? When?”
Bewildered, Xie Lian turned his head and looked, calling out, “Mu Qing?”
———–
Ch.60: Lost Red Pearl; Inadvertent Eyes Red with Desire
Just then, Feng Xin who was kneeling behind Xie Lian spoke up grimly, “His Highness
did indeed mention it a couple days ago.”
All eyes went to him. Feng Xin continued, “Recently His Highness has been putting a lot
of thought into the Heavenly Procession, and yesterday he suddenly came up with the
extraordinary idea of jumping off the tower to simulate celestial descent without
changing anything else in the programming. At the time, His Highness was in the middle
of rehearsals and couldn’t get away, so he sent Mu Qing to pass on word to Guoshi to
request for the go ahead.”
He raised his head, anger obvious in his eyes, “Mu Qing returned and told His Highness
that Guoshi had been informed, so His Highness performed today under the impression
that he got permission. Who knew Guoshi had not known, and almost ruined the event!”
The cultivators all looked at each other. Guoshi asked, “Who knew of this?”
The other three Deputy Guoshis shook their heads, all denying knowing anything.
Guoshi turned to Mu Qing, his cloudy expression turning into one of anger, “Mu Qing,
you intentionally withheld communication?”
His words and expression showed he already firmly believed Mu Qing to be sabotaging
the affair purposely. Xie Lian glanced at the silent, expressionless youth kneeling on the
side and pondered before speaking up, “Guoshi, I think there must be some kind of
misunderstanding here.”
Hearing this, Mu Qing shifted his eyes to stare at him, his eyes going dark. Xie Lian
said, “If he had purposely held back word, once the event’s over and we compared
notes, his deceit would be revealed, and there’d be no way he could escape taking
responsibility. Mu Qing is not a short-sighted imbecile, and wouldn’t have come up with
such a low tactic. Besides, with the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior missing, what
advantages does the ghost opponent have? Please hear him out, Guoshi, and then
draw a conclusion.”
Finishing his speech, Xie Lian inclined his head, “Tell us, Mu Qing. What happened?”
Mu Qing lowered his eyes and said softly, “I did pass word what His Highness bade me
to say yesterday.”
Guoshi frowned, “Won’t we know ourselves what you did or did not say? When did you
tell us?”
“Yesterday, an hour after the evening lesson, when the four Masters were resting at the
SiXiang Pavilion, this disciple spoke from outside the window.” Mu Qing said.
Guoshi turned his head to his three fellows, looking puzzled, “Yesterday after the
evening lessons? What were we doing then?”
The moment the question left his lips he remembered, and his face turned slightly blue
from awkwardness. The other three Deputy Guoshis also coughed nervously, their
response ambiguous, “Not really anything. Just… resting is resting!”
Seeing how Guoshis stammered, everyone understood immediately.
The Royal Holy Pavilion was a place of quiet meditation and training, and there was
very little entertainment, only some small games that could be counted as amusement.
One of them, the most popular one, was playing cards.
Cards could only be played secretly, to be seen by no one. The Guoshis had long been
bored out of their minds residing at the Royal Holy Pavilion, and so they’re heavily
addicted. When they start playing, they would forget everything and everyone, falling
into a state akin to obsession or drunkenness, uncontrollably emotional, and definitely
would not be able to hear anything from the outside. If Mu Qing had said anything at
that same time, what could they possibly hear?
One of the Deputy Guoshis said, “Oh, um… maybe there were too many people, your
voice was too low, and we didn’t hear. Or, um, we didn’t hear clearly.”
Guoshi demanded suspiciously, “Did you actually go to the SiXiang Pavilion yesterday?”
“I absolutely did.” Mu Qing said, and as proof, he relayed the dress, look, and accent of
the guard standing at the gate, and without fault. Guoshi had to believe him, but still he
frowned, “If you had gone to the SiXiang Pavilion, you could’ve just passed on the
message to the trainee outside the door, or enter the chamber and communicate in
detail, why speak outside by the window? You didn’t even confirm whether if we heard?”
Mu Qing responded softly, “It’s not like I didn’t try. This disciple had begged the
shixiong* guarding the door, but for some reason that shixiong had to make things
difficult, and wouldn’t let me into the chamber or pass on word for me. His words were
taunting and he booted me out.”
After a pause he continued, “This disciple had no other choice, so I went around to the
other side of the SiXiang Pavilion, and tried to pass on the message through the
window. After I spoke, I heard one of the Guoshis say “I understand, now leave.” so this
disciple had taken that as consent to His Highness’ plans, and returned.”
The Guoshis pursed their lips and didn’t speak.
At the height of a round of card games, who would pay attention to whatever was said
outside?? If they should hear anything of course they’d respond offhandedly with “I
understand”, but in reality, they probably didn’t even know where the voice came from!
Xie Lian knitted his brows, “That such a thing would happen! Which trainee is this
impudent? To be so disrespectful to one of my messengers, he’s got guts.”
Although Xie Lian was usually kind and gentle when interacting with others at the Royal
Holy Pavilion, and never really put on airs, he was still nonetheless the esteemed son of
the king, the prominent Crown Prince, and even as he knelt before the statue of god, he
had not shown any meekness or timidity. In that moment of sterness, he was strong and
authoritative without fury. Everyone stayed quiet, and the Guoshis wore unreadable
expressions on their faces.
“Why didn’t you report this to me when you returned yesterday?” Xie Lian asked.
Mu Qing turned around while still kneeling, and prostrated, his voice quiet, “Your
Highness, there’s no need to look further into this matter with that shixiong. I didn’t say
anything after returning yesterday simply because I don’t want to make this into a big
deal. And seriously, it’s nothing major. If Your Highness was to defend me openly, then
it’ll hurt the friendliness between everyone.”
Xie Lian disagreed, sounding upset, “What is this friendliness with everyone? The kind
of friendliness you use to abuse others?”
Hearing this, the Guoshis sitting on the side looked even more agitated.
At the end of the day, something like this happened because the Guoshis disliked Mu
Qing.
Since they were displeased, then the trainee attendants naturally followed their lead,
and truly, Mu Qing himself wasn’t that likeable, so it was often that not only did fellow
trainees inconvenienced him, they’d also make things difficult for him at every turn. Of
course, this high and mighty disciple wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, but he certainly did
make a jab.
Through his words, it was obvious Mu Qing was backing off, but Feng Xin couldn’t listen
to another word, and suddenly interjected, “It really was nothing major, but you had to
go and make it complicated. If you had told the trainee at the door that you went to
deliver a message by his royal highness’ command, would he still be brave enough to
block your way? Also, right before we departed today Guoshi asked you where His
Highness went, why did you answer so vaguely? Couldn’t you have said clearly that His
Highness was on top of the tower waiting for the procession to start?”
Mu Qing immediately argued back, calmly and steadily, “I thought Guoshi had already
known and didn’t expect to be asked that question so I was confused. But right after, I
told Guoshi His Highness had already said not to worry, and that the procession could
start without delay as planned, that His Highness would be back promptly. High
highness might not have been there at the time, but there were many on site who heard
me, so how can you say I did this intentionally? That I was being vague?”
Feng Xin stared at him angrily. But if he thought about it in detail, Mu Qing did indeed
say what he did, only Guoshi was too anxious and didn’t want to make hasty decisions,
so if he must pick at faults, there really wasn’t much to prove anything. Just then, Xie
Lian spoke up again, “Alright, alright. It’s all just an untimely misunderstanding. It’s all
just bad luck, so stop fighting.”
Feng Xin looked extremely displeased, but mindful of his position, he dared not be noisy
in the Great Martial Hall, so he stopped talking. Guoshi didn’t want to pursue this topic
anymore either, because after all, if they must get to the bottom of things, wasn’t he at
fault too for being too engrossed in card games? Thus, he simply waved and sighed,
“Let’s talk more later. We will discuss more on what’s transpired and think of a way to
save the situation. The three of you are dismissed; go remove your costumes and do
whatever else you must.”
Xie Lian curtseyed and rose to his feet. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both properly kowtowed
once before rising, following behind Xie Lian about to leave. Xie Lian had one foot over
the threshold when he heard Guoshi speak up, “Your Highness.”
Xie Lian turned his head. “Both his majesty the king and her ladyship the queen had
asked after you today. If you have time the next few days, go and see them.” Guoshi
said.
Xie Lian smiled, “I understand.”
After leaving the Great Martial Hall, the three of them traversed through a large part of
the summit, and returned to the Xianle Palace Training Hall, built especially for the
Crown Prince. Xie Lian could finally remove his ceremonial garb.
As aforementioned, for the ShangYuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession, the
ceremonial attire of the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior was exceedingly strict in every
detail, as every accessory and folds had meaning, and cannot ever be disarranged or
mixed up. For example, the outer robe was to be white, symbolizing ‘divine purity’; the
inner garb was to be red, symbolizing ‘canonical tradition’; the golden crown that
fastened hair symbolized ‘royal power’ and ‘wealth’; white plumes hidden by the heart
meant ‘flight to ascension’; loose cordon ribbons along the sleeves meant ‘to carry all
lives’; etc., etc.
It would be easy to imagine that from head to toe, whether to wear or to remove, was no
simple task. However, as the esteemed Crown Prince, naturally he needn’t do anything
himself; he only needed to stand and open his arms wide in that refreshing, fragrant
chamber, and chat with Feng Xin while waiting on the personal attendant Mu Qing to
help remove layers after layers of this God-Pleasing costume.
That outer white robe of the God-Pleasing costume was of high quality, the threads
delicate and exquisite, the fringes sewn with intricate light golden patterns, elegant but
not frivolous. In comparison, the black martial gi of the ghost costume was a difference
of heaven and earth. Mu Qing himself hadn’t removed his black gear yet, his hands full
with the God-Pleasing costume disrobed from Xie Lian, and his fingers twitched,
inconspicuously feeling up the material of that white robe.
Next to him, Xie Lian removed the golden crown, letting his long hair loose, and sat
down on the edge of his sandalwood bed, kicking off his snow-white boots, waiting for
someone to bring him fresh clothes. He waited for a bit but noticed Mu Qing wasn’t
moving, so he inclined his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Mu Qing instantly came around and replied, “The costume seemed to be dirty in some
places.”
Xie Lian “Ah”-ed and said, “Bring it over and let me see?”
Sure enough, on the snow-white attire were two distinct little black hand prints. Xie Lian
took a look and remarked, “It’s probably done by that little kid who fell from the sky. I
remember he was grabbing on to me and wouldn’t let go. That child’s face was wrapped
all over with bandages, maybe he had tumbled elsewhere or something. Feng Xin, did
you check him out?”
Feng Xin was just wrapping up the sword and zanbato, and replied grimly, “No. I took
him out of the palace, and was about to take a look at his face as you asked, but he
kicked me in the shin! It actually fucking hurt.”
Xie Lian fell over on the bed laughing, pointing at him, “It must be because you’re so
mean. Otherwise how come he didn’t kick me, but kicked you?”
“I wasn’t!” Feng Xin cried, “It was like that damned kid was possessed or something,
and ran away right quick. Or else I would’ve picked him up upside down and shook until
he cried from fright.”
Mu Qing turned the white robe over in his hands, “That kid must be a beggar; he’s too
dirty. Just a simple grab and he could leave black prints like these. Your Highness, the
God-Pleasing costume can’t be dirty, isn’t that also a bad omen?”
Xie Lian stayed in his lying position on the bed, and casually grabbed a book from the
headboard, covering half of his face, “Three rounds around the capital, I’ve already got
a good name going down history with the best record. If it’s dirty, it’s dirty, just wash it.”
After a pause, Mu Qing replied quietly, “I will do my best to be careful when I wash it.”
Xie Lian flipped through the book, and came to the page illustrating the art of the sabre,
and recalled the exhilarating sparring earlier that day on the stage. He smiled, “Mu
Qing, you fought well today on stage.”
Mu Qing’s shoulders tensed.
Xie Lian continued, “Only today did I find out that you’re much more skilled with the
sabre than you are with the sword.”
Mu Qing’s expression relaxed and turned around. There was even a little smile playing
on his lips, “Really?”
“Yea!” Xie Lian answered, “But you might’ve been too hasty. Swinging a sabre is not like
swinging a sword, look here…”
The moment the topic on martial arts started, Xie Lian became highly enthusiastic, even
more possessed than when the Guoshis played cards, and he jumped off the bed
without even putting on shoes, demonstrating his point on the spot using his hand as
the pretend sabre. Mu Qing wore a complicated expression, but after Xie Lian
demonstrated a few moves, he started to watch seriously. Feng Xin on the other hand,
swung the now properly wrapped zanbato, and chased Xie Lian back onto the bed,
shouting, “IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOW OFF AT LEAST PUT ON YOUR SHOES
BEFORE YOU DO! You’re the Crown Prince! Hair loose and feet bare, what a
disgrace!”
Xie Lian was just at the height of his excitement but got chased onto the bed like ducks
to the pen, and was rather bitter. “Alright! Jeez.” He said, and ran through his long hair
with both his hands, ready to tie it up before continuing his lecture to Mu Qing when
suddenly, he frowned, “That’s weird.”
“What is it?” Feng Xin asked.
——
●Shixiong - Older cultivation brother, like senpai.
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