As the other half of the mask fell off, Qi Rong's entire face was exposed, and it became clear that he didn't look quite the same. Although their noses and jawlines were similar, their eyes were completely different. Xie Lian's eyes were calm and gentle, while Qi Rong's eyebrows were sharply raised, and his eyes were more narrow.
He was definitely a handsome young man, but one look at his face and you could tell he was a difficult person to deal with.
He was beaten so badly that blood flowed from his eyes, and when he finally managed to open them, he vaguely saw that the person holding him had changed appearance, now resembling a young man in red. Although Qi Rong had never seen Hua Cheng's true face, seeing the red clothes, he was both shocked and angry: "It's you.
It's you!"
Hua Cheng had revealed his true form and said, "You haven't answered the question from before. How did King An Le die?"
His gaze was truly terrifying at this moment, and Xie Lian rushed forward, saying, "San Lang!"
The people and ghosts in the cave had mostly scattered. Xie Lian hurried to his side and said, "What's wrong? Don't be angry, please don't be angry, it's okay now. Calm down, it's okay..."
He gently patted Hua Cheng's shoulder, his voice getting softer. When Xie Lian was young and got angry or upset, his parents would comfort him like this, gently patting his back and speaking softly. So he used this method on Hua Cheng, and surprisingly, it worked. The confusion in Hua Cheng's eyes faded, and his lips moved slightly, slowly calming down and becoming clear-headed.
Seeing this, Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief. But before he could fully relax, Hua Cheng suddenly reached out and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
With that tap, Xie Lian was instantly immobilized.
He hadn't expected Hua Cheng to make a move on him, so he was caught off guard. He didn't know what Hua Cheng intended to do, but he wasn't worried about himself, only that Hua Cheng might lose control again like before. He wanted to ask, but found he couldn't move or speak, which was a bit unsettling.
While Qi Rong was completely useless in a fight, his mouth was as tough as ever. With his head covered in blood, he cursed, "You crazy one-eyed dog! Did I bother you while eating at home?!"
Hua Cheng smiled and once again slammed his head into the ground. Afterward, he lifted him up and asked, "How did King An Le die?"
Qi Rong said, "What the hell does it have to do with you..."
Hua Cheng slammed him again, "How did King An Le die?"
This continued over and over, with Hua Cheng maintaining a polite smile while treating Qi Rong's head like a ball, slamming it into the ground nearly ten times. Qi Rong wouldn't die from this, but it was precisely because he wouldn't die that it was so painful. Even an iron head couldn't withstand such treatment. Finally, Qi Rong couldn't take it anymore and changed his tune: "Can't you read the history books yourself?!"
Hua Cheng sneered, "If history books told the truth, why would I ask you, you useless thing?" He raised his hand again. Qi Rong shouted, "It was Lang Qianqiu! Lang Qianqiu killed him!!!"
The tumbler in Xie Lian's arms shuddered and then began to shake violently.
It shook so much that Xie Lian couldn't hold it down, and he watched helplessly as the tumbler fell out and rolled crazily on the ground. Hua Cheng didn't turn around, but he released the spell. A burst of red smoke exploded, and Lang Qianqiu leaped out of the mist.
He, born of noble lineage, had never been wronged like this in his life. Pointing at Qi Rong, he angrily said, "Why are you spouting nonsense and making things up? An Le and I were friends, who do you say killed him?"
Qi Rong was also surprised to see him suddenly appear, "You're Lang Qianqiu? How the hell are you here too?!"
Lang Qianqiu couldn't figure out why he was brought here, but he was furious at Qi Rong's accusation and insisted on clearing things up: "King An Le clearly died of illness, why are you saying I killed him for no reason?"
Hua Cheng watched coldly, not slamming his head anymore, so Qi Rong started arguing with him too, "Nonsense about dying of illness, only you believe that. He died not long after the banquet, surely you assassinated him! If it wasn't you, it was those old dogs of Yong An."
He was being unreasonable, and Lang Qianqiu was so angry his face turned blue, "No wonder everyone says Green Ghost Qi Rong is lowly, seeing you today, you truly are despicable."
This offhand comment hit Qi Rong's sore spot. Ever since he became famous, for hundreds of years, he had been mocked for his poor taste by gods and ghosts alike. He hated it deeply and his expression changed immediately, "I'm lowly, but at least I'm not stupid. Going on about friends and peaceful coexistence, can people from Celestial Music and Yong An really be friends? Can there be peace? You're just like your parents, pretending to be noble, it's disgusting!"
Hearing him insult his parents, Lang Qianqiu shouted, "Shut up! My father and mother were sincere, they weren't pretending, you can't insult them!"
Qi Rong spat, "Just a bunch of rebels' descendants, what a big dog face! Where's the sincerity? Giving titles and land to Celestial Music people? Shameless, giving away things stolen from others. Everything you have was originally ours from Celestial Music!"
Lang Qianqiu wasn't good at arguing, "You! You..." He got stuck. Seeing him stammer with anger, Qi Rong felt pleased and decided to provoke him further, laughing, "Even though you killed An Le, he died well. Celestial Music lost one, but Yong An lost a golden palace. Too bad they didn't kill you too, so you'd know what it's like to be wiped out!"
Hearing this, Lang Qianqiu was stunned, "What do you mean?"
Xie Lian silently cursed in his heart.
He wished he could jump up and slam Qi Rong back into the ground like Hua Cheng did, to shut him up, but Hua Cheng had immobilized him, and he couldn't break free from the spell. Lang Qianqiu asked, "What do you mean by not killing me too?"
Qi Rong, intent on avenging the insult of being called lowly, smugly said, "Truly, what kind of person gives birth to what kind of offspring, your stupidity spans centuries, opening my eyes. Don't you think, Celestial Music people are sick of you Yong An folks, if anyone doesn't hate you, they're not worthy of being Celestial Music people! You really think the descendants of Celestial Music royalty would befriend Yong An royalty? It was just to get inside info on your palace, to plan the massacre at your birthday banquet!"
Xie Lian was still struggling, while Lang Qianqiu was completely stunned. After a while, he stammered, "King An Le and the national teacher, were they in on it together?"
He thought his mentor and friend had conspired to deceive him, filling him with grief and anger. But Qi Rong said, "National teacher? You mean that demon Daoist? Who's with him?"
Lang Qianqiu, confused again, asked, "You... you said An Le wanted to massacre the banquet, but the one who did it was clearly the national teacher, weren't they in on it together? I..." He couldn't figure it out.
Qi Rong said, "Who knows what that demon Daoist is about, what does he have to do with it! Lang Qianqiu, listen up: your Yong An's golden banquet was massacred by Celestial Music people! An Le had already killed the traitors' descendants at the banquet as planned, but your weird national teacher suddenly barged in. An Le thought the plan was exposed and rushed back to ask me what to do if someone saw him, but that night we heard the national teacher was wanted for the massacre."
Lang Qianqiu took a while to react, "If that's true, why didn't you say it earlier??"
Qi Rong sneered, "Are you brain damaged? Why would I say it? Someone else taking the blame is good, isn't it? Can you promote me to Supreme for lying?" At this, he gloated, "Ah, I get it, you don't dare believe it, do you? I heard you nailed your master into a coffin, hahaha, you fool, you killed the wrong person!"
Xie Lian closed his eyes, listening to his malicious laughter, and cursed in his heart.
Lang Qianqiu was so angry his bones creaked, "…Fake!" He suddenly turned and shouted at Xie Lian, "If it's true, even if he didn't say it, why didn't you? Why didn't you say anything?!"
Qi Rong spat out a tooth that had been knocked loose and said, "Who the hell is this? Are you all here to have a banquet in my cave???"
No one paid him any mind, Lang Qianqiu demanded of Xie Lian, "If it wasn't you, if you didn't kill anyone, why did you admit it?!"
At this moment, Xie Lian felt a release.
Hua Cheng finally undid the spell that immobilized him, but it might have been too late. Lang Qianqiu waited for his answer, and Xie Lian slowly stood up, flexing his wrists, and after a long pause, he said a few words:
"Nonsense!"
Originally, Lang Qianqiu thought he would say, "Yes, it's just as he said." But Xie Lian only coldly denied Qi Rong's beneficial claim for him with those four words. Qi Rong was displeased, "Who are you calling nonsense?"
Xie Lian said, "You."
He looked down at Qi Rong and said, "All your talk is baseless, what proof do you have that the massacre at the golden banquet was done by Celestial Music royalty?"
Qi Rong seemed amused, "Killed is killed, what proof is needed? Besides, it's been hundreds of years, what proof could there be?"
Xie Lian said, "That's why I say you're talking nonsense. Both Celestial Music and Yong An are old dynasties, long gone to dust, why are you still clinging to those old grudges, trying to stir up trouble, what's the point?"
The tone of his words made Qi Rong pause, as if he remembered something, squinting his eyes. Xie Lian then turned to Lang Qianqiu, speaking calmly, "I killed your father, you saw it with your own eyes. It wasn't long after my second banishment, I was resentful, and I made a grave mistake, it's my fault. But I don't think there's a need to drag in unrelated people, this person is making things up, slandering King An Le just to get back at you for calling him lowly."
To an outsider, this conversation might seem ridiculous. Fighting over the title of a brutal murderer, as if the massacre at the golden banquet was some great achievement. Lang Qianqiu, his thoughts in turmoil, held his head in his hands, thinking for a long time before saying, "Yes... it was you, no one else."
He had seen it with his own eyes. That night, he had rushed into the golden hall, seeing the black-clad national teacher pull a long sword from his father's chest, blood splattering. At that moment, his father, the ruler of Yong An, reached out to him, not yet dead. It was only after he rushed forward that his father's hand fell.
Just then, Qi Rong, lying on the ground, suddenly said, "Cousin Crown Prince, is that you?"