Chapter 53 Hard to Tell What's Real and What's Fake 3

Xie Lian shouted, "Qi Rong, shut up!"

Lang Qianqiu suddenly turned his head and said, "Why do you want him to shut up? Is it because he's telling the truth? In the Gilded Hall, you and An Le both made a move, one killed all my relatives, and the other finished off my father. Are you all lying to me?"

Xie Lian said, "Don't listen..." Qi Rong interrupted, "Of course they're all lying to you! Who else would they lie to if not you? If it wasn't for an unexpected twist, the people of Celestial Music would have taken your life when you were twelve, and you wouldn't have lived to ascend!"

Lang Qianqiu said, "Twelve?" When he was twelve, he was kidnapped by thieves and saved by Xie Lian. Lang Qianqiu asked, "Were the thieves who broke into the palace that year sent by Celestial Music?"

Qi Rong said, "Of course! Do you think any ordinary assassin could kidnap the Crown Prince right in front of hundreds of royal guards? Wasn't it because I helped An Le?"

Lang Qianqiu nodded and said, "Help? Alright, I understand. So, so friends are fake. You people from Celestial Music don't care about our goodwill at all. Your An Le King had bad intentions, aiming to take our lives."

He turned to Xie Lian and said, "So, what you said was also fake."

Qi Rong pretended to be curious and said, "Come on, let me hear what my saintly cousin told you?"

Lang Qianqiu ignored him and only spoke to Xie Lian, "You said that Eternal Peace and Celestial Music were originally one nation, and whatever grudges the royal families had, they had nothing to do with the common people. The people on both sides were originally one family, and it could change in our generation. As long as the people are well, it doesn't matter what the royal family's surname is. The grudges can be resolved, and they can be reunited. It's all fake. It's all nonsense, crap, lies!"

The last thing Xie Lian wanted to hear was this kind of talk, and he immediately said, "No! It's not fake. Think about it, didn't things really change in your hands?"

Lang Qianqiu stopped talking, his chest heaving. Xie Lian said, "Didn't you do well? Didn't the remaining people of Celestial Music integrate well with the people of Eternal Peace later? The conflicts became less and less. How could that be fake?"

After a moment of silence, Lang Qianqiu cried and said, "But... but what about my father and mother? The integration of Eternal Peace and Celestial Music was their greatest wish, which is why they made the last person of your clan the An Le King. Their wish was fulfilled, but what was their end?"

Qi Rong spat and said, "You crying over everything is just like my saintly cousin back then! You're asking us for your parents, but I haven't even asked your ancestors for mine. What kind of wish is it to integrate the two sides and make An Le King? It sounds nice, An Le, An in front, Le behind. Do you think I can't see that this is your Eternal Peace dogs' way of wanting to step on the heads of Celestial Music people for generations?"

Xie Lian angrily said, "Qi Rong, stop acting crazy!"

Lang Qianqiu, however, while crying, stared hard at Qi Rong and said, "You were behind the killing of my relatives? You were involved in the Gilded Banquet?"

Qi Rong giggled and said, "Yes, I was involved, An Le was involved, your master was involved, all three of us from Celestial Music were involved. Hahaha..."

Who would have thought, halfway through his laughter, Lang Qianqiu suddenly swung his heavy sword down. Qi Rong screamed, and his whole body was cut in half!

The scene was very bloody. Qi Rong's two halves rolled on the ground, but his upper half said, "No pain, no pain, not painful at all. Compared to the slap from my Crown Prince cousin, you're far off! Hahaha!"

Lang Qianqiu said nothing, grabbed his head, and lifted it up. Qi Rong continued to mock, but Xie Lian noticed that Lang Qianqiu's expression was a bit off and said, "Qi Rong, if you want to live, you'd better shut up!"

Xie Lian was always gentle and polite to people, but Qi Rong was someone who couldn't be treated with common sense. Knowing this, Xie Lian never wanted to be polite when dealing with him and couldn't help but become rough. Lang Qianqiu dragged half of Qi Rong's body to a large pot of boiling water and said, "Do you usually use this pot to eat people?"

Qi Rong was dragged along, leaving a thick trail of blood on the ground, and said, "Yes. What do you want to do?"

As soon as he finished, Lang Qianqiu let go.

"Aaaahhh—"

It was unclear whether Qi Rong was screaming or laughing as he was thrown into the pot, instantly scalded until his skin split open. Xie Lian couldn't believe such a scene was unfolding and exclaimed, "Qianqiu!"

Lang Qianqiu shouted, "What's wrong? Green Ghost Qi Rong, after eating so many people, can't he also taste what it's like to be cooked? He's the enemy who wiped out my family. Can't I make him suffer?"

Of course, he could. So, Xie Lian had nothing to say. He had no standing to speak. However, whether as the Crown Prince of a mortal kingdom or the Eastern Martial God of the Heavenly Court, Lang Qianqiu had never done such a thing. He always killed directly, disdaining such cruel methods, which was very different from the Lang Qianqiu Xie Lian knew.

Qi Rong was thrown into the boiling water, and after a while, when he was fished out, he was no longer human-shaped, cooked into a mass with melted skin and flesh, some places even showing white bones, very horrifying. Yet he seemed very pleased, still laughing, "Cousin, congratulations! Look at your good disciple, he's grown wings, he knows how to use torture, he knows how to torment people now!"

Lang Qianqiu let go again, and Qi Rong was thrown back into the boiling water. This time, it seemed even his bones were dissolved in the broth, and Qi Rong never surfaced again, leaving only a few pieces of green clothing floating on the water. Xie Lian didn't see him for a long time and couldn't help but say, "Qi Rong!"

This cousin of his used to call him Crown Prince cousin at every turn, admired him in everything, and was extremely devoted. However, after the fall of Celestial Music, he completely turned into a madman, leading the charge to burn his temple, smash his hall, build kneeling statues and thresholds everywhere, willing to do anything to make him suffer.

For such behavior, Xie Lian always tolerated as much as he could, and if it involved others, he would try to stop it, but when he couldn't bear it anymore, he could only hope for mutual invisibility. Later, they hadn't seen each other for many years, and he thought Qi Rong was long dead.

Who knew that after so long, he would suddenly meet an old acquaintance in this world, seeing that face somewhat similar to his own, he truly couldn't tell if there was a trace of nostalgia in his heart. After all, now the only Celestial Music royals left in the world were the two of them.

But not long after meeting, he suddenly saw him die in front of him, and it was Lang Qianqiu, who wouldn't even use the death penalty, who killed him in such a cruel way. The ups and downs in such a short time left him at a loss for what to feel, his mind in chaos.

Lang Qianqiu stood by the large pot, head down, silent. At this moment, Hua Cheng said, "He's not dead."

Lang Qianqiu looked up at him. Hua Cheng said, "You didn't think this was the end, did you? At most, you killed one of his avatars. If you really want to kill him completely, you need to find Qi Rong's ashes."

Lang Qianqiu said coldly, "Thanks for the reminder, I will catch him myself and use his ashes to honor my father and mother. After that, I'll come find you for a conclusion. National Teacher, don't think of running away again!"

After saying this, he swung his sword, splitting the pot, and then left. The boiling water gushed out, and the bone fragments and remnants in the pot were washed to the ground. Xie Lian wanted to chase after him, but he knew in his heart that it was already too late.

He stopped, standing in place, speechless. Hua Cheng came up and said, "He just found out the truth, it's better to let him calm down."

Xie Lian was stunned and said, "Why did he have to know? Does the truth matter so much?"

Hua Cheng said, "It matters. He needs to understand what you did, what you didn't do, and why you did it."

Xie Lian suddenly turned around and said coldly, "What's the use of knowing so clearly? Does it mean I have more reasons if I killed fewer people?"

Hua Cheng was silent. Xie Lian felt a sudden surge of anger in his chest, not knowing who it was directed at. He blurted out, "What kind of crap reason do I have?

His father wanted to unite the two clans, didn't I kill him? An Le King was the last bloodline of my family, didn't I kill him? Whatever happens to me, I deserve it, can't it all be blamed on me?

What am I afraid of? Even if everything comes at me, I won't die! It was originally just my own doing, I was the only scourge, now An Le King is included, Qi Rong is included, all the Celestial Music people are included.

Isn't it better to hate one person than a group? Does he have to find out that everything I taught him was fake, empty, worthless nonsense?

I just..."

He covered his face with his hand and said, "I'm sorry. San Lang, I'm sorry. I must be crazy. I'm sorry."

Hua Cheng said, "It's okay. It's my fault."

Xie Lian said, "No, you didn't do anything wrong. It's my problem."

He sat down on the ground, holding his head, and said, "It's a mess. A complete mess."

After a while, Hua Cheng sat down beside him and said, "You're not wrong."

Xie Lian held his head in silence, and Hua Cheng said, "Killing the Eternal Peace King to protect the remaining people of Celestial Music. Killing An Le King to prevent further conflict between the two clans. Finally, dying at the hands of Lang Qianqiu, the culprit was punished. Three lives for several generations of peace, it's the best deal, I would do the same. Trust me."

His tone was firm, leaving no room for doubt, "You're not wrong. No one could have done better."

After a moment of silence, Xie Lian said, "I just feel it shouldn't be like this."

He slowly lifted his face and said, "I just feel that when someone gives kindness, but doesn't get a good result, it shouldn't be like this.

"Even if it's fake, I want Qianqiu to remember that being good to Celestial Music means Celestial Music will be good to him. Do the right thing, go forward without hesitation. Not like now, thinking that what I told him, what he believed before, was all fake, lies, deceitful. It's all nonsense! I just..."

He raised his right hand, looking at it, and said, "...what I've suffered enough of, I don't want others to suffer again."

Hua Cheng listened quietly. Xie Lian realized he had just said another rude word and said, "I'm sorry. But look at the world's affairs, how ridiculous. The previous generations of Eternal Peace did all sorts of evil but didn't meet a bad end. When it came to Lang Qianqiu's parents, who sincerely wanted to do some good, do something big, this was their end."

The ruler of Eternal Peace respected him as the national teacher and treated him with great respect for five years. Even in his last moments, he left with a look of trust in him. Xie Lian stared blankly ahead and said softly, "I really can't forget... the expression on his face when I stabbed him."

Hua Cheng said calmly, "Forget it. That was Qi Rong and An Le King's fault."

Xie Lian shook his head, burying his head between his knees, and said tiredly, "Everything was fine."

Lang Qianqiu's father ascended the throne and changed the oppressive policies against the Celestial Music people. The people of Celestial Music and Eternal Peace finally coexisted peacefully for decades, seeing a turning point, signs of integration, and hope for peace. Yet An Le King chose this moment to massacre the Gilded Banquet.

While fleeing, he found An Le King that night, originally intending to warn him not to cause trouble again. However, this last descendant of his family, upon learning his true identity, eagerly pulled him in, demanding he join the cause of revenge and restoration.

His eyes were fervent, his voice passionate, chilling, swearing to first wash the Gilded Banquet in blood, then destroy Lang Qianqiu, turning Eternal Peace upside down.

Even if it meant breaking the goodwill between the two groups of people, even if it meant sacrificing all the Celestial Music people, as long as they could drag the Eternal Peace royal family and people to hell, they were willing.

But killing is killing. No matter how noble the reason, no matter how much "no choice," the fact is he personally killed a wise king who genuinely wanted to accommodate others and the last bloodline of his family left in the world.

So, he deserved it.