Xie Lian quickly dodged aside. At first, he thought it was a broken branch or a bird's nest falling from the tree. But when he looked closely, he realized it was a long, rusted chain with a rotten wooden plank attached at both ends. For most people, it would be hard to tell what it was, but Xie Lian recognized it immediately—it was a swing.
In the past, Mount Tai Cang had many swings hanging from its trees. They were used for both play and training. When Xie Lian was a child, he once visited the Imperial Palace with his parents to pray and saw a group of young monks flipping and fighting on the swings.
It was so impressive that the king and queen found it amusing, and Xie Lian clapped his hands in delight, urging his parents to reward the young monks. This left him with the impression that "cultivators are both powerful and fun." However, when he grew up and truly began his cultivation, it was no longer just for fun.
After a short rest, Xie Lian continued to climb upwards. The higher he went, the denser the trees and vines became. Occasionally, small animals would dart through the underbrush, leaving only the sight of a bushy tail behind. Squirrels gathered in groups on the trees, nibbling on pine cones and curiously watching this unexpected visitor.
Thorns blocked his path, tearing at his clothes and skin, but Xie Lian paid no mind. It took him three hours to finally reach the Crown Prince Peak.
Originally, it wasn't called Crown Prince Peak, but it was renamed after the Crown Prince Hall was built there. Among the overgrown weeds, traces of the turtle-back patterned tiles could still be seen, along with a large area of scorched stone foundations—the remnants of the once-grand hall. Passing through the ruins, he found a broken well.
Looking down from above, the well had long dried up, with only a few feet separating the top from the muddy bottom. Xie Lian, however, stepped in without hesitation.
He didn't land in the mud but passed through an illusion, falling several feet before touching solid ground.
It was pitch black all around, and when he looked up, there was no sunlight, as if a curtain was blocking it. He groped around the bottom of the well, finding a few stone bricks, which he pressed in a specific sequence. With a grinding sound, a small, low door opened to the side.
Xie Lian lay down and crawled through the narrow passageway. As soon as he entered, the door closed behind him with a grinding sound. After crawling for half an incense stick's time, he finally reached the end.
He straightened up and snapped his fingers, conjuring a small flame.
As the small flame lit up, it seemed to awaken something. In the distance, a faint glow appeared, as if a pearl had awoken from a deep slumber, opening its bright eyes.
Soon, more and more pearls lit up, forming a continuous glow that illuminated the surroundings. It was a vast underground palace hall. The ceiling was embedded with countless stars.
It was hard to imagine that the royal tomb of the Ancient Celestial Music Kingdom was hidden beneath the charred remains of Mount Tai Cang. The twinkling stars were actually night pearls and diamonds embedded in the ceiling. The pearls glowed upon encountering light, and the diamonds reflected the light, creating a dreamlike scene. It was as if a miniature galaxy was hidden underground.
Each pearl and diamond was worth a fortune. Just prying one off could ensure a lifetime of wealth and luxury. However, Xie Lian didn't spare them a glance, walking straight through the underground palace to the last chamber.
Compared to the grand hall, this chamber was extremely simple because it hadn't been completed. There were no luxurious furnishings, only two coffins. In the middle of the coffins stood a person, dressed in splendid clothes, wearing a golden mask, and pointing a sword at him.
However, this person maintained this pose without moving. Xie Lian walked in, ignoring him entirely. He knew that behind the golden mask was no face, and beneath the splendid clothes was no person—just a wooden frame tied with straw ropes, made to look real.
For many years, only this set of clothes and mask had accompanied the two lonely coffins. On each coffin was a small golden plate, but the items on the plates were out of place: shriveled fruits reduced to seeds, and moldy blackened lumps unrecognizable. Xie Lian collected the items from the plates and threw them into the corner of the chamber. He felt around his chest. He had half a bun left, but he had given it to Hua Cheng, so he had nothing. He said, "Father, Mother, I'm sorry. I forgot to bring anything for you."
Naturally, there was no response. Xie Lian leaned against one of the coffins and sat down.
After a moment of daze, he said, "Mother, I saw Qi Rong."
"Qi Rong isn't dead; he's become a ghost. I really don't know how he's survived these past hundreds of years."
Xie Lian shook his head and said, "He... killed a lot of people, and now others want to kill him. The Heavenly Court probably won't spare him either. Sigh, I really don't know what to do with him."
He was about to continue when suddenly, from very close by, he heard a faint crying sound.
Xie Lian froze, his expression changing instantly.
Listening carefully, it wasn't an illusion. It was really crying. The sound was low and small; without holding his breath and concentrating, one wouldn't hear it. Moreover, the voice was thin, either a child or a woman.
The crying was so close, as if it was just separated by a thin wall, almost as if it was coming from right beside him. Xie Lian quickly turned his head and finally confirmed—the sound was coming from the coffin he was leaning against!
In utter shock, Xie Lian blurted out in delight, "Mother, is that you?!"
However, he quickly came to his senses, realizing that what he hoped for was impossible. His mother had passed away eight hundred years ago, freed from suffering, and had never turned into a vengeful spirit. Moreover, the emotion in the crying wasn't sorrow but fear.
So who could possibly be hiding in his mother's coffin, crying at this moment?!
Xie Lian couldn't wait any longer. He lifted the coffin lid with his left hand and was about to slash down with his right. But when he saw what was inside, his sword stopped abruptly.
Inside the coffin, there was no second person, only a figure dressed in black, with a face covered by a veil.
This figure should have been his mother, but it clearly wasn't. The figure was too small, with the wrong height and build, and most importantly, it was trembling—a living person!
Xie Lian pulled off the veil and, sure enough, underneath was a child's face!
In an instant, his heart turned cold. He grabbed the child and, in shock, demanded, "Where is my mother? Where did you put her body?!"
The black clothes were made from a rare silkworm cocoon thread. The threads were tributes from a small foreign country, and the clothes underwent several meticulous processes, paired with herbal sachets, sealed in the coffin to preserve the body for a thousand years, keeping it as lifelike as a living person. However, now the clothes were worn by this child, so where was his mother's body? What had it become?
Xie Lian didn't dare to think further. He could only grab the child and demand fiercely, "Where is my mother? Who are you? Why are you here? Where did you put my mother?!"
But how could a frightened child answer such questions? The child was too scared to speak. Xie Lian dragged him out of the coffin and suddenly noticed some gray-white powder falling from the silkworm clothes.
He looked at the coffin's bottom and saw it was also covered in powder. Instantly, the world spun around him. Xie Lian felt his heart stop, his hand loosening as he released the child, kneeling beside the coffin in despair.
He neither dared to touch the powder nor let it scatter like burnt incense ashes. Though he didn't want to admit it, he knew what it was.
A body sealed for eight hundred years, forcibly removed from the silkworm clothes, would turn into what?
In a moment of chaos, Xie Lian's mind was in turmoil. He couldn't think of anything else, clutching his head as his ears buzzed. Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine. Instinctively sensing danger, he turned around, catching a sword blade with his bare hand. Behind him was the person who had been standing still since he entered—the wooden frame!
Someone had sneaked in before him, donned the clothes and mask, and pretended to be a lifeless frame, waiting for him. With a clang, Xie Lian broke the sword with his bare hands, his hand covered in blood but his face unchanged. He kicked the person in the abdomen, pinning them to the ground. The person, chest pinned by Xie Lian, struggled but couldn't move, as if nailed to the ground. Xie Lian bent down, slapped off the golden mask, revealing a young man's face. Xie Lian shouted, "Who are you?! A grave robber?! How did you get in?!"
At this moment, the child cried out, "Dad!"
With that shout, Xie Lian finally remembered. This pair, both familiar, were the father and son he had almost seen cooked by Qi Rong in the Green Ghost's lair earlier!
Xie Lian instantly understood what was happening. He punched the young man in the jaw, furious, "Qi Rong, get out here! I'll kill you!!!"
The man spat blood and laughed, "Cousin Crown Prince, so happy to see you again! Hahaha!"
Though it was another face, the crazed laughter was unmistakable—it was Qi Rong, possessing the young father's body!
No doubt, after being scattered by Lang Qianqiu, Qi Rong had escaped into the fleeing crowd, possessing the young man to reach the Celestial Music royal tomb. Otherwise, how could a normal person know the secret royal tomb's location and arrive so quickly?
Bringing the child might have been for food or to use as a distraction, as he did by hiding the child in the coffin to divert Xie Lian's attention for a sneak attack. Qi Rong, punched again, acted aggrieved, covering his face and saying, "Cousin, why so angry? I just poked you; you won't die, hehehe!"
Xie Lian punched him twice more, eyes red, "How did my mother treat you?! And you do this to her?! To her remains?!"
Qi Rong snorted, "Aunt's long dead. There's no difference between a body and ashes. It's just a change in form. It's still there. Why cry like a baby? You were ruthless with An Le back then. Cousin, you have two faces, hehe!" Then his expression changed, spitting, "Why did I do this to her? Because of you! You don't reflect on yourself? It's all your fault! You have the nerve to come to the Celestial Music royal tomb to mourn!"
Xie Lian stomped down, Qi Rong screamed, blood gushing, yet he seemed more excited, clutching Xie Lian's blood-stained white boot, shouting, "Yes, yes! This is you! Fight, fight, kill! Stop pretending to be a saint suffering in silence, it's disgusting, ugh!"
The child crawled over, crying, "Dad, Dad, what's wrong?!" He didn't understand what was happening, only knowing his father was being beaten. To him, Xie Lian seemed like a terrifying demon, yet he didn't back down, trying to move the boot pinning his father.
The young man kept spitting blood, scaring the child into covering his father's mouth, thinking it could stop the bleeding. Seeing this, Xie Lian calmed slightly, remembering the body was innocent, easing his force, pointing his sword at Qi Rong's face, coldly saying, "Qi Rong, get out yourself! Or I'll pull your soul out by your tongue!"
Theoretically, pulling out a person's tongue could indeed drag out a ghost possessing them. Qi Rong said, "I won't get out. What will you do? Kill me? I'm weak now. If you kill this man, I might die too. Don't miss this chance, or you'll never find my ashes!"
He even stuck out his tongue, provoking Xie Lian to carry out the threat, eager to have his soul dragged out in such a bloody manner. He babbled, "Anyway, the man I'm possessing is just a nobody. Go ahead, no one will know, no one will care, your Crown Prince's purity won't be tarnished. Look! I turned your mom to dust, won't you kill me? Hahaha..."
The child couldn't move Xie Lian's boot, hugging his leg and crying, "Don't kill my dad! Don't kill my dad!" Xie Lian's breath quickened, dizzy, trembling, wanting to smash Qi Rong's skull but unable to do it. Qi Rong spread his hands, "Haha, Cousin Crown Prince, failure, such a failure!"
Xie Lian lifted him, punching him hard in the face, shouting with each punch, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
However, the angrier he got, the happier Qi Rong became. Even at the cost of being beaten, dragging Xie Lian down with him was infinitely satisfying. His eyes gleamed, "See!
Showing your true colors! Cousin Crown Prince, is there anyone who understands you better than me? No. Though you seem like a stray dog, I know you're still proud inside.
You can't stand being called a failure! You must hate me to death, right? Doesn't it sting your heart?
Come on!
Or will you tell me this man is innocent, so you won't kill him to get me? Show me what you'll do!"
In the face of this taunting, Xie Lian finally snapped.
With a clang, his sword was drawn.
The black blade swung down!