Upon hearing the words, Xie Lian paused his steps slightly and eventually, he waved a hand before moving forward without looking back.
Returning to the imperial city of the Divine Joy Kingdom, he first headed to the imperial palace.
He wasn't sure why he came - it wasn't just to see his parents. As a divine official, he wasn't supposed to reveal his divine form to mortals, but more importantly, the longer he spent away from home, the harder it was to talk to them. This seems to be a common dilemma for everyone. Hence, he concealed his presence and wandered aimlessly around the palace he knew so well, not catching sight of the king and queen until he reached the Phoenix Resting Palace.
There, he finally saw his father and mother. They had dismissed their attendants and were in the middle of a conversation. The queen sat by the bed, fiddling with a golden mask that Xie Lian wore three years ago during the Lantern Festival celebration. The mask was meticulously crafted to match Xie Lian's face, making it fit him perfectly without feeling strange. But seeing it in someone else's hand was quite startling. The king by the side said, “Stop playing with that; just come and give me a head massage.”
Though in public, they always maintained their dignified image, Xie Lian knew from a young age that in private, his parents were just like any other ordinary couple who would occasionally nag each other. The queen, indeed, put down the mask and moved over to rub the king's temples. Suddenly, she fussed with his hair, saying, “Your hair is turning white again.”
Xie Lian narrowed his eyes to see clearly; indeed, his father’s hair was speckled with white, making him appear more aged. He pondered, “Didn't father just visit the Supreme View to pray recently? His hair was black then, so why did it turn white suddenly?”
The queen pulled out a bronze mirror to show the king, but he waved it off, saying, “I don't want to see that. Before going to Tai Cang Mountain next time, I’ll just dye it black again.”
Only then did Xie Lian realize: “His hair didn’t turn white recently! It's been white for a while, but he dyes it black every time before visiting me. And because I'm constantly busy listening to followers' prayers and running around, I hardly visit them, which is why I didn't notice.”
Understanding this, he felt deeply ashamed. At that moment, he was extremely grateful his parents could not see that he was present. As the queen continued to massage the king's head, she chided him, “I tell you every day to rest early, but you just don't listen to me and keep complaining that I nag. Look at how unsightly you've become; our son might not want to see you even more now.”
The king snorted, “Ever since our son grew up, he's been ignoring me.” Saying so, he couldn’t help but secretly glance at the mirror by the bed, muttering, “It's not that unsightly; it's still the same face.”
Xie Lian was momentarily taken aback. He truly had not expected that behind his back, his father had this side of him that would sourly complain about him, and he couldn't help but chuckle. The queen as well, suppressed a smile, saying, “Alright, alright, not unsightly. Health is wealth, rest early today.”
The king shook his head, “I can't rest. Recently, a lot of people from the Eternal Peace Kingdom have been coming to the capital. It's not just about them coming, but they have to make a fuss everywhere, frightening people and making things difficult.”
It turned out his father's hair turned white due to the drought in Eternal Peace, something Xie Lian felt indescribably saddened about. The queen nodded, “I heard from our child today; he also met someone from Eternal Peace. They said the person was trying to rob a temple, which was quite frightening.”
With a serious expression, the king replied, “Yes, it's scary. A few dozen or a hundred people are manageable, but if tens of thousands of them come, causing chaos across the capital, the consequences would be unimaginable.”
The queen hesitated for a moment before saying, “Not necessarily. If they're orderly and law-abiding, it might not be so bad.”
The king said, “How could a king take such a chance on ‘might not’? We absolutely cannot let them come. It’s not just about feeding a few more mouths; it's far more complicated than that. You wouldn’t understand, so let's not talk anymore.”
The queen responded, “Alright, let’s not talk about it. I wouldn’t understand what you’re talking about, but if our son was here, he could at least help ease your worries.”
The king snorted again, “Him? What could he do? Just not adding to my worries would be enough.”
Mentioning Xie Lian seemed to energize the king as he declared, “I won’t say anything about your son; he’s fifteen, raised like a princess. Visiting him would only increase his worries. Let him fly in the heavens as he should, knowing nothing of the mortal realm, doing his own thing. He's no longer the Crown Prince, so the earthly matters don’t concern him, let him fly as much as he wants.”
Xie Lian silently listened as his father ranted about him, the queen gently nudged the king, saying, “You say he's a princess now, but didn't you pamper him into that? Now you want to blame me for it?” She sighed, “This child is perfect except for not being homesick. Back when he was practicing at the Supreme View, he wouldn’t come down from the mountain for months, and now that he's ascended, it's even worse; three years without a sight of him. Who knows when we’ll see him again.”
Hearing her lament, the king turned to defend Xie Lian, “What do you women know? The national teacher says the rules of the heavenly realm are like this. He can’t be treated like a mortal anymore; calling him back would only hold him back.”
The queen quickly added, “I was just saying; I wouldn't actually ask him to return in front of him.” She mumbled to herself, “Looking at his statues isn’t too bad; they’re similar, and there are statues of him everywhere.”
After watching for this long, Xie Lian felt waves of emotion in his chest, something seemed to be stuck in his throat, causing great discomfort. He felt he couldn't stay any longer, but he couldn't appear to them either. Not for fear of breaking any heavenly rules, but because he wouldn't know what to say if he did. Regarding the Eternal Peace situation, he didn't have a good solution to offer at the moment, and his sudden appearance would only fluster his parents.
Quickly, he left the palace, went outside, and took several deep breaths to calm down. With a settled mind, he thought to himself: sighing is useless, better to take action. He casually cast a technique, transforming into an image of a simple-robed wanderer, and ran around the capital, measuring and recording everywhere. After a day of rushing here and there, he finally obtained a confirmed answer.
All the rivers and lakes in the capital had truly lowered in water level compared to before. During his time at the Supreme View, he would sometimes sneak down the mountain to have fun, sailing on the largest river of the Divine Joy Kingdom — the Le River.
Back then, the water was only slightly lower than the levees, but now, it was several feet lower. Furthermore, residents all claimed this change had been there for a long time, not something recent. Xie Lian hadn’t paid attention before, but now, by paying attention, he realized all these signs were alarming.
He had hoped that Mu Qing’s report was mistaken, which is why he personally came to verify, but now he had to admit that Mu Qing hadn’t disappointed him.
After confirming this fact, Xie Lian stood by the riverbank, lost in thought. Passersby occasionally walked by, some nodding and smiling, others curiously glancing his way, most just merrily going about their own business. He didn’t know how long he stood there when clouds began to gather in the sky, and light rain started to fall around him.
Pedestrians hurriedly covered their heads, looking up at the sky, “What bad luck! It's raining, let's head back!”
“Indeed, it's annoying!”
Raindrops tapped on Xie Lian’s face and body, and he finally snapped back to reality, muttering to himself, “It’s raining?”
People in the capital saw rain as a nuisance, not knowing how many souls in the other parts of the Divine Joy Kingdom longed desperately for a heavy downpour like this. Some, holding umbrellas, sprinted by, seeing Xie Lian standing there soaking, and they urged him, “Little Daoist, aren’t you going to run? The rain's getting heavier!”
Xie Lian then cluelessly ran along, following them to shelter under a longhouse. There, several people put away their umbrellas, shared a hearty laugh, saying, “Good thing I brought an umbrella today; otherwise, I'd be drenched.”
“It hasn't rained for ages, right? This one’s held back for long, bet it's going to be heavy.”
“Oh look, now it's really pouring! It’s going to turn into a downpour!”
Raindrops splashed everywhere upon hitting the ground. The accents of these people were incredibly familiar, making it even more apparent to Xie Lian that this was where he was born and raised, these were his beloved citizens.
As they chatted, the rain let up slightly, and several people announced, “Now that it’s lightened a bit, let's hurry back!” With that, they dashed out under their umbrellas, leaving Xie Lian standing there. Seeing him remain, one of them returned, handing him an old umbrella, courteously suggesting, “Little Daoist, are you stuck here? The rain’s still a bit heavy; how about you use this umbrella?”
Xie Lian finally snapped out of it, saying, “Thank you. What about you?”
The group laughed back in the rain, “We have umbrellas, we can squeeze in; come on, let’s go!” With his companion urging, the man handed over the umbrella and ran off. The group splashed through the water as they left, while Xie Lian stood there holding the umbrella for a while longer.
Suddenly, he noticed a modest little temple not too far ahead, so he opened the umbrella and walked through the rain towards it. Upon reaching it, he saw a couplet by the temple entrance reading “Body in this world” and “Heart in a paradise,” confirming it was indeed a Crown Prince Temple.
Within three years, eight thousand temples were built. Of course, not every one could be grand and impressive like the Supreme View on Tai Cang Mountain; there were many humble ones built by grassroots folks to join the celebration. No donation boxes, no caretakers, just a simple clay statue, with a few plates to place snacks and fruits. Occasionally, someone with goodwill would come to clean it, and it could stand as a temple in its own right.
Tucked away inconspicuously was just such a Crown Prince Temple. Even before entering, Xie Lian saw a particularly endearing statue of the Crown Prince: flamboyant clothing, a bright rosy cheek, a silly grin— a large baby-like depiction. If he weren't loaded with worries, it definitely would’ve made him laugh out loud.
These three years, Xie Lian had seen countless Crown Prince statues, none exactly like him, the best matching ones being about seventy percent, the rest either too ugly or too pleasing. Most other divine officials would complain about their statues being too ugly; his was the opposite, some statues so beautifully distorted, even he felt embarrassed. He didn't examine this clay statue closely; merely glanced over it, but he inadvertently caught sight of an abrupt patch of pure white in one fleeting glance, making him look back.
This rough clay statue of the Crown Prince held a bundle of snow-white flowers in its left hand.
Snow-white petals, glistening with dew, fresh and adorable, with a faint fragrance wafting in the air. The Divine Joy Crown Prince’s standard posture was “one hand brandishing a sword, the other holding a flower”, though the flowers were usually well-crafted with gold, gemstones, jade, yet this was the first time Xie Lian saw one holding real flowers, and he couldn’t help stepping closer.
Upon closer inspection, Xie Lian realized that this clay statue used to hold a clay flower in its left hand. But whether due to the sculptor’s poor skills or ruined by someone’s mischief, the clay flower's stem was absent, leaving just a small hole in the statue’s hand. The little white flowers were ingeniously placed in that small hole, as if someone had thoughtfully picked and placed them there to fill the statue's hand.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, hurried footsteps sounded nearby. Without turning around, Xie Lian first concealed his form, floated with the umbrella to the altar, then turned back to look. In the midst of the gray and heavy rain outside, a young boy barged in.
The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, drenched to the skin, wearing filthy old clothes, with dirty bandages on his face. His right hand held tightly over his left fist, clutching something precious. After rushing into the temple, he slowly opened his hands.
A small bunch of white flowers lay quietly blooming in his palms.