After that burst of sound escaped, Xie Lian quickly covered his mouth.
The young soldier abruptly turned around and said, "...Your Highness?"
Xie Lian was propped up with one hand on the ground, the other covering his mouth tightly. His breathing was erratic, and his shoulders trembled. Just by listening to this sound and looking at the back view, one might easily think he was sobbing.
All his life, whether before or after his ascensions, Xie Lian had never experienced such a torturous moment. It was much harder to endure than the harshest training in the Royal Extreme View. As he lost strength in the hand supporting him, his entire body tilted to the side, lying on the ground. In a daze, he saw that young man outside seemed to want to come in, so Xie Lian shouted, "Don't come in! I said no matter what you hear, don't come in!!!"
The young man stopped. Xie Lian, having barely managed to turn his body over and breathe a little easier, was still ravaged by the burning heat coursing through his limbs.
Outside the cave, female yao heard him tossing and turning, fanning the flames with glee as they clapped their hands and laughed, "Goodness, Your Highness, why are you doing this to yourself? Are you afraid of losing believers today and won't indulge yourself? Tomorrow, afraid of losing believers, you won't dare do anything else.
Since when is a divine official so tied up by these believers, suffering because of them? It's better not to be a god like this, since either way you lose them, why not just do whatever pleases yourself?"
Faint blue veins stood out on Xie Lian's forehead. With his emotions a bit out of control, he snapped, "Shut up!!!"
The ladies, of course, weren't afraid of him in this state, and began teasing the boy, "Little brother, don't you think we make sense? Hahaha..."
"Giggle...does it feel awkward standing there?"
By this time, Xie Lian's entire body was drenched in cold sweat. He was extremely annoyed, ripping open the clothes on his chest in a desperate bid for some coolness. As he heard the sound of fabric ripping, he suddenly realized - why was there a sudden rush of strength in his hands? Though that strength quickly faded, he could feel it gradually returning again. And yet, Xie Lian's heart sank.
Having fallen into the spell of the "Gentle Country," it's first numbness, then restlessness. The numbness was now over, and soon it would be a rampant frenzy. Although he had set two barriers outside the cave to stop himself if he lost his reason, who knew if they would hold once the frenzy took over? This moment of clarity was precious, so Xie Lian seized the opportunity and quickly thought of a countermeasure.
He suddenly thought - the onset of the Gentle Country was fast, capable of rendering one out of control once blood rushed to the head. Why could he hold on until now? Was it purely because of his willpower, or was there another reason?
Thinking this, Xie Lian took a deep breath and slightly turned his head, saying to the boy silhouetted at the entrance of the cave, "You...come in."
On hearing this, the young soldier seemed on the point of rushing over to his side, pausing after a few steps as he recalled Xie Lian's shout not to come in no matter what he heard. Uncertain, he faltered, still unsure if he should enter. Xie Lian had no choice but to change his stance, saying, "Just come in, I'll explain."
Without further delay, the boy rushed in.
The cave walls were narrow and long, warm and humid within, pitch black all around, where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Using the suppressed breaths of Xie Lian as a guide, the boy felt his way forward. Xie Lian said, "Put the sword down... place it on the ground. By my side, not too far."
The young soldier responded, "Yes!" then handed over his only weapon, laying it within Xie Lian's reach. Xie Lian continued, "Please help me up."
The young man knelt beside him, reaching with both hands to lift Xie Lian, only to find himself touching not cloth, but warm skin.
The hands quickly retreated. Xie Lian too was caught off guard by the hot touch of those young hands, suddenly remembering that in his distressing struggle on the ground, he had torn off his upper garment. Normally it might not matter for a man to be bared above, but in this situation, it was a bit awkward.
However, there was no need to dwell on this awkwardness, just proceed with what needed to be done. The boy seemed to understand this, and without waiting for Xie Lian to speak again, reached out and quickly guided him against the cool rock wall, withdrawing once he was propped up.
Feeling the coolness against his back was somewhat soothing, and detecting that the boy had retreated a few steps, Xie Lian promptly said, "Wait, don't go outside!"
The boy stood still, doing everything as told. Xie Lian instructed, "Cut a small lock of my hair. I have a use for it."
The boy obliged, but in the darkness it was hard to see, and with Xie Lian's hair tied neatly behind his head, the boy wasn't able to pinpoint it immediately, accidentally touching Xie Lian's chest instead - his skin smooth and taut, with a sheen of sweat that made it slippery to the touch. Already enduring a hard struggle, Xie Lian was electrified by the touch to such an off-limit spot, a wave of tingling spread throughout his body, and he let out a low groan.
Both of them stiffened at the sound.
Outside, the flower spirits strained their ears eagerly, missing nothing, and teased, "Oh my, what's going on inside?"
"How embarrassing."
"Can't bear listening."
Even as they taunted, making Xie Lian grit his teeth in resignation, the boy quickly pulled his hand back, not daring to touch him again. Xie Lian, however, was not angry at the boy, seeing him simply as a child. Figuring the kid was more afraid of offending him, Xie Lian softened his tone, "Don't worry, just keep going, ignore them."
In a low voice, the boy said, "Yes." However, he seemed flustered as well, fumbling and hesitating over where he should touch. Finally, he nervously slid his hand up Xie Lian's chest until he touched Xie Lian's moving Adam's apple, and from there, finally grasped a lock of hair. Carefully, he picked up the sword and cut a strand, immediately saying, "Your Highness, it's done!"
Just then, Xie Lian found more strength returning, and he could lift his arms again. He said, "Give me your hand."
The young soldier raised a hand. Xie Lian took hold of the thin lock of hair from it, hurriedly tying it into a knot around one of his fingers. The boy stared in a confused daze before asking in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, this...?"
Xie Lian sighed, "The flower spirits’ scent is reaching its second stage. I'll need to borrow your sword. If anything tries to harm you, raise this hand for protection. Now, hurry and leave."
After a moment, the young man stepped out of the cave. The flower spirits outside immediately started up their chattering, "Oh, he's out now?"
"Finally came out, huh."
"You wouldn't let us in, but you went in yourself. Young man, that wasn't a nice move!"
Meanwhile, Xie Lian felt even more strength rush through his limbs. Taking a deep breath, he gripped the sword left by the young soldier, steadied himself, and sliced it across his left forearm.
In an instant, it felt as if a fog had cleared from his mind, his senses sharpening slightly.
Indeed, it was so!
Blood flowed freely from Xie Lian's left arm, yet amidst the chaos, it seemed like he had found a lifeline.
The scent of the Gentle Country stirred restlessness in the heart and awakened deep desires lurking beneath. For him, the suppressed desires were not just carnal, but a yearning to kill.
However, by "kill," it could not be creatures of darkness, for he had slain plenty of those and it was hardly a suppressed thing. It had to be humans or gods to truly breach the forbidden, so to speak. Before entering the cave, Xie Lian had already made one cut on himself in order to set an array, and that wound had drawn blood, which actually mitigated the effects of the Gentle Country, for harming oneself counted as killing as well.
In essence, both carnal desires and the urge to kill are aggressive urges, some even say they are fundamentally the same. Using that principle, he could find an alternative method, to get through this ordeal.
Once he was sure, Xie Lian didn’t hesitate to make another cut on his left arm, each cut bringing increasing clarity to his mind. Even as he was rejoicing at this progress, without knowing whether it was the Gentle Country's poison at work, each time he sliced into himself, there came an overwhelming surge of bliss.
This joy loomed from head to toe, sweeping through every inch and easily shattering the walls he'd painstakingly built to fend it off, and before he knew it, he let out a light moan.
Had the cave not been pitch black and him alone, Xie Lian couldn't have believed the sound was his own, starting himself so much he shivered, widening his eyes in the dark, and thought, "Clearly this method should work, so why is it like this?"
Gazing at the sword made him realize the young soldier had used it to hack flowers and slay female spirits disguised as humans, tainting the blade with the Gentle Country's own essence. To use the sword to harm himself for relief - requiring increasingly more force with each strike to achieve the same numbness - was nothing short of drinking poison to quench his thirst!
He was frantic beyond thought, otherwise, he ought to have noticed this. Xie Lian scolded himself silently, but with matters as they were, he could only continue to clean the sword frantically using the left sleeve he'd torn, stuffing the right sleeve into his mouth, and bite down to keep controlled.
The sounds he emitted were forcibly held back, only getting louder because they'd been in a small space echoing all around, yet the young soldier was outside as told, blindfolded, hearing everything clearly. He couldn’t contain his emotions any longer, calling out in a trembling voice, "Your Highness?"
Such a mortifying, wretched state, Xie Lian could hardly imagine being caught by anyone. Even in the dark, he couldn't stand it, yelling, "Don't come in!!!"
However, with the cloth stuffed into his mouth, it sounded only like muffled moaning, leaving him pitiable. The young soldier, hearing this, became even more anxious.