An unknown amount of time passed before Xie Lian jolted awake. He stared blankly at the ceiling above, not yet having caught his breath.
This is…Thousand Lights Temple? he thought dazedly. What happened to me…? Did I fall asleep?
He was still slowly coming back around when a hand suddenly caught and supported him.
Not inches away from him, he heard Hua Cheng’s voice. “Your Highness?”
Xie Lian looked up, and sure enough, he saw Hua Cheng’s expression was burning with pure, desperate concern. Xie Lian blinked and was just about to speak when another wave of excruciating pain struck his heart.
Now he was thoroughly awake. He hunched over instantly, his fingers nearly digging into the flesh of his chest—he exerted immense strength, like he was trying to claw out his own heart by force. Hua Cheng immediately seized his wrist.
“Your Highness!” he cried.
Had he not moved as fast as he did, five bloody holes would’ve bloomed on Xie Lian’s chest right above his heart.
“This doesn’t look right. Why don’t you let go of him first?!” said a voice from the side—Mu Qing. He was here too, surprisingly.
“What if he hurts himself when I do?!” exclaimed Hua Cheng.
“I’ll help you hold him down!” Feng Xin’s voice chimed in. “If we don’t figure out what’s wrong quickly, the pain won’t stop!”
Still hunched over, Xie Lian felt another hand seize his wrist. Hua Cheng seemed to falter at Feng Xin’s words, and sure enough, he released him.
It was strange—the pain lessened significantly the moment he let go. At the very least, Xie Lian could move now. When he flipped onto his side, he noticed that Feng Xin and Mu Qing were standing at his bedside. They had probably been summoned here for questioning. As for Hua Cheng, he was standing nearby and watching him with an unblinking eye.
When Xie Lian saw him, the ache, which had finally subsided somewhat, made a comeback in full force.
Seeing his face change colors again, Mu Qing turned to Hua Cheng. “Stand further back! He starts hurting whenever you come close—whenever he sees you!”
Hua Cheng froze when he heard those words, and a terrible, almost indescribable expression crossed his face. Nonetheless, he darted away immediately, retreating outside the room—and when he disappeared from Xie Lian’s line of sight, the agony in his heart abruptly ceased once more.
The ebb and flow of the pain was driving Xie Lian nearly mad. He panted a few times, then gritted out with difficulty, “What…in the world…is going on?”
Mu Qing and Feng Xin were holding him down firmly to prevent him squirming into a position where he could peek at Hua Cheng.
“‘What’s going on’? We should be asking you that! What’s going on with you? You must’ve messed with something!” Mu Qing exclaimed.
“…Wouldn’t I know if I had?” Xie Lian said. Besides, Hua Cheng had checked him over earlier.
“Then did you go anywhere strange over the past few days?” Mu Qing asked.
“The only places I went were to Mount Tonglu and…the State Preceptor’s Tomb,” Xie Lian replied.
Mu Qing furrowed his brow. “What? The State Preceptor’s Tomb? Which State Preceptor’s Tomb?”
Hua Cheng, who was standing outside the room, understood immediately. “State Preceptor Fangxin’s Tomb?”
“San Lang, why don’t you come in…?” Xie Lian beckoned.
“Gege, it’s best for you to stay in there and recuperate. I’ll take a look on your behalf,” came Hua Cheng’s low, grave voice from outside the room.
“I’ll go too!” cried Xie Lian.
But the moment he rose, he crumpled back down in pain. There were no further sounds from Hua Cheng after that, so he had probably already left.
Xie Lian arduously attempted to rise again, and Mu Qing said, “You should stop moving around. You can barely walk at this point!”
Four hands pushed Xie Lian back down.
“It’s not like I’ve never been in pain before,” Xie Lian exclaimed, struggling all the while. “I’ll get used to it.”
He couldn’t stop seeing Hua Cheng because of this.
“You’re willing to be in pain, but your San Lang isn’t willing to allow that,” Mu Qing pointed out.
Xie Lian was taken aback. As he recalled Hua Cheng’s face when he fainted from the pain, and then Hua Cheng’s face when his expression scrunched in pain at his approach, Xie Lian’s breathing hitched. His face paled as another wave of torment tore violently at his heart.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing both stared at him.
Dumbfounded, Feng Xin asked, “Didn’t Crimson Rain Sought Flower leave? Why is he still in pain?”
But Mu Qing was sharper and asked Xie Lian, “Were you just thinking about him again?”
Xie Lian clenched his teeth, and it was a long while before he could manage to say, “What…? Could I ever…not…think about him?”
“Stop it,” Mu Qing said. “Your fits are getting worse. The more you think about him, the more you suffer. Let me pour you a cup of water.”
Xie Lian didn’t even have the energy to shake his head and tell Mu Qing not to bother. When Mu Qing left, he closed his eyes and tried to recover a calm state of mind. However, the calmer he tried to be, the more worried he became. He had no idea what sort of evil thing had seized him, and neither he nor Hua Cheng had noticed anything wrong. He was afraid that Hua Cheng had gone out to search, alone and completely blind.
Mu Qing brought the teapot over. It was an exquisite snow-white piece that made Xie Lian recall how Hua Cheng had used it the night before. His face again went white, and he lay there, flat and unspeaking. At the sight of him, Mu Qing knew that his mind had flown off again.
Wearing a dark expression, he scolded, “Why does every little thing make you think of him? Do you want to die?!”
“It’s not like I can control it,” Xie Lian complained.
If one really could stop thinking about a person simply by declaring they would, then most of the mortal world’s trouble and suffering wouldn’t exist.
“Might as well knock him out, the way I see it,” Mu Qing said. “Save him from his own wandering mind.”
But as Xie Lian’s former servant, Feng Xin would never hit Xie Lian—and he would never allow anyone to hit Xie Lian in front of him either.
“No!” Feng Xin refused immediately. “I think you should talk to him more; distract him. That way, he won’t keep thinking about Crimson Rain Sought Flower.”
“What can I even say?” Mu Qing retorted. “He thinks of Crimson Rain Sought Flower regardless of whatever the actual topic might be. Knocking him out is the most straightforward option!”
“Well, you can’t hit him!” Feng Xin exclaimed. “How about this? He can’t possibly have the mind to think about anything else if we train idioms, right? I guarantee he won’t have the time. I’ll go first. Live as long as Nan Mountain!”
He absolutely hated this game and gritted his teeth as he started it with enormous effort. Mu Qing hated the game even more, but still he continued with the utmost reluctance, “…Mountain poor and water evil.”
Xie Lian had no other choice, so he weakly continued, “…Evil purple overtakes vermilion—” But before he could finish, he huddled into himself again.
Mu Qing was incredulous. “How did you manage to think of him because of that? There’s no thread of connection whatsoever!”
How is there no thread? Xie Lian thought. Vermilion, vermilion red, vermilion robes—red robes. How could he not think of Hua Cheng when he thought of red robes?
He couldn’t take the torment anymore. With fierce effort, he wrestled free of the two holding him down and rolled off the bed with a thud. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both knew how powerfully his strength could explode in an instant and had secretly conserved their own strength just in case, but they still couldn’t suppress him. They rushed to stop him when he struggled free but were both smacked to the ground.
Mu Qing raised his head, only to see Xie Lian run out the door. “Where are you going? Don’t run off!”
But Xie Lian was almost at his limit. He fished two exquisite dice from his sleeves and rolled them, stumbling as he threw himself at a door.
Hua Cheng had said that if Xie Lian wanted to see him, he would be able to, no matter what number he rolled. Xie Lian didn’t know where the dice had taken him, but his door pounce and subsequent stumble sent him falling into someone’s chest.
“Your Highness!” came Hua Cheng’s dumbfounded voice from just above his head.
Xie Lian flung his arms around him frantically, afraid that Hua Cheng would disappear again. “San Lang! Don’t go alone. We…together…”
Hua Cheng wanted to embrace him then and there, but his arms froze in midair and he forced himself to hold back.
“Your Highness, hurry back home,” Hua Cheng chided, his voice grave. “You’ll be in a lot of pain if you don’t.”
Crimson Rain Sought Flower, the Supreme Ghost King, feared by all denizens of the Three Realms, was at a loss for what to do in the face of Xie Lian’s condition. He couldn’t hold him, nor could he refuse to. An embrace caused pain, but pushing him away caused greater agony.
Xie Lian gritted his teeth and hugged him tighter. “Then so be it!” he cried with a trembling voice.
“Your Highness!” exclaimed Hua Cheng.