217|A Hundred Years of Deep Water and a Thousand Years of Hot Water

Clothes are on the body, certainly can not be burned, may not burn Xie Ren together. Xie Ren suggested, “Why don’t we just put it on for now and leave it alone. Anyway, it can’t suck my blood, and the spirit text shouldn’t be able to send out commands.”

A puff of blue smoke drifted by, and where Spirit Man had originally stood, only a blue unrecognizable figure with a very solemn expression remained, seemingly holding a pile of scrolls in his hand. Xie Ren put it away, tucking it into his bosom, and the two of them left this side hall, sneaking into the main hall.

It is not an illusion, the main hall of the Hall of Spiritual Writings looks much more gloomy than before, and the mountain of books and scrolls piled up from the floor to the top seems to be full of danger, or will fall down at any time, smashing people to death. The two of them did not meet the guards, and went straight to a vermilion door in the depths.

Before she got close, Xie Ren heard a shocked and trembling voice from behind the door, “…… How is it possible? How can this be?”

It’s the Master of the State! Could it be that someone had gotten there first? Xie Ren immediately kicked open the door and shouted lowly, “Let go!”

Inside the house, it is true that the State Master is not the only one, after the door was kicked open, they all turned around to look at him. The shock on the master of state’s face has not faded: “…… Your Highness?”

“……”

“……”

The State Master’s head was not raised for a moment, but immediately lowered again, saying, “Wait a moment–how could this happen, what kind of luck is this!”

Xie Ren and Hua Cheng were both speechless.

Just see the room, the master of the state and the other three people put together a table, are playing cards feverishly, as if intoxicated. Said the other three “people”, in fact, is not a living person, are roughly done casually piece of paper people, do not know with what magic can move, but also accompanied by playing cards. And the master of the country just that sentence, is he got the card can not help but sigh.

Xie Ren had thought that the State Master might be tortured and emaciated or something like that inside, not realizing that he was still playing cards at this time, crying and laughing at the same time, but also inevitably incomparable cordiality.

But isn’t it affectionate! When he and Feng Xin lived in Huangji Guan and went to find the national master, six or seven out of ten he was playing cards, playing cards, playing cards! After eight hundred years, seeing playing cards again was like yesterday all over again. Even the fervor on the State Master’s face was no different. He stared at the cards in his hand without looking back while saying without turning his head, “Your Highness, you’re finally here, but first let me finish this game before I say ……”

Xie Ren knew that his old habit of disowning all his relatives once he was on the table was back. This appearance and his previous in the Divine Martial Hall is really a different person, can not see straight, go up to drag him down from the table, “Master ah what time is it, don’t fight!”

The State Master’s eyes were red and he shouted, “No no no, let me finish the fight!!!! Right away! Just this one round! Wait for me to finish this round! Right away, I might be close to winning!!!”

Xie Ren: “It won’t win, it really won’t win!”

……

The good thing was that the round was really over quickly. Although the State Master swore that he was close to winning, the fact was that he really hadn’t won after all. Waving his hand to collect those three paper figures, the State Master finally regained his composure and normalcy.

He sat upright and said with a deep frown, “Your Highness, I knew you would come, and I have been waiting for you.”

“……”

Xie Ren Xin said, “I can’t really see that you have been waiting for me ……”

But of course he didn’t say it out loud, respect for elders was still necessary. The State Master added, “I know you must have many questions in your mind.”

Hua Cheng stood aside, leaning against the door, seemingly casually, probably keeping a lookout. Xie Ren also sat squarely before the State Master and said, “Yes.”

After a pause, he said, “First of all, I want to confirm that Jun Wu …… is really Bai Wu Xiang, also known as Prince Wuyong?”

The State Master said, “Don’t doubt it. He is.”

Xie Ren said, “I’m not halfway related to Prince Wuyong, am I? We are two completely different people.”

The State Master said, “The only relationship between you and Prince Wuyong is that he destroyed your country, Xianle.”

“……”

Xie Ren whispered, “But, State Master, you once told me that you didn’t know what Bai Wu Xiang was, but you were sure that he was born because of me.”

The State Master said, ”Your Highness, at that time, I indeed didn’t know what that thing was. By the time I knew, it was already too late. Moreover, the saying that he was born because of you is not wrong.”

Xie Ren said, “What exactly does that mean? As well, it’s still the same question – why did he want to destroy the Xianle Kingdom?”

The State Master stared at him and said, “Because of your words.”

Xie Ren froze, “A word from me? What words?”

The State Master said, “‘The body is in the Infernal, the mind is in the Peach Garden.'”

“……”

In the middle of the day, there were no words. Xie Ren incredulously said, “…… no more?”

The State Master said, “No more.”

Xie Ren said, “…… Just this sentence? What’s wrong with this sentence?”

The State Master said in a deep voice, “The problem is too big. Everything, all of it, started with your words!”

Xie Ren vaguely felt that what the State Master was going to say next would be very unacceptable to him, and wanted to call out to Hua Cheng, but before he could do so, Hua Cheng had already come over and sat next to him as well.

The State Master said, “You saw those murals on Copper Hearth Mountain.”

Xie Ren said, “See. Did you leave those murals?”

The State Master said, “It’s me. Every time the Copper Furnace opens the mountain I will blend in, on the one hand, I want to stop the Ghost King from coming out, on the other hand, I want to find a way to leave some kind of clues in all kinds of ways, to tell other people all these things about the Wuyong Kingdom and the Wuyong Crown Prince.”

Xie Ren said intently, “Then why don’t you just tell people directly, you must use such a subtle way?”

The State Master said, “Your Highness, why do you think that almost no one in the world knows about the Wuyong Kingdom now?”

Before Xie Ren could reply, Hua Cheng said, “The ones who know have all been cleared out by him, right?”

The State Master said, “Yes. If the clues are left too obvious, or if they spread out directly, not only am I in danger of being exposed, but the people who see it may all disappear from this world. How many people are the same. Even if it’s a city, he could have it razed to the ground in three days. You should know I’m not joking.”

Xie Ren naturally knew. Ironically, he had once upon a time lamented that it was fortunate that Jun Wu had become a god and not a fallen ghost, otherwise the world would be in chaos. The State Master said, ”That’s why I can’t let him realize that there are still people in the world who know about these things. But I’m also not willing to have no one but me know anymore. I think that if it is someone who is careful enough and has the courage to do so, they will naturally be able to find out. Since I can’t fight it, I’ll just let it happen.

“I’ve been hiding and hiding well for so many years. Except for that one time eight hundred years ago when he almost couldn’t get away, he’s never been able to catch me. The only reason he was able to catch me this time was because he found the mural I left behind in that shrine in the Copper Furnace Red Forest, and with your later guesses in the Copper Furnace, he realized that I probably wasn’t dead and had left behind a lot of things he didn’t want people to know.”

Xie Ren remembered that at that time, when they passed by the last shrine in the Copper Furnace Red Forest, the frescoes inside had been destroyed the last few, and arguably the most crucial ones. At that time, both he and Flower City had suspected that someone was hiding right there, but hadn’t found them. Now that he thought about it, he was afraid that it was very likely that Bai Wu Xiang was really hiding in a corner of that shrine at that time.

Xie Ren said, “But, State Master, why are you hiding in the east?”

The State Master said, “That’s certainly because ……”

Flower City said, “Betrayal.”

The word was a bit harsh, and the State Master glanced at him. Hua Cheng’s complexion, however, did not change much and said, “You betrayed him, didn’t you.”

The State Master said, “Pretty much. That’s it.”

He turned to Xie Ren and said, “How can I put it, Your Highness ……

“All the things described in the mural are true. His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of Wuyong, is like the unrivaled sun of Wuyong. In the past, when you were the Crown Prince of Immortal Bliss, he was many times more honorable than you.

“My three fellow disciples and I, four in all, were once his attendants. After the Prince ascended and ordered us up together, he also met many celestials of all shapes and sizes, and it’s no exaggeration to say that even in the heavenly realm where all the gods are gathered, he’s like the sun, so dazzling that he eclipses the others.”

As the Master of State was talking, a flickering smile appeared unintentionally. Xie Ren always felt that when he addressed the other party as “Your Highness the Crown Prince”, he was neither talking about “Jun Wu” nor “Bai Wu Xiang”, but only about the young Crown Prince of 2,000 years ago! I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do that,” he said.

He said, “Once upon a time, you seemed to have said something a little like that to me.”

“Yes? People get old and can’t remember things.”

“There is. But, you said, he did not ascend. He died.”

The State Master said, “That’s probably because, I’d rather he didn’t ascend.”

Xie Ren said, “Because the Copper Furnace Volcano erupted?”

The State Master didn’t answer positively, but only said, ”His Highness the Crown Prince’s magic power is too strong.

“He foresaw in a dream that the future of Uyong was a sea of fire, and set out to find a way to save his people. If it were me now, I would never have let him do that. But at the time, all of us didn’t even think about what it would turn out to be. We all thought, now that someone is going to die, what’s wrong with saving them?

“But it’s not that simple at all.

“The eruption can’t be stopped, and the only way for no one to be killed or injured is to relocate. But the volcano infested too large an area, not just one or two cities. For the princes, nobles, and ordinary people of the country, the best way is to conquer other countries and take over new territories. Otherwise, other countries would not simply let so many Uyong people move in.

“But for His Highness the Crown Prince, this is not the way at all. When you fight a war, you are bound to bleed, and once you bleed, your eyes will turn red, and you will make people brutal and no longer human.

“The Uyong country still sent out its army ahead of the others. Wherever the soldiers went, not a single piece of armor was left, not an inch of grass was left, and, because they wanted to ‘make room’ for the Uyong people who would move there in the future, the generals ordered the massacre of the people of the other country, the more the better, killing them so that rivers of blood flowed and bodies were piled up like mountains.

“When His Highness the Crown Prince found out, he was very angry. As you can see, he descended on the battlefield and punished these Uyong soldiers.”

When Xie Ren thought that this could be said to be Jun Wu as a teenager, or Bai Wu Xiang as a teenager, he felt a subtle feeling within his heart. The State Master continued, ”However, he is not the only one who is angry. This matter made the princes, nobles, and some of the nationals of the Wuyong Kingdom very angry as well. Many people went to the temple to question His Royal Highness the Crown Prince: we were only forced to invade others in order to survive and need more land, is there anything wrong with that?”

“The impact of this incident exceeded all of our expectations and intensified, and people have already begun to clamor for his statue to be toppled and his temple to be burned, but His Highness the Crown Prince has resisted them all.

“He said that if the nation of Uyong was the one to be invaded, he would defend it to the death, and would not allow his enemies to take a single step, but that they, themselves, must never invade anyone else. He implored all to give up their conquests and wait for him to build one thing-his bridge to heaven.”

The State Master slowly said, ”There is no more land on earth, so let’s send people to the sky for shelter. Although this solution is simply unbelievable, the four of us all have faith in His Highness the Crown Prince and firmly believe that he can do it. It should be said that we will give our full support to whatever he wants to do. Of course, the other Magi didn’t feel the same way, and the entire Heavenly Realm was against it, but His Highness the Crown Prince resisted.

“He held up against three things at once: the disbelief and complaints of the crowds and princes of the Uyong country, the angry voices of the Immortal Gods of the heavens, and that giant bridge to the sky.”

Hua Cheng, however, snorted and said, “Opposition? I’m afraid it’s more than just opposition.”

The State Master nodded slowly and said, “If it was just opposition, it would be fine. But ……”

Xie Ren vaguely guessed what was going on, but still asked, “But?”

The State Master said, “That bridge required a great deal of time and a very terrible amount of mana to build completely, and His Royal Highness could not be distracted at all. He hardly ever went anywhere else, did anything else, or listened to the prayers of other devotees ever again. He could only do this one thing.”

“But a god who can only do one thing is bound to fail to keep his devotees. When he topped that bridge on the first day, people were thanking him and remembering him; on the second, third, and fourth day, the same. For a month, two months, still they thanked him and remembered him. But as time went on, it didn’t work.

“The volcano hasn’t erupted yet, and His Highness the Crown Prince hasn’t been doing anything else, and has been silently building up his mana. People inevitably feel that he is not as powerful as he used to be, or even that he is not as dedicated as he used to be. At this time, inevitably, a new god will need to be worshipped.

“The Uyong Kingdom has a large population, strong financial resources, and the believers’ power of faith is also very strong, just look at His Highness the Crown Prince’s pomp and circumstance at the beginning. Many magi have long been salivating over this territory and the believers, so ……”

Xie Ren understood.

He said, “And so …… the magi, picking this time, took advantage of the Uyong country congregation’s previous resentful dissatisfaction with that prince’s battlefield descending gods to collect their troops, seduced them, and divided up his believers and source of mana …… is that so? .”