218 | A Hundred Years of Deep Water and a Thousand Years of Hot Water 2

The State Master said, “It’s not that His Highness the Crown Prince doesn’t know this, it’s just that, he doesn’t know what to do either.”

Xie Ren bent his head slightly and said, “He is a god, so naturally he cannot say to his followers, I will not allow you to worship a god other than me. I’m afraid he doesn’t care to make such a request in his heart.”

The State Master said, “You naturally know him well.”

Xie Ren added, “However, it happens to be at such a joint, he cannot afford to be short of believers and mana, or else it will affect the construction of the Tongtian Bridge.”

The Master of the State said, “Precisely, therefore, it was left to the four of us, to convey to the congregation of the State what was at stake.”

Xie Ren said, “How did it turn out?”

Flower City said, “Not how.”

The State Master said, “Not how. At least not as we expected. Some of the people were worried that the bridge wouldn’t be built, and have come around a bit, but a large portion of the people think that the Crown Prince is being overbearing. There’s nothing wrong with not having their prayers answered and turning to other gods who can fulfill their wishes. They are free believers, and it is only right that they believe in whatever they want.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t want to satisfy everyone, but he’s just ……”

Xie Ren sighed and said in a low voice, “…… have a heart.”

The State Master then said, “When His Highness the Crown Prince found out about this, he stopped us, saying that those who wanted to leave should leave, and that those who stayed forcibly wouldn’t be sincere believers in him. Indeed, although we cautioned repeatedly, but the hearts of the believers have been scattered, even if they barely come back, not sincere enough, the power of faith is not as strong as before, just perfunctory.”

Xie Ren said, “He is unable to be angry with the believers, nor is he willing to ask for help from other magi.”

The State Master said, “Even if he went to request it, the other Magi wouldn’t help him at all. If they were willing to help, they wouldn’t have objected in the first place, and they wouldn’t have taken advantage of the opportunity to seduce his devotees later.”

“His Highness the Crown Prince became more and more silent, and with the strength of one man, he built that bridge and held it up. I watched him every day, and even though he didn’t say anything, I could see how much pain he felt in his heart. And this pain can only be borne by him alone, the four of us can’t share much for him even if we want to help.

“Finally, after three years of suffering, the volcano was about to erupt.

“As soon as the news was sent out, people scrambled to the bridge, and the four of us guided the vast crowd while worrying about His Royal Highness, who was supporting himself alone.”

The State Master sighed, “We never used to worry about what he couldn’t do, but at that time, we actually started to worry about him.”

“At first, that bridge was quite stable. But as more and more people poured onto it, and it took longer and longer to support them, His Highness’s hands began to tremble and his face began to turn white.

“No one else could see it at all, only we could see it. I felt bad and told the people to please wait, give him time, don’t all rush to him at once, just let him take a breath and he will surely get you all up. But the volcano was about to erupt, and lives were at stake, so no one would wait, and they all rushed to the bridge as if they were crazy, even trampling people to death, and we couldn’t stop them at all!

“Finally, it happened what we feared most.

“During these three years, due to the constant loss of believers, His Royal Highness’s magical power has long been less strong than it used to be. When tens of thousands of people had all flocked to that bridge to celebrate their salvation and were joyfully walking towards the heavenly realm, the bridge broke.”

Xie Ren held his breath.

The State Master said, “The heavenly rainbow tore apart, and thousands of people, a dense swath, suddenly fell from high in the sky, pulling heart-rending screams as they fell into the sea of fire, and were instantly burned to ashes right in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s eyes!

“I was all almost stunned, not daring to look at His Royal Highness’s face at all, not even able to go up, not able to fish it out, not able to put out the fire, not able to do anything at all! More people who hadn’t had time to come up yet were buried in lava and closed in by flying ash. Screaming, crying, yelling. That scene was really horrible …… I have not seen anything more horrible than that.”

Xie Ren imagined a slight chill within his heart. The State Master continued.

“The bridge is broken. The crowds of Uyongkol have gone mad, too.”

“They set fire to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s palace and temple, toppled his idol, stabbed him in the heart with a knife, and called him a useless, bullshit god. He is a god, a god should be immensely powerful, a god cannot fail.

“But he’s biased and he’s just failing. So he can’t sit on it anymore.

“The magi in heaven have been waiting for this moment for a long time. They said, ‘We told you a long time ago that that wouldn’t work. You’ve made so much trouble that we’re going to have to ask you to go down.’

“And His Royal Highness asked a very stupid question. He asked, ‘Why don’t you guys help me?’

“For no reason at all, why would someone else help you? Moreover, if we let him succeed in helping the Wuyong Kingdom to survive this great calamity, wouldn’t he no longer have any rivals in the Heavenly Realm?

“So that was a really stupid question. I think he knew that, but he asked it anyway.

“Of course no one answered him; the Crown Prince was deposed.

“He fell back to earth, not a god or a prince anymore. We followed him, and we all said, “You can surely ascend again,” so he started practicing again. But it was too difficult. You should have understood.”

Xie Ren certainly understood.

The higher you stand, the harder you fall. After falling from the sky to the earth, he will be greeted by endless cold and malice.

The State Master said, ”The volcano is still continuing to erupt, and the Wuyong Kingdom has fallen into unprecedented misery. Refugees, rebellions, and invasions continue, everyone is burnt out, and they are much less favorable to His Highness the Crown Prince, with completely opposite attitudes.

“Even so, His Highness the Crown Prince wanted to help people. However, it was at this time that something else happened.

“Many other magi, began to give grace.

“Although they were unwilling to go and stop the eruption, they were happy to give some small favors, send some herbs, food, or whatever. Because by this time His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been deposed, what he could do, of course, was far less than these magi.

“As if the Uyong people had suddenly grabbed a life-saving straw and reincarnated their parents, the loss of believers was even faster, and in fact, not much was left at all. All the original praise and love for His Highness the Crown Prince were all transferred to other magi as they were, leaving him with nothing but hatred and dislike.”

The State Master closed his eyes and said, “At that time, we were really upset.

“It’s clear that these Magi didn’t do much for them at all, and only came out to make an appearance after the Great Tribulation was over. His Highness the Crown Prince was the one who did the most, he did everything he could and could have succeeded, just one step away! But why in the end was he the only one who was doomed? Why is it that the one who gave the most is ignored, while the one who gave a little is thanked with gratitude?

“That’s when I started to change my mind.

“I can’t help but think that if, from the very beginning, His Highness the Crown Prince had chosen to pretend that he didn’t know about the future foreseen in the dream, and stood by on the grounds that ‘this is the destiny of Heaven, and the gods can’t do anything about it’, and only after the volcano had erupted did he begrudgingly reward a little bit of the volcano like the other magistrates did, the people would surely have also been people would surely be grateful to him as well.”

Hua Cheng said in a faint voice, “Did you only think of it then? It should have occurred to you from the beginning. Cutting a piece of meat to save a person, people will be grateful. But the more you cut, the more the person wants. At the end of the day, even if that person is lynched and cut until there is only a white bone left, the person will not be satisfied.”

The State Master said, ”I don’t dare to talk to him at all about these thoughts, but His Highness the Crown Prince is getting more and more silent, I don’t know what’s in his heart, and if he has ever thought about the same things as me.

“Day after day, the volcano is still erupting off and on, and the whole country of Uyong has been in a state of fear for a long time. No one knows how to make it stop and end this nightmare.

“One day, His Royal Highness suddenly told us that he had found a way to make the volcano stop. But when he said that way, a few of us had a big fight.”

Flower City said, “I guess, that way is, living sacrifice.”

The State Master said, “Right. His Highness the Crown Prince said that he had selected a group of wicked people with whom he could offer sacrifices and cast them into the bronze furnace to calm its fury.

“The four of us all have different specific ideas, but in general, it’s just against it, it’s absolutely not allowed to do such a thing. When His Highness was unwilling for Wuyong to send troops to attack another country, it was because he didn’t want to exchange his life for a life, and if he chooses to sacrifice a living person to the bronze furnace now, what’s the difference between that and that? Even worse. Some objections were extraordinarily fierce and directly argued with His Highness the Crown Prince.

They argued too much on that one and fought. I was originally against it too, but it was more unbearable for us to quarrel among ourselves than to be attacked from the outside. You know that the four of us have never supported His Highness the Crown Prince, and now we’re even his only pillar, but that time, not only did we do it in the heat of the moment, but there were people telling His Highness the Crown Prince that he’s changed, that he’s forgotten his true heart, and that he’s not the same His Highness the Crown Prince he used to be.

“Those words are just too heartbreaking, I really can’t stand it. If even we stand against His Highness and accuse him, there will be no one else in the world who will stand with him. So in the end, I didn’t object, I just said forget it, don’t care about this anymore, whether it’s the heavenly realm or the earthly realm or the refugees, don’t care about any of it. I was really too tired.

“But nobody listened to me. After a big fight, the other three, besides me, left.”

Xie Ren shook his head, not knowing what to say. It was just that leaving at a time like this was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.

The State Master said, “I was the only one who stayed. His Highness the Crown Prince said nothing, but only asked me, ‘Are you leaving?’

“Seeing the look on the face of my erstwhile highness when he asked me this, I really felt at that moment that I could understand even if he did cast someone into a bronze furnace for sacrifice. I said, ‘Your Highness, I will not go.’

“His Highness the Crown Prince still didn’t say anything. He didn’t mention the sacrifice of a living person again, changed his mind and set up an altar near the copper furnace, and I joined him in practicing and practicing dharma every day against the insults of the many stragglers and the rocks, trying to suppress the anger of the volcano.

“I thought the matter was just going to go away. Who knew, but one day I found out something that gave me the creeps.

Speaking of this, the State Master’s face became extremely frightening, as if he was seeing that image that gave him the creeps again. Xie Ren’s heart also seemed to be pinched tightly by an invisible hand as he said, “What is it?”

The State Master said, “He …… he suddenly, covered his face.”

“……”

The State Master said, “Your Highness is handsome, he never covers his face, and there is nothing that can hurt his face, I’ve never seen him like this in all these years, so I’m puzzled. I asked him, Your Highness, what happened to your face? He said, accidentally burned by fire.

“I had absolutely no idea where he had been injured; he wouldn’t let me see the wound, he had put on his own herbs, and his movements had suddenly become erratic. These were originally quite unusual, but at this time, something heavenly good happened that temporarily diverted my attention – the volcano suddenly stopped erupting.

“The Copper Furnace resumed its deadly silence and gradually settled down, not erupting again for a long time. Since His Highness the Crown Prince was the only one who had worked on it, many Uyong people thought that he had suppressed the volcano, and some began to worship him again. His Highness the Crown Prince’s cultivation path also became smooth. At least, no one insulted or threw stones at him anymore, and people would gradually smile at him again.

“But I always felt something was wrong.

“A lot of things are not right. Although my three friends have different personalities, but I know them more or less, they should not be all really go away and ignore. Even if they are really angry with His Highness the Crown Prince, they are not so angry with me that they haven’t heard from me at all.

“The thing that is most out of place is still the face of His Highness the Crown Prince. He kept covering his face with something, at first it was rags, a cloak, and later, he wore a mask that he didn’t take off all day.

“Sometimes I wonder if this person is not His Royal Highness at all, but another person posing as His Royal Highness, because his words and actions, and even his personality, have all changed. Sometimes he’s kind, sometimes he’s suddenly furious. Once he was alone in the house and smashed all the mirrors, bleeding from somewhere and making blood everywhere. What’s more horrible is that I often hear some strange sounds.”

Xie Ren said, “What’s that sound?”

The State Master said, “Sometimes, late at night, human voices would come from His Highness the Crown Prince’s room, as if they were several people whispering and quarreling. But when I went in to see, there was only one person in the room again. After a few times, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me not to enter his room.

“One night I heard that strange voice again, and this time, I realized that it seemed to be the voices of my three friends!

“I just couldn’t help myself, thinking could it be that they snuck back in? What’s the point of hiding it from me? So I got up and ran to His Highness the Crown Prince’s room.

“Strangely enough, there was really no one else in the room, only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was lying on the bed, and the mask was not taken off. I stood and listened for a while longer, and again realized that the voices, seemed to be coming from His Highness the Crown Prince’s side.

“It’s coming from under his mask, to be precise.

“I slowly walked to the bedside of His Highness the Crown Prince, the closer I got the more convinced I was that it really came from under the mask, could it be that His Highness the Crown Prince was talking in his sleep? Because he misses his friends too much, he learned their voices in his dreams?

“I hesitated for a long time, during which His Highness the Crown Prince never moved. I thought he was asleep, so I gently removed the mask from his face and then saw something.”

A color of fear that could not be concealed showed in the State Master’s gaze.

He said, “I saw my three friends.

“The one who spoke was either His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or them. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s face is strewn with scratches from sharp instruments, scratched to the point where the skin and flesh are turned up and the blood is half congealed, and, at some point, there are three extra faces growing, with their mouths all moving, one after the other. It’s their faces!!!”

Xie Ren shuddered and said, “He …… threw the three attendants who left him, also into the copper furnace?”