Xie Lian was held in Hua Cheng's arms and walked towards the dark depths of the cave.

The only light source around them was the faint dancing silver undead butterfly. Xie Lian couldn't see the expression on Hua Cheng's face, but he could feel that Hua Cheng's arms and body were stiff.

It’s not like Hua Cheng had never held him before, but it was obvious that something was different now. Hua Cheng didn’t even touch his neck or hands directly. Xie Lian kept looking at Hua Cheng’s face and blinked hard, but Hua Cheng kept avoiding his eyes and didn’t make eye contact with him. He went straight to a cave with a stone bed in it and immediately held Xie Lian and put him on it. He was about to let Xie Lian lie down when he suddenly realized something. He checked Xie Lian’s back and said, “Did they cast a curse on you?”

Xie Lian was overjoyed: I was finally discovered!

However, the fact that he only noticed Xie Lian's abnormality now also shows how unprepared Hua Cheng was. Xie Lian was waiting for Hua Cheng to help him wipe off the obedience talisman, but Hua Cheng had already stretched out his hand, but stopped halfway, and finally took it back and laid Xie Lian flat on the stone bed.

Probably to make Xie Lian not worry, he said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Your Highness. I won't kill those two bastards for the time being. Although I really want to kill them."

The stone bed was covered with a thick layer of soft new grass. Xie Lian lay flat on it, not feeling any pain at all, but his internal organs were burning and smoking. He was extremely confused as to why the curse was not lifted for him. As he was struggling hard, he saw Hua Cheng reach out to the belt around his waist and untie it.

As luck would have it, at this moment, Xie Lian felt the effect of the obedience talisman on his back begin to wear off. He moved his legs vigorously and let out a cry of “Ah!”

Although it looked like a dead fish suddenly thrashing and twitching in protest, it had no deterrent effect, but Hua Cheng still froze immediately, withdrew his hand in an instant, and said, "I won't!"

As if he felt that his tone was too harsh, and was afraid of scaring Xie Lian and making him resist, Hua Cheng took a few steps back, slowed down his tone, and said in a gloomy and uncertain expression, cautious and forbearing, "Your Highness, I won't do anything. You... don't be afraid."

Xie Lian understood.

Hua Cheng was still unsure about what kind of response he would get from Xie Lian after the curse was lifted, so he simply ignored it.

Hua Cheng seemed to be restraining some impulse, and once again said in a low voice as if he was swearing: "Your Highness, believe me."

Although, this "trust me" was not as confident as what he had said before. Xie Lian still wanted to answer him, but he couldn't. He was afraid that he would misunderstand him more if he struggled, so he could only lie flat, motionless, and wait for the power of the obedience talisman to wear off. Seeing that he no longer "resisted", Hua Cheng walked up again, stretched out his hand, and untied Xie Lian's belt.

Xie Lian thought to himself: “San Lang???”

Of course, he fully believed that Hua Cheng would not take advantage of others, but this development was not what he expected, and he could not help but slightly widen his eyes. Although Hua Cheng undressed Xie Lian, he tried not to touch his body, so he was not fast, and it took a long time to remove his outer clothes, and then his middle clothes. Until a dead butterfly flew to Xie Lian's shoulder and perched, a warm and itchy feeling crawled onto his skin. He glanced at it with the corner of his eye, and then he realized that his shoulder was a little purple and slightly swollen, and some places were slightly cracked. After the silver butterfly perched, the situation improved slightly.

It turned out to be frostbite caused by crawling and rolling in the snow.

Xie Lian himself didn't notice it at all, because he was no longer sensitive to pain. He was frozen, so he was frozen. Even if he had noticed the injury, he would have just left it alone and waited for it to heal on its own. However, Hua Cheng knew where he was injured better than he did, and he still remembered it and insisted on treating his wound.

Just as he was lost in thought, Hua Cheng lifted his arm again. There were more frostbite on his hands and feet, and some of them were bleeding because of the intense running and pulling. Xie Lian was not afraid of pain, but he was ticklish. Moreover, fragments of events from many years ago could not help but emerge in his mind. The dark cave, the boy's trembling and hot hands, the panicked and random touching, the chaotic panting and heartbeat...

These things had been diluted to the point where they couldn't be any more diluted in his memory. He had sealed them up and thrown them into a corner. Now when he recalled them, they had a completely different taste, forcing him to hold his head and scream, especially now that Huacheng was right in front of him, doing almost the same thing. Xie Lian's face and brain were burning, and he was really afraid that he would see it. However, Huacheng didn't look at him either. He really kept his promise and didn't cross the line. He turned his head slightly to avoid looking at the half-exposed white shoulder.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a voice suddenly came out from behind Hua Cheng: "Hua Cheng! What do you want to do to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, you lunatic?! This is disgusting!"

Hua Cheng turned his head suddenly, and Xie Lian also looked past him and saw the entrance of the cave. The one who spoke was actually Mu Qing!

Feng Xin was beside him. The two had just been wrapped up like cocoons by Hua Cheng, and no one knew how they had gotten out and found their way here. When they saw the scene in the cave, their faces turned pale. Xie Lian's face also turned pale.

This scene is so terrible!

Feng Xin pointed at Hua Cheng, then at Xie Lian, whose clothes were half-unbuttoned, and after a long while he managed to squeeze out a few words: "You...you...let him go!"

Hua Cheng quickly pulled Xie Lian's clothes on and said coldly, "How dare you two losers come here? Do you think your life is too long?"

Mu Qing mocked, "Take your dirty hands away. A toad wants to eat swan flesh. Don't even think about having your eyes on him for eight hundred years. Even if you had hoped for another thousand or ten thousand years, you would never be able to touch the Crown Prince even with a finger!"

Hearing this, Xie Lian’s heart skipped a beat. While he was slightly angry, he also vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

What’s wrong with these two? Even if Hua Cheng had beaten them up just now, they wouldn’t have said such harsh words to each other, especially Mu Qing, who seemed to be deliberately trying to irritate Hua Cheng. It would be bad for them to irritate Hua Cheng, and they couldn’t beat him either, so what was the purpose? Moreover, their words were subtly pointing the finger at Xie Lian, as if they were afraid that the world would not be in chaos, and that Hua Cheng would do something to Xie Lian in anger.

Hua Cheng was indeed enraged, and a dark aura flashed across his pale face. He whispered, "Since you are seeking death--"

Xie Lian saw the murderous intent in his eyes, which he had not concealed at all, and was horrified: "Don't!!!"

It was too late. The scimitar was unsheathed, and the cold light of doom flashed by!

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both startled and subconsciously lowered their heads. Fortunately, there were no wounds on their bodies.

Unexpectedly, before they could even breathe a sigh of relief or fight back, the next moment, their upper bodies fell off from their lower bodies with a loud bang.

Blood spurted out, all over the ground.

Xie Lian had never expected things to turn out this way. He collapsed on the stone bed, stunned.

Huacheng, unexpectedly, killed Feng Xin and Mu Qing!

The two men were not completely dead yet, and they rolled to the ground, one gritting his teeth, the other roaring, the scene was horrible. Hua Cheng put away his scimitar with a stern look, only a small part of his face was stained with a little blood, a streak of crimson made the evil spirit between his eyebrows even more dazzling.

He stood in the pool of blood for a moment, then turned around and walked towards Xie Lian. Seeing Hua Cheng approaching with a sullen face, Xie Lian finally came to his senses. At this moment, Hua Cheng had already approached him, grasped one of his hands, and pressed him into his arms with great force, whispering: "...How can I let you go?"

Xie Lian was held tightly by him, unable to speak. Hua Cheng whispered something in his ear. His heart was pounding like it was about to jump out of his chest, and suddenly he felt his body relax.

The talisman of obedience that Mu Qing drew on his back was finally erased.

Although he said he would not let go, after helping him to unlock the obedience talisman, Hua Cheng loosened his grip slightly and let Xie Lian go. Xie Lian took a deep breath, jumped up, threw himself on the ground in a pool of blood, and said: "Feng Xin? Mu Qing? How are you two?!"

Mu Qing was more seriously injured, bleeding from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were unfocused. Feng Xin was still breathing, tightly grasping his hand, and said, "Crown Prince... Your Highness..."

Xie Lian also held his hand tightly and asked, “What? What do you want to say?”

Feng Xin swallowed a mouthful of blood and gritted his teeth, "Be careful... Huacheng... don't get close to him... he... is a monster!"

It seemed like he was risking his life to say this warning before dying, but to his surprise, Xie Lian’s expression gradually calmed down and he asked, “Monster?”

He let go of Feng Xin's hand, stood up, and said, "I'm curious, is it weird for you guys?"

Feng Xin was startled when he heard this. As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Lian pulled out his heart at lightning speed, pierced Feng Xin's heart, and nailed him to the ground!

Feng Xin looked incredulous and said, "Your Highness, you!..." He was already silent before he finished. Xie Lian pulled his heart out of his chest, dropping blood, and retreated to Hua Cheng's side. He pointed the tip of his sword at the bodies of the two people on the ground and said, "Since we've seen blood, you shouldn't talk to us like that, right?"

"Hahaha……"

Suddenly, a sneer came from the ground. It was the corpse of Mu Qing, who was cut in half, who turned his head and laughed.

His upper body was lying on the ground. Even if he wanted to turn his head, only half of his face could touch the ground. However, his head was completely turned around and he was smiling at Xie Lian from the front!

As expected, these two were not the real Feng Xin and Mu Qing at all, but two counterfeits who appeared out of nowhere.

The real Feng Xin and Mu Qing were still trapped in the big white cocoon, trying to bite their way out. This was what Hua Cheng whispered in Xie Lian's ear when he came to help him untie the obedience talisman.

Their pale faces were not due to surprise or fear, but because they were not human!

Xie Lian had already drawn his sword. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both smiled grimly and said in unison, “As you wish.”

After saying that, they turned into two pools of pus and blood. Hua Cheng stopped in front of Xie Lian, and the two pools of pus and blood flowed and merged on the ground, bubbling like boiling water, and gradually solidified into a human shape. Watching this mass of things twisting and forming bit by bit, getting bigger and bigger, a chill ran from Xie Lian's waist to his back.

In a moment, "Feng Xin" and "Mu Qing" in front of them disappeared, and in their place appeared a young man in white clothes with long hair.

Judging from his figure, the boy was about 17 or 18 years old, with a mask on his face, half crying and half smiling. Although his face could not be seen, a clear young voice came from behind the mask.

He said in a gentle voice: "Hello, thank you."

Xie Lian's lips moved unconsciously, and his entire scalp went numb. Hua Cheng stood in front of him and chopped him off with his sword!

Facing the life-threatening blade of the scimitar, the man in white was not afraid at all. He dodged by a hair's breadth and flashed behind Hua Cheng in an instant, reaching out to Xie Lian as if to touch his face. A flash of silver light passed by, and Hua Cheng blocked him again, saying coldly, "Take your dirty hands away."

The white-clothed man's right hand was cut off by E Ming and fell to the ground. But this had no effect on him at all. He shook his wide sleeves to cover the broken arm, and then a new hand grew out of the broken arm, with the fingers forming claws, and it reached directly towards Hua Cheng's right eye!

The whole process happened in just one sound. Hua Cheng also dodged very quickly, but still left two bloody marks on one side of his cheek.

This was the first time in history that Hua Cheng was unable to completely crush the opponent in terms of speed. His eyes flashed, and he immediately changed his strategy, summoning thousands of dead butterflies, and madly pounced on the opponent. Countless silver butterflies wrapped the man in white into a silver human-shaped pupa, but it might not last long. Hua Cheng was about to pull Xie Lian away when he heard the silver butterflies screaming and exploding into thousands of sparkling silver powders!

Seeing Hua Cheng's face change slightly, Xie Lian knew that after destroying so many dead butterflies at once, the situation was probably not good. The man in white who had blown up the dead butterflies hid behind the silver powder scattered all over the sky, and suddenly stretched out his newly born hand, digging at Hua Cheng's right eye again!

This time, it was Xie Lian's turn to pull out his heart and cut it off! This sword not only cut off the white-clothed man's arm, but also almost cut off half of his body. Taking this opportunity, Hua Cheng said, "Your Highness, let's go!"

Xie Lian knew he couldn't fight, so he decided to quit. The two of them rushed out of the cave together and ran all the way in the dark tunnel. Xie Lian said as he ran, "It's him! He... is really not dead!"

Hua Cheng led the way, running faster but more calmly. While setting up numerous obstacles along the way with butterfly formations and cocoon silk, he said, "It may not be the original one."

Xie Lian stopped in his tracks, hugged his head slightly, and said, “No… I can feel it, it must be the original one! Not only is he not dead, he is even stronger. Something has made him reborn… Otherwise, how could he directly transform into the appearance of Feng Xin and Mu Qing? It is very difficult to fake an ascended priest. It is almost impossible to make a fake skin of them!”

Hearing that his tone was a little strange, Hua Cheng also steadied himself, turned around to pull him, and said: "Your Highness! Don't be afraid. It doesn't necessarily mean that he is stronger. There is another possibility, that is, he is very familiar with Feng Xin and Mu Qing! So he can make their fake skin. You must all know this person..."

Before he finished speaking, Xie Lian's eyes fell on the hand that was holding him. Seeing this, Hua Cheng's words and expression froze, and he withdrew his hand, put it behind his back, turned around and continued to walk forward. Xie Lian did not follow him, and said, "Sanlang."

Hua Cheng froze and stopped walking, but he didn't turn around. He just replied, "Your Highness."

His voice sounded relatively calm. Xie Lian stood behind him and said, “A lot of things happened just now, and everyone was a little flustered.”

Hua Cheng said: "Yeah."

Xie Lian continued, “Although I’m still very flustered right now, I still want to take this opportunity to ask you a question. Please answer me truthfully and seriously.”

“…”

Hua Cheng said: "Okay."

Xie Lian asked solemnly, “Who exactly is this ‘noble lady of golden branches and jade leaves’?”

The finger that Huacheng tied with the red string twitched twice imperceptibly.

After a long silence, he slowly said, "Your Highness, since you already know, why ask again?"

Xie Lian nodded and said, “I see. I didn’t wrongly accuse you. It’s really like this.”

Huacheng said nothing.

After a pause, Xie Lian continued in a calm tone, “You, don’t want to know what I think about this?”

“…”

Hua Cheng turned his head slightly, as if he wanted to look back, but he still seemed to be afraid to look directly at Xie Lian. He only showed the two bright red bloodstains on his face and said, "Your Highness, can you please not tell me?"

His voice was hoarse. Xie Lian said, "I'm sorry. I can't not explain this matter clearly."

Huacheng didn't need to breathe, but after hearing this, he still took a deep breath.

Although his face was extremely pale, he still smiled and said gracefully: "That's right. That's good too."

He closed his eyes like a prisoner waiting for his sentence, but after a short while, his eyes suddenly opened again.

Suddenly, a pair of hands came up from behind and hugged him tightly.

Xie Lian buried his face behind his back and said nothing. Although he said nothing, it was enough.

After a long while, Xie Lian felt the person he was hugging turned around, took the initiative, and hugged him tightly.

He heard Hua Cheng's hesitant voice coming from above: "...Your Highness. You are really...trying to kill me."