Xie Lian yelled on the spot. Feng Xin was startled by him and asked, “What’s wrong?! What’s wrong?”

Xie Lian pointed at the mirror with a pale face and said, “He! I… I, I…”

Feng Xin followed his hand and looked into the mirror for a long moment, then turned away in bewilderment and asked, "...what's wrong with you?"

Xie Lian was terrified, holding onto him tightly, and managed to utter a few more words: “Me! Me! My face! Didn’t you see? There’s something on my face?!”

Feng Xin stared at his face and sighed. Xie Lian was still wondering why he didn't react, but he heard Feng Xin say, "Your Highness, have you just discovered that you have a wound on your face?"

Xie Lian felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave.

Why? How could this happen? Why did Feng Xin say that?

Could it be that Feng Xin couldn't see the mask on his face in the mirror at this moment? !

Xie Lian blurted out, “Can’t you see? There’s something on my face!”

Feng Xin asked in confusion: "What? What exactly do you mean? I didn't see it?"

Xie Lian looked at the mirror again: “Impossible! I…”

However, when he looked in the mirror again, the mask on his face disappeared, and his panic-stricken face was still reflected.

His face was covered with dark blue scars, and he looked lost and miserable, like a farmhand who had been beaten up by a rich man. Xie Lian couldn't help but be stunned, and tried to touch the edge of his cheek, thinking: "... Is this me?"

At this time, Feng Xin said, "Your Highness, are you... too tired? Or are you mad at that brat? Listen to me, don't go out recently, and rest more."

Xie Lian finally came back to his senses, and seeing Feng Xin carrying a bow and a stool and ready to go out, he hurriedly said, “No! I…”

Feng Xin pushed the door open and turned back: "Anything else?"

The words came to his lips, but he swallowed them back because a strange thought suddenly popped up in his mind:

Life is already difficult enough now. If Feng Xin were told that Bai Wuxiang might come back to bother them again, what would he do?

Feng Xin has a strong influence on Bai Wuxiang, so what will he do? Will he decide to quit and leave like Mu Qing did?

While he was daydreaming, Feng Xin had already gone out. Xie Lian was awakened by the sound of the door closing, so he had no choice but to retreat back to bed, cover himself with the quilt, and try to sleep for another night.

Suddenly, he smelled a strange smell.

Xie Lian got up, and at first thought that the queen was cooking again or that a mouse or something had died in the corner. He stood up to check, and after searching everywhere, he finally discovered that the source of the strange smell was actually himself.

Xie Lian then remembered that he hadn’t changed his clothes or washed himself for dozens of days, so of course there would be a smell.

Xie Lian held his breath, and a feeling of disgust for himself suddenly surged in his heart. Thinking that his parents and Feng Xin must have noticed it, but didn't tell him, he felt ashamed again. He secretly opened the door and looked outside. There was no one outside, so he found new clothes and planned to boil water to take a bath.

After a lot of trouble, he finally got into the tub. He sank his entire body into the water, suffocating until he almost fainted before floating up and washing his face vigorously.

After brushing his entire body, Xie Lian reached out to grab his clothes, absentmindedly shook them open and was about to put them on when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

This is not his clothes at all, but Bai Wuxiang's pale long-sleeved mourning clothes!!!

Xie Lian felt as if the hot water he was soaking in had instantly turned into a pot of ice. He was horrified and cried out in a lost voice, “Who! Who did this?!”

Who secretly changed his clothes when he wasn't paying attention? !

He jumped out dripping wet and knocked over the bathtub. With a loud bang, the whole room was flooded, shocking the king and queen in the next room. The queen helped the king in and saw Xie Lian lying naked on the ground, with water all over the ground. She was so scared that she rushed over and hugged him and said, "My son, what happened to you!"

Xie Lian, with his hair dripping wet and loose, raised his face, hugged her with his backhand and said, “Mom, there’s a ghost, there’s a ghost haunting me! It’s been following me!”

He looked like he was crazy. The queen couldn't stand it anymore and cried while hugging her son. The king also stared at Xie Lian in a daze. He was in his forties, but now he looked more than sixty. The winter cold froze Xie Lian and he pointed, "Clothes. Look at those clothes!"

However, when he looked at the clothes again, they were not white mourning clothes at all. Wasn't it still his white Taoist robe?

Xie Lian suddenly became furious. He punched the barrel and roared, “What on earth do you want? Are you kidding me?!”

The queen held back her tears, hugged him and said, "My son, don't be angry. Put on your clothes first. Put them on, don't catch a cold..."

That day, Feng Xin came back very late, and his face looked more tired than usual.

Xie Lian had been waiting for him for a long time, and couldn’t wait to say, “Feng Xin, I have something very important to tell you.”

Although Bai Wuxiang was too strange and powerful, it would be useless even if he told Feng Xin and gave him a warning in advance, but after thinking about it, he still thought that this matter should not be hidden from Feng Xin, so he decided to tell him the truth. Unexpectedly, Feng Xin did not immediately ask him what it was, but said: "It just so happens that I have something to tell you."

Xie Lian thought that the matter concerning Bai Wuxiang must be more important, so he decided to put the important matters aside for later. He sat down at the table and asked, “Go ahead, what’s the matter?”

Feng Xin hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, please speak first."

Xie Lian had no intention of refusing, so he whispered, “Feng Xin, be careful, Bai Wuxiang is back.”

“…”

Feng Xin's face suddenly changed: "Bai Wuxiang is back? Why do you say that? Did you see it?"

Xie Lian said, “Yes! I saw it.”

Feng Xin's face turned pale, and he said, "But...but this is not right, why did you see it? Why are you still safe and sound after you saw it???"

Xie Lian buried his face in his hands and said, “…I don’t know either! But not only did he not kill me, he also…”

She hugged him and touched his head like a loving elder, and said to him, "Come to me."

After listening to his story about the strange encounters of the past few days, the shock on Feng Xin's face gradually faded and was replaced by confusion. He asked, "What on earth does he want to do?"

Xie Lian said, “Anyway, he must have bad intentions, and he seems to have been following me. Anyway... you should be careful! Help me remind my father and mother to be careful, but don’t scare them.”

Feng Xin said, "Okay. I won't go out these few days. The things that kid sent... should last for a while."

It was really embarrassing. When Mu Qing left, he still left all the things he brought with him. Although Xie Lian lost control of his emotions at that time and threw his things and said he didn't need his help, he calmed down and picked up all the things in shame. Xie Lian sighed, nodded, and said, "By the way, what did you want to tell me?"

Speaking of this, Feng Xin hesitated again. After a pause, he spoke, hesitating for once. He scratched his hair and said, "Actually... Your Highness, do you have any money? Or anything that can be pawned?"

Xie Lian hadn’t expected him to ask such a stupid question at a time like this, and he said in astonishment, “Ah? Why are you asking that?”

Feng Xin said with a stiff face: "...It's nothing...but if you have it, can you... lend it to me first?"

Xie Lian smiled bitterly and said, “…Do you think there will be more?”

Feng Xin also sighed and said, "I think so."

Xie Lian thought for a moment and said, “But didn’t I give you a golden belt before?”

Feng Xin murmured, "That's not enough, far from enough..."

Xie Lian was surprised and asked, “Feng Xin? What on earth did you do? How come a gold belt is not enough? Did you beat someone up outside and need to pay compensation? Tell me about it.”

Feng Xin came back to his senses and said hurriedly: "No! Don't worry about it, I'll just ask!"

After repeated questioning, Feng Xin assured him that everything was fine. Xie Lian said worriedly, “If there is anything, please tell me. We can work together to find a solution.”

Feng Xin said, "Don't worry about me. I can't think of a solution no matter how hard I try. Your Highness, you should deal with your own issues first!"

When he mentioned this, Xie Lian’s heart sank again.

As he expected, that thing continued to haunt him for the next few days.

Xie Lian could always see that sad and happy face, or a vague white figure in many unexpected places. Sometimes it was at the head of the bed late at night, sometimes it was the reflection in the water, sometimes it was at the door that was suddenly opened, and sometimes, it was even behind Feng Xin.

Bai Wuxiang seemed to enjoy intimidating him, and deliberately let only him see it. Whenever Xie Lian couldn't stand it anymore and screamed and pointed at him, he disappeared as soon as the others rushed over or turned around. Xie Lian lived in such a day, and he hated it so much that he wanted to catch this thing and cut it into pieces, but he couldn't even step on the other party's shadow. It was inevitable that he would be upside down day and night, and he was exhausted physically and mentally.

One day, he woke up in the middle of the night, feeling an irrepressible thirst. He remembered that he hadn’t had enough water all day, so he got up and prepared to go out to drink some water, but he heard voices and a faint candlelight coming in from outside. Xie Lian was startled and immediately hid behind the door, his heart pounding wildly: "Who is it? If it's my father, my mother, and Feng Xin, why are they so sneaky?"

Who knew that the sneaky ones were really his father, the emperor, the queen, and Feng Xin. Feng Xin lowered his voice very low: "Your Highness, have you rested?"

The queen also whispered, "Go to bed."

The king said, "It was not easy for him to fall asleep. Don't wake him up too early tomorrow. Let him sleep a little longer."

This sentence made Xie Lian feel sad. Then, he heard the queen say, "Alas...if this continues, when will the prince be well?"

Xie Lian was just thinking that there was something wrong with what he said when Feng Xin whispered, “He’s just too tired lately. Too many things have happened. Your Majesty, please keep a close eye on him. If there’s anything wrong with His Highness, please tell me immediately. But don’t let him notice it, and don’t say anything that might irritate him…”

Xie Lian hid behind the door and listened, his mind went blank and the blood rushed up.

What does this mean?

He roared in his heart, "I'm not crazy! I'm not lying! What I said is true!"

Xie Lian raised his hand and slammed the door open. The three people in the room were all startled. Feng Xin stood up and said, "Your Highness? Why aren't you asleep?!"

Xie Lian asked bluntly, “You don’t believe me?”

Feng Xin was startled and said, “Of course I believe you! You…” Xie Lian interrupted him, “Then what did you mean by what you said just now? Are you saying that what I saw was all an illusion, my own delusion?”

The king and queen wanted to interrupt, but Xie Lian immediately said, “Stop talking, you don’t understand!”

Feng Xin said: "No! I believe you, Your Highness, but it is also true that you are too tired recently!"

Xie Lian looked at him without saying a word, but somewhere in his heart, a cold wind was blowing in.

He believed that Feng Xin generally believed in him, at least 80%.

Not to trust him completely. After all, Xie Lian has been living a very sick life recently. If any outsider were to see him, they would definitely think he was a lunatic. How could he be trusted completely?

But it shouldn't be like this. Feng Xin used to believe him without reservation! Even if there was only a little doubt, it was unbearable!

Xie Lian was filled with anger and resentment. He didn't know who he was directed at, Bai Wuxiang, Feng Xin, everyone, and himself. He said nothing, turned around and walked out. Feng Xin chased after him and asked, "Your Highness, where are you going?"

Xie Lian forced himself to remain calm and said, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t follow me. Go back.”

Feng Xin said, "No, but where are you going? I'll go with you."

Xie Lian made up his mind and suddenly ran wildly. Feng Xin was not as fast as him and was soon left far behind. He could only shout from behind. The king and the queen also came out to call him, but Xie Lian turned a deaf ear to them and ran faster and faster.

He must take the initiative!

If Bai Wuxiang wanted to kill Xie Lian, Feng Xin, or his parents, it would be easy enough, but he chose not to kill them. Instead, he played with them like toys and made a fool of himself!

As Xie Lian ran, he yelled into the darkness, “Get out!!! You monster from the gutter!!! Get out!!!”

Bai Wuxiang came here just for him, so he believed that Bai Wuxiang would definitely follow him out. However, after a few poorly-worded curses, there was no cold smile from the unexpected dark corner as usual, or a figure slowly appeared behind him and suddenly put a hand on his head. After running for several miles, Xie Lian finally exhausted his strength. He bent down deeply, supported his knees with his hands, panting, and a smell of rust filled his chest and throat.

After a long while, he suddenly stood up and continued to walk forward, whispering, "...You want to keep fighting with me, right? Okay, I'll take my time!"

He walked alone in the wild mountains and deep forests for an unknown amount of time, and the fog gradually became thicker.

The dark old trees on all sides bared their fangs and claws, all leaning forward, extremely oppressive, as if inviting him to step into a forbidden land from which he would never return. Xie Lian knew that the situation ahead was not good, but he had no choice but to avoid it. Moreover, he had to make a final decision, sooner or later, so he continued to move forward with a gloomy face. As he walked, a row of glittering things appeared faintly in the white fog ahead, like a luminous wall.

Xie Lian had never seen anything like this before, so he frowned slightly and stopped walking. And that "wall" was actually slowly approaching him!

Xie Lian became alert, broke off a branch, and held it in his hand, ready to fight. When the "wall" was less than two feet away from him, he was shocked to find that it was not a wall, but countless ghostly fires. There were so many of them that from a distance it looked like a wall of fire or a large net.

Although those ghost lights were strange, they had no intention of killing. They just floated silently in front of Xie Lian, preventing him from moving forward. Xie Lian tried to bypass them, but the ghost lights immediately changed direction and blocked Xie Lian. At the same time, he heard many voices saying:

"Don't go over there."

"Don't go over there."

"There's something bad ahead."

"Go back, don't go any further!"

These sounds were wooden and dense, like a tide, and made people feel cold behind their backs. Xie Lian was surrounded by them and noticed that among these will-o'-the-wisp flames, there was one that was particularly bright and silent.

Although the will-o'-the-wisp had no eyes, when he looked at the will-o'-the-wisp, he seemed to feel a burning gaze coming towards him.

It seems that this ghost is the strongest among these will-o'-the-wisp. The others are just following it.