In an instant, the expressions on the faces of the priests became more subtle than Pei Ming's.

A Taoist priest in white came out in response, with a calm expression and a gentle demeanor. It was Xie Lian. Everyone greeted him, "Your Highness the Crown Prince." "Your Highness."

His expression and words were all very careful and polite. Xie Lian also greeted everyone politely and went out to greet them, saying, "Master Rain Master."

Master Yu led the tall black bull, the guardian mount, to the makeshift shed and nodded slightly in this direction.

The black bull was carrying large boxes of local products on its back. They were specially sent here. It was said that eating them would have a miraculous effect on nourishing the guardians. When the priests heard this, some of them went up to share the food happily, while others did not move. Xie Lian did not move. The Rain Master said, "I brought something else for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Xie Lian smiled and said, “Ah, thank you very much in advance! What is it?”

Master Yu took out something wrapped in a small piece of white cloth from his sleeve. When he opened it, Xie Lian’s eyes lit up and he said, “Thank you, Master Yu! I’ve been looking for this everywhere!”

Feng Xin also came over to take a look and said, "Rare silk! Great! Your thing can finally be repaired!"

Xie Lian rummaged in his sleeves and pulled out two pieces of broken white silk. He said happily, “Yes, I finally found the material to repair Ruo Xie! I’ll go and fix it right away!”

Feng Xin grabbed him and said, "You want to mend it? Forget it. What can you mend? Ask someone else to help you." He turned around and shouted, "Mu Qing! Come to work!"

Mu Qing walked over slowly and said coldly, "What? What do you mean? You want me to make up for it?"

Feng Xin said: "Isn't that your specialty?"

Mu Qing snorted, "You guys are too good at using people. You're treating me like a servant. I'm afraid you'll ask me to sweep the floor tomorrow."

Xie Lian laughed and said, “Forget it, forget it. I’ll do it myself.”

Mu Qing had already taken the white silk from him, rolled her eyes and went to look for needle and thread. Later, Pei Ming came over to say hello and wanted to pat the black bull, but the bull bit him with its big teeth, almost biting off his finger. He left in frustration. Yu Shi asked, "Is General Pei's arm still not healed?"

Xie Lian said, “No. At the beginning, he and Rong Guang agreed to use the Ming Guang Sword. In addition to asking him to apologize, he also wanted him to give up his arm as the price. Although Rong Guang’s resentment dissipated in the end and saved some face by not taking his arm, he was still seriously injured.”

Master Yu said, "So that's why General Pei looks so strange."

Xie Lian thought to himself, “His weird expression isn’t because of this.”

It turned out that Pei Ming was still brooding over the fact that he was saved by the Rain Master in the fires of Tonglu Mountain and Xianjing. He was a man who claimed to be a man of integrity and integrity, and he simply could not stand losing face in front of a woman, especially a woman with whom he had a grudge. Compared with the Rain Master, Xuan Ji's behavior was probably more acceptable to him. In short, he could not let it go, and he felt uneasy when he saw the Rain Master, so he looked weird.

However, Yu Shi had no idea what he was so concerned about and always responded with a polite smile. The two of them were simply not on the same page, which was inexplicably funny.

Master Yu said, "By the way, Your Highness, how is Xuan Ji?"

Xie Lian asked, “Xuan Ji is imprisoned at the foot of the mountain, do you want to go take a look?”

·

After the war, all the demons and monsters that had fled from the suppression areas were temporarily detained in a temporary dungeon set up at the foot of Mount Taicang. Xie Lian led the way. Before they reached the dungeon, they heard a loud curse from afar. Pei Su and Ban Yue were sitting at the door, both with expressionless faces.

Now the staff is too tight and there is not enough, so the two of them were sent to help the Heavenly Palace guard the dungeon. Ke Mo was imprisoned in the dungeon. When the enemy met, he was extremely jealous. He cursed the two people all day long. The two pretended not to understand and sat in a row like wooden men. When they saw the two people coming in, they all stood up and said, "Your Highness, Master of Rain."

The Rain Master handed them a box of local products. Xie Lian said, “Thank you for your hard work. The Rain Master wanted to come and see Xuan Ji.”

Pei Su hesitated for a moment and said, "Xuan Ji..."

Xie Lian sensed something was wrong: “What’s wrong?”

The two entered the prison and found the place where Xuan Ji was imprisoned. They were all stunned. They saw that the prison was empty except for a set of tattered red wedding dress.

Pei Su said: "Xuan Ji, it disappeared last night."

It was incredible that Xuan Ji’s resentment had dissipated. Not long ago, this woman was still so obsessed that she strangled Pei Ming and refused to let go. Xie Lian said, “Maybe she finally figured it out.”

I figured out why I had changed from a heroic and noble lady of a military family to a crazy, hated and resentful woman in the past few hundred years. I was afraid that I would be extremely ashamed of what I had lost and what I had gained, and I couldn't bear to look back.

She hoped that the man who abandoned her would be moved or threatened by her and change his mind, but she suddenly realized that there was no room for maneuver from the beginning, and finally she figured it out.

However, she stayed in the world because she was unwilling to accept Pei Ming's fate. Once she figured it out, there was no need to stay any longer. It was quite boring to think about it.

The Rain Master sat down where he was, as if to help her with her salvation. After all, she was the only person from the Rain Master Country in the world besides her. Xie Lian did not want to disturb her, so he left.

After going out, he saw Pei Su and Ban Yue eating fruits grown in Yushi Township. Xie Lian also went over to pick one and prepared to squat and eat it with them. Unexpectedly, he suddenly felt something and looked back. He saw something flashing in the grass not far away, which was more than half a person's height.

Xie Lian immediately threw the fruit away, said, “Watch this place!” and ran over.

The thing in the bushes sensed that he had discovered it, and fled even faster. Xie Lian could have caught up with it in eight steps, but after running four steps, he realized who it was, and his mind raced, slowing down his pace.

After the thing had escaped for a while, he suddenly rushed out from the side, blocked its way, and said, "Miss Jianlan, are you planning to leave without saying goodbye?"

The person was none other than Jian Lan, who was secretly holding the fetal spirit. She was startled by Xie Lian’s elusiveness and said, “It’s you!”

The white fetus was baring its teeth in her arms, as if it wanted to attack. Jianlan held it down and said, "Are you here to stop me?"

Xie Lian didn’t want her to be too alert, so he said, “Don’t be nervous, I just want to give you something.”

As he spoke, he handed over something and said, "Your son Cuo Cuo has strong resentment and needs to be controlled. Although it is now being purified, your cultivation is not as good as it is, so there is no guarantee that there will be no accidents. You need this thing to assist you."

It was a self-made amulet, and Xie Lian even demonstrated its use to ensure that there was nothing strange about it. Jianlan looked at it and her vigilance was indeed slightly reduced. After all, this thing was quite useful. After hesitating for a moment, she took it and said, "Thank you."

Xie Lian said, “No need. Just shout three times, ‘Your Highness, please bless me,’ when you use it. That way it will be recorded in my name.”

“…”

Jianlan took a few steps, paused, and still couldn't help but turned back and asked: "Aren't you going to stop me? Why?"

Xie Lian waited for her to turn around, and instead of answering, he asked, “Then why did you have to leave, Miss Jianlan? Feng Xin said he would take care of you, and he will keep his promise.”

Jianlan's expression changed, and finally, she sighed and said, "I know he will. But forget it. I don't want to live with him anymore."

Xie Lian was stunned for a moment, and said, “Now… you don’t like him at all?”

Jianlan was probably tired from running, so she sat down on the side of the road and said, "It has nothing to do with whether he likes it or not. I don't want to force him to tie us to his side."

Xie Lian also sat down next to her, thought for a moment, and said, “Feng Xin must really like you. At that time, he was so worried and desperate, but he still refused to give up on you.”

Hearing this, Jianlan seemed to recall something from a long time ago, and smiled: "Now that you mention it, I remember it. He was so stupid back then, and spent a long time saving money to buy me a night, but he moved a stool and sat opposite me all night, doing nothing but chatting with me. Everyone treated him as a joke, it was so funny!"

Xie Lian also smiled and said, “See, I told you that he likes you very much.”

Jianlan suppressed her smile and said, "What you said is all about the past. Just because I liked someone before doesn't mean I will always like him. I don't want to be given charity and then be despised by others."

Xie Lian asked, “How could he dislike you? Don’t you know who Feng Xin is?”

Jianlan said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is not worldly, so of course you think too simply. Not now, not on the surface. But over time, it's hard to say. If I wanted to find him, I would have gone to find him a long time ago. It's not rare in Nanyang Palace. There was a time when he was everywhere, but I don't want to.

"He has ascended to heaven, has become powerful and famous, but we are all ghosts. Why should I look for him? A priest with two ghosts, wouldn't that make things difficult for him?

"I kicked him out when I was at my best. I thought it was good, and I was proud of myself. That way, I would always be like that in his heart, instead of being like this now, with heavy makeup and fine lines around the eyes."

She pulled her face and said, "If he really recognized us, and he still looked at my face every day, and Cuocuo was still like this, being held back by us, he would only become more and more tired and bored day by day, and one day he would even dislike us. Why bother? That would be too sad, wouldn't it?"

As they were talking, the fetus kept licking her face with its wet tongue, which was both subtle and disgustingly playful and cute. But in the eyes of ordinary people, it would probably just be disgusting and unacceptable.

Jianlan also touched her son's bald head and said, "Anyway, I made mistakes, that's enough. Who made promises when they were young and ignorant that were not vows of love? They always talk about affection, love, and forever. However, the longer I live in this world, the more I understand that 'forever' is impossible, never possible. It's good enough to have had it. No one can really do it. I don't believe it anymore."

She said helplessly: "Feng Xin is a good person. It's just... it's really been too long. Nothing is the same anymore, so let it go."

Xie Lian listened silently without saying anything, but he thought in his heart, “No.”

A voice in his heart said: "Forever does exist. Someone can really do it. I believe it."

·

Jianlan still left with Cuo Cuo.

Xie Lian went back to see off the Rain Master who had saved Xuan Ji's soul, and then returned to Mount Taicang. He wanted to tell Feng Xin that Jian Lan had passed away, but he didn't see him. He was looking for him among the noisy crowd when he suddenly heard someone shout, "Tai Hua, you're here! Are you free? Help me calculate!"

They were still arresting people and settling accounts with them. Lang Qianqiu could not avoid them and said from a distance: "Don't bring it to me. I have something to do. Find someone else!"

Xie Lian sighed, thinking that he might as well try to calculate it. Unexpectedly, after taking a few steps, he heard a voice behind him saying, "Master... His Royal Highness... the Crown Prince."

When Xie Lian turned around, Lang Qianqiu was standing behind him. He scratched his cheek and said, "Can I have a moment to talk with you?"

Xie Lian said, “Okay.”

So, he and Lang Qianqiu walked outside the shabby shed. As they walked, Xie Lian asked, "How is Guzi? Is he okay?"

Lang Qianqiu smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know if it's good or not. This kid keeps asking me for his father. It's so pitiful, so I have no choice but to... collect the little soul of the green ghost and put it in a lamp. Now he runs in and out in front of me every day holding the lamp, asking me how to make the soul in the lamp grow up! I really am..."

Seeing his depressed face, it was understandable to think about his experience. I really don’t understand why he, whose entire family was killed by Qi Rong, would do such a thing. Xie Lian subconsciously wanted to pat his shoulder, but thinking about what he had done in Yongan, he held back and said in a gentle voice: “Thank you for your hard work. So, what do you want to talk to me about today?”

After hesitating for a moment, Lang Qianqiu reached into his arms, took out something, handed it to him, and said, "This."

When he saw that thing, Xie Lian’s breath hitched slightly.

It was a small, deep red coral bead that was radiant, lustrous, and round.

He trembled and said, "What is this...?!"

Lang Qianqiu said: "This coral bead is a secret treasure left by the founder of Yongan."

Hearing this, Xie Lian finally realized that this was not the one Hua Cheng had dropped at the end of her hair, but the one he had given to Lang Ying.

It's not Huacheng's. He felt disappointed, but still took the bead. At this time, Lang Qianqiu said: "The ancestor once said that the person who gave him this red coral bead was his benefactor and helped him. He was a very good person."

“…”

Lang Qianqiu added: "But he still did something that made that person lose everything. The ancestor said that he did not regret doing that thing, he had to do it. But thinking about it later, he still felt a little sorry for that person."

“…”

Xie Lian asked, “And then?”

Lang Qianqiu said, "Then, that day in Xianjing, I looked carefully at the bead at the end of Xueyu Tanhua's hair, and the more I looked at it, the more it looked like the one my father left for me. Later, I heard from General Xuanzhen and others that this bead was originally a pair and it was yours. So, I wanted to ask, is this yours?"

After a long while, Xie Lian nodded slowly and said, “It’s mine. It’s a pair of beads that my father and mother gave me when I was a child.”

Lang Qianqiu scratched his hair and said, "Then... I'll give it back to you."

He still didn't know how to address Xie Lian, so he returned the bead, hesitated for a while, and then walked away silently. Xie Lian stood there, holding the red coral bead in his palm.

More than 800 years have passed. After many twists and turns, the other earring of the pair of crimson coral beads has returned to his hands. It is his, and still his.

However, the other bead should have been there at this time. They could have made a pair.

At this moment, Feng Xin's overjoyed voice came from the foot of the mountain: "Your Highness! Everyone! Come here quickly!"