Seeing that he was about to leave, Lang Qianqiu immediately said, "Stop!"

Xie Lian really stopped. Lang Qianqiu gritted his teeth and said, "You... have to give me an explanation."

Xie Lian asked, “What do you want to explain?”

Lang Qianqiu said: "The grudges of previous generations, the hatred of the country and the family feuds, I understand your hatred for Yongan. But..."

He choked for a long time before he could continue, trembling, "But Imperial Master - my father, the emperor, my mother, and I have been good to the survivors of Xianle Country, haven't we? I am good friends with many Xianle people, I have always tried my best to protect them."

Everything he said was true.

After the fall of Xianle, many survivors of the old kingdom never forgot their identity. Even after Yongan established the kingdom and began to rule, these people and their descendants still considered themselves Xianle people, and often clashed with the people of the new dynasty.

The first few generations of Yong'an royal family used a strong policy to suppress the rebellion, killing many of the remnants of Xianle who resisted. In turn, many Xianle people formed an alliance and planned to assassinate the princes and nobles of Yong'an, and succeeded several times. In this way, the hatred became deeper and deeper.

But when it came to Lang Qianqiu and his parents' generation, they adopted a completely different and gentle attitude towards the remnants of the previous dynasty. They had been trying to integrate the citizens of the new dynasty with the remnants of the old country, and even considered the almost absurd move of enthroning the descendants of the Xianle royal family as kings, despite the opposition, just to show their sincerity and treat them with courtesy. Lang Qianqiu himself never had any prejudice against the Xianle people because of these grudges left by the predecessors.

The Imperial Master Fangxin was extremely mysterious and never revealed his identity, so no one knew which side the murderer of the Gilded Banquet was from. However, Yong'an and Xianle had a deep grudge against each other, and no matter which side had an accident, they would think that the other side was the mastermind. The Yong'an royal family and court officials who had escaped by chance believed that the Xianle survivors must be behind this, so many people suggested that they use this as an excuse to completely wipe out the Xianle survivors in Yong'an. However, these suggestions were rejected by Lang Qianqiu.

His determination saved the lives of countless innocent Xianle people, preventing them from being slaughtered for no apparent reason. However, looking back now, the better he had done in the past, the more wronged he felt now.

It's not that I feel it's not worth it, but I feel aggrieved. Doing the right thing will never be worthless, but when I have paid kindness but have not received the corresponding kindness from others, I will inevitably feel aggrieved.

Lang Qianqiu's eyes were red, and he asked, "Master, what have I done wrong? What have my parents done wrong? Do you have to treat me like this?!" The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became. Under Ruo Xie's restraint, he raised his upper body with all his strength and said, "Don't you think you have to give us an explanation?!"

Xie Lian said, “I can’t give it to you.”

He answered straightforwardly, choking Lang Qianqiu back with a breath, and said: "Master, you have changed a lot. You were not like this before."

“…” Xie Lian rubbed his brow with his knuckles and said, “I remember I told you a long time ago that you should not establish a sacred and inviolable monument for me in your heart without permission. I am not what you imagined. In the end, you will be the one who is disappointed.”

Lang Qianqiu lay back on the ground, mumbling: "...I don't know which one is the real you, the you before or the you now."

Xie Lian said, “It’s all me. But you were only seventeen years old before, and now you’re this old, so the things I taught you are naturally different.”

Lang Qianqiu shut up, and suddenly asked, "Is it because your seventeenth year was a hurdle, so you want to turn mine into a hurdle as well?"

Xie Lian said nothing.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Lang Qianqiu was furious. He held his breath and yelled, "If you have this in mind, I will not do as you wish!!"

Hearing this, Xie Lian’s eyes widened slightly.

Lang Qianqiu couldn't stand up, but his eyes were bright and his voice was sonorous, as if white flames were burning in his pupils. He seemed to be angry, and also seemed to be declaring war, and said sternly: "If you want me to become full of resentment like you, I won't! If you want to force me to be like you and give up on myself, I will never. Never! - No matter how you treat me! I will never become like you!!!"

Xie Lian was almost stunned by these heroic words. After a long while, he finally burst into laughter.

Lang Qianqiu's eyes were filled with tears, and he was roaring with passion, but he was stifled by this laugh, and he was immediately stunned and angry. Xie Lian, on the other hand, laughed and clapped his hands, and the more he laughed, the more unbridled he became, and he shouted, "Good!"

He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so happily. He finally stopped laughing, rubbed his eyes, nodded, and said, "Okay. Remember what you said today. You will never become like me!"

Hua Cheng had been folding his arms, watching coldly. As soon as Xie Lian finished speaking, suddenly, a burst of red smoke exploded in front of him!

Xie Lian was startled by the sudden explosion, thinking that Lang Qianqiu had used some strange trick, so he quickly dodged and kept alert. However, although the explosion was loud, it seemed to have no killing power. When the smoke cleared, the figure where Lang Qianqiu had been lying disappeared, leaving only a tumbler standing there, swaying from side to side.

The head and body of this tumbler are round, like a big gourd, with long eyebrows and black eyes, a tiger head and a naive appearance. At this moment, it is staring with its eyes puffed up, with a broad-bladed sword on its back, looking very arrogant. It looks exactly like Lang Qianqiu, but it has become a big toy that a doll can't let go of. Xie Lian stopped smiling and said, "Qianqiu?!"

Ruo Xie no longer had anyone tied up, so she swished it back around his wrist. Hua Cheng walked over leisurely, flicked the tumbler, and sneered, "This guy looks so stupid no matter what form he takes."

Xie Lian lifted up the tumbler, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and said, “This…this…Sanlang, is this Qianqiu? How did he become like this? Stop teasing him, and change him back to normal.”

Hua Cheng said, "No. Let's take him with us."

Xie Lian asked, “Where are you going?”

At this time, the two of them had come to a narrow cave. Hua Cheng did not answer, but threw a dice, which landed in his palm. He lowered his head to take a look, and then entered the cave first.

This spell of turning a person into a tumbler was really naughty, very much in the style of Hua Cheng, but it was also very difficult to solve. Xie Lian couldn't solve it anyway, and he didn't dare to guarantee that other priests could solve it, so he had to take the Qianqiu tumbler in his hand and chase after it. Suddenly, he remembered that Fang Xin was still on the ground, so he quickly turned back to get the sword, put it on his back, and followed Hua Cheng in.

He wanted Hua Cheng to remove the spell, but Hua Cheng did not respond. After walking in the cave for a while, the narrow cave at the entrance became wider and wider, and the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty cave. There was a faint fire and singing coming from the front.

When Xie Lian was looking for the Paradise in the ghost market, he also heard a burst of singing. However, the singing of the spirit girls in the Paradise was sweet and gentle, like the whispers of a gentle land, which made people intoxicated. But this burst of singing was like a group of demons dancing wildly, chaotic and unpleasant. The two were completely different. Xie Lian couldn't help but ask, "Sanlang, what is this place?"

Hua Cheng whispered, "Shh."

Xie Lian’s voice was very soft when he asked the question, but he almost held his breath when he heard this. Soon, he realized why they were so quiet. From the opposite side of them, a few balls of green flames floated over. When these balls of flames floated closer, he could see clearly that they were a few little ghosts in green clothes.

Each of these little ghosts had a ball of light on their heads, and from head to toe they looked like a big green candle. There was nowhere to hide in this cave, and it was a narrow road. Xie Lian turned his hand to hold the heart on her back, but immediately remembered that he should use Ruo Xie, and put his hand down again.

Unexpectedly, the ghosts glanced at them and ignored them, continuing to walk forward while whispering. It was not as if they did not see them, but rather that they saw them but were not surprised. Xie Lian looked at Hua Cheng. The person standing next to him was not the handsome ghost king in red. He was clearly a pale ghost with a green flame on his head.

It turned out that Hua Cheng had replaced both of them with fake skins at some point. When Xie Lian thought that he must also have a green light on his head at this moment, he couldn't help but touch his head and said, "Why do you have to..." Why do you have to make such a strange appearance?

Although he didn't say it explicitly, Hua Cheng obviously understood what he meant and said, "Qi Rong, the Green Ghost, I've already said that his taste is low. All the little ghosts under him have to dress like this."

Unexpectedly, Hua Cheng actually brought him to the territory of Green Ghost Qi Rong.

In the past, when the heavens and ghosts mentioned the green ghost Qi Rong, they would always mock him for his low taste. Xie Lian didn’t quite understand why. Now that he knew that all the ghosts under his command had to dress like this, he finally understood a little. Just hearing the sentence “green lanterns wandering at night”, there is a bit of strange elegance. However, if it is just such a simple and crude literal meaning of “green lanterns” wandering at night, it is still a bit different from what he originally imagined. Xie Lian said, “Didn’t you destroy his cave a long time ago?”

Hua Cheng said: "Yes, he was taken down, but he escaped. After escaping, he spent fifty years to build a new nest."

Xie Lian put Lang Qianqiu's tumbler into his arms, looked around to see if there was anyone around, and whispered, "Sanlang, are you here to look for the Green Ghost? How about you remove Qianqiu's curse first, let him go first, and then I'll accompany you?"

Hua Cheng said in a tone that would not brook refusal: "No, you take him with you. I want Lang Qianqiu to meet someone."

Xie Lian felt strange. From Hua Cheng's reaction, it was clear that he didn't think highly of Lang Qianqiu. Why would he specially ask him to meet someone? He was in a dilemma and couldn't say much. After a while, the two finally walked out of the cave. After the front suddenly opened up, more caves appeared in front of them.

This mountain has caves dug out in all directions, caves connected to tunnels, and tunnels connected to caves. Monsters with green lanterns on their heads come in and out of each cave, like a huge beehive. If Xie Lian came alone, he would definitely lose track of the way after walking for a while. However, Hua Cheng was like he was at home, moving through the caves without hesitation, with extreme ease, as if he knew the route by heart.

Both of them were wearing the skin of the Green Flame Imp. Seeing that no one was blocking their way, Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief. Hua Cheng thought he was sighing and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xie Lian said, “No, I thought you would attack the mountain head-on, but I didn’t expect you to sneak in. You’re not very good at fighting, so I was relieved.”

He said, "I'm not very good at fighting," and it was from the heart. Fighting is good, but the aftermath is not. Hua Cheng seemed to smile when he heard it, and then said, "Last time I went into the mountain head-on, but Qi Rong got the news and ran away. This time I want to find him in person, so of course I can't let him know."

Xie Lian thought, "Could it be that the person Sanlang wants Qianqiu to meet is Qing Gui? Are these two related? Oh, I don't know what he wants to do. Anyway, I'll accompany him for a while and slowly ask him to remove the curse on Qianqiu." Because he still remembered that he burned down Hua Cheng's Paradise, he couldn't help feeling guilty. Just as he was thinking, he heard Hua Cheng say again, "This idiot is good at nothing, but he is very vigilant. Little ghosts can't get close to him, and his confidants are hard to disguise. If you want to get close to him, there is only one way."

At this time, four little ghosts came towards them, talking and laughing. Hua Cheng slowed down his pace, and Xie Lian followed suit. Behind these four little ghosts in green, they saw a line of living people being dragged by ropes.

This group of people included ragged people and elegantly dressed people. They all looked like young men and women under 30 years old. There was also a child, who was tightly grasping the corner of a young man's clothes. They were probably a father and son who were captured. Their hands were tied, and they walked in this devil's cave. They all looked terrified and almost fainted. Hua Cheng brushed past them, then turned around without leaving a trace and followed the end of the team. He only gently nudged Xie Lian with his elbow, and Xie Lian kept the same movement with him. Looking at Hua Cheng again, he had changed his skin in an instant. This time he was a handsome young man. He was probably a similar type.

The team made many twists and turns in the cave. The little green ghosts in front seemed very satisfied with their job, always remembering to show their authority, and they would shout at the team behind them, saying, "Behave yourself, don't cry! Crying with snot and tears on your face is a turnoff for us nobles. I will teach you what it means to live a life worse than death!"

Among the so-called four evils in the ghost world, the other three have never been heard of eating people, only the Green Ghost Qi Rong can't give up his greed. No wonder he is mocked by his colleagues and enemies at the same time as "not presentable" and "not broad-minded". Hua Cheng just said that there is only one way to get close to the Green Ghost Qi Rong without being noticed by him. It seems that it is to mix into the food. Xie Lian walked while trying to grab Hua Cheng's hand. The first time he caught it, he felt Hua Cheng stiffen and seemed to want to pull his hand away. Xie Lian was not unaware, but at this moment, he didn't have time to think too much. He held Hua Cheng's palm tightly and gently wrote a word on his palm: "Save".

Since he had seen it, then this group of people had to be rescued. This was the action Xie Lian wanted to take after he told him about it.

After writing this word, Hua Cheng gently closed his fingers and clenched his palm. A moment later, the team came out of the tunnel and entered a huge cave.

As soon as he entered the cave, a dark mass of things came into view. Xie Lian squinted his eyes, but before he could see clearly, he felt Hua Cheng grab his wrist with his backhand and write a few words on the back of his hand: "Be careful of your head. Don't touch it."

At first, Xie Lian thought that there were many pieces of rags hanging from the top of the cave, but when he looked closely, his pupils shrank suddenly - those were not rags at all? They were clearly a large group of people, densely packed together, with their feet facing upwards and their heads facing downwards, hanging in the air.

A forest of hanging corpses!

However, despite the presence of the forest of upside-down corpses, no blood rained down, because these were all mummies, and there was no blood left to shed. The mummies all looked extremely painful, with their mouths wide open, and a layer of snow-like crystals on their faces and bodies. That was salt.

In the deepest part of the cave, the lights were on, and there was a huge chair, a long table, and golden cups and jade bowls. It was so magnificent that it didn't look like a cave in the mountains, but rather like a banquet hall in a palace. A little further away from the long table, there was a huge iron pot that could accommodate dozens of people swimming and tumbling. The red boiling water was bubbling in the pot. If someone accidentally fell in, they would be scalded to death in an instant!

The four little devils drove a group of people towards the pot. Some people were so scared that they fell to their knees. Amidst the beating, scolding, and pulling, Xie Lian suddenly felt Hua Cheng's arm stiffen beside him and stopped.

He turned around and saw that although Hua Cheng still had that handsome young face, his eyes were burning with rage.

Although Hua Cheng was always smiling, Xie Lian knew very well that his emotions were always well hidden. Xie Lian had never seen such a furious look in his eyes. He followed Hua Cheng's gaze, and the next moment, his breathing seemed to freeze. He saw a person kneeling in front of the magnificent chair.

At first glance, it looks like a person, but at a closer look, it is actually a life-size stone statue. This stone statue is very strange, carved in a kneeling position, with its back to him and head downcast. At first glance, it looks like a "dog that has lost its home". It is conceivable that the only purpose of carving such a stone statue is to humiliate this person.

Xie Lian didn't even need to turn the stone statue over to know that the face of the statue must be exactly the same as his.