I don’t know why, but all of a sudden, Xie Lian seemed to have a burst of courage again.

After Lang Qianqiu left, his steps were a little slow and his back was a little bent. He didn't know where the courage came from or where it was going, but he stood up straight unconsciously. He stood still, and Shi Qingxuan came up, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "This man is quite nice. Your Highness, I don't know how you made friends with him, but you are really lucky."

This was the first time Xie Lian heard someone say to him, "You are so lucky." He glanced at Shi Qingxuan, smiled slightly, and said, "Really? Probably. I think so too."

Behind them, Feng Xin continued to wipe his face silently. When the two turned around, they saw his face covered with white hair. It was hard for him to hold back his laughter. Xie Lian said, "I'm sorry."

This was an apology on behalf of Hua Cheng. Feng Xin finally pulled all the white hair off and said, "My skills are inferior to others. There is nothing to say."

The three searched the nest again, making sure that there were no more trapped living people and no fish that had escaped the net. Then they rode a gust of wind and returned to Xianjing again.

After passing the Ascension Gate, they saw many lower-level priests from the Middle Heaven blocking the street, coming and going, as if facing a great enemy, and checking every palace on both sides of the street. When they arrived at the Shenwu Hall, the hall was already full of priests from the Upper Heaven, and they could hear the sound of arguments from afar. The first sentence they heard was: "Hua Cheng actually turned the tables and said that we, the Upper Heaven, had planted spies in the Ghost Market. This is really ridiculous. Do we in the Heaven Realm need to plant spies under him?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan both coughed lightly. The story of planting spies in the ghost market was probably true. If they couldn't figure out the matter and were so impatient to make a fuss, what if it was true? Wouldn't that be like shooting themselves in the foot?

The three of them entered the hall, with Shi Qingxuan walking in front. When everyone saw him, they greeted him, "Master Feng is back?" "Thank you for your hard work!" But their eyes were fixed on Xie Lian. Before they could ask more, they saw Feng Xin, who looked like he had just crawled out of a pool of blood, walking in with a sullen face. Everyone froze instantly and looked away. After all, no one wanted to hear the curse that resounded through the sky in the quiet hall. Only Mu Qing did not avoid him, but deliberately looked over here, his intentions were obvious.

Xie Lian looked up and saw Jun Wu sitting at the top, with one hand supporting his forehead, pressing his temple, eyes closed, looking a little tired. Xie Lian could understand.

In the past, it might take one or two months to hold a meeting, but recently, there have been frequent incidents. In a short period of time, the Shenwu Hall was packed several times, as if there were things happening every day. They wished they could hold meetings twice a day. If it were Xie Lian, he would also be tired. Moreover, there were many people who wanted to express their opinions, and they all talked at once. A priest said, "He came and went as he pleased, and connected the Xianle Palace to other places. This is really terrible. Now he can easily capture the Crown Prince who offended him, and tomorrow he may be able to capture other priests in other halls. This matter must not be tolerated, it must be stopped in time!"

If it were the human world, it would be like a rebel digging a tunnel in the palace, coming and going freely, which would certainly make people feel uneasy. No wonder the group of priests from the Central Heavenly Court had to impose martial law and investigate everywhere. Mu Qing's focus was not on this, and he said lightly: "There are so many believers in Huacheng, and he owns a ghost market. If a mere Ji Le Fang is burned, it will be burned. What does it matter to him? It is not necessarily because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince offended him that he broke into Xianjing."

Shi Qingxuan immediately said, "General Xuanzhen, what you said is wrong. We all heard Huacheng admit it himself. So, which general is it to guard the palace this month? The gate of Xianle Palace was cast into another place by a spell, and no one noticed it. Is this considered dereliction of duty?"

Pei Ming was standing aside with his arms folded, calm and silent. Upon hearing this, he said, "I."

Shi Qingxuan accidentally remembered it wrong. He originally thought it was Mu Qing, but ended up hitting Pei Ming, which was embarrassing. Pei Ming did not shirk responsibility and said, "I was on duty this month. It is indeed my fault."

The priest who was on good terms with him immediately came to the rescue and said, "In my opinion, we should deal with things one by one and first clarify the matter of the bloodbath at the Gilded Banquet!"

At this time, Ling Wen, who was standing in front of the palace, suddenly said, "There is news about His Highness Taihua."

Jun Wu finally opened his eyes and said, "What did he say?"

Ling Wen waited for a moment and said, "He said that there was something else going on with the Yong'an Kingdom Gilded Banquet, and he would go to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to resolve it himself, without anyone else intervening. But please don't let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince succeed in degrading himself, these are two different things."

Mu Qing frowned and asked, "What's the inside story?"

Lingwen said: "No more information was given. There is no more news."

Unexpectedly, when the battle was about to break out, the hammer fell down heavily, but landed lightly. The priests were a little disappointed. Lang Qianqiu was the victim. If the victim did not seek the murderer to collect the debt, what would the others have to watch? Moreover, if Lang Qianqiu did not say anything, Xie Lian would not say anything either. There was really no point in this matter.

Next, Jun Wu called Feng Xin and Mu Qing to help Pei Ming strengthen the guard, and arranged some other things, then waved his hand and asked everyone to disperse. Xie Lian stayed behind and faintly heard someone talking: "Sure enough, every time he made a fuss, the Emperor said he would try him, but in the end, nothing happened..."

"You didn't recognize Mount Tai, it turned out to be a big Buddha. Be careful with your words next time."

…

When everyone had left, Xie Lian walked to the front of the hall, bowed and said, “I’m sorry to trouble you.”

Jun Wu said: "This is not a big deal. It would be troublesome if you kept insisting that it was you who slaughtered the Gilded Banquet, which would be a big deal."

After hesitating for a moment, Xie Lian finally confessed the whole story.

After listening to it, Jun Wu commented: "Xianle, what you have done is really a thankless task. You are not popular with anyone."

Xie Lian bowed his head and said, “I know.”

Jun Wu said: "Forget it. You are always like this. Taihua's attention is now diverted to chase Qinggui. When he catches up, he will definitely come to find you. How to deal with it, have you thought about it?"

Xie Lian said, “I haven’t thought about it yet. But for now, I’d better think of something else.”

Jun Wu smiled and said, "What are you thinking about? Is there anything interesting that can make me happy too."

Xie Lian asked, “Did you send the geomancer to go undercover in the ghost market?”

Jun Wu said calmly, "Yes."

Xie Lian asked, “Why is that?”

Jun Wu said slowly: "Because it was Huacheng who first planted his spies in the heaven."

Xie Lian was startled. Jun Wu stood up and said, "For many years, news from Huacheng spread too quickly. Moreover, he also knew things that he shouldn't know. He had a very accurate grasp of what can be done and what can't be done, where the bottom line is, and how to skirt the line. And this time, he opened a channel directly to your Xianle Palace, which is equivalent to indirectly proving that he did have an insider in the Upper Heaven. Otherwise, it would be impossible to do this."

In fact, Xie Lian had also somewhat realized this. After all, Hua Cheng really knew too much, so Jun Wu's words were not too unbelievable. He asked, "Do you have any evidence?"

Jun Wu shook his head slowly and said, "It was because I had no evidence and there were so many strange things happening that I let Ming Yi sneak into the ghost world. I didn't expect that the ghost in the heavenly court hadn't been found yet, and Ming Yi fell into his hands. Although she didn't die in his hands and was rescued by you, it's even more difficult to find his spies now."

Xie Lian asked, “Is the problem in the Upper Heaven Court or the Middle Heaven Court?”

Jun Wu said: "It's hard to say. It could be anyone except you. Maybe, there is only one, maybe, there are more."

No wonder Jun Wu didn’t send anyone else to the ghost market to find out Ming Yi’s whereabouts. If anyone except him could be the one, Xie Lian couldn’t help but wonder, “Could it be that Feng Shi, Qian Qiu, Feng Xin and the others could all be the ones as well?”

At this time, Jun Wu said: "Xianle, I know you must have a good impression of Huacheng now. You have your own sense of propriety. When making friends, others should not say too much. But when necessary, you should be careful with Huacheng and don't reveal everything to him."

Hearing this, Xie Lian collected his thoughts. Jun Wu said, “Those who can achieve the ultimate have all experienced pain that ordinary people cannot imagine. Either they soar into the sky, or they are doomed to eternal damnation. The two ultimate ghost kings that came out of Tonglu Mountain, Heishui and Huacheng, are far more terrifying than you think.”

Xie Lian lowered his head, neither refutating nor agreeing. Jun Wu said, "I don't know what his purpose and intentions are, but he knows everything about the purpose and intentions of the Heavenly Court. This is very disadvantageous."

Hearing him say “this is very disadvantageous”, Xie Lian looked up and blurted out, “San Lang…” Seeing Jun Wu’s interaction, he paused and changed his words, “Hua Cheng, he shouldn’t do anything too extreme. After all, think about it, with his strength, if he wanted to cause trouble, wouldn’t he have turned the world upside down long ago? Since he didn’t do it before, then as long as nothing serious happens, he probably won’t do it in the future.”

Jun Wu said: "I hope so, but you know I can't take the risk."

After leaving the Shenwu Temple, Xie Lian walked slowly on the streets of Xianjing.

When passing by the Xianle Palace, he stopped and looked around for a while.

This was the palace that Jun Wu had approved for him. It was gorgeous, brand new, and at the same time, unfamiliar. The red door had rows of shiny nails, but it was already sealed with two seals filled with spells, forming a huge cross that was shocking to look at.

Before leaving the Shenwu Palace, Shi Qingxuan said to him, "Because this gate is connected to another place by a spell, your palace is temporarily sealed. You can come to my palace to rest." However, Xie Lian stared at this "Xianle Palace" for a while, and suddenly turned around. He did not go to the Wind Master Palace, and did not care about what he was going to do. Instead, he went straight, went out of the Ascension Gate, and jumped down.

After passing through the vast sea of ​​clouds, he landed at Taicang Mountain.

On this Taicang Mountain, there once stood the royal Taoist temple of the ancient Xianle Kingdom - Huangji Temple.

Huangji Temple is a huge Taoist temple complex, which is spread all over the Taicang Mountain. It enshrines several gods and immortals. The main god is the Emperor Shenwu, and the Golden Temple is on the highest peak. The Prince's Temple, located on the second highest peak, was also once prosperous.

Eight hundred years ago, the entire Taicang Mountain was covered with flaming maple forests, making it a famous scenic spot. The maple forest path was crowded with believers. Later, when the Xianle Kingdom was destroyed, many former believers rushed up the mountain in groups to burn down the Prince's Palace, but they started a mountain fire that burned most of the entire Taicang Mountain, turning it into a scorched earth.

The scorched land, like the land where the dead were buried, seemed more fertile. Later, seeds fell on the scorched land and new trees grew. Hundreds of years later, the mountains and plains were lush and green again, but there were no more red leaves. It was a completely different scenery from eight hundred years ago.

In the past, there was a wide and flat bluestone path leading up the mountain. From time to time, one could see pilgrims coming to worship the mountain, or young Taoist priests carrying water and firewood. Now, the path has long disappeared. The fallen rocks, dead grass and branches have buried it deep underground. Xie Lian climbed up the mountain relying on his own legs. When he encountered thorns blocking the way, he took out the Fangxin sword on his back and cut through the dead vines and weeds.

When he reached the middle of the mountain, Xie Lian felt a little tired and leaned against a dead tree, wanting to rest for a while. Suddenly, a dark object fell from the tree, making a strange "crackling" sound, and came towards him.