The child was only about seven or eight years old, and was really small and thin. After falling from such a high place, his small body trembled in his arms, like a newborn cub of some animal. However, through the gaps in the bandages on his head, a huge black eye was revealed, and a snow-white shadow was reflected in the eye, staring at him without blinking, as if he could not see anything else.

Hearing the sound of people gasping in shock from all directions, Xie Lian raised his head slightly, but his heart suddenly sank. Because, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw something golden on the ground not far ahead.

The golden mask covering his face fell off.

Xie Lian landed in the middle of Shenwu Street. The guard of honor was several feet behind him and had not yet arrived here. A sudden change occurred. The warriors' steady steps were disrupted by this sudden accident. The fairies who were scattering flowers also showed panic. The golden carriage stopped, several tall white horses raised their hooves and neighed, and a few discordant strings suddenly appeared in the sheng and flute orchestra. Some people left, some stayed, and they failed to quickly unify their steps. The situation seemed to be out of control. The crowds on both sides of the street had not reacted for a while, but the Lord of Xianle Kingdom on the high building stood up and looked at his son's figure with a concerned and solemn expression.

As soon as he stood up, how could the other princes and nobles dare to sit? They all stood up in panic. The state teacher's butt had just warmed up the stool, but now it was cold again. He was thinking quickly whether to kneel down and blame himself immediately, but Qi Rong had already jumped onto the railing, rolled up his sleeves, and shouted angrily: "What's wrong again? What's going on? Why is the team in chaos? What are these useless people doing? You eat for free and can't even pull a horse?!"

The queen looked pale, her brows knitted slightly, and she quickly asked someone to pull him down. Seeing the crowd begin to stir and a big commotion was about to break out, Xie Lian suddenly stood up.

Normally, the honorable prince would hide deep in the palace or in the royal temple for meditation, and he had almost no chance to show up in front of the people. This was the first time in history, so everyone was attracted to him and looked over. When they saw him, they couldn't help but hold their breath. The young man had long eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and was extremely handsome. He was full of glory and dazzling, making people dare not look at him closely. He held the child in one hand and held the sword in the other hand and slowly raised it, pointing it at the Huatai.

The demon was originally on the stage overlooking the situation below. Seeing this action, he paused for a moment, and suddenly stepped forward.

The crowd exclaimed. The demon's figure was like a black cloud, passing through the air and flying to the pillar where the long sword had just escaped and was nailed. He grasped the hilt of the sword and pulled it out with the crack in the stone. Then he turned over and jumped, landing in the middle of the street, in front of the warriors.

Seeing that he understood what he meant in an instant and came over to cooperate, Xie Lian praised him softly, “Good Muqing!”

Now, the Yueshen warriors and the demons were all off the stage. One black and one white, one sword and one saber, they finally faced off again, and everyone's blood boiled and they were boiling again. On the high building, the nobles' faces also relaxed, and they finally looked better.

The demon pretended to kill the child in the warrior's arms. He held the sword with both hands, swung the sword horizontally, and slashed at Xie Lian. The two pretended to fight a few times, and then flew back to the Huatai. Feng Xin took advantage of the diversion of everyone's attention, rolled across the street, grabbed the mask, and rushed into the ceremonial formation and shouted in a low voice: "Don't panic! Don't panic! Just pretend nothing happened and keep going! Finish this circle and return to the palace!"

Several people in the ceremonial guard quickly gathered their minds, returned to their respective positions, and cheered up again. On the other side, once back on the stage, Mu Qing's attack became more fierce. Xie Lian received several "clang clang" sword strikes. At this time, he heard the child in his arms scream "ah". It seemed that he was caught up in the sword light and sword energy and was very scared. Xie Lian held him tightly with his left hand and said in a deep voice: "Don't be afraid!"

Hearing this, the child grabbed the clothes on his chest. Xie Lian held the child in one hand and wielded the sword with the other, with ease. After dismantling for a while, he felt the child in his arms raise his hands again and hugged his shoulders tightly, as if holding a life-saving straw, and said, "It's okay, nothing can hurt you."

After saying that, he said in a low voice: "Mu Qing!"

The demon opposite nodded imperceptibly, and Xie Lian thrust out his sword.

So, in front of everyone's attention, the Yueshen warrior finally pierced the demon's heart with a sword and killed it on the spot!

Mu Qing, wearing a demon mask and covering his "wound", staggered back a few steps, struggled for a moment, and finally fell to the ground with a "bang", motionless.

Qi Rong laughed loudly upstairs, clapping his hands and saying, "Dead! Dead! The prince's cousin has killed the demons and monsters!"

At the same time, the mighty procession of offering sacrifices to the heaven continued to march towards the palace. It had already finished and was about to enter the palace gate. Due to the timely remedy and the exciting plot, the people did not complain about the unexpected incident, but were even more enthusiastic. Countless people shouted "Your Highness" and "God", followed the Huatai, and thousands of them rushed to the palace together. Several soldiers had to send several times more warriors and soldiers to intercept these overly excited people. However, they failed to stop them after all, and the crowd broke through the defense line and swarmed forward.

The Lord of Xianle said from the high building: "Guards! Warriors!"

At this moment, the entire guard of honor had entered the palace gate with hundreds of people. The vermilion gate slammed shut behind Huatai, and the fluttering colorful flags stopped waving. The people rushed to the door in vain, and the banging and cheering were deafening.

Inside the tightly closed palace gate, on the Huatai, there were two clangs, and the Yueshen warrior in white and the demon in black both threw down their weapons and collapsed heavily to the ground.

Xie Lian was sweating all over. He tore off the layers of gorgeous divine clothing, exhaled a long breath, and said, “That was a close call. That was a close call. I’m so tired.”

Mu Qing also took off the heavy demon mask and exhaled silently, but did not complain of being tired.

He turned around and saw Xie Lian still holding the child in his arms, frowning and saying nothing. Feng Xin, however, was chasing after Hua Tai and asked, "Your Highness, why did you bring this child in?"

The child lay on Xie Lian's chest, his small body stiff, motionless, not daring to breathe. Xie Lian sat up and said, "If you don't bring it in, are you going to leave it outside? The streets are so chaotic, such a small one will be stepped on to death in a short while if you let it go."

After saying that, he picked up the child, touched the little head twice, and asked casually: "Little boy, how old are you?"

The child didn’t blink, nor did he say a word. Xie Lian continued to ask him, coaxing him, “Why did you fall just now?”

Mu Qing said: "Your Highness, this child probably doesn't dare to speak. He must be frightened."

Xie Lian patted the child’s head twice more, and thought that the child was dull and meaningless, so he stopped patting him and commented, “He’s so silly. Feng Xin, find someone to take him out through the side door later and see if he’s injured. There’s a bandage on his face.”

Feng Xin held out his hand and said, "Okay. Hand him over."

Xie Lian picked up the child and handed him over. Unexpectedly, he failed to hand him over. Feng Xin said, "Your Highness, why don't you let go?"

Xie Lian asked in surprise, “Did I let go?” He looked down again and was amused. It turned out that it was the child’s hands that were tightly grasping the hem of his clothes and had not let go.

Several people were startled, and immediately burst into laughter. Xie Lian was practicing in Huangji Temple. Many good men and women, either to see the novelty or because of their faith, racked their brains and tried their best to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. After seeing him once, they wanted to see him again and wished they could become Taoist priests with him. I didn't expect that this little boy, at such a young age, also had this style. There were many young Taoist priests who were also practicing in Huangji Temple and guarding the Huatai. They all laughed and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, this child doesn't want to leave!"

Xie Lian laughed and said, “Really? That won’t do. I still have my own things to do. Go home, kid.”

Hearing this, the child finally loosened his grip and stopped grabbing his clothes. Feng Xin immediately grabbed him. The child was held in Feng Xin's hand, but his big, shiny black eyes were still staring straight at Xie Lian. He looked like he was possessed by a ghost. Seeing this, many Taoists started to wonder. Xie Lian didn't even look at the child anymore. He just said to Feng Xin, "Don't lift him like he was a piece of junk. You're scaring the child."

Feng Xin put the child on the ground and said, "Stop laughing. The Imperial Master is going crazy. Your Highness, you should think about what to say later."

After hearing this, everyone stopped laughing.

Half an hour later. Huangji Temple, Shenwu Peak, Shenwu Hall.

Incense clouds lingered, and the sound of chanting sutras was heard. The Imperial Master and the three deputy Imperial Masters sat on one side of the hall, their faces full of worry. Mu Qing was in front of them. Xie Lian was also kneeling. However, there was no one in the direction where he was kneeling, only the golden statue of the Great Emperor Shenwu. Feng Xin followed the master and knelt behind him.

The Imperial Master picked up the carefully carved golden mask and after a while, he sighed and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness."

Even though he was kneeling, Xie Lian knelt straight, raised his head and said, “Here.”

The state teacher was filled with grief and said, "Do you know that in the history of Xianle Country, there have been so many Shangyuan Festivals, but there has never been a time when the ceremonial platform only went around the city three times. Three times!"

Every ritual and every arrangement of the Lantern Festival has its own meaning. When the Huatai goes around the city once, it symbolizes praying for peace and prosperity for the country for a year. Therefore, the number of times the last Lantern Festival parade was completed means that there will be no need to hold such a grand event again for that many years. Not only is it a good omen, but it also saves money. Three rounds means that it can only be guaranteed for three years? ? ?

What’s more, the worst thing is that the golden mask on the face of the Yueshen warrior fell off during the ceremony.

Since ancient times, the Xianle people have believed that the human body's spiritual energy is concentrated in the five senses, and the head and face are where a person's soul resides. They must offer the best to God. Therefore, during the ceremony, warriors must wear a golden mask to cover their faces, because his face can only be appreciated by the gods and immortals in heaven, and mortals are not qualified to see it.

The state master was very disappointed and said, "In the past, all the Yueshen warriors could at least complete five laps, and at most fifteen or sixteen laps. How about you? You can complete fifty laps even with your eyes closed! A hundred laps! But you strangled yourself to death on the third lap - why didn't you strangle me, your master, to death first??? Now, Your Highness, you will go down in history, and I will go down in history with you!"

No one in the hall dared to speak. Xie Lian, however, looked calm and composed, and said calmly, "Master, look at it this way. If the child had fallen to his death and no one had caught him, and his blood had splattered on the spot during the heavenly sacrifice parade, wouldn't that be a bad sign? Wouldn't the ceremony be interrupted anyway? Now, at least it ended in a decent way, which is the best outcome. This can only be called an accident."

The Imperial Master was speechless for a moment, then continued, "You kid! There are so many royal warriors here, any one of them can catch it. Even if you fail to catch it correctly, you may break your arms and legs, but you won't die. Just walk a few more steps forward and hit it more beautifully, and soon no one will care about what just fell."

Xie Lian raised an eyebrow and said, “Master, you know. In that situation, besides me, there is no other person who can react quickly, and there is no other person who can catch him without any injuries. If you don’t catch him, one will die. If you catch him, two will die.”

His tone was matter-of-fact and very confident. The national masters also knew that he was telling the truth, so they could not refute him. Seeing him kneeling in front of the statue, they were completely unconcerned, curious, amused, and proud. This beloved disciple, Jin Guier, could not be angry with him anyway, so he could only pull a few handfuls of hair to cover up the sadness in his heart with the severe pain of his scalp. After a pause, the national master said again: "There's more!"

Xie Lian bowed his head slightly and said, “Disciple is listening.”

The Imperial Master said, "You did a good job today. But no matter how good you are, you can't suddenly change without informing us in advance. Your Majesty and the Empress were scared by you today. Do you know what will happen if you miss the time?"

Xie Lian raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, “Master, didn’t I ask you about this before today?”

The Imperial Master was also startled, and asked, "You asked me? Before today? When?"

Hearing this, Xie Lian frowned, looked to the side, and said, “Mu Qing?”