Xie Lian raised his head abruptly and said, “No.”

He repeated in a decisive tone: "Absolutely not."

The Imperial Master nodded and said, "I had expected you to answer like this. Therefore, we will focus on the second method."

Xie Lian said solemnly, “Please speak.”

The Imperial Master said, "The second method is for Your Highness the Crown Prince to confess your sins before the people of Xianle and ask for forgiveness from the gods, and then face the wall for a month."

Xie Lian said calmly, “No.”

The Imperial Master was startled, and said, "I don't really want you to face the wall and reflect on your mistakes. Just show your intention... cough." He suddenly remembered that they were still in front of the statue of the Great Emperor Shenwu, and quickly changed his words, saying, "As long as you have enough sincerity, it will be fine."

Xie Lian still said, “No.”

The Imperial Master asked, "Reason?"

Xie Lian said, “Master, when I came down the mountain today, do you know what I saw? The people in the imperial city did not blame the accident at the Heaven Sacrifice Parade, but were very pleased. This shows that our people all think that it was the right decision to save that child.

"And if, as you said, a right thing is to be punished as a mistake, what will they think? Isn't this telling everyone that saving a life is not only not worth building a seven-story pagoda, but also means you have to bear the consequences? So from now on, how should they think and act?"

The Imperial Master said, "It doesn't really matter whether this is right or wrong. Now you have to choose one of the two paths. There is no such thing as having the best of both worlds. Either the child takes the responsibility, or you take it."

Xie Lian said, “Whether it’s right or not is very important. If I have to choose, I’ll choose the third way.”

The Imperial Master rubbed his brows and said, "Well... Your Highness, forgive me for being blunt, but why do you care what they think? They may think one thing today, and another thing tomorrow. You don't need to be obsessed with such small details. Believe me, people will continue to do what they should do after this incident. They will not be moved by you, nor will they take you as an example. It is more important for us to serve the higher-ups carefully."

After a moment of silence, Xie Lian said, “Master, since I became your disciple and entered the Imperial Temple, the more I’ve practiced, the more I’ve thought about it. I’ve always had an idea that I didn’t dare to express clearly.”

The national teacher asked: "What's your idea?"

Xie Lian asked, “Is it really right for us to worship the gods like this?”

The Imperial Master was speechless for a moment, then said, "If they don't worship the gods, are we going to starve? Your Highness, do you think that the thousands of believers who have believed in the priests for thousands of years are wrong?"

Xie Lian shook his head, thought for a moment, and said, “Of course it’s right to believe in it. But, I think you shouldn’t kneel down and worship it.”

He raised his head and pointed at the magnificent, tall and shining statue of the Godly Emperor, and said, "People ascend to heaven and become gods. Gods are ancestors, mentors, and beacons to people, but not masters. For this, we should be grateful and admire them, but not worship them. Just like the Lantern Festival, I think the right attitude should be gratitude and sharing the joy, rather than fear, flattery, trembling with fear, or even putting ourselves in the position of slaves."

The Imperial Master stood still without saying a word, but the three Deputy Imperial Masters could no longer sit still and turned around one after another.

Xie Lian continued, "There is nothing we can do about accidents. I am willing to light a thousand lamps to illuminate the night, and I am not afraid even if I am a moth flying into a flame. But I am unwilling to bow my head just because I have done the right thing. Face the wall and reflect on my mistakes? What have I done wrong? What have others done wrong? This is like Qi Rong doing evil, but Feng Xin, who punished the evildoer, has to be punished. What is the logic of this? If the heavens have eyes, they will definitely not punish you for this."

The Imperial Master looked away and said, "Then Your Highness, let me ask you, what if you are really punished? At that time, will you apologize or not?"

Xie Lian said, “If that’s true, then the heavens are wrong and I’m right. I will fight the heavens to the end.”

Hearing this, the Imperial Master's expression changed slightly, and he said with a smile: "Your Highness, you are quite courageous to say this."

The three deputy state masters all looked at him, wanting to say something but stopping themselves. At this moment, there was a sudden alarm outside the palace, as if many bells were ringing at the same time. Now, the four state masters could no longer sit still, and they rushed out at the same time and ran to the back of the palace.

Xie Lian followed closely behind them, following them through several buildings behind the Shenwu Palace, and arrived in front of a dark octagonal palace. The door of the black palace was wide open, and countless gray smoke flew out of the door.

The Imperial Master screamed, "Where's Zhu An?! Where did he go?! What's going on?!"

Several Taoists came running over, with Senior Brother Zhu at the head. He said, "National Master!!! I'm here! I don't know what happened. The door was locked, but it suddenly opened just now!"

The Imperial Master pulled his hair and said, "Quickly get a new soul-sealing jar!"

Xie Lian rushed forward. This black palace was covered with sandalwood grids of varying sizes and in an orderly manner on all sides. On the grids were placed various pottery jars, porcelain bottles, and jade boxes. Originally, each container was well placed, with red stoppers tightly plugged in and yellow talismans with red characters on the mouths of the bottles. However, many of them were smashed to pieces and kept falling off the shelves automatically. Those that had not fallen were also shaking.

Each of these soul-sealing containers contains a demon or ghost that has caused chaos. There is a black palace like this behind every temple on Mount Taicang. The revolving door uses the pure and holy air to suppress them. I don't know what happened, but there was a sudden riot and they all ran out!

Xie Lian said, “It’s too late!”

He kicked the door shut after he finished speaking. The iron lock on the door was broken by the vengeful spirits that broke through the door. He drew out his sword, wrote a few words on the tip of the sword in the air, and then casually stabbed it into the ground. He brought more than 200 swords with him to the mountain, and he changed one almost every day. Each sword was a famous sword that was unparalleled in the world. The sword was stabbed diagonally into the ground, and the door could no longer be opened. All that could be heard was the angry sounds of a group of vengeful spirits crashing around in the black hall.

When they left the Black Palace, they looked up and saw black clouds rising from the Black Palaces behind different temples on the mountain peaks. The vengeful spirits rushed to the sky and gathered in a certain direction with thick smoke. Zhu An asked, "Where is that? Why are they all flying there?"

The Imperial Master scolded, "You are confused, that is the Palace of Fairy Music!"

The group of people were like walking on the wind, and in a flash they arrived at Xianle Peak. On Taicang Mountain, black smoke floated out from behind countless temples on countless peaks, rolling over there, forming a huge vortex-shaped cloud formation above Xianle Palace. The national teacher said: "What's wrong with your Xianle Palace?! All the demons and monsters sealed in the black palace have been attracted there. What did you put in there?!"

Xie Lian was also stunned and said, “Nothing! Only…”

Only what? Xie Lian suddenly remembered: that child!

At this time, Senior Brother Zhu said, "Oh no, Imperial Master! There's a fire over there, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Sure enough, a corner of the Fairy Palace was already on fire, and the flames shot up into the sky, making the dark clouds above faintly red. However, at the foot of Mount Taicang, some people in the imperial city who were still awake saw this scene and had no idea that something was wrong. They excitedly pulled people to watch the scene: "Wow! The gods on the fairy mountain are performing a ritual. It's really beautiful!"

In a blink of an eye, the group had arrived at Xianle Palace. Xie Lian did not leave too many servants here. Dozens of Taoists who came from other places were struggling to get well water to put out the fire. Xie Lian did not see the two servants and rushed in directly. The vengeful spirits from all the black palaces on the entire Taicang Mountain gathered here. Xianle Palace was almost pitch black, and you could not see your hand in front of you. Xie Lian vaguely saw two figures in the center of the hall and shouted, "Feng Xin! Mu Qing!"

The two of them were guarding a protective formation to prevent the evil spirits from invading, and they were struggling to hold on. As expected, Feng Xin's voice rang out: "Your Highness, don't come in! This kid is weird, those things are coming for him!"

Xie Lian then noticed that behind the two figures, there was a small black figure who seemed to be kneeling on the ground with his head in his hands, saying, “It’s not me!!!”

After observing for a moment, Xie Lian said, “Don’t hold on any longer, just let go!”

Mu Qing said, “You can’t let them go! If you let them go, these things will go crazy. When I find the most…” Xie Lian shouted, “Don’t be afraid. Let them go! Now!”

Mu Qing gritted his teeth and withdrew his hands at the same time as Feng Xin. As expected, the vengeful spirits lost their power to restrain them and all started screaming, about to go crazy!

However, the next moment, Xie Lian stretched out his hand and pinched a wisp of black smoke with lightning speed.

He really didn't even look at it, he just pinched a wisp of black smoke with his bare hands and held it firmly in his palm. After he caught this vengeful spirit, all the vengeful spirits that were roaming wildly in the entire Xianle Palace slowed down.

Outside the Xianle Palace, everyone nodded secretly.

When many evil spirits are still in a chaotic state and are wandering around in the same place, they will instinctively follow the strongest one among them.

As long as he caught that one, the others would lose their direction without a leader. At this moment, Xie Lian saw at a glance which one was the strongest, and grabbed it, not giving it any chance. With a little force, the vengeful spirit was reduced to ashes in his palm.

Then, the four imperial masters raised their sleeves and shouted, "Come back!"

The group of vengeful spirits who had lost their leader wandered around the Xianle Palace like headless flies for a while, and finally had no choice but to accept their fate and reluctantly returned to the sleeves of several imperial masters. Dozens of Taoists put out the remaining flames, and the thick black smoke in the palace gradually dissipated. Only then did Xie Lian see the appearance of the three people clearly.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing half-knelt on the ground, still in shock. Behind them, the child was still holding his head, not saying a word. Several state masters walked in and asked as soon as they saw him, "Where did this child come from? Feng Xin just said that all the evil spirits were coming for him? What's going on?"

Xie Lian said, “This is the child who fell from the city wall during the Lantern Festival.”

The imperial masters were shocked. The imperial master asked, "Why did you bring him up here?"

Xie Lian shook his head, not bothering to explain, and asked Feng Xin, “What did he do to attract all the evil spirits in the Black Palace?”

Feng Xin, still with one arm hanging, stood up and said, "I don't know what he did! But as soon as he went up the mountain and entered the Fairy Palace, suddenly a bunch of black things flew over from other hills, all rushed into the palace, surrounded him, and gathered more and more, and he couldn't get out."

Xie Lian looked at the burnt Xianle Palace, with pillars and walls everywhere, and asked, “What’s the matter with this fire?”

Mu Qing's face was covered in black ash. He said, "We couldn't get out, so we had to draw a formation to guard it. These evil spirits ignited the candlelight and burned the veil, trying to force us to move out of the formation."

Feng Xin said, "Fortunately, Your Highness arrived quickly and caught their vital points. Otherwise, if the fire continued for a while, the formation and the people would be burned to ashes."

Hearing this, Mu Qing closed his eyes and lowered his head slightly. Over there, several imperial masters had already surrounded the child, examining him carefully.

Xie Lian asked, “Master, is there anything wrong with this child?”

If there was anything wrong, such as being leaned over by a demon, Xie Lian should be able to see it at a glance. After practicing in Huangji Temple for several years, he had trained his eyesight, and few things could be hidden from him. However, he did not see any problem with the child. The national teacher shook his head, probably he could not see it, and asked the child: "What is your birth date?"

Hong Hong Er seemed to be very wary of everyone, full of hostility, and just stared at him without saying anything. Xie Lian said gently, "Just tell me, the Imperial Master wants to read your fate, and it's for your own good."

As soon as he spoke, Hong Honger whispered her birth date. The Imperial Master frowned and began to count with his fingers. Several people looked at him for a while, and discussed in a low voice for a while, their expressions became more and more solemn. Xie Lian also became more and more solemn.

Although the Imperial Master was a slick young man who looked to be in his early thirties, Xie Lian knew best how capable his master was to be able to sit in the Imperial Temple. Mei Nianqing, the chief Imperial Master of Xianle, was famous for his ability to calculate. Xie Lian learned swordsmanship from several Imperial Masters, but he never learned fortune-telling from the chief Imperial Master, because the Imperial Master said that this was a martial art, and he didn't need to learn it as he was the daughter of a prince. In addition, he himself was not interested, so he never tried it. But as long as the Imperial Master took action, it would be no problem.

After a long while of counting, the State Master's forehead was covered with more and more cold sweat, and he murmured, "No wonder... No wonder... No wonder the Heaven Sacrifice Tour was ruined by him, the evil spirits in the Black Palace got excited as soon as they smelled him, and the Fairy Music Palace was also burned. This... This... This is really..."

Xie Lian asked, “How is it true?”

The Imperial Master wiped his sweat off his forehead, suddenly stepped back eight feet, and said, "Your Highness, you really picked up something incredible on the mountain! This kid is extremely poisonous, he is destined to be extinct, the kind that evil things love the most. Whoever touches him will suffer, and whoever kisses him will die!"

Before he finished his words, there was a loud scream, Hong Hong'er jumped up and rushed towards the national teacher.

Although his voice was childish, his shouting was full of anger, as if he was filled with endless pain and despair, and the hearts of the people present trembled. The child was clearly covered in wounds, but he tore and beat like a mad dog with red eyes, and was really ferocious. Several deputy state masters stopped Hong Honger, and the state master retreated repeatedly, saying as he retreated: "Let him go down the mountain, let him go down the mountain! Don't touch him, I'm serious, this life is too poisonous, don't touch it!"

Several deputy state masters quickly followed him to dodge, and Mu Qing and Feng Xin didn't know whether they should move or not. Seeing that others avoided him like snakes and scorpions, the child was startled and immediately fought more fiercely, biting and shouting at the top of his lungs: "I am not! I am not!! I am not!!!!"

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed his waist and circled his body. A voice above his head said, "You are not. I know you are not. Okay, stop crying. I know you are not."

The child pursed his lips tightly and clutched the snow-white sleeves of the hands around his waist. He tried to endure it for a long time, but finally couldn't hold it back. Tears suddenly rolled down his round black eye and he burst into tears.

Xie Lian hugged him from behind and said firmly, “It’s not your problem. It’s not your fault.”