Hong Hong Er suddenly turned around, threw her face into Xie Lian’s arms, and screamed wildly.

This cry was wordless and meaningless, not even a cry, but it was horrifying. If you didn't look at who was making it, it could be seen as the roar of an adult on the verge of collapse, or the dying struggle of a small animal with its throat cut open, as if the only way to be relieved was to die immediately. Anyone could make such a sound, but it shouldn't be made by a ten-year-old child. Therefore, he shocked everyone.

After a while, the Imperial Master said, "I'm serious, it's better to let it go."

Feng Xin finally came to his senses and said, "Your Highness! Let me go, be careful..." However, in the end, he still couldn't bear to say anything more. Xie Lian said, "It's okay."

Senior Brother Zhu, however, was very concerned about the safety of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Seeing Hong Hong'er rubbing her blood, tears and snot all over Xie Lian's white Taoist robe, he went to pull the child away, saying, "Little friend, you can't do that!"

Unexpectedly, the more he pulled, the child screamed and refused to let go, using his hands and feet to hold him tighter and tighter. Three or four Taoists came up and tried their best to pull him off, but they made him hang on Xie Lian like a little monkey. Xie Lian was amused and pitiful at the same time. He held Hong Hong'er with one hand and stroked his thin back to comfort him, while raising his other hand and said, "Forget it. Don't worry, just let him be like this."

After a pause, feeling that the child in his arms had stopped twitching and gradually calmed down, Xie Lian whispered to the people around him, "There was a fire in Xianle Palace, no one else was hurt, right?"

Mu Qing said: "No. We are the only ones left in the house."

Since Xianle Palace had been burned down to a pile of charred ruins, Xie Lian naturally could not stay there any longer.

After confirming that only the house was burned and no one was hurt, the Taoists who had caught up with the peak began to clean up the scene. When they found the golden residue and blackened gems, they were all heartbroken, but Xie Lian didn't care much.

Apart from the more delicate items he used in daily life, he did not keep any valuables in the Xianle Palace. The most valuable items were the more than 200 famous swords he collected. However, real gold is not afraid of fire. These famous swords were all forged in the fierce fire and were safe and sound. After personally digging them out, Xie Lian temporarily stored them in the Four Symbols Palace of the Imperial Masters.

As for Hong Hong Er, he hugged Xie Lian tightly and cried for a while, then fell asleep when he was tired of crying. Xie Lian wanted to take him down the Taicang Mountain and find a place to settle him, but the Imperial Master asked him to go to the Four Symbols Palace first, so Xie Lian took him there first.

After placing the child on the couch in the room, Xie Lian tucked in the quilt for him, lowered the curtain, and left with Feng Xin and Mu Qing, saying, “Master, is this child’s fate really that terrible?”

The Imperial Master curled his lips and said, "Why don't you calculate for yourself what happened after he appeared?"

The three of them were silent. As soon as the child came out, he fell off the city wall in the spotlight, forcing the three-circle parade of the Lantern Festival to be interrupted. Then, Qi Rong came out to vent his anger on him and dragged his horse on the ground, disturbing the people on the street, causing Feng Xin to break his arm, Xie Lian to have a conflict with the king, and the queen to cry. Now, the resentful spirits suppressed by the Black Palace on the entire Taicang Mountain have broken their seals and burned down the Xianle Palace. It is true that bad luck follows one after another.

Xie Lian asked, “Is there any way to solve this problem?”

The Imperial Master asked, "Solve? What do you mean? Change your fate?"

Xie Lian nodded. The Imperial Master said, “Your Highness, you don’t study mathematics with me, so you really don’t understand anything about this. If you understood, you wouldn’t be asking this question.”

Xie Lian was stunned for a moment, then he sat up straight and said, “I’d like to hear the details.”

The Imperial Master took the teapot from the table, poured a cup of tea, and said, "Your Highness, do you remember when you were six years old, His Majesty and the Queen summoned me to the palace to divine for you. Do you remember a question I asked you?"

Looking at the cup of steaming tea, Xie Lian thought for a moment and said, “Are you saying, a cup of water for two people?”

In the past, in order to predict the fortune of the crown prince Xie Lian, the national teacher asked him many questions. Some of them had answers, and some had no answers. Every time Xie Lian answered a question, the national teacher would praise him in various ways, which made the king and the queen smile. Many of the questions and answers became legends. But there was one question that the national teacher did not comment on after Xie Lian answered it. The outside world was not familiar with it, even Feng Xin was not very clear about it, and Mu Qing had never heard of it. This question is "two people in one cup of water".

The Imperial Master said, "Two people were walking in the desert, dying of thirst, and only had a cup of water. Those who drank would live, and those who did not would die. If you were a god, to whom would you give the cup of water? - Don't speak first, I'll ask others and see what they say."

The next sentence he said was to the two people standing not far away. Mu Qing pondered for a moment and answered cautiously: "Can you please tell me who these two people are, what their personalities are like, and what their merits and demerits are? We must know their ins and outs before we can make a decision."

Feng Xin said, "I don't know! Don't ask me, let them decide for themselves."

Xie Lian chuckled. The Imperial Master asked, “What are you laughing at? Do you remember how you answered?”

Xie Lian suppressed his smile and said seriously, “Give me another cup.”

Hearing this, Feng Xin and Mu Qing turned their heads away, one lowered their heads, and seemed unable to bear to listen. Xie Lian turned back and said seriously, "What are you laughing at? I'm serious. If I were a god, I would definitely give you another cup."

The Imperial Master waved his hand gently over the cup of tea, and the tea slowly flowed in the cup, as if it had life. He continued, "The luck in this world, good or bad, has a fixed number. Just like this cup of water, there is always so much. If you drink enough, others will have nothing to drink. If one person has more, the other will have less. From ancient times to the present, all disputes are ultimately because there are multiple people. There is only one cup of water, so it makes sense to give it to anyone. Want to change fate? Although it is difficult, it is not impossible. But if you change the fate of this child, the fate of others will also be changed, and the grievances will increase. When you said you wanted to give another cup of water, it was just like you said today that you wanted to choose the third way. It was intended to open up the source, and it was a beautiful idea, but I tell you, it is basically impossible to do it."

Xie Lian listened silently, not agreeing, but he did not argue too much, saying, “Thank you for your teachings, Imperial Master.”

The Imperial Master drank the tea, smacked his lips, and said, "That's not necessary. You won't listen to my teachings anyway."

“…” Xie Lian, who was seen through, coughed lightly and said, “National Master, today in front of the Shenwu Palace, I was moved for a moment and my words were offensive. I hope that the National Master will forgive me.”

The Imperial Master put his hands up in his sleeves, smiled slightly, and said, "You are my favorite disciple, and you are also His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. How can I not be tolerant? Your Highness, I can say that you are the most blessed person I have ever met."

Not understanding what he meant, Xie Lian listened attentively. The Imperial Master continued, "You have talent, ambition, and are willing to work hard. You are born in a noble family and have a kind nature. No one is more worthy of the title of a child of destiny than you. But I still worry about you. I'm afraid you won't make it through that test."

Xie Lian asked, “What do you mean by worried?”

The Imperial Master said, "Although you have reached such a high level, there are still some things you still don't understand, and no one can teach you. For example, today in the Shenwu Hall, you talked about not worshipping gods and so on. Although few people think of this principle, you have thought about it at such a young age, which is good. But don't think that you are the only one who has thought of it since ancient times."

Xie Lian opened his eyes slightly. The Imperial Master said, “What you said today was thought of by someone decades or even hundreds of years ago. However, it did not become popular and the voice was small, so few people heard it. Why is that? Have you ever thought about it?”

After a moment of hesitation, Xie Lian said, “Because those people thought of it, but they didn’t do it, and they weren’t firm enough.”

The Imperial Master asked, "What about you? Why do you think you are firm enough?"

Xie Lian asked, “Master, do you think I can ascend to heaven?”

The Imperial Master looked at him and said, "If you can't fly, no one can fly. It's just a matter of time."

Xie Lian smiled slightly and said, “Then please watch.”

He pointed to the sky and said, "If one day I ascend to heaven, I will make sure that everything I said today will become a trend!"

Feng Xin and Mu Qing stood behind him, listening to everything he said. They both raised their heads unconsciously. Feng Xin's mouth curled up slightly, while the brightness in Mu Qing's eyes was exactly the same as Xie Lian's. The Imperial Master nodded and said, "Okay, I'll watch - but I don't think it's a good thing for you to ascend too early. Let me ask you, what is the Tao?"

Xie Lian bowed his head and said, “What you said is that when people walk on the road, that is the way.”

The national teacher said: "Yes. But you haven't walked enough. So, I think it's time for you to go down the mountain and walk for a while."

Xie Lian’s eyes lit up. The Imperial Master said, “You are seventeen this year. I now allow you to leave Mount Tai Cang and travel around to gain experience.”

Xie Lian said, “That’s perfect!”

After one day in the imperial city, he felt a little depressed when thinking of the king, Qi Rong and others. In addition, such a magnificent Xianle Palace was burned down, and he would inevitably have to argue with his parents more. It would be better for him to go further away and concentrate on his own path.

At this time, the Imperial Master said, "Your Highness, for many years, there is a saying that has been passed down from mouth to mouth and has always been taken for granted. But in fact, this saying is wrong, but no one has ever discovered it."

Xie Lian asked, “Which sentence?”

The national teacher said: "If a person goes up, he will become a god; if a person goes down, he will become a ghost."

Xie Lian thought about it and said, “Is there anything wrong with this sentence?”

The national teacher said: "Of course not. Remember: when a person goes up, he is still a person; when he goes down, he is still a person."

While Xie Lian was still chewing on these words, the Imperial Master patted his shoulder, turned around and looked at him, saying, “Anyway, don’t worry too much about this kid. Everyone has their own destiny. Sometimes, you can’t help just because you want to. We’ll talk about it later if there’s anything. Go out and gain some experience first. I hope you’ll have grown up when you come back.”

However, no one expected that the child would escape from Huangji Temple and disappear that night.

What no one expected was that after this trip, Xie Lian, the seventeen-year-old prince of Xianle Kingdom, defeated the nameless ghost at Yinian Bridge and ascended to heaven amidst thunder and lightning.

The three realms were in uproar.