Xie Lian said, “Call him right away.”

Feng Xin put his right index and middle fingers together, pressed them against his temple, and began to communicate with Mu Qing. On the other side, Qi Rong spat, "So you came from Yong'an. It's true that poor places breed bad people. Can you rob the gods just because you're poor?"

Lang Ying said, "Then I won't rob you. I will kneel down and kowtow to the deity you worship, and beg him to give me money to save the lives of my fellow villagers. Will he save us?"

Qi Rong choked and muttered to himself, if he said yes, wouldn't this person just take advantage of the situation and run away with the money? So he said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a god, gods are busy as hell, who has time to care about you, the unruly people!"

Hearing this, Lang Ying nodded slowly and said, "I don't think they will care. We have prayed and begged before, but it was useless, wasn't it? Those who are destined to die will still die."

Xie Lian was shocked. A Taoist priest shouted, “You, man, are you not afraid of being punished by the gods for saying such disrespectful words in the temple?”

Lang Ying said, "It doesn't matter. If he wants to punish me, then I will punish him. I'm not afraid that he won't save me, so why should I be afraid that he will punish me?"

Qi Rong waved his hand, and a group of servants who had been waiting for a long time rushed forward, punching and kicking the young man. Feng Xin took advantage of every opportunity to neutralize the force of their punches and kicks, so although Lang Ying seemed to be beaten, he was at a loss, not dodging, and only occasionally raised his hand to protect the bag on his back. Qi Rong grabbed a handful of melon seeds, cracked them and shook his legs, saying: "Beat, beat me hard!" He really acted like a complete villain. Hearing his self-proclaimed name, Lang Ying suddenly looked up and said: "Are you a king? What king? Do you live in the palace? Can you see the king?"

Qi Rong said casually, "I'm your grandfather! Are you still hoping to see His Majesty? His Majesty is busy with all kinds of affairs, who has time to pay attention to you."

Lang Ying twisted his neck and asked stubbornly, "Why don't you have time to care about me? The gods don't have time to care about me, and His Majesty doesn't have time to care about me. Then who on earth has time to care about me? Who should I go to? Does the king know that many people died in Yong'an? Do the people in the imperial city know? If they know, why would they rather throw the money into the water than give it to us?"

Qi Rong sneered, "We can spend our money however we want. It's none of other people's business if we just throw it away. Why should we give it to you? You are poor, so you are right?"

Although this statement does make sense, it is really inappropriate to say it at this time. Xie Lian was just thinking of a way to shut Qi Rong up when a young man in black hurried out from the back of the hall and asked, "Why did your highness summon me?"

Xie Lian waved his hand and said, “Mu Qing, come quickly. Among the prayers you have received these days, have you heard any news about the drought in Yong’an?”

Mu Qing was also startled and said, "I haven't heard of it."

Feng Xin blurted out in the midst of his busy schedule: "How could there be none? All the refugees over there have fled here to escape the disaster!"

His tone was too firm, making Mu Qing's face a little stiff. He said stiffly, "I'm telling the truth. There really isn't anything. Do you mean that I deliberately kept it a secret? Did you receive it? If there really were people from Yong'an praying for the drought to end, I would be on duty in the odd months of the Crown Prince's Palace, and you would be on duty in the even months. It's impossible that all drought-related prayers would be concentrated in the odd months, and you wouldn't know about it at all."

Feng Xin was stunned for a moment, then thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. He said, "I didn't say you did it on purpose. You think too much."

Hearing that they seemed to be about to quarrel again, Xie Lian made a “pause” gesture with a headache and said, “Okay, Feng Xin didn’t mean that. Stop it immediately.”

The two men immediately stopped arguing. It happened that Qi Rong finally got tired of watching his men beating Lang Ying, so he took a small bag and put the melon seed shells in it, saying, "Take this thief and lock him up in the prison." The attendants said, "As you command!" Several of them carried Lang Ying. Xie Lian said, "Let's solve the problem first, save this man, and then I'll ask him about Yong'an."

Mu Qing softened his expression and said cautiously, "How do you want to solve this, Your Highness? You can't just show up as a spirit at will."

After ascending to heaven, there was one rule that Xie Lian could not understand, and that was this. The priest said that he wanted to save the people, but he had to put on airs and put himself above all other living beings. He could not show his spirit at will, which often made him feel constrained and very troubled. Fortunately, Xie Lian also had many countermeasures. He did not think about it, turned his head, and pushed. The people in front noticed the shadow on the ground shaking faintly, and turned around in confusion. The next moment, Qi Rong screamed: "Crown Prince cousin——"

With this move, Xie Lian actually pushed down his own statue!

The gentle and handsome golden statue holding a sword and a flower was about to fall, but it slowly tilted to one side. Qi Rong looked as if he had seen his own mother hanging herself and kicking a stool, and he was terrified. He didn't care about Lang Ying at all, and ran over to hug the statue's thighs tightly, holding on tenaciously, and said heartbreakingly: "What are you bunch of useless people waiting for! Help me hold him up! Don't let my cousin the crown prince fall! He can't fall!!!"

He was torn apart, but Xie Lian walked past him calmly and walked out of the Prince's Palace. Feng Xin and Mu Qing were so shocked that their faces split. After a long while, Feng Xin said, "Your Highness! That's your statue!"

It seems like this kind of thing is a bad omen, and it is more or less taboo. It is unheard of for a priest to push his own statue like this. It is a freak in the Three Realms. Xie Lian said, "It's just a big pile of gold. Otherwise, their attention will not be diverted. You go and hold down the golden statue, don't let them get away, I'll go meet this person."

Although Feng Xin and Mu Qing were speechless, they could only obey orders and stood beside the statue. Each of them stretched out a finger to press the statue. They only needed to use this little strength, and it was enough. Several people tried their best but couldn't lift it up. They could only hold on and said with gritted teeth: "...It is indeed real gold, and it is really heavy!"

Lang Ying, who was sitting outside, saw that the group of people ignored him and stared at the golden statue for a long time. He suddenly stood up from the ground, brushed off the dust on his body, and ran out with his bag on his back. Xie Lian followed him. After he ran for a long time and entered a lush forest, he looked around and sat down under a tree to rest. Xie Lian hid behind the tree and casually made a hand gesture, transforming into the shape of a Taoist in white.

After changing his form, he looked up and down to make sure there were no flaws. He flicked his whisk and was thinking about how to appear without appearing out of place, but he saw Lang Ying squatting beside a puddle next to a tree, digging a hole in the ground with his head down and his hands.

“…”

The young man had broad palms, and with one shovel, he dug a wide and deep hole, and the dirt flew everywhere, like a lean black wolfhound. Xie Lian was just wondering why he suddenly started digging a hole, but he saw him wipe the dirt on his pants, then scooped up a handful of water from the puddle with his hand and brought it to his mouth.

Seeing this, Xie Lian could no longer hide, so he hurried out, stopped his hand, took out a kettle from his sleeve, and handed it to him.

Lang Ying had already taken a mouthful of water from the puddle, and swallowed it with his cheeks puffed up. He looked at the Taoist priest who had suddenly appeared, not surprised, nor refused. He took the water and drank it, gulping it down in one gulp. After finishing it, he said, "Thank you."

Since he had suddenly appeared, Xie Lian didn’t care about any natural opening remarks. He tried his best to swing the whisk to sound sage and trustworthy, and said, “My friend, where are you from and where are you going?”

Lang Ying said, "We came from Lang'er Bay in Yong'an City and were originally going to the Imperial Palace. But now I have changed my mind and will not go."

Xie Lian was startled and asked, “We?”

Lang Ying nodded and said, "We. Me and my son."

Xie Lian became more and more confused, but a chill rose in his heart. Lang Ying untied the bag on his back, opened it, and said, "My son."

What was wrapped in the bag on his back was actually the body of a child!!!

The child was very small, and looked no more than two or three years old. His face was yellow, his cheeks were sunken, and there were a few sparse yellow hairs on his forehead, and he also had some prickly heat. His little face had a strange expression, and he looked like he was about to cry but didn't. He was in great pain. His eyes were closed, but his mouth was open, but he could no longer make any sound.

Xie Lian’s pupils suddenly shrank, and he was so shocked that he could not speak. No wonder he had always felt that there was something wrong with this young man. He could not tell what was strange about him, but he just felt that he was not like an ordinary person. He spoke and acted as if he did not consider the consequences at all, rushing forward without thinking about the consequences. Now it seemed that this person did not even need to consider any consequences.

After Lang Ying finished examining his son, she wrapped the child back up, tucking in the corners carefully. Seeing his focused expression and movements, Xie Lian felt uncomfortable. It was the first time he saw the body of such a young child, and he stammered, "How...how did your son die?"

Lang Ying put on his bag and said in bewilderment, "How did he die... I don't know how he died. He was thirsty, hungry, and sick, maybe a little bit of everything."

He scratched his head and said, "When I first carried him out of Yong'an, he coughed a few times and called me daddy from behind. Then the sound gradually died down and he just coughed. Then he stopped coughing and I thought he was asleep. When I found something to eat and wanted to wake him up, he didn't get up."

The child actually died on the way to escape.

Lang Ying shook his head and said, "I don't know how to take care of a child. My wife would scold me to death if she knew our son was dead."

After a moment of silence, he added: "I really wish my wife could still scold me."

His expression was always calm, like a dead tree or a dark pond, without any signs of life or ripples. Xie Lian’s throat tightened for a moment, and after a long pause, he whispered, “You… you… bury it.”

Lang Ying nodded and said, "Yes. I want to pick a better place. This place is good. There are trees to block the sun and there is water. I will go back after burying it. Thank you for the water."

He coughed a few times, then bent down and continued digging with his hands. Xie Lian murmured, "No. Don't thank me... Don't thank me, don't."

At this time, Feng Xin and Mu Qing also arrived. Seeing one digging a hole and the other in a daze, they were both confused. Xie Lian was in no mood to say more, and repeated a few sentences in a daze. It took him a long time to remember that just giving water was not enough, and this person still had to go back to Yong'an, so he reached into his sleeve, fumbled for a long time, and finally took out something and handed it to him: "You can take this."

Lang Ying stopped and looked carefully at the thing in his hand. It was a dark red bead that was not even the size of a fingernail. It was bright and smooth, and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Even if you didn't know what it was, you would know at a glance that this little thing must be priceless.

This was the only remaining earring from the pair of red coral beads that Xie Lian wore during the Lantern Festival three years ago. Mu Qing was deeply impressed by this bead, and his face changed slightly when he saw it. Lang Ying did not refuse. He seemed to have lost all the courtesy and concerns that a normal person should have. He stretched out his hand to take it and said, "Thank you."

He carefully put the bead into his belt, took off the bag from his back, and gently put it into the pit, saying, "Dad will be back to see you soon."

After saying this, he used his hands to solemnly push the dirt up and cover the cloth bag. Xie Lian covered his forehead and closed his eyes. After a while, the young man strode away. Feng Xin asked in surprise, "Your Highness, what is he burying? He said 'Dad'? Is he burying a person?"

Mu Qing was concerned about other things and said, "Your Highness, I just checked and found out what happened. Yong'an is not rich to begin with, and there are few palaces, temples and shrines built. In addition, there seems to be a local regulation in the Taoist temples that those who do not offer sacrifices cannot enter the palaces and temples to worship. Therefore, those who go to the Prince's Palace are all wealthy families, and the poor people who have been affected by the disaster will not go there at all..."

Xie Lian did not answer, but said in a deep voice: “You guys, go to Yong’an and check the situation. I’ll go see the Imperial Master and find out what’s going on.”

His expression was uglier than ever before. The two servants did not dare to be careless and responded in unison, setting off immediately. Xie Lian turned around and ran towards the Taicang Mountain.

It looked like the disaster in Yong'an was going to be very serious. However, even if he couldn't hear the voices of the prayers, the palace couldn't possibly be unaware of it!