Благословение Небожителей. Том 6 (ЛП)

Hua Cheng shot him a fake-looking smile. “I’m preventing you from causing problems.”
Xie Lian put himself between the two. “Stop, stop. It’s not like we have to see which god is being worshipped here. We shouldn’t stay here too long anyway, so let’s just go. Don’t forget that we still have a mission to accomplish.”
Hua Cheng stared at Mu Qing’s hand. “Since that’s what gege wants, have him put his hand away and I’ll let it go.”
“Mu Qing, back off, all right?” Xie Lian said.
Mu Qing glared at him. “Are you nuts? Why shouldn’t he back off first? What if I back off and he doesn’t?”
Between a heavenly official and a ghost, Feng Xin naturally chose to stand on the side of the heavenly official. “At most, we’ll accept both sides standing down at the same time.”
Hua Cheng showed no signs of doing so. “You wish.”
Seeing that neither side would give in, Xie Lian rested a hand on Mu Qing’s arm. “Mu Qing, drop it,” he urged gently. “You’re the one who started this, so you should be the one to let it go. All right? Can you think of it as giving me some face? I swear that if you back off, San Lang will keep his promise.”
Although Mu Qing was clearly reluctant, he held the stalemate for another moment, then slowly dropped his hand. They all returned to the road. Finally, the tension relaxed, and Xie Lian sighed in relief.
They reached another fork in the road, and Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng.
“Which way do you think we should go this time?”
Hua Cheng picked a path, seemingly at random. “This way.”
Feng Xin and Mu Qing had been walking behind them and appeared to be at each other’s throats again, but Mu Qing briefly paused their argument.
“How did you decide?” he asked. “Why this way?”
The two in front turned their heads to look at them.
“It was random.”
Feng Xin frowned. “How can you pick randomly? Let’s not go blindly—we might tumble into another pit.”
Hua Cheng smiled. “Even if we fall into a pit, I have ways to pull His Highness out. You can follow us if you’d like, or you can head off on your own if you’d prefer. To be honest, I’d rather not have to rescue you again.”
“You—!”
That was just the way Hua Cheng spoke—even if he had a smile on his face and his words were perfectly polite, it always sounded fake. The faker his smile, the more his tone enraged people, so much that Feng Xin nocked an arrow on his bow.
Xie Lian knew that he wouldn’t actually shoot. “Sorry about this, Feng Xin. But considering our current situation, it really makes no difference which way we go.”
Hua Cheng laughed heartily. “Ooh, I’m scared. Looks like I’d better stay far away from you.”
He waggled his brows at Xie Lian and really did put some distance between them. Xie Lian knew he was just trying to leave the other two behind, and he smiled as he shook his head. He was about to follow Hua Cheng, but without warning Mu Qing reached out and pulled him to a stop. Xie Lian looked back, bewildered.
“Mu Qing? What is it?”
Mu Qing didn’t answer. Instead, he simply shouted “Now!” Then he grabbed Xie Lian and dashed off down the other path.
Ahead, Hua Cheng had noticed that something was wrong, and he turned back to look. But Feng Xin had already punched the stone wall. Boulders rumbled and crashed down, blocking the road behind them. Mu Qing and Feng Xin rushed forward and slapped fifty or so talismans to the rocks in the span of a second. Hua Cheng was now separated from the three of them by the pile of boulders.
As it turned out, Feng Xin and Mu Qing hadn’t been arguing when they were trailing behind them earlier—they had actually been discussing how to launch this sudden attack!
Xie Lian was dumbfounded. “What are you guys doing?”
He struggled free of Mu Qing’s grip, wanting to check on Hua Cheng behind the wall of stone. However, Feng Xin tripped him, and he and Mu Qing each grabbed one of Xie Lian’s arms and began to drag him off at a breakneck pace.
“Let’s get away, quick! Those talismans won’t last for long!” Feng Xin exclaimed.
 
“You have to ask what we’re doing?! There’s something odd about him—can’t you tell?!” Mu Qing reprimanded.
“How is he odd?” Xie Lian questioned.
“You’ve really gone stupid! Odd is written all over him—you’re the only one blind to it!” Mu Qing exclaimed.
“Stop talking and run!” Feng Xin roared. “Fuck, I think the wraith butterflies caught up!”
“Block the cave entrance!” Mu Qing barked.
Feng Xin continued to punch the walls as they ran, and many of the cave entrances were completely blocked by the giant rocks that tumbled down. The two dragged Xie Lian along as they fled through the endless, winding underground corridors, sending his head spinning from all the twists and turns.
“Stop! Stop!” Xie Lian shouted as they ran.
When they finally felt they’d gone far enough, Feng Xin and Mu Qing paused to catch their breaths.
Taking advantage of this break, Xie Lian said, “What I meant was, why did you two suddenly drag me away? Did you notice something?”
Feng Xin was supporting himself with his hands on his knees and panting harshly. “Let him…tell you…again.”
Mu Qing straightened up and turned to Xie Lian. “It’s so obvious! You didn’t see it? That pearl! Do you remember that pearl?”
“What pearl?” Xie Lian asked.
Mu Qing said each word slowly and clearly. “The red coral pearl from the earrings of the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior costume—the one you wore for the Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremony. The earring you lost!”
Xie Lian thought for a long while, but he still couldn’t remember. He looked confused as he tugged at his earlobe. “…Were those earrings red coral pearls? Did I lose one?”
The corners of Mu Qing’s lips twitched, and he said furiously, “You two even wrongfully accused me of stealing that pearl! How could you forget something like this?”
“It’s been eight hundred years—” Xie Lian began, but Feng Xin interrupted to rebuke Mu Qing.
“Stop making shit up! No one wronged you—you’re the one who started making assumptions all on your own!”
Xie Lian waved. “Stop fighting, stop fighting. Why are you talking about that pearl out of nowhere?”
“Because it’s been found!” Mu Qing exclaimed. “Did you see the red bead tied in Hua Cheng’s hair?”
Xie Lian’s eyes widened. “Are you saying…”
“I am!” Mu Qing stated with conviction.
“…”
So that was why Mu Qing had that weird look in his eyes when he looked at Hua Cheng earlier.
“Why would he have that red coral pearl? Are you sure you remember it correctly?” Xie Lian questioned.
Mu Qing cut him off. “I searched for that pearl nonstop for a whole year, and I’ve never stopped looking for it. I’m the only one who would never remember it wrong!”
Xie Lian crossed his arms and tucked them into his sleeves. He furrowed his brow in contemplation. “I still think you might be mistaken. There’s no reason for him to have that pearl. Don’t all high-quality red coral pearls look pretty much the same? Besides, San Lang has always liked collecting rare treasures. He’s got antiques that are thousands of years old.”
Mu Qing nodded. “Fine. Very well. You think I’m wrong? Fine. Then look at this.”
He was standing right next to a divine statue, and as he finished speaking, he yanked the veil off its face.
“Why don’t you take a look at this, then? Surely it can’t be a mistake too!”
The moment the veil was lifted, Xie Lian’s pupils shrank.
The divine statue’s face wasn’t deformed or frightening. It was the face of a young man who wore a gentle, kind expression—smiling and in high spirits. But when Xie Lian saw it, a chill raced down his spine and raised the hair on his neck.
How could it not be eerie? This face was nearly identical to Xie Lian’s own!