A number of trainee watchguards rushed over, and the one leading was Zhu-shixiong. “State Preceptor!! I’m over here! I don’t know what happened—the door was perfectly locked, but it suddenly opened on its own!”
The State Preceptor pulled at his hair. “Quickly! Bring me a new soul-sealing jar!”
Xie Lian charged straight inside. Within that black pagoda, the walls were covered in latticed sandalwood panels of varying sizes and shapes, stacked unevenly atop each other. Within each panel were various clay jars, porcelain vases, jaded boxes, and so on. Each of those containers had originally been secure, the red stoppers stuffed firmly in place, the mouths sealed with yellow talismans inscribed with vermilion spells. But now, many were shattered. Many more continued to drop off the shelves by themselves, and those not yet fallen were wobbling.
Each of those soul-sealing containers had a demon or ghost who once caused havoc sealed within. A black pagoda like this existed in the back of every single temple on Mount Taicang, utilizing the mountain’s pure, saintly qi to keep them subdued. However, something had happened to cause this sudden insurgence, and they had all escaped!
“It’s too late!” Xie Lian shouted.
He immediately kicked the doors closed. The steel lock that originally chained up the door had been broken by the resentful spirits, so Xie Lian unsheathed his sword and used the tip to draw out some characters, then plunged it down. He’d brought over two hundred swords with him when he arrived at the mountain, and he’d switch the one he carried on his person almost every day; each was a peerless, singular, treasured sword. This sword, having been planted in the ground at a slant, did indeed seal the door shut, never to be opened again. Only the sounds of resentful spirits thrashing in rage within the black pagoda could be heard.
Once they retreated from the black pagoda, they looked up, and atop each of the summits, black clouds were erupting from the black pagodas behind each temple. All the resentful spirits were rushing to the sky, and like rolling thick smoke, they all flew toward the same place to gather.
“What’s over there? Why are they all flying over there?” Zhu An asked.
The State Preceptor yelled, “Have you lost your brains?! That’s the Palace of Xianle!”
The group moved like there was wind beneath their feet, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the Xianle Summit. On top of Mount Taicang, heavy, thick smoke emerged from countless temples across innumerable peaks and rolled over to form an enormous whirlpool above the Palace of Xianle.
“What’s going on in that Palace of yours?! The evils are all being lured over—what exactly did you put inside?!” the State Preceptor demanded.
Xie Lian was dumbfounded too. “Nothing! Just…”
Just what? Xie Lian suddenly remembered: that child!
At that same moment, Zhu-shixiong cried, “State Preceptor, this is bad! The Crown Prince Hall is on fire!”
Sure enough, a corner of the Xianle Palace was alight, flames bursting toward the sky, reflecting a faint shade of crimson on the black clouds above. At the foot of Mount Taicang, all those in the imperial capital who hadn’t yet gone to bed witnessed the scene from afar, but they had no idea what was going on. They excitedly dragged others outside to watch in awe.
“Wow! The great gods on the immortal mountain are performing magic! What a show!”
In a flash, the group arrived at the Palace of Xianle. Xie Lian didn’t keep too many servants, and dozens of cultivators from the other summits had hurried over, desperately drawing well water and trying to put out the fires. Xie Lian didn’t see his two attendants, and he rushed straight inside. All the resentful spirits of Mount Taicang had gathered here; the Palace of Xianle was practically pitch-black inside and nothing could be seen.
Xie Lian vaguely saw two figures in the center of the great hall and yelled, “Feng Xin! Mu Qing!”
The two were defending a protection array that repelled the invasion of evil spirits, straining as they barely held on. Sure enough, Feng Xin’s voice rang out.
“Your Highness, don’t come in! There’s something strange with this child! All those things are coming for him!”
Only then did Xie Lian notice that behind the two figures was a small, black shadow, kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands.
He cried, “It’s not me!!”
After observing them for a moment, Xie Lian shouted, “Stop holding on. Release the shield!”
Mu Qing cried back, “We can’t release it! If we do, those things will go crazy! Let me find the most—”