Even though Shi Qingxuan stumbled and didn’t say the words, Xie Lian knew exactly what came after: “collects scraps,” what else! Since the words were abruptly swapped in mid-sentence, there was no time to adjust the grammar, only clumsily change the course of the statement.
When Lang Qianqiu heard, however, he looked at Xie Lian and asked in amazement, “So you’re That Highness who ascended three times?”
It appeared that Lang Qianqiu really had slept through the entire meeting at the Palace of Divine Might and didn’t even remember who he was. Anyone else saying that to Xie Lian would no doubt mean it as a sarcastic comment. But because the question came from Lang Qianqiu, Xie Lian wholeheartedly believed that this child genuinely thought ascending three times was just a bit curious.
His eyes twinkled. “Yes, that would be me.”
Lang Qianqiu responded, “Thanks so much for helping me earlier! If you hadn’t…”
He remembered something and hurriedly looked down and started to tuck his belt in, tying it properly, fear still lingering.
He obviously didn’t think much about the history between the Kingdom of Xianle and the Kingdom of Yong’an. Shi Qingxuan seemed to think that introduction was good enough. He turned to Xie Lian.
“Your Highness, I thought that Crimson Rain Sought Flower knew you? Why did he act as if he didn’t back there?”
Lang Qianqiu finished tying his belt. “Was that really Crimson Rain Sought Flower? Was that his true form?”
Xie Lian didn’t even have time to open his mouth before Shi Qingxuan piped up.
“How could it be his true form? Hua Cheng has thousands of disguises, and no one knows what his true form looks like. Last time when I was at Banyue Pass, he looked similar to his appearance today, so this must be a fake skin too. It’s fake, all fake.”
Yet Xie Lian could still remember that night at Puqi Shrine, when Hua Cheng had told him, “The next time we meet, I’ll greet you in my true form.”
He thought to himself, It’s real.
But of course, he didn’t say that out loud. Everyone was so sure that Hua Cheng must be wearing a fake skin. Being the only one who knew it was Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s true form was like learning an extraordinary little secret.
Then he thought, San Lang’s appearance doesn’t look that much different from before, only a bit older and taller. That means he was pretty much in his true form the first time he met me.
Strangely, that made Xie Lian feel a little happy.
Shi Qingxuan added, “Everyone says Hua Cheng is a strange character, and that really seems to be true. It was obvious that he was going easy on you, and yet he pretended in all seriousness not to know you. Who knows what he’s up to? Could it be that he wanted us to drop our guard?”
Xie Lian choked and coughed. Just as he thought, anyone could tell Hua Cheng was going easy on him back at the Gambler’s Den. But rather than saying “he went easy on him,” they might as well just say outright that Hua Cheng was literally letting him win. Lang Qianqiu was the only one who couldn’t tell. He frowned.
“Did he go easy on him? Why?”
The other two patted him on the shoulder and decided with great tacit understanding that it was best not to explain it to him. They left Lang Qianqiu standing there by himself to mull over why Hua Cheng would go easy on Xie Lian and whether it was because the two knew each other. Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan turned and walked off.
“We’ve been discovered now, I guess,” Xie Lian said. “What’s our next plan of action? Switch our disguises and try again? Personally, I don’t think doing that will change anything. After His Highness Tai Hua’s fight back there, Ghost City will probably strengthen their security.”
Shi Qingxuan replied, “To be honest, I had considered the possibility of us getting exposed, but I never thought it would happen this soon.”
Xie Lian sighed. “I know, I know.”
“What’s done is done,” Shi Qingxuan said. “Since our cover is blown, you might as well just walk in with confidence and do this openly.”
Xie Lian could vaguely guess what he had meant by “openly.”
Sure enough, Shi Qingxuan explained, “If we want to smooth out the lie, then the only way is to have you go find Hua Cheng and tell him that you came here specifically to visit him. He knows that you’re a heavenly official, right? If so, then it’s believable to say that you’ve brought a couple of your little friends from heaven with you.”
Yet unexpectedly, before Xie Lian could answer, Lang Qianqiu cried out at the suggestion, “No!”