Both Feng Xin and Mu Qing popped veins on their foreheads. “Don’t touch that thing with your hand!! Don’t you know what it is?! It’s dangerous!”
Just then, Xie Lian felt a tightening on his wrist. Someone had grabbed hold of him and pulled hard. His entire body was drawn into the darkness beyond the door.
Although he was shrouded in darkness, he didn’t feel any alarm or anxiety. This darkness was like a layer of gentle armor; not only did he not sense any danger, it actually somehow calmed him down.
Even if the person within the darkness hadn’t shown himself, with those silver butterflies, was it so hard to guess?
Mu Qing cried in disbelief, “What audacity! You dare come cause mischief in the Heavenly Court?! What impudence!”
A voice laughed. “We’re all the same. Weren’t you heavenly officials of the Upper Court equally impudent in my territory?”
Even though Xie Lian already knew who had grabbed him, he was still a little startled to hear that familiar voice so close by.
Feng Xin shouted, “Hua Cheng, the Heavenly Emperor is here in the Heavenly Court. You let him go!”
Hua Cheng clicked his tongue. “Do either of you have the ability to make me?”
With that taunting question, the giant doors closed heavily with a bang.
Xie Lian sensed a hand gripping his wrist firmly, guiding him swiftly along. It was black as pitch all around them, and the silver bells on those black boots chimed in his ears. The ground beneath their feet was uneven; the doors hadn’t led them to the bright, open great roads of the Heavenly Capital but rather to a remote mountain valley.
Hua Cheng must’ve used the Teleportation Array to connect the front entrance of the Palace of Xianle to this mountain valley. But how did he do it? One would surely have to be a heavenly official to be in a position to do that, no?!
Xie Lian was about to speak when a voice exploded in his ear.
“Your Highness! Where are you?!”
It was Feng Xin. His voice was by his ear, but his person was not—he had shouted from within the communication array. Xie Lian’s eardrums hurt from the noise and were further blasted by the terrified voices of several other heavenly officials.
“What’s going on, General? Did something happen?”
Mu Qing also entered the communication array. “Bad news! Where’s Ling Wen? Report to the Emperor—Xie Lian ran off!”
He usually spoke gently and courteously, but now there was a flustered tinge to his voice.
Ling Wen reacted immediately. “What? I’ll go to the Palace of Xianle to take a look!”
An official cried in shock, “The Laug—His Highness ran off? Wasn’t he detained in the Palace of Xianle?!”
Shi Qingxuan entered the communication array. “I just saw a bunch of junior officials of the Middle Court guarding the palace. You can only enter but not leave! How could he run off?”
Feng Xin exclaimed, “What do you mean, ‘ran off’？ Stop adding to the confusion!”
“Well, he ran off with someone,” Mu Qing said.
“He was KIDNAPPED!” Feng Xin clarified angrily. “Your Highness, can you still hear us? Where are you right now?!”
In that moment, everyone was speaking with raised voices, and everyone was demanding answers. Once Ling Wen confirmed that the Palace of Xianle was empty, she began searching for Xie Lian’s present location, and Shi Qingxuan distributed further flurries of merits. The communication array was thrown into complete confusion, everyone trying to talk at once; it was so chaotic that Xie Lian couldn’t get a word in at all. He drew in a deep breath, but just as he was about to match the shouting and tell everyone to calm down, Hua Cheng suddenly turned around and reached over with two fingers.
Those cold digits gently touched his temple, and Hua Cheng chuckled.
“Long time no see. How is everyone doing?”
With the soft touch of his two fingers, Hua Cheng entered the heavenly communication array through Xie Lian. That nonchalant greeting was heard not just by Xie Lian beside him but by every flustered heavenly official within the communication array. Instantly, they fell into a dead silence.
“…”
There was a silent uproar.
No wonder! Such arrogance could only come from That Person!
Hua Cheng continued, “I don’t know if you missed me, but I haven’t thought about any of you at all.”
“…”
There certainly were many heavenly officials in the heavens who secretly thought about him every day. But when they heard Hua Cheng say he didn’t think about them at all, they began reciting scriptures to pray that the man would continue not thinking about them going forward.