“San Lang? San Lang!”
Qi Rong’s mask cracked, a few fragments falling. He spat up a mouthful of blood and yelled, “SOMEBODY STOP HIM! ALL OF YOU! COME AND STOP HIM!!”
Hua Cheng had been violently bashing him about earlier, but now he seemed at ease, ready to have a chat about anything and everything.
He snickered. “Oh, didn’t you know? There are some things in this world that are unstoppable. Like, for example, the sun setting in the west. Or an elephant squashing an ant. Or me—taking your damned life!”
By his last line, his expression was unabashedly savage, and he raised Qi Rong’s whole body high before smashing him to the ground once more!
Another loud BANG. Qi Rong’s body was splayed on the ground, pulped into something worse than mush. With a soft crack, the mask on his face shattered into fragments, revealing half his face.
If anyone were to see that half, they’d discover a shocking fact…
The Green Ghost Qi Rong and the Crown Prince of Xianle—one ghost, one god, the difference of hell and heaven—looked astonishingly alike!
Chapter 22:
What Is True and What Is False, An Irresolvable Situation
BUT WHEN THE OTHER HALF of the mask crumbled and Qi Rong’s entire face was revealed, it became obvious that he didn’t look that much like Xie Lian after all. Their noses, lips, and the contour of their lower jaws were similar in shape, but their brows and eyes were quite different. Xie Lian’s eyes were serene and gentle. Qi Rong’s brows were high and sharp; his eyes were also much thinner and more slanted. While he was certainly still a good-looking young man, it was easy to tell from his face alone that he wasn’t one to be messed with. After having been beaten to a bloody pulp, he could finally squint open his eyes and blearily see that the one who had seized him had changed form into what appeared to be a youth dressed in red. Qi Rong had never seen Hua Cheng’s real face, but the moment he saw the red robes, he was both shocked and furious.
“It’s you. IT’S YOU!”
Hua Cheng had changed back to his true form. “You haven’t answered my question. How did Prince An Le die?”
Because of how frightening his glare was, Xie Lian rushed forward and cried, “San Lang!”
Humans and ghosts alike had already cleared out from the cave, and Xie Lian ran to his side.
“What’s wrong? Don’t be angry, please don’t be angry, everything’s all right. Calm down, everything’s all right…”
He gently rubbed Hua Cheng’s shoulders a few times, his voice growing soothingly soft. When Xie Lian was younger, whenever he got angry or upset, his parents would always stroke his back like this and comfort him with their gentle voices; thus, he used the same method on Hua Cheng. It turned out to be quite effective—Hua Cheng’s eye was turbulent before, but after being soothed, his lip quivered for only a second before he slowly but finally calmed, and his gaze cleared once more.
Xie Lian let out a breath of relief at this sight. But suddenly, before he had fully relaxed, Hua Cheng swiftly reached out and gave Xie Lian’s shoulder a gentle tap in return.
This tap instantly petrified Xie Lian’s body.
He had not expected Hua Cheng to do anything to him at all, which was how he’d been petrified so easily. He didn’t know what Hua Cheng was up to, but he wasn’t worried about himself; rather, he was worried for Hua Cheng, afraid that he might lose control again. He was about to open his mouth to ask when he realized that he not only couldn’t move, he also couldn’t speak. This made him somewhat uneasy.
Qi Rong might have been weak when it came to fistfights, but his mouth was certainly tough, and he started cursing while still covered in blood. “You damned crazy one-eyed snake! Did I piss you off while eating in my own house?!”
Hua Cheng smiled, then smacked his head down onto the ground again before yanking it back up. “How did Prince An Le die?”
“What the fuck does that have to do with you—？” Qi Rong cried, and Hua Cheng slammed him down again.
“How did Prince An Le die?”
This process repeated for a while. Hua Cheng maintained his cool smile the whole time as he dribbled Qi Rong’s head like a bouncing ball, brutally smashing it down over a dozen times. Although it was violent, Qi Rong couldn’t die—but it was precisely because he couldn’t die that it was so unbearable. Even a skull made of iron couldn’t stand this kind of torture, and Qi Rong finally changed his tune.
“If you’re so free, why don’t you go read a history book?!”