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Xie Lian was perplexed that he’d ask such a foolish question at a time like this. “Huh? Why do you ask?”
Feng Xin was sweating, but he replied boldly, “It’s nothing… Just… If you happen to have some, can you…lend it to me?”
Xie Lian laughed bitterly. “Do you really think I have anything?”
Feng Xin sighed. “I didn’t think so.”
After giving it some thought, Xie Lian asked, “Didn’t I give you that golden belt?”
“That’s not enough,” Feng Xin mumbled. “Far from it…”
Xie Lian was shocked. “Feng Xin? What exactly did you do? How could a golden belt not be enough to cover whatever you need? Did you beat someone up and need to pay them off? Tell me?”
Feng Xin came back to himself and quickly said, “Oh no! Don’t take this to heart. I was only asking!”
Xie Lian pressed him over and over, but Feng Xin still swore everything was fine. Finally, Xie Lian said with worry, “Well, if there’s anything, you must tell me. We can think of a solution together.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Feng Xin said. “There’s no way a solution will just fall from the sky. Your Highness, you just focus on solving your own problems!”
When he mentioned that topic, Xie Lian’s heart sank again.
***
Just as he’d expected, the creature harassed him ceaselessly in the days that followed and wouldn’t leave him alone.
Xie Lian constantly spotted a cry-smiling mask or a white silhouette in many unexpected places. Sometimes it’d be at the head of the bed in the deep of night, sometimes it’d be a reflection in the water, sometimes the door would swing open abruptly and it would be standing there, and sometimes it’d even be standing right behind Feng Xin.
White No-Face seemed to take pleasure in scaring him, and he purposely made certain that he could only be seen by Xie Lian. Whenever Xie Lian couldn’t take it anymore and pointed at him screaming, he’d disappear as soon the others rushed to Xie Lian’s side or looked over. Xie Lian spent his days in jumpy agitation, so bitter that he wished he could catch that creature and chop him into eight large chunks—but he couldn’t even manage to step on his shadow. Inevitably, his days and nights flipped, and his heart and body were exhausted.
One night, deep in the darkest hours, he jolted awake and felt irrepressibly thirsty. Recalling that he hadn’t drank anything the previous day, he crawled up to get some water. However, outside the room, he heard faint voices and weak candlelight. Startled, Xie Lian quickly hid behind the door, his heart thumping.
Who could it be? If it’s Father, Mother, or Feng Xin, why would they sneak around like this?
But as it turned out, the ones sneaking around really were his father, mother, and Feng Xin.
Feng Xin’s voice was extremely hushed. “His Highness is resting now, right?”
The queen also whispered her reply. “He’s asleep.”
“Finally,” the king said. “Don’t wake him too early tomorrow. Let him sleep some more.”
Those words made Xie Lian’s heart squeeze. Soon after, he heard the queen sigh. “If this keeps up, how will my son ever get better?”
Xie Lian could feel something amiss with those words, and Feng Xin replied in a quiet voice.
“He’s only like this because he’s exhausted. Too much has happened lately. Will Your Majesties also keep a close eye on him? Please let me know as soon as possible if there’s anything not right with His Highness, but don’t tell him you did. Also, avoid saying anything that might provoke him—”
Xie Lian stayed in his eavesdropping spot, his mind going blank as he listened. Waves of blood rushed to his brain.
What did this mean? What did they mean?
I’m not crazy! I didn’t lie! I was telling the truth! he screamed internally.
Xie Lian slammed the door open, startling the trio inside the room. Feng Xin rose to his feet.
“Your Highness? Why aren’t you asleep?!”
Xie Lian lashed out, shouting in his face, “You don’t believe me?!”
Feng Xin was taken aback. “Of course I believe you! You—”
Xie Lian cut him off. “Then what did you mean just now? Are you saying that everything I saw was a hallucination? That I’m just delusional?”
The king and queen tried to intercept the argument, but Xie Lian stopped them. “Don’t speak! You two don’t understand anything!”
“No!” Feng Xin exclaimed. “I believe you, Your Highness, but it’s also true that you’ve been exhausted lately!”
Xie Lian stared at him but didn’t reply. There were chilling winds blowing somewhere inside of him.
He trusted that Feng Xin really did believe him. At least mostly…but not completely. After all, Xie Lian had spent his recent days in quite a disturbed state of mind—if any outsider saw him, they would no doubt declare him a madman. What right did Xie Lian have to demand anyone wholly believe him?
But it shouldn’t have been like this. Feng Xin used to have absolute faith in him, without reservation! Even if he only doubted it twenty percent, that was still unbearable!
Xie Lian was filled with indignation and resentment, but he couldn’t tell who it was aimed at—White No-Face, Feng Xin, everyone, or himself. Without a single word, he turned to leave. Feng Xin chased after him out the door.
“Your Highness, where are you going?”
Xie Lian said with forced calm, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t follow me. Go back.”
“No, where are you going? I’ll go with you!” Feng Xin said.
Having made up his mind, Xie Lian suddenly took off in a mad run. Feng Xin wasn’t as fast as him and was soon left far behind—he could only shout after him. The king and queen both came outside and started shouting after him too, but Xie Lian pretended not to hear and ran faster and faster.
He had no choice but to go on the attack!
If White No-Face wanted to kill Xie Lian, or Feng Xin, or his parents, he could do it easily. Yet he wouldn’t just kill and be done with it—instead, he was playing with Xie Lian like a toy, making a fool of him!
Xie Lian roared into the black night as he dashed. “Come the hell out! You gutter monster! Get the hell over here!”
White No-Face was coming for him specifically, so he believed that the creature would surely be following him. But even after Xie Lian cursed to hell and back with his insufficient vocabulary, none of the usual sneers drifted from unexpected shadowy corners, nor did anyone appear languidly behind his back to place their hand on his unsuspecting head.
Xie Lian ran madly for kilometers before he finally exhausted his strength. He doubled over, hands on his knees to support himself as he panted harshly. His chest and throat were flooded with a metallic taste.
A long while later, he abruptly straightened up and continued forward, muttering under his breath as he went. “So…you want to drag this out? Fine, we’ll drag this out slowly!”
He walked alone for who-knew-how-long through the wild hills, old woods, and deep mountains. Fog gradually rolled in and thickened.
All around Xie Lian were old trees sunken in the darkness, flashing their claws. The trees leaned forward and bent at such extreme angles that it seemed like they were bowing, inviting him to step into a forbidden land of no return. Xie Lian could tell that whatever was ahead wasn’t anything good but also that it was unavoidable. He needed to put an end to this, so he had to come here sooner or later. Thus, he continued forward with grim determination.
As he walked, something faint and shimmering emerged from within the white fog ahead. It looked like a glowing wall. Xie Lian had never seen anything like it, and he furrowed his brow slightly, coming to a stop. As for that “wall,” it was slowly moving forward toward him!
Xie Lian tensed in alarm and snapped a branch off a nearby tree, gripping it at the ready. Only when the wall was less than two meters away did he realize in bewilderment that it wasn’t a wall at all—it was countless ghost fires. There were so many that, from afar, it looked like a blazing wall or a giant net.