Me and the devil

十五

Xie Lian thought about this, of course he had known this, but he still didn't understand why General Pei Junior had decided to slaughter an entire city. In the Upper Court, kings and generals were plentiful, because they had to fight and protect their lands; it is said that the success of a general is built upon the bones of millions. To ascend, one must first become a hero, but the path a hero walks has always been bloody.

Mu Qing concluded, "There aren't many in the Upper Court that are trustworthy and worth meeting."

Xie Lian found it funny that Mu Qing spoke as a seasoned general warning a young soldier of the heartlessness of war. He wondered if Mu Qing spoke this way because he had been bullied in the Heavenly Realm, and the experience had left him with a scar. Then again, Xie Lian, although having ascended three times never stuck around for long. So when it came to understanding gods and the inner workings of the Heavenly Realm, Feng Xin and Mu Qing definitely knew more than he did.

Feng Xin, on the other hand, seemed to strongly disagree; "Don't listen to such inflammatory statements, there's good and bad everywhere, it's not all black and white. There are a good number of trustworthy officials that come off badly."

Xie Lian quietly disagreed, while it was true not everything was black and white, that didn't mean that people couldn't choose to act that way. After all, they had all been mortals before, but he chose not to say anything.

Mu Qing scoffed, "Hah! Trustworthy officials? Do you mean yourself?" He rolled his eyes.

Feng Xin responded, "I don't know about myself, but definitely not you!"

"..." Xie Lian just stood there, he had long since gotten used to this kind of behavior, He had other things on his mind, and he didn't have the energy to pull them apart. Hua Cheng did however, the butterfly in his hair fluttered and then flew over to them. A few more butterflies appeared to flank the first butterfly. Mu Qing and Feng Xin jumped, startled. In a blink of an eye, their weapons were drawn and ready for use.

The butterflies however, simply hover menacingly out of reach of Feng Xin's arrows and Mu Qing's saber. Almost as if in warning. Feng Xin and Mu Qing quickly shut up. Two butterflies left their positions to disarm them.

It was silent for a while after that.

With the case of the Bride Groom of Mount Yujun solved, Xie Lian, Feng Xin and Mu Qing returned to the Upper Court. The first thing Xie Lian did upon returning to the heavenly realm, was head to the Palace of Ling Wen to give his report on the case.

Ling Wen nodded as she took the report. "I apologize Your Highness, I truly did not think that this journey to the north would open such a giant can of worms. Thank you for your hard work, Your Highness."

Xie Lian dipped his head, "I have Feng Xin and Mu Qing to thank for their help, and General Pei Junior as well."

"This all happened because of the relationship of Ol' Pei himself, so of course, Junior had to take care of it. He's quite used to it, there's no need to thank him," Ling Wen said. "If Your Highness is not busy, may he kindly join us in the communication array. We are to have a meeting regarding what has transpired."

Xie Lian sighed inwardly, he had wanted to head home and spend some time with his husband, but he didn't protest.

Xie Lian also had many questions he would like to know the answers to. After leaving the Palace of Ling Wen, he wandered about and found a small stone bridge. The stone bridge crossed a small gurgling stream with stunningly clear water. He could see the clouds drifting under the water and through the flowing water and clouds, stood the mountain ranges and the squarely built cities in the mortal realm.