Meanwhile, each arrow Feng Xin shot at the butterflies was snapped by their sharp wings. The sheer number of butterflies was ultimately too difficult to deal with!

At this point, both victory and defeat were a foregone conclusion. Countless white silk tendrils slithered from the corners of the corridor and wrapped Feng Xin and Mu Qing into giant cocoons once more. The more they struggled, the tighter their bindings became.

Mu Qing tore at the silk as he yelled. “I knew you were the one who threw us into that pit!”

“This isn’t spider silk!” Feng Xin exclaimed. “This is…!”

It dawned on Xie Lian as well. It was butterfly silk!

Butterflies emerged from chrysalises, which they wove from their own silk. This strange white silk was completely of Hua Cheng’s making, and it was probably linked to his aggressive wraith butterflies!

With the match decided, Hua Cheng sheathed his scimitar. “I threw you in to save you from disaster. Otherwise, you would’ve never had a chance to find this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods,” he jeered. “And it was your yelling that caused the avalanche. Why don’t you thank me for saving your puny little lives?”

Hua Cheng had probably planned to wait out the avalanche at first, getting Xie Lian out once the snowy mountain quieted down and leaving Feng Xin and Mu Qing behind. But unexpectedly, the pair had gnawed through the chrysalises and made enough noise that Xie Lian had discovered them, which led to all the trouble afterward. If not for all that, Xie Lian might have really just followed Hua Cheng straight out without looking at a single divine statue.

But the worst-case scenario had come to pass. Every secret had been torn out and exposed under the sun.

Despite the anxiety roiling under the surface, Xie Lian’s body still sat obediently in place. Hua Cheng’s gaze was growing colder and more intense as he stared condescendingly down at Mu Qing.

“It seems I’m the one with the real talent for sabers. Not you,” he quietly stated.

Mu Qing’s throat was bound by a few bands of white silk, and his face changed from blue to red and back as he was strangled. Blood leaked from the corners of his lips, and he choked out, “You! You…? I see, I get it…”

Feng Xin gritted out through his teeth, “What…do you…get?”

“I get…why this bastard…hates me so much now…” Mu Qing said. “He probably hates you…for the same reason!”

“Wh…why?” Feng Xin demanded through his coughs.

“Because he’s insane!” Mu Qing said hatefully through his own coughing. “Have you forgotten what was in those murals? He was that…that young soldier His Highness wanted to promote after he returned from Beizi Hill. His Highness had said…his swordplay was good…and that he was well suited to the saber…”

“Why’d that make him hate you?” Feng Xin questioned.

Mu Qing didn’t reply. Bam! Hua Cheng landed another punch on Mu Qing’s face.

Hua Cheng gave a chilling smile and answered on Mu Qing’s behalf. “Because he kicked me out of the army.”

To think Mu Qing had done something like that!

Feng Xin was astonished. “What the fuck…?! Why’d you do that? How’d he piss you off?!”

Mu Qing’s face was covered in blood. “I just made him go home—it’s not like it’s good to fight in a war! How could I have known he’d wind up being this crazy and holding grudges all this time—”

Hua Cheng cut him off with another punch, so forceful that Mu Qing’s face almost contorted when it landed. Bam!

Hua Cheng smiled. “Did you think I couldn’t guess why you kicked me out? Hmm?”

Mu Qing looked away, and Hua Cheng snickered.

“I guess it’s clear which of us is actually useless trash, hm?”

“…”

Mu Qing spat out a mouthful of blood and grimaced like he’d been stabbed where it hurt. He replied, spitefully slowly, “Thank goodness I kicked you out. If we’d kept you in the army and let you get closer to His Highness, were you going to watch him all day with your mind full of unspeakable filth? Disgusting!”

Xie Lian’s heart squeezed violently. Hua Cheng had his fist raised at first, but it froze in midair when Mu Qing spat the word “disgusting.” Veins bulged on the back of his pale hand. The fingers clenched and loosened, loosened then clenched.

A long moment later, Hua Cheng said icily, “For now, I won’t argue with you on that point. But tell me one thing, and tell me honestly: your argument before the avalanche—is that true?”

Mu Qing looked to Feng Xin with eyes wide; Feng Xin looked back, his own eyes round and bulging. Neither of them knew how to respond.

“My patience is limited,” Hua Cheng said sharply. “Answer me on the count of three. One! Two!”

Such a rush for an answer!

An idea struck Mu Qing within his panic. “Your Highness, run!” he cried.

The moment the command was issued, the damn spell stuck to Xie Lian’s back forced him to bolt. Hua Cheng swung around toward him, and two bands of white butterfly silk shot from the corners of the cave to bind Xie Lian. He fell to the ground before he’d even managed two steps.

To an observer, it looked like Xie Lian had been frozen in terror this whole time—or perhaps that he’d been struggling to accept the truth about Hua Cheng or had simply decided he didn’t want to intervene in their fight. Now it looked like he’d finally decided to flee but had failed. The truth was, though, he had never even considered running away!

Xie Lian’s hands and feet were tightly bound by the thick white silk. He lay sprawled on the ground with his black hair and white sleeves splayed out around him. His bamboo hat had rolled off to one side. Hua Cheng slowly turned to him, paused for a long moment, and then made his way to Xie Lian’s side.

He’d only taken a few steps before Feng Xin could no longer hold back a desperate shout.

“Hua Cheng !”

Hua Cheng paused in his step and tilted his head.

“Let…let His Highness go!” Feng Xin forced out a plea. “He’s suffered enough. Don’t…to him…”

Hua Cheng didn’t reply. He came to Xie Lian’s side and, with one hand on his back and one hand under his knees, swept him into his arms.

Xie Lian lay against Hua Cheng’s chest. Even though they were sealed in those giant white chrysalises, he could see Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s expressions. Feng Xin looked like he was watching a lamb entering a tiger’s mouth, as if Xie Lian was going to be ripped apart and devoured, and he started yelling. Mu Qing had started tearing at the white silk with his teeth again, but the awkward angle meant his struggles came to nothing.

Hua Cheng knew the pathways of this Cave of Ten Thousand Gods like the back of his hand. After many forks and turns, the two figures and their voices soon disappeared.

Carrying Xie Lian in his arms, Hua Cheng moved deeper into the darkness of the cave’s innermost dens.

The only light around them came from the gently fluttering silver wraith butterflies. Xie Lian couldn’t see the expression on Hua Cheng’s face, but he could feel the tension in his body.

Hua Cheng had held him like this in the past, but it was obvious that something had changed—he wouldn’t even touch Xie Lian’s neck or hands directly. Xie Lian kept eyeing Hua Cheng’s face, trying to blink hard enough that he’d notice, but Hua Cheng kept avoiding his gaze.

Hua Cheng took him into a chamber with a stone bed, where he quickly brought him and set him down. As he lay Xie Lian on the bed, he noticed something and checked Xie Lian’s back.

“They cast a spell on you?”

Xie Lian was overjoyed. He’d finally discovered it!

Still, it had taken him incredibly long to notice that there was something off about Xie Lian, which just showed how badly Hua Cheng had been caught off guard. Xie Lian waited for him to remove the Command Talisman from his back, but Hua Cheng’s hand paused before he touched the offending paper. In the end, Hua Cheng withdrew his hand and laid Xie Lian flat on the bed.