Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2(71)

“I found him! His Highness is here!”

However, she then saw Hua Cheng standing behind Xie Lian, and her face fell immediately. She leapt backwards and flashed the Wind Master fan before her. But before Xie Lian had the chance to say anything, a man’s voice echoed from within the cave.

“Did you find him? Is everything all right?”

The voice approached quickly, and soon another figure appeared—it was Feng Xin. He had a long, black bow in his left hand, and the moment he saw Hua Cheng, he pulled back the silver bowstring, on high alert. Hua Cheng sneered and made no comment.

Xie Lian hurriedly said, “Put away your weapons, we can talk this out.”

The four had run into each other on the narrow path of the Green Ghost’s lair, two against two. Feng Xin had his bowstring fully taut. A strand of spiritual light formed into the shape of an arrow within his right hand, and he aimed it at Hua Cheng.

Feng Xin spoke first, his voice full of warning. “Your Highness, come here.”

Feng Xin’s bow was gifted to him by Jun Wu; named Fengshen,10 it was a rather troublesome spiritual device to face off against. Xie Lian was afraid he’d shoot for real, and he rushed to stand in front of Hua Cheng, shielding him. But unexpectedly, Hua Cheng grabbed him from behind and pulled him right back.

That pull startled the other two. Shi Qingxuan immediately raised his hand.

“Hua Cheng! Crimson Rain Sought Flower! D-d-d-don’t do anything rash! The burning of your Paradise Manor was an accident! If you’re upset, we can talk! The Heavens can pay you back. The Heavenly Emperor isn’t that short on cash. Let go of His Highness, and we can talk.”

Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he was still immensely grateful. “Lord Wind Master, you’re mistaken. Actually…”

He wanted to explain that Hua Cheng hadn’t come looking for payback because of Paradise Manor, but Shi Qingxuan was throwing him guileful looks as if telling him not to speak a word. Hua Cheng didn’t argue either, just raised his voice to speak.

“And what about Jun Wu setting up a spy under my nose? We have nothing to talk about.”

Xie Lian finally understood. Shi Qingxuan could see that Hua Cheng had no ill intent, but on the surface, they had to pretend that Hua Cheng had only barged into the Heavens to collect his due. It would prevent gossip from those who might suggest that Xie Lian had maliciously and intentionally absconded. Hua Cheng understood Shi Qingxuan’s intent and had played along. However, Xie Lian didn’t want to go this route.

“All right, stop acting. He only came to the Heavens to save me. San Lang had good intentions, so why conceal them?”

“No more acting,” Shi Qingxuan agreed. “I already sent those two exchanges to the communication array. You don’t understand—no matter how good the intentions, words always end up negative once they’ve been passed around enough. They might as well be negative from the start.”

“You get it,” Hua Cheng commented.

“Of course! Otherwise, how could I, the Lord Wind Master, be so popular in the Heavens?” Shi Qingxuan preened. “General Nan Yang, lower your bow.”

However, Feng Xin still had his bow pulled at almost full strength, holding his breath and not saying a word. Shi Qingxuan smacked him.

“Put it down, can’t you see they’re close? Nothing bad’s gonna happen.”

Feng Xin said in a dark voice, “Your Highness, the one next to you is a supreme…”

Seeing that he wouldn’t drop his hostility, nor his bow, Shi Qingxuan suddenly threw herself into his arm.

Instantly, Feng Xin’s face paled, worse than if he’d seen a ghost by a million-fold. He screamed, and the shaft of the spiritual arrow dissipated powerlessly like a cloud. Face aghast, he opened his mouth, and a long string of loud curses came out, ending with a distressed cry.

“What the fuck?! What are you doing?!”

Turned out, Shi Qingxuan had used her bosoms to ram into the arm holding the arrow. By the looks of it, that blow had thoroughly terrified Feng Xin. Shi Qingxuan swung her whisk back, elegantly carefree, looking as if she hadn’t just done anything indecent.

“I haven’t even asked you what you are doing. I just said that Crimson Rain Sought Flower came to save His Highness, and you still point at him with your arrow. If you want to fight him so badly, well, I won’t help you.”

Feng Xin had already backed a million miles away and looked like he would never approach her again. He cried out in dismay, “Don’t you dare do that ever again! Ever!! Do you hear me?!”

Watching him avoid her as if she were a snake, Shi Qingxuan, who was so confident about her ethereal beauty, actually felt rather depressed.

“Okay, okay, okay. I won’t do it again. It’s not like you suffered any loss, so what’s with that reaction?” As if feeling she’d lost face, Shi Qingxuan changed back into a man and turned around. “Eh? Where’s Qianqiu?”

At his words, Feng Xin finally collected himself somewhat and looked around too.

Xie Lian ah’d and asked, “He’s not in the communication array?”

“No?” Shi Qingxuan answered. “After he rolled the dice and left, we didn’t hear a peep. I asked him multiple times what the correct roll was, but he never replied. Before, when I talked to Qianqiu, he’d always respond really fast—not just to me but to any officials regardless of their rank. So weird.”