~
~
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~
~
~Somewhere in the city of Xian Le [[Author's P.o.v.]]:
The celestial city in the Central Plains was a prosperous nation blessed with vast lands, rich resources, and contented citizens. It boasted four treasures: beautiful women, a vibrant arts scene, abundant riches, and the long-awaited return of a radiant celestial being.
People heard the bells ring throughout the city of heaven while feeling each other in the whole blissful fate of the ascension, but from the Heaven's officials on the point of view of this... It's boring for their own entertainment to think about such a waste of the arrival of someone's ascension.
Still, a merchant in the city exclaimed to his customers as they ran towards the golden light, believing the new heaven official's arrival would be unlike the last. Another merchant also came running like the rest of the crowd to check the news of who had ascended the godhood?
"Who, who's has just ascended the heaven?"
"What a fuss."
"Who is ascending into heaven?"
"Most ascensions would cause a great quake or two."
"Check out this!" Pointing at the clouds, "The sky nearly collapsed!"
"This guy must be extremely talented & his cultivation level is remarkable."
"Wow! Lucky favors the guy."
"Fortune smiles at him."
"Extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary!!"
"Who is it!?"
"A couple of years ago, the same thing happened when Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of Xian Le Kingdom, ascended----!"
"Don't bring him up!"
"Bummer!"
"Let's go! & check out who the lucky guy is!"
"Go!" Everyone in Xian Le city, back away from the 'laughingstock of the three realms', has come back to his homeland, but not usually popularly called him; it was more unpopular than saying, 'he's the worst man in the heavens, why bring him if he came here three times!'
Saying these words, "Give me a break!"
"Not him again!" However, in his past life, he was known to be popularly known as the crown prince of Xian Lie, Xie Lian. He ascended from the heavens 3 times, and now, he has returned.
Time skip~
Xie Lian approached the white bridge and saw an older woman with silver hair and blue eyes. Her unadorned black robes reflected her seriousness and contentment, though prominent eye bags hinted at constant exhaustion from overwork.
To be fair on the storyline, her name is Ling Wen, known to be one of the Civil Goddesses in the Heavenly Court. "Congratulations, your highness! she continues by opening a blue scroll, 'For winning the contest of the 𝕄𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝔸𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕆𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟.' "
Hearing those words, smiles nervously he scratches the side of his right cheek:
"Somehow, I find it hard to be excited about." Xie Lian replied, slightly sweating at the so-called 'contest' and raised his head up to see her. Ling Wen, however, mentally smiles and rolls the scroll back into her hand, as she stated: "The winner would get to win 100 merit credits."
His eyes sparkle in excitement, putting his hands together, by immediately responding, "Please count me in next time!" Sounding pleased to hear about the next time the contest is on, he can ascend from the heavens again, over and over again.
Nevertheless, Ling Wen sees him with a small grin:
"Do you want to know who got to be the second place?" She asked him, who thought about who would be doing the same thing as him and telling her.
Xie Lian puts a hand over his chin, and walks casually towards Ling Wen with a wave of his hand in interest, "It's hard to guess," he continues, "Given my popularity, the top 3 places should be all mine."
"You're kinda right." Ling Wen answered,as she lets the scroll drop to reveal nothing written on it, "There is no second place, you have a way of overtaken the competition."
This startled the ascended god to the point he was slightly scared, "So, who was the last winner?" "Nobody," She deadpans bluntly, rolling the scroll back neatly in her hands without a fuss: "Cuz, this ranking was for this year, more specifically, today."
"A-Alright," Xie Lian nervously smiles, and averts his eyes away out of embarrasment with his hands behind his back: "Lucky for me to be right on time for such an event." Sure enough, he was motioned to enter the palace in front of them and he follows her.
While walking towards it, Ling Wen suddenly starts by walking ahead of him: "Do you know why you won?"
"Because of everyone's support?" Xie Lian nervously guessed.
Only for the foremost Civil Goddess in the Heavenly Court to point at the other palace, "Please check the Bell over there, your Highness."
"Where is it?"
"Exactly," She continues on explaining without hesitation: "There used to be a Bell; however, it was shaken off by the quake triggered by your ascension, falling right on a heaven official."
Horrified by this, Xie Lian felt guilty and rushed to her side, "And how is the situation now?" "It is under repair." "I-I m-mean the heaven official." He corrected her, and she responded with a bemused explanation of the aftermath:
"The god that got hit was a martial god, he flipped one hand over and smashed the bell with his sword." Hearing about this was something Xie Lian questioned slightly, feeling a little faint at the visual of a martial god casually obliterating a bell with a sword.
It was probably a very, very loud sound, he could only imagine the chaos, still processing the information.
"Now check the golden palace right there." Xie Lian looked closely to the right, and Ling Wen spoke, "You're not supposed to see it there; there is supposed to be nothing there since it toppled several palaces. We had to put up with some temporary ones before the original ones were fixed."
Now the blame was put in place on the ascended god, who looked really defeated by it all that Ling Wen continued walking towards the entrance to the palace, "So I'm the one to blame?" He asked her, turning to glance at him: "Yep, so you got it."
"Have I pissed off a lot of officials already?" Xie Lian sighed exasperatedly.
"There is a way to patch things up,"
This got his attention: "How?" "It's going to take 8.88 million merit credits, a piece of cake. I know you don't have even a tenth of it." Xie Lian nervously admits it by saying, "I couldn't." He continues to tell her, "even afford even a thousand of it."
Once inside her palace, it was revealed to be large and spacious but almost filled floor to the ceiling with so many scrolls along with the official documents, causing the scene to be so terrifying that other Heavenly Officials would shudder just seeing it because of so much history in their past lives.
"Don't panic." Ling Wen places a hand over his shoulder, "You'll cross the bridge when you come to it." "The bridge was burnt." Xie Lian sighed, and the lead Civil Goddess in the Heavenly Court touched her forehead in a summoning gesture.
"You still remember the password for the Telepathic Matrix, right?"
Time skip~ after both enter the Spiritual Communication Array to ask for assistance...
After Xie Lian was tasked with investigating the missing brides of Yu Jun Mountain. The workers of her palace are noted to be so overworked that they look dead inside as they drag mountains of paperwork.
Xie Lian didn't feel terrified by it, not even the slightest.
Why?
Because he holds a curious gaze at all of them when his thoughts begin to ignore his surroundings for just a moment until Ling Wen speaks: "Sorry." She apologizes politely, "If it weren't for Xua Zhen, we could have recruited some people."
"No worries," Xie Lian waved it off, "I'm used to doing things on my own."
Slightly relieved, the woman asked: "Do you need any magical weapons?" "Nah, all my mana was gone with the two banishments." Xie Lian declined, explaining: "I couldn't wield magical weapons in the mortal realm anymore."
His explanation sparked a new worry in her.
"This task is critical," she spoke more, as she stood up from her seat and walked towards the Crown Prince/Ascended god with a blue scroll in her hands, "Please be careful, your Highness. Contact me anytime if you need my help. I'll do my best to help."
Xie Lian receives it, puts it inside his sleeve pocket, and hears more details about the task from Ling Wen: "Here are the details of the task. Any questions?" "Who witnesses the scene, Ling Wen?" Questioned the Crown Prince.
Ling Wen's words hung in the air, stark and chilling. "Rumor has it a little girl did and nearly died."
Xie Lian's breath hitched. The casual chaos of ascension, the toppled palaces, the annoyed officials—it all faded into insignificance. A child. A little girl had been at the scene of a ghost groom's massacre.
"A child?" he repeated, his voice softer, laced with a sudden, protective urgency that was intrinsic to his nature. "How... how is that possible? Was she alone? Was she harmed?"
Ling Wen, ever the pragmatist, consulted the scroll in her hand, though her tone held a sliver of unusual gravity. "The reports are fragmented, pieced together from the panicked whispers of the few surviving servants who fled. They speak of a small girl, around seven or eight years old, appearing from the woods just before the procession entered the deepest part of the forest. She reportedly interacted with the bride."
"Interacted?" Xie Lian pressed, his mind already painting a terrifying picture.
A kind, curious child approaching a beautiful bride, completely unaware of the horror to come. "She offered them berries," Ling Wen confirmed, a faint, almost imperceptible note of pity in her voice.
"The bride, in return, gave her a pair of white pearl earrings. It was the last recorded act of kindness before the attack. The girl hid. She was the only one who saw the aftermath and lived to tell of it. According to the rumors, she was... confronted by the entity. She survived, but it was a close thing."
Xie Lian's hands clenched at his sides.
The image was clear now: a tiny figure, trembling under a carriage, witnessing unspeakable horrors, then facing the ghost bride herself. His heart, which had endured eight centuries of hardship, ached with a fresh, sharp pain for this unknown child.
"Where is she now?" he asked, his tone leaving no room for evasion. "This little girl. Where did she go?" "The rumors say she's in the Mount Yujun area," Ling Wen said, meeting his gaze. "Finding her could reveal what we're truly facing, Your Highness. But be warned: if the ghost groom knows a witness lives..."
"He will try to silence her," Xie Lian finished, his resolve hardening.
The playful god had vanished, replaced by the Crown Prince, the divine protector dedicated to saving the common people:'A seven- or eight-year-old child, carrying the weight of such a traumatic secret. She wasn't just a witness; she was a target. And she was alone.'
"Thank you, Ling Wen," Xie Lian said, his voice firm. "The task is clear. I will find this ghost groom. And before anything else, I will find that little girl. May all taboos."
His journey to Mount Yujun was no longer just about solving a heavenly task or earning merits. It was a promise, silent and solemn, to a child he had never met. He would ensure that the innocence stolen from her on that bloody night would be the last thing she would ever lose.
"May all taboos shattered," he bows his head to Ling Wen, leaving the premises as the Crown Prince was finally ready to take his first mission: Mountain Yujun.
=================================
NEXT AGAIN, PLEASE!