"You came looking for me specifically? Did something happen?"

"Nothing." Chi Lian looked back at the quiet temple, naturally changing the subject. "Does Your Highness want to go in and have a look around? I will accompany you."

Wei Ming chuckled to himself, feeling that in Chi Lian's eyes, he was probably a fragile mortal who would trip and fall just by walking, someone who couldn't be left unwatched for even a moment. He shifted to the side, signaling for him to walk with him. "Don't you need to attend to the Emperor? Father Emperor was quite frightened by the Ran Dragon incident last time. He even specifically brought you along on this trip. What if you're suddenly summoned?"

Chi Lian didn't seem to care much. "I'm not Chief Eunuch Shang. Aren't the thousand or so people serving him in the imperial palace enough? It'll be timely enough to find me when there's something actually haunts him."

'This was incredibly treasonous, but who could blame him when he was a genuine, bona fide living immortal? A strange feeling arose on Wei Ming's tongue—he didn't even hold the Son of Heaven in high regard. It seemed as if no rules or precepts in the world could bind him. Yet, such a person was following him step by step, and had even promised to protect him all the way to the supreme peak. Just why was that?'

Chunling Temple covered a vast area and was built magnificently. The main hall had three courtyards, with side halls and scripture towers on both sides. In the main hall, a solemn and dignified statue of the Heavenly Emperor was enshrined. Its features were extremely majestic and vivid. Incense, candles, and offerings were neatly arranged on the table. It was clear that someone frequently cleaned and maintained the offerings, yet looking around, not a single person could be seen.

"There isn't even a single Daoist acolyte in the temple?" Wei Ming looked left and right, then hesitantly sought Chi Lian's opinion. "Since we're already here, it wouldn't be right not to offer a stick of incense and pay our respects."

"Your Highness, wait!"

Chi Lian's reaction could be called an overreaction as he forcefully stopped him. Wei Ming hadn't expected him to intervene in such a matter and was taken aback. "Huh?"

Chi Lian said, steeling himself, "You... should probably not pay respects..."

Wei Ming stared at him wide-eyed for a long while, trying hard to understand the deep meaning in Chi Lian's words. Finally, he tentatively came to a conclusion, "Was I a Buddhist cultivator in my past life, so I don't need to worship the Heavenly Emperor in this one?"

Chi Lian: "Uh..."

While spouting nonsense to fool Wei Ming, he pushed him outwards. "Let's just say that's the case... Does Your Highness want to see the murals over there? There's nothing special here. There are several more temples behind this one. If we don't hurry, we won't finish looking around."

Completely bewildered, Wei Ming was dragged out of the main hall by him and they hurried into the Four Sovereigns Pavilion behind it. Enshrined in this temple were the "Four Heavenly Emperors," namely Taiwei, Ziwei, Changsheng, and Weiyang, the four venerable deities who, according to legend, assisted the Heavenly Emperor.

Wei Ming had seen shrines to the Four Sovereeigns in other temples before and wasn't particularly interested. But when he inadvertently glanced up, he suddenly noticed that while the other three statues had offerings like fruits and fragrant flowers placed before them, the statue of the Taiwei Heavenly Emperor in the very center only had a coarse pottery flower vase with a bunch of freshly picked lotuses in it.

"Strange," he murmured to himself. "Why is this place different from the others..."

His voice trailed off, the sentence left unfinished.

He suddenly noticed Chi Lian staring, lost in thought, at the vase of lotuses. On the face of this man shrouded in dense fog, this otherworldly immortal who had transcended the mortal realm, an emotion that was clear yet incomprehensible to Wei Ming appeared for the first time—vivid and intense.

It seemed to be a heart-piercing, unforgettable anguish, yet it also seemed to contain boundless sorrow and melancholy.

Wei Ming was momentarily stunned, feeling as if a layer of hazy smoke separated them. They were clearly standing shoulder to shoulder, yet on the other side of the mist was a world that he, as a mere mortal, could not touch—a world that belonged only to the real Chi Lian.

As he stood there in a daze, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from the depths of the hall. A Daoist in black robes, holding a horsetail whisk on his arm, arrived belatedly. He gave the two a deep bow. "I was unaware of His Highness, Prince Duan's arrival. I have failed to welcome you from afar. I pray for Your Highness's forgiveness."

Chi Lian was instantly jolted back to his senses. He took half a step forward, shielding Wei Ming behind him. "Who are you?"

The black-robed Daoist hurriedly said, "This humble Daoist is Chi Anshou, the unworthy master of Chunling Temple. Because the imperial palace is receiving guests today, the temple's staff were all called to help. That is why I was late in greeting you and have neglected Your Highness. It is truly a sin."

The man was about thirty or forty years old, draped in a black crane-feather cloak, and wearing a five-leaf aloeswood crown. His face was fair and gaunt, his figure tall and slender—he looked as if he were the very embodiment of the phrase 'immortal bearing and Daoist bones'. Furthermore, his words were modest and his attitude amiable, making one take an instant liking to him.

Wei Ming placed a hand on Chi Lian's shoulder and gave him a look filled with subtle meaning. Then, he politely said to Chi Anshou, "Temple Master, you speak too seriously. It was this Prince who was idly wandering and entered your esteemed grounds unannounced. I have caused much disturbance. Please do not take offense."

Chi Anshou said humbly, "That the Prince would grace us with his presence is truly this temple's good fortune. How could it be a disturbance."

Wei Ming smiled. Chi Anshou took the initiative to invite them, "Behind the Four Sovereigns Hall, there is a small garden with a passable view. If the Prince does not mind, please come to the mountain lodge to sit for a while, have a cup of tea, and rest your feet."

"Since the Temple Master has invited me, I should not refuse. However, my visit today was hasty. I am travel-worn and my etiquette is lacking; I fear I might offend the deities. Besides, I have matters to attend to later, so I shall not disturb you further." Wei Ming tactfully declined. "After I have fasted and bathed another day, I will come again to pay a formal visit."

Chi Anshou did not insist. He only said, "In that case, this humble Daoist will lead the way for the Prince. This way, please."

The three of them came out from the Four Sovereigns Pavilion. Along the way, Wei Ming took every opportunity to make small talk with Chi Anshou, asking where he was from, when he had become a monk, and how long he had been at Chunling Temple. They were escorted all the way to the mountain gate before they bid farewell and parted ways. After they had walked a long distance and could already see the moon gate of the Wind and Lotus Courtyard, with no one else around, Chi Lian finally asked cautiously, "Does Your Highness think there's a problem with Chi Anshou?"

"Hmm?" Wei Ming casually extended a hand. In an instant, a breeze blew past, and he accurately caught a petal that had fallen from a branch. "Why do you ask?"

Chi Lian said, "A feeling."

"..." Wei Ming seemed to be choked up by his answer. "Are you saying I didn't seem natural just now?"

"Not exactly." Chi Lian thought for a moment, finally grasping a clue. Like a poor student answering a teacher's question, he said with confidence and certainty, "Didn't Your Highness give me that look just now?"

"What do you mean 'that look'?" Wei Ming said. "I just thought it was rare to meet another person with the surname Chi."

"..."

Chi Lian corrected him helplessly, "Your Highness, my surname isn't Chi. My given name is Chi Lian. I don't have a surname."

Wei Ming was surprised. "Oh, is that how it is?"

Chi Lian: "Don't change the subject. Your Highness hasn't answered my question yet."

"Why the rush?" Wei Ming laughed. "Alright, alright, you're right. I do think there's something wrong with him."

"Chi Anshou claims to be from Xuan City, and that he used to cultivate at Qingshu Temple on Baodeng Mountain. He came to Longshan in the seventeenth year of Qiansheng to take over as the master of Chunling Temple." He repeated the information he had just extracted from Chi Anshou. "This is my first time at the Longshan Imperial Palace. If it weren't for the recent incident, I should be cultivating on Mount Ying right now, same as in previous years."

Chi Lian hadn't yet caught on. "So what's wrong?"

Wei Ming said, "I'm not in the capital year-round. Even many people in the palace might not recognize me. But this temple master from faraway Longshan addressed me as His Highness, Prince Duan, right from the start. That's quite intriguing."

Chi Lian thought for a moment and said, "What if he's seen Your Highness before? It's just that Your Highness doesn't remember. That would make sense, wouldn't it?"

"No, it doesn't make sense." Wei Ming said, "If he wanted me to remember, he should have brought it up himself during the small talk later when he saw that I didn't press the matter. That would be human nature. But since he recognizes me yet says nothing about it, it's hard not to wonder if there's some reason behind it."

Chi Lian: "Perhaps he just doesn't want to get involved with the imperial family, like not wanting to curry favor with the powerful."

"Then he shouldn't have revealed my identity in the first place," Wei Ming laughed. "Besides, that might be possible for other princes, but what kind of powerful noble am I?"

Chi Lian was particularly easy to persuade. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "So, he originally planned to pretend not to know Your Highness, but he let it slip by accident. Why would he do that?"

"From the time we entered the gate to the time we reached the Four Sovereigns Pavilion, at least an incense stick's worth of time passed. He only appeared then, so it's very likely he was rushed and wasn't thorough enough. And there's not a single person in the entire temple. Thinking about it carefully, that doesn't quite add up either." Wei Ming let go of the petal, allowing it to fall into the soil under the tree. "The offerings in the temple are all fresh, and there are still wet marks on the altar table. In a season when petals fall so easily, the paths inside and outside the temple are very clean. It's clear many people sweep them. So where did all these people go?"

It was a scorching, sunny summer day, but Chi Lian felt a chill run down his spine from his words. Wei Ming, however, was the type to start something and not finish it. He immediately changed the subject: "But it's also possible that I'm overthinking it. Perhaps it's just as Chi Anshou said, those people were just called away to help, and although he recognizes me, he doesn't wish to speak much with us common mortals, so it's understandable for his attitude to be a bit reserved."

Chi Lian vaguely felt that these words didn't sound like his usual self, but he didn't dwell on the underlying meaning. His mind, however, was working fast, and he immediately said, "We just need to find the imperial palace emissary in charge of receiving guests and ask. Then we'll know if he's lying."

He turned to leave as soon as he finished speaking, but Wei Ming yanked him back. "Wait!"

Chi Lian: "Does Your Highness have any other commands?"

"This is all my speculation. There's no real evidence. If we make a big fuss and it turns out to be a false alarm, it will be very difficult to clean up the mess afterward." Wei Ming sighed and softened his tone. "In the end, if I hadn't been bored enough to wander into Chunling Temple, none of this would have happened."

"But what if something is really wrong?"

For a rare moment, Wei Ming's expression turned serious, his tone so flat it was almost cold. "Don't you understand yet? Even if this conclusion, inferred from mere fragments of conversation, is proven true, it's still someone else's business that has nothing to do with you. When it comes to that, what do you plan to do?"

They had already left Chunling Temple without incident. Those so-called clues were, in the end, just faint traces. Even if they pretended not to have seen them and didn't investigate further, no one could accuse them of negligence.

But if they insisted on investigating, it would mean voluntarily plunging into an chaotic, out-of-control vortex, perhaps straying further and further from the path he desired. It wouldn't be a good thing for him or for Chi Lian.

"So Your Highness means that I shouldn't meddle in other people's business, is that right?" Chi Lian suddenly retorted. "If Your Highness were here alone today, would you also pretend not to have seen anything without a second thought?"

Wei Ming was speechless.

Unexpectedly, Chi Lian didn't press him further, as if he already had the answer in his heart, which wouldn't be swayed no matter what Wei Ming said. "Actually, someone has asked me the same question before."

"Though I am quite unqualified, I am, after all, an immortal. Of all the affairs under heaven, as long as they don't concern me, which one isn't 'other people's business'? But if I don't even handle matters that are placed right in front of me, I'm afraid I have no right to speak of saving all sentient beings."

"Meddling is troublesome, I know that. I've suffered enough because of it." He looked up at Wei Ming and asked very seriously, "If I really stir up a hornet's nest this time, will Your Highness back me up?"

A cool breeze blew through the quiet woods, causing dozens of flowering trees to rustle and shake, showering the two people beneath them with a rain of petals for no reason.

Not everyone has the confidence to meddle in others' affairs, nor is it enough to simply have a heart full of enthusiasm and goodwill. After suffering through trials of fire and ice, after being beaten black and blue, to still be able to bravely take a step forward... who was the person backing him up each time?

Wei Ming stood there silently, repeatedly swallowing a complex, baseless feeling, while letting himself sink deeper and deeper into that water-like gaze, irretrievably lost.

"If I can't back you up either," he sighed heavily, once again defeated by Chi Lian's gaze, "then let's fall together."

Chunling Temple.

The doors to the Four Sovereigns Pavilion were tightly shut. The hall was so quiet one could hear a pin drop. The divine statues sat in the gloom, their faces blurred into a ghastly white.

"Legend has it that in the Jiangxiao Palace, the residence of the Taiwei Heavenly Emperor, there is a cool Luli Pond. The pond's water can reflect a thousand years of change in the mortal realm, and in it grows a thousand-petaled red lotus, the only red lotus in the Thirty-Three Heavens."

With a slight wave of his hand, the black-robed Daoist made the lotuses in the vase fly into his grasp. He held the fresh, dewy, pinkish-white flower and looked down at the identical face on the ground, asking softly with a smile of anticipation, "I have never been to the White Jade Capital. You tell me, is this legend true?"