Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Su Huaijing never told Rong Tang how he knew about the Xian Guo Public House being granted to Sheng Chengli.

Rong Tang tried to broach the topic several times, but before he could speak, he would be glared at by Su Huaijing, ending up lowering his voice to a whining, "You're so fierce."

He felt that the villain was somewhat excessive, yet he couldn’t defeat him, and fortunately, he wasn’t too curious about what forces Su Huaijing had cultivated or how he kept tabs on Sheng Chengli's movements.

The Xian Guo Public House was burned down, and Emperor Renshou was furious.

Half a month later, Ke Hongxue invited Rong Tang and others for a gathering to enjoy tea and snow. During the meet, he shared a piece of news not yet widely known among the public, laughing as he spoke.

Since birth, the male protagonist’s fate had been altered by a sorcerer, transferring his destined Ziwie companion star to the sixth prince, Sheng Chengyun, and fabricating a rumor that hindered the Emperor's star, leading Emperor Renshou to dislike him from the moment he was born.

In the previous two lifetimes, due to the augmentation of heavenly fate and the behind-the-scenes efforts of Rong Tang and Ke Hongxue, Sheng Chengli eventually became Emperor Renshou's most beloved and guilt-ridden prince.

However, in this lifetime, the protagonist's emergence from the cold palace was marked by a severe illness and only gained the emperor's attention after Yuan Rong desperately sought imperial physicians. After leaving the cold palace, Sheng Chengli was nearly mauled by a white tiger, considered an auspicious omen by Emperor Renshou, and later broke his leg in the Imperial Garden.

Before gaining the Emperor's favor, he faced a series of misfortunes. Finally, reaching an age to leave the palace and establish his residence, he encountered the fire at Xian Guo Public House.

Emperor Renshou, recalling the series of accidents that befell Sheng Chengli within a year, pondered deeply and summoned the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

Rong Tang’s expression sharpened, and he sat up straighter, asking, “What happened next?”

Su Huaijing’s brows furrowed slightly, a layer of light irritation lingering in his mind. Unable to restrain himself, he reached out and grasped Rong Tang’s hand, holding it in his own.

Rong Tang quickly glanced at him, then turned back to focus on Ke Hongxue.

Su Huaijing, caught off guard by Rong Tang’s actions, was momentarily stunned before shaking his head with a resigned smile, wondering what he could possibly do with Tang Tang.

Ke Hongxue explained, "The Imperial Astronomical Bureau stated that the fifth prince was born with an unusual destiny, one of hardship followed by sweetness, harboring a demonic presence within. He must endure trials to dispel a major calamity and then walk the path to prosperity."

Rong Tang furrowed his brows, silently pondering the meaning behind these words.

Just as he was trying to discern whether the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, like in his previous life, was swayed by Sheng Chengli to speak favorably, Ke Hongxue added with a smile, completing his previous statement, “The Bureau Chief said that the fifth prince was originally destined to face hardship for eighteen years before encountering sixty years of smooth sailing. However, leaving the cold palace prematurely disrupted this timeline, and the suppressed demonic essence, enraged by years of containment, triggered this series of events.”

Rong Tang was baffled, thinking: What kind of fantastical explanation is this? Can anyone really believe it?

[You forgot how superstitious Emperor Rénshòu is?] the system reminded.

Róng Táng choked up, agreeing with the system's point, and asked Kē Hóngxuě, "Is there more?"

Kē Hóngxuě smiled, "Certainly, there is more. The imperial censor also said that now the ill-star accompanies the Fifth Prince, the evil within him only harms himself. But if the malevolence isn’t expelled in time, sooner or later it will bring disaster to the Emperor."

As he spoke, the second brew of tea on the stove emitted a gentle fragrance. Outside in the courtyard, winter snow whirled, covering the ground in a layer of silver. Mù Jǐngxù, wrapped in a thick cloak, leaned on a couch, casually flipping through ancient books from the Kē family's library, his peach blossom eyes slightly lowered.

For the first time in three lifetimes, Róng Táng saw a semblance of indolence in him.

Róng Táng felt puzzled but suppressed his questions for the moment, asking Kē Hóngxuě, "What’s planned next?"

Kē Hóngxuě replied, "Naturally, it is to drive out the evil. The Emperor has already sent someone to Tālán Temple to invite Master Huì Miǎn. After the New Year, a ritual will be held in the palace to suppress all the evil spirits in the Fifth Prince."

Róng Táng fell silent for a moment, not expecting the butterfly effect to reach this point.

In the original story, Master Huì Miǎn was mentioned because Shèng Chénglì needed to find a highly esteemed monk to recite scriptures and bless his superstitious father, to win his favor and gain advantage for himself.

In this life, the situation had reversed, with Emperor Rénshòu asking Master Huì Miǎn to "exorcise evil spirits" from Shèng Chénglì.

This development was so strange and went so smoothly that Róng Táng couldn't quite understand if the heavens still favored its protagonist as before.

Otherwise, how could things have escalated to this point?

Or is it again because of Sù Huáijǐng?

From the beginning, the heavens seemed unable to deal with Sù Huáijǐng, thus bringing Róng Táng from another world.

But why does the heavenly order of this small world seem to have no control over the people living in it?

The more he thought about it on the carriage back to Níngxiān King's Mansion, the more baffling it became.

Taking advantage of a feigned sleep, Rong Tang entered the system space after a long absence.

Initially, the stark contrast in his field of vision almost stunned him.

If likened to a game, the system space that Rong Tang was bound to resembled a realistic map of an online game.

At the center was a proportional miniature representation of the current space and form of the character, with all perspectives in the system shifting and moving according to the player’s – Rong Tang’s – viewpoint.

Within this space, there were numerous interactive elements, such as the system coin balance on the side and the virtual avatar with progress level at the top left corner. Once the progress bar filled, it signified task completion, and after evaluation by the system's main brain, corresponding rewards would be issued.

For example, a healthy body free from illness and enough wealth for a lifetime.

In the top right corner was the map area. When the system space wasn’t obscured, opening the map would reveal the entire world’s region block maps. Each visited area would be illuminated, and within each region, there were teleportation anchors. Rong Tang could use system coins to teleport.

As for the map, it directly displayed the male protagonist himself. Rong Tang simply had to click his avatar to move to the nearest location to him and then pretend to encounter him by chance.

All this was very convenient. Rong Tang had enjoyed these conveniences for two lifetimes. This time, when the system space was completely covered by dense black fog, he felt somewhat unaccustomed.

Later, the space underwent changes; half was enveloped in black fog, and the other half was invaded by grey. The system couldn’t see this scene, and Rong Tang himself didn’t understand what was happening. He chose not to pay much attention to avoid bothering himself.

But now, re-entering, he was stunned.

The space was like a rectangular screen, with a three-dimensional projection underneath. The left half was still impenetrable black, while the right half was engulfed in grey.

At the edge of the grey, there were colors similar to sunlight casting reflections on clouds, creating a glass-like effect.

When Rong Tang first saw this grey area, it seemed vast and deep. But now, he realized it wasn’t just plain grey.

It was like layers of transparent cloth with varying degrees of dirt, all diffused and overlapped, ultimately forming a vast expanse of grey mist.

Everywhere was confusion, everywhere was unclear.

But now, this confusion had diminished slightly, especially where the edges were entwined with colored light, almost revealing some extremely clean, light transparent layers.

Rong Tang looked closely and saw the outlines of houses and eaves below those spots.

Just a little bit, but he was almost certain that this was the space he currently occupied.

The reason lay at the center of the image.

Rong Tang saw himself — only half of his body.

Right where the black met, it was the densest, the grey almost blending into a deep black. Yet, in the middle, there was a faint light, like a heart struggling to keep beating beneath the pixels.

The very blurred figure, lying in a carriage with eyes closed, was half invisible in the darkness and half trembling at the edges of the shaking grey fog, his expression peaceful.

The grey kept trying to spread to the left but was almost immediately absorbed into the thick dark area, with no dilution of color visible, yet it kept probing persistently.

The closer it got to Rong Tang, the more intense the probing became. The fog repeatedly crashed into the darkness like a reckless warrior.

Without any sound or expression, all that could be seen was the division of the fog into two parts, overall harmonious and undisturbed, with only ripples appearing intermittently in the middle.

Rong Tang stared at that area for a long time, his nose inexplicably feeling sore.

Without any clear reason, he felt that the dense fog was trying to pull him back to its domain.

Even if he would be engulfed and eroded upon crashing into the black, it still repeatedly and resolutely tried to protect the half of the body it enveloped, trying to piece together a complete figure.

It seemed that was its original purpose in this space.

Having been silent in the space for too long, the system sensed something was off and asked with slight concern: [Host, what’s wrong?]

Rong Tang finally snapped out of his prolonged gaze, murmuring, "It's nothing."

The system, simulating emotions with a voice tinged with an almost imperceptible sob, immediately sensed something amiss. It anxiously scanned around but only saw the usual expanse of three-dimensional imagery.

On a clear, sunny winter day in Yu Jing, the snow had just stopped, leaving the eaves and the ground covered in a vast blanket of white snow.

Inside the spacious carriage of the Ning Xuan King's Mansion, moving along the widest avenue of Yu Jing City, two people were present - one sitting beside a stove and incense, reading under the candlelight, and the other lying asleep.

The one sitting glanced occasionally at the sleeping figure while reading, while the latter’s face looked peaceful, as if in a sweet dream.

But the system, observing the sleeping figure for a long time with a muffled mechanical voice, gently asked, "Tang Tang, why are you crying?"

Rong Tang was momentarily stunned, then instinctively raised his hand outside the space and wiped his face, saying, "I don't know."

He didn't have any "god-like perspective"; he had no idea what kind of world he was really in.

Rong Tang opened his eyes, his pupils slightly reddened.

When Su Huaijing saw him get up, his smile initially lingered, but it quickly faded upon seeing the color in Rong Tang's eyes. He asked in a low voice, "Had a dream again?"

Rong Tang paused briefly, then shook his head, "No."

Su Huaijing, skeptical, continued to frown and stare at him, "Really?"

Rong Tang nodded firmly, "Really."

He pulled back the curtain, looked out at the snowy landscape outside the carriage, and softly said, "Huaijing, the New Year is coming. What do you want for a New Year's gift?"

With the New Year and his birthday approaching, he wanted to properly celebrate Su Huaijing's birthday.

He spoke, but received no reply. Rong Tang turned back in confusion, only to find the surroundings suddenly darkening.

Su Huaijing raised his hand to wipe away the tears at the corner of Rong Tang's eyes, asking softly, "Tang Tang, remember the three wishes you owe me?"

Rong Tang was slightly taken aback, and after pondering for a while, he finally recalled what he was referring to.

On the carriage ride before the Flower Folding Festival, he lost to Su Huaijing and was tricked into owing three requests.

Rong Tang, at a loss for words, resignedly nodded, "I remember."

"I want to use the first one now," Su Huaijing said.

Rong Tang was utterly puzzled, unable to think of anything about himself that the current antagonist would need a 'wish' to achieve.

After all, he had even schemed against the male lead.

But he still nodded, "Go ahead."

Su Huaijing said, "Next time, in your dream, you have to come find me."

Rong Tang stiffened, his eyes widening in disbelief as he stared into Su Huaijing's eyes.

Su Huaijing repeated, "You have to find me; you know where I am."

The Imperial Palace, Shu land, Song Jing Alley's Li Mansion, the rooms of the Moonlit Tower, and even... Qin Pengxun's mansion.

As long as Rong Tang wished, he could find anyone in the world at any time.

Yet Rong Tang stood frozen, an inexplicable sour sensation rising in his nose and his throat turning hoarse.

He hid his hands behind him, clenching them into fists, and asked in a hoarse voice, "What if you ignore me?"

"You try a few more times." Su Huaijing leaned forward, pulled out the hands Rong Tang was hiding behind, and gently unfolded them, "Give me a bit more patience, and I will definitely pay attention to you."

"Is that okay?" Su Huaijing pressed against his forehead, softly pleading.

Outside the window, the sound of horse hooves on the snow was dense and prolonged.

Author's note:

Sorry for the wait. Huaijing hasn't reincarnated, nor has he remembered his past two lives. He's just overly sensitive.