Heaven Official's Affliction | TGCF

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It took quite a few hours to walk down the mountain, but the Martial God persisted. If it really was heavenly light he saw, something suspicious might be going on. Seeing for himself was the only way he could be certain about anything.

He arrived to the general area of where he saw the light, but since it had long gone out the exact details were fuzzy. So the Crown Prince did his best to look around for anything that may be off. The first think he noticed was sword and blade slashes on nearby trees and vegetation... the scent of blood was thick. It was obvious a battle took place here recently, but if there was a victor it would only be by a slim margin. Though he's typically excited for fights of this caliber, this instance didn't sit right in his gut. The way these blade marks tore through the surroundings was unnatural.

It was as if the other party was in deep anguish.

The thought sent chills down Xie Lian's spine, but he continued to investigate anyways. If he saw heavenly light in this area, he needed to know why. Maybe he was wrong about it being an ascension - was it possible a Heavenly Official had came down to intervene? That's not too likely. Xie Lian had the gut feeling Jun Wu wouldn't allow that to happen. It was already a miracle Mu Qing and Feng Xin were able to sneak out to help.

Xie Lian had almost seen everything there is to see here, and yet no sign of divine intervention. Nevertheless, if there was a fight here the parties were probably long gone, so the chances of asking someone about it was even more slim.

The Crown Prince heaved a heavy sigh. It seemed coming down here may of been a waste of his time after all. Was he already that insane - hallucinating Heaven's light on Mount Tonglu was ridiculous enough. But just as he was about to leave the scene for good, he caught the glimpse of a silver fluttering figure in his peripheral. His hand was quick to Fang Xin's hilt... misfortune was bound to drag him into a fight eventually. As he slowly turned to meet the figure, Xie Lian felt his grip loosen. This man... he's fatally injured!

This young man was pale as ice, lying dormant on a bed of crimson stained white flowers. Clad in black torn garments and bandages covering his eye... he was familliar. Wait, was this the weaponless ghost?! Is he ok? Xie Lian couldn't really tell. He wasn't conscious, that much was certain.

Without thinking, he took a few steps closer to kneel besides him cautiously. The motions felt natural, even though he had never met this man officially before. The Crown Prince couldn't justify leaving someone helpless.

Gently grabbing onto his wrist, he measured his pulse. There was nothing!

Xie Lian hesitantly let go before making the simplest realization he possibly could. Ghosts don't even have pulses! Though it was ridiculous how he forgot, this thought calmed his nerves. Though clearly injured, if he was still strong enough to maintain a physical body he would still be alive.

And so Xie Lian investigated him further. It didn't look good. There were many deep cuts, bruises, some nearly fatal, some that would have been fatal had he of been mortal, and some that even as a ghost would have been fatal. It was clear this young man was part of the battle that happened here.

Nevertheless, there was only one area he didn't investigate - behind the bandage over his eye. The Crown Prince remembered this ghost had always had this bandage, but this time it was stained with blood. Whatever pre-existing wound this ghost had, it either opened or was joined with a new one altogether.

If this bandage isn't changed, it's possible it will only get worse. With that thought in mind, he was sure this ghost would be ok with the Crown Prince bandaging him up properly right? Giving the matter no further thought, Xie Lian begun. Unravelling his eye bandage, Xie Lian didn't expect to see his right eye was completely gone! It wasn't scratched or impaled, just... gone. Nevertheless, the injury was fresh. It needed immediate treatment.