No blossoming. Chaosheng glanced in the mirror, then carefully changed his clothes.
Wu Yingzong opened his eyes and heard Hulü Guang’s voice outside.
“You’re awake? Chaosheng!”
“Mm.” Chaosheng, dressed, was drinking water in the front hall.
“Come!” Hulü Guang said. “I’ll take you to see my master…”
Wu Yingzong stopped pretending to sleep and quickly got up. “Chaosheng?”
“You…” Chaosheng looked around. “Big Brothers aren’t here. Do you need to tend to things first?”
Wu Yingzong said displeased, “How can I let you wander off alone?”
Hulü Guang said, “I’ll look after him!”
Wu Yingzong: “No.”
With Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun gone, Wu Yingzong couldn’t let Hulü Guang take Chaosheng. After a quick tidy, he followed behind. Chaosheng glanced at Wu Yingzong but said nothing, just walked ahead with head down alongside Hulü Guang.
Hulü Guang, sobered up, regained his sunny disposition. Whistling ahead to lead the way, he occasionally plucked a leaf and said, “Then we’ll all go together! There’ll be good breakfast soon. Let’s go.”
Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun, having submitted documents, were led into the Royal Palace.
“Yo,” Xiang Xian said, “the Gaochang King is quite wealthy.”
“Of course,” Xiao Kun said. “This is a key Silk Road hub. Just the merchant taxes bring in millions of taels of silver yearly. Finally your turn to be the country bumpkin.”
Xiang Xian laughed. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen grandeur before; Gaochang’s prosperity just had a distinct style.
Compared to Great Song, the Gaochang Royal Palace was less majestic and smaller in area—akin to a prince’s mansion in Kaifeng City, even inferior to the estates of Gao Qiu or Cai Jing. But with centuries of wealth, the architecture used premium materials. The entire palace was built of white stone, inlaid everywhere with lapis lazuli and rubies, and displayed ancient paintings and brass artifacts from the Silk Road.
The chief eunuch, having received the documents, came personally to greet them. Though not formal envoys, Xiao Kun’s seals represented both Great Song and Great Liao, demanding serious treatment.
“His Majesty the King is awake but still washing up,” the Gaochang palace steward said in fluent Chinese. “Please have breakfast first, sirs.”
Xiao Kun ate casually. Served were the Western Regions staples: milk tea, fried samosas, flatbreads with blood-red Tianshan rose jam, and roasted quail.
Xiang Xian: “This must be the Western Regions breakfast.”
Xiao Kun: “Not used to it.”
Sometimes Xiao Kun didn’t understand Xiang Xian’s tastes—he adapted to anything, like Chaosheng, eager to try whatever was edible.
Soon, a Hu woman came and said, “His Majesty the King invites the two esteemed guests from afar.”
The inner court steward handed them to the Hu Dancing Girl, who led them through corridors to the palace depths. The palace brimmed with greenery, featuring arched pillars and stone galleries everywhere. Unlike Song’s dark lacquered courtyards, it had excellent lighting, with flocks of birds chirping happily in the gardens.
The birds crowded around central A Huang like stars around the moon—some sang, some offered flowers, others gently preened its feathers.
Passing the garden, Xiang Xian whistled. A Huang flew back at once, and the birds scattered with a whoosh.
“No wonder you took so long,” Xiang Xian said softly.
A Huang didn’t reply, eyes wide in feigned innocence, looking around.
“Act more convincingly?” Xiang Xian said.
The Hu woman thought they were chatting privately and glanced back often, guessing at the origins of these two handsome men, eyes sparkling with smiles.
“Hey.” Xiang Xian nudged Xiao Kun with his elbow, gesturing for him to look.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Xiao Kun said.
“I only said ‘hey’,” Xiang Xian said. “How is that nonsense?”
The attendants fully opened the doors at the corridor’s end. Inside lay gilded red-and-blue carpets, walls bearing a portrait of a handsome man in exotic style.
Before the portrait, a burly middle-aged man sat on a Hu bed, dressed in Gaochang robes. Without crown or ornaments, he exuded natural kingly presence.
Beside him, on a soft chair, sat an elder leaning on a heavy wooden cane, gazing at Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun.
“This is the lord of the Western Regions peoples, the Gaochang King, His Majesty Bila Ge, and his wise Prime Minister, Lord Elon,” the Hu Dancing Girl said.
Xiang Xian got it and glanced at Xiao Kun before introducing to the Gaochang King and Prime Minister:
“This is from the Eastern Shenzhou world, of Great Song and Great Liao, the Only Great Demon Exorcist, wielder of Kunlun’s Senluo Wanxiang Blade. A black dragon coils at his waist, his eyes shoot wind and thunder, his hands unleash frost and lightning. Known as ‘Omnipotent Xiao Kun’, Lord Xiao.”
Xiao Kun: “…”
“Don’t make me punch you in front of a monarch,” Xiao Kun said politely in a low voice.
Xiang Xian said earnestly: “And his loyal subordinate, Exorcism Division Deputy Envoy, Xiang Xian.”
The Hu Dancing Girl was about to translate when Bila Ge exhaled as if in pain, pointed at Xiao Kun, and said in halting Chinese: “I know you, Crown Prince Tutor. Yelu Dashi is looking for you.”
Prime Minister Elon also said: “Thank you, Kang Ji. You may go.”
The Hu dancing girl chuckled lightly, finding Xiang Xian quite amusing. She exchanged flirtatious glances with him as she passed by their side and took her leave.
“So, Omnipotent Xiao Kun and his subordinate,” Bila Ge said, “what news have you brought to Gaochang?”
Elon made a gesture, and the guards promptly brought in low soft chairs and small tables, inviting the two to sit.
Under the premise of not revealing too many secrets, Xiao Kun explained as much as possible to Bila Ge the reason they had come to the Western Regions. The Gaochang King and the Prime Minister listened intently, showing no disdain whatsoever due to their youth.
