Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 2

His misfortune really never left.
Sighing, Xie Lian walked just behind her – trying to ignore the snickering glances Shi QingXuan kept throwing at him – and asked: «What kind of trouble?».

«Please, look at that bell».
Without turning around, Ling Wen raised his left arm and pointed at the bell tower standing there.

Confused, Xie Lian tried to find the bell she was talking about, but aside from the beautiful view of a grand palace made of dazzling white jade, sprinkled with golden towers and pavilions, and surrounded by soft clouds and singing birds, he saw nothing.
He took a good look, trying to understand if Ling Wen pointed him in the wrong direction, and frowned: «I see only a tower, there. No bell», he said, in a questioning tone.
Unless... a cold wave of dread washed over Xie Lian's entire body. Unless the earthquake caused by his ascension made it fall.

Which, unfortunately, was exactly what Ling Wen told him.

«Your extraordinary bad luck is something to be in awe of», Ling Wen commented, with no real resentment hidden behind her words. «The bell is older than you, but its spirited character quite enjoys to toll in applause when someone ascends. However, your ascension caused madness to it, and the bell tolled with no stop in sight».
The clamor of the bell shook the Heavenly Realm's spirits more than the quakes itself, it could be said. Never, indeed, the bell sang for so long and with such intensity.
«When it fell, it almost crashed into one of the heavenly officials passing by».

That was bad. A bell could be repaired, however long it may take, but a bell fallen right into an official... Ling Wen reassured him that the heavenly official didn't suffer any kind of hurt as the bell fell, since it luckily hit a martial god. A flip of his hand, and the bell crashed down in two pieces.
He wanted to ask which heavenly official ended up as the victim of his unintentional aggression, but something told him it was better not to; his troubles were already great enough as they were, he didn't need an emotional burden as well.
Anyway, before he could open his mouth, Ling Wen pointed at her right.
A golden palace stood at the end of her arm, shimmering with beauty and covered with a bright glass roof. It looked new, much newer than anything in Court, although no buildings could be described as "aged".

«I see the palace», he said, frowning again. «What's wrong with that?».

«It's wrong that you can see it», was the response. «Numerous golden palaces suffered great damage from your ascension, and some won't be easily fixed. The heavenly officials could only put together some last-minute palaces to make do».

Another hit, straight to the point.
Xie Lian sighed, mentally trying to count how many officials he offended from the moment he arrived. It wasn't even his fault! He couldn't control his ascension, after all. At least, this time it didn't catch him in his sleep; appearing at the Heavenly Realm in nothing but his night robes, or even worse without his night robes, would have been a shame he wasn't ready to suffer through. His daily robes could hide the traces his husband loved to leave on his body, at least.
And speaking of his husband, Hua Cheng was surely dying of laughter at that very moment, instead of practicing with his awful calligraphy. Not that he could blame him, a third ascension?! While he was married to a Ghost King, nonetheless?!
Thinking about that, he could understand why the Wind Master was still snickering behind his back, failing to conceal his amusement. Ming Yi as well – Black Water, rather – still had that same expression on his face. If Hua Cheng was to learn about him laughing at Xie Lian, no doubt his debt was going to be tripled.

«How do I make amends?», Xie Lian asked, snapping back to reality. He couldn't even start to imagine how many merits he owed for the damage he caused.

«With eight million, eight thousand, eight hundred merits».

Xie Lian didn't know whether to choke on nothing, or grin behind Ling Wen's back. Obviously, he didn't have even a ten thousandth of that amount, being the so-called Scrap Immortal. Merits came to heavenly officials through offerings, and the Crown Prince had no mortal believers faithful in him. Nothing changed, in eight hundred years, after all.
Although, Hua Cheng could very easily lower that price. Xie Lian thought about using the private communication array to let him know, but he wanted to ask something else first.
«Are you willing to kick me down from here and give me those merits for it?», he asked. Behind him, the Earth Master made a somewhat strangled noise. Surely terrified of the consequences if Hua Cheng were to discover how his beloved gege was kicked down under right in front of another Calamity's eyes. A Calamity that owed him money, on top of that.