It's the Half-Maquillage Woman!
The Half-Maquillage Woman was a vulgar monster formed by the jealousy of older women towards young girls. They couldn't accept their own aging, and were convinced that consuming the blood and flesh of young girls could bring back their youth. They enjoyed squeaking in high pitched voices, faking the sound of a young girl. However, as they say, "eyes are the windows to the soul"; old age was something they could not hide, no matter how hard they tried. While the more blood and flesh they consumed, the younger the bottom half of their face would appear, the upper half of their face that held the eyes would appear older, and the contrast of the face would become even more stark. Even then, they stubbornly refuse to see the error of their ways.
Xie Lian was going to subdue her, but before he could even act, Xiu Li was already stepping her on her back. The Half-Maquillage Woman tried to crawl her way out but was kicked instead. She knew there was no way out; she could only wail as she cried.
"PLEASE, HAVE MERCY!"
Xie Lian was in no hurry. He walked over to the woman with gentle steps, "So you're the one who stole the Brocade Immortal?"
The Half-Maquillage Woman immediately cried, "It's not me, it's not me! I wouldn't dare break into the Great Martial Temple!"
That was true, if he thought about it. Typical lower-ranked ghosts really didn't have the guts to break into Great Martial Temples so rashly; they'd be blown to smithereens for sure. Besides, this Half-Maquillage Woman probably had no connection to the Brocade Immortal; with a rough look, her ghost age was probably eighty-something, while that Brocade Immortal was said to be centuries old.
"Then where did you get your hands on this brocade robe?" Xie Lian questioned.
That Half-Maquillage Woman picked up her headscarf and covered the top half of her face anew, her voice shrieking high again, "To...to answer Daozhang! I ... I picked it up in the Ghost City..."
"..."
Was that a thing? Picked it up from the Ghost City??
Xie Lian was speechless for a moment, then he questioned, "Then who was the one that sold the brocade to you?"
The Half-Maquillage Woman answered anxiously, "Daozhang! I beg you, please let me off the hook! I don't know, either. It's not like businesses in the Ghost City need to have their eighteen generations of ancestry checked!"
That was true, too. If starting a business in Ghost City required having eighteen generations of ancestry checked, it wouldn't be as bustling as it was now. Things could only thrive if there was room for loopholes.
Xie Lian interrogated for a while, but it was fruitless. After determining this Half-Maquillage Woman was no more than a little minion, he called, "Qi Ying, have one of your heavenly officials come collect this female ghost."
Quan Yizhen was still a little dazed, most likely from his prior experience. He seemed to be on guard against Xiu Li, too. Xie Lian had no idea of what happened so he couldn't understand why he would be on guard against Xiu Li; the boy was just here to protect Wei Ying.
"Your Highness Qi Ying?" Xie Lian asked again.
Only then, Quan Yizhen heard him clearly and replied, "I don't have any heavenly officials in my palace."
"Not even one?" Xie Lian asked. "You've never appointed any deputy generals?"
Quan Yizhen was confidently staunch in his answer, "Not a single one."
"..."
Xie Lian was speechless, but he decided to not dwell on it and focus on the matter at hand. He was going to find a clay jar so that he could seal that Half-Maquillage Woman.
"It's okay, Your Highness. I'll seal her and take her back to Ghost City," Xiu Li said. His eyes not even sparing a glance at that woman. The Half-Maquillage Woman felt her scalp gone cold when she heard that she would be taken to Ghost City. In fact, Ghost City was a place where all sorts of crimes and sorts occur; thus, a ghost usually would not be afraid if they were told they were getting taken to Ghost City. It could even be a way out for them! However, this time, all the nerves in that woman alarmed her, making her stone cold. She wanted to protest but she was already sealed in Xiu Li's sword in a second.
Xie Lian was once again impressed by Xiu Li's skills. Earlier that day, he saw Xiu Li and Wei Ying sparring and had already praised the former's excellent moves. He also thought it was somewhat similar to a certain someone's moves, but he just dismissed it, thinking they probably had similar moves because they were both from Ghost City, although the one he was thinking of was the one who established it.
Xie Lian closed his eyes, and shook his head in his mind to dispel the disturbing thoughts. Then, he took Brocade Immortal and examined it carefully. Quan Yizhen and Wei Ying also inched closer, wanting to take a closer look. Quan Yizhen said, after taking a glimpse at the robe, "It's fake."
Indeed, it was. Xie Lian was taken aback but there was no need to doubt the words of someone who had already seen the original. Just then, Ling Wen reached out to him via the spiritual communication array. Her voice rang in his ear.
"Your Highness, we've just received information that there seemed to be a little ghost with the Brocade Immortal in hand who appeared about twenty miles away from your Puqi Shrine. We'll need to trouble you to go take a look."
"Another one? Alright," Xie Lian replied. He was about to bid farewell and go do his task when Ling Wen added, "Wait. Your Highness, there's more. Sixty miles out from your Puqi Shrine, there is also an unknown creature with the Brocade Immortal in hand."
"...Isn't that a little too far? Why are there more?" Xie Lian asked.
"I'm not done," Ling Wen said, "Listen well, there's more: forty-two miles out northwest, fifteen miles out southeast, twenty-two miles out north..."
After reporting about twenty-seven to twenty-eight locations in one breath, Ling Wen finally finished, "Yeah. That's about it for now."
By the time she was done reporting, Xie Lian had forgotten everything, and was feeling rather woeful. "Your palace is quite efficient this time, huh. But, 'for now'? Are you saying there might be more...? Could the Ghost City be distributing the Brocade Immortal?"
"Most likely," Ling Wen replied. "There are many peddlers with unknown origins in the Ghost City who often sell counterfeits with fake skins. Once they're done selling fakes, they change skins, so connoisseurs usually won't buy anything randomly. Still, there are nonetheless ghosts who consider it like digging for antiques; thinking maybe they'd hit the jackpot this time. Now that the Brocade Immortal was stolen, many small-time vendors in that ghost realm received the news and are using this chance to deceive buyers, saying any random robe they found is the Brocade Immortal. What's incredible is that there are still many ghosts who fall for it, and try it out on people. It's really given those of us who gather information as lot of headaches."
This was completely messing up their search for the real Brocade Immortal; with so many "Brocade Immortal" popping up everywhere, who knew which one was the real one.
However, since they took on the mission, they had to come up with a way to complete it.
"I guess, let's start with the closest one, and search one by one," Xie Lian said.
Xie Lian didn't have any spiritual powers, Quan Yizhen didn't know how to draw the Distance-Shortening array, and neither of the two had deputy officials. But, fortunately, of the locations Ling Wen reported on, the closest to them was only five miles out; it was an abandoned textile house. Xie Lian wanted the matter at hand to be resolved as fast as possible, because he was worried something might happen and Wei Ying might be hurt. Quan Yizhen looked like he had recovered somewhat and thus, without further ado, they hastily departed in the middle of the night.
At first, Xie Lian thought of letting Wei Ying stay back at the shrine with Xiu Li, but Wei Ying was a boy much excited by the idea of night hunts and Xie Lian couldn't tell him to stay no matter how he tried. Wei Ying wanted to come along no matter what. Moreover, Xiu Li also seemed to be encouraging Wei Ying to go along. Since this trip shouldn't be too dangerous and could help grow Wei Ying's experience, besides Xie Lian felt safer to have Wei Ying in his sight so that he could protect him whenever needed.
The four hurried on their way in the night. Suddenly, ahead of them on the road came creepy voices of chanting a work song.
"YI YU XI! YI YU XI!"
Hearing that familiar work song, Xie Lian stopped in his step. Ahead in the mist, the giant contour of a shadow gradually emerged, along with four haunting ghost fires floating about around it. Quan Yizhen was about to make a move, ready to beat it down first before asking questions, but Xie Lian pulled him back.
"Don't worry. I know them."
Sure enough, four golden skeletons carrying a step-litter appeared before the three. Neither Quan Yizhen nor Wei Ying had ever seen anything so magical before, and their eyes widened; bright and shimmering.
The head skeleton sang, "Is this Your Highness the Crown Prince of Xianle?"
"It is. May I help you?" Xie Lian answered.
The golden skeleton sang, "Nothing, nothing, only, we brothers have time on our hands and wanted to inquire if His Highness the Crown Prince is in a hurry, perhaps we can help give you a ride?"
The journey wasn't long, so Xie Lian wanted to decline. But Quan Yizhen cut in and exclaimed "YES!", and was already climbing on enthusiastically, looking like he really wanted to give this strange but glamorous step-litter a try. Wei Ying was the same, he wanted to run ahead of Quan Yizhen, but was pulled back by Xiu Li. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and went up to grab him when suddenly, that step-litter tipped, forcefully tossing Quan Yizhen off of it. Xie Lian was going to fall back too, but was steadied by someone.
Xie Lian blurted, "San..." but when he looked back, it was Xiu Li, who had climbed on with Wei Ying without anyone noticing. He was holding onto Xie Lian's arm tightly, a pair of inky black eyes watching him, silent and wordless. The skeletons hastily picked up the step-litter, their eight legs spinning like four sets of fire wheels, dashing away steadily while shouting. "Move, move! Don't block the way, don't block the way!"
Quan Yizhen was heartlessly thrown onto the ground, but he jumped to his feet, appearing not to have given up yet. He was ready to leap up, but those skeletons were too fast, and eh was always a step behind. He ended up in hot pursuit right behind, looking like he really, really wanted to ride the step-litter to get a feel for it. Watching him chase after so vigorously, Xie Lian, who was riding the step-litter, couldn't help but feel this was a little mean, like he was bullying a child.
Although he knew this step-litter belonged to Hua Cheng and he might not appreciate letting other heavenly officials ride it and the step-litter was already quite full with him sitting on one side and Xiu Li and Wei Ying sitting on the other side, with Wei Ying sitting on top of Xiu Li, still Xie Lian couldn't help but ask, "Um... can't I change places with the one behind?"
The skeletons sang, "Can't! Can't! The step-litter stop not, not until its destination!"
They ran like fire wheels the entire way, and Quan Yizhen chased them the entire way. Once at their destination, the golden skeletons dropped Xie Lian and the others off, then picked up the step-litter and disappeared from the sight. Quan Yizhen was never able to board the vehicle in the end, and was extremely disappointed, watching that step-litter disappear longingly.
They arrived at the abandoned textile house, but ahead of them they could hear loud cries and wails, and they all came from that abandoned Textile House. Xie Lian was puzzled. Didn't they say this textile house was abandoned?
They walked closer and those wailing voices became clearer:
"THIS LOWLY ONE WON'T EVER DARE TO SELL COUNTERFEITS ON OL' HUA CHENGZHU'S TERRITORY AGAIN!"
"WE REALLY WON'T DARE TO ANYMORE! BUT, PLEASE TELL THE GOOD OL' CHENGZHU THAT I ALSO GOT THOSE FAKE BROCADE IMMORTALS FROM THE DISTRIBUTION OF OTHER GHOSTS! I'M A VICTIM TOO!!!"
The four came before the textile house and bumped into a black-clad, ghost-masked man who had only just emerged from within, seeming to to have been waiting for a long time.
He inclined his head slightly and greeted, "Your highness."
Xie Lian remembered that ghost officer who had many times helped Xie Lian look after Wei Ying and have encountered a couple of times while they lived in Ghost City. Wei Ying of course remembered him by the ghost mask and called out, "Waning-shu!"
The black-clad man, Waning Moon Officer, bowed down, "Young Prince Wei Ying."
Wei Ying had many times told the officer to just be casual but Waning Moon Officer never forgot to bow and greet him at least once, so Wei Ying had to let him do at least that. Although Waning Moon Officer was of high position in the Ghost City, he was but a servant of Hua Cheng. Of course he wouldn't dare be discourteous with his son. However, it didn't mean that his position was any low.
Besides Hua Cheng and his family, Waning Moon Officer would have the highest position and authority in Ghost City. Xie Lian knew this; thus, he took a glance at Xiu Li who originally was Waning Moon Officer's disciple and subordinate. Whenever he saw Waning Moon Officer and Xiu Li at the same time in the past, the latter would bow and greet the former with much respect. However, when Xie Lian saw the fourteen-year-old right now, standing aloof with a cold expression on his face, looking as if he couldn't care less, Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Regardless, he decided to solve the matter with the Brocade Immortal first.
Entering that abandoned textile house, Xie Lian was taken aback. There were all kinds of clothing hung on racks upon racks of wooden stacks: wedding robes, government attire, ladies' satin, uniforms, children's clothes... there were also very simple and vulgar bloody hemp shirts, as if they were afraid people couldn't tell they were wicked. Piles and piles, layers and layers, haunting and eerie; heavy in the essence of evil, like each and every one was a live corpse standing. Even if they weren't the Brocade Immortal, they certainly wouldn't be anything good.
Long fabrics of various dyes hung high upon the stacks; some pale white, some filthy. It had been a long time since anyone had minded them. Quan Yizhen was squatting next to a large black barrel of dye with his head poked in, inspecting the dyes inside; the fluid had a funny colour and emitted a strange smell. Wei Ying was also looking around, almost touching the evil-stained clothes, but fortunately, Xiu Li and Waning Moon Officer retracted his hand in time. But for Quan Yizhen's case, Xie Lian was afraid that, at any second, he was going to dip his finger in and lick it to test. He hastily dragged him away. Outside the yard, there was a band of ghosts and monsters all bound by a single iron chain, crouching and hugging their heads.
Xie Lian wondered, "What...?"
Waning Moon Officer answered, "The monsters and ghosts that had been selling the Brocade Immortal in the Ghost City and elsewhere are all here. A total of ninety-eight pieces of clothing have been collected."
Ninety-eight pieces. And they were all caught in a very short period of time. Xie Lian was slightly touched.
Waning Moon Officer continued, "If there are any new strange movements, we will also capture them for Your Highness with the utmost haste."
Hearing this, Xie Lian couldn't help but say, "There's no need. Please tell San... Hua Chengzhu that there's really no need to trouble him like this. I can do this myself, too."
The result would be the same, it would just take a little more time and energy, that's all. He was a titled heavenly official working for the heavens, after all; even if there weren't many worshippers, he still had a job to do.
Waning Moon Officer replied, "Naturally, Chengzhu understands that Your Highness is capable of doing this effortlessly. But this is also precise why he hopes My Lord won't waste energy on small errands that anyone can do. Your Highness' time and effort should be spent on more important matters."
"..." Xie Lian hesitated, but in the end, he still asked, "May I ask how your Chengzhu is doing right now...?"
Xiu Li was nonchalantly standing while holding Wei Ying next to Xie Lian. Waning Moon Officer replied, "Chengzhu is very busy at the moment."
Xie Lian quickly replied, "Oh. Then that's good. Hopefully everything goes well for him. I wish him success."
They questioned every single ghost and demon that were bound, and each and every one was adamant that their product had been distributed to them by a mysterious masked person. They didn't seem to be lying. But in a place like the Ghost City, how many hundreds and thousands of masked individuals roamed the streets in a day?
The interrogation was fruitless. And so, Waning Moon Officer pulled on the chain, and bid farewell as he led those yapping ghosts away. However, those ninety-eight pieces of ghost clothing were left behind. Xie Lian felt that, in all his time collecting scraps and old clothing, he had never seen so many clothes. Flipping through them, he suspected that, most likely, not a single one was the real thing.