Hello~ So since it's new year, I thought it would be a great idea to start it with a new post! So, yeah, here you go. On that note, I will start publishing with my usual schedule, one update every two weeks and usually on Sunday or Monday morning.
The door opened and a familiar man with white robes entered the room, surprising many.
"Your highness, you're finally awake!" Qing Xuan cheered as she hurriedly approached the man who shyly smiled.
"I am, sorry to make you worry." Xie Lian said.
"No, it's absolutely fine, Gege." Hua Cheng assured. "You should rest when you need to."
Xie Lian just smiled at him, going back to his seat as Banyue and Pei Su kept talking to him.
"Ahem, let's start now." Lynn said as the screen turned on, making everyone turn their attention to the screen.
Ch.55: In the Cannibal Lair; Ghost King Faces Heavenly Officials 2
Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but was still immensely grateful, "Lord Wind Master, you're mistaken. It actually..."
"Oh yeah, your highness, you might not know what happened bu-" Xie Lian interrupted Banyue.
"I know." he gently said. "I was given a...recording from Lynn."
"Recording?" Yizhen asked in confusion.
"In simple terms, he is up to date with what we are watching." Lynn explained.
He wanted to explain that Hua Cheng didn't come looking for paybacks because of Paradise Manor,
"I'm still paying you back." Xie Lian firmly told Hua Cheng.
"Instead of money, why don't you just accompany me for...five times in my city?" Hua Cheng proposed with a sly smile as some glared at him.
"Alright." seeing no harm, Xie Lian easily agreed.
'They have a date.' some thought mournfully, others gleefully.
but Shi Qingxuan was throwing him guileful looks, as if telling him to not speak a word.
Xie Lian smiled at this, continuing to be touched at the wind master's care for him.
Wu Du don't understand why he suddenly felt as if his position in Qing Xuan's heart dropped again. Maybe it was just his imagination.
Hua Cheng didn't argue either, and raised his voice, "I haven't even counted the whole incident with Jun Wu setting up a spy under my eyes, so there's nothing to talk about."
"Ah." the smart ones let our, realizing what was happening.
Xie Lian finally understood. Shi Qingxuan could already see that Hua Cheng had no bad intentions, and all this was but an act using Hua Cheng's kidnapping him as his seeking revenge, so the heavens wouldn't talk and say instead it was Xie Lian who had run away. Hua Cheng had understood Shi Qingxuan's intent too, and cooperated.
"You two..." Xie Lian let out a fond sigh. "there's no need to care about my reputation. Let the officials speak all they want. It won't affect me."
And isn't that obvious? The heavens kept talking about his fall from grace for years, mocking him and using him as an example of what not to do as a god yet did his highness fight or show any sign of bother? He didn't. He just continued on his life as if nothing was bothering him and that was what still amazes the people in the room.
"Still," Qing Xuan didn't back down. "they only know how to speak without thinking of their skills. If you really wanted, you could easily end them."
Hua Cheng nodded in agreement, the two already forming a solid bond of being his highness' bodyguards. They didn't need to say it or even talk about it, their actions speaking for themselves.
However, Xie Lian didn't want to go this route, "Alright, stop acting. He only came to the heavens to save me. San Lang had good intentions, so why hide it?"
"Forgive me for my impudence but your highness, you should learn to accept other people's kindness!" Yin Yu exclaimed.
"I...but I do?" Xie Lian said, remembering how he accepted the little miss's idea of doing his makeup for him in the past.
(May her soul rest in peace.)
The people in the room just stared at him like he was stupid.
"No more acting." Shi Qingxuan replied, "I already sent those two exchanges to the communication array. You don't understand; no matter how good the intention, after being passed around, words will always end up becoming negative, so they might as well be negative from the start."
"You get it." Hua Cheng commented.
"Of course! Otherwise how could I, the Lord Wind Master, be so popular in the heavens?" Shi Qingxuan preened,
Qing Xuan looked proud of herself as He Xuan hid a fond sigh.
"What a useful skill." Pei Ming whistled. "Maybe I should do it, too."
"You can't do it." Ling Wen immediate shot down his idea.
"How harsh." Pei Ming said but obviously didn't look offended.
"General Nan Yang, lower your bow."
However Feng Xin still had the bow pulled at almost full strength, holding his breath and not saying a word. Shi Qingxuan smacked him, "Put it down, can't you see they're close? Nothing bad's gonna happen."
"He's fucking blind." Mu Qing said.
"You have it worse." Feng Xin immediately attacked as the two glared at each other.
Feng Xin said in a low voice, "Your Highness, the one next to you is a 'Supreme'..."
Seeing that his tension wouldn't drop, his bow unlowered, Shi Qingxuan suddenly rammed herself into his arm.
"You shouldn't do that!" Wu Du immediately scolded.
"Exactly." He Xuan said with a slight glare. "Can't you just blast him away with your winds?"
"I must have panicked." Qing Xuan defended her future self.
Instantly, Feng Xin's face paled, worse than if he were to see a ghost by a million fold, and screamed, the string of spiritual arrow dissipating powerlessly like clouds. He opened his mouth and a long string of loud curses came out, distressed to the core, "WHAT THE FUCK!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!!!!"
"Pfft." Qi Rong laughed mockingly. "You still haven't gotten over that shitty attitude?!"
"Oh you shut it." Feng Xin glared.
"Why? Afraid to admit the truth?" Qi Rong continued mocking.
"Qi Rong." Xie Lian darkly said with a glare.
Qi Rong shut up but continued his usual mocking smile.
Turns out, Shi Qingxuan had used her bosoms to ram into his arm, the one holding the arrow.
Feng Xin turned extremely pale, almost fainting if not for Mu Qing's disgusted look towards him which earned his anger.
Wu Du sighed at his sibling's action. Really, why must he in his female form be so careless?
On a completely different note, He Xuan wondered if he can rip a god's hands off without being noticed.
That blow had thoroughly terrified Feng Xin. Shi Qingxuan swung her whisk back, elegantly carefree, looking as if she hadn't just done anything inappropriate.
"...You should be more careful, lord wind master." Xie Lian said, feeling pity for his old friend.
"Let her be, Gege." Hua Cheng defended his fellow bodyguard. "It's his fault for being too rash."
"I haven't even asked you what YOU are doing. I just said that Crimson Rain Sought Flower came to save His Highness, and you still point at him with your arrow. If you want to fight him so badly, well I won't help you."
Qing Xuan nodded in agreement, smiling when some looked at her with a raised brow.
Feng Xin had already backed away for a million miles, looking like he would never approach her again, and cried in dismay, "DON'T YOU DARE DO THAT EVER AGAIN!!! EVER!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!!!"
Many winced at the high pitch scream, clutching their ears in pain.
"How dare you not appreciate such beauty." Qing Xuan scolded him.
"I can appreciate beauties just fine!" Feng Xin exclaimed, inching further into his seat. "Just not too close."
"Weak." Qi Rong said.
Watching him avoid her like snakes, Shi Qingxuan, who was so confident about her ethereal beauty, actually felt rather depressed, "Ok, ok, ok. I won't do it again. It's not like you suffered any loss, what's with that reaction?"
'Don't worry, you're beautiful, ignore him.' were the words He Xuan almost let out before he stopped himself on time. It would have been embarrassing otherwise although he slightly regretted it when he saw the pout on Qing Xuan's face.
"Ignore him." Wu Du said. "He's useless."
Feng Xin wanted to refute but seeing the wind master's dejected face made him shut up.
"Sorry." he murmured. "I just don't like getting close to females."
"It's fine." Qing Xuan assured.
As if feeling she'd lost face, Shi Qingxuan changed back to a man and turned around, "Eh? Where's Qianqiu?"
"Look what you did, you're pathetic." Mu Qing scolded Feng Xin who looked guilty.
"It's not like I meant to." he mumbled.
Hearing his words, Feng Xin finally composed himself somewhat, and looked around too. Xie Lian "Ah"-ed and said, "He's not in the communication array?"
"No?" Shi Qingxuan answered, "After he rolled the dice and left, we haven't heard a single peep. I asked him multiple times what the correct roll was but he never responded. Before when I talk to Qianqiu he'd always respond really fast, and not just to me but to all other officials regardless of ranking. So weird."
Xie Lian huffed a sigh, "His Highness Tai Hua left to chase after Qi Rong."
"Now that I think of it, where is he?" Xie Lian asked while looking around the room before spotting a Qian Qiu doll at the hands of Yizhen who was asleep. "Is that..."
"Ah, yeah." Yin Yu nodded. "During our break, he approached Hua-chengzhu and asked to be transformed into a doll form to atone from his mistakes about you."
"He shouldn't have." Xie Lian said while gently grabbing the doll.
"Exactly." Hua Cheng agreed. And, before anyone could react in a shock manner at his words, he continued. "He should feel more pain."
"He did request to be burned in that form or stabbed or even be buried." Yushi Huang added with a wince.
"You really shouldn't say such things!" Xie Lian scolded but the doll didn't respond at all.
The other two were taken aback, "Qi Rong?"
"Yea." Xie Lian replied, "This place here is Qi Rong's lair. Sigh, in any case..."
Feng Xin cut in, "Wait. Why did His Highness Tai Hua go pursue Qi Rong? Didn't he come chasing after you?"
"No reason," Hua Cheng answered from behind, "He was chasing the real mastermind behind the Gilded Banquet bloodshed, and the only thing his royal highness did was wipe after that murderer's ass. Lang Qianqiu found out the truth, and went chasing after the real culprit. That's all."
"'That's all', he says, after giving them tons of mind-blowing information." Pei Ming mocked before letting out a laugh and a thumbs up to the red ghost. "What a great way!"
Ling Wen sighed, having a feeling that she'll soon experience the same thing.
Feng Xin was shocked, "The real culprit? Is this the truth?!"
"Apparently so." Jun Wu nodded.
Xie Lian felt it really wasn't the time and place to explain all the complex details and shook his head, "It's not that simple. I'll explain more when we get back."
"At least now you won't need to explain." as always, Qing Xuan looked at the bright side of things.
Shi Qingxuan, although ignorant of the inside story, was joyous, "I knew there was a misunderstanding in all of this! I've such godly premonitions! Now even if you return you would no longer be detained!"
"Good!" Feng Xin said too, looking like he was greatly relieved. He put away his bow and the tension he had also significantly decreased. Hua Cheng on the other hand, only snorted coldly.
"It is definitely good news." Ling Wen agreed as she closed a notebook that no one knew when or where she took it from. "The records are now straight while your highness' name is cleared. Truly a fruitful experience. Now, will we leave after this?"
"Nope, there's much more things to learn~" Lynn said.
"Had you known?" Xie Lian asked Feng Xin, "That Qi Rong was that Qi Rong?"
Feng Xin asked, "Which Qi Rong? Who?" Then startled, "The one we knew?"
"Is there any other Qi Rong you know?" Qi Rong asked with a rolled eyes.
"Actually, yes." it was actually no but seeing his irritating face made Feng Xin say the opposite.
Some were surprised at this while most realized it was a lie and sighed at their pettiness.
"So you didn't realize it was him either?" Xie Lian remarked.
Feng Xin's face went dark, "No. I've never run into the Green Ghost himself, and had always assumed the name was just a coincidence. What kind of dumbass would run around with his real name? That's crazy!" But the moment the words left his mouth, he instantly remembered that Qi Rong was indeed crazy, and his eyes met Xie Lian's, both falling silent in mutual understanding.
Qi Rong looked proud of being known as crazy instead of angry like what some expected.
'He really is unpredictable.' many thought.
Long before the two had ascended, Feng Xin had despised Qi Rong. Qi Rong was the son of the younger sister to Xie Lian's mother, the last queen of Xianle. He grew up in the royal palace, spent his days clinging to Xie Lian, and as Xie Lian's personal guard, Feng Xin of course saw Qi Rong frequently. He was young, immature, bullheaded, energetic, extreme, and the worst thing was, as royalty, no one dared to educate or discipline him. It was easy to imagine just how lawless he was.
"He...used to cling to his highness?!!" many exclaimed in shock and surprise, looking at the Qi Rong who looked disgusted at the thought.
It was only him who knew the truth of his aching heart as he saw brief memories of their past.
'...Cousin...' he bitterly thought before he removed the crying baby in himself. 'Who cares, he left me alone to die.'
He used to always hang around on his lips the words: "My cousin the Crown Prince is perfect!" "My cousin something something". If anyone were to be even remotely disrespectful to Xie Lian, or had given him a sliver of a problem, it wouldn't matter who it was, Qi Rong would surely bag that person with a gunny sack and beat them to death.
"Are we really talking about the same Qi Rong?" Pei Su couldn't help but ask as he remembered the cruel actions of the other man to the prince. "The same one who created ridiculous statues of his cousin?"
"Shocking, isn't it." Lynn said.
He had never in his mind any care or respect for the old, the handicapped, or the young. There was even once Xie Lian saved a child not over ten years of age from under Qi Rong's hands. The poor boy was beaten to a bloody pulp; miserable to the bone.
Many frowned at this, disgusted at the green ghost's action even when he was young.
No one noticed the look Hua Cheng had at this statement.
Yet, Xie Lian was mindful of Qi Rong's lineage, plus he was genuinely on Xie Lian's side, so Xie Lian had never disciplined him physically.
"I doubt you'd even do such things." Yizhen, who was finally awake, scowled. "You're too damn soft."
But if it was only lectures, Qi Rong wouldn't change no matter how many times he was scolded, and caused a lot of headaches.
"People like those should be punished physically." Hua Cheng darkly said.
Feng Xin was a much more straightforward person, not as patient like Xie Lian, and constantly disputed with Qi Rong, disobeying his commands. And so, Qi Rong also despised him, and would always come up with new ways to get him in trouble, forcing him to run unreasonable errands. Moreover, after Xie Lian had ascended, Qi Rong became even more preposterous, like if anyone were to spit before the Palace of the Crown Prince, he would try and force burning hot coal down their throat. To prevent him from going too far, Feng Xin had to descend frequently to clean up after him. Truly aggravating! He'd always tell Xie Lian: "Qi Rong's crazy, and he's gonna incite chaos one day!"
"And he did." Feng Xin scowled, slightly proud at the fact he was correct with his words.
'Maybe I should have been harsher to him in the past.' Xie Lian thought.
"If it was really him, then it's no surprise that he'd done it." Feng Xin said.
Shi Qingxuan was curious, "What, do you all know the Green Ghost??"
Xie Lian nodded, "He's my little cousin."
Shi Qingxuan was shocked, and crossed his arms, "Well ain't that something else."
"I know right." Xie Lian agreed.
"I don't think that's what I meant." Qing Xuan said.
"He is quite something else." Xie Lian agreed.
"I'm not talking about him," Shi Qingxuan said, "I'm talking about you! Your Highness, look at you: the Martial gods of the Southeast and Southwest are both your old buddies, the Martial God of the East is your disciple, that Night-Touring Green Lantern is your little cousin, the Crimson Rain Sought Flower is your sworn brother, and I, Lord Wind Master, am your friend. Ain't that something?"
"It is." Pei Ming agreed, already thinking of the other officials' reaction when they learn about this.
'That will be interesting.' he thought with a smirk before suddenly seeing a frown on Crimson Rain's face. 'Why is he frowning? It said he's sw-oh! Ho ho ho, how interesting.'
Hua Cheng just glared at the smirk of Pei Ming.
'Is he enjoying my misfortune?' he thought.
Xie Lian smiled, thinking the Wind Master certainly had a breezy character befitting of his title; the moment the wind blew, all the gloomy clouds dispersed. However, when Hua Cheng and Feng Xin heard "the Crimson Rain Sought Flower is your sworn brother", both showed a disagreeing expression. Hua Cheng raised his brows, and Feng Xin knitted his.
After a moment, Feng Xin turned to Xie Lian, "If there's nothing else, you best hurry back to the Heavenly Court. Many of the heavenly officials still have no idea what happened in that ruckus, and are still waiting above. Jun Wu should be informed by now. You need to report back and give them a proper account."
Lynn looked disgusted at that mention but no one noticed except for Jun Wu who narrowed his eyes.
'She knows.' he thought with a frown. 'Should I kill her now?'
Hearing his words, Hua Cheng laughed out loud.
"What're you laughing at??" Feng Xin demanded.
"And here I wondered how straightforward you are, but turns out you like to beat around the bush too." Hua Cheng said, "You just don't want His Highness to associate with the likes of demons and ghosts, why not just say so openly? Think it's not your place?"
"At least you know I don't like you." Feng Xin said, surprising Xie Lian who expected him to say 'I despise you.'
'Is he...growing fond of San Lang?' he thought with a smile, glad his friends are becoming close and not hostile anymore.
Xie Lian cleared his throat softly, "San Lang..."
"As long as you're aware that he shouldn't be associating with the likes of demons and ghosts." Feng Xin said coldly.
"They're special cases." He Xuan said.
'Like Qing Xuan and I.' went unsaid.
Hua Cheng made no indication of agreeing or disagreeing with that sentiment, and Xie Lian intercepted, responding to Feng Xin quietly, "I will report in and give a proper account, but right now there are more important things at hand. Qi Rong had hidden in his lair over three hundred humans for feeding. Thanks to San Lang's help, they were all saved. There's currently a number of little ghosts left that needs taken care of. I will return to the heavens as soon as that's done."
"Sigh, of course he'll choose saving instead of clearing his name as his first act." Mu Qing sighed in frustration. Does the prince enjoy being hated that much?
"It won't be good to take too long. Let me deal with this." Feng Xin said.
Hua Cheng nodded, "By heaven's efficiency, you'll probably finish this by next month."
"You say that as if you can handle this in a second." Feng Xin said.
"No offense but Hua-chengzhu can do it faster." Yin Yu said. "Not by a second but less than a day."
Ling Wen felt extremely jealous.
The two glared at each other. Shi Qingxuan asked Xie Lian with his eyes: Did something happen between the two of them?
"Nope, it's just what happens if you mix a typical god and a ghost together." Pei Ming waved it off.
But Xie Lian only shook his head. He was about to change the subject when Hua Cheng took out an umbrella from who knows where. The umbrella was crimson red like maple leaves, vivid like fire. Hua Cheng raised it with one hand and covered over himself and Xie Lian, reflecting a blushing red on their faces.
Hua Cheng's ears turned a little red, amazed at the beautiful look Xie Lian had even with red cheeks. In fact, he looked cuter!
This must be the same umbrella that Hua Cheng used to shield them through the hanging corpse forest at Mount YuJun. However, it wasn't raining at the moment so Xie Lian was curious, "San Lang, why did you open an umbrella?
Hua Cheng looked to him, and shifted the umbrella more to Xie Lian's side, smiling, "Just wait. The sky's about to change."
"Oh no." Yushi Huang, who saw Feng Xin out in the open, said with a bad feeling which came true a few moments later.
Just as he finished his sentence, it suddenly poured from the sky!
The rain thundered down, flecking and flacking. It came so suddenly, Xie Lian was startled. However, he was properly covered under Hua Cheng's umbrella, and not a single drop hit him. Feng Xin, who was standing on the other side though, had not prepared at all. He was drenched from head to toe by this rain.
And the worst thing was, this rain was the colour of blood. By the looks of it, Feng Xin was now covered in blood and dripping; only his wide, bulging eyes were white, the rest of him red. Shi Qingxuan was conveniently standing in the interior of another cave so he wasn't affected, but he was also eyes wide with shock, even forgetting to wave his whisk.
"Phew." Qing Xuan sighed in relief as Feng Xin scowled.
'Damn bastard.' he thought, angry but slightly grateful that his highness wasn't covered in blood like his future self. Even Mu Qing looked at him in pity and that says a lot.
"That will take a long time to remove." Banyue said. "Especially the smell."
Feng Xin just groaned.
That pouring rain came suddenly, left suddenly, and soon enough everything was quiet once more. It took Feng Xin some time to recover. He wiped at his face, but it was still smeared with red, his attempt useless.
"Wha..." Xie Lian was agape.
Hua Cheng closed the umbrella and laughed, "How's that for show?"
"Fascinating." Pei Ming said.
"Amazing." Qing Xuan added.
"Alright." Wu Du judged.
In four short words, he'd already taken a number of leisurely steps, and quite the distance away. Xie Lian was fumbling all over his sleeves looking for some rags, but instead Shi Qingxuan plucked some white strands from his whisk and handed them to the deeply muted Feng Xin.
"Thank you." Feng Xin told Qing Xuan who waved it off.
"It's fine, we're supposed to help each other, anyway." she answered.
'Then what about awhile ago when you said you won't help him if he fights with the red ghost?' some thought.
'How bias.' others thought.
The moment Hua Cheng left, Xie Lian immediately sensed the void behind him and turned around in a rush, running a few steps after Hua Cheng, "San Lang, are you going back to the Ghost City?"
Hua Cheng turned his head, "Aren't you also going back to the Heavenly Court?" He then added half-jokingly, "But if you want to follow me back to the Ghost City, you're very welcome to."
'How dare you try to steal him from me.' Jun Wu thought with a dark glare.
Xie Lian chuckled, "Next time." He said sincerely, "Next time if there's a chance, I'll definitely visit the Ghost City again. I'll help you lay bricks when you rebuild Paradise Manor."
"No need to lay bricks. You can just sit back and watch." Hua Cheng replied.
"Remember our prior agreement, Gege." Hua Cheng teased to Xie Lian who only nodded with a smile.
Xie Lian's smile died a little, "The thing with Qianqiu, no matter how it went down, I should still thank you." He paused and continued, "I don't know what the right thing is to do either, so maybe this wasn't a bad thing."
"It's a good thing." Qian Qiu finally spoke but very softly that some only managed to hear thanks to their increased senses.
"You think too much." Hua Cheng said lightly.
Xie Lian was slightly taken aback and inclined his head.
"Just keep doing what you want to do." Hua Cheng said. After that, he turned around and waved his hand.
Soon after, that crimson silhouette gradually, from within the mountains and under the moonlight, disappeared completely from Xie Lian's sight.
"What I want to do?" Xie Lian thought before smiling gently. "Yes, you're right, San Lang."
"Of course I am, Gege." he said with the same gentle look.
'Just fucking kiss already.' Pei Ming thought, turning slightly bitter. 'I feel so alone now.'
He felt jealous, never having such a connection with those he dated and the two only met for weeks! Well, traveled together for weeks!
Is this what a soulmate is?