Heaven Official’s Blessing

Ch.31:‌ ‌Poking‌ ‌the‌ ‌Ghost‌ ‌King;‌ ‌Crown‌ ‌Prince‌ ‌Seeks‌ ‌Truth‌ ‌2‌ ‌ ‌

As soon as the air froze instantly in place Xie Lian knew that his question might have crossed the line.

Even though the past few days the two of them seemed to get along well and were quite familiar, but if Hua Cheng had never revealed his true face, and hadnʼt changed back and shown it even after his identity was revealed, then he would definitely have a reason for it, and Xie Lian knew he was not in place who is able to push it even further. Without waiting for an answer from the young man Xie Lian widened his smile, ”Iʼm just asking, donʼt think too much about it.”

Hua Cheng closed his eyes, and after a few moments, he smiled softly, ”I will let you see it someday, if there is a chance.”

If there are other people who say the same thing, then it will only be words that are original and without purpose; ʼone dayʼ they say usually means ʼplease forget it.ʼ ʼthat might never have happenedʼ But if Hua Cheng said those words, Xie Lian somehow felt that the words ʼsomedayʼ meant that it meant ʼsomedayʼ, and that would definitely happen. This made him even more curious, and he grinned, ”Then Iʼll wait until you can show me. Letʼs rest now.”

After playing around for half the night, now Xie Lian had given up on cooking anything, and he then returned to the straw mat that he had prepared before. Hua Cheng also lay beside her. Nobody bothered to question things like why after they both revealed each otherʼs identities, that a god and a Devil could still lie together side by side on that tangled straw mat, laugh and chat with each other, and travel together.

The straw mat didnʼt have a pillow, so Hua Cheng used his own arm as a pillow for his head, and Xie Lian also mimicked it using his own arm. He chatted casually, ”The ghost realm seems so empty and has a lot of free time. Donʼt you ever have to report back on something like what you have experienced or done or something like that?”

Not only did Hua Cheng appear to use his arm as a pillow, he also crossed his legs and replied, ”Report to whom? We take care of our own business, no one is bothering anyone.”

The ghost realm was formed by many lost soul groups and wild devils, so Xie Lian was not surprised to hear that answer. ”Is that so? I think there will be like a heavenly court where there is a central government that manages. So if thatʼs the case, have you met other demon lords before?”

”I have ever.” Hua Cheng said.

”Even Green Ghost Qi Rong”

”You mean that disgusting, lowly violent trash?”

”Well, what should I say about that?” Xie Lian thought, but he didnʼt need to say anything as Hua Cheng continued, ”I greeted him and he ran away.”

Xie Lian felt the ʼgreetings or greetingsʼ referred to here were not like the greetings or greetings you have ever done, and of course, Hua Cheng said casually, ”And then I received the title ʼRain of Blood Reaches Flowersʼ.”

”...”

So when he previously mentioned about wiping out another demonʼs lair, he was talking about the Green Ghost Qi Rong, and the ʼgreetingʼ meant here was destruction. ʼIncredible greetings,ʼ thought Xie Lian. He rubbed his chin and said, ”Do you have something that makes you have to fight Green Ghost Qi Rong?”

”Yes. I donʼt like his face.” Hua Cheng answered.

Xie Lian did not know whether he should laugh or cry, thinking whether when Hua Cheng challenged the thirty-three heavenly officials also because he did not like their faces? Even though he wants it, he doesnʼt ask that question, and only says, ”The whole sky calls out to him violently, and even the ghost world rejects its existence. Is that right?”

”Thatʼs right. Even Black Water was disgusted with him.” Hua Cheng answered.

”Who is Black Water?” Xie Lian asked, then remembered, ”Oh, is he the so-called ʼBlack Water that sank the ship?ʼ

”Thatʼs right. He is also known as the Black Water Devil He Xuan.”

Xie Lian remembered that He Xuanʼs Black Water Devil was also one of the ”Highest” groups, but Green Ghost Qi Rong was only a ʼSupremeʼ.

He asked, feeling interested in this topic, ”Are you close to this He Xuan Devil?”

”Not.” Hua Cheng replied lazily, ”There arenʼt many ghosts or devils in the ghost world that are close to me.”

Now Xie Lian felt like he wanted to know more, ”Is that so? I thought you would have lots of subordinates. Maybe the definition of what we mean by ʼcloseʼ we have is different?”

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows, ”Yes. In the ghost realm, those who are lower than the ʼHighest Oneʼ have no right to speak to me.”

That was a very arrogant statement, but Hua Cheng made it sound indisputable and self-evident. Xie Lian smiled softly, ”Even though you are not close to them you still know about them. With you who still know them to be quite good in the ghost world, there are only so many big names, not like in heaven. There are already so many names of heavenly officials to be remembered in the high court, and there are many more waiting to rise in the middle court; they are like a sea of names. I donʼt even cough as much as they might not remember their names at all. ” And you risk offending them if you donʼt remember their names.

After chatting for a while, Xie Lian did not want to dig too deep into the topic of the problem so that they did not touch something sensitive, so she decided to change the subject to a different direction between the two of them. He glanced at the closed wooden door and wondered, ”Ban Yue that boy, I wonder when he will return.”

The brave words ”I want to save the world” returned and echoed in his head, pouring a million chaotic images into his mind, and Xie Lian had to force them to push. At that moment, Hua Cheng spoke, ”Those are good words.”

”Which one?” Xie Lian asked.

”I want to save the world, and save commoners.” Hua Cheng casually replied.

”...”

Xie Lian felt like being struck by lightning.

He turned his body and curled up into a shrimp, hoping to use a pair of arms big enough so that he could cover his face and ears, and groaned, ”... San Lang ...”

Hua Cheng seemed to push himself closer to Xie Lian, and said in a serious tone right behind him, ”Hm? Whatʼs wrong with those words?”

Hua Cheng would not back down and Xie Lian could not win against him, so he turned around and said helplessly, ”This is ridiculous.”

”What is there to be afraid of?” Hua Cheng said, ”To dare to talk about the world, whether to save or destroy is something amazing. To do the first is harder than the last, so itʼs even more honorable.”

Xie Lian made a laugh and shook her head, ”To dare to talk about something you have to be able to follow it up, and you have to really achieve it.”

He covered his eyes and sat himself, ”Oh, fine. I guess itʼs nothing. What Ban Yue said was good enough. I had said more ridiculous things when I was young.”

Hua Cheng laughed, ”Oh? Like what? Letʼs listen.”

Xie Lian was pensive for a moment, and smiled softly as he chased after his memory, ”Many, many years ago, someone told me that they could not continue their lives. They asked me what they were living for, and what was the meaning of the life they lived. . ”

He glanced at Hua Cheng, ”Do you know how I answer?”

It might have only existed in Xie Lianʼs imagination, but he seemed to see that there was light in Hua Chengʼs eyes. The boy asked gently, ”How do you answer that?”

Xie Lian said, ”I told them: ʼIf you donʼt know how to get your life back, then live for me!ʼ”

”If you donʼt know the meaning of life that you live, then make me the meaning itself, and use me as your reason to stay alive!”

”Ha ha....”

Xie Lian couldnʼt help but laugh a little and shake her head, ”Even now I donʼt understand what I was thinking at that time. How do I have the courage to tell someone to make me a meaning to keep them alive?”

Hua Cheng was speechless and Xie Lian continued. ”That was really something that could only be said at that time. In the past, I really thought I was invincible and fearless. If you ask me to say the same words now, thereʼs no way those words would leave and be spoken. from my lips again. ”

Xie Lian continued slowly, ”I donʼt know what happened to that person afterwards. But to be the reason for someone to live is already a heavy responsibility, how can I dare to talk about the world?”

Silence enveloped inside the Pu Qi temple, and after a while, San Lang said softly, ”Something like saving the world, really doesnʼt matter how you do it. But, even so brave, itʼs also stupid.”

”Yes.” Xie Lian agreed.

Hua Cheng continued, ”Even though itʼs stupid, itʼs brave.”

Xie Lian smiled at those words, ”Thank you.”

”Youʼre welcome.” Hua Cheng answered.

Both of them stared at the hollow ceiling inside the Pu Qi temple in friendly silence, and Hua Cheng spoke again. ”You know, weʼve only known each other for a few days. Is it okay for you to say so many things to me.”

Xie Lian sighed and waved his hand, ”Whatʼs the problem? Whatever. Those who have known each other for decades can be strangers in a day. We meet by chance, and we might separate by chance. If we like each other then we will keep on meeting; if not then we will separate. Let us both go with the flow, and I will say what I want to say. ”

Hua Cheng chuckled, and suddenly said, ”If ...”

Xie Lian turned her head to face him, ”If?”

Hua Cheng did not turn around, but continued to look at the dilapidated ceiling of the temple, and Xie Lian studied the left side of the handsome young manʼs face.

Hua Cheng said softly, ”If Iʼm ugly ..”

”Hah?” Xie Lian gaped.

Hua Cheng finally turned his head to stare a little at Xie Lian, ”If my real face is very ugly, do you still want to see it?”

Xie Lian was shocked, ”Really? Although there is no real reason, but I thought your real face must not be that bad.”

”Who knows,” Hua Cheng said half-jokingly, ”What if I were discolored, deformed, ugly, gigantic and terrible, what would you do?”

At first Xie Lian thought this question was rather interesting. So the number one demon king of that era, who was feared by heaven, would care so much about his appearance? But when he thought about it deeply, he no longer found it funny.

If he remembers it correctly, in many stories about Hua Cheng, there are those who say that he is a child with birth defects, or something like that. If that is the case, then he will certainly grow up with discrimination from others. Maybe for this reason he is so sensitive with his appearance.

So, Xie Lian chewed on his words and said, ”About that ...”

He uses his warmest and most sincere tone, ”To be honest, the reason I want to see your true face is just because we are friends now, right? See, even now weʼre both here like this ... So, if we are friends, then we should honest with each other. So my desire to see your true face has nothing to do with your appearance. Of course I wouldnʼt mind if ... why are you laughing? Iʼm serious! Hey! ”

When Xie Lian reached the last part of his words, he could feel the boy next to him was trembling. Initially for a moment he thought ʼare my words so touching that he was touched like this?ʼ, And too embarrassed to turn around to look at him. But after a while, a soft laugh came from beside him. Xie Lian felt disappointed. ”San Lang ... why are you laughing?”

Hua Cheng immediately stopped shaking and turned, ”Nothing, you are absolutely right.”

Xie Lian felt even more annoyed hearing those words, ”You are so insincere ...”

”I promise, you will not find anyone more sincere than me in this world.” Hua Cheng answered.

Xie Lian didnʼt want to talk anymore and threw Ruoye. The white silk ribbon fluttered and landed on top of them, and he turned with his back to Hua Cheng. ”Never mind. Time to go to sleep. Go to sleep and donʼt talk anymore.”

Hua Cheng laughed again and said, ”Next time.”

Although he was determined to sleep, hearing Hua Cheng speak, Xie Lian could not help but respond and then answer. ”What next time?”

Hua Cheng whispered, ”Next time we meet, I will use my real appearance to greet you.”

There was much to ponder about those words, and Xie Lian should have kept asking him questions, but after a long night, unstoppable drowsiness followed him, he could not endure and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, when Xie Lian woke up, the place next to him was empty.

Maybe the cyclone had made him run out of minds; Xie Lian felt a slight headache. He stumbled when he intended to rise from his sleep and confusedly walked around the temple. When he opened the door, no silhouette could be seen outside. The boy has indeed left.

The fallen leaves had been swept into a pile there, and next to it was a small clay pot. Xie Lian took the pot and placed it on the altar table. Some sand fell on the table; it must be the sand he brought back from the Gobi desert. Xie Lian closed the door, took off her clothes and was ready to change clothes. When he loosened his belt, he suddenly found something on his chest. Xie Lian raised his hand to touch the object, and found just below the damned collar, there was a very thin silver chain.

The chain hung loosely around his neck, and Xie Lian then removed it from his neck. It was a silver chain, thin and light, he had not felt anything in his body before. And what was hanging on the chain was a ring that was crystal clear and very, very beautiful.

Ch 32. In the Great Martial Hall; The Crown Prince Meets the Crown Prince

Xie Lian knew, this ring must be something left by Hua Cheng. He held it in his hand and turned his head, wondering what it was.

When Xie Lian was still a crown prince, he grew up in the palace of Xian Le. The Kingdom of Xian Le has such characteristics as always enjoying beautiful and precious things, collectors are spoiled by such abundant goods, and therefore of course the royal palace itself looks so magnificent and so dazzling. The gold column, stepping steps, countless treasures and precious jewels, even the children of nobles there played with various colorful gems that were valuable like their own toys.

Xie Lian himself was so used to seeing treasures or valuables like that, and he decided to look at the ring in more detail, the ring seemed to be made of diamonds. However, the shape is very beautiful; maybe even the most skilled jewelry maker would not be able to make the same jewelry with the beauty that emanated so finely from the ring. In addition, of all the natural diamonds he had seen, the stone used to make this ring was extraordinarily clear, sparkling like crystal, dazzling and looked so noble, making it quite difficult to determine precisely what material the ring was made from.

Still, even if he didnʼt know where the ring was made from, it was definitely a very significant item. Besides, if this necklace and ring were found around the neck, this was not something that was accidentally dropped, and most likely it was a gift from Hua Cheng as a memento for him. Xie Lian was a little surprised to receive a souvenir like this. He smiled softly, decided to treat her well, then asked the boy what the gift meant when they met again at their next meeting. The only place it currently has is this broken temple; there was no right place for him to hide this precious treasure, so after thinking for a while, Xie Lian decided that the best place to hide and keep it was on himself, and Xie Lian then put the silver chain necklace around his neck once more, hiding it safely in his clothes.

After returning from going around to Mount Yu Jun and also the Small Road Inside Ban Yue before, Xie Lian lay helpless inside the Pu Qi Temple helplessly for several days. If it wasnʼt for some villagers who were too eager to come to him and offer bread or porridge, he might remain helpless for several days. Only until he felt the strength within him had recovered, Xie Lian decided to return to work and carry out his duties. As usual scavenging and then go home to rest repair the temple and others.

He continued to spend his days there until one day, Ling Wen suddenly sent him a notice: Return to heaven now.

Judging from the tone, something bad will happen. Xie Lian could guess what a bad situation it would be and began to mentally prepare herself.

”What happened?” He asked, ”Is this about the problem of the Small Road Inside Ban Yue?”

”It is true.” Ling Wen replied, ”When you return to heaven, come straight to the Great Martial Hall”

After hearing the words ʼGreat Hall of Self Defenseʼ, Xie Lian froze. Jun Wu * must be back.

* Jun Wu is the title for Heavenly Heavenly Emperor Martial God. ʼI am the god of allʼ or ʼGod is meʼ.

After the third increase, Xie Lian still hasnʼt greeted Jun Wu. As the number one Martial God in heaven, Jun Wu has spent his days cultivating Closed Doors or patrolling in the mortal realms, securing the world, and therefore it is difficult to meet this number one Martial God. Now that Jun Wu has returned, Xie Lian must travel to heaven to meet him, and therefore he ascends once again to heaven only after days of rest in the mortal world.

The heavenly court has one main road called: Martial Deity Avenue. Although there are many such paths that have been built to commemorate Jun Wu in the mortal world, they are only shadows and copies of the true path in heaven.

Xie Lian walked through such a vast road and headed for the heavenly court. Along the way, many temples from various deities filled the heavenly palace land, forming a large city, each temple looking so different in style and design, beautiful architecture, parks, sculptures and murals. Spiritual aura floated around him, and on the ground, several soft clouds spread with every step he took. On the way, there seemed to be so many heavenly officials in a hurry, and no one dared to greet or even greet him.

To be honest, usually there will not be many heavenly officials who will greet or greet him when he visits the heavenly court. However, ʼnot saying helloʼ in this case means that no fellow official will approach him or start any discussion with him; they will only nod their heads as an appropriate form of greeting. At this moment, everyone was pretending that Xie Lian was not there, as if even just glancing at him would get them into big trouble. If they were in front of them, they would hurry away; if they were behind him, they would slow down, leaving him with a large space, looking afraid to just approach him. Xie Lian himself was already accustomed to this kind of treatment and decided not to think so much about it; After all, what he was doing was dragging the popular and newly rising Little General Pei. Of course everyone will stay away from him.

As he walked, a voice suddenly rang out to him from behind, ”Your Majesty!”

Xie Lian looked shocked when he heard his name being called, wondering who was still brave enough to call him at a time like this. But when he looked back, a junior official who had just called out with a noble name hurried past him, and ran towards someone who was going further ahead. He kept calling out as he ran, ”Jesus, Your Majesty! How could you possibly forget the passing token to go to the Great Martial Hall? How will you be able to enter later?”

So there you have it.

Of course the nickname ʼHis Majestyʼ the junior official earlier shouted was not addressed to him. There are a number of crown princes in heaven, so some of the confusion that sometimes arises due to such things is not extraordinary.

But when he glanced and looked at the other crown prince, he stopped.

The young man had thick eyebrows and bright eyes with a big smile. This smile is very different from the smile that many other heavenly officials have; it is a pure and genuine smile without any intention behind it. Adding a young manʼs aura to his handsome face. To have a more violent official, like Mu Qin, to comment on what he had just seen, however, he might call it an air of ignorance. The young man was wearing armor, seemed to be filled with an aura of pride and heroism; but the armor he wore did not arouse blood and fighting, but it gave him an atmosphere of royal nobility, looking honest and brilliant.

Xie Lian stopped in his tracks and looked at the young man. The young man in front of him seemed to feel a gaze coming from behind and then turned to face him. When the junior official saw who that person was, his expression immediately changed. Xie Lian lightly nodded his head and smiled at him, ”Greetings, Your Majesty.”

The other crown prince is clearly someone who doesnʼt mind everyday details and doesnʼt seem to recognize his face, so when he sees someone greeting him, he immediately returns it with a bright smile and shouts, ”Greetings!”

The junior official next to him gave him a little encouragement, and hurriedly said, ”Letʼs go, Your Honor. We still have to go to the Great Self-Defense Hall.”

The young man, still unaware and completely unaware of what was happening, seemed strange to the junior official behind him who suddenly pressed to push him, ”Why are you pushing me ???”

Xie Lian let out a laugh and immediately changed her expression. The junior official seemed more in a hurry and continued to urge the crown prince to keep going, ”The Great Self-Defense God may be waiting for us, please let us go immediately, Your Majesty!” The other crown prince could only give Xie Lian a confused look before turning to leave. As they walked away,

Xie Lian remained where he stood. And immediately, a few whispers from lower ranking officials floated and sounded into his ears from afar.

”... Well, thatʼs strange. The world is a very small place.”

”But the two of them are officials in heaven, itʼs only a matter of time. If you ask me, the issue of General Nan Yang crashing into General Xuan Zhen is more interesting.”

”Hahaha, is it so rushed? They will immediately collide with each other! That will be fun! They are all waiting for him in the Great Self-Defense Hall, arenʼt they?”

Then, someone commented, ”It doesnʼt matter if the world is so small, people really do something like comparing each other. Each person is really very different from each other; they are both crown princes, but His Holiness Tai Hua is right really someone so noble, and if it were him, he would not do things so shameful even when falling from grace. ”

”However the kingdom of Yong An is far more prosperous than the kingdom of Xian Le, so of course Crown Prince Yong An will be far stronger than the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Xian Le. How grass grows depends on the land it grows on. Simple logic.”

The northern region belongs to the Ming Guan Palace, with the martial god Pei Ming, the Western Martial god Qi Ying is Quan Yi Zheng, the Southeast Palace of Nan Yang is Feng Xin, the Southwest Palace of Xuan Zhen is Mu Qin, and the Eastern region is owned by Palace of Tai Hua, the martial god of Lang Qian Qiu.

Lang Qian Qiu, when he was still a human, he was a crown prince like Xie Lian. However, he is the crown prince of the Yong An kingdom. The kingdom of Yong An was a country built on the fall of the country of Xian Le, and the founder of Yong An was a rebel general who managed to besiege the capital of the kingdom of Xian Le at that time.

When Xie Lian was roaming the mortal realms, he had also visited the eastern region, and naturally knew that the crown prince of the Yong An kingdom had risen. As heavenly officials, it was inevitable for them to meet each other, so he didnʼt think too much about it. Maybe for others, that is one ingredient for whispering to each other gossip, even though it isnʼt really whispering, maybe it wonʼt be to really be heard for fear of retribution. But the words were said without fear of Xie Lian who was clearly able to hear it, maybe even hoped something interesting happened if he accidentally heard it, so Xie Lian pretended not to hear anything, and casually walked away. At that moment, another voice came from behind calling, ”Your Majesty!”

ʼDonʼt be anymoreʼ Xie Lian thought, but this time when he turned around, it was someone who really called out to him. Ling Wen, with two dark circles in his eyes and his arms full of scrolls, approached him, ”Everyone has gone to the Great Martial Hall for a conference. Be more careful once you reach the hall.”

Xie Lian understood. ”What was given to General Little Pei?”

”Exile.” Ling Wen answered.

”Thatʼs actually not too bad. Not too bad.” Xie Lian thought.

Alienation is considered a ʼTemporary Expulsionʼ for heavenly officials who commit crimes, which means that the sentence handed down can still be negotiated, and there may still be opportunities to continue in their duties. If one day they are found to behave best, they may not be captured; maybe in thirty to fifty years, or maybe in a hundred or two hundred years. But for Xie Lian, ʼnot too badʼ was of course by its own standards. For General Pei it will be a completely different story.

Xie Lian remembered another thing and said, ”Oh yes. Ling Wen, what about the search for a boy with human face disease from Mount Yu Jun before? Do you have news?”

”Iʼm really sorry, Your Honor. I have no news at this time. We are working on it.” Ling Wen answered.

Even for heavenly officials, finding someone in such a vast world is not an easy task. Even though heaven might be faster, itʼs still only the difference between ten years in the mortal world versus two years in heaven. Xie Lian could only say thanks, ”Thank you for your hard work.”

At that moment, they reached the end of the road, and a magnificent palace appeared in front of him and immediately greeted his eyesight.

The palace has stood for centuries, but it only shows eternal superiority, and nothing seems ancient; a layer of golden shingles looks so shiny in the shape of a pyramid, so dazzling with the l.u.s.ter it has. Xie Lian raised her head and glanced at the words that read as ʼThe Great Hall of Self Defenseʼ under her golden roof, the words seemed to have been written with strength and with a spirit that was exactly the same as a few hundred years ago, unchanged . He lowered his head and then walked to the hall. Inside, many heavenly officials had gathered, in their own group of about two or three heavenly officials, standing in silence.

The only ones who might enter the hall were heavenly officials who had officially risen, all sons of the heavenly empire or persistent rulers, each full of spiritual power. They looked at each other in silence in a view filled with pride and judgment, their grandeur seemed so extraordinary. And at that time and place, everyone held their breath, not daring to speak. On the throne at the end of the hall sat a martial god who appeared to be wearing pure white armor.

This martial god looks so delicate and dignified, his eyes are closed and his lips donʼt utter any sentence, looking calm and solemn. Behind him was the Great Martial Hall which was so magnificent, but beneath its feet was a clean white snowy peak. As if feeling Xie Lianʼs presence entering the hall, he opened his eyes.

The pair of eyes were black obsidian but looked so bright and clear, as if formed by snow melting in a lake that had frozen for millions of years. When he winked, this martial god smiled softly, ”Xian Le *, you have come.”

* Xian Le is a call from Jun Wu to Xie Lian

Xie Lian lowered her head and said nothing.

When Jun Wu opened his mouth, he didnʼt sound loud, but his deep voice resounded throughout the Great Martial Hall. Then, all the officialʼs eyes were focused on Xie Lianʼs figure and he knew.

It seems like this conference is not just about discussing the scandal regarding General Pei Little and the Small Road Inside Ban Yue, but rather.

The highlight of the show, it seems like him. Himself.

ch 33. In the Great Martial Hall; The Crown Prince Meets the Crown Prince

Ling Wen approached the throne, dressed completely in black and did not say a word or even made a smile. He seemed to draw a line through the item on his memo and said. ”My lord, there are some heavenly officials who are still patrolling in the mortal realm, unable to return for this matter.”

Jun Wu nodded, ”Theyʼve reported it to me.”

Ling Wen confirmed it after listening to that answer, and Jun Wu then turned towards Xie Lian, ”Xian Le, Iʼm sure you want to know why you were called to come here today.”

Xie Lian still lowered her head, ”I can guess that. But I have assumed that the problem with Little General Pei has been resolved.”

At that moment, a manʼs voice was heard, ”whether the problem has really been resolved it is still difficult to say so.”

The voice that came was so excited and filled with feelings, and when Xie Lian turned to see who had said that, he found that it was a martial god who was stepping into a large hall, his hand he placed on the hilt of his sword, and he seemed to be walking forward. When he passed Xie Lian, he stopped in his tracks and raised his lips. ”Your Majesty. Iʼve heard a lot about you.”

This martial god looks to be around twenty-six to twenty-seven, looking elegant and confident in his actions. Looking at his face, Xie Lian thought that he looked better looking than the statue he saw on Mount Yu Jun, and that was a type of good looks that could definitely steal someoneʼs heart. Very interesting. Xie Lian did not respond, and he continued, ”Our Little Pei has been in your care.”

”Looks like I have really offended him.” thought Xie Lian, and then returned the greeting given to him, ”Please donʼt trouble yourself too much by meddling in this matter. Iʼve heard a lot about you too.”

The words ʼIʼve heard a lot about youʼ are clearly not lies. In the past few days, Xie Lian had glimpsed his scrolls, and he read briefly the legends of some heavenly officials who were quite famous, and one of them was General Pei Ming from the Ming Guan Palace. This martial god from the north is skilled in combat, but what is most talked about among mortals about this martial god is about stories about his love affair, good and bad, playing in the small streets carelessly. Good stories that are spread about him are like Pei Ming who used a lot of gold he had to help save a pathetic p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e out of a brothel, he fell in love with her and promised to stay pure and honest forever to wait for her return. Besides the bad stories he has is like Pei Ming who crosses thousands of miles just to spend one night to get in touch with a married woman. And many more things like that. To a certain extent, Pei Ming was actually someone who was so strong. After reading the stories, Xie Lian thought that it was something extraordinary that after all these years, only one person, Xuan Ji, appeared and offered himself from that path of life.

Because Pei Ming is someone who is so skilled in fighting and love, many rivals and even colleagues are so happy to curse him and expect him to die, and it would be even better if he died from syphilis. However, his life force is very strong, and he has never been infected with any disease even after many flowers have been picked; he wonʼt die, and he has even outlived most of his friends! Until finally, one day he lost the battle, and everyone laughed and thought that in the end it was the end for him! But then a light fell and the sound of thunder was heard roaring - in this dangerous situation, he ascended to heaven.

* This refers to many women who have been in contact (maybe s.e.x) with him.

Those who did not die in his hands may all have died of anger.

After ascending, Pei Ming did not change his way of life and even the scale of the stories that were spread about his association grew and grew. From fairies and female officials, to female ghosts and even demons, as long as they are beautiful, he will pluck them. Even so, her favorite type is still a charming woman from the mortal world. Many of the indecent love stories starring him play the role of male lead, and if not for Xie Lianʼs cultivation method that demands purity of body and mind, he might read some of these books out of curiosity.

So, in addition to being a martial god who ruled and ruled the northern region, the mortal realm also worshiped him as the God of Love. Even some heavenly officials will secretly pray to him if they meet him in heaven, hoping to get luck in love. It must be said, that despite being similar, the title was clearly better than the unreasonable title possessed by Feng Xin namely ʼJu Yangʼ.

* Big Virility

All heavenly officials present in the hall knew in their hearts what the meaning of the words ”I have heard about you” were both spoken by Xie Lian and Pei Ming, and there were many who burst out laughing in their heads - each when you hear it. After the pleasantries, Xie Lian said, ”What did General Pei mean by saying that the problem was not yet resolved?”

Pei Ming snapped his fingers, and a corpse floating in the air suddenly appeared in the middle of the large hall.

Actually, this floating body is an empty shell. The body did not have a soul, was completely empty in it, and the body appeared to be covered in blood from head to foot, so the body looked not much different from a corpse. To do something like this that suddenly appeared in front of a crowd so elegant like these heavenly officials was a surprise. Jun Wu didnʼt comment on anything and just watched. His throne might be high but when he looked towards the heavenly officials before him, he did not give a demeaning aura. It looks so grand and dignified, but not above all.

”General Pei, what does this mean?” Xie Lian asked.

”A few days ago I went to visit Little Pei, and he mentioned something interesting.” Pei Ming answered,

When he opened his mouth, Xie Lian could guess what he would say next.

Pei Ming seemed to be pacing around Xie Lian and smiled, ”Iʼm quite familiar with Little Peiʼs skills. Even if the artificial power is reduced and not at all the same as his true self, his ability is still quite competent. The replica is still capable of fighting in a balanced way. with demons with the ʼThreatʼ group. However, he surprisingly told me that there was a human who could defeat him to the point where he himself had to yield. Now isnʼt that interesting? ”

Pei Ming continued, ”I asked him, and he told me more. Apparently, at that time, there was a young man dressed in red next to His Majesty and remained near you while you were on the Small Road Inside Ban Yue.”

Hearing the words ”Red Dress” made all the heavenly officials present at that time immediately change their facial expressions. And Pei Mingʼs next words made them all more agitated. He said, ”And this young man, in the dark, was able to eradicate all the threatening Ban Yue warriors in an instant.”

”Now, Your Honor. Could you please tell us who this young man in red is?”

If it is not included in the ʼThreatʼ group then it must be included in the ʼSupremeʼ / ”Highest” group. And the important thing is that he can kill hundreds of demons with the ʼThreatʼ group in an instant, a young man in red. Who else do they think.

Leaving behind so many clues, anyone would be able to guess where this conversation would go, and who he really was. But no heavenly official wants to be the first to say the forbidden name.

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, thought of the words he would say next, and said unnaturally, ”Uh, really? About that. I really donʼt remember it well. There is also a caravan trapped with us in the Small Street Inside Ban Yue was at the time, and we spent several days together, so maybe it was someone from the caravan. ”

Pei Ming smiled, ”Your Majesty, your words are very different from what Pei Su said. According to Little Pei, you and that young man are very close, unlike someone youʼve only met for several days. How could you possibly not remember it? ”

ʼNo, youʼre wrong. That is truth. It really was only a few days. Trust me!ʼ Xie Lian thought. However, his expression did not provide any clues.

At that time, from the sidelines of the heavenly official who was present there a cultivator dressed in white casually waved his mustache and said, ”General Pei, you only hear the story from one side only from what has been said by Little Pei. Little Pei has done crime; he is currently in custody and will soon be exiled. Is it true that if his words are credible or not it still needs to be seen again? ”

”Then we will see whether General Nan Yang and General Xuan Zhen can help us.” Replied Pei Ming.

Following his line of sight, there Xie Lian found Feng Xin and Mu Qin, standing apart in the Southwest and Southeast corners of the large hall.

Feng Xin still looked the same as in his memory; seemed to stand tall and straight, his eyes showed a look filled with high determination, and his eyebrows were always slightly furrowed, as if something was always bothering him, but in fact he was not bothered at all by anything. Mu Qin on the other hand, was somewhat different from what was in his memory. Even though his face still looked pale like chalk as if there wasnʼt much blood there, his thin lips pursed, his eyes half-opened, but there was cold air that seemed to say ʼdonʼt talk to meʼ around him. He stood with his arms crossed, one finger on his right hand tapping his left elbow gently, looking like he felt comfort there, or more like he was planning something. Both of them were really handsome, but each of them had their own shortcomings. Hearing Pei Ming call them, they both looked towards Jun Wu at the same time. Only until Jun Wu nodded his head slightly before they stepped forward slowly.

This was the first time since Xie Lianʼs third increase that he had come face to face with the two of them. He could feel the gaze of all of them watching increasingly wild.

So wild and inevitable. The Great Martial Hall is a heavenly number one martial palace; Non-heavenly officials do not have the right to enter and discuss matters there. The first time when the crown prince Xian Le rose, Feng Xin and Mu Qin were his generals. At that time, they were only low ranking officials of the middle court without even the right to carry out their duties in the Great Martial Hall. And now, they were no longer junior officials and they had even been allowed to enter and stand in this hall, their rank was even higher than their old master, what a change of fate! It is impossible if something like this would not be an interesting spectacle. The three of them looked at each other, looked blindly all over the place, looked at each other but pretended not to care, did not know what was thought of one another. However, Xie Lian could roughly guess why Pei Ming called them to help.

As expected, Pei Ming said, ”General Nan Yang and General Xuan Zhen have both fought Hua Hua before. Iʼm sure they have the authority to talk about what weapon that person is using.”

So the purpose of bringing out the empty shell of A-Zhaoʼs body is to make everyone examine the wounds he suffered as a result of his previous fight with Hua Cheng. Feng Xin and Mu Qin slowly approached the body that was still floating in the air. Xie Lian himself took a few steps forward to look at it, but there was so much blood that turned black and turned into black spots, it was hard to say anything just by looking at it. The other two heavenly officials, they faced each other with facial expressions that had now turned hard, took the time they had to examine this body. In the end, they raised their heads and then glanced at each other, none of them wanted to talk first.

Ling Wen watched them fight each other with a pair of eyes that emitted a static electricity that collided with each other but seemed to still refuse to talk, and then he could not take it anymore. He cleared his throat from one side of the throne and then said, ”General. The conclusion?”

Finally, Feng Xin first relented to speak. In a low voice, he said, ”Here it is.”

”E-Mingʼs curved sword.” Mu Qin added.

* Curved is peopleʼs description of the shape of the sword.

The curved sword of E-Ming is the same strange weapon that Hua Cheng used when he uniquely challenged thirty-three heavenly officials and defeated them to pulp, destroying their souls and dignity!

Inside the Great Martial Hall, heavenly officials began to talk to each other under their breath, each of their eyes watching and staring at Xie Lian who still had an unreadable facial expression. Pei Ming has achieved his goal, ”If the young man in red who also travels and continues to stand next to His Majesty is the same as that person, then all these problems must be reviewed.”

The white clothed cultivator from before then spoke again, ”General Pei, are you saying that His Highness the Crown Prince Xian Le has colluded with the Great Demon King specifically just to destroy the path of General Little Pei?”

The second time when the cultivator spoke, he was on Xie Lianʼs side, so Xie Lian had to see who this cultivator looked so curious about. What he saw next was a cultivator with clear eyes; He had a ponytail whip between his arms, a long sword on his back, and a folding fan tucked into his crumpled white belt. His form looked so noble and graceful, his expression eager. He looked familiar but Xie Lian still could not remember when he had met someone who had these characteristics.

Pei Ming also glanced at him and smiled, ”Qing Xuan, just this time donʼt fight me in this matter.”

The white-clothed cultivator seemed innocent to hear it and said, ”Oh, did I misunderstand? Sorry, General Pei, donʼt take it too seriously. My bad, my bad.”

His attitude this time looks very fake. The smile shown by Pei Ming is one that an elder will wear when they donʼt want to deal with children; he shook his head and then waved his hand, pulling on the floating empty shell which was also A-Zhao. He turned and continued his argument, ”That might not be a coalition. Itʼs just that that person is so strong and evil, who knows that he might use tricks to deceive and blind His Majesty. Therefore, Iʼm afraid this issue needs to be determined and discussed again. It would be great if His Majesty could bring up Chief Reverend Ban Yue whom you brought earlier for further questioning. ”

ch 34. In the Great Martial Hall; The Crown Prince Meets the Crown Prince

Before Xie Lianʼs knee touched the floor, Jun Wu reached out and grabbed his elbow, preventing Xie Lian from kneeling. Jun Wu sighed and said, ”Xian Le.”

Xie Lian straightened up once more and lowered his head, ”Sorry.”

Jun Wu looked still staring and watching him, ”Then, do you admit your mistake?”

”Yes.” Xie Lian answered.

”Then why didnʼt you tell me where you had made the mistake?” Said Jun Wu.

Xie Lian was silent and then Jun Wu shook his head. ”I never thought you would find out.”

The Great God seemed to shake his head, move his body and ask Xie Lian to follow him, and then both of them seemed to walk slowly toward the rooms behind the palace hall. As they walked, Jun Wu, with his hands clasped in front of his body, commented, ”Xian Le is already an a.d.u.l.t now.”

Xie Lian did not dare to speak when he heard that comment. Jun Wu continued, ”You have been up for some time now, but never once did you report to the Great Self-Defense Hall. If there were others who were so brash like this, Ling Wen Palace Hall would persecute them directly.”

After his third ascension, Xie Lian did not dare to meet or even see Jun Wu in his Great Martial Hall because he did not know how he should behave when he met and faced this Great God, so he procrastinated and took more time. time to be able to prepare himself before actually seeing him. Of course the sentence, ʼIʼm sorryʼ that he said earlier was not intended for this matter, and Jun Wu noticed. ”If your apology is for what happened in the past, then let it go, I reject it. You say it yourself: the past is the past, and we must forget what should have been left behind.”

Xie Lian winced, ”How could I forget it?”

”Then look to the future. There are still many things we still need for you to do.”

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and said, ”Xian Le is just a low trash god without strength. There is no need for me. Now I just ask not to become too much of a burden.”

”Why are you so demeaning to yourself? Are you not so good at giving your best in your last two cases?” Said Jun Wu.

”But I have offended General Pei.”

”Ming Guan is fine, you donʼt need to worry about yourself for what happened to him.” Jun Wu answered. But speaking of General Pei, they must now relate it to the matter of Hua Cheng. ”E-Mingʼs curved sword. Rain of Blood Reaches Flowers. Tell me, who were you involved with when you came down this time?”

Xie Lian gently cleared his throat. ”My lord, I swear I did nothing. Only, one day by chance I met a child who looked so attractive on the street, and we spent time together. I didnʼt think much about it.”

Jun Wu nodded, ”Opportunity to meet, a child, who turns out to be the Great Demon King in the Ghost world. Xian Le, you know very well, that if Ming Guan asks you further about this matter and you openly admit it in front of other officials, what are the consequences? ? ”

”Xian Le knows.” Xie Lian replied sadly, ”But the truth is that. If others donʼt believe my honest words, there is nothing I can do. I donʼt dare to be honest in front of them at the conference, so Iʼm very grateful for the generosity of interference. My lord. ”

”Naturally, I know that you will not intentionally collude with the king of the ghost realm.” Said Jun Wu.

”Iʼm grateful for my lordʼs trust.” Xie Lian answered.

”However, with the things that have happened, it may no longer be appropriate to send you to investigate important issues that have arisen.”

”Did something happen?” Xie Lian asked.

At this moment, the two of them had reached a room behind the large hall of Jun Wuʼs palace. The large hall and back room were separated by a large, sturdy mural, the front view of the place laying a golden palace soaring through a sea of clouds, looking so radiant and brilliant. Besides that the back side of the mural depicts a mountain and valley more than ten thousand miles.

Xie Lian looked at the mural. On the map there are shown many little pearls like stars, and each of them is marked as the Temple of the Great Self-Defense in the mortal world. Pearls embedded in the map means that there is a Temple of Self-Defense built there. Eight hundred years ago when Jun Wu brought Xie Lian who rose for the first time into the back hall room, the pearl stars that appeared on the mural were not so dense, but now, the sparkling jewelery now seemed to have smothered the place with a look so beautiful, flooding the place with their light.

Jun Wu stood in front of the mural and spoke, ”Seven days ago, many people saw with their own eyes, a fire dragon that suddenly surged up into the sky from the forest in the eastern region.”

Xie Lianʼs face instantly sank at those words.

Jun Wu, with one hand behind his back, and the other hand he used to tap the mural once so gently then said, ”The fire dragon lasts for two times incense before it burns out. Do you know what that means?”

”That is the Ascending Fire Dragon spell, it will emit a powerful burst of fire but it will not harm. That spell is a sign of a request for help.” Xie Lian answered.

”Right. That is a danger signal, and it came from one of the heavenly officials.” Said Jun Wu.

”That spell is not an ordinary form of calling for help, it is one of the spells released from the form of despair when it is really between death and life.” Xie Lian added.

This Ascending Fire Dragon spell emits a powerful flame that will not harm anyone, this spell requires enormous strength, and if one is not careful when releasing it, they can explode and destroy their own spiritual core. Therefore, if not in a state of truly hopelessness, very few will take this route. Now that it appeared, it meant that a heavenly official had fallen into great danger.

”Has an official been missing recently?” Xie Lian asked.

”The problems that occur in the Small Road Inside Ban Yue are not the only reason all officials are called back to the heavenly court this time. The ultimate goal is to use this opportunity to investigate the whereabouts of all heavenly officials there are. Besides those who usually do not appear like Master Rain. and Master Earth, even those who cannot return will immediately report it. ”

After thinking, Xie Lian speculated, ”Maybe in this case itʼs not one of the heavenly officials? Could it be one of the retired heavenly officials?”

”If thatʼs the case, then Iʼm afraid our line of possibility will expand so much. Many retired officials have long lost contact with heaven. It will be difficult to determine who is in danger.” Said Jun Wu.

So maybe this is the reason why Ling Wen and many heavenly literary officials have dark circles under their eyes; they were busy working on this case, and of course they would not have time to investigate the boy with human face disease from Mount Yu Jun. ”To corner heavenly officials into using self-destructive spells like that, he must be fighting a powerful demon who has committed such a large crime. Is there a gathering of devils or maybe there is a demon lair in the area?”

”There is.” Jun Wu answered. He turned towards Xie Lian, ”Do you know about Ghost Town?”

Xie Lian thought about it and then replied, ”Yes.”

Ghost Town is the most prosperous place in the ghost realm, located right at the intersection of the mortal realm and the ghost realm. Thatʼs where all the spirits, ghosts, demons and monsters gather and they form associations to trade and exchange. Cultivators at some level will also go to do business or look for information there. Sometimes, there will also be heavenly officials in disguise and going there, hanging out for the sake of simply fulfilling their curiosity or personal reasons unknown to other heavenly officials. Of course, some will enter accidentally, and will be eaten alive, or frightened until they die.

There have always been many stories about Ghost Towns in the mortal world since historic times. Xie Lian recalls one of the stories about the Ghost City where there was a man who was traveling at night and he then saw a market that looked so crowded in front of him with a big red lantern and various colorful markings. He then entered the market eagerly, but later found out that everyone around him wore a mask, and if they didnʼt wear masks they would wear a veil, and if they didnʼt wear both they looked very ugly, he was very curious! He didnʼt think about the situation he was going through deeply, the man then bought a bowl of noodles and then sat down to eat, but when he started eating his food, the food tasted bad, and when he looked closely at the noodles, he saw that the noodles were looked really stretched in the bowl and he found strands of human hair there!

Xie Lian brought herself back to the present, and Jun Wu continued, ”After seeing the burning column of fire, I immediately sent officers to investigate the forest. However, whatever was there must have moved so quickly, and the officers who were I sent it there, they found that there was no trace of anything or when anything was suspicious. I was worried that the enemy would better protect the security of the territory and themselves, so this time, I needed someone to go down in secret and investigate the Ghost Town. ”

”We canʼt warn enemies and get them back on the move. Is that why this canʼt be discussed openly in the big hall with everyone and tell too many people?” said Xie Lian.

”It is true.” Jun Wu answered.

”Then my lord, please give Xian Le orders.”

”The first candidate I had in mind at first was you,” Jun Wu said, ”But for now, it might be uncomfortable for you to leave.”

”How could it be uncomfortable?” Xie Lian asked.

”First, the eastern region is controlled by the heavenly official Lang Qian Qiu. If you must go, then you must cooperate with him.” Said Jun Wu.

Is that true? Xie Lian replied, ”That wonʼt be a problem, donʼt worry.”

”Secondly,” Jun Wu continued, ”Do you know what area the Ghost City is in?”

Surprised, Xie Lian said, not looking so sure, ”Does that belong to the territory of Hua Cheng?”

Jun Wu nodded slightly. Xie Lian suddenly felt comfortable and rubbed his forehead, but something else appeared in his mind.

The fire column in the eastern forest lit up seven days ago. Coincidentally, seven days ago was the time when Hua Cheng left Pu Qi Temple. Perfect time. Is there a relationship between the two events?

”Looks like your relationship with him isnʼt bad.” Jun Wu said, ”If you accidentally meet him, then everything might still be fine. However, if he has a relationship with this case, if you feel awkward then donʼt force yourself. If you have other suggestions, immediately let me know at me. ”

After a short silence, Xie Lian said, ”I will go.”

Jun Wu looked at him, ”Xian Le, I know you are very capable and know what you have to do. However, I also know that you always think the best for everyone.”

Hearing his words, Xie Lian smiled a little, ”Please donʼt say it like Iʼm a princess who has never left her familyʼs house. Those words really donʼt suit me anymore.”

Jun Wu still shook his head, ”I shouldnʼt have commented on who you will be friends with, but I will still say this, be careful of Hua Cheng.”

Xie Lian lowered her head, and didnʼt say anything. He should have answered with ”Yes, my lord,” after all, it had become a habit. However, somehow, he really didnʼt want to say ”Yes”.

”Especially from the evil sword E-Ming. Donʼt let the sword hurt you.” Jun Wu continued.

”Whatʼs wrong with the sword?” Xie Lian asked, curious.

”The wounds inflicted by the evil sword of E-Ming are all cursed. Even when the wound is healed, if Hua Cheng wants it, it will bleed once more.” Jun Wu answered.

Xie Lian didnʼt know where the sudden self-confidence came from, but he didnʼt think Hua Cheng would hurt him at all. However, he replied, ”Xian Le understands.”

Jun Wu nodded again, ”After you take this case, I will naturally feel comfortable. If you donʼt feel any awkwardness, itʼs even better. But still, carrying out this mission alone might be too dangerous and burdening you. Are there other officials who are do you want to appoint this case and help you together? ”

”It really doesnʼt matter.” Xie Lian said after thinking, ”But it would be better if they were easy to get along with. It would be better if they were strong so they could lend me spiritual power at any time when I needed it.”

Jun Wu smiled, ”You attacked and aborted the choices for Nan Yang and Xuan Zhen with the first condition you requested.”

Really, no one could say that Feng Xin and Mu Qin were someone who had a sociable personality, and Xie Lian also smiled.

”How about the three of you? Have you talked to them?” Jun Wu asked. The Great God himself never entered the ranks of spirit communication, and therefore naturally did not realize and did not know the chatter and gossip that occurred between the officials.

”We speak a few words.” Xie Lian answered.

”Itʼs been years, but you only say a few words?” Jun Wu asked, ”Oh, right. I heard when you went up this time, you destroyed many castles and property from your fellow heavenly officials, and one of them was Nan Yang.”

Xie Lian cleared his throat, and used this opportunity to explain to himself, ”I have already paid that debt! All in total eight million, eight hundred eighty thousand merits! And for this, I need to thank my lord for giving me the opportunity to go to Mount Yu Jun and complete payment in full. ”

”Thanks to Nan Yang,” Jun Wu answered, ”I heard from Ling Wen who said he personally approached him to pay your debt from his reconstruction fees.”

Xie Lian was stunned. ”This ... I have no idea about this.”

No wonder the eight million, eight hundred eighty thousand reward was easily paid; most have been forgiven. But at that time, Nan Yangʼs palace was the most heavily damaged, they said half of the golden roof had collapsed.

”Nan Yang made sure that Wen Wen would not tell you, so naturally you were unconscious. Because he didnʼt want you to know, it would be better to keep pretending to be stupid.” Said Jun Wu.

Xie Lian did not know how he felt about this. So complicated and bitter, his mind seemed cloudy. Finally he sighed silently and thought, ʼReally, in this world, the words ”donʼt tell anyone” are all full of emptinessʼ. Not useful at all!

Jun Wu pondered then said, ”If Nan Yang and Xuan Zhen donʼt want to do it and are not the right choice, what about the Wind Master?”

Xie Lian pondered the choice, ”The Wind Master looks so good, but I donʼt know if she wants to go to take this mission with me?”

”The Wind Master is so strong,” continued Jun Wu, ”A lively person who is gregarious, and thus matches the first condition you ask for, someone who is sociable. After collaborating with the Wind Master at Ban Yue, he also has the impression that good about you. I think you two will be fine. If you donʼt have any other questions, meet the Wind Master and go to Ghost Town. Also, ”

”Yes?”

Jun Wu said wearily, ”Working hard is good, but donʼt force yourself.”

Xie Lian was shocked by those words, and smiled, ”What did my lord say? I did not force myself.”

Jun Wu patted Xie Lianʼs shoulder and didnʼt speak a word.

The two spent a few more minutes there discussing other administrative matters before Jun Wu called the Wind Master and let Xie Lian go. Leaving the Isatana of the Great Self-Defense Hall, Xie Lian stood for a moment near the gate, looked around the place, before finally walking back through Martial Deity Avenue (Street Name of the Martial God) to leave the heavenly court.

After he reached the heavenly staircase leading to the mortal realm, he took a walk to wait for the Wind Master. But after a while, the person who appeared was not a female cultivator in white before, but another cultivator in white.

The cultivator looked so radiant, the spiritual aura he possessed was abundantly gathered and radiated around him - the cultivator was the previous cultivator that he had seen attending the conference at the Great Self-Defense Hall, Shi Qing Xuan. He waved his arm and smiled, ”Greetings, Your Majesty!”

Xie Lian smiled, ”Greetings, fellow cultivator.”

To be honest, he really wanted to ask what degree he had, but thought it was rude to do it. He would sneak a peek into his scroll to see which heavenly official named Qing Xuan when then the person walked up to him and shouted, ”Letʼs go! Letʼs check the underworld.”

Xie Lian was surprised, ”My friend, Iʼm waiting for someone.”

Hearing this, the cultivator seemed to put his horseʼs whip to the back collar of his outer robe and turned around in surprise, ”Who are you waiting for?”

”Iʼm waiting for the Wind Master.” Xie Lian answered.

The white clothed cultivator looked even more confused, ”Arenʼt I already here?”

”...”

Xie Lianʼs eyebrows shot up, ”You are the Wind Master?”

The Wind Master seemed to open her fan, and began fanning herself, ”I am the Wind Master, what should I suspect? Donʼt you know who I am? Have you ever heard my name: Wind Master - Shi Qing Xuan ???”

The tone of his voice sounded indisputable and absolute, as if Xie Lian who did not know his name at all was impossible. The folding fan had the word ”Wind” written on italics on the front, while the back of the fan had three slashes drawn - the exact same fan that the female cultivator in white had before!

Xie Lian suddenly remembered; Fu Yao had previously mentioned that some heavenly high court officials, in special circ.u.mstances, had the ability to change their appearance. While at Ban Yue, Nan Feng also said an incomplete sentence: ”The Wind Master always does.”

It is always like that? Always what?

A man?!

After being dragged a few steps, Xie Lian was still unable to fully process this information, ”Um ... Master Wind Master, you, you, why did you disguise yourself as a woman last time?”

”What? Am I not beautiful?” Asked the Wind Master.

”Yes? But ...” Xie Lian still looked confused.

”If I look beautiful then itʼs okay, right? As long as I look fine!” The Wind Master smiled brightly, ”Of course because I will look good because Iʼm in disguise!”

Because of this, he seemed to suddenly have an idea, and closed the fan. He gave Xie Lian once again with a calculated look, and spoke after a while, ”By the way, donʼt we have to disguise ourselves for this mission to Ghost Town?”

”...”

Xie Lian: ”???”

Ch 35. Enter the Ghost City! Rendezvous with the Demon King

It was very embarrassing, only after four hours later did Xie Lian have the free time to peek a few scrolls and finally learn about the background of this Wind Master.

The Five Elemental Masters of Heaven used their title to change their family name. For example, before Master Earth rose, the name in his previous fanatic world was Ming Yi. After ascending, he was referred to as ʼMaster of Earth Yiʼ. As for the Wind Master, his previous name was Shi Qing Xuan, and after ascending he was called ʼWind Master Qing Xuanʼ. It is suitable for his title, his personality is like the wind; he is gracious and generous, ignores any small details, and is very popular in heaven, as seen from him who previously easily distributed ten thousand merits in the arrangement of spirit communication. But in the end, because his brother was a god who controlled mortal wealth, of course the Wind Master was very generous and did not care about such small details.

Indeed, the elder brother of the Wind Master Qing Xuan (Shi Qingxuan) is what is referred to as ”The Tyrannical Water,” his name is Water Master Wu Du and his previous mortal name is Shi Wu du.

Going down to hell together, the two gods walked side by side, chatting casually as they traveled. Xie Lian crossed his arms and said in amazement, ”The Pei family that produced two generals rising with one name is already a legend, but you and your brother, one becoming the Wind Master and one as the Water Master, two of the five lords of the heavenly element ascending at the same time , truly a fairy tale of a miracle. ”

It must be known that even in a million possibilities no one has the ability to rise. When Pei Ming and Pei Su ascended, they were separated by several hundred years, and Pei Su was not even a direct descendant of the Pei Ming family; he came from a branch of Pei Mingʼs brotherʼs family who knows who knows how many times it has been lost from generation to generation. Water Master Wu Du and Wind Master Qing Xuan were brothers related to real blood, a pair of heavenly officials who had risen from the same house, and at the same time, thus it was something truly extraordinary.

Shi Qing Xuan laughed at her, ”Itʼs nothing. My brother and I were born from the same mother, grew up together, studied together, cultivated together, so naturally we would ride together.”

Xie Lian also knew about this when he was still reading about this Wind Master from his scroll. Shi Wu Du ascended first, but after only a few years, his brother Shi Qing Xuan also made it through the heavenly calamity (a kind of heavenly torture / ordeal). Mortals often worship these two heavenly officials together in the same holy temple and praise them equally. Obviously the two brothers enjoyed and had a good relationship. As San Lang and Nan Feng had previously mentioned, the Water Master must be the reason Pei Ming did not touch the Wind Master. However, the brother of The Tyrannical Water is not someone who can be easily chosen.

When he came to this, Xie Lian thought of other details and considered it before asking, ”Master Wind Master, in the Great Hall of the Martial earlier, General Peiʼs manner of speaking sounded as if he shared a good friendship with your brother. having previously filed a complaint against General Small Pei will affect ... ”

”Well.” Shi Qing Xuan replied, ”My brother already knows that I cannot stand and cannot face Pei Ming.”

”Knowing is one thing, action is another.” Xie Lian said. ”Wouldnʼt all this cause a rift in relations between the Water Master and General Pei?”

”If it causes a rift in their relationship, it will be even better! I hope my brother will stop associating with him, and leave the designation of the” Three Tumorsʼ in the heavenly realms someday, ”Shi Qing Xuan said.

* One of the ”Three Toxic Tumors” in Tianting = Heaven (Nangong Jie, Yi Pei, and Shi Wudu). ”Three Cancers / Tumors” (refers to three people who have a bad reputation but are on good terms in heaven). This has been discussed in the introduction chapter Vampli, just a reminder.

Xie Lian stopped, ”What is ʼThree Tumorsʼ?”

Shi Qing Xuan said in surprise, ”What! Even you also donʼt know about this? Fine, whatever. I now know that you do not know enough new things about any problem. Listen and laugh.” The Three Tumorsʼ are nicknames that are given to three heavenly officials who did not have a good reputation but had a good relationship with each other in heaven, and they were Ming Guan, Ling Wen, and my brother. ”

”I canʼt believe that itʼs not Xie Lian, Xie Lian, and Xie Lian on the list.” Xie Lian thought.

Shi Qing Xuan fanned herself with her Wind Master fan and continued, ”Even if I canʼt bear to deal with him, the whole business and problem this time is started by Little Pei himself. Thereʼs no way I can let Pei Ming pin all these mistakes to Chief Reverend Ban Yue and protect Little Pei. It doesnʼt matter if you are a human, a god, or a devil, you must take responsibility for whatever actions you have done yourself. Bluffing a little girl is so low. ”

The last line was spoken in a tone that sounded disgusted, and Xie Lian smiled. ”Mr. Wind Master is a defender of justice.”

Shi Qing Xuan laughed, ”You yourself are not bad! Iʼve heard rumors about the Small Road Inside Ban Yue here and there, but never had the time to investigate it; plus, my brother would immediately yell at me when I started talking about this problem, with so many images I have, I forgot something, when I heard you ask about the problem in the Small Road in Ban Yue in the spirit communication array a few days ago, it reminded me of the exact same case as that time ”So I decided to go and check it out. Not only did you ask, you even intended to go to that place alone! So I thought, damn, you are a wonderful man!”

This Wind Master was specifically someone who had the personality to say directly what he wanted to say and was someone who was so attractive, and Xie Lian could understand why he was so popular in heaven. He never thought that after his ascension this time, he would be able to form a friendship with other heavenly officials like this, and he could not help but keep his happy smile. But when he turned to face the direction the Wind Master was, the white-clothed cultivator beside him had now turned into a woman in white. Really so suddenly, Xie Lian almost stumbled in her steps. ”Mr. Wind Master, why did you do this transformation so suddenly?”

”Oh. To be honest, Iʼm actually stronger in this form.” Shi Qing Xuan answered.

As mentioned above, Wind Masters and Water Masters are often worshiped together. However, this also caused a strange accident. Maybe people think that worshiping two male gods together in one temple is something strange. Mister and Miss go hand in hand hand in hand with each other, what a harmonious pair that looks so handsome and beautiful, that is something that should happen. So, after a while someone somewhere carved out the manifestation of the Wind Master as a goddess.

Forget about the statue of the goddess, they must also make up a story that fits the version where the Wind Master is a goddess, something like the god of Wind and Water used to be brothers and sisters; there is even a version where they are husband and wife. After a few hundred years, the story has spread and from them comes even stranger legends. Every now and then the two officials read the story out of curiosity, but each time they read it, they will grimace and their bodies will immediately be filled with goosebumps. Even so, there are more people who believe in such outrageous stories, and the true s.e.x of the Wind Master starts to become confusing; the sentence ”My Lady, please watch and pay attention to me.” can be heard everywhere. As such, Shi Qing Xuan was nicknamed ʼMiss Wind Masterʼ.

Even though it all sounds so silly, something like that actually doesnʼt happen rarely. For example, Ling Wen, for example, also has a similar experience. Ling Wen was a female celestial official, but she was not dressed in color and style like the other female deities. He often wore black or dark clothes, looked serious and competent, and spent his days working carefully through heaps and heaps of administrative scrolls in his palace. Although his own personality is partly to blame, but most is for other reasons. If someone has to ask a human: Is Ling Wen a man or woman? Anyone will answer that question with confidence and say: A man.

The God of Literature is, of course, male. Only for this problem, when Ling Wen rose he suffered a loss. She is a goddess of literature, but many people in the mortal world think: how can a woman be in such an important position? How can women ensure good luck in literary competence? Thatʼs definitely not effective! So, even though he worked hard, he still had very few worshipers. Then, some worshipers could not forget him, and rebuilt his statues into male gods, transforming him from Goddess Ling Wen to God of Ling Wen, and even making a whole series of fancy backgrounds. After this change, the temple prospered and everyone praised how effective Lord Ling Wen was. But the reality is, an official is an official, their spiritual powers are all the same, and all the legends that are scattered are all false. But people just eat it not digested anyway. From then on, when Ling Wen needed to appear in someoneʼs dream, his followers could only do so in the form of himself as a male god.

By the same logic, people believe that it is more appropriate to worship men and women as a couple in the temples of Wind and Water. Who cares if you are a god or a devil? You must appear in accordance with the beliefs of others. Appearances can be as different as straying for a million miles and everyone will still see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. High-ranking court officials no longer pay attention to this sort of thing and ignore it.

As for Shi Qing Xuan himself, by Xie Lianʼs own observations, he did not seem to mind at all. In fact, he was completely immersed and enjoying his own satisfaction, and even eagerly dragged others into it, making Xie Lian wonder about the real identity of the woman in black who went with the Wind Master last time. During the four hours they had spent traveling to the underworld together, Shi Qing Xuan had tried several times to persuade Xie Lian to disguise herself as a woman, with very convincing reasons such as ʼWomanʼ having a stronger Yin aura, by because it will be much easier to hide in a crowd of Ghost Towns. ”

* Yin from Yin Yang - Yin represents shadows and femininity.

Xie Lian thought about it and rejected the idea, ”I donʼt have enough strength to change.”

”Itʼs alright. Iʼll lend you my strength!” Shi Qing Xuan answered excitedly, ”That is the reason why the Great Deity requested and appointed me for this mission, right?”

”My lord, please save your strength and use it when we truly fight the enemy ...”

Shi Qing Xuan could not persuade Xie Lian, and stopped to push him further. At this time, both of them had reached a wild field in the middle of nowhere. The night was getting late, and the sound of crows sounded so crazy in the dark, creating an atmosphere that felt so creepy. Xie Lian looked around and said, ”The place must be here. There are many evil auras in the air and there is a large grave near this place, we will definitely catch and find one or two people who are about to leave.

we will follow him when the time comes. ”

So the two then crouched over the mound and began to wait.

A few moments later, Shi Qing Xuan put one hand in his sleeve and began to look for something, and then he seemed to hold a small jug filled with liquor taken from his sleeve and then said. ”You want?”

Xie Lian grabbed the small jug and took a sip, feeling her throat burning so badly, she returned the jug. ”Thank you.”

Shi Qing Xuan took the jug back and then drank it in two gulps, ”You canʼt drink?”

”I can,” Xie Lian replied, ”But drinking liquor causes madness, so just feeling it is enough. What time is it now?”

Shi Qing Xuan hummed, and answered, ”Itʼs midnight.”

”Then maybe soon.” Xie Lian said.

Just as Xie Lian finished his sentence, a line of faint light appeared from a distance in the depths of the forest.

The faint rows of light slowly approached and drew closer, until finally the two of them could see that the rows of light were a group of expressionless women wearing white clothes, walking in a line. Some of them are old, some are young, some are beautiful, and some are ugly, each wearing mourning or burial clothes, a white lantern in hand, they seem to walk with such light steps.

They must be the ghosts of women heading to the market in the dark tonight.

”Come follow them.” Xie Lian said quietly.

Shi Qing Xuan nodded, took a final gulp from the liquor jug and then threw it away. The two of them stood up and casually walked behind the group of female ghostly convoys.

Both of them had prepared beforehand and they had also erased all the spiritual auras that were inside of them. When they walked, they just looked like people in the form of wood without the scent of life. The group of female ghosts in front of them held a white lantern and followed an unknown path in the dark forest, walking while chatting in a soft, high-pitched voice.

”Iʼm so glad the ghost market is opening again! I need to do facial treatments!” Said one female ghost. Very enthusiastic!

”What happened to your face? Didnʼt you just get facial treatment before?” Answer the other female ghost.

The first female ghost answered, ”My face is rotten again! Huh, the person who served me last time said that facial treatment is guaranteed to make my face fresh for a year! But what? Look at this! It hasnʼt even been half a year.”

Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan trailed behind them, quietly listening to their chat, and did not say a word. When they hear something funny, they will only raise their lips and meet one another. After about an hour, the group finally arrived in a valley.

A red light emanated from deep in the depths of the valley, and something that wafts on this smooth night seemed to be a music. Xie Lian became even more curious and seeing it with her own eyes would look like what Ghost City was like. When they entered the valley, something happened, the female ghost in the last row suddenly turned and found their whereabouts. The ghost looked confused, he then asked, ”Who are you two?”

That question made all the pale-faced heads in front of them turn around, and the ghosts of the woman then began to surround them both, curious. ”When did they start following us? They were not part of the group when we left the cemetery, right?”

”Which grave are you from? Why havenʼt we seen your face before?”

Xie Lian cleared her throat, ”We ... came from a distant grave, so of course all of you have never seen us.”

Shi Qing Xuan also smiled, ”Thatʼs right! We came from a tomb thousands of miles away from here that specifically came only to see this Ghost Market.”

The group of white-clothed female ghosts then fell silent, and expressionlessly looked at the two of them. If it was someone else, they might fall to the ground shivering with fear of wet their pants. Xie Lian was not afraid if their two identities would be known; These weak wild ghosts donʼt have enough strength to defeat them both. However, because the Ghost City was now right in front of their eyes, it was not wise to start anything at this close distance to a target that might inadvertently cause a warning to the enemy because of their actions.

At that moment, one of the women who looked at Shi Qing Xuan slowly moved her teeth.

”MeiMei, your face is very well groomed,” he said

* MeiMei is a familiar name for calling a younger sister.

Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan were speechless.

Immediately, the two of them then nodded several times. Xie Lian replied, ”Right, not bad.” And Shi Qing Xuan imitated his tone and said, ”Pretty good, right?”

All the female ghosts there then approached the two of them and began the discussion, ”Yes, not rotten at all.”

”Mei Mei, where did you do your facial treatment?”

”Do you have any special tricks?”

”Can you recommend a place for us?”

Shi Qing Xuan didnʼt know how to respond to all those questions, and he just laughed awkwardly to just buy time. At that moment, the group of female ghosts then turned around, and a bright red light suddenly appeared in the eyes of the two of them.

A mysterious and haunted world wide open before their eyes.

A long stretch of road appeared before them. The road seemed so long that they were unable to see the end of the road with their current line of sight. Along the way there are many shops and stalls that provide an aura full of courtesy and hospitality; various kinds of colorful signs were flown high above them and several giant red lanterns were hung low. Pedestrians seemed to fill the road, many of them wore face masks with various expressions such as crying, laughing, and angry; some of them are human, and some are not human. Those without masks can only be described as ʼstrange shapesʼ. Some of them had big heads and small bodies, some looked thin as bamboo sticks, some looked flat like pancakes pressing on the ground, letting pedestrians walk above them while complaining.

Xie Lian seemed to be careful not to step on anything strange. When he passed a food stall, he saw the owner of the stall looking to use a giant bone to stir a giant soup pot there, and while he was stirring the soup, some spit would spill between his teeth, drip and fall into the soup, and in a soup full of strange objects and colors it seemed to pool a lot of eyeballs. Xie Lian witnessed all of that and suddenly he seemed to have just gained confidence.

On the other hand, he saw a strange busker doing a performance there: so many fans saw the show, it was a burly man who seemed to be holding a small ghost, weak as a chick, in his grasp, and he then opened his mouth to blow a big fire which he used to roast the figure of the little ghost which then the little ghost screamed like a dying pig, writhing wildly. The crowd who watched the show then cheered and screamed, shouting ʼrepeatʼ. There was even a crazy person who randomly threw some money into the air, and when one slip of money flew in front of Xie Lian, he then quickly took one and flipped the money, it was the money of the dead as he thought. Of course ah!

As he walked, there was a meat stall with rows of broken human heads displayed there, human heads hung in accordance with the age order, as indicated on the price tag; the head of a child is this big, the flesh of a young man is that big, the flesh of a grown man spends this amount, the veins of an a.d.u.l.t woman are charged that much, and so on. The figure who was wearing an apron with a meat knife in his hand was a wild boar with black skin, and with very thick hair; and under the knife he was holding, it was a muscular-looking human leg that was being slaughtered and cut into pieces, it still seemed to twitch.

This was truly a swarm of evil, the chaos of hell before him.

Humans slaughtering pigs is a common sight and is still able to be understood by Xie Lian, but a pig who slaughters humans is not, so Xie Lian is unable to do anything but can only surrender and peek at several other incidents. The boar then saw him who was watching the stall and immediately reacted, ”What do you see? Do you want to buy?”

Xie Lian shook her head, ”No.”

The butcher with the figure of the pig kept chopping human flesh on his cutting board hard, the blood from the flesh seemed to spread everywhere. He shouted, his voice sounding so rude, ”If you donʼt buy then donʼt watch! Damn this want to try to start something? Get out of here!”

Xie Lian immediately left the place. But when he accelerated his pace, he suddenly realized that something very wrong had happened.

the female ghost group and Shi Qing Xuan have disappeared.

In the shock that befell him, Xie Lian was about to connect with the Wind Master in the line of spirit communication, afraid that he would really be dragged by the female ghosts to do facial treatments. However, this is a Ghost Town, and the spells used by heaven are very limited. His connection to join the spirit communication array didnʼt work at all, so he had to walk the streets around the Ghost Town to find the lost Wind Master. As he walked, someone suddenly grabbed him. Xie Lian looked alert and felt her body tighten, Xie Lian immediately reacted, ”Whoʼs that?”

The person who stopped him was a woman, and he looked surprised at the reaction given by Xie Lian. But after seeing his face clearly, he began to giggle, looking shy, ”Hey, little gege. You look very strong.”

This woman wore a very open dress, her makeup looked very heavy, the white foundation she wore looked uneven, and when she opened her mouth, a lump of earth seemed to fall from her face. His chest looked as though something was filling his flesh. Really, a shocking sight. Xie Lian gently pushed away her thin claw-like fingers and said, ”Miss, donʼt need to talk like this.”

The woman was surprised, and burst out laughing, ”My lord! ʼMissʼ ?? Who still calls me like that at my age? Hahahahahahaha!”

All the passersby who passed by them seemed to think it was a funny incident, and started laughing together. Xie Lian shook her head, but before she could speak, the woman pounced on him, ”Donʼt go! Little gege, I like you. Come and have fun with me all night, I wonʼt ask to be paid by you!”

The woman looked sullen and winked, ”But I will collect it. Hehehehehe ...”

”...” Xie Lian sighed and prayed silently, and gently but firmly then pushed him away. He said kindly, ”Miss, please.”

The woman looked upset now and then screamed, ”Stop calling me ʼmissʼ, no one will care! Stop wasting my time, will you come or not?”

To tempt Xie Lian even further, the woman suddenly opened her already opened shirt. Xie Lian was not ready to face the brave movement and then sighed again before turning and continuing his journey. The girlʼs ghost then chased after him and continued his seduction, ”Do you like what you see?”

Little did the womanʼs ghost realize, Xie Lian had grown up in the Royal Holy Pavilion, practicing abstinence from alcohol and women for most of her life in the human world, and she had a body and mind that was always stable like a mountain. No matter what he saw, his heart was clear as water, something inappropriate would make him automatically chanting the sutras (verses) in his mind, calming his soul. Unsuccessful in the temptation he did, the expression of the female ghost changed, and he began to shout, ”You donʼt want this? Are you really a man ??”

Xie Lian looked away from her and replied, ”Iʼm a man.”

”Then prove it!” the female ghost shouted.

From among the crowd there, a pedestrian mocked, ”You are a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e! He thinks you are old and ugly, and does not want you. What do you do by continuing to stick like that?”

Hearing those words, Xie Lian did not change her facial expression at all and only put on an expressionless face, ”Thatʼs not it. Itʼs because I have a problem. I canʼt get an erection.”

Everyone fell silent. Then in an instant everyone began to burst into laughter. burst out laughing: ”HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ...”

This time, Xie Lian was the victim of ridicule. Nobody has ever met a man brave enough to announce to the world that they have such a problem. However, for someone like Xie Lian, it didnʼt matter whether his personal limbs functioned or not, so he was used to using such methods as an excuse to get out of a situation like this. And it is a practical and inexpensive method that works all the time when needed. Sure enough, the womanʼs ghost then tidied her shirt and stopped sticking to him. ”No wonder youʼre like this. Like a pig. If you have a problem, why donʼt you say it sooner? Pfft!” T

Not far behind them, the pig butcher who had been seen by Xie Lian seemed to throw his knife again and shouted, ”Damn bitch! What are you saying? Whatʼs with the pig ???”

The female ghost seemed to show no fear, and immediately shouted, ”Whatʼs wrong with pigs ?? Damn animals! Why?”

Immediately the long road was now filled with screams and scolding, everyone shouted, ”That womanʼs ghost, sheʼs Lan Chang, starts her nonsense again!”

”Butcherʼs Zhu is a cutting ghost!”

The two sides sounded buzzing back and forth, so noisy and chaotic, and in the midst of the chaos, Xie Lian fled. After walking for a while, from afar he looked back to where the crowd was and sighed.

Xie Lian continued walking and soon found another rowdy crowd in front of him, and he then stopped in front of a giant red building.

The building looked so magnificent and magnificent; the pillars, the roof, the walls, all were bright red, and the floor was covered with a beautiful thick carpet. If you have to compare, this building is equivalent to a heavenly palace. The only difference is that compared to how dazzling it is, itʼs more like the building looks more dignified. Several large crowds appeared in and out of the door, and inside the building, Xie Lian saw that it was already quite crowded, filled with loud noises that sounded so excited. Looking closer at the place, Xie Lian discovered that this place was a gambling house.

Xie Lian walked towards the door of the building, and on the two pillars in front of the entrance he saw that there was a set of poems *. On the left it says ”Money Over Life”, and on the right it says ”Gain Over Shame”. On the horizontal pole above it says ”HAHAHAHA”.

* Entrance Verses (rhymes at the entrance) are three lines of poetry that express the meaning / theme of the establishment, or just for good luck. One line on each side of the door, and one above.

”...”

That sentence is so ugly and rough, it doesnʼt deserve to be a poem at the entrance. The rhyme sentence also sounds so wild, careless, and full of noise; so embarrassing to just call it a calligraphy! It was as if someone had taken a brush while he was drunk, and started scribbling and writing the sentence so badly, and the words were immediately exploded by an explosion of evil aura before it formed. Xie Lian was once the heir to the throne, and his calligraphy was taught by the best Supreme masters in the country. The character he saw before him now was a form of real tragedy. Hurting his eyes. In fact, the characters were so evil that Xie Lian began to think they looked funny, and then he just shook his head. The Wind Master will not play in this place; Xie Lian will have a greater chance to search for and find female ghosts before in a beauty salon.

He would soon leave the Gambling House, but something made him reconsider his decision, and after only taking a few steps, he then turned and entered the red building.

In the main hall of the Gambling House, several crowds filled the place; countless heads were moving, several laughs and desperate cries could be heard and filled the air of the place. Xie Lian was about to go down a few steps when he suddenly heard a scream, and when he saw the origin of the scream, four masked guards walked over to bring someone.

The man looked in pain, writhing and howling as he was carried, and a trail of blood followed them. Apparently, the manʼs legs had been cut clean from his knees, and blood flowing from the pieces. A small ghost followed them so closely, and greedily licked all the blood on the floor as they left.

It was a terrifying sight, but there was no one in the Gambling House who did not see it, and they kept screaming and cheering, rolling around. Although, of course, all the gamblers in the Gambling House are not human, and if they are human, then they are not ordinary human beings.

Xie Lian lowered his body to continue following the four guards who took the man, and then he continued to walk deeper into the place. A petite officer wearing a mask laughed at him and welcomed him, ”Sir, are you here to play?”

Xie Lian smiled a little, ”I donʼt have money. Mind if I just look?”

In his experience, usually if you say those words in any company you will be expelled. Why did you come in if you didnʼt bring money? But the petite clerk still giggled, ”No money doesnʼt matter. Those who play here donʼt really use money to gamble.”

”Is it true?” Xie Lian asked.

The petite clerk closed his mouth, ”Really. Sir, why donʼt you come with me.”

He waved his hand at Xie Lian, and then hurried away. Xie Lian followed behind him without a word, but carefully surveyed his surroundings.

This gambling house when viewed from inside looks very luxurious and so stylish, but it doesnʼt look tacky at all; it is a building that is rich in taste. The petite officer took Xie Lian to the very back of the main hall, and there was a long table that filled the room like sardines lined up. Xie Lian was just about to approach one of the tables and then he heard a man crying, ”I bet my arm!”

There were too many spectators, Xie Lian couldnʼt get past the crowd, and could only listen from outside the crowd. Suddenly another voice was heard, lazily answering, ”No need. Just forget your arm. Even your bad life has no meaning here. Hearing that voice, Xie Lianʼs heart immediately jumped.

He silently recited a name, ”San Lang.”

What he heard was indeed the voice of the young man. However, the voice sounded a little deeper than he remembered.

However, this is why his voice sounds more pleasant in his ears. Even though he was surrounded by such a noisy crowd, the voice still sounded loud and clear defeating the crowd in the Gambling House and entered his ear.

Xie Lian raised her head and found that behind a long table was a red curtain. And behind the curtain, he could see faintly a red silhouette, looking relaxed lying in a long chair.

ch 36. Admiring the Flower Through Red Cloudʼs; Hearts Filled With Sympathy

The words that came out of Hua Chengʼs mouth were very condescending and disrespectful. But when he spoke, the man in question did not care at all the ridicule he kept saying, and did not dare to fight. The officer who brought Xie Lian to the long table smiled, ”Young master, you are very lucky today.”

Xie Lian never looked away from the long table and then said, ”How so?”

”Our master is here to play,” the clerk replied, ”For only the last few days he seems to want to come and stop by here, so isnʼt this good luck?”

With his tone of voice, Xie Lian could say that the servant respected his ʼmasterʼ very much and idolized him, as if just seeing his figure was the greatest honor. Xie Lian couldnʼt help but smile and nod.

The screen curtain looked so light and easily fluttered, the red silhouette behind the curtain looked very charming. In front of the red curtain there are some charming women who face the gambling table, composing a picture of glamor and sensuality. At first Xie Lian was satisfied just by watching from behind where she was now, but as soon as she heard Hua Chengʼs voice, she began trying to push herself through the crowd there without raising awareness that she was in the middle of that place. Finally, he made it to the long table and saw the man who was gambling.

The man is a human. Xie Lian was not surprised, because it was already known that in the Ghost Town, there were not only ghosts; there are also many cultivators with quite high skills and sometimes, there are some ordinary people who are quite stupid looking for their own deaths. The man gambling wore a mask, but his eyes were still visible, protruding and red as if his eyes were bleeding; his lips were pale as if he had not seen the sun for days. He is a picture that really resembles a ghost more than the actual ghost present at that place.

His hands were pressed tightly against the black wooden dice cup on the table, and after holding back for a moment, he shouted ignoringly, ”But ... how is it possible even someone who could have previously risked both of his legs?”

One of the bookies officers who was in front of the red curtain smiled, ”The person who was once a famous bandit is known for his light leg movements and the ability to fly wherever he goes. That is the essence of his life, so his feet deserve to be You are not a craftsman or medical staff, whatʼs the use of risking your arm? ”

The man gritted his teeth, ”Then ... I bet my daughterʼs only life is worth ten years!”

Xie Lian was stunned to hear those words and thought, ʼWhere is a father who would bet on his childrenʼs lives? Is that possible?ʼ

Behind the curtain, Hua Cheng just snorted, ”Alright.”

From that response, Xie Lian didnʼt know if it was only his imagination, but he could feel the coldness from those words. But then he added and thought in his heart, ʼSan Lang always said that his luck was good, and all his lucky sticks produced the best of any luck. If he bet with this stupid guy, wouldnʼt he definitely win and take ten years of life from that guyʼs daughter? ʼ

He only had those thoughts when the bookie announced the results in a sweet tone, ”There will even be a loss; the odd dice will win. After the cup opens, there will be no turning back. Now please.”

So Hua Cheng himself would not bet on the gambling table. The man shook the gambling cup carelessly, his hands clasped the cup hard, and the hall calmed down. Crunchy dice sounds could be heard loud and crisp. Then, the movements slow down until it stops. Silence enveloped the place.

After a while, the man with slow movements - very slowly - lifted the corner of the gambling cup and peered through the gap there. His red eyes suddenly widened.

He opened the cup and shouted with joy, ”ODD! ODD! ODD !! I WIN! I WIN! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH IʼVE WIN !!! IʼVE WIN !!!!!”

This was not the result that the crowd of people and ghosts wanted to see around the long table and they began to mock the man, slap the table, and shout their dissatisfaction. One of the bookies smiled and said, ”Congratulations. The fate of your business will change soon.”

The man burst out laughing and shouted, ”Wait! I want to bet again!”

The gambling dealer smiled, ”Please. What do you want this time?”

The manʼs face looked down, and said, ”I want, I want everyone who competes with me in my business to die!”

The crowd gathered there began to murmur and click their tongues. The gambling dealer then raises his hand to cover his smile, ”If that is your wish then it is far more difficult to fulfill than your previous wish. Donʼt you want to ask for another wish such as asking for a business that you have to develop?”

But the man answered with red eyes, ”No! I just want that! Thatʼs why I bet!”

”Then, if thatʼs your wish, ten years of your daughterʼs life might not be enough.” The Bandar said again.

”If thatʼs not enough, Iʼll bet twenty years of his life! And ... And whatʼs more important is the fate of his marriage!”

The crowd looked stunned and burst out laughing, ”That one father has lost his mind! He sold his daughter !!”

”Amazing, amazing !!”

The gambling dealer then said again, ”There will even be a loss, the odd dice will win. Once the cup is open, there will be no turning back. Now please.”

The man took the gambling cup once more, his hands shaking. If he loses, his daughter will lose twenty years of her life and a good marriage, obviously not ideal; but if he wins, then all his competitors will die? Even though Xie Lian thought Hua Cheng would never let such a thing happen, after many doubts, he still stepped forward. He just wondered if if he should join using a few small tricks when suddenly, someone grabbed it. He turned to see who that person was and he found out that it was Shi Qing Xuan.

Shi Qing Xuan had returned to her male form, and whispered, ”Donʼt be in a hurry.”

Xie Lian whispered back, ”Master, Wind Master, why did you change your form again?”

”Thatʼs a long story,” Shi Qing Xuan sighed, ”The group of female ghosts dragged me around and said that they would introduce me to a good beauty salon. I finally escaped but they later returned to arrest me again, so I had to go back. dragged me to that place, there they smeared my face with a lot of things that I didnʼt know from what they were; they pulled it, stretched it, slapped it, hit it fast, check my face! How was that? Did you see anything wrong with my face? ”

He pushed his face right in front of Xie Lian to be examined, and Xie Lian obediently examined his face in detail before answering honestly, ”I think your face looks smoother and whiter than before.”

Shi Qing Xuan immediately changed her expression to become brighter, ”Really? Oh good! Very beautiful! Hahahaha! Is there a mirror? Where is the mirror? I want to see for myself!”

”You can see it later,” Xie Lian replied, ”Ghost Towns are blocking our spiritual communication, so donʼt let us lose each other again and be separated. By the way, how do you know Iʼm here, Mr. Wind Master?”

”I do not know!” Shi Qing Xuan replied, ”I came here because Qian Qiu and I agreed to meet here. When we lost each other before, I decided to come here, but when I entered, it turned out you were here too!”

”Qian Qiu?” Xie Lian asked, ”Meeting here?”

”Yes.” Shi Qing Xuan replied, ”Qian Qiu is Lang Qian Qiu, His Excellency Tai Hua. At least you know that, right? He is a martial god who rules the east. Because we are here, itʼs better if he also comes. Gambling House is one of the busiest and most chaotic places in Ghost Town. The southeastern part of Ghost Town. Many people and ghosts keep coming in and out of this place, making it less obvious to us, so I told him to meet us here. ”

Xie Lian nodded. When he turned back to the long table before, the man still hadnʼt opened the cup; his eyes rolled back and he murmured, not many ghosts were there. Xie Lian sighed, ”This man.”

Shi Qing Xuan said as he raised his face, ”I know what you want to say, and I agree. But, Ghost City is the territory of Hua Cheng, and the rules here must all be obeyed voluntarily. If you are willing to bet then you can play. The heavens canʼt do anything. Letʼs just observe, and we can find something if something goes wrong. ”

Xie Lian hummed, thinking it was impossible if San Lang let anything get out of control, so it was better to just watch. The gambler man finally seemed to muster up enough courage and only to open the gambling cup a little and peek to reveal the results. At that time, someone seemed to enter the place, close the gambling cup back there with a punch, and smash it into pieces!

The blow not only destroyed the gambling cup there, but also the hand that was on it, and the entire table was crushed and broken with a large, deep hole.

The masked man embraced his broken hand and rolled on the floor screaming. The ghostly crowd also started screaming, some started cheering, and some cried in surprise. The person who attacked the place then shouted, ”You! How wicked your heart is! If you want prosperity and wealth, it doesnʼt matter, but do you want other people to die? If you want to bet then do it with your own life, and not life and marriage. your daughter! You donʼt deserve to be a man! Donʼt deserve to be a father! ”

The young man had sword-shaped eyebrows and star-like eyes, full of heroic aura. Although his clothes looked so simple and did not show the slightest luxury, the air of nobility that he had could not be hidden. That young man is none other than the noble crown prince Yong An - Lang Qian Qiu!

Seeing it, Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan both covered their own faces at the same time in the crowd.

Xie Lian groaned, ”... Mr. Wind Master, did you ... not tell him ... to be a little more careful when coming here, and keep it low?”

Shi Qing Xuan whined again, ”I ... I told her, but ... sheʼs always like that ... what can I do. If I knew something like this would happen before ... I would plan ... us to go down together before. ”

Xie Lian looked sympathetic, ”I understand. I understand.”

At that moment, Hua Cheng chuckled from behind the curtain.

Xie Lianʼs heart beat fast. The boy laughed a lot when he was with Xie Lian before, so now Xie Lian can find out if that laugh really means happiness, ridicule, or a laugh that is mixed with killing intent.

A voice then sounded lazily, ”You seem to have the guts to start trouble in my area.”

Lang Qian Qiu turned to face the sound, the fire in his eyes still burning, ”Are you the owner of this gambling house?”

The crowd gathered there began to mock, ”Stupid bastard, do you know who you are talking to? This is our master.”

Some people in the crowd began to sneer coldly, ”He not only owns this Gambling House, this whole Ghost Town area is his!”

Lang Qian Qiu barely showed any reaction, but Shi Qing Xuan, on the other hand, was truly shocked, ”My God, is the person behind the curtain the same as the person I am thinking of?”

Xie Lian replied, ”Yes ... thatʼs him.”

Shi Qing Xuan asked again, ”Are you sure?”

Xie Lian answered, ”Iʼm sure.”

Shi Qing Xuan looked panicked, ”We will definitely die, we will die! Oh! What should we do about Qian Qiu now ?!”

Xie Lian said after a while, ”... Hopefully he doesnʼt show his true identity.”

However, the more Lang Qian Qiu looked at the crowd around him, he seemed to become even more angry, and then demanded, ”This hellish place is filled with smoke and corruption, and filled with demonic chaos. What kind of trash are you? What do you think? what are you doing here? Running a place like this, you really donʼt have a trace of humanity in you. ”

The crowd scoffed at what Lang Qian Qiu had said in unison, ”We are indeed not human, for what do we need something like that human feeling? Such useless ideas, anyone who wants them can take them!”

”Who do you think you are, coming all the way here just to blame us all!”

Hua Cheng said amusedly, ”My place is a place filled with so much madness. There is a way for you in Heaven, but you refuse to take it and instead choose to break into Hell. What should we do with you now?”

After hearing the word ʼheavenʼ, Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan knew and realized it.

Hua Cheng had seen through Lang Qian Qiu and he now knew exactly where it came from.

However, Lang Qian Qiu completely lost the meaning behind his words or maybe an idiot and then he slammed his hand on the table once more. He stood at the end of the long table, and with that one strike, he made all parts of the long table immediately fly to the red shadow behind the curtain. Those who had originally gathered and were still cl.u.s.tered around the long table then avoided to the side. However, the red silhouette that still seemed to sit behind the curtain did not move at all. With just a wave of his hand, the long table was thrown back in the opposite direction, heading towards Lang Qian Qiu.

Seeing the flying object heading towards him, Lang Qian Qiu used one hand to push it back but then realized that using only one hand was not enough and switched to using both hands. The gripping seconds passed and a bluish vein gradually appeared on his forehead. The hall that previously looked crowded and filled with various crowds both ghosts and humans, now after the incident they all fled and looked for a suitable hiding place for them to hide. Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan who hadnʼt shown themselves at all seemed to be debating whether they should intervene to help Lang Qian Qiu or let him solve the problem himself. Because they have not been exposed at all, they can continue to help in the dark, but if they walk out of where they are and openly help them, they will risk being caught together.

On the other hand, Lang Qian Qiu seemed to sigh hard and finally pushed back the long and heavy table for the second time. Behind the red curtain, the figure of Hua Cheng still leaned back in his chair. He arched his five fingers into a fist and then let go lightly. Instantly, the long table which was pushed back towards him now exploded into sawdust and flew straight towards Lang Qian Qiu.

The force of the gust caused by the explosion carried out by Hua Cheng was filled with wood ch.i.p.s as sharp as a knife, looking even scarier than any weapon. If Lang Qian Qiu kept his strength hidden and remained in his fanatic form, he would not be able to avoid that attack no matter what he did. So, after a while, when his body began to emit a faint light, Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan immediately understood that something would happen and both of them looked panicked, ”Oh no, he will reveal his true form!”

But that layer of light suddenly disappeared once it appeared. Lang Qian Qiu might remember that he shouldnʼt reveal his identity during this trip and he managed to make himself aware of that goal at the last second before quickly pulling back his strength. Even though Lang Qian Qiu had taken a step back, Hua Cheng on the other hand, did not do it. The figure wrapped in a dark red color that seemed to sit casually behind the red curtain made another hand gesture. This time, he pressed his fingers and lightly flicked them up.

With this one movement, Lang Qian Qiuʼs body was lifted up from the ground. Looking like a starfish, his body hung on the ceiling of the Gambling Houseʼs hall.

Unaware of what had just happened, Lang Qian Qiu was still very confused about how he suddenly began to float and struggle to free himself. Xie Lian sighed in defeat, ”Now that his strength has been sealed, even if he wants to use it, thatʼs impossible.”

Shi Qing Xuan agreed, ”Because Ghost Town is Hua Chengʼs territory, if he wants to seal his strength, then he can do it easily.”

Even though Lang Qian Qiu had carried out an attack in front of the crowd before, at least there was a reward that could be obtained from his actions, which was a fact that his identity would be protected. If he continued fighting at that time and unleashed his strength, it would be difficult to explain why Tai Hua-ZhenJun, the Eastern god of martial arts, would come to Ghost Town to wreak havoc there. After all, for all these years, unless it was something extraordinary, Heaven and Hell both thought of their own business and affairs. But...

Seeing that now the uninvited guest who had previously broken into and attacked the Gambling House has now been successfully detained, the crowd that had fled before now seemed to have returned and gathered in the hall again. They pointed at Lang Qian Qiu who was now held there and then they laughed. Lang Qian Qiu himself had never experienced this kind of humiliation before, and his face looked flushed when he wordlessly struggled against the invisible bonds that held him back. From time to time, the devil from below will jump in an attempt to pat his head. Fortunately, Hua Cheng hung him quite high, out of reach of anyone, or he would be the most embarrassing figure of the century. Hua Cheng chuckled from behind the curtain, ”An interesting catch today, I will let you play with him. Anyone who is lucky and gets a big win can take him home to bake.”

The cheers that erupted in the hall were endless, ”Bet on the round! Letʼs bet! The highest round can bring it home to bake!”

”Aiyaya, this little gege looks really delicious, hehehehe ..”

”Hahahahahaha, who is the fool now! That will teach you because you have so boldly caused trouble here!”

The four masked guards seemed to be carrying a new long table and the previous crowd seemed to be flocking to the place once again to start the next betting round. The masked man who previously held his hand and howled on the ground was long forgotten. The bet this time was none other than Lang Qiang Qiu who was being held in the air. Seeing the people on the other end looking furious, Shi Qing Xuan felt anxious and kept pacing, waving her arms aimlessly, ”What should we do? Should we go up and win it back? Or is it better to fight?”

Xie Lian asked, ”Master Wind Master, how is your luck?”

Shi Qing Xuan replied, ”Sometimes itʼs good, sometimes itʼs bad. Thereʼs no certainty in something like luck.”

Xie Lian said, ”Maybe there is. For example, look at me, Iʼve never been lucky.”

Shi Qing Xuan gaped, ”Is that bad?”

Xie Lian nodded grimly, ”Every time I spin that bet, the most often I get is a snakeʼs eye.”

Shi Qing Xuan furrowed his eyebrows, but an idea came to him in an instant and he then slapped his thigh, ”How about this. Because the most you can get is a snakeʼs eye, then you have to bet on the lowest number. Thereʼs no way anyone can roll it more. lower than you. With your bad luck level I think you are more promising! ”

”...” After a while of considering the plan, Xie Lian agreed, ”You have good points. Let me try.”

So, after that he then found a place near the table and threw a suggestion, ”Why not change the rules a little and see who can roll with the smallest value? Whoever succeeds in rolling with the lowest value is the winner, how about that? ”

The crowd around the table looked so chaotic, some seemed to agree, and some seemed to disagree. Xie Lian decided to take two dice and try them first.

Before he rolled it, he chanted a prayer in his heart, ʼsmall, small, small.ʼ The dice is thrown, and both of them bend down to see it.

Two sixes!

Xie Lian: ”...” Ah!

Shi Qing Xuan: ”...”

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead with a defeat, ”It seems that even making changes to the rules wonʼt be able to change my luck.”

Shi Qing Xuan then seemed to mimic Xie Lianʼs movements and then said, ”Maybe itʼs better if we just fight.”

Right at that moment, a bookies officer walked towards the red curtain and bowed as if trying to hear what the figure behind the curtain said. He seemed to nod, raise his head and announce an announcement to the crowd there, ”Everyone, can I ask for your attention. Master has an announcement to make and tell you all.”

Hearing that the lord had something to say, the crowd there immediately dropped all the objects they were holding and then fell silent. The clerk continued, ”Master said to change the rules.”

Instantly several chats broke out in the crowd, ”Sir is the rule itself!”

”The rule is whatever the master orders!”

”What do we change it for?”

The bookie clerk answered, ”The master said that he was in a good mood today and wanted to play a few rounds with everyone here. Anyone is free to bet against him. Anyone who wins can bring home objects up there. Either if you guys want to steam it, boil it, fry it or marinate it, itʼs up to you. ”

Hearing that they would bet against their master, all the ghosts and devils began to think twice about doing it. It seemed that Hua Cheng had never really stepped in to bet with them. Of all those who previously seemed to dare to volunteer and bet, no one dared to come and step first. Above them, Lang Qian Qiu seemed still struggling with endless determination. He barked, ”What do you mean by ʼthingsʼ? Iʼm not things or anything! You dare to use me as a bet?”

His statement not to call it an ʼobjectʼ has now been heard by many female devils in the crowd. They looked giggling, they gave them lewd expressions while licking their sharp and bloody tongues on their lips as if they wanted to swallow them alive. Xie Lian thought, ʼHuh ... this kid. It would be better if you talked less. ʼ

He sighed, stepped forward, and said softly, ”If thatʼs the case, then, let me try first.”

After hearing his voice, the shadow behind the red curtain seemed to be silent and stopped for a moment before slowly standing up.

The bookies clerk in front of the curtain then smiled, ”Then, please come here, young master.”

Inside the Gambling House hall, devils and ghosts automatically give way to this brave soldier. When Xie Lian reached the end of the road, the bookie clerk looked to give a black gambling cup which he held to Xie Lian and said, ”Go ahead.”

For all the gamblers before, he always used a casual way of speaking. Apart from the ordinary words he uttered, his tone sounded not polite in the slightest. However, now, for Xie Lian, not only did he switch to using his honorifics, but his tone of voice sounded very polite and respectful. Xie Lian received the black gambling cup from the hand of the previous bookie dealer with a thank you and lightly cleared his throat.

Because he had never had experience with anything like gambling, he shook the black cup randomly for a while and pretended to know a thing or two about the world of gambling. As he moved his hands, he raised his head and glanced at Lang Qian Qiu who was hanging there.

Lang Qian Qiuʼs eyes opened wide when he saw him, staring at him for a moment like a puppy looking at his helper and fortunately, he didnʼt make any sound. His expression somehow made Xie Lian want to laugh, but he held back. After shaking the cup for a long time, he finally stopped.

Countless pairs of eyes looked fixedly at the black cup filled with dice in his hand and Xie Lian felt that somehow, this little gambling cup had gained weight. He did not know if there was a right way to turn it over. However, right when he was about to reveal the results, the bookie clerk then stopped him, ”Wait.”

”Is there something?” Xie Lian asked.

The clerk replied, ”The master said that your posture when shaking the dice is not right at all.”

Xie Lian thought, ʼIs there really a correct way to do this? Was all my previous bad luck really just because of my bad posture? ʼ

He asked humbly, ”May I ask what the correct posture is?”

The clerk answered, ”The lord has invited you to come up because he is willing to teach you.”

After hearing that, the crowd of ghosts and devils inside the hall began to voice their dissatisfaction.

Xie Lian heard a devil murmuring, ”I never thought you would teach him, does that mean he will die?”

”You want to do what ??? Who is he ??? Why do you have to teach him ???”

”Isnʼt that the usual posture we always do to shake the cup? How could there be a correct way to do this?”

Xie Lian also wanted to ask the same question, but the clerk had directed him to walk into the red curtain, ”Go ahead.”

Thus, Xie Lian arrived in front of the red curtain with a black wooden gambling cup held in his hand.

The silk curtain swayed gently, almost looking like it gave life to the red silhouette. The person behind the red curtain seemed to stand right in front of him with a distance of only half an arm between the two. Xie Lian held her breath as a hand began to open the thick red curtain and landed perfectly underneath it, propping up the gambling cup held by Xie Lian.

This is a right hand, looks white and looks elegant; the slender fingers had a red string tied around their third finger.

Against the pitch-black wooden cup held by Xie Lian, the color of his white skin looked paler and the red color was even clearer. Slowly, Xie Lian raised her eyes. A young man of about eighteen or nineteen years quietly stood behind the silk curtain that looked like a red cloud.

That is San Lang.

His clothes were still as red as maple leaves, the same as before, and his skin looked as white as snow. That unique face still has the same good looks, with the expression of a teenager who now looks a little clearer. The shame from childhood has turned into calm. He brings a wild atmosphere and aura full of desire to play freely that cannot be tamed. The same eyes as before now still looked so twinkling like stars that never moved away from Xie Lian.

Although those eyes look as bright as stars, there is only one left eye.

The others seemed to be hidden behind a black eye patch.

ch 37. Admiring the Flower Through Red Cloudʼs; Hearts Filled With Sympathy

There was only a small gap between the red curtain, but from his position, Xie Lian was the only one who could see who was behind the curtain because he had blocked the vision of everyone inside the Gambling Hall, they could not see anything. Not that they will dare to peek. The left eye was still staring and watching Xie Lian, and Xie Lian returned his gaze, unconsciously attracted to him.

Hua Chengʼs appearance this time seemed not only to look a few years older, but he also grew taller. Previously, when Xie Lian looked at him, he could still maintain a similar level of eye contact, but now, he had to stretch his neck to look up.

After staring at each other for a while, Hua Cheng finally broke the silence first.

His voice sounded deeper than before, ”Do you want to bet on the highest or lowest dice value?”

The voice Xie Lian heard was a kind of deep voice, a voice that was so pleasing to the ears of anyone who heard it, including Xie Lian himself, a voice that had pulled Xie Lian back to reality where she was at the moment. Whether it is betting on the highest or lowest number, there is no difference. So he immediately answered, ”Supreme.”

Hua Cheng replied, ”Fine. Then I will do it first.”

Xie Lianʼs left hand supported the base of the black gambling cup. His right hand covered the lid around the cup. Hua Cheng stood in front of him, with his right hand holding Xie Lianʼs left hand, he guided him to lightly shake the cup before lifting the lid. There are two dice at the bottom of the cup, each worth six and five.

From what he could see from above, Lang Qian Qiu with his eyes that looked like an eagleʼs eye saw how easily the two dice turns made by the figure showed such a high value and his eyes widened instantly, ”How did that happen ??”

Hua Cheng gently shifted his hand and gestured to Xie Lian to try again, ”Shake it like this. Now you can try it yourself.”

Xie Lian mimicked exactly what the young man had done before and shook the cup twice, but Hua Cheng then said, ”Itʼs not like that.”

Even though he rebuked Xie Lian at that time, his tone sounded very gentle and patient. As he explained, Hua Chengʼs hand again supported Xie Lianʼs, but this time, his left hand held Xie Lianʼs right, which he used to cover the lid of the gambling cup. He instructed in a soft voice, ”Like this.”

With that, the back of Xie Lianʼs hand was now covered by Hua Chengʼs palm.

When the skin touched another skin, Hua Chengʼs hand felt as smooth as jade. The beautiful silver vambraces that Hua Cheng wore felt as cold as ice, however, Hua Chengʼs movements at that time guided him so carefully, and never let them come in contact with Xie Lianʼs skin. His hand guided Xie Lianʼs hand and shook the black wooden gambling cup in a rhythm that was neither rushed nor slow.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Clack, clack, clack.

The sound of two dice colliding with each other as they bounced inside the cup sounded so crisp. Even though the vibrations felt so soft, Xie Lian could feel numb waves from the back of his hand, flowing along his arms, then spread throughout his body.

When he looked so shaky, Xie Lian raised her eyes slightly to peek at the young man and realized that Hua Cheng did not see the gambling cup at all. Instead, Hua Chengʼs eyes were clearly still watching him and still fixing his eyes only on him attentively and with the corners of his mouth looking curved. Xie Lian couldnʼt help but smile sweetly at him, but immediately controlled himself when he remembered the crowd of ghosts and demons who were still watching them from above and below or around him. He looked down and carefully studied the movements that Hua Cheng showed him. ”How is it? Is it like this?” He asked.

Hua Cheng widened his smile, ”Hm. Right, like that, keep going.”

Seeing Xie Lian who was still shaking and shaking the cup a few more times hopefully, he said, ”Why donʼt you see it?”

Xie Lian then lifted the lid of the cup and saw two white dice under the cup. That is two dice each worth three.

Rolling dice worth two numbers three was considered impossible for him. It was as if a gentle spring breeze blew past Xie Lianʼs heart and she thought, ”Is it possible for me to finally learn the trick?”

However, even though what he had gotten was so shocking, six points were still lacking and worth less than eleven points. He cleared his throat and admitted, ”Sorry, I lost.”

But Hua Cheng replied, ”Donʼt worry, this round doesnʼt count. Iʼm teaching you right now, try again.”

Hearing Hua Cheng say that, even Lang Qian Qiu and Shi Qing Xuan were unable to say anything. The crowd of ghosts and devils still in the hall gazed at what had happened in front of them with their mouths open, then they began to complain.

”What happened to master? I thought he would show him who the boss was, but did he finally really teach him ??”

”How is this round not counted at all ?? Does this still deserve to be called gambling?”

”If this doesnʼt count, then when will it count?”

”Looks like you are really in a good mood today ...”

Hua Cheng raised his left eyebrow and immediately, the bookies officer who stood beside him whispered, ”Everyone please calm down.”

In a blink of an eye, the Gambling House Hall was calm and in control again. Even though no one dared to speak, their gaze was still so alert. Hua Cheng chuckled and softly whispered encouraging words into Xie Lianʼs ear, ”Why donʼt you try again?”

Maybe itʼs because there are too many ghosts, devils, and humans whose gatherings have been gathered together in the Gambling House to see this battle, so that somehow Xie Lian felt her face start to heat up, ”Okay.”

Clack, clack, he shook the cup again twice. This time, when he opened the lid of the cup and saw the results, the dice showed two quarters.

Hua Cheng mused, ”Look, isnʼt this time a little higher than before?”

Even though he felt something was wrong, Xie Lian still nodded, ”Yes ... this is a little higher.”

Hua Cheng encouraged him to try again, ”You did well. Keep going.”

With other praises being heard, a giggling sound came from all directions in the hall. Judging from the sound, it seemed like they all came from female demons. Xie Lian couldnʼt think about who made the sound, he only thought about which posture was correct. At first, he paid close attention when he learned how Hua Cheng positioned his hands, how he adjusted his steps, and how he held the cup, but now he let Hua Chengʼs hand guide him and continued to shake the cup in his hand. While his body was still trembling, a thought came to him, ”What if San Lang is just playing with me.”

Lang Qian Qiu who had been watching all the events from above might feel the same way and seemed so unable to take it anymore, ”You! Stop shaking the cup. He is clearly playing with you. There is no such thing as a correct posture. He must be trying to do cheat! ”

Hearing the voice that sounded so loud and boisterous, Shi Qing Xuan covered his face once again because he felt so ashamed of this boy.

Mumbling after murmuring could be heard louder among the crowd here and there, and the rain of dice continued to be thrown at Lang Qian Qiu who was still on top. ”Stupid bastard, shut your mouth!”

”So noisy, weʼre almost at the most interesting part!”

”Through the teachings of our master, the cultivator is able to get higher and higher results from every dice that he plays. That is a truth that cannot be denied!”

”Thatʼs right! What do you know ?!”

Lang Qian Qiu looked so angry, ”You, you can even practice it just by lying through your teeth ... ahhh !!”

He suddenly stopped before he could finish what he was saying, and his face looked so red. As it turned out, a pair of female demons under her rudely started to pull her dangling waist and scolded her with the temptation, ”If you keep causing a commotion here and keep saying nonsense, this beautiful Jie Jie will take off your pants!”

* Jie Jie is a familiar nickname for older sisters.

Lang Qian Qiu had never been threatened like this before, and his anger returned to the point of making him speechless, ”You ... you !!”

He could still survive if he had to be beaten by a group of demons, but the story would be different if they were to take off his pants, then with the status of the martial god he had, that would be very embarrassing. As such, Lang Qian Qiu didnʼt dare to say many more things. Xie Lian looked up and saw another god who was still hovering above sending him an eye signal with his eyes full of help. It was something so funny and sad at the same time. He could only bow his head, looked at Hua Cheng, and said in a small voice, ”... San Lang.”

Hearing his tone of voice, Hua Cheng chuckled, ”Leave him be. Letʼs continue.”

”...”

Xie Lian gave up and, once again, held the cup and shook it twice. As expected, this time, he got two dice that both showed the number five!

Seeing the results he got this time, the crowd inside the hall became livelier and continued to tease Lang Qian Qiu, ”Did you see that? Higher than the last!”

But Xie Lian had already realized that Hua Cheng was just playing with her and she didnʼt know whether to laugh or cry anymore. There is no such thing as a correct posture to do things like this. When he becomes one of the people who do it, whatever posture he takes will be considered wrong. From now on, he might surrender to the hope of changing his destiny, but when he would open up the peak results he got this time to the final shock, Hua Cheng stopped him, ”Wait.”

Xie Lian could feel the hand above his hand pressing harder, and stopped his movements altogether. ”Is there something wrong?”

With an unreadable expression, Hua Cheng asked, ”This gege, you havenʼt said what you will do or what you will give if you lose this bet, right?”

Hearing him call Xie Lian as ʼgegeʼ, Shi Qing Xuan and Lang Qian Qiu both had expressions that looked so complicated and unreadable on their faces. The crowd of ghosts and devils who were there also felt a great tremor flowing from their spine and there were even some who fainted on the spot.

Itʼs a bit embarrassing to say, but because he was in such a hurry before, Xie Lian didnʼt think of anything he had to bet for this bet to be. ”Um ...”

He himself had also thought about risking ten years for his own life, but the age held by a heavenly official was long enough for him to think that ten years meant nothing. Money and possessions? Do not be stupid! He doesnʼt even have those two things. Spiritual power? Seriously! He even sometimes hitchhiked and also did not have that much spiritual power. This is really urgent ah! This good amount of time has passed, but Xie Lian still couldnʼt think of anything to stake, so she could only turn around and ask the owner of this Gambling House, ”Do you think thereʼs anything to me that is worth risking?”

Hua Cheng chuckled at the question, ”Whatever doesnʼt matter. What do you have right now?”

Xie Lian pondered for a while and coughed lightly from her throat, she might have said the truth about it, ”I ... only have a slice ... I mean a piece of bread I had half eaten before.”

Hua Cheng burst out laughing. Even though he laughed, no one else dared to do the same even if they wanted to.

When he finally calmed down, Hua Cheng nodded, ”Itʼs okay. Even the bread doesnʼt matter.”

Hearing that agreement, not only the crowd of ghosts and devils there seemed so shocked, but also the bookie clerk who was still at the gambling table.

Since this gambling house was opened, there have been so many senseless bets ever made such as organs, life, emotions, spiritual powers ... And others. But there is no such thing as a nonsense bet today - a loaf of bread that has even been eaten in half. Even Lang Qian Qiu could not contain his surprise and said, ”What, what does this mean? Are you saying that I am only worth a steamed bun that has even been half eaten ???” ...

The crowd still inside the hall chuckled, someone exclaimed, ”Whatʼs wrong with a loaf of bread? You even have someone who wants and wants to bet to get you, so hurry up and shut your mouth!” Xie Lian could say that the voice that had responded to Lang Qian Qiuʼs earlier cry belonged to Shi Qing Xuan who was hiding among the crowd of ghosts and demons. With a face full of smiles, Hua Cheng said beaming, ”Come on. This is the last round. Donʼt be nervous.”

Xie Lian responded, ”Iʼm not nervous.”

Both of them retained their previous posture while still holding each otherʼs hands and then began to shake the gambling cup several times. Even though Xie Lian really didnʼt feel nervous, she felt that there was a hint of sweat in her hands which was sandwiched between Hua Chengʼs cup and hands.

Finally, their movements stopped. He held his breath to start opening the lid of the gambling cup and revealed the outcome of their bet -

The two dice there show the value of two sixes!

Xie Lian heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows and said, ”Oh, I lost.”

Even though he admitted his defeat seriously, he didnʼt sound sincere at all. The crowd beneath them was filled with silence.

Previously there were still some people who complained ”If this round doesnʼt count, then when will be counted”, but, the answer is now clear - the results will be counted when that person wins and the other side concedes defeat.

This kind of generosity is really almost mad!

Even so, no comment. The bookies officer from before picked up the black wooden gambling cup and said, ”Congratulations to this young master. You have won the brave of this round.”

Everyone politely praised, ”Master showed us perfect defeat! So beautiful! So beautiful!”

”Very elegant! Oh!”

”Isnʼt the winner taught by master directly? He won because you taught him well!”

”Thatʼs right! Studying body posture to roll the dice properly today really broadens my horizons and knowledge! With this vast amount of knowledge, even ten years wonʼt be enough to master it!”

Hua Cheng still looked at Xie Lian with a smile that still adorned her face. Not taking his eyes off at all, he raised his hand and with a flick of his finger, Lang Qian Qiu fell from above like a stone being blown away. Xie Lian grimaced because the collision between Lang Qian Qiuʼs body that fell to the ground sounded so loud. Shi Qing Xuan couldnʼt take the risk of revealing her identity by rushing forward, so she let Xie Lian go to check on the princeʼs condition, ”Are you alright?”

Lang Qian Qiu got up and then cleansed himself, ”Iʼm fine, thank you. He might want you to go up so he can cheat and make you lose, but thank God you won!”

Xie Lian thought, ”You are totally wrong. If he doesnʼt look down on me, even if the world turns to ash, I still wonʼt be able to win you back ...”

As he thought about those thoughts, a ringing of bells rang out, and another sound of shock coming from all directions could be heard following him. Xie Lian turned around and saw Hua Cheng finally coming out from behind the red silk screen curtain. Showing himself.

In his previous form, Hua Cheng always tied his hair with a loose pigtail which was slightly tilted, but now, he let his hair unravel and covered some of the brightly colored red clothes that he was wearing, and an aura of demonic energy emanated from the handsome figure. A thin braid of hair tied with red coral beads slightly made a difference in her black hair which she let loose. The vambraces that he wore were silver, the laces on his boots were silver, the belt he wore was also silver, even a long, smoothly curved sword hanging on his waist was also silver. Just as the blade of the sword was slender and long, the young man who possessed the sword was also slim and tall. He leaned on the curtain he had opened with his arms crossed in front of his body and wore an unreadable expression. He then said, ”Gege, you won against me.”

Xie Lian clearly knew what was happening, and said in a small voice, ”Please stop teasing me.”

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows, ”I donʼt. Why should I?”

Down there, the crowd of ghosts and demons was busy with the excitement they experienced, as wild as the waves rolling in the ocean, they whispered among themselves, ”Master changed his appearance again today?”

* skin / body

”Iʼm almost dead, my new body is killing me! Very soft and firm!”

”Do you really almost die? Hey old lady, arenʼt you already dead ?!”

It seems that because Hua Cheng never showed his true form in front of anyone and often changed bodies so that even the ghost and demon groups in this Ghost City did not know exactly what their masterʼs real body and face were and assumed that this must be one of his. A fake body / skin / shell. Only Xie Lian knew that the person standing in front of him at this time was the true form of the Blood Rain Reaching the Flower of the legend he was Hua Cheng.

ch 38. Admiring the Flower Through Red Cloudʼs; Hearts Filled With Sympathy

Xie Lian was still staring at the young man in the red bandage, ”You ...”

He wanted to say something, but under the gaze of many pairs of eyes, and the unreadable expression on Hua Chengʼs face that seemed to show no sign of recognizing him, Xie Lian debated in his own mind whether it would be better if he had to act so familiar. otherwise. He said, ”Thank you.”

”Why do you have to thank him? This place is his, he might have had evil intentions towards you from the start.” Said Lang Qian Qiu.

”..” Xie Lian answered quietly, ”Your Majesty, letʼs stop talking and just end this.”

If they continued, he really didnʼt know what kind of thing would come out of Lang Qian Qiuʼs mouth. Especially with the existing mission, Xie Lian could not stay longer in that place. He looked at Hua Cheng a few more times and pushed Lang Qian Qiu to walk towards the exit. As he did so, Hua Chengʼs voice could be heard calling from behind him, ”Wait a minute.”

Xie Lian stopped in his tracks and turned around. Chat among the crowd began to sound again, ”Yes, my lord, we cannot just let them go!”

”That person is suspicious. He looks very strong and might be hiding something. If you ask me, we must keep him here and interrogate him.”

”To be exact, who knows, someone sent it here on purpose to cause trouble in our world!”

That last sentence almost stopped his own heartbeat. They really came from heaven, but the purpose is not to cause trouble in that place, they only intend to investigate calmly and peacefully. Xie Lian was not sure if Hua Cheng had seen the spiritual light released by Lang Qian Qiu before, and he was not one hundred percent sure that Hua Cheng would just let them go if he really saw it. Xie Lian was increasingly worried, but the tone of speech used by Hua Cheng was just the tone of speech he used to use, ”Shouldnʼt you leave the gift?”

Xie Lian looked like she had lost her footing where she was now and only said, ”A gift?”

Lang Qian Qiu placed himself in front of Xie Lian and said carefully, ”Do you intend to renege on the words you previously promised, right now?”

But Xie Lian then thought, ”If San Lang intends to break their promise and agreement beforehand. Could those words mean something else?”

And with that, he stepped out from behind Lang Qian Qiuʼs body who had previously stood before him and asked, ”But havenʼt I won this bet?”

Hua Cheng replied, ”Itʼs true that the gege just won this bet against me, but donʼt forget, youʼve also lost one round before.”

Xie Lian looked surprised and said, ”But you said, donʼt worry too much because it doesnʼt count?”

Even though it takes very thick skin to say something embarrassing like ”it doesnʼt count when I lose, and it will only count when I win”, Xie Lian still said it.

Hua Cheng replied, ”Of course, the bet you previously made by betting against me did not count. What I meant was that the first half bet you made before on the long table.”

Thatʼs when Xie Lian finally remembered. Hua Cheng talked about that bet when Xie Lian gave a suggestion to change the rules to bet with the lowest dice that would win and in the end he instead issued two dice worth two sixes.

Lang Qian Qiu whispered, ”I told you he has no good intentions and wonʼt let us go easily. I will guarantee my strength will not be sealed again this time. Letʼs fight with him!”

Seeing that he was preparing for another fight and was eager to jump at the opportunity, Xie Lian pulled him back and persuaded him again, ”Donʼt worry, we donʼt need to always use our fists for another fight.”

At the other end, Hua Cheng tilted his head, ”How? Gege, do you finally want to admit your defeat?”

If someone wants to bet, then that person must also dare to admit his defeat honestly, there is no other choice, so Xie Lian then nodded, ”I admit it.”

Hua Cheng then extended his left hand with his open palm, ”Then, then give me a gift as you promised before.”

the gift he promised before?

After some doubts, Xie Lian finally reached into his left arm with his right hand, groped, and then took out a loaf of bread half of which he had eaten before. Unable to look at Hua Chengʼs eyes, he hardened his skin and then stretched out his hand and gave the bread to him, ”You mean ... this ... right?”

To be honest, when he took out this bread, Xie Lian felt the thick skin that had grown for eight hundred years trembled a little, couldnʼt hold or hold it.

Both the ghost and the devil who were still in the hall were speechless and only stared silently at the scene. Forget about the fact that this is the first time the king has bet against someone and when the bet is about a bread that has even been half eaten, they think itʼs a joke. But if you think about it more seriously, the master is actually chasing that person only to ask for his own bread. Speechless. There really is nothing more to say. There are some demons who have even more reasonable thoughts - whether itʼs some kind of big secret hidden in this bread or this person is actually the older brother of their master!

Hua Cheng grinned as he accepted the bread, looked at him and then waved it in his hand, ”I have claimed this gift.”

Seeing that in the end he really took it, Xie Lian didnʼt know what to say. Only after a minute had passed he answered, ”The bread. Itʼs cold. And, maybe, itʼs a little hard.”

Hua Cheng replied, ”Itʼs alright. I donʼt mind.”

Because he answered like that, Xie Lian couldnʼt say anything to continue the conversation between them. He had said everything he could, so then he turned and started walking towards the exit. The crowd that stood closest to him in the Gambling House Hall immediately gave way to Xie Lian when he started walking away to the exit. When he first walked forward to bet with their master, they gave way to him because they thought he was a brave warrior. Now, they are giving way to him with fear and suspicion enveloping themselves. After walking a few steps, he could hear the demons behind him asking, ”My lord! My lord, where are you going now?”

Hua Cheng reluctantly replied, ”Iʼm feeling good today. Iʼll head to Paradise Manor.”

Hearing the answer, the hall made cheers as if it was New Year and they were celebrating. Xie Lian couldnʼt help but glance back and saw that Hua Cheng was also staring at him. With the half-eaten bread still in his hand, he threw it lightly and casually took a bite, staring at where Xie Lian had gone.

Xie Lian momentarily stopped in his tracks when he saw the scene right before his eyes. Suddenly, for some reason, he felt that he shouldnʼt stay in that place any longer, and then hurried back to take his steps, grabbed Lang Qian Qiu, and ran out.

The two left the Gambling House and ran like crazy for a long time, almost crashing into stalls and various food stalls along the road. Right when they finally arrived at a quiet little alley, Shi Qing Xuan then appeared and rejoined them. Shi Qing Xuan fanned herself with such force that it made her hair bob in the wind, ”That was close, very close. My God, it scared me to the point that my face almost turned into white as a ghost.”

Maybe because they ran too fast, Xie Lianʼs heart also beat so fast. Lang Qian Qiu spoke, ”Yes. Mr. Wind Master, I think your face still looks so very pale now.”

Shi Qing Xuan felt her face and then smiled, ”Is that so? Hahahaha, this is not because of the fear I experienced, this is something I have had since birth. Ahem. Qian Qiu, you yourself are also a martial god, how could you possibly be so? impulsive? Right now weʼre in the midst of ghostly territory! If you are captured and your identity is revealed, and the news about the heavenly officials who sneak into the Ghost City appears, how do we explain all these things to the Great God? peace in the three realms. ”

Lang Qian Qiu lowered his head and admitted his mistake, ”Sorry, I really carelessly entered the place in such a hurry.” Then he raised his head, ”But the gamblers there were crazy. If the man opened his cup, whether he would lose or win, the result would still be bad. Either his daughter would suffer or he himself would suffer the consequences. At the time my anger was so. culminating in me realizing that I had broken the cup. ”

Shi Qing Xuan replied, ”Even so, you shouldnʼt blindly attack that place alone.”

Lang Qian Qiu looked so shocked, ”Then Mr. Wind Master, what should I do? If I donʼt enter, no one will want to and voluntarily stop all that.”

His plea was so sincere that Shi Qing Xuan did not know how to respond, and then lightly tapped his fan on his temple, ”Yes.”

Xie Lian smiled softly, ”Letʼs leave and just forget what happened.”

Lang Qian Qiu looked at him. Xie Lian then continued, ”I think that even if Venerable Tai Hua was captured and interrogated, he would still not reveal his identity. However, to prevent others from finding any clues from your words, it would be better for His Majesty to remain cautious and avoid doing things alone like before. ”

Lang Qian Qiu nodded, ”Okay, I understand.”

Shi Qing Xuan, ”Alright, donʼt talk about this anymore. Oh right, Your Majesty ..”

Hearing the Wind Master call ʼYour Majestyʼ, both Xie Lian and Lang Qian Qiu turned around at the same time, and Shi Qing Xuan again said and clarified, ”Oh, umm I mean the older one.”

”...”

Xie Lian thought sadly, ʼOlder ... itʼs true that Iʼm a little older, but it doesnʼt even need to be that much. Why when at all times it was always directed at me, the mention always sounded like they were referring to a grandfather? ʼ

Shi Qing Xuan then continued, ”Your Majesty, have you two met each other in the Great Martial Hall before? If not, allow me to introduce you to this. This is Yong Anʼs crown prince, Lang Qian Qiu, Eastern god of martial arts. And this is the crown prince of Xian Le, Xie Lian, a heavenly official who is highly respected by the Great God. ”

Although Shi Qing Xuan stopped the words with self-awareness and did not continue, Xie Lian knew exactly what she was going to say after that, what else could she say besides ʼcollecting rubbish / used goods!ʼ Because the words suddenly stopped and stopped in the middle of the sentence and were even replaced by other words so quickly, there was no time to adjust the grammar or the pronunciation when the Master of Wind said it. Lang Qian Qiu looked towards Xie Lian, asked him with a surprised look, ”So you are the prince who ascended three times?”

It seems that Lang Qian Qiu really slept all the time during the meeting inside the Great Martial Arts Hall before and didnʼt even remember who he was. Very nice! If he was someone else and said the same thing to Xie Lian, then for sure, his words would sound so sarcastic. But, because the question came from Lang Qian Qiuʼs own mouth, Xie Lian wholeheartedly believed that this child really thought that his increase of three times was a rare occurrence. His eyes seemed to glow, ”Yes, thatʼs me.”

Lang Qian Qiu answered, ”That incident earlier, thank you for helping me! Or else ...” He suddenly remembered something and hurriedly tightened his belt, fear still clinging to his expression. He clearly didnʼt think too much about the history of what had happened in the past between the kingdom of Xian Le and the kingdom of Yong An, and then turned towards Xie Lian, ”Your Majesty, I think that the Rain of Blood Reached the Flowers knows you? Why does he act as if doesnʼt he know you there? ”

Lang Qian Qiu finished tying his waistband tightly and forcefully back and continued, ”That is the Rain of Blood Reaching the original Flower, right? Is that the original form?”

Xie Lian didnʼt even have time to open her mouth and Shi Qing Xuan had spoken before her, ”How could that be its true form? Hua Cheng is known to have thousands of disguises, who knows what his true form would look like? Last time when I went to the Little Road in Di In Ban Yue and meeting him, his appearance at that time looked so similar to his appearance today, but maybe that was his other disguise. After all everyone knew it was fake, everything was fake. ”

But Xie Lian was able to remember clearly that Hua Cheng had told him, ”Next time when we meet again, I will greet you in my true form” that night in the Pu Qi Temple. He thought, ”This is real, that is actually the real original body.”

But of course, he did not say it out loud. Everyone was so sure that Hua Cheng must have always used a fake body and he was the only one who knew that it was the original form of the Rain of Blood Reaching the Flower as he secretly learned an extraordinary little secret. He then continued his thought, ʼLooking at San Langʼs appearance, he really did not look much different from before, only slightly more mature and taller. That means technically, he is quite similar to his original form when I first met him. ʼ Strangely, Xie Lian felt a little happy.

Shi Qing Xuan added from next to her, ”People say that Hua Cheng has a strange character, and that seems to be the case. It seems so obvious that he is being so nice to you, but he pretends not to know you. Who knows what will be he does in the future. Could he intend to arrest us when we are off guard? ”

Xie Lian choked. It seemed that anyone could say and think that Hua Cheng had acted so easily and so well to him at the Gambling House before there was any other purpose. ”He overcame it easily” was what everyone said, but really, Hua Cheng just let him win. Lang Qian Qiu was the only person who couldnʼt say all that and frowned, ”Is it easy for him? Why?”

The other two heavenly officials then patted Lan Qian Qiuʼs shoulders and decided that it was best not to explain everything to him. They left Lang Qian Qiu who was still standing alone, wondering why Hua Cheng let go and let Xie Lian win the bet so easily and whether the two knew each other. Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan then turned and began walking.

”Looks like our identities are all known, what should we do now?” Xie Lian said, ”Change our disguises and try again? Personally, I donʼt think that after doing all that will be able to change anything. With His Holiness the Tai Hua there, the Ghost City might strengthen their security.”

Shi Qing Xuan replied, ”To be honest, I have considered the possibility that our identities will be known, but I never thought it would happen this quickly.”

Xie Lian sighed, ”I know, I know.”

”What happened has happened,” said Shi Qing Xuan. ”Since our cover is known, you are probably the only person who is able to walk with confidence and do all these things openly.”

Xie Lian might be able to guess what was meant by ”openly”. As expected, Shi Qing Xuan explained, ”If we still want to continue lying, then you are the only person who can do it - look for Hua Cheng and tell him that you came here specifically to see him and meet him. He knows that you are a heavenly official, right? Thus, it is enough to be trusted if you say that you have brought some friends from heaven with you. ”

ch 39. At the Paradise Manor; Question of Xian Le (1)

Before Xie Lian could answer, Lang Qian Qiu who had heard the suggestion immediately shouted, ”No!”

Shi Qing Xuan looked at him furiously, ”Why not?”

Lang Qian Qiu returned in a serious tone, ”Prince Xian Le, do you really know the Rain of Blood Reached the Flowers? I heard the conversation between the two of you before, it looks like you two are friends.”

Xie Lian nodded.

”Then of course this plan is totally inappropriate!” Lang Qian Qiu said.

”Even though the Demon King is not a saint at all, the fact that he is being soft and so kind to you must be because he sees you as a friend. If so, then one should not lie to a friend.”

Shi Qing Xuan after hearing what Lang Qian Qiu said could feel that the headache again attacked him, ”Oh my God, Qian Qiu, you idiot!”

But Xie Lian only laughed and nodded, ”What the Venerable Tai Hua has said is true.”

Lang Qian Qiu looked radiant at this, ”You agree with me too, right?”

Shi Qing Xuan, ”How is that true? We are three heavenly officials. If we report back about this case to the Big Deity empty-handed, people will say that our success rate is even lower than Ling Wen Palace, and all it will be very shameful. ”

Xie Lian smiled and just as he was about to speak, a cries and howls came from behind them and immediately made them turn around. Right outside the alley, a group of demons and ghosts ran through the alley, then shouted, ”Where is the kid with the bandaged face? Where is he?”

Seeing the other two gods who seemed to have just received a bad warning, Xie Lian assured, ”Donʼt worry, they are not chasing us.”

Just when the words left his lips, their ears were once again pierced by a deafening cry.

The cry that sounded so desperate it made Xie Lianʼs heart stop. Without thinking twice, he ran toward the screaming, and there, a group of oddly shaped silhouettes gathered in a circle outside the alley, shouting to one another, ”He was caught!”

”Beat him again!”

”Damn it! No matter how many of these little bastards steal from me, I will still slice it one by one!”

Shi Qing Xuan who ran behind him finally caught up to Xie Lian and asked, ”Your Majesty, what happened?”

Xie Lian did not respond, but he continued to walk towards the crowd step by step. His speed grew faster with each step, and he immediately decided to run. He forcefully pushed himself to get past some of the Devils in the outside crowd and saw that the person being beaten was a tattered looking boy. He looked around fifteen or sixteen years old, curled up on the ground, his body trembling so uncontrollably. Even though he tightly hid his own head in his body, everyone could still see the layer of bandages that wrapped around and wrapped his head in such a mess. The bandage was the same as his hair, looked so stained with dirt.

Isnʼt this the same kid wrapped in bandages that Xie Lian encountered at Mount Yu Jun before and the boy who was lost and could not be found?

No wonder Ling Wen Palace said that they could not find any trace of it a few days ago. How could Ling Wen Palace in Heaven find it in the mortal world if the child had fled to a ghost territory?

In his anger, some of the demons that had previously been removed by Xie Lian again pulled him out of the crowd. One of the demons pulled the bandage wrapped around the boyʼs head, ”Look how desperate he really is to want to keep wearing the bandage, Iʼm sure that you this little beggar might even be uglier than me ...”

Lang Qian Qiu was furious and shouted, ”What are you doing!” When he cast some devils aside. Shi Qing Xuan did not have time to stop her and could only wave with her fan, ”Qian Qiu, I think we agreed earlier not to do things with impulse and in a hurry!”

This time, Qian Qiu seemed to have gotten rid of more demons. They roared, ”And who do you think you are !!” and immediately stormed at him and attacked him.

”Iʼm sorry, Master of the Winds,” Lang Qian Qiu called out and continued, ”This will be the last time!” And he then jumps into a fight with a group of devils there, beating the devils.

Shi Qing Xuan then sighed in exasperation, ”Ugh, I will never go with you again!” Before joining the fray.

Because they could neither show nor use their spiritual energy, they could only use their fists and legs in the battle. The other small group that had previously been beating the boy by force had been separated by Xie Lian. He knelt down, wanting to help the boy get up, ”Are you OK?”

After hearing that voice, the boy seemed to shudder and peek at him from his position still curled up. Now that he had looked better, Xie Lian found that the bandages wrapped around the boyʼs face had been wet with blood. With a few black and red spots, it was a scene that looked so frightening, his current appearance was even more frightening than the appearance of this boy before when they last parted. The two large eyes that emerged from the gap between the bandages were as clear as sunlight, the black iris against the white, but the dark eyes that were then reflecting the silhouette of Xie Lian were now filled with fear.

Xie Lian grabbed the boyʼs arm, ”Come on, get up. It will be fine.”

What surprised him was, the boy screamed, pushed Xie Lian away, and then ran away.

Since this boy had previously been infected with Human Face Disease, that boy must still be related to the Xian Le kingdom. When Xie Lian saw him, he could feel a jolt in his heart and his mind became so scattered and unable to think of anything. Caught by some of the force of impulse around him, even his hat had fallen. After the surprise he got, he shouted, ”Wait!”

Right when Xie Lian was about to chase after the boy, some of the Devils he had withdrawn before had again grabbed him. The boy walked down a street that was busier than before. At the level where he can easily merge with so many groups of ghosts and devils with his small body, that boy will definitely disappear from his line of sight immediately. It would be difficult for Ruoye to track down someone in a situation like this, so at such an urgent time, Xie Lian exclaimed, ”My lord, I will leave and leave this matter to you. Letʼs separate for now. Go to hide and we will meet in this place again in the next three days! ”

Ruoye slid out and sent the demons flying towards the other two officials. He bowed slightly, picked up his straw hat and began to run towards where the boy had left.

Xie Lian immediately broke through the crowd of demons and ghosts there with great difficulty and struggle while shouting, ”Sorry! Excuse me!” But because basically the boy had spent most of his life hiding in the mortal realm, running away was like a second habit to him. First Xie Lian was still able to see his head, then besides that he was still able to follow his shadow, but after that there was nothing else, the boy went farther and farther away that Xie Lian could no longer follow him. Xie Lian did not know if it was only his imagination, but he felt that the crowd of people on the streets, the longer he ran the less he met them. With so many humans and ghosts jostling with each other, it really made it difficult to get past them. In the midst of all the chaos, Xie Lianʼs mind was in turmoil and inadvertently knocked down a number of stalls, and she shouted, ”Sorry! Iʼm sorry!” while continuing to run.

However, the ghosts and demons here are not something that can be passed easily, and they then shout afterwards, ”Sorry, damn what! Catch him!”

Xie Lian felt a sudden gust of cold air then spread across his back, as if there were a number of hands holding it, and he immediately knocked it back, ”Who is that ?!”

Itʼs hard to say where the hand came from, but all the ghosts and demons there now surround him, their voices sounding so high-pitched and terrible, ”Oi! Letʼs give one or two lessons to this pale face! How dare he start the crap in our Ghost Town? ! ”

A large crowd of monsters and spirits seemed to flow and merge into the crowd, and seeing that most likely Xie Lian would lose the boy in the crowd there, Xie Lian tried to do her best to throw away and get rid of the hands that were catching her, ”Everyone Iʼm really sorry, I didnʼt mean any harm. Let me go to find someone and Iʼll come back to pay you all! ”

The horde of ghosts and devils is getting bigger and more unable to let go, ”As if you will!”

In the midst of all the impetus and pull experienced by Xie Lian, the boy he was after was now completely gone. Xie Lian slowed down, stopped and stood still where he was now, looking confused. To be honest, he really wasnʼt sure how he felt. Was it a feeling of disappointment at not being able to catch the boy, or was it a feeling of relief that the nightmare had passed?

Suddenly, a commotion arose among the crowd of demons there, and they immediately shifted to one another, forming a path, as if an important person would arrive and pass through the place. Xie Lian looked towards that place and saw a tall shadow dressed in black was walking straight towards him through a road that had been made by the crowd there. He shouted, ”Calm down. Let him go!”

The figure was dressed in black, like most ghosts and demons, and appeared to be wearing a mask. It was a funny mask with a face that seemed to be smiling sadly. The crowd murmured, ”That is Officer XiaXianYue!” And they then released the grip of their hands on Xie Lian. It seemed that this black clothed figure was someone who was so important and influential in the Ghost Town.

* XiaXianYue if translated can be interpreted to waning crescent.

As he approached Xie Lian, he bowed, ”Greetings cultivator. Master wants to see you.”

”Um. Me?” Xie Lian pointed at herself.

The XiaXianYue officer answered, ”Right. Master is waiting for you at Manor Paradise.”

Around them the crowd looked as if they were breathing in and holding their breath when they heard him, ”Do you want to meet him? Did I hear wrong?”

”Manor Paradise? Itʼs a sacred place of a lord, even you never let a guest enter it, whoever that is!”

Some of the ghosts and demons in the crowd pointed at Xie Lian and said, ”Wait a minute, isnʼt he the one who won against you today at the Gambling House? Isnʼt he the one taught yourself by yourself ?!”

All eyes were now focused on Xie Lian, each pair of eyes looked so bigger than the others. Xie Lian couldnʼt do anything but then decided to lift his straw hat to hide his face. The XiaXianYue officer seemed to make a move and said, ”Please go this way.”

Xie Lian nodded and followed behind him.

The crowd there moved back and gave way to them, and the demon officer led Xie Lian through a path there. Nobody dared to follow them, and after a few incense sticks, both of them had left the busy road behind, and now they had both walked farther and farther inland.

During the trip, the two did not talk at all. Xie Lian felt that Officer XiaXianYue who was walking in front of him was as if he would disappear into the shadows and Xie Lian decided to follow him more closely. Unknowingly, his eyes brushed at the officerʼs wrist and noticed that above him was a cursed dark circle.

That was something he recognized more.

Damned shackles ?!

He widened his eyes but decided to remain silent in his surprise. At that moment, the demon officer spoke, ”We are already here.”

Xie Lian looked up and realized that he had been directed to a lake. There are a number of male lumps floating on the water, playing and chasing one another. Next to the lake is a high-rise sidewalk.

Both in heaven and in the ghost realm, each of them has such a magnificent architecture. However, the famous buildings of heaven place more emphasis on excellence and self-esteem, while the buildings in the Ghost City are magnificent and emphasize them in their magic and frivolity. Even the large letters of the pavilion that make up the name of the building ʼManor of Heavenʼ exude an evil aura.

After some thought, Xie Lian decided to enter the place.

Lifting the beaded curtain there, the fragrant and fragrant air then greeted his face immediately. Xie Lian moved her head slightly to avoid the scent that was like going to drown it. And immediately, he had arrived at a large hall in that place.

The inside of the hall was covered by a thick, snow-white carpet made from the fur of an unknown wild animal. Many beautiful and charming women in that place, barefoot and wearing clothes made of light silk, they were dancing and playing, looked so sensual and charming. The music he hears and greets his hearing is none other than the music that comes from them.

The women whirled around dancing so seductively like a bouquet of roses covered in thorns, and only bloomed at midnight. When they turned towards Xie Lian, they played with him and teased him with their eyes. If there is someone who passes that night randomly and accidentally captures the scene that is happening right now, surely they will be more scared or even fascinated. However, when Xie Lian was observing the main hall, her eyes immediately pierced through the women. The first thing he saw was Hua Cheng who was sitting at the very back of the main hall.

At the end of the hall was a large bed made of black jade, which was large in size and could hold more than ten people. But there was only one person sitting on it, and that was Hua Cheng.

There were a number of beautiful women dancing in front of him, but he didnʼt look at them at all and only stared blankly at them, only lazily watching what was in front of him, looking completely uninterested.

In front of Hua Cheng there was a small golden palace. From a distance, it looked like a heavenly palace, but upon closer inspection, the small palace was built from thin gold sheets stacked with each other.

Palace of the Golden Paper. Xie Lian often played this game when he was a child; it is a game that is no different from the childrenʼs village game that has piled several stones to build a house. But because he didnʼt like separation naturally when he was young, it didnʼt matter what it was, as long as the objects were placed together, Xie Lian would refuse to separate them. Having succeeded in making a palace, he would forbid anyone to touch it, hoping that if he could just stick the fragile sheets together so they wouldnʼt collapse.

When he was even younger, if he saw his golden palace falling apart, he would be depressed until he refused to eat and sleep until the king and queen coaxed him out of his shell. The golden palace in front of him now looked so majestic, covered with hundreds of pieces of tin foil made of gold, looking so fragile as an egg, as if a gentle breeze could blow it up and tear it down. Xie Lian prayed in his heart, ʼDonʼt fall. Donʼt fall down. ʼ

However, after a while, Hua Cheng looked at his work and smiled, raised a finger and flicked it to the top of the golden palace.

The Sectika of gold paper fluttered and then collapsed.

The sheet of gold paper fell to the ground, the golden palace has now been destroyed. After tearing it down, Hua Cheng looked amused by his work, like a child pushing and knocking out a tower of building blocks.

He then thoughtlessly threw away the sheet of gold paper still in his hand and jumped off his bed. The female dancers immediately stopped in their steps and retreated to the side, silencing their songs. Stepping on the sheet of gold paper, Hua Cheng walked towards where the entrance was and said, ”Since the gege is already here, why not enter? Donʼt act like a stranger like that after only separating for days.”

Hearing his words, Xie Lian lowered the beaded curtain, ”Previously at the Gambling House, isnʼt that San Lang himself who pretended not to recognize me.”

Hua Cheng walked up to her and stopped right beside Xie Lian, ”Lang Qian Qiu was there at the time, so if I didnʼt do anything, I would give the gege trouble.”

”That was a very careless act ..” Xie Lian thought.

As for Hua Cheng to even know Lang Qian Qiuʼs identity, Xie Lian was not the least bit surprised. In fact, Hua Cheng might have known that Shi Qing Xuan was also there joining the crowd, so Xie Lian spoke again without hesitation, ”San Lang is as knowledgeable as ever.”

Hua Cheng laughed, ”Of course. So, are you here specifically to visit me this time?”

”...”

If Xie Lian had to be honest with herself, if she knew that Hua Cheng was here, she would take time off from work so she could visit to see her. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Hua Cheng however, would not bother to wait for Xie Lianʼs answer. He smiled, ”I donʼt know if youʼre here just to look around and meet me or not, Iʼm still happy.”

Xie Lian was shocked by those words. He did not have a chance to respond when the women standing beside them started laughing. Hua Cheng shook his head and they all stopped at once, their heads bowed, and immediately left the hall, leaving only the two of them in this vast room.

”Come sit here, gege.” Hua Cheng said.

Xie Lian followed him and still stared and watched the figure as he walked back, smiling, ”So this is your true appearance.”

Hua Cheng immediately stopped in his tracks.

ch 40. At the Paradise Manor; Question of Xian Le (11)

Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination, but Hua Chengʼs shoulder seemed to freeze for a moment. The moment did not last long, and Hua Cheng casually replied, ”I did say that when we meet at the next meeting I will greet you with my true appearance.”

Xie Lian grinned. He tapped the young manʼs shoulder and said solemnly, ”Not bad.”

Xie Lianʼs tone of voice also sounds so relaxed, nothing more, nothing less, and very simple. Hua Cheng smiled back at him, and this time he seemed more relaxed. They took a few more steps and Xie Lian suddenly remembered something important to be confirmed with Hua Cheng, and he then removed the necklace made of silver chains around his neck.

”By the way,” said Xie Lian, ”Have you left this?”

Hua Cheng glanced at the ring and smiled, ”That ring is for you.”

”What is that?” Xie Lian asked.

”That is not important.” Hua Cheng replied, ”Keep it for fun.”

Even though thatʼs what he said, but Xie Lian knew that this object was not something so trivial. ”Then thank you, San Lang.”

Seeing that Xie Lian put the ring necklace around her neck again, Hua Chengʼs eyes seemed to be filled with such bright sparkles. Xie Lian looked around and said, ”Earlier when at the Gambling House you had said that you would come here, to the Heaven Manor and I thought that place was like a brothel or a red light district, but apparently this place looks more like a theater?”

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows, ”Gege, what are you saying? I never went to the red light district.”

Xie Lian looked so impressed, ”Really?”

”Of course.” Hua Cheng answered.

Both of them approached the black bed and both of them sat next to each other. Hua Cheng continued, ”This is nothing but a place where I will renovate here and there, a kind of place to stay. I will come and relax here when I have free time. If I am busy then I will leave it as is.”

”So, this is your home,” commented Xie Lian.

”Residence.” Hua Cheng corrected, ”Not home.”

”Is there a difference?” Xie Lian asked.

”Of course,” Hua Cheng replied, ”A house has a family in it. There a place where someone lives alone is not home.”

Hearing this, Xie Lianʼs heart looked like it was being squeezed. By that definition, this means that it has been more than eight hundred years since he owned a ʼhomeʼ. And itʼs been eight hundred years that he hasnʼt come home. Even though Hua Cheng did not have a trace of loneliness on his face, Xie Lian thought they might be the same. Hua Cheng continued, ”If itʼs at home, then even a small place like Pu Qi Temple will be millions of times better than my Heavenʼs Manor.”

Xie Lian agreed and smiled, ”I didnʼt realize that San Lang looked so sentimental like this. But to make a comparison using my Pu Qi Temple, you really pulled my foot here.”

Hua Cheng laughed, ”What makes you ashamed? To be honest, even though the Pu Qi Temple belongs to a small gege, it is much more comfortable than my Heavenʼs Manor. That place is much more lively like home.”

”Is that so?” Xie Lian said in such a warm tone, ”Then, in the future, come whenever you want. The door of the Pu Qi Temple will always be open for you.”

Hua Chengʼs face lit up, ”Because I said that, I will gladly accept your offer. Never think that I will be annoying in the future.”

”Impossible.” Xie Lian replied. ”By the way, San Lang, I want to ask for your help, but I donʼt know if you have time?”

”What is wrong?” Hua Cheng asked, ”This is my territory. You only ask, and I will answer it”

After some thought, Xie Lian said, ”Before when I was dealing with the case at Mount Yu Jun, I met a child who might be from my kingdom.”

Hua Cheng blinked slowly at the word ʼcomesʼ and didnʼt say a word. Xie Lian continued, ”I didnʼt handle this problem well before, and scared him. After that I asked for a search but until now there hasnʼt been any results. Before when I was running around the back alley of Ghost Town, I thought I had met again with that child. San Lang, you are the lord of this region. Is there a way you can help me find it? His face looks wrapped in bandages, and has just escaped from the front of the Heavenʼs Manor. ”

Hua Cheng was silent, and then stood up to say something in such a low voice, he looked away from his face, as if he was communicating with someone. A moment later he sat down again and smiled, ”Done. Just wait.”

Because Hua Cheng is the ruler who oversees this Ghost City, it will be much more comfortable and easier for him to act. Xie Lian sighed in relief, ”Really, thanks again.”

”This is nothing,” Hua Cheng answered. ”But this means you left Lang Qian Qiu just like that?”

If Lang Qian Qiu was there, someone who would say all things directly and have a short mind, it would be difficult to predict what nonsense would come out of his mouth and restart a problem who would know what kind of problem it was. Maybe they should meet later, Xie Lian thought. ”His Highness Tai Hua has caused you trouble before at the Gambling House. Sorry about that.”

Hua Cheng flashed an arrogant smile and said, ”What are you saying? Thatʼs not a problem at all.”

”The things that he has destroyed ...” Xie Lian began to say that and immediately Hua Cheng laughed, ”For the sake of gege I will delete his account and forget it. He can do whatever he wants as long as he doesnʼt show his face in front of me.”

Xie Lian now looked so curious, and asked, ”You donʼt care if there are heavenly officials playing around about your territory?” Could it be that Hua Cheng really had no fear at all?

Hua Cheng smiled, ”Of course you might not know about this, but gege, the three realms have stated that the Ghost City is a place filled with great corruption, demonic chaos, but in reality, everyone wants to come to this place. So much heavenly officials who pretend to not care and speak ill of this place, but behind everyone, they often come in disguise and do business that canʼt be said, Iʼve seen too many events like that, if they donʼt cause trouble then I donʼt care, and if they do, itʼs even better, because theyʼre the first to disturb and create chaos. ”

”His Holiness Tai Hua is basically like that, so when he sees such a round of betting, he must stop it and cannot resist the urge to get involved and cause trouble,” Xie Lian explained.

”Thatʼs because he has so little experience,” Hua Cheng said clearly. ”To choose between letting yourself live longer for ten years and cutting your enemyʼs life shorter for ten years and then choosing the latter, that is the basis of human hatred.” He snorted and crossed his arms, ”Even an idiot like Lang Qian Qiu can ascend, heaven is truly blind.”

”...”

Xie Lian rubbed her forehead with a slightly guilty feeling, thinking, ʼYou canʼt say it like that, after all, someone who collects rubbish like me can also go up ..ʼ

After looking so hesitant, Xie Lian spoke again, ”San Lang, maybe I canʼt say this, but I still have to say it. Gambling house is dangerous, donʼt you ever think that someday maybe that place will be able to destroy you?”

A place that allows someone to risk their sons and daughters and even the lives of all people, even to death, is very sinful. Forget about the few fights that might occur. If one day the bet cannot be controlled, heaven will not be able to sit still and close their eyes. There will be times when they act. Hua Cheng looked at him, ”Your Majesty. Have you ever asked Lang Qian Qiu why he acted so hastily before?”

Xie Lian was a little surprised, didnʼt really understand the meaning of the question. Hua Cheng continued, ”Iʼm sure he would have told you that if he didnʼt do it, nobody else would.”

”Youʼre right,” said Xie Lian, ”Thatʼs what he said.”

”Iʼm the opposite.” Hua Cheng said. ”If I donʼt control a place like this, then someone else will control it. I would prefer if that person was me.”

Xie Lian understood when it was time for him to stop and give up and then he nodded, ”I understand.”

It seemed that even though Hua Cheng was a sentimental person, he also paid attention to the arrangement and strength more than what Xie Lian realized. Hua Cheng continued, ”Even so, I thank the GeGe for your attention.”

At that moment, Xie Lian heard a voice coming from the door. A young man said, ”My lord, I have found the boy wrapped in bandages.”

Xie Lian looked towards the front door and saw that it was Officer XiaXianYue from before who at that time was bending right behind the beaded curtain. And what was on his arm was none other than the tattered looking boy.

Hua Cheng never looked at him and said, ”Bring him in.”

The young man in black took the child inside and gently laid him on the floor. Xie Lian could not help but peek at the officerʼs wrist once more to see if there were indeed damned fetters there, but he bent down, quickly he returned to his feet after delivering the boy. Because there were things that were more important to Xie Lian at that time, he then bent down and sat down next to the boy wrapped in bandages and immediately calmed him down, ”Donʼt be afraid. What happened last time was my fault, I wonʼt do it again.”

The boyʼs eyes seemed to widen and filled with fear and confusion, but after running away many times, he no longer had the energy to run back. He peeked at where Xie Lian was, then peeked at the small table on the bed made of black jade. Xie Lian followed his line of sight and saw that he was watching a plate of delicious fruit on the lap table.

The boy must have been hiding for too long and havenʼt eaten at all. Xie Lian turned towards Hua Cheng and before he said anything, Hua Cheng gestured, ”Do whatever you want, no need to ask me.”

It was not the time to be polite, so Xie Lian then thanked him and grabbed the plate of fruit before giving it to the boy. The boy took the plate from Xie Lian and began to put the fruit in his mouth.

It seemed he had been starving for days, and was very hungry. Even when Xie Lian was in his worst condition and was so starving like a stray dog, he never put food in his mouth like this. He did not know what to say, and only said softly, ”Slow down.”

After a pause, he tried to ask again, ”Whatʼs your name?”

The boy whispered and murmured while he was still eating his food, as if trying to say something but couldnʼt do it clearly.

”He may not have talked for years and forgot how to talk.” Hua Cheng said.

Indeed, it seemed that this boy did not say much, even to Xiao Ying, and had been like this for a long time. Xie Lian sighed, ”We can do this slowly.”

At that time, all the fruit on the plate had been eaten. Seeing that the bandage looked wet with dried blood, covered in black and red spots, Xie Lian said softly, ”Your face is hurt and looks worse. Let me see it.”

Hearing those words, fear immediately enveloped the boyʼs eyes. However, after Xie Lian calmed and encouraged him, he resumed sitting there obediently.

Xie Lian then approached him and sat down beside him and then seemed to take out a bottle of medicinal powder from his sleeve, ready to take off the dirty bandages when Hua Cheng intercepted him, ”Let me do it.”

Xie Lian shook her head and moved her hand slowly, opening the bandage wrapped in indiscriminate from the boyʼs head.

As he had expected, even though the boyʼs face was a mess, all the scary little human faces had disappeared, with only large patches of bright red.

Last time when they met at Yu Jun Mountain, there was a burn that covered his face but not much blood at that time. This boy must have used a knife to cut the human faces from his own face and leave all the scars there.

Xie Lianʼs hands seemed to tremble slowly as she rubbed the medicine over the boyʼs wounds. Hua Cheng grabbed his wrist and said again, ”Let me do it.”

Xie Lian shook her head again and gently pulled her hand, and said in a low voice, ”No. Let me do this myself.”

Eight hundred years ago in the kingdom of Xian Le, many who had contracted this disease, without any other means, all chose the path of mutilating themselves. It is truly like hell on earth. Some people will lose their purpose and decide to cut where they shouldnʼt be and then end up dying from blood loss. Some people, even if they succeed in removing the little human faces on their faces, they will never recover from the wounds.

When Xie Lian wrapped and wrapped a new bandage around the boyʼs head, he realized that his face was really quite handsome, his nose straight and smooth, his eyes were so black and clear; he should be a handsome young man if it were not for this terrible disease. He was like many others who had it before himself; even if he cut off a humanʼs face that was so disturbing from his own face, his face would forever become a nightmare, unable to recover as before.

Xie Lian finally finished wrapping and wrapping a new bandage and asked in a trembling voice, ”Are you from Xian Le?”

The boy turned to look at him with his big eyes, and Xie Lian repeated his question several times but he only shook his head. Xie Lian then asked, ”Then where are you from, more precisely?”

The boy answered with a lot of struggle ”.. Yong ... An.”

This kid is from Yong An!

Xie Lian felt his vision darken, and he said, ”Have you ever met ... The Faceless White?”

White Faceless / White Disaster. The origin of the plague. The symbol of state misfortune and destruction.

The Devil who belongs to the ʼGreatʼ group often wears snow-white funeral clothes, and carries a Spirit Calling cloth flag in his hand, and wears a Smile Crying mask on his face. This mask is called by that name because half of the mask shows a smiling face, and the other half cries; joined together, itʼs hard to say whether the wearer is smiling or crying. If he is seen somewhere somewhere, it means that that place will soon be destroyed, and the world will fall into chaos.

Xie Lian can remember clearly the first time he met White No-Face. At that time he was standing at the top of the highest tower of Xian Le palace, his face covered with dust and tears, looking so blank and confused as he looked down at the direction where his kingdom was. In his blurred vision, there was a white silhouette between the corpse fields outside the fortress walls, his broad sleeves fluttering, clearly and distinctly different. Xie Lian lowered her head to look at him, and the white apparition also raised her head to look towards Xie Lian, and waved to her directly.

The Weeping Smile Mask was a nightmare for Xie Lian who could not be driven out of his memory even after hundreds of years.

The purpose behind the request was to make Hua Cheng the real culprit behind the chaos in the Small Road Inside Ban Yue! If Ban Yue is brought to heavenly court to be interrogated, then the end result will be very different.

Xie Lian gave a small smile, ”General Pei, even if you donʼt believe me, you still have to trust the Wind Master. Recalling what happened in the Sinner Hole, General Pei Little has acknowledged the crime by luring people who pass through the Small Road in In Ban Yue with his imitation, and the Wind Master has heard everything. ”

Pei Ming glanced at the white clothed cultivator before.

Xie Lian continued, ”Besides, since we are both here precisely in the Great Martial Hall, you can well ask His Majesty whether I really have a trace of a deception spell.”

All heavenly officials looked towards Jun Wu. The Great Godʼs expression remained calm and completely unchanged, meaning Xie Lian was clean. Thus, heavenly officials are now turning their gaze back to the two. Xie Lian continued, ”General Pei, letʼs keep everything clear and separate. Donʼt talk about whether the young man who was with me while I was on the trip was Hua Cheng or not, and even if he was confirmed as Hua Cheng, it had nothing to do with what Little Pei General has done. ”

His expression seemed calm and neutral when the name was spoken, but many people in the hall seemed to shiver with cold. Pei Ming watched him steadily and suddenly grinned. He would argue and Xie Lian was ready to fight when Jun Wu spoke, ”Thatʼs enough.”

As he spoke, Pei Ming stopped his dispute and then bowed.

Jun Wu spoke wearily, ”Because Pei Su has confessed his crime and his confession is no different from Ke Moʼs confession, the problem of the Small Road Inside Ban Yue has been resolved.”

After a moment of silence, Pei Ming admitted, ”Yes, my lord.”

Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief, but Pei Ming continued, ”But Nan Yang and Xuan Zhen have proven that the wound on the empty shell was indeed inflicted by E-Mingʼs sword.”

”That is another matter.” Jun Wu answered.

”Pray to His Majesty will examine this matter.” said Pei Ming.

”I will naturally investigate. Ming Guan and the other gods need not worry.” After a long pause, Jun Wu continued, ”All of you are disbanded and welcome to leave for today. Xian Le, you stay.”

It looks like Xie Lian will be interrogated privately. If thatʼs the case then Pei Ming doesnʼt have anything else to say. Xie Lian was also speechless, and bowed her head, ”Yes, my lord.”

After being dissolved, other heavenly officials came out in groups of two or three people. When Feng Xin passed him, he glanced at Xie Lian as if he wanted to say something, but then stopped his own intentions. Xie Lian smiled at him and he was shocked before rushing off. However, on the other side Mu Qin walked by passing without looking or glancing at him, as if Xie Lian had never been there. The white clothed cultivator walked with a horse tail whip in his arm and a big smile ready to speak when Pei Ming, in one hand rubbed his nose, also walked and said helplessly, ”Qing Xuan, for your brotherʼs sake, can you not cause trouble? ? ”

A smile disappeared from the face of the white clothed cultivator, ”General Pei, there is no need to use my brother to fight me, Iʼm not afraid of him.”

”You!” Pei Ming looked angry but could not do anything. Finally, he pointed at her, ”You ... You really have done it to Little Pei now.”

The white clothed cultivator swung his horseʼs whip wildly and said, ”This is Little Peiʼs own work, obviously it has nothing to do with me!”

It seemed that he did not want to continue fighting with Pei Ming, the white-clothed cultivator then hurried away. Xie Lian thought Pei Ming might still be there to mock him even further, but he didnʼt and then came out of the hall. Actually it was the crown prince Yong An who remained in his place. Xie Lian looked curious, why did he still live there? When Xie Lian approached, this man seemed to close his eyes, he had been sleeping soundly while standing!

Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry, and gently patted the young manʼs shoulder, ”Your Majesty. Your Majesty?”

Lang Qian Qiu woke up and rudely said, ”What happened ?!”

”Nothing happened. The conference is over.” Xie Lian explained.

When he just woke up, Lang Qian Qiu still looked a little confused and asked in confusion, ”Already? Just like that? What are we all talking about? I didnʼt hear anything ???”

”If you donʼt hear anything, donʼt worry about it too much,” Xie Lian said, ”that doesnʼt matter either. Come now, itʼs time to go back.”

”Oh.” Lang Qian Qiu left, but when he reached the door he returned and looked back, still looking confused. Xie Lian waved at him with a smile.

When everyone finally left, Xie Lian slowly turned around. Jun Wu held his hands behind his back and descended from his throne. ”E-Mingʼs curved sword.”

Xie Lian straightened up.

”I see. What really happened?” Jun Wu asked.

Xie Lian looked at him and then knelt down.