Novel Name : Heaven Official’s Blessing
Heaven Official’s Blessing Chapter 101-110
Chapter 101-110
Ch.101: Fight for Commendation; E’ming Battles Ruoye
That scimitar was shaking more and more uncontrollably. Xie Lian was at a loss on what
to do, and gently stroked down along the spine of the blade, “I’m sorry I’m sorry, I didn’t
see it was you, I won’t do it again.”
After stroking it a few times, E’ming squinted its eye, and the trembling finally stopped.
Xie Lian then asked, “Where’s your master?”
Suddenly, a voice came from behind, “Pay it no mind.”
Xie Lian looked back and immediately rose to his feet, surprised and delighted, “San
Lang? Why have you come?”
Behind him was a youth who approached easily with an air of playful arrogance. It was
Hua Cheng. He had tied his black hair up into a crooked ponytail again, dressed in a
white tunic, the red outer robe tied around his waist, his sleeves rolled up, revealing that
pale white but firm arms as well as the tattoo on one of them. As he walked, the little
silver bells on his boots chimed, sounding quite mellow, looking very much like a
strapping young lad of the village, yet exceedingly carefree. A piece of weed grass hung
from his lips and he smiled at Xie Lian, “Gege.”
Xie Lian had originally planned on visiting Hua Cheng to give his proper thanks after
settling the two children, but Hua Cheng himself showed up instead. Lazily, Hua Cheng
came next to him and pulled out that silver scimitar from the ground with just one hand,
looking it over, then lifted to rest it on his shoulder. “Gege is busy here, there’s no need
to trouble you to make a trip over there, so I came over myself. You also forgot this.”
There was actually a bamboo hat carried on his back, and he removed it to give it to Xie
Lian. This was forgotten at the mansion of that wealthy merchant, and Xie Lian was
slightly taken aback, then immediately said, “I completely forgot about it, thanks for
going through the trouble.”
Just as the words left his mouth, he suddenly remembered what he told Hua Cheng
after that something that had happened the night before: “I’m looking for my bamboo
hat, my bamboo hat is missing”. It was nonsense uttered out of confusion but Hua
Cheng actually went and found the bamboo hat for him, and Xie Lian felt a wave of
embarrassment, afraid that Hua Cheng was going to tease him for it. Fortunately, Hua
Cheng didn’t even mention the incident, and changed the subject with a smile. “Gege
picked up two more kids?” He said as he patted Gu Zi’s head, ruffling his hair into a
mess. Gu Zi seemed to be scared of him, rushing to hide behind Xie Lian. Xie Lian
chided, “Don’t worry, this gege is a good person.”
However, Hua Cheng said, “Nah, I’m a very bad person.” Although that’s what he said,
still he flicked his hand and a tiny silver butterfly was flipped out of his sleeve, fluttering
its little wings, flying errantly towards Gu Zi. Gu Zi’s inky little eyes were bulged, staring
at the tiny silver butterfly with eyes unmoving, and finally he reached out to try to catch it
in spite of himself.
With that, his guard against Hua Cheng was greatly dropped. Then, Hua Cheng
nonchalantly swept his eyes over Lang Ying, but his gaze was significantly different.
When he looked at Lang Ying, his eyes were cold and sharp, unkind and unfriendly.
Lang Ying lowered his head and also shrank back behind Xie Lian anxiously.
Xie Lian held the bamboo hat in hand and said, “If you’re gonna come, just come. What
are you doing cleaning Puqi Shrine?”
“It’s nothing more than some house cleaning, don’t you think everything feels so much
more refreshing now that all the trash is cleared out?”
“…” Xie Lian remembered the missing Qi Rong, and wondered did Hua Cheng actually
throw him out like he’s garbage? Just then, there was a sudden wail from behind Puqi
Shrine, “HUA CHENG YOU FUCKER GO TO HELL AND GET BOILED IN A POT OF
FRYING OIL! MURDER! HUA CHENG IS COMMITTING GHOST MURDER!!!”
Gu Zi cried, “Dad!” And his two little legs ran, rushing on out over, and Xie Lian hastily
followed too. There was a small creek behind Puqi Shrine, and it was where he usually
did laundry and washed rice. At that moment, Qi Rong was also dunked in the water, his
body bound tightly by Ruoye, desperately keeping his head above water, roaring with all
of his might, “I WON’T GET OUT, I REFUSE TO GET OUT! I WILL STAY IN THIS
BODY UNTIL IT DIES! I WON’T SURRENDER!!!”
Hua Cheng spat out that piece of weed grass, “You take yourself for some kind of a
hero? Useless trash.”
Xie Lian explained woefully, “…I captured him a few days ago on some mountain. He’s
possessing someone else and won’t come out. The man is still alive, so if we forcibly rip
out a soul, the flesh won’t survive. Honestly… does San Lang have any ideas what we
can do?”
Hua Cheng replied, “Hm? You want ideas on how to make him suffer a fate worse than
death? There’s plenty.”
That was obviously a threat. Qi Rong cussed, “THE TWO OF YOU! BROKEN POT
MATCHING A ROTTEN COVER! HEARTS OF SNAKES AND SCORPIONS!
GUrglegurglegurgle…” He hadn’t finished before he was submerged in the creek again.
Although whenever Xie Lian saw him he’d remember how his mother’s corpse was
dissolved into ashes and would be filled with anguish, still that body belonged to another
and so it must be conserved. Thus, he fished Qi Rong up from the creek and dragged
him to the front door of Puqi Shrine.
Qi Rong hadn’t eaten for a full day and night, so his stomach was shriveled from
hunger, and after having been bullied by Hua Cheng, he was full of rage but no energy.
He wolfed down the meat pies Gu Zi snuck back from that wealthy merchant’s house,
leaving not a single crumb, appearing truly wretched and pathetic. Xie Lian shook his
head and noticed that Qi Rong’s limbs were stiff, probably from some spell casted by
Hua Cheng and was petrified, so he called out, “Ruoye, return.”
Ruoye had spent days binding Qi Rong and was already feeling extremely aggrieved,
so with the call it immediately whooshed over, and wrapped itself in loops around Xie
Lian’s whole body like a white snake. Xie Lian pushed open the door and comforted it
as he did so, untying it from his person, “Alright, alright. I’ll give you a bath in a bit, don’t
feel bad. Go play on the side.”
Thus, Ruoye dragged its bandages and dejectedly floated to the side. Hua Cheng also
casually tossed E’ming, and E’ming itself assumed a dignifying pose to land and stood.
On the wall, Ruoye suddenly discovered a silver, shimmering scimitar leaning next to it,
and very carefully approached. That eye on the hilt of the scimitar E’ming also twirled
and looked over, its eye calculating. Fang Xin somberly did not move, making no show
of acknowledging anything.
Xie Lian had been spending these past days studying up on cooking and felt he might
have gained quite the insight, his heart full of confidence. Wanting to show off his skills
and host Hua Cheng properly, Xie Lian kept him for the meal, and naturally Hua Cheng
agreed to it cheerfully. When they returned from town Xie Lian had bought a bunch of
groceries, and he piled them all on the altar. Picking up the butcher knife, he chopped
and sliced, clinking and clanking the pots. That altar table could be used as a desk, a
kitchen island, and also a dining table; cutleries could be set, kids could all sit around,
truly a table of a hundred uses. Hua Cheng leaned against the wall and watched for a
bit, but finally he couldn’t watch anymore and spoke up, “Do you need help?”
Xie Lian was at the height of his fervor and dismiss him, “No need. Just Ruoye’s help is
plenty.” Then he threw out a few bundles of firewood that hadn’t yet been chopped into
kindle. PA! Like an attacking viper, that white silk bandage whipped the logs and the
chunks of wood that were thick as thighs were instantly chopped into thin sticks of
kindle.
Having shown off its skills, Ruoye arched into an exaggerated, odd form in front of
E’ming and Fang Xin, as if demonstrating its strength and beauty. The demonstration of
beauty didn’t last long before Xie Lian moved again and placed a plate on the ground
then threw over a big cabbage. Ruoye was just about to strike when suddenly, E’ming’s
eye flashed, and it flew off the ground, whirling out shimmers of silver light. Leaves of
the cabbage filled the air, and when it was about to land on the ground, it had already
been thinly and cleanly chopped into a plateful. Xie Lian squatted down to pick up the
plate and praised when he saw the cabbage, “Amazing. You cut better than Ruoye!”
Instantly Ruoye pressed itself against the wall, looking like someone backing away and
had nowhere left to run after having touched the wall. E’ming however, started twirling
its eye crazily, appearing fully cocky and content, like it had reached a state of
sainthood. Between the sabre and the bandage, Fang Xin still remained unmoved. Xie
Lian hadn’t noticed the little battle between the spiritual devices at all, and was focused
on throwing all sorts of different veggies and seasonings into the pot. He turned to ask,
“By the way, how long are you staying for this time, San Lang?”
Hua Cheng had been watching his actions the entire time and had looked like he
wanted to advise him of something at first, but in the end said nothing. He smiled,
“Depends. If there’s nothing going on over there, I’ll stick around here and play for a few
days. If I hang around, pray gege won’t mind.”
Xie Lian hastily said, “Why would I? As long as you don’t mind my place being a bit
cramped.” Chattering and blabbering, Xie Lian told Hua Cheng all about how the female
ghost was throwing blames, causing troubles the moment she arrived at the Great
Martial Hall. Of course, he refrained from mentioning how he himself was accused and
the whole business with dripping blood on Yan Zhen. Then, he remembered Jun Wu
saying Hua Cheng had planted a spy in the heavenly realm, so maybe Hua Cheng
already knew everything? Fortunately, whether or not he knew, he made no show of it,
and only looked contemplative. Xie Lian chatted, “San Lang, who do you think the father
of that fetus spirit is?”
Hua Cheng looked up and smiled faintly, “Hard to say. Maybe, that Golden Belt really
was just something she picked up off the ground.”
A vague response like this wasn’t at all like Hua Cheng’s usual style, and Xie Lian was
puzzled. But soon, a bubbling pot robbed away his focus.
After two incense time, he opened the cover to the pot.
Usually, all Qi Rong ate were offerings to Xie Lian from the village people, and although
it was nothing more than steamed buns and pickles, noodles and eggs, wild fruits or
such others, at least they were food fit for humans. The moment the pot cover opened
and the smell of its contents wafted outside Puqi shrine, he started cussing deafeningly,
“GOD FUCKING XIE LIAN! BLACK HEARTED SNOW LOTUS! YOU MIGHT AS WELL
JUST KILL ME WITH THE BLADE RIGHT NOW! SO ACTING ALL GOOD FISHING ME
OUT WAS TO MAKE ME SUFFER THIS TORTURE?! I’VE SEEN THROUGH YOU!!!”
Before opening the pot cover Xie Lian was full of confidence. Now, he started doubting
himself again. He tried his best and exerted so much effort but resulted in such a pot,
Hua Cheng was still watching on the side, whatever should he do? Was he really going
to make Hua Cheng eat something like this??? Listening to Qi Rong screaming bloody
murder, Xie Lian was becoming even more demoralized. Sensing Hua Cheng crossing
his arms about to go out, Xie Lian raised his hand to stop him, “Nevermind him.”
He sighed, filling a bowl with the thing from the pot, and said to Hua Cheng, “Don’t eat
anything from this pot. Just wait for me for a second,” Then he went out, ushering Gu Zi
and Lang Ying to go get a bucket of water, sending them away from the premises,
before squatting down with that bowl, looking pleasant and airy, “Little cousin, it’s time to
eat.”
Qi Rong was both shocked and terrified, “WHAT. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE
YOU PLANNING?! XIE LIAN I’M WARNING YOU, I’VE A LIFE IN MY HANDS, YOU
BETTER THINK THIS THROUGH! WHOEVER THE HELL CAN EAT THAT SHIT WILL
BREAK FREE FROM THE BONDAGE OF THE THREE REALMS, FLEE THE
DHARMA WHEEL, NO ONE…”
He trailed off when he saw Hua Cheng, who was inside the shrine, ladle himself a full
bowl, sitting down next to the altar table, and taking a bite, his face unchanging, steady
like the mountains. Qi Rong was shaken to the core. A thought he had never had
flashed through his mind –
As expected of a Supreme!
Xie Lian pressed the bowl against his face and said calmly, “It’s fine too if you don’t want
to eat it. If you come out.”
That was never going to happen. Qi Rong bit down his teeth tightly. However, Xie Lian
squeezed his cheeks and forced open his mouth, dumping the contents of the bowl
straight down his throat.
The next second, a sharp scream shot through to the skies above Puqi Shrine.
The bowl in Xie Lian’s hand sat empty, and Qi Rong who was on the ground bore a
twisted, scrunched up face, even his voice was hoarse like an old man wasted away,
groaning, “…I…hate…”
Seeing that even with a bowl forced down Qi Rong still refused to come out, Xie Lian
didn’t know whether if he should be glad or anguished. Although he really wanted to
force Qi Rong out as soon as possible, but since he didn’t succeed, it almost seemed
like it proved what he cooked with all his heart wasn’t that bad after all, and maybe it’s
even something worth being happy about. Turning around, he saw Hua Cheng also had
a bowl in his hand, eating leisurely, looking his way as he ate, and that bowl was almost
empty. Xie Lian’s eyes lit up and he rose to his feet, “San Lang, you finished?”
He thought he flopped the meal at first and was too embarrassed to offer it to Hua
Cheng, but who knew Hua Cheng himself went and started eating. Hua Cheng
chuckled, “Yea.”
“…” Xie Lian prodded very carefully, “What did you think?”
Hua Cheng slurped up the soup too and smiled, “Not bad. A little thick. Try making it a
little lighter next time.”
Xie Lian sighed a breath of relief and nodded, “Alright, I’ll remember that. Thanks for
your feedback.”
Qi Rong: “UUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHH–!!!”
——-
●[六道輪回 ] Dharma Wheel - Buddhist beliefs in the six realms of existence:
Heaven, Asura, Human, Animal, Ghost, Hell
——-
Ch.102: Sage Stew of the Crown Prince to Welcome Unexpected Guests
At first, Xie Lian had planned to show off his culinary skills, but after tonight, his
confidence plunged by a million fold.
Hua Cheng had suggested that he could make dinner instead, but how could Xie Lian
have the face to ask him to cook after Hua Cheng fixed his door and cleaned his shrine
too? Who in their right minds would treat their guests this way? Besides, who did he
take an esteemed Supreme Ghost King for?
Fortunately he brought plenty of supplies back from town and although a large portion of
it went into Xie Lian’s pot, there were still some buns and pies, veggies and fruits left, so
they munched on what they had. But after munching, what then?
The next day, the problem was solved on its own. Bright and early in the morning the
door of Puqi Shrine opened to the knocking of a bunch of village girls who came to offer
large pots of porridge and a roasted chicken. The village girls were shy and anxious, so
who they came for was quite obvious. Xie Lian couldn’t help but sigh in awe to himself,
thinking beauty really could fill a stomach.
That roasted chicken was divided between the two children; Xie Lian only had some
porridge and Hua Cheng didn’t touch anything. He smiled, “Gege is really popular in this
area.”
Xie Lian laughed, “Don’t tease me, San Lang. They were obviously drunk but not on
wine.”
After that bowl went down, Qi Rong was bound outside the shrine for an entire night,
howling and screeching, yelling along the lines of “I’d rather be captured by Lang
Qianqiu, be butchered to a million pieces, than to be stuck here and fed poison by you!”
“Cousin Crown Prince, I’m wrong, please I beg you, give me the antidote!” And he even
seemed to have hallucinated and became delusional. Little Gu Zi was horrified. By early
morning Qi Rong was shrivelled up and sucked dry, his face completely green, and
lapped at the the porridge Gu Zi held in his hand before finally regaining some strength,
croaking with a broken voice, “Bullshit! Popular? Who the hell would come for him??
Look at that shabby appearance! Also, don’t you be so full of yourself, Hua Cheng you
fucker. You can only attract some country chicks from remote places like these at most.
They only came clinging because you’re dressed so extravagantly. If you dressed the
part of a beggar, I doubt they’d even look at you!”
Xie Lian thought that wasn’t right at all. Even if Hua Cheng dressed like a beggar, Xie
Lian believed, should he went begging he would collect a mountain of gold. Still, he said
nothing, and started doing chores leisurely. After a while, another wave of smell wafted
outside and Qi Rong roared again, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?! WHAT THE
HELL!”
Xie Lian replied warmly, “That pot of ‘Love for All Seasons’ stew. I’m heating it up.”
Hearing this, Hua Cheng applauded softly, “What a good name.”
“YOU GAVE THAT FUCKING THING A NAME?!?! STOP!!!”
Afraid that Xie Lian would really feed that to him again, just heating the thing up
reminded Qi Rong of his terrifying memories so he daren’t talk anymore. After finishing
the meal, Lang Ying silently collected the cutleries as if going to do the dishes and Xie
Lian chided, “Let it be. Just go play. I can take care of this.”
Maybe he wasn’t allowed to cook, but he could still do dishes. Hua Cheng watched
Lang Ying take Gu Zi out to play and said, “Let me do them.”
Xie Lian declined the offer, “There’s even less reason for you to do them. Just sit.”
Before he finished speaking, just then, they heard the Qi Rong who was bored with
nothing to do after having filled his stomach make catcalls, speaking with a greasy tone,
“Hey chickee, what’re you doin’ checking me out? Did I make your little tender heart
quiver?”
That ghost was just griping about how he didn’t care for country girls but turned around
and started flirting, and so tastelessly too! Xie Lian shook his head, thinking he best
drag Qi Rong in after all, lest he scare people while stuck outside. Unexpectedly, before
he even opened the door, voices of awe from the villagers rang out, “Whoa, legendary
beauty!”
“Why would such beautiful ladies come to our village…”
“I’ve never seen such pretty ladies in my life! And there’s two of them!”
Soon after, there was a series of knocking on the door of Puqi Shrine. Xie Lian was
puzzled, ‘Legendary Beauty’? Two of them? Why would two legendary beauties come
knocking on my door? Ah, could it be? Did that wealthy merchant bring his new wives to
come return their gratitude?’ Thinking that this could very well be the case, Xie Lian
hurriedly grabbed for the “Please donate to help with renovations of this shrine” sign,
ready to set it outside. But then, he heard the frosty voice of one of the women, “What’s
this thing at the door? Burns the eyes.”
Immediately, the voice of another woman came, sounding puzzled, “Maybe it’s for
guarding the door? No way. There’s no reason to sink so low as to use such a vulgar
spiritual beast?”
Although they were female voices, but Xie Lian had certainly heard of them before. It
was Wind Master Qing Xuan and Earth Master Yi!
At first he had wanted to open the door immediately, but then, he whipped his head
around, and looked at the Hua Cheng behind him who was lazily cleaning up the altar
table, and Xie Lian stopped his hands, cautiously peeking out the door through the
cracks instead.
Outside the door stood two slender and delicate women. One was dressed in white
cultivation robes, her lips rosy, her form charming and sensual, a whisk in her hand, her
eyes bright; the other was a black clad woman, skin white as snow, brows beautiful and
sharp, yet her expression was dark, her hands clenched in fists, looking away into the
distance. That white robed woman cultivator was face full of smiles, waving her hands
all around, “Haha, thanks everyone, thank you! No need to compliment so much, no
need to make such a show. I’m very troubled with you all like this. That’s enough now,
thank you. Haha.”
Xie Lian: “…”
All around was a large tightly knit crowd of beauty-watching villagers, and after having
seen beauties they started pointing and bashing Qi Rong. Qi Rong was displeased and
yelled madly, “WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKIN’ AT! SO WHAT IF THIS ANCESTOR
LIKES LYING ON THE GROUND! FUCK OFF! THERE’S NOTHIN’ HERE TO SEE!”
The villagers saw how freakily that man behaved, looking maliciously violent with a
green face, and dispersed in fright. Shi Qingxuan turned to Qi Rong, “This… green
young master, pray tell is His Highness the Crown Prince inside the shrine?”
Hearing that woman address Xie Lian as “His Highness the Crown Prince”, Qi Rong
immediately lost interest in the two beautiful women before him, and clicked his tongue,
“TSK! So you’re shitty officials from the Upper Heavens! As if this ancestor is a dog
guarding his door. Listen here, I am…” He hadn’t finished before Ming Yi glumly
approached, and then there was a wail followed by sounds of smacking. From Xie
Lian’s position he couldn’t quite see just what Ming Yi was doing and could only see Shi
Qingxuan sweep his whisk, chiding, “Ming-xiong, it’s not good to use violence!”
Ming Yi said coolly, “What’s there to be afraid of? Didn’t he say he’s not a domesticated
spiritual beast.”
“…”
To prevent Qi Rong from getting beaten to death, Xie Lian could only open the door,
raising his hands to stop her, “My lord! Have mercy! Don’t hit him, he’s a person!”
Seeing that Xie Lian had opened the door, Ming Yi flipped away her black hem and
removed her boot from Qi Rong’s back. Shi Qingxuan on the other hand rushed up and
clutched her hands in a curtsy gesture, “Your Highness, I’ve come a few days early!
What’s with that person? He’s so full of demonic essence, you can’t hide it, do you take
us for blind? Well, let’s talk inside. This time I’ve something really important I need your
help with…” As she spoke she walked around Qi Rong who was lying on the ground
and crossed over the threshold. Hua Cheng was still inside, so how could Xie Lian dare
to let them in, and he cried hastily, “Wait!”
However, it was too late. Puqi shrine was only so big and had no place to hide.
Immediately the two saw behind Xie Lian’s person stood a Supreme Ghost King who
was in the middle of doing dishes. Four pairs of eyes met; sparks flew. Hua Cheng
smiled a smile with teeth, yet the smile was ominous and his eyes had no trace of mirth.
In an instant, Ming Yi’s pupils shrank, and she backed three feet away. Shi Qingxuan
flung out her Wind Master fan, striking an attacking stance, exceedingly alarmed,
“CRIMSON RAIN SOUGHT FLOWER!”
Outside the door, the ashen faced Qi Rong roared with rage, “AND I’M THE NIGHT
TOURING GREEN LANTERN! HOW COME NONE OF YOU RECOGNIZED ME WHEN
BEATING ME BUT KNEW IT WAS HIM WITH JUST ONE LOOK?!”
Ming Yi had once infiltrated the Ghost City and spent many years as a spy under Hua
Cheng. It was only recently that she was discovered and captured by Hua Cheng, then
locked in a maze dungeon and beaten. To have enemies face each other, their eyes
bloodshot, the tiny little Puqi Shrine was filled with the smell of venom inside and out.
Hua Cheng tossed the rag in his hand and squinted a smirk, “Lord Earth Master looks
lively.”
Ming Yi also replied coldly, “Lord Ghost King also looks leisurely as always.”
After having made false perfunctory greetings, the next words that came out of Hua
Cheng’s mouth were even colder, his expression icy.
“Leave.” He warned, ”I don’t care what important business you have. Do not come
anywhere near here again.”
Although she feared Hua Cheng, still she refused to back down meekly and Ming Yi
responded with a solemn voice, “To come here was not my will!”
The smell of venom was going to turn into explosives. Next to them, Xie Lian was
growing nervous, “W-w-what, Lord Wind Master, what should we do?”
Shi Qingxuan knocked her fan on her head a few times and said, “I didn’t expect
Crimson Rain Sought Flower would be here either! Didn’t you guys just meet recently?
How come you’re together again so fast? Anyway, if this can be solved without fists
that’d be good. Violence is bad. If they start fighting we’ll have to hold them back.”
“I agree, mostly.” Qi Rong was hoping the two would start brawling and had been
listening intently. Just then he suddenly spoke up, “OHhh – so you’re that slutty woman
Wind Master???”
Both Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan turned to look at him. That was exactly how Qi Rong
had called Shi Qingxuan when he was in his own cave, but even before the person
herself he’d dare curse her like this, and Xie Lian couldn’t tell if it was out of bravery or
lack of mental capabilities. Shi Qingxuan had always been raised in dignified grace, so
this was probably the first time hearing someone else curse her in this way. She blinked,
looking confused, then turned to Xie Lian, “Your Highness. Please wait.”
Then, she exited the shrine and closed the door. Outside, there was another desperate
wail from Qi Rong and another bout of smacking. A moment later, Shi Qingxuan opened
the door to come back in, and he had returned to his male form. “Alright, where were
we. I’m feeling kind of hungry too, so how about we all sit down and eat something?
There’s nothing that can’t be negotiated, and nothing that can’t be solved at the dinner
table.”
“…”
Even though Xie Lian kind of didn’t want them to start fighting inside Puqi Shrine, but
Hua Cheng seemed to be extremely angry over the whole affair of Ming Yi’s infiltration,
and without knowing the inside story, it seemed rather impossible to have them sit down
and eat agreeably. However, Hua Cheng actually didn’t seem to object to the idea, and
after a frosty moment, the ice on his face cleared away and he turned back to continue
doing dishes. After he was done, he walked to the pot and ladled a full bowl of that Love
for All Seasons stew.
Seeing that he backed down first and ceased a battle, the others all sighed a breath of
relief. The next step was to change the subject and liven the atmosphere, so Shi
Qingxuan asked, “Your Highness, what’s in that pot? It seems to be hot still?”
“Oh. I made that.” Xie Lian said.
That pot had been stewing for a long time, the flavours completely soaked in, and most
of the smell had already dissipated. Although the colour was still questionable, but the
shapes had all but melted away from the stewing, looking much better than it did the
night before. Hearing his response, Shi Qingxuan was vibrating with excitement,
“Really? I’ve never eaten anything made by the hands of heavenly officials! Come come
come, let’s have a taste.”
He said as he went to grab for two sets of cutleries and filled two bowls. To be honest,
Xie Lian had wanted to stop him at first. However, because Hua Cheng had been so
firmly encouraging, burying seeds of confidence within him, and plus earlier that
morning he had changed up the seasoning according to Hua Cheng’s suggestions as
he heated the stew, so the thought “maybe I saved it” appeared in his mind. After some
hesitation, he still didn’t say anything, and secretly watched with hope as Shi Qingxuan
passed one of the bowls to Ming Yi. “Come, Ming-xiong. This one’s yours.”
Ming Yi took a look at the contents in the bowl and turned her face away, looking
unwilling.
It was a rude gesture. Shi Qingxuan was outraged, and forced the bowl to her,
unrelenting, “EAT! Didn’t you say you were hungry earlier on the road?”
Hua Cheng lazily raised a spoonful and blew on it, bringing it to his lips then swallowed.
He smiled at Xie Lian, “It’s definitely lighter today. The flavour’s just right.”
Xie Lian smiled too, “Really? I added more water today.”
Hua Cheng took another bite and smiled happily, “Gege did his best.”
Watching Hua Cheng looking like he was tasting some delicious delicacy, it was
exceedingly convincing. A moment later, Ming Yi took the bowl after all. Shi Qingxuan
smiled, “That’s better!” And the two spooned a mouthful at the same time, taking a bite.
————–
Ch.103: Venerable of Empty Words; Mourning at the Feast
“How is it?” Xie Lian asked.
THUD! And Ming Yi collapsed onto the altar table face down, as if she lost
consciousness.
Next to her, two lines of tears silently streamed down Shi Qingxuan’s face.
“…”
Xie Lian asked hesitantly, “My lords, how is it exactly? Will you pull yourselves together
and give me some constructive criticism using words?”
Shi Qingxuan snapped out of it, wiped a face full of tears and clutched Xie Lian’s hands,
pressing down with force, and said unintelligibly, “…Your Highness.”
Xie Lian reversed the hold and clutched his hands back, “What?”
Shi Qingxuan was tongue-tied, unable to speak, and a moment later, he sobbed as he
pushed Ming Yi, “Ming-xiong… Ming-xiong! Ming-xiong, what’s wrong? Pull yourself
together, wake up!”
Ming Yi laid on the table, unmoving. Shi Qingxuan could never stand anyone ignoring
him, and push became shove until finally he was strangling the other, shaking with
force. Xie Lian couldn’t watch anymore and suggested anxiously, “Lord Wind Master,
why don’t you put down the broom, we can talk things out.”
Shi Qingxuan was strangling that broom and whipped his head around, shouting “HAH?
YOUR HIGHNESS WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
Feeling a little helpless, Xie Lian yelled into his ear, “LORD WIND MASTER! THE
THING IN YOUR HANDS IS NOT LORD EARTH MASTER. LORD EARTH MASTER IS
HERE. HERE!”
Just then, Ming Yi whipped up. He actually returned to his male form in a flash, his face
dark like steel, and he proclaimed scornfully, “I have evil in the heart now. Please
exorcise it for me.”
A spoonful of stew can produce evil in the heart? Xie Lian was shocked to the core. He
mumbled, “…That can’t be possible…”
Shi Qingxuan however, was pointing at Ming Yi, his eyes round and bulging, “HOLD IT!
YOU! What evil are you to dare show your petty tricks before this Wind Master?
Where’s Ming-xiong? Quick, I’ll shield you! Let’s take it down together.” And with the
broom in one hand, the other flung out the wind master fan. If that fan was to attack,
then the entire rooftop would be blown away for sure! Xie Lian hastily rushed up to hold
him down, “DON’T DON’T DON’T. MY LORDS PLEASE, WILL YOU BOTH SNAP OUT
OF IT!”
“HAHAHAHAHahahahHEHehehehheehheeeheheehuehuehuehue…”
Qi Rong was slamming his fists on the ground laughing outside, yelling, “Y’ALL
DESERVED IT! FUCKING OFFICIALS! GO DIE AND ASCEND! THIS IS FUCKING
GREAT! I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!”
The two officials inside were falling all over themselves, groaning nonstop. Hua Cheng
leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and Xie Lian looked at him, then looked
at the Wind Master and Earth Master clutching their heads buckling on the ground, and
whispered, “Is it maybe because I didn’t add enough water after all… why would their
reactions be stronger than Qi Rong’s?”
Hua Cheng raised his brows, “I think it’s fine. It’s probably a problem with their taste
buds. It happens.”
Xie Lian however, had never thought about what Qi Rong typically ate and what
heavenly officials usually ate. Comparing the two, heavenly officials were much more
sensitive and emotionally delicate, so that was probably why their reactions were much
stronger. Of course, he also didn’t think about whether if anything had been added after
that pot had passed through Hua Cheng’s hands.
Feeling both depressed and guilty, Xie Lian fed seven to eight bowls of water each to
Shi Qingxuan and Ming Yi before the two slowly came to. Although their faces were
green like Qi Rong and their eyes dead, at least they were conscious, their speech
returning. The only small problem was the unstoppable tears streaming down Shi
Qingxuan’s face, and when he spoke he’d accidentally bite his tongue at times. Other
than that there weren’t any real issues.
After all that ruckus, two hours later the four finally sat down orderly around the altar
table.
Ming Yi still had his face down on the altar, still as a corpse. Xie Lian righted his
expression and inquired solemnly, “Lord Wind Master, you said there was something
important you wanted my help with earlier? What is it exactly?”
Looking wan and sallow, Shi Qingxuan threw a soundproof spell on the door, making
sure that no one outside could hear anything before he croaked with a hoarse voice,
“…It’s like this. Ahem ahem. Ahem ahem. Your Highness, you’ve been hiding in the
world, cultivating in the mortal realm for eight hundred years. You’ve walked and seen
much, so you must have bumped into plenty of ghosts and monsters, right?”
Xie Lian folded his hands one over the other and replied, “I’ve met some.”
“Then I want to ask,” Shi Qingxuan said, “Have… have you ever met a ‘Venerable of
Empty Words’?”
Xie Lian was taken aback, “The Venerable of Empty Words who mourn at feasts?”
Shi Qingxuan lowered his voice and replied ominously, “That’s right!”
Suddenly, Xie Lian felt a wave of hair-raising cold breeze blowing up his spine,
swishing.
At the same time, there seemed to be someone next to his ear, giggling coldly and
humming an exceedingly creepy tune.
Somehow, the sunlight that shined through the windows and cracks warming the little
Puqi shrine also dimmed, like the whole place was enveloped in a large shadow. Xie
Lian’s extremities were getting colder, icy like steel.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Xie Lian had to clutch his robes tight and felt this must be brought up directly and spoke
up, “I have to ask… who’s laughing? Who’s singing? Who’s blowing cold air behind my
back? Who made the shrine this dark?”
Shi Qingxuan wiped away his tears and said, “Oh, that’s all me. It’s just a little spell,
don’t mind it. It’s just for creating the mood.”
The other three at the altar table were speechless. A moment later, Xie Lian supported
his temple and said exasperatedly, “…Lord Wind Master, how about we stop this
breeze? With this weather, none of us are dressed in layers. Besides, the mood was
already there, but it’s all dissipated after you added the cold breeze and music…”
“Huh? Really?” Shi Qingxuan said, then with a wave of his hand, the blowing cold air
behind everyone’s backs were dispersed. “But I think it’d be good if the shrine remains
this dark. Let me light a candle, the ambiance will be even better.” As he spoke, he
really did take out a candle and lit it. In the flickering candlelight illuminated the two
snow white faces and two other pale, greenish faces. The mood was actually quite
strong, the haunting atmosphere exceptional, and perhaps even Qi Rong who was
outside would howl and scream in fright of ghosts.
The other three didn’t want to say anything anymore. Hua Cheng leaned back and Ming
Yi remained as a corpse. Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s continue…
Where were we? The Venerable of Empty Words? Why didn’t you just say the Jinx
monster? Calling it the Venerable of Empty Words, it took me a minute to realize what
you were talking about.”
The Venerable of Empty Words, although given the title ‘venerable’, people only
addressed it as a venerable for show, giving it some face, afraid that if its name was too
unseemly and it found out, it’d come after you. In truth, everyone wished they could
curse it as the foul-mouthed venerable, the jinx monster, and the worse it sounded the
better. However, it really was abominable to the extreme.
That’s right. Typical demons and monsters were at most scary, but this one was
‘abominable’. This was because if someone should be happy, in their moment of joy it
would appear and dunk a bucket of cold water over their heads, a real killjoy. Think for a
moment; at the reception of a pair of newlyweds, something of this sort appeared, ate
up the feast then suddenly claim: “It won’t take long for the two of you to break up!” Or
in another case, if an old master of a household was promoted in office, it would also
suddenly appear and cry in the midst of congratulations: “You’re going to get cuffed and
go to jail in a few years!”
If it should attach itself to someone, it would become like the shadows and firmly wrap
itself onto that person, endlessly cursing for the opposite whenever a joyous occasion
should occur. Truly abominable. Especially for those who feared ominous signs; if they
ran into that thing they’d die from distress. No one wanted something of the sort to
attach itself to themselves, but if they bump into it, they could only accept their fate,
because up until now, there was still no one who knew just how it selected prey.
It seemed Shi Qingxuan was quite fearful of that creature but Xie Lian didn’t think it a
big deal, “Don’t worry. It’s nothing to be scared of.”
To say it correctly, that creature was more likely to be scared of him. Shi Qingxuan
became energetic, “So Your Highness has met one? Is there any way to exterminate
that thing completely?”
Humming for a moment, Xie Lian replied, “I did bump into two many years ago, but
they’ve never shown themselves again, so I don’t know for sure if they were completely
exterminated. But by my experience, it’s not that difficult dealing with them.”
Shi Qingxuan was overjoyed, “TWO? You managed to deal with two?! I’ve really come
to the right place! So what happened?”
Thus Xie Lian began his tale. The first one was like this: Many years ago, Xie Lian
passed through a small town, and there was a wealthy merchant sending his daughter
off to the capital to study. Because of how outstanding his daughter was, he made a big
show of publically commending her, a joyous occasion. Who knew, from joy brewed
tragedy, and at the sendoff feast, there was suddenly a voice that belted, “Your
daughter’s carriage will overturn on the road and she will die crashing down the valley!”
That wealthy merchant jumped to his feet in rage on the spot and was going to catch
the one who said those words, but that person ducked under the table right after and
disappeared into thin air!
After that, everyone was scared. Fortunately, Xie Lian went to that household that day
to collect junk. He managed to obtain some leftovers and was about to head back when
he heard what happened. He knew what that creature was so he told that wealthy
merchant not to worry. He asked the wealthy merchant to hire some twenty guards, and
with Xie Lian himself included, they carefully escorted the little lady to the capital safely,
and protected her for a while. A month later, that little lady won first place in a beauty
contest, and the chance had come.
That night, a feast was held at a restaurant in the capital to celebrate the little lady, and
sure enough, there was a voice mixed in the crowd again, belting, “You will be…”
The moment Xie Lian heard it’s voice he immediately seized that creature from the
crowd, choking its neck, stopping it from uttering another word. Then, he immediately
used a charm to seal its body, beat it to a bloody pulp, then ordered for a carriage,
taking it to the valleys to run wildly astray. At a winding corner of the mountain pass the
reins snapped, and that carriage crashed down the cliffs, fulfilling its own curse to
others.
“That’s it?” The other three asked.
“That’s it.” Xie Lian said. “To deal with the Jinx… alright, the Venerable of Empty Words.
To deal with the Venerable of Empty Words, there are three ways: first, don’t let it open
its mouth, and cut it off before it could speak. This can only help guard you for the
moment but it won’t protect you for life, so you need to be constantly vigilant.”
“Second, if it should speak, don’t let the subject of its curse hear. Anyone would be
scared if they should hear a curse against them whilst at the height of their joy, and that
creature feeds on that fear; it revels in it. The more scared you are the happier it
becomes. If you should lose yourself from terror and ruin your own affairs according to
its words, its powers will increase significantly. But unless you’re deaf, you’ll definitely
hear it speak one day. To be honest, not even the deaf could escape probably, because
there were some who’d sew up their own ears in an attempt to escape the thing but it
was still useless in the end.”
“On the flip side, if you don’t pay any mind to however it curses or however it pours cold
water over you, then it can’t do anything to you. So, the most effective way is the third
method: surround yourself with happy thoughts and ignore it completely. Let it speak or
not speak, but forget everything it says. Make yourself stronger and continue down your
path according to your own will and not the tragedy it predicted for you. This way, in the
end, if it can’t draw any despair from you, it will most likely sneak away on its own. Of
course, it can still very well just be lying low waiting for the next chance to ambush.”
Although the third method was the most effective, it was still really difficult to
accomplish. After all, who in the world could truly build a heart of stone and feel not a
single ripple? The more Shi Qingxuan listened the deeper his frown grew, “Then what
about the second time? Did you take care of it the same way the second time?”
“The second time might not be useful as a reference for anyone. After all, it was a
unique situation.” Xie Lian said.
“How is it unique?”
“The one it attached itself to was me.” Xie Lian replied.
————
Ch.104: Venerable of Empty Words; Mourning at the Feast 2
It was also many years ago when Xie Lian met a Venerable of Empty Words.
That time, he had just finished constructing a small hut by his own power and was just
standing there admiring his new abode when suddenly, a tiny little voice came from one
of the corners, “This dwelling of yours will collapse in two months!”
“So what did you do?” Shi Qingxuan asked.
“Nothing.” Xie Lian replied. “I said, “Two months? If it’s still standing in seven days then
it’d be a real miracle”.”
“…”
Hua Cheng’s lips curved slightly but immediately that smile faded away.
That Venerable of Empty Words hid in the shadows, waiting to suck Xie Lian’s fear,
frustration, insecurity, and other such negative emotions. However, it sucked nothing but
empty air, and even when Xie Lian had finished brushing up and fell asleep in his new
house, it still hadn’t managed to suck anything.
Although Xie Lian never saw its form, he could still sense that it was probably quite
angry.
Not a few days later, a lightning struck down, and the entire hut was scorched.
That Venerable of Empty Words was pleased, probably thinking that scorched was no
different than collapsed, so its curse was technically fulfilled, and Xie Lian must be
afraid now. Yet that didn’t happen. It still didn’t manage to suck anything that could fill its
stomach. Of course it was malcontent, thus, it followed after Xie Lian and waited for the
next joyous occasion.
Who knew that this wait turned into over half a year, and in that half a year, Xie Lian had
not one joyous occasion!
If this was anyone else they would’ve given up already. However, the Venerable of
Empty Words had a unique trait, and that was obstinance. If they should eye a prey they
would be relentless in their pursuit, and so it starved pathetically for half a year. Finally,
an opportunity had risen.
One day, Xie Lian managed to collect a large bundle of junk and made a small fortune.
The Venerable of Empty Words was overjoyed. Having waited this long, it immediately
used all the tricks it had and stream after streams of curses erupted, such as the
exciting life of after Xie Lian struck it rich he would waste his fortune on drinks and
gambling then fall sick with long strings of debt, etc. Xie Lian counted his money and
listened with indulgent amusement. After, he still only brushed up and went to bed, and
that Venerable of Empty Words still sucked nothing.
That night, Xie Lian’s pile of junk caught on fire.
After the fire was put out, ashen faced, Xie Lian sighed and said to the Venerable of
Empty Words, “What a shame. It’s all burnt. Not a single scrap left. I haven’t even
experienced any of those drunken dreams and lifetime of riches you spoke of. I think the
things you say are quite interesting, so how about you tell me some more?”
This happened several times, and towards the end, Xie Lian would actually ask it before
it even spoke: do you have anything to say? Do you want to say something? Until that
Venerable of Empty Words couldn’t take it anymore and fled.
To Venerables of Empty Words, a God of Misfortune like Xie Lian was extremely
unfavourable. Either he’d have no happy occasions and it’d wait for nothing; or he’d
already gotten used to all the bad luck and suffered neither fear nor anxiety. His luck
was so bad to the point it was outside the imagination of that Venerable of Empty
Words, so Xie Lian felt nothing of its curses, and even treated them like well wishes or
daydreams.
In any case, after that, Xie Lian never ran into any Venerable of Empty Words again.
He’d even suspect that maybe after having fled, that Venerable of Empty Words went
back to its people and rudely publicized how awful he was.
Listening up to this point, Shi Qingxuan didn’t manage to hold it in and and snorted a
laugh. “Is it very funny?” Hua Cheng said quietly.
Shi Qingxuan knew it was inappropriate too and instantly schooled his expression,
apologizing with a serious tone, “Sorry, Your Highness.”
Xie Lian laughed, “Don’t worry. I think it’s pretty amusing too.”
He concluded, “The Venerable of Empty Words suck power from fear in people’s hearts,
and from this power, it’d push for its predictions to come true then make a new
prediction. The cycle continues until the person is thoroughly broken and their heart
destroyed. So, the more unsteady the heart, the worse it gets; and the more one has,
the more one fears loss.”
After a pause, he suggested, “Did my Lord Wind Master receive a prayer of this sort
from a worshipper and is asking you for help? You’re the God of Wind, something like
this isn’t under your jurisdiction. If you received this prayer you can very well pass it on
to a martial god.”
However, Shi Qingxuan replied, “It’s not a worshipper who ran into it, it was me.”
Now Xie Lian was even more bewildered, “You ran into one yourself? The Venerable of
Empty Words usually don’t dare to mess with heavenly officials. Even if they messed
with you, as an esteemed heavenly official, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Shi Qingxuan sighed, “If I had run into it after my ascension then of course there’s
nothing to worry over, but… it’s a long story.”
This was many hundreds of years ago. When the Wind and Water Masters were still
mortals, they were born and raised in an affluent and prosperous merchant household.
Shi Qingxuan was the second son, and when he was born, the entire family rejoiced.
They gave the second son the baby name* “Xuan”, and they widely distributed porridge
and such fares to feed the hungry in order to build merits through acts of compassion.
At the time, there was a fortune teller who ate porridge and saw the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes. He asked for the birth details and said this:
“Since I’ve eaten porridge from your household, I will say this. This son of yours might
have a good life, but it’s hard to tell you the whole story. Just know, if you want to save
him, he must be kept low profile. Don’t raise him to be the boisterous, flaunting kind;
don’t give him the chance to shine. Remember to build fortune in muffled quiet, and this
will ensure he live a life of peace. Be sure to never host any feasts for him or it will bring
something bad.”
Those were not pleasant words and very much like something a Venerable of Empty
Words would say. The Shi family was a merchant household, and all of the qualities he
described were especially valuable to them, so the fortune teller was shooed away
immediately, and his words were not taken seriously. A few days later, a feast was held
in Shi Qingxuan’s honour, the lanterns shone and the banners flew, drums roared and
gongs sounded.
However, at the feast, just as the guests were at the height of hollering their
congratulations, singing songs of praises to the second young master of the Shi family
wrapped in swaddling cloths, a singsong voice suddenly rang out from the ground,
chanting, “WRETCHED BEGINNING, WRETCHED END!”
That voice really did come from the floor but it overtook the voices of everyone present,
and all became dumbfounded with shock.
The feast ended with apprehension thick in the air, and that very night, Shi Qingxuan
who was still a baby became hot with fever, crying nonstop, and the heat refused to go
down no matter what was done, even dry heaving at times. The entire family was
terrified. The Shi family remembered that not long ago there was that fortune teller who
spoke strange words and was kicked out, so they hastily searched all over and invited
him back. That fortune teller said, “I told you to keep a low profile but you wouldn’t
listen. Now that child has caught the eye of the Reverend, his entire life will be filled with
misfortune. This bout of fever is nothing, it will go away on its own. But this, it’s nothing
more than a greeting gift!”
Of course, he was talking about the Venerable of Empty Words. Except, this wasn’t a
typical Venerable of Empty Words that could be chased away so easily, but one that
was extremely old in years, one that was strongest in cultivation. How strong? Even
without joyous occasions it could still mourn. Thus, it was called the ‘Reverend of Empty
Words’.
This ‘Reverend’ was the so-called “The shop that can close for three years, but eats for
three years once it opens.” Its eyes were sharp and malicious; the prey it clung to were
never any less than characters of greatness whose lives were filled with large waves
and legends. Some managed to win against it, but still they’d pay their entire lives to
battle, providing it with significant portions of food; some were defeated and thoroughly
became a source of its powers. Having hoarded for close to a thousand years, its
foundation was deep and thick. Now, it had rested for over a hundred years; counting
the days, it was time to stretch its legs, and when it opens its mouth to feed, for sure it’d
be another large bite. Coincidentally, Shi Qingxuan who was just born was exactly to its
taste, and was thus ‘reserved’ by this Reverend. Although the tiny baby wouldn’t
understand its predictions even if he heard, there would come a day when he could
understand, and one day he would know fear. Besides, once this fear was planted in the
boy’s childhood, it would be deeply embedded, unable to be dispelled.
Fortunately, monsters like these usually only had one nerve in their brains, and the way
they thought was bizarre, quite abnormal. Thus, the fortune teller thought of a way to
trick it: Have the Shi family send Shi Qingxuan away and pretend he was given to
another family, then change the appearance of the son to that of a female baby before
bringing him back. Have the family claim that the female babe was a kept daughter and
have the whole Shi Family call the little young master little lady, raise him as a girl. As
long as the Reverend of Empty Words could not find the male baby it reserved, after
time passed, it surely wouldn’t be able to remember who it picked.
Thus, sure enough Shi Qingxuan matured to ten years of age in peace.
Within those ten years, the once wealthy merchant household had gradually declined.
The parents of the two masters passed away; internal conflicts raged in the family,
fighting over inheritance. Shi Wudu was tired of it all, so the year he turned sixteen, he
left home bringing with him the little Shi Qingxuan who was younger by many years.
The brothers depended on each other to survive, and Shi Wudu was the first to enter
the mountains to cultivate under a master, settling the little brother in a town at the foot
of the mountain. Everyday he’d cultivate and train til late, not descending the mountains
until late into the night. There was nothing to eat in the mountains and he could only eat
at home at night. One evening, Shi Wudu lost sense of time sparring with another. Shi
Qingxuan waited for a long time and still his brother wasn’t home. Worried that Shi
Wudu would be hungry, he decided to deliver the food up the mountains.
Shi Qingxuan was still a child at the time and didn’t know how to hike the mountain
paths. The night was dark and after having walked a long time with the food box, he
suddenly needed to relieve himself. Anxiously, he immediately pulled up his skirt at the
side of the road. Just then, a black shadow approached from the far end of the
mountain road, asking, “Is it Xuan-Er up ahead?”
Hearing someone call his baby name, Shi Qingxuan thought it was his brother who had
send someone to come find him, so he hurriedly dropped his skirt again, acknowledging
the call, “IT’S ME!”
That foreign voice asked again, “Is your birth such year such month such day such
time?”
Shi Qingxuan was puzzled. First, why the sudden ask for his birth information, and
second, that person had it all correct. So he acknowledged again, “That’s right! How did
you know? Who are you? Do you know my brother?”
That voice didn’t answer but in the end it said, “Come over here and let me see your
face properly.”
That was the tone of a command. At this point, Shi Qingxuan finally noticed something
amiss.
He hugged that food box and dashed away. As he ran, he could hear whirls of wild
winds behind him, laughing like crazy. That thing was chasing him closely! It shouted,
“YOU’RE GOING TO FALL RIGHT NOW!”
Shi Qingxuan was thoroughly horrified, and when it said “fall”, he tripped and fell,
breaking the food box and rice spilled all over the ground. Just as that creature was
about to pounce, Shi Wudu arrived.
Seeing someone had come, that Reverend of Empty Words disappeared out of sight.
Shi Wudu hugged the little brother who was face covered in blood and rice from the fall,
both of them shocked and terrified.
It still found him!
After having hidden for so many years, the Reverend of Empty Words finally had its first
taste of sweetness, and from then on, it would appear regularly, each time more
mysterious than the last. The cultivation of that creature was too strong; the Shi family
fortune was already depleted and the cultivators that Shi Wudu managed to hire could
do nothing to it. He hadn’t the power to throw out a million merits to have his voice
heard directly by the heavens either. Although that creature never asked for Shi
Qingxuan’s life, still the two brothers knew that it was only biding its time, waiting to
butcher only when the prey was fattened. Right now it was only slapping your face
gently, reminding you to fear it, but there would be one day when the slap would hurt.
This was like a hunter who wouldn’t kill its prey with just one arrow, and had to brush
many against it, thoroughly terrifying the prey, feeding off its terror.
This was nothing more than death by a thousand cuts*.
Fortunately, a turning point had finally come. After many years of aggressive training,
Shi Wudu ascended.
The moment he ascended he immediately brought Shi Qingxuan to the Middle Court,
aggressively throwing rare treasures and divine riches all over him, and a few years
later, Shi Qingxuan also successfully ascended. That Reverend of Empty Words thus
quieted and disappeared.
Shi Qingxuan naturally believed that it finally gave up and backed off knowing its own
hardship. Yet, it seemed it was he who thought too well of things.
A few days ago, he invited a bunch of friends to drink, and as he was inebriated, he
suddenly heard a malicious voice in his ear: “You will never be able to see your brother
again!”
That voice was exceedingly familiar; in the days between he was ten and before his
ascension, he could hear that voice at least once or twice every year, his fear for it
sunken deeply into his bones, and this was like an explosive had exploded next to his
ear. Shi Qingxuan sobered up instantly and rushed to Pei Ming’s domain in terror, only
relaxing when he personally saw Shi Wudu well and hanging out with Ling Wen and the
other.
Afterwards, he wondered if that voice was his own delusion. After all, that creature had
planted a deep shadow in his heart since he was young, and it wasn’t the first time
that’s happened. However, after some thought, he was still worried, so he dragged Ming
Yi over to find Xie Lian to ask for assistance. He hadn’t expected to bump into Hua
Cheng at Puqi Shrine, truly the road is narrow for enemies.
After hearing the story, Xie Lian commented, “So, the one Lord Wind Master met and
the one I met were on completely different levels.” After some thought, he turned to Hua
Cheng, “San Lang, have you ever seen that Reverend of Empty Words before?”
Hua Cheng was toying with a pair of chopsticks in his hand and replied, “Hm? I’ve never
seen it personally. But, I know someone who had.”
Although Xie Lian was curious who this “someone he knows” was, he didn’t ask after it,
and only said, “Just how strong is its cultivation? Is it really that powerful?”
Hua Cheng tossed the chopsticks and replied lazily, “Very strong.”
Hearing this, both Shi Qingxuan and Ming Yi’s expression grew solemn. Hua Cheng
added, “It’s not like your regular little minions. It’s definitely hard to deal with.”
Although he said “hard to deal with”, still his expression remained neutral, like he was
only saying it out of courtesy. However, to receive such a comment from Hua Cheng it
was definitely something. Xie Lian said, “Lord Wind Master, this problem doesn’t seem
small. Why not tell Lord Water Master?”
Shi Qingxuan waved his hand, “No, no. You have to know, my brother is about to
undergo another heavenly calamity. If he should go fight that Reverend of Empty Words
during this time, what if he loses focus? I have to keep this a secret, no one must know.
I didn’t tell a single official who has a good relationship with my brother.”
A heavenly official didn’t just go through a heavenly calamity the once. The more
calamities passed, the greater their divine state, the more unshakable their status, and
the stronger their spiritual powers. Shi Wudu was a heavenly official who had passed
two calamities already, and Xie Lian had also heard in the leisurely chats in the spiritual
communication array that he was waiting for the third one now. It definitely wouldn’t be
favourable should he lose focus. To fail to pass a calamity, no matter what, the attained
divine state would be dropped.
————-
●Baby names are nicknames given before a formal name is decided.
●The torture described in the original text is Ling Chi [淩遲]. It’s a torture technique
that appeared in the early tenth century where the executioner would slice the
flesh of the condemned with a small knife bit by bit until the person is dead.
●Suika Notes: To ascend, a mortal must pass through a “heavenly calamity”, a test
of strength to see if the person has what it takes to become divine (usually it
involves hella thunder and lightning strikes). Once ascended, a god can go
through many more trials to level up, aka “attain a greater divine state”. The trials
are non-negotiable and written into the fate of each god, so they come at
different times. Each trial is different; sometimes the god descends to live one
lifetime as a mortal, or fight natural disasters, etc., etc. To fail a trial however,
means dropping in the attained divine state and losing powers, so the stakes are
high going in and there’s no turning back.
————
Ch.105: Three Gods One Ghost; Reverend Nowhere in Sight
Shi Qingxuan returned to being serious and continued, “I want to try and see if I could
take care of that thing myself. Your Highness also has more experience, so are you
free? If not, don’t force yourself.”
Shi Qingxuan had helped Xie Lian out many times before in the past, and now that he
had an emergency and came to him for assistance, there was no way Xie Lian could
decline and say he had the heart but not the power. However, Hua Cheng came from
faraway as a guest and hadn’t even stayed for more than a few days. If he left, who’s
going to host Hua Cheng? Although it wasn’t like he was a very good host.
Just as he was considering his options, Hua Cheng supported his chin with one hand
and smiled, “Is gege going to try and catch a glimpse of that Reverend of Empty
Words? If it wouldn’t be a bother, will you bring me along? It’s a rare monster after all,
I’ve never seen it myself either.”
Xie Lian thought to himself, ‘Much ashamed, but San Lang understands me.’ Filled with
gratefulness of his consideration, he nodded. Shi Qingxuan didn’t say anything on the
subject; of course he knew Hua Cheng coming along wasn’t to help him, but at least he
wouldn’t be messing around, so whether if Hua Cheng came meant nothing to him. Xie
Lian then said, “That Reverend of Empty Words is a mysterious creature, who knows
when or where it would appear again?”
Shi Qingxuan replied, “I don’t know either. If anything, I plan on going to the imperial
capital and reserve the best room at the best restaurant to drink eighty or a hundred
days, put on plays and set off firecrackers everyday. It’ll come out eventually.”
“That’s one way to do it,” Xie Lian said, “However, even if it comes out we might not be
able to capture it. The best way to win every battle is to know oneself and the enemy
inside and out. Has Lord Wind Master investigated what its preys had been in the past?
How does it operate? See if there’s any patterns.”
“Od course my brother had already investigated this.” Shi Qingxuan said as he took out
a scroll from his sleeve, spreading it open. Xie Lian scooted closer to take a look and
was awe in spite of himself, “Amazing. Amazing.”
What a guy! That creature really only fished for the big ones. The series of names on
that scroll were pretty much all the big names in the mortal realm, each of them a
character of notoriety, and almost all of them ended in tragedy. Every one of those tragic
ends were all suicides after breakdowns.
There were those who slit their own throats after armies were ruined like mountains fell;
those who cleanly offed themselves by a three meter long white bandage after their
amassed fortune dissipated overnight; and those who were sunken into the depths of
despair having spent their entire lifetimes seeking influence and affluence but achieved
nothing. They weren’t necessarily defeated in the hands of the Reverend of Empty
Words, they were defeated by the fear of ‘loss’ in their own hearts.
However, there weren’t any emperors or kings on that list. True kings had the protection
of the aura of heaven’s son, and evil could not invade easily. Generally speaking, those
who had the potential to ascend would also have a natural spiritual shield covering their
bodies and force the demons and monsters to evade, so Xie Lian felt whatever it was
that attached itself to Shi Qingxuan wasn’t something so simple, and perhaps there’s
someone behind the scenes purposely coming for him. If that was the case, whoever it
was must be quite formidable. However, Shi Qingxuan was marked when he was but a
baby, so how did he attract such a character?
Just then, Hua Cheng spoke up, “Gege, may I take a look?”
Xie Lian passed the scroll over to him “Here.”
Hua Cheng only swept a look over it roughly and questioned, “Who put this scroll
together?”
“My brother. What?” Shi Qingxuan replied.
Hua Cheng tossed the scroll back on the table and said, “Nothing. It’s crap full of
mistakes. I suggest your brother try again.”
Hearing him, Shi Qingxuan was going to throw a fit, “CRIMSON RAIN SOUGHT
FLOWER!”
Xie Lian immediately held him down and said apologetically, “Lord Wind Master, please
sit down. Sit down. Let it go, San Lang always talks like this. He doesn’t mean it.”
Shi Qingxuan sat down, sounding doubtful, “Always like this?”
Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng and asked, “San Lang, you said it’s full of mistakes. How
so?”
Hua Cheng shuffled over too and the two sat much closer than before. Hua Cheng
pointed at a few names and said, “These ones are wrong.”
Xie Lian looked at the names closely and they were all vengeful, malevolent tyrants.
“How do you know?”
“Because I killed them.” Hua Cheng said.
“…”
“Doesn’t this say they all died by suicide?” Xie Lian said.
“Before I make my move I’d send messengers to greet them first, and they’d end
themselves.” Hua Cheng replied, “So I don’t know if that counts as my kill?”
Who knows whether if that counted as his kill, but at least he was honest. Shi Qingxuan
coughed a few times uncomfortably, his lips twitching, “Can ghosts please not so plainly
describe how they kill people in front of heavenly officials? Can ghosts please not
discuss these types of questions openly with other heavenly officials in front of other
heavenly officials?”
Hua Cheng pointed at a few other names and said, “These ones are wrong too.”
“And who killed those ones?” Xie Lian asked.
“Black Water killed them.” Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian was taken aback, “That Black Water Demon Xuan? Doesn’t he always lie low?”
“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t kill.” Hua Cheng said.
Then, he turned to Shi Qingxuan, “Your esteemed brother gave you a scroll that’s
inaccurate and full of mistakes, there’s no heart in this investigation at all, and it only
looks like a suspicious red herring, a bunch of rags. So, I suggest, you rip this up and
rewrite another one.”
Shi Qingxuan grabbed that scroll back and exclaimed, “My brother isn’t like that!”
Although his words were weak, his tone was firm. Shi Wudu wouldn’t be so careless
when it came to his own younger brother, so, there could only be one possibility, and
Xie Lian asked, “Every profession has its own niche, Lord Water Master should’ve
borrowed another’s power in his investigation. May I ask who was the one who actually
put the scroll together?”
After some hesitation, Shi Qingxuan replied, “Ling Wen.”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and stopped speaking. Although the other heavenly
officials all cursed the Palace of Ling Wen for its inefficiency, still it shouldn’t have made
so many mistakes; it’d almost look like this was nothing more than a rough draft. The
Tumours look like they shared a good relationship, at least on the surface. Just what
twists and turns were underneath, outsiders would probably never know.
Hua Cheng shuffled back and continued, “Let me tell you another way to tell the
difference between what’s true and fake: once the Reverend of Empty Words sets its
eyes on a prey, it will pull the weed out by the roots. Not only will its prey suffer
breakdowns and die, the families and friends of said prey will all be affected. So, those
who only died by themselves here on this scroll whose friends and families are alive and
well, those names are all wrong too.”
Hearing this, Shi Qingxuan’s face paled by another shade. Soon after, he regained his
cheer and laughed drily at Ming Yi, “Ming-xiong, doesn’t that mean you’re in danger
too? You’re my best friend after all!”
Ming Yi shifted to sit further away from him, his entire face written with “Can I not have
you as a best friend please”. This move brought him closer to Xie Lian, and Hua
Cheng’s eyes swept over him, sharp as knives. Seeing Shi Qingxuan still hadn’t
forgotten to joke around even at times like these, Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile.
Nevertheless, he could faintly tell Shi Qingxuan was anxious. Or rather, it was because
he was anxious that he had to use extra cheer to push it down.
Shi Qingxuan flashed his Wind Master fan and fanned faster than usual by five, six
times, his black hair flying wildly in the wind, “Then let’s go right now! To the fanciest,
tallest tower to drink ourselves into oblivion! I gotta see for myself if it’d dare come out
with so many of us around. We’ve got the numbers, HAHAHAHahahahaha…”
“…”
“Lord Wind Master, please calm yourself.” Xie Lian said, “Wait for me for a moment, I’ve
got some little things to take care of in the shrine still.”
Who knows how many days this trip would take, and with two children, two mouths plus
a godforsaken ghost possessing a man, he couldn’t just leave them be. He thought
about finding someone reliable in the village to help watch other them, but it seemed
Hua Cheng knew all of his worries and considerations and spoke up, “If gege must go,
then go without a worry. I’ve got hands. When you’re gone, there’ll naturally be people
to watch over the shrine.”
Xie Lian let out a breath of relief, “Thank goodness for San Lang. It’d be better if there’s
someone here to watch over things.”
Hua Cheng smiled too, “Yea. There needs to be someone watching over things.”
Their “watch over” obviously meant different things. However, no one pried about it.
Ming Yi moved the altar table away and started drawing the Distance Shortening array
on the ground. Shi Qingxuan’s fan was fanning so rapidly, its form no longer seen, “By
the way, Your Highness, I forgot to ask earlier. Just who is that outside the door? How
did I piss him off, to have such rude words come out of his mouth?”
To be asked about only at the end and in such an offhanded manner, if Qi Rong heard,
he’d no doubt suffer heartburns again. It really was rude, Xie Lian thought as he packed
up Ruoye and Fang Xin leaning against the corner, “Didn’t he already announce his own
title?”
“What, that really was the Green Ghost?” Shi Qingxuan was surprised, “A face with that
attitude? You really gotta see things for yourself indeed!”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and briefly gave an account of things, reminding him to
keep things a secret, especially to Lang Qianqiu. Between their exchange, Ming Yi also
finished drawing the Distance Shortening array. The one Nan Feng drew the last time
was crude and rough and it took him a long time. Ming Yi was the complete opposite;
his hands were swift and precise, completing the drawing with but one line, and the
circle he drew was cleaner and more accurate than if one was to use a ruler. The
characters were also neat and orderly like they were pressed prints, and Xie Lian
couldn’t help but gape in awe secretly.
With the array finished, Ming Yi said, “Let’s go.” Shi Qingxuan sucked in a breath and
blew gently, extinguishing the candlelight.
Hua Cheng took the lead and was the first to push the door. The little door creaked
open, and it was pitch black outside, as if the door was connected to an old house that’s
been abandoned for many years, the air was thick with mold and dust.
Following behind Hua Cheng was Xie Lian, softly thanking the Hua Cheng who took the
initiative to open the door as he crossed through, then Shi Qingxuan, and the last one
was Ming Yi. Once he crossed over, he closed the door behind him.
The moment that door was shut, within the darkness came a voice from behind the
door, gloomy and chilling, “The place you wish to go will become the nightmare you
wish to never remember!”
The instant Xie Lian heard the voice his foot kicked out.
That door instantly collapsed from his kick, yet once that array was used it’d lose its
effect, and behind the door was no longer Puqi shrine but a pile of trash. That intense
action roused thick clouds of dust, and Xie Lian coughed, a little glad that he didn’t
break the door Hua Cheng made, and said with his sleeve covering his face, “Was that
the Reverend of Empty Words?”
Shi Qingxuan was gripping his whisk and his Wind Master fan tightly and replied,
“That’s its voice! Has… has it been following me?”
Xie Lian waved away the dusty air and negated, “No. There were only three heavenly
officials and one ghost king earlier, if something was following you, how would we not
know? Clearly it’d only just come.”
Ming Yi said too, “Calm down.”
Shi Qingxuan exclaimed, “I’m calm. I’m very calm. I’ve been calming!”
Hua Cheng however, stood ahead and said leisurely, “Calm is good. But there’s
definitely something going on. Does anyone know where we are?”
Xie Lian looked around and wondered too, “Weren’t we going to the nicest restaurant in
the imperial capital?”
No matter how he looked, this old abandoned house looked nothing like that restaurant
Shi Qingxuan spoke of. The four of them explored around and found the entrance but it
was locked by giant locks! Xie Lian kicked again and the locks broke, opening the
doors. Once the doors opened, what appeared before the four were neither hellish fires
nor mysterious landscapes of evil. It was a perfectly normal, indistinct little town.
Hua Cheng raised his brows, “The imperial capital shouldn’t look like this.”
Xie Lian agreed wholeheartedly. The aura of an imperial capital could not be compared
to such a small town, and he turned around, “Lord Earth Master, did you make a
mistake in your array?”
Ming Yi however, said, “I didn’t make any mistakes. The original destination wasn’t
here.”
Xie Lian immediately understood. This meant that creature had meddled. They were
sent by it to this place.
———–
Ch.106: Three Gods One Ghost; Reverend Nowhere in Sight 2
“It dodged in to tamper with the array the moment we left Puqi Shrine?” Shi Qingxuan
said, but immediately debunked his own theory, “No! It can’t have.”
Xie Lian said too, “That’s impossible. We had already pushed the door open earlier, so
even if it snuck in to meddle with things we should’ve still arrived at our original
destination because the spell of the array was already initiated, so changing it wouldn’t
have done anything. So, it only had a split second time to do anything.”
Which meant it was the brief moment after Ming Yi finished drawing the array, Shi
Qingxuan blew out the candles, and the entire Puqi Shrine fell into complete darkness.
However, that contradicted Xie Lian’s own theory earlier. Shi Qingxuan said, “But earlier
in the shrine there were clearly only the four of us.”
In the tiny Puqi shrine, there were three heavenly officials and one ghost king; if there
was anything extra would they not notice? And if it was someone amongst them
meddling in the darkness, who’s the one who was more likely to do it?
Shi Qingxuan couldn’t help but steal a glance at Hua Cheng. Although he stopped
himself immediately, Hua Cheng didn’t miss that glimpse and smiled, “What’s with that
look? In my opinion, don’t you think Lord Earth Master is the most suspicious one?”
Ming Yi’s eyes also swept over. Hua Cheng added, “Instead of focusing on guessing
who meddled after, what if the array he drew was wrong from the beginning?”
Ming Yi didn’t rebuke, acknowledging nothing. Shi Qingxuan however, couldn’t listen
anymore, “Lord Hua, you stop right there, alright. I know the two of you have had a
quarrel before in the past, but, Ming-xiong really isn’t someone like that. I dragged him
out here last minute, so he has no reason to meddle.”
“You don’t necessarily need a reason to do something.” Hua Cheng said, “Lord Wind
Master, you yourself are suspicious too.”
“Huh?” Shi Qingxuan had never thought the tables would turn on him, and pointed at
himself, “Who? ME?!”
“Yea. A thief crying thief is a common thing.” Hua Cheng said, “Just why have you
come? If you and your esteemed brother are truly scared of the Reverend of Empty
Words, why were those bunches of rags put together? It’s not a stretch to say that the
two of you schemed and falsely led us here intentionally.”
Just by looking at his expression one could tell that he was cheekily gabbing nonsense,
but he looked so confident, so much so that almost anyone would start doubting too. Shi
Qingxuan was almost shaken, “Am… am I that nonsensical?”
Hua Cheng chuckled, “Same logic. I’m not that nonsensical either.”
However anyone hit him, he’d hit right back the same way. Xie Lian was still musing and
waved his hand, “Alright, everyone stop. Nothing’s been solved yet and we’ve already
started doubting our own people.”
Hua Cheng laughed out loud and stopped talking. However, his attitude was more than
clear: he wouldn’t help and he wouldn’t cause trouble; he was purely there for fun.
There was no need to expect anything from him, and there wasn’t any need to guard
against him either. After humming for a moment, Xie Lian said, “Actually, there’s another
possibility, which is after Lord Earth Master had drawn the array inside the shrine, there
was already someone else outside drawing a stronger array on the door.”
At the time, in order for Qi Rong who was outside the door not to hear, Shi Qingxuan
casted a soundproof spell, sealing Puqi shrine. Relatively speaking, if anything was
tampered with on the outside, it wouldn’t be easily detected from the inside. Two spells
of the same calibre colliding, the more powerful one would win. This ‘power’ didn’t just
depend on whether if the caster was stronger, it also depended on the material. At the
time, Ming Yi used the aged cinnabar Xie Lian picked up while collecting junk that even
other scrappers rejected. If someone had used fresh blood to ‘suppress the array’, of
course it’d be stronger by a notch.
Shi Qingxuan immediately accepted that possibility. “Outside the shrine? Could it be the
Green Ghost? Can he even do anything in that state?”
“I don’t think so…” Xie Lian said.
Hua Cheng said flatly, “He can’t even dream of moving in the next seven days. But, it
wasn’t just him outside the shrine.”
He seemed to be implying something. Xie Lian said, “In any case, let’s not panic first
and hurt our own trust in each other.”
After walking a few steps he added, “But that monster’s words were really strange. Why
did it say that this place will become Lord Wind Master’s “nightmare you wish to never
remember”? Are we going to run into anything here?”
Looking around, Shi Qingxuan’s frowned slightly, “…Wait. Is this…”
He hadn’t even finished when suddenly Ming Yi’s eyes grew sharp, his hand flashing
out and chopped right for the back of Shi Qingxuan’s head. Xie Lian shouted, “LORD
WIND MASTER WATCH YOUR BACK!”
PANG! Ming Yi’s hand chop cracked a large rectangular object into two. That object
came plunging down from above and was going straight for Shi Qingxuan’s head. He
leapt a few feet away, patting his heart, “That was close!” Then he looked down and his
pupils shrank. Xie Lian approached to take a look and was also stunned. That object
was an establishment plaque, blue based and golden letters with the giant words
“Temple of Wind and Water”.
To split the establishment plaque of the palace of a heavenly official into two was a huge
taboo. Ming Yi dropped his hand, his expression icy. Shi Qingxuan was stunned for a
moment but immediately waved his sleeve, sweeping away the broken pieces of that
plaque, speaking in a small voice, “Keep this a secret. No one say anything! Don’t
anyone speak of this. If my brother knew his plaque was cracked he’d go mad angry!”
Xie Lian turned around, speaking in disbelief, “This… is a Temple of Wind and Water?”
Indeed, the broken down house they ended up in was a Temple of Wind and Water.
The Water Master was the God of Wealth; no one detested money and the temples that
worshipped him were always abundant in donations. To see it desecrated was
practically as impossible as seeing a bundle of cash thrown out onto the streets,
exposed to the elements without anyone picking it up. Shi Qingxuan rushed back into
the hall anew, and the interior of the temple was full of cobwebs and layers of dust,
desolate from neglect. He rummaged around and finally pulled out two pitiful divine
statues from a pile of rubbish.
The divine statue of the Lady Wind Master was missing a leg and an arm, and the
divine statue of the Lord Water Master was straight up decapitated. Those damages
didn’t look like they were from decay through the years either, but rather that someone
had used something sharp to smash them, as if they were venting infinite hatred onto
the statues. Those two divine statues were extremely realistic too, almost as if alive, so
to see them lie on the ground with curved smiles on their faces in this state of
unbearable abuse within this chilling temple was exceedingly uncomfortable.
Shi Qingxuan held a divine statue in each of his arms and wondered, “What is this
hate? What is this grudge?”
Even if Xie Lian felt this was a sight filled with malevolence, in order to steady Shi
Qingxuan’s mind, he replied gently, “Lord Wind Master, steady yourself. As long as
there are those who worship, there will be those who desecrate. It’s a common sight in
the world, no need to pay it any mind. This must be intentionally set up by that creature
for the very purpose of fanning fear in your heart and absorb spiritual power from you.”
Ming Yi however, was succinct in his words, “You good or not? If not, leave.”
Shi Qingxuan wiped away the grime on the faces of those divine statues, gritted his
teeth and gripped his Wind Master fan then rose to his feet abruptly, “I’M GOOD! Now I
have to see just what that creature’s made out of!”
The four exited that rundown Temple of Wind and Water and walked around that little
town. It was a very quiet town, peaceful, not bustling but not behind the times either,
nothing out of the ordinary. Rather, the most bizarre was them. To be thrown into a
crowd of mortals, their appearances, look and style were all overly conspicuous. Thus,
soon after, they ducked into a small alley and changed their attire.
Xie Lian was already dressed plainly so he didn’t need to change, but the other three all
changed completely from head to toe. On the side, Shi Qingxuan was having opinions
on Ming Yi’s new get up. Over here, Hua Cheng had changed into a set of refreshing
black robes, his long hair neatly tied up with a white jade accessory, losing some
sluggishness and instead giving him an air of youthful energy, looking like an
extraordinarily handsome, talented and clever young disciple of some renown house.
He was still extremely conspicuous; an emperor really couldn’t look like a beggar even if
you force him to dress like one. Looking at him, Xie Lian couldn’t help but remember the
saying: “For men to look handsome they must dress in all black”, and he said to himself
that really was true. Coming to, he looked over to Lords Wind and Earth Masters and
remembered something, and he whispered, “San Lang, there’s something I’ve been
meaning to ask you.”
Hua Cheng fixed his sleeves and said, “What is it?”
Xie Lian clenched a hand into a fist and pressed it against his lips, clearing his throat
lightly, then tried to sound extremely casual, “…What’s the verbal password to your
private communication array?”
In order to communicate and pass on messages directly through a private spiritual
array, one must be able to receive the other party’s verbal password. For example, to
reach Shi Qingxuan, one must loudly recite four verses of a doggerel mentally: “Lord
Wind Master is boundlessly talented” “Lord Wind Master is funny and carefree” “Lord
Wind Master is kind and righteous” “Lord Wind Master is aged sweet sixteen”. Of
course, usually heavenly officials wouldn’t setup verbal passwords that were so painful
to say and were much more simple.
The verbal passwords of heavenly officials in the Upper Court weren’t given away so
freely, and only to those who were close. As a Supreme Ghost King, Hua Cheng was
naturally the same. The two might not have known each other for long, but their
relationship could be said to be fairly good. That they haven’t exchanged passwords yet
was a little strange. But looking back, every time there was anything, they’d meet
directly, so whether if the passwords were exchanged didn’t seem to be a big deal.
Xie Lian had never asked for the verbal password of any heavenly official because if
anything should happen he’d just call out within the spiritual communication array, and if
he needed to speak to anyone privately, he could still ask for them in the array. This was
also the first time he asked for someone’s private communication first and didn’t have
much prior experience so he was a little worried he might be too forward. Seeing that
Hua Cheng’s eyes were twinkling but didn’t move, Xie Lian felt a little awkward and
hurriedly added, “Is it inconvenient? Don’t worry if it is, don’t mind me, I was just asking
casually. Because I wanted to discuss something privately later so I was being
presumptuous. I can also try and talk to you in secret…”
Hua Cheng cut him off, “It’s not inconvenient. I’m really happy.”
Xie Lian was taken aback, “Huh?”
Hua Cheng sighed and said, “I’m really happy that gege finally asked me. Because you
never brought it up, I thought it was inconvenient for you, that you didn’t want to
exchange passwords with other people, so I never asked. Now that I’ve finally had gege
ask, how can you say it was only a “casual” request?”
Xie Lian let out a breath of relief and immediately brightened up, grabbing onto Hua
Cheng’s hand, “So we both had the same concern! It was my bad earlier, those were
the casual words, I apologize to San Lang. So, your verbal password is?”
Hua Cheng’s eyes shimmered and he leaned over slightly, “This is my verbal password,
gege, listen closely, I’m only going to say it once.” Then he whispered a phrase.
After listening, Xie Lian’s eyes widened, “…What? Is that really it? San Lang, you didn’t
make a mistake?”
Hua Cheng looked at ease and replied, “Yes, that’s it. If gege doesn’t believe me why
not give it a go?”
Xie Lian didn’t dare. “Then… then doesn’t that mean every time someone tries to reach
you they have to recite that phrase three times mentally? W… Wouldn’t that be very
embarrassing?”
Hua Cheng snickered, “It’s because I don’t want anyone to reach me that I purposely
set the password to that phrase. Let them know to back off. But, if it’s gege who’s trying
to reach me, I’m always free.”
Xie Lian was feeling a little incredulous and thought, ‘That’s really mean…’
He hesitated, wanting to initiate the private communication array, but just couldn’t recite
those words no matter what. Even mentally it was difficult. Seeing Xie Lian cover half of
his face with his hand, turning his head away but still couldn’t make up his mind, Hua
Cheng finally had enough fun and said, “Alright. Fine. If gege daren’t recite it, then I’ll be
the one to reach you. What’s your verbal password?”
Xie Lian turned his head back around and said, “Just recite the Ethics Sutra a thousand
times.”
“…”
Hua Cheng cocked an eyebrow. A moment later, Xie Lian heard his voice next to his
ear, “It’s the phrase ‘Just recite the Ethics Sutra a thousand times’, right?”
The two were clearly standing facing each other but their lips were closed unspeaking,
communicating with their eyes, whispering secrets to one another using a voice others
couldn’t hear, having a good time. Xie Lian replied using the private communication
array too, “That’s right. I can’t believe you weren’t fooled.”
Hua Cheng blinked and continued to reply, “Hahahaha, I was almost fooled. It’s too
good.”
Xie Lian blinked too, his merry apparent.
It must be known that this verbal password was something Xie Lian came up with very
seriously eight hundred years ago. He himself thought it was fun so he employed it after
he ascended. Only, not too many other heavenly officials thought it was amusing, and
even after they were fooled they were more speechless than entertained. Mu Qing told
him directly “Your Highness your idea is terrible, forgive me if I can’t laugh”, and
although Feng Xin laughed to the point of rolling on the ground screaming himself
hoarse, he was a person who laughed at almost anything for no reason, so him
laughing didn’t make Xie Lian feel any bit accomplished. Since now Hua Cheng laughed
too, maybe that meant it really was somewhat amusing.
The original plan was to go to the best restaurant in the imperial capital to drink, but
since they didn’t make it to the imperial capital, it made no difference where they drank,
so the group went and reserved a room at the biggest restaurant in town, sitting around
bored and spiritless. When the waiter brought their drinks, Xie Lian inquired, “May I ask
just where this place is?”
Although it was a strange question, it was still the most direct and effective way. That
waiter was amazed, “Did the honoured guests not come because of our reputation?
This is the town of Fu Gu.”
“Reputation? What reputation?”
That waiter gave a thumbs up, “Our town’s Fire Social! It’s really famous around here.
Every year around this time there are quite a number of outsiders who’d come to watch
the spectacles.”
Shi Qingxuan was curious, “What’s a Fire Social?”
Xie Lian answered, “Celebratory festivities during folk holidays. There will be some
busking, some local plays, etc. It’s worth watching.” It was similar to the ShangYuan
Heavenly Ceremonial Procession of Xianle back in the days. However, the Heavenly
Ceremonial Processions were sponsored by the monarch, hosted by the authorities, but
Fire Socials were festivities of the commoners. Shi Qingxuan commented, “But it’s not a
holiday today? At most, it’s only the end of Autumn tomorrow.”
“It doesn’t have to be a holiday,” Xie Lian explained, “Sometimes it’s for remembering
someone, and the folks pick a special day to celebrate, have some fun.”
Just then, there was a huge commotion down the main streets below the restaurant,
and someone was shouting, “MOVE, MOVE! CHILDREN AND WOMEN DON’T STAND
AROUND! BACK AWAY, THE TROUPE IS COMING!”
The four looked below. And what a look! Xie Lian’s eyes immediately widened. There
was a long procession parading down the maint street, and in that procession, everyone
was covered in heavy layers of bright, vivid makeup, dressed in strange and bizarre
outfits, and also, a weapon embedded on each of their heads.
Those sharp or dull axes, butcher knives, iron tongs, scissors, were all deeply buried in
their skulls, piercing their brains, and some even had eyeballs squeezed out, hanging
on the cheek dripping with blood. Some were stabbed from the forehead and pierced
through the back of their heads, exceedingly gorey. Each of the person parading all had
tightly knitted brows, their expressions full of agony, their faces covered in blood. Yet,
they continued to trumpet and play music, marching forward slowly, like a procession of
ghostly spirits.
————
Ch.107: Gods and Ghost Hear the Tale of the Blood-Soaked Fire Social
Xie Lian immediately rose to this feet. Shi Qingxuan, too, stomped a foot down on the
table, rolling up his sleeves as if ready to charge right down. Xie Lian hastily held him
back and said, “It’s nothing, don’t worry, Lord Wind Master, please calm down.”
“IS IT NOTHING EVEN WITH EYEBALLS SQUEEZED OUT???” Shi Qingxuan was
alarmed.
“It’s nothing.” Xie Lian reiterated. “What a rare chance that we can witness a Bloody Fire
Social here!”
Shi Qingxuan immediately dropped the leg that was on the table and asked, “Bloody
Fire Social? What’s that?”
The two sat down anew and Xie Lian explained, “Different regions have different kinds
of Fire Socials, and the Bloody Fire Social belongs to a special type, extremely rare. I’ve
only heard about it too, I’ve never seen it before. Since their performances are
gruesome and freakish, and their makeup artistry is an untold secret that isn’t passed
down, there’s less and less of them.”
Shi Qingxuan was stunned, “Makeup artistry? That’s all fake? Th-th-th… That’s just too
real, and here I thought it was something transformed by evil!”
His words weren’t exaggerated, and Xie Lian sighed in awe too, “There are many
extraordinarily talented people in the world.”
Watching those performers in the parade, not only did they have weapons “deeply
embedded” in their skulls, some also had exposed innards, missing limbs, crawling on
the ground, crying and howling; there were a few carrying a large wooden stack, a
woman hung on one of the beams, a rope wrapped around her neck as if she was hung
to death; and then came two who were dragging the two legs of a woman, and that
woman herself had clothes all ripped into rags, her face down dragged along the road
the entire way leaving long trails of blood. This was truly a very real sight of hell. Even
though it was clearly a performance done by humans, it was more horrifying than the
ghosts of Ghost City. In comparison, Ghost City was almost like a bustling human
market. Just how was all the makeup done? Even if Xie Lian had heard of this tradition,
at first glance he’d also almost thought it was the coming of ghosts.
There were quite a few women and children who tried to squeeze in the front of crowd
to spectate out of curiosity, but screamed from fright after having actually seen and
backed away. Shi Qingxuan commented, “Your Highness, didn’t you say that the point
of FIre Socials was to celebrate? Who celebrates like this? People are running scared,
and those little girls are going to have nightmares. Do people really feel happy watching
these kinds of performances?”
It really was hard to tell whether if people would feel happy after watching such
performances. However, in truth, slaughter and the sight of blood did create excitement
in people. Whether or not there was fear, after the initial shock was over, a rush of
adrenaline would be produced in many’s heart. There seemed to be a slang for Bloody
Fire Socials such as this called “Stabbing Ecstacy”, and Xie Lian figured it meant: once
a person was stabbed violently to death, the heart would be filled with ecstasy.
There’s a thirst for ‘slaughter’ deep in the hearts of people.
Of course, Xie Lian didn’t say that much on the subject and only watched intently for a
while. In that impressive parading troupe, there was a pale-faced man dressed in black,
his form tall but skinny as a twig, his hand gripped a weapon, and he was striking
towards the head of one of the lavishly dressed performer. That knife instantly
penetrated through the other’s skull, and he took out a long spear right after, hoisting
the other up and hung the other in the air, cruel and gruesome, as if it was a real murder
happening right there, and the crowd screamed in waves of horror though some also
cheered.
“I’m guessing they’re enacting a tale.” Xie Lian said, “That black clad man should be the
protagonist and the people he killed should be the antagonists, the villains. This entire
story is expressing the defeat of evil and the proclamation of good.”
Having said that, something clicked in Xie Lian’s mind and he said, “Lord Wind Master,
watch closely.”
“I am watching.” Shi Qingxuan said.
“No, I’m telling you to watch for the story.” Xie Lian explained, “Watch for the characters
they’re performing, and the kind of story this is. There must be a reason why that
Reverend of Empty Words brought you here, and picked today of all days. Maybe it was
so you’d watch this Bloody Fire Social.”
That black clad man had a deep frown, looking to be in severe agony, ‘butchering’
hundreds of ‘villains’ in the troupe by himself, and he himself was also pierced by all
sorts of weapons all over his body. At the end, he carried a number of mangled
‘corpses’ with white bandages around their throats and lowered his head, unmoving. It
was an ending where all perished together. As one troupe went past, another troupe
followed and continued to perform, and the parade cycled around thus.
“Have you all figured out what the story was about?” Xie Lian asked.
Shi Qingxuan knitted his brows and said, “No. I don’t think I understand. He’s doing
nothing but killing people.”
Next to Xie Lian, Hua Cheng said lazily, “Seems it’s not a widely known story. Ask a
local and see if it’s someone of renown from around here.”
Coincidentally, that waiter came by again to bring their orders and inquired, “Honoured
guests, how’s the show? Is it exciting?”
“It’s good. Very exciting.” Xie Lian responded, “May I ask, who is the character this
town’s Bloody Fire Social is enacting?”
Sure enough, that waiter said, “Oh, outsiders usually don’t know and always had to ask.
The Fire Social of our town Fu Gu enacts the story of a legendary character. This was
passed down through word of mouth, but many centuries ago, there was a scholar here
named He.”
“This He Sheng, although his family was very, very poor, he was quite the man of
talents. He was scarily intelligent since his youth, and picked things up fast and precise.
He was also known everywhere as a good son; there’s really nothing bad to say about
the guy. Unfortunately for him, he’s just very unlucky, and nothing good ever lasts.”
“He studied hard and took national exams, and even though he clearly did well, the best
of them all, because he didn’t pay up a greeting gift to the examiner, he offended the
officials and they hid his test scrolls, exchanging them for blank ones, and for years he
couldn’t land a rank. He got engaged, his fiancee was a childhood friend, beautiful like
flowers, kind and compassionate, but both his wife and little sister were kidnapped by a
wealthy household who turned them into bed attendants; one wouldn’t obey and was
beaten to death, the other couldn’t bear the shame and committed suicide. He went to
quarrel but the other turned around and accused him of committing adultery instead. He
was locked up in jail and almost died from starvation. His old ma and pa of seventy
years begged for mercy for him, kowtowed their heads an entire night, but no use. He
was jailed for two years before he was released. His mom had no one to take care of
her and was long dead from illness, and his dad had to labour for the family by himself
and had only but a breath left. He couldn’t study anymore and got into business, but
because he was too good at it, the other merchants ganged up on him to suppress him.
All the money he made was cleaned away and instead he owed an entire string of
debt.”
“…”
“So what do y’all think?” That waiter sighed, “How can anyone be so unlucky?”
Xie Lian cleared his throat quietly and said earnestly, “Yea.”
How can anyone be so unlucky other than him!
After having lamented, that waiter’s face changed, looking cheery and alive, “And then
that man went crazy, going completely mad. One night, the day before the last day of
Autumn just like today, he took up a bunch of weapons and butchered everyone who
hurt him! It was a bloody sight, flesh and gore flying all over, extremely satisfying! Since
all those he killed bullied all the people in town for ages, everyone cheered for him. So
that’s why, every year on the day before the last day of Autumn, the town would
commemorate him with a Bloody Fire Social, pray Lord He Sheng would watch over us
and kill all the villains.”
Although it was supposed to be the defeat of evil and the proclamation of good, it
seemed like neither ended well. That waiter went away and Xie Lian saw Shi Qingxuan
had on a face of contemplation so he asked, “Lord Wind Master, do you have any
thoughts?”
Shi Qingxuan snapped out of it and said, “I’m having some baffling thoughts, but… it’s
too confusing so I can’t put my finger on it. What about you, Your Highness?”
“I’m thinking, could the Reverend of Empty Words be this He Sheng in its past life?”
In between their exchanges the next troupe had started performing the same story
again and Shi Qingxuan looked over, “His past life?”
“That’s right.” Xie Lian said, “Monsters that are similar to humans are usually born from
the extreme grudge or obsession of some person. For example, I hear there’s a
monster in Dongying called ‘The Bridge Princess”, and it was formed by the grudge of
women. They say it was from the grief of women who waited for husbands that never
returned, and others say it was the madness of jealousy. If, the Reverend of Empty
Words came from the misfortune of someone, it’s not impossible to say it was formed by
that person’s jealousy of another’s fortune or the hatred of his fate?”
“Check for landmarks. Match the timeline.” Ming Yi said.
“Right. This needs to be verified.” Xie Lian said.
To find out if this theory stood, they must investigate how many hundreds of years ago
this “He Sheng” character appeared. If his appearance was later than the earliest record
of the Reverend of Empty Words than this theory would not hold. Shi Qingxuan nodded,
pondered, but still said, “And another thing…”
Just then, a booming voice suddenly came from below, laughing heartily, “JUST WAIT!
YOUR CLOSEST FAMILY, YOUR BESTEST FRIEND, THEY WILL ALL DIE
TRAGICALLY BECAUSE OF YOU!”
Hearing this, Shi Qingxuan’s face immediately changed. He slapped down on the table
with his left hand and leapt down the restaurant, light as a feather.
That voice had come from the parading troupes!
Xie Lian yelled from atop the building, “LORD WIND MASTER! COME BACK!”
Shi Qingxuan landed in that crowd of bloody, live dead people and raged, “COME THE
HELL OUT! COME OUT!!!”
However, those performers all bore wooden expressions; no one cared for him, and
they continued to march like they were in a dream state. Shi Qingxuan was getting
pushed around all over by the flowing crowd, and couldn’t figure out just who looked
fishier; this one looked suspicious, and he’d whip out his Wind Master fan to knock at
them, but then another over there would look more suspicious. If he hit wrong, then it’d
be a life on his hands. Hua Cheng pushed the veggies he hadn’t touched on his plate
into a smiley face, never having looked up once, “It’s useless. It’s too easy for a
thousand-year old monster to hide its foxtails.”
Amidst such a freakish parade, it was too easy for anything unhuman to infiltrate.
Besides, the Venerables of Empty Words already took on the forms of humans,
nevermind the Reverend who was the strongest among them all?
A moment later, Ming Yi jumped down too and pulled Shi Qingxuan out. The group of
them left the main street, walking towards that Temple of Wind and Water. Shi
Qingxuan’s hand that gripped his Wind Master fan was still trembling, but rather than
from fear like earlier, it was more from anger. A small pot of wine from the restaurant
hung from his hand, and after walking for a while, he took a long drink from the pot
before the seething redness of his eyes faded away. “Ming-xiong, maybe you shouldn’t
be my best friend for the time being. Wait til I’ve killed that thing first!”
Ming Yi however, instantly said without holding back, “Who’s that. I’ve never been.”
“…” Shi Qingxuan was outraged, “MING-XIONG THAT’S TOO MUCH. CAN YOU NOT
TURN YOUR BACK ON PEOPLE SO FAST WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH???”
The two of them were bickering and noisy, and Xie LIan shook his head, bringing out
two little objects from his sleeve, “Here, Lord Wind Master I think you best use these
after all.”
Shi Qingxuan took the objects, “Ear plugs?”
Xie Lian nodded, “The idea might be a little dumb and it doesn’t help the root problem,
but it still works for the time being. As long as you can’t hear, that creature can’t do
anything to you. I casted an array, the verbal password is “By Heaven Official’s
Blessings, No Paths are Bound”. Let’s just talk in the array if we need to talk to you.”
Shi Qingxuan plugged his ears and sure enough, he could hear nothing after, and the
four entered the array one after the other. Just then, Xie Lian suddenly heard Hua
Cheng’s voice floating next to his ears, “Gege, gege.”
Xie Lian looked over and saw Hua Cheng was blinking at him. His lips weren’t moving
but his voice was still resounding next to his ears, “Didn’t you say you wanted to talk to
me? You won’t come to me, so I’m reaching out to you.”
Xie Lian smiled and replied, “Well, you’re the one who set your password to something
like that.”
“Fine, fine. My bad.” Hua Cheng said.
Shi Qingxuan adjusted the ear plugs and saw the two of them were looking at each
other smiling without saying a word, and asked in the communication array, puzzled,
“Your Highness, Crimson Rain Sought Flower, what are the two of you doing? Did you
exchange verbal passwords? And now you’re exchanging secrets?”
Xie Lian cleared his throat and said in the communication array with a serious voice,
“Nothing of the sort.”
Hua Cheng raised his brows slightly and passed another message, “You liar.”
Xie Lian’s slipped in his step.
Looking only straight ahead as he walked pretending to be serious, he replied, “San
Lang, stop teasing me… I need your help with something.”
The two of them walked side by side, not looking at each other, and Hua Cheng asked,
“What is it?”
Xie Lian replied, “Work with me to test and see if someone is the Reverend of Empty
Words.”
————-
Ch.108: In the Temple of Wind and Water; Night Chatter to Discern Truth
Hearing this, Hua Cheng turned his head and his eyes fell on the Shi Qingxuan and
Ming Yi who were strangling each other behind them, and he signaled, “Him?”
Xie Lian nodded.
“How do you want to test it?” Hua Cheng asked.
“Many years ago I went up against two Venerables of Empty Words, and even had one
cling on to me for over half a year.” Xie Lian replied, “During those times, I’ve tried to
trap their words and discovered one of their unique traits. They themselves didn’t realize
they have such a trait, so with just a little push, they’ll be easily identified.” Xie Lian then
passed on the secret. Once Hua Cheng heard, he said, “That’s easy. Let’s do it this
way.”
The two finished their discussion and coincidentally they arrived back at that broken
Temple of Wind and Water. It was slightly chilly in the autumn air, the skies were
dimmed. Shi Qingxuan searched all over for the head of his brother’s divine statue and
glued it back on, righting the two statues, and placed them in their proper place on the
altar anew. Xie Lian started a small fire inside the temple using rotten logs he picked up
from around, and the four sat around the fire.
Shi Qingxuan had his ears plugged and petulantly drank a few swigs but finally couldn’t
sit still anymore, “We can’t possibly just sit around to wait for that thing? Is there
anything we can do for entertainment?”
He brought it up first and it was just as Xie Lian had wanted. Ming Yi poked at the fire
and said, “You can still think of entertainment at a time like this?”
Shi Qingxuan spat, “It’s necessary! That thing wants me scared? This ancestor ain’t
scared! This Wind Master will play as happily as he will, happier than ever before. It’ll be
like new years! I hope it dies from anger.”
In the communication array, Xie Lian suggested, “How about let’s roll some dice?”
Shi Qingxuan pulled a long face, “Dice again? Betting over big and small rolls again?
Your Highness are you perhaps addicted?”
“What? No…” Xie Lian said.
“Nevermind. There’s nothing else around anyway. Dice it is. But there’s four of us here,
won’t things get a little confusing?”
“It won’t. Here.” Xie Lian said.
He opened his palm and revealed two crafty little dice. Xie Lian explained, “The four of
us can form two teams. San Lang and I will be one team, my lords can be another team,
and we’ll compete to see who has the better luck. Two dice. Each team gets one turn,
each person rolls once, and add up the rolls of that turn. If the roll is big, that team wins,
and can ask any question of the losing team that they must answer, or have them do
something.”
“I have a question.” Shi Qingxuan said.
“Please ask.” Xie Lian replied,
Shi Qingxuan tapped his foot, “Why are the two of you so naturally a team? Did you
take our feelings into consideration when you divided the teams?”
Xie Lian cleared his throat softly, “Um, well, if you want to switch up the teams that’s fine
too. It makes no difference.”
Shi Qingxuan stuffed his whisk into the back collar of his outer robe and said,
“Whatever. I don’t have any complaints about it anyway, but Crimson Rain Sought
Flower has such good luck, wouldn’t we be at a disadvantage?”
Xie Lian smiled cheerfully at him, “That’s not entirely true. Our team’s San Lang might
be extremely lucky, but my luck is extremely bad. With the two combined, one good one
bad, don’t we cancel each other out?”
Shi Qingxuan gave it a thought and it did make sense, so he smacked his thigh and
shouted, “GOOD! Then let’s have at it!” Then he elbowed Ming Yi, “Ming-xiong, did you
hear the rules? Don’t drag me down, alright?”
Ming Yi gave him a look, and within the spiritual communication array came his cold
voice, “Forgive me but I’m not playing.”
Shi Qingxuan hastily dragged him back, “It-It-It’s ok if you drag me down too!
Nevermind, nevermind, come come come! Just play. Otherwise it’s too sad for me to be
in a team all by myself!”
Thus, the four swore to a simple oath of following the rules and started playing. The first
round, Shi Qingxuan rolled out a ‘five’, Ming Yi rolled out a ‘four’; Hua Cheng rolled out
a ‘six’ and Xie Lian rolled out a ‘one’.
Shi Qingxuan was overjoyed, “HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOUR HIGHNESS YOUR LUCK
REALLY IS BAD, SO BAD! HAHAHAHA….”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and said gently, “Although what lord Wind Master said is
the truth, but, can you not say it with such glee?”
“Ahem! Fine. Then what, we won. This Wind Master will ask the two of you to do
something.” Shi Qingxuan said, “Then, Your Highness, Crimson Rain Sought Flower! I
order you to – to immediately strip each other’s clothing!”
Xie Lian: “???”
“Lord Wind Master???” Xie Lian was alarmed.
Ming Yi turned around looking disgusted, covering his face as if he didn’t want to see
such a repulsive sight. Shi Qingxuan cheered, “Come come come, don’t be a sore loser.
An esteemed heavenly official and an esteemed ghost king, you won’t bail, right? I’m
sitting in place, now, please start your show.”
“…”
Xie Lian looked to Hua Cheng, and Hua Cheng flipped open his arms, mouthing the
words “Gege, it’s not my fault.”
Feeling helpless, Xie Lian could only ask, “How much do we strip?”
Shi Qingxuan was only playing around and would of course not make them look bad, so
he laughed with his legs shaking, “Just one layer is fine. Keep a few on for later,
hehehehehe.”
He actually wanted to continue… Xie Lian hesitated and secretly passed his voice, “San
Lang…”
Hua Cheng’s face showed no ripple of reaction but the voice next to Xie Lian’s ears was
comforting him earnestly, “Don’t worry. Didn’t we agree to let them win a few rounds?
They’ll lose eventually.”
That was indeed something they agreed upon, only, Xie Lian had not expect Shi
Qingxuan would play like this, and felt like he was slapping his own face. He reluctantly
shuffled over to untie Hua Cheng’s waistband, painstakingly helping Hua Cheng out of
his black outer robe, revealing the snow white inner tunic underneath. Hua Cheng also
helped him out of his outer robe looking at ease, his hands slow and gentle, and didn’t
touch any part of Xie Lian’s body. The two of them really only removed their outer robes,
nothing extraordinary and nothing unseemly, but Xie Lian still felt extremely weirded out.
Assuming a proper sitting position, he stammered, “A… Again.”
The second round, Shi Qingxuan rolled out a ‘three’, Ming Yi a ‘six’; Hua Cheng rolled
out a ‘six’ once again, and Xie Lian still rolled a ‘one’.
Shi Qingxuan slammed his fist on the ground repeatedly, laughing out loud, and Xie
Lian looked to Hua Cheng again, the two of them still connected through the private
communication array, “…San Lang!”
This is different than what they agreed on!
Hua Cheng apologized profusely, “Sorry sorry, I forgot just now. Don’t be mad, gege. It’s
my fault this time.”
Shi Qingxuan cheered again, rolling up his sleeves, “Alright, this round, I order you to…”
Xie Lian hurriedly cut in, “Stop! Last round we did the request and stripped. This round
should be questions.”
Shi Qingxuan laughed heartily, “Ask questions? That’s fine too. Then my first question:
Crimson Rain Sought Flower, what’s the worst suffering in the world to you?”
Hua Cheng’s smile faded away and a brief silence settled in the Temple of Wind and
Water.
Shi Qingxuan added, “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean anything by it, I’m just really
curious. To make it as a ghost king like Crimson Rain Sought Flower, is there really
anything left in this world that can make you suffer? Maybe, nothing of the sort exists?”
“What do you think?” Hua Cheng asked back.
Shi Qingxuan pondered and guessed, “The City of Gu at Mount Tong’lu?”
There were indeed many who’d come with that answer when they ponder this question.
However, Hua Cheng only smiled faintly, “That’s nothing to fear.”
Shi Qingxuan was amazed, “That’s not it? Then what is it?”
Hua Cheng’s lips curled but that curve soon disappeared, “I’ll tell you what it is.”
He said softly, “To watch with your own eyes your beloved be trampled and ridiculed yet
unable to do anything. That’s the worst suffering in the world.”
Hearing this, Xie Lian’s breathing stopped and his body froze. In that rundown Temple
of Wind and Water, not a single soul spoke. Shi Qingxuan couldn’t find anything to say,
and only squeezed out after some time, “…Oh.”
Ming Yi’s face still remained cold and he poked at the fire. “Continue.”
Shi Qingxuan scratched his head and waved his hand, “I’m done. Ming-xiong, you ask
something.”
Thus, Ming Yi looked up slightly, staring at Xie Lian, “Your Highness.”
Xie Lian snapped out of it and answered, “Hm?”
Ming Yi asked, “What’s the biggest regret of your life?”
Ming Yi was usually quiet and unspeaking, but the moment he opened his mouth it was
unexpectedly a question of such weight, and Xie Lian was stunned for the moment.
Was it his unheeding of advice and warning, and selfish descent to the lesser realm?
Was it his hubris in thinking himself powerful enough to create rain for Yong’an? Was it
his wishful thinking he could save Xianle? Or was it his reluctance in killing certain
people?
He knew it was none of that.
It was a moment before Xie Lian answered, “My second ascension.”
The other three in the temple all looked at him, unspeaking. Xie Lian spaced out for a
moment, and it was a while before he snapped out of it and asked, “What is it?
Everyone, I’ve answered the question.”
Hua Cheng said quietly, “It’s nothing. Let’s continue.”
The third round, Shi Qingxuan rolled a ‘two’, Ming Yi a ‘two’; Hua Cheng rolled a ‘six’
and Xie Lian a ‘one’.
Seeing this, Xie Lian let out a big, big sigh of relief.
By heaven official’s blessings, they’ve finally won!
It was finally Shi Qingxuan’s team’s turn to be punished, but he was eager and thrilled,
as if he was afraid of nothing, “Come at me! Hit me with your best shot!”
Xie Lian smiled, “Then I will. Lord Earth Master, you first.”
He turned to Ming Yi, “My lord, please answer the questions I’m about to ask properly,
and please don’t lie.”
Ming Yi didn’t say anything and Shi Qingxuan waved his hand, “Don’t worry. Ming-xiong
is someone who doesn’t even know how to lie.”
Xie Lian grinned, “Very well. First question: Who am I?”
Shi Qingxuan was taken aback, “Your Highness, what kind of question is that? Aren’t
you, you? Who else can you be???”
Hearing this, Ming Yi slowly raised his head and looked Xie Lian in the eyes, then he
answered, “The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Xianle, Xie Lian.”
Xie Lian nodded, then asked, “The second question, who’s the one sitting next to me?”
After a pause, Ming Yi answered, “The Lord of Ghost City, Crimson Rain Sought
Flower.”
Xie Lian then asked again, “Then, the last question – who’s the one sitting next to you?”
Shi Qingxuan was becoming more and more confused, “Your Highness, what are you
two playing at? Who am I? I’m the Wind Master???”
“Lord Earth Master, please answer.” Xie Lian pressed.
This time, Ming Yi didn’t answer as fast.
After having run into the Venerables of Empty Words many times, Xie Lian discovered a
fascinating trait they possess and that was this: whenever the Venerables of Empty
Words speak, out of three sentences, at least one would be a lie.
This unique trait was akin to how a normal human being, no matter how healthy or
strong, would need to drink water in the span of three days, otherwise they’d die from
dehydration, and this nature could not be changed no matter how powerful one was.
The Distance Shortening Array was drawn by Ming Yi, the last one out the door was
also Ming Yi, so if anyone should meddle, he had the most chance. Therefore, of course
Xie Lian would suspect him. However, at the time Shi Qingxuan was obviously
distraught, so if Xie Lian voiced his suspicion, it would no doubt only make Shi
Qingxuan even more distressed, allowing for the Reverend of Empty Words to suck
more negative emotions from him, turning them into its powers. Thus, at that time, Xie
Lian immediately found another possibility. But, in reality, he had never given up on the
most straightforward possibility.
Although generally speaking the Wind Master and the Earth Master shared a very good
relationship, and it’d be impossible for the Wind Master not to notice if the Reverend of
Empty Words was pretending to be the Earth Master. However, what if the Reverend of
Empty Words really did surreptitiously possess Ming Yi?
Thus, at the beginning he wanted Hua Cheng to work with him to beat around the bush
and trap Ming Yi’s words. Hua Cheng however, suggested that since they never really
conversed, if he should be the one to trap Ming Yi’s words it’d be unnatural. Why not
use the pretense of a game and create opportunities? Let Ming Yi himself speak then
see if they could observe and find anything without the Wind Master and the Earth
Master noticing.
Yet, Ming Yi had always been a man of few words, and even in a fervent atmosphere
each of his words were precious like gold. Earlier in the duration of the game, Xie Lian
paid close attention to everything he said but it was all equivocal, nothing that could
determine whether if he was lying. In the end, he had to use the killing hand and borrow
Hua Cheng’s skill, secretly controlling the roll of dice to make Ming Yi lose intentionally.
Then with the three sudden questions, Ming Yi would have no choice but to answer on
the spot.
Because it was all a game, Shi Qingxuan hadn’t yet realized anything and thought they
were still joking around, and thus that Reverend of Empty Words couldn’t take the
chance to sneak in and suck out power. However, should Ming Yi answer wrong, he’d
show himself and Xie Lian would seize him immediately.
A creature like the Venerable of Empty Words would lie within three sentences. Now,
Xie Lian had asked two questions, and Ming Yi answered both correctly. Which meant, if
Ming Yi was the Reverend of Empty Words, he would no doubt answer the last question
with a lie.
————-
Ch.109: In the Temple of Wind and Water; Night Chatter to Discern Truth 2
If Ming Yi really wanted to fudge the test, he could very well answer ambiguously or
pretend to joke. However, he answered the first two questions simply and succinctly
without any tricks, so the last answer should also be the same, otherwise it would be out
of Ming Yi’s character which would also prove that he wasn’t normal.
Xie Lian and Ming Yi stared at each other calmly. A moment later, Ming Yi finally spoke.
He used a tone that was no different than the last two times he responded, “One of the
five elemental masters, the younger brother of the Water Master Wudu, the Wind
Master Qingxuan.”
Shi Qingxuan shook his head, “Sigh, why the hell didn’t you say “My best friend”?”
Ming Yi looked at him, “Who’s that?”
Hearing this, Xie Lian silently blew out a breath.
As aforementioned, although the Reverend of Empty Words was called ‘Reverend’, it
wasn’t a real man of cloth with any holy spirituality. As long as it remained classified as
ghosts and demons, it would never be able to escape from the unique traits of their
kind. Three sentences had been fulfilled, and all three were undoubtedly true, so it
seemed there’s nothing amiss with Ming Yi. Except unless Shi Wudu and Shi Qingxuan
were not real blood brothers, but such an unbelievably shocking turn of events shouldn’t
be possible.
Unexpectedly, before he fully exhaled, Ming Yi’s hand suddenly shot out, grabbing
straight for his throat!
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng both moved to fend off that hand at the same time, three
hands fast as lightning, so intense it made Shi Qingxuan leap to his feet,
“MING-XIONG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Ming Yi glared at Xie Lian intently, speaking with a dark voice, “You asked three
questions, but in the last round I only asked one.”
Xie Lian smiled, “Lord Earth Master, please think back on the rules carefully. I never
said you could only ask one question per round.”
“Very well.” Ming Yi said, “Then I’ll add to my question now. Who are you?”
“Didn’t you already answer this question yourself earlier?” Xie Lian asked.
Ming Yi replied, “Perhaps I answered wrong. Otherwise, will His Highness please
explain why the need to setup this game so suddenly, and why ask those three strange
questions? Lord Ghost King is skilled in the art of manipulation, but to use it on petty
entertainment seems to be overkill and unnecessary.”
Hua Cheng laughed, “Well, now. As long as I feel like it, I’ll use it however I will.”
It must be said that while Xie Lian and Hua Cheng saw Ming Yi as suspicious, Ming Yi
too thought them equally suspicious. From the moment Ming Yi suddenly struck, they
had spoken through their lips, and stopped using the communication array. Shi
Qingxuan didn’t know what they were arguing about but he didn’t dare remove his ear
plugs rashly either, so he could only say, “Stop stop stop, I order you all to stop right
now and tell me what happened. Otherwise… OTHERWISE I’M GONNA BUTT IN
TOO!” Then he flashed open his Wind Master fan. Ming Yi however, shoved him aside,
“Move! Stop adding to the trouble!”
Just then, a sudden eerie breeze blew past, and the flames of the small campfire the
four surrounded quivered with the eerie wind, dancing wildly. Silhouettes and shadows
illuminated by the flames flickered madly, such that even the two one male one female
divine statues on the altar seemed to be smiling but not, crying but not, exceedingly
creepy. Ming Yi then dragged Shi Qingxuan up and said, alarmed, “Something’s here.”
Shi Qingxuan was first shoved by him head first to the ground in a heap and now was
dragged up abruptly, he was dizzy and seeing stars, “MING-XIONG! CAN YOU
PLEASE BE NICER TO ME!!!!”
“No time.” Ming Yi said.
Xie Lian had been watching and staring at the two statues and suddenly said, “Look at
their eyes!”
The four looked over and saw on the smiling faces of those two divine statues hung four
lines of blood. From the eyes of those clay divine statues streamed tears of blood.
Divine statues that had been blessed in ceremonies and worshipped possessed certain
repelling powers against evil. Even if evil wasn’t warded off for miles, it typically still
couldn’t be defiled and abused by non humans. That Reverend of Empty Words was
certainly powerful. Shi Qingxuan was still here and it made the statue of the Wind
Master cry blood tears before the Wind Master himself. The tears of blood were growing
thicker and heavier, dripping to the ground and gathering into a twisted, complex form.
Shi Qingxuan was bewildered, “What’s that thing? Is it… drawing?”
He couldn’t make out just what shapes it was forming and he didn’t go closer, only
looking at it from different angles trying to figure it out. Soon after, Xie Lian suddenly
snapped out of it: it wasn’t a drawing, it was an upside down word!
He immediately shouted, “DON’T LOOK! IT’S WRITTEN FOR YOU!”
Ming Yi struck out a palm and BOOM! Both the traces of blood on the ground and the
two divine statues were blasted into pieces. Shi Qingxuan was eyes wide with shock,
“Ming-xiong! You… you you you, you can’t let my brother know about this, otherwise
he’ll never forgive you!”
To destroy a heavenly official’s divine statue was to be extremely disrespectful of said
heavenly official. Yet today, Ming Yi first cracked the establishment plaque into two then
blasted the statues into pieces. This was no different than bashing down someone’s
household then soundly slapping the face of said household’s old master. If this went
out and the person in question found out, they wouldn’t sit back and do nothing; who
knows if a bloody storm would rise from it.
Just then, Xie Lian inadvertently turned his head and suddenly noticed the plaque that
they broke earlier and properly set aside had characters that weren’t quite right. That
establishment plaque had a blue base and golden letters with the words “Temple of
Wind and Water”, but now the words had turned into twisted, bloody red shapes,
seemingly forming the word “Death”.
In a blink of a second, he covered Shi Qingxuan’s eyes and yelled in the communication
array, “CLOSE YOUR EYES!”
“WHAT NOW?!” Shi Qingxuan shouted back.
“Nothing. But the words on the establishment plaque of your temple have changed too.
That creature knows you can’t hear anymore so it’s changed to writing.” Xie Lian
explained.
“The hell!” Shi Qingxuan exclaimed, “Now I can’t hear anything nor see anything, am I
not both deaf and blind?!”
Xie Lian let go of his hands and said, “Don’t worry, just calm down. We’re here for you.”
Ming Yi grabbed hold of Shi Qingxuan’s back collar and dragged him aside. Shi
Qingxuan still had his eyes closed and he put his palms together as in a prayer, “So
reassuring!”
Just as the words left his mouth, there was suddenly a huge noisy commotion that came
from just outside the rundown temple. Black blurs crossed Xie Lian’s eyes and the next
moment, there was a large rowdy crowd of people howling like devils and they poured in
like blackened tide.
The crowd was truly full of bizarre strangeness, weird forms and monstrous shapes.
Some had decapitated heads, some were hanged, some had large blades piercing their
skulls, some had their abdomens cut open… all sorts. Shi Qingxuan couldn’t hear and
couldn’t see, but instinctively sensed the footsteps all around were disorderly and
chaotic, and in the ruckus he was also pushed around a couple times. He asked in the
communication array, bewildered, “What’s going on? What’s come? Why are there
suddenly so many people???”
“It’s nothing major,” Xie Lian said, “It’s the night parade of the Bloody Fire Social. Let’s
just get out of here.”
The Bloody Fire Social of some regions, other than parades in the day, sometimes there
would be further entertainment in the night. Not only did the parading performers want
to get their fill of scaring people, many common people also had the urge to do the
same, thus, they would imitate the eerie makeup of the Bloody Fire Social and use the
dark of night to come out and scare others. Unfortunately the four of them seemed to
have run into such a group of night cruisers.
This rowdy crowd of ordinary common people didn’t have the same realistic, intricate
makeup as the parading troupes, but they were nevertheless formidable due to sheer
numbers, and was quite the sight to behold. Especially with the dimmed skies, their
appearances were exceedingly ghastly. Thus, towns that had such after hours
entertainment, on the night of Bloody Fire Social, the locals would all lock up tightly,
keeping indoors. Those night cruisers had been wandering about for some time, and
when they finally saw there were people inside the broken shrine, they were quite
excited as if they spotted prey, and in an instant over fifty of them charged in,
overcrowding that small temple.
The four of them were drowned in the pandemonium; Xie Lian kept looking back but
could only see Hua Cheng who was still next to him, never more than two steps away,
and the other two were pushed more than seven to eight feet away. He shouted,
“Everyone, let’s get out!”
However, among the night cruisers, some were purely there for fun, but there were
others who were shrewd small merchants, there specifically to scam some money from
tourists who had come from afar to watch the Bloody Fire Social. They blocked them,
not letting them leave, clingy and tenacious as they cajoled, “Young masters, grant us
some rewards!”
“We worked so hard to dress up, if you had fun then grant us some rewards!”
“Yea, it ain’t easy for us either, and this is only a once a year thing!”
“If you don’t reward us watch out for the Old Ghost Master who’ll come haunt you!”
Since this whole affair had nothing to do with him, Hua Cheng only watched from the
side, not a single bit anxious, so when he heard he only laughed out loud, “Well now, I
like to see what kind of ghost dare come knocking on my door!”
Just then, as Xie Lian swept a look at the crowd, he suddenly saw at the edge a pale
faced hanged ghost who was just smiling creepily as it wrapped a rope around
someone’s neck.
Although it was riotous all around and everyone was covered in blood, their faces
askew, endlessly enacting you kill me, I kill you, you’re now dead, I’m now dead, and
oftentimes there’d be someone who’s wail and fall, hard to differentiate the real from the
fake, still Xie Lian’s instincts told him that ‘person’ wasn’t right, and he threw out his
arm. Ruoye flew out and struck that hanged ghost squarely on the head.
Sure enough, that hanged ghost wailed and turned into a wisp of black smoke, fleeing
through a small crack in the ground. No one around noticed but Xie Lian saw everything
clearly. He warned in the communication array, “Everyone be careful! Something’s here
mixed within!”
Compared to earlier, there seemed to be an added cloud of evil within the Temple of
Wind and Water; it naturally wouldn’t be the Reverend of Empty Words but some little
minions that came from who knows where. Having enacted ghosts for so long, there
would for sure be a day real ones be attracted. To have them show up right now, it really
was adding oil to fire. There really was too many people, too much chaos in the temple,
heads knocking heads, feet stepping on feet, too difficult to determine just who that
essence of evil came from. Xie Lian grabbed Hua Cheng and ran out of the Temple of
Wind and Water. He was about to ask after the others but found he didn’t have enough
powers, that his power was almost depleted and couldn’t enter the communication
array. In that moment of urgency he turned to Hua Cheng, “San Lang, lend me a bit of
spiritual power, I’ll pay you back later!”
Of course, his “I’ll pay you back later” was nonsense. He had never been able to pay
back any powers he borrowed. “Alright.” Hua Cheng said, then extended his hand to
hold Xie Lian’s. Xie Lian could faintly feel warmth passing over, and it just so happened
a few bloody individuals came running out of the temple straight for him. The last one
behind who was dropping innards as he ran, his face full of livor mortis, setting off a
faint essence of evil, and without thinking, Xie Lian raised his hand to blast a shot from
his palm.
A booming sound like that of an explosion was heard, and at the same time, a blinding
white light flashed. It was only after a good moment before Xie Lian came to.
The place where that ghost with the cut belly was mixed with the crowd had only a
mound of black ash like residue. As for the Temple of Wind and Water before them, the
entire rooftop was blown away. The rioting night cruisers in the temple were all stilled,
frozen in shock from that booming sound and that white light.
“…”
Xie Lian raised his head to look at that Temple of Wind and Water with a missing roof
then looked down at his own hand before finally slowly turning his head back around to
look at the Hua Cheng standing behind him. Hua Cheng smiled at him, “It that enough?”
“…”
“It is.” Xie Lian said, “Actually… really, just a little bit, would’ve been fine.”
“That was a little bit,” Hua Cheng said, “Do you want more? You can have as much as
you want.”
Xie Lian immediately shook his head. Before, he had also borrowed spiritual power from
Shi Qingxuan, Nan Feng, and others, and they lent very generously. However, Xie Lian
had never experienced such a feeling, as if all the blood in his veins had turned into
electricity and was charging through his body. If it’s said the powers he borrowed from
before had to be economized and saved, taking one bite at a time afraid to waste it,
then now, he felt like he could eat one full bowl and throw away ten others and it
wouldn’t be a problem.
The powers Hua Cheng passed onto him was too great, filling his entire body, to the
point where Xie Lian was almost afraid to move, scared that with just a wave of his
hand, something else next to him was going to explode. Using the temporary calm of
their surroundings, he hurriedly entered the communication array and asked, “Lord
Wind Master, where are you? I’ve left the temple but I didn’t see you.”
“Ugh, my god…” Shi Qingxuan groaned inside the communication array, “Your Highness
why did your voice suddenly turn so loud? I left the Temple of Wind and Water too.”
Xie Lian lowered a bit of the power and replied, “Sorry, I’m having some trouble
controlling it. How did you leave? Are you alright?” Shi Qingxuan had his ears plugged
and eyes closed right now.
“Pff, how else could I have left? Ming-xiong pulled me out. Thank goodness I wasn’t
trampled to death by that crowd.” Shi Qingxuan said.
Soon after, Ming Yi’s voice also sounded in the spiritual communication array. However,
his words froze the small smile that only just surfaced on Xie Lian’s face. “That’s wasn’t
me!” He said.
It wasn’t?!
Oh no! Xie Lian whipped his head around, “LORD WIND MASTER! JUST WHO WAS IT
THAT PULLED YOU AWAY?!”
———-
Ch.110: Fight the Reverend; Crown Prince Takes Wind Master’s Place
However, no more sounds came from Shi Qingxuan.
Xie Lian was feeling unsettled, “Lord Wind Master, what happened to you? Are you still
here? What’s going on? Why aren’t you saying anything???”
If he was only taken away by rowdy night cruisers who were only seeking a bit of fun, he
wouldn’t be so quiet so suddenly, so had he met harm already? But being anxious and
distraught was useless, since he didn’t even know where Wind Master was.
The crowd finally quieted down and Ming Yi was finally able to push out from the Temple
of Wind and Water. The heavenly realm had a decree to never use spiritual powers
selfishly on mortals nor appear before them at will. If mortal lives were harmed or taken,
it would be recorded and penalized. That decree certainly made things difficult for
law-abiding heavenly officials, otherwise, with just a wave of their hands, those people
would fly away like that roof. The crowd finally snapped out of it and started screaming
wildly, “IT, IT’S APPEARED! IT REALLY APPEARED!” “THE MONSTERS HAVE
COME!” And the crowd broke up and dispersed.
“Lord Earth Master!” Xie Lian asked anxiously, “How come you didn’t hold on to Lord
Wind Master earlier? Have you seen him? When was he lost?”
“There were ghosts snuck in and ambushing people in the crowd earlier.” Ming Yi
explained.
It seemed that he saw there were lives on the line and split his attention to go save
them, attacking ghosts but lost a friend.
“Let’s split up and search!” Xie Lian said, “He shouldn’t have gone far.”
Suddenly, within the communication array came Shi Qingxuan’s voice anew. He was
laughing boisterously, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA….”
This laughter came abruptly and at least there was finally something, and Xie Lian
hurriedly asked, “Lord Wind Master! What happened to you just now, why did you
suddenly stop talking? I thought something happened to you.”
“HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA HOWCANANYTHINGHAPPEN TO THIS WINDMASTER I
WASONLYTRYINGTOSCAREYOUALL HAHAHAHAHAHA MINGXIONGYOUBASTARD
HOWDARE YOUNOTGRABHOLD OFME IF I DIE
I’MDEFINITELYTURNINGINTOASUPREMETOCOME AND HAU N T Y O U u
HAHAHAHAHAH…”
“Stop your haha-ing. Say something sensible!” Ming Yi demanded.
Xie Lian already knew that the more anxious and frightened Shi Qingxuan was the more
he would hahaha. In fact, he’d even forgotten to pause between words. Xie Lian
interrupted, “You didn’t open your mouth to speak, did you? Your expression didn’t show
any obvious changes? Have you fought back?”
“I didn’t speak. My expressions didn’t change. I didn’t fight back.” Shi Qingxuan said.
Xie Lian relaxed his tone and said gently, “Very good. Lord Wind Master, listen to me.
Everything’s alright, don’t be scared. Keep up the current status quo and pretend you
didn’t notice anything. If you have something to say just tell it to us here in the
communication array secretly. Absolutely do not let that creature notice you already
know what it is. Slowly spread your spiritual aura and form a spiritual barrier to protect
your person, that way you can at least ensure you won’t trip or fall into a ditch. If any
weapons should attack you you’d be able to sense it too.”
Shi Qingxuan’s voice sounded like weeping without tears, “Oh. And then?”
Xie Lian continued, “And then take deep breaths. Just like that. Do it a couple times…
do you feel a little better?”
His tone was very soft and gentle, quite effective when it came to comforting another.
Shi Qingxuan said, “Maybe a little bit. Thanks, Your Highness.”
Xie Lian then tried probing, “Now… how do you think you would feel if you tried to open
your eyes and sneak a look at that creature pulling you?” Would he be able to hang on?
“I’ll probably die.” Shi Qingxuan said.
“…”
It seemed if Shi Qingxuan was to open his eyes, his terror would peak the moment the
eyes could see, and turn into the most delicious and delicate meal for the Reverend of
Empty Words. After that, he would probably lose all ability to fight. Besides, if the
moment he opened his eyes and that thing was also staring back at him, the esteemed
Wind Master would probably foam at the mouth on the spot and crash like a fallen star.
Xie Lian said, “Then you just keep your eyes closed.”
“After it took you out of the Temple of Wind and Water, which direction did you go?”
Ming Yi asked.
Right now what they needed the most was Shi Qingxuan’s location. Shi Qingxuan’s
eyes were closed and couldn’t see where he was going, but he should still have a
general idea of his position and use the count of his steps to determine how far away he
was.
Yet, Shi Qingxuan replied, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t even know such a thing?!”
Shi Qingxuan was outraged, “Who in their right minds would remember those things?
And didn’t I think it was you pulling me?!”
On the side, Hua Cheng was still only observing, and was already bored to the point
where he changed back into his red robes. Then he changed to black robes again. Then
to white robes. Almost every time Xie Lian looked back, he would be donning a different
appearance, and every look accompanied different hairstyles, accessories, and boots,
etc., sometimes playful, sometimes elegant, sometimes deadly, sometimes glamourous.
Xie Lian was growing dizzy from all the colours and kept looking back, unable to look
away. Yet the moment he realized what he was doing he blinked fiercely, stopping
himself from blurting out, “That outfit’s not bad” “That looks good”, and said instead,
“Stop, stop, now’s not the time to argue. With every word Lord Wind Master takes
another step, and the more he goes the harder he’d be to find.”
Shi Qingxuan moaned grievously, “I say, is it really that hard for you guys to find me? It’s
not more than fifty-sixty steps? It can’t be over a hundred, and we’re not even going that
fast!!!”
Not over a hundred steps? Ming Yi immediately charged out, disappearing at the end of
the street. Not long after, he reappeared fast as lightning before the entrance of the
Temple of Wind and Water. “Not there!”
Curses. “The Distance Shortening Array!” Xie Lian cried.
After that Reverend of Empty Words used that chaos to take the Wind Master out of the
Temple of Wind and Water, it probably casted the Distance Shortening array and sent
them both elsewhere. Otherwise, a distance within a hundred steps should’ve been
easy to find. Once that spell was used, who knows where in the world they were sent?
Searching for the Wind Master was no different than searching for a needle in a
haystack!
They couldn’t be careless in this affair, and Xie Lian immediately said, “I will go report
this to the Heavenly Court.”
However, Shi Qingxuan hastily stopped him, “Wait! Your Highness, don’t go! You
promised me to keep this a secret. My brother’s third heavenly calamity is about to
approach. The third one is huge, he can’t be perturbed right now!”
“Keep this up, I’ll make you go through a trial right now.” Ming Yi said.
Shi Qingxuan was enraged, “I said no and I mean it. How many eyes are watching my
brother? This thing definitely picked this timing intentionally, I won’t let it have its way!
Never! Even if I die and my bones rot, it’ll still have to be after my brother’s completed
his trial before I be dug out!”
A moment later Ming Yi relented, “Fine. Very good.”
Xie Lian was sharp and sensed that in his tone there was a wave of fury oppressed, and
it was an intense emotion that never surfaced before, making Xie Lian feel rather
unsettled. Unwilling for any other issues to start, he cut in, “Lord Wind Master, is that
creature still moving with you in hand?”
“Yea.” Shi Qingxuan replied, “It’s dragging my arm.”
“Is there anything notable on its body? Like a peculiar essence of evil, or a certain
scent, feel, or something?” Xie Lian asked.
“No. There’s nothing.”
“What about your surroundings? Like, is the path under your feet jagged or smooth?
Have you stepped on something or kicked something?” Xie Lian wanted to see if he
could draw a general perimeter based on surrounding environments.
“The path is very strange!” Shi Qingxuan said, “Very soft, very light, like clouds.”
“…”
Xie Lian thought, ‘You’re probably just weak in the knees from terror….’
Two out of five of Shi Qingxuan’s senses were already sealed; it was hard to scrape any
clues and they would more than likely break off from here. Although Hua Cheng had
always been next to them watching the show leisurely, but him coming had always been
only for entertainment; he had no attachments to Shi Qingxuan whatsoever and as an
entity of the ghost realm, he had no reason to help a heavenly official. Second, Xie Lian
didn’t want to trouble him and beg him for help all the time. Thus, he steadied himself
and said, “Lord Wind Master, I have a way to have you break away from that creature
immediately. But, I need your permission.”
Shi Qingxuan instantly replied, “Ok! I give you permission!”
However, Hua Cheng suddenly stopped, “The Soul Shifting Spell?”
“What?”
Xie Lian responded, “That’s right. The Soul Shifting Spell!”
The Soul Shifting Spell was exactly like as its name indicated and it was a stint to switch
souls. Using my eyes to see what you see. This spell wasn’t often used; first it brutally
burns spiritual power, second, very few were willing to give up control of their own
bodies. Hua Cheng’s expression grew serious, “Gege, prudence.”
“What’re you gonna do if it faces you?” Shi Qingxuan asked.
“I’m not scared of it so it doesn’t matter.” Xie Lian replied.
“Do it.” Ming Yi said.
Hua Cheng however, pressed again, “Gege, please reconsider.”
Suddenly, Shi Qingxuan said, “It’s stopped.”
Hearing this, Xie Lian shouted in the communication array, “No more time to hesitate!
Now!”
Shi Qingxuan gritted his teeth and said, “It’s all up to you now, Your Highness!”
“Ok!” Xie Lian said.
Just as the words left his mouth, he closed both his eyes and his body suddenly felt
feather light, light to the point it felt like he was floating into the heavens; abruptly it
became exceedingly heavy, to the point like he was going to bore into the earth. It was
after a wave of nauseating whirling before senses returned to him. He steadied his form
but his eyes were still closed. However, not a single sound could be heard from his
ears.
There was an hand grabbing hold of his arm, standing still.
Xie Lian opened his eyes in a flash, one hand removing the ear plugs and the other
flipped, seizing the Reverend of Empty Words in reverse. He smiled, “Hi there.”
Shi Qingxuan had his eyes closed for a long time, and it was pitch black all around,
thus, in the instant Xie Lian opened the eyes of his body, he couldn’t yet adjust to the
darkness and couldn’t see anything. However, what was grabbing onto him was now
something he grabbed onto. Ruoye wasn’t around so Xie Lian casted a hand locking
spell, and secured that hand like a steal cuff to prevent the other to escape using magic.
Within the communication array came Shi Qingxuan’s voice, “Your Highness! Are you
alright? Maybe it’s better if you switch back and I’ll take over myself!!!”
It seemed Shi Qingxuan had also safely switched to this body. Xie Lian had in his hand
a firm grip on that Reverend of Empty Words, and his leg shot out, kicking at it over
thirty times, “I’m fine!” Since souls were only just switched, it would need time to adjust.
Once he’s gotten used to it, his moves would become even more brutal.
“Your Highness, let me tell you the incantation for manipulating my spiritual devices, use
as much of my spiritual power as you need, don’t hold back!”
Xie Lian had no sword to wield and flashed open the Wind Master fan, “Ok!”
Shi Qingxuan then added, “I’ll tell you the spell for transforming into a woman too, I’m
stronger in my feminine form!”
Xie Lian resolutely refused, “No. That’s not necessary.”
Hua Cheng spoke up gravely, “Gege, hurry and take a look at the surroundings. Tell me
what place it is.”
“No,” Ming Yi said, “Tell us first what is fighting you right now.”
After some exchanges, Xie Lian’s eyes were gradually adjusted to the dark
environment. He squinted and looked to that black shadow before him.
Ch.101: Fight for Commendation; E’ming Battles Ruoye
That scimitar was shaking more and more uncontrollably. Xie Lian was at a loss on what
to do, and gently stroked down along the spine of the blade, “I’m sorry I’m sorry, I didn’t
see it was you, I won’t do it again.”
After stroking it a few times, E’ming squinted its eye, and the trembling finally stopped.
Xie Lian then asked, “Where’s your master?”
Suddenly, a voice came from behind, “Pay it no mind.”
Xie Lian looked back and immediately rose to his feet, surprised and delighted, “San
Lang? Why have you come?”
Behind him was a youth who approached easily with an air of playful arrogance. It was
Hua Cheng. He had tied his black hair up into a crooked ponytail again, dressed in a
white tunic, the red outer robe tied around his waist, his sleeves rolled up, revealing that
pale white but firm arms as well as the tattoo on one of them. As he walked, the little
silver bells on his boots chimed, sounding quite mellow, looking very much like a
strapping young lad of the village, yet exceedingly carefree. A piece of weed grass hung
from his lips and he smiled at Xie Lian, “Gege.”
Xie Lian had originally planned on visiting Hua Cheng to give his proper thanks after
settling the two children, but Hua Cheng himself showed up instead. Lazily, Hua Cheng
came next to him and pulled out that silver scimitar from the ground with just one hand,
looking it over, then lifted to rest it on his shoulder. “Gege is busy here, there’s no need
to trouble you to make a trip over there, so I came over myself. You also forgot this.”
There was actually a bamboo hat carried on his back, and he removed it to give it to Xie
Lian. This was forgotten at the mansion of that wealthy merchant, and Xie Lian was
slightly taken aback, then immediately said, “I completely forgot about it, thanks for
going through the trouble.”
Just as the words left his mouth, he suddenly remembered what he told Hua Cheng
after that something that had happened the night before: “I’m looking for my bamboo
hat, my bamboo hat is missing”. It was nonsense uttered out of confusion but Hua
Cheng actually went and found the bamboo hat for him, and Xie Lian felt a wave of
embarrassment, afraid that Hua Cheng was going to tease him for it. Fortunately, Hua
Cheng didn’t even mention the incident, and changed the subject with a smile. “Gege
picked up two more kids?” He said as he patted Gu Zi’s head, ruffling his hair into a
mess. Gu Zi seemed to be scared of him, rushing to hide behind Xie Lian. Xie Lian
chided, “Don’t worry, this gege is a good person.”
However, Hua Cheng said, “Nah, I’m a very bad person.” Although that’s what he said,
still he flicked his hand and a tiny silver butterfly was flipped out of his sleeve, fluttering
its little wings, flying errantly towards Gu Zi. Gu Zi’s inky little eyes were bulged, staring
at the tiny silver butterfly with eyes unmoving, and finally he reached out to try to catch it
in spite of himself.
With that, his guard against Hua Cheng was greatly dropped. Then, Hua Cheng
nonchalantly swept his eyes over Lang Ying, but his gaze was significantly different.
When he looked at Lang Ying, his eyes were cold and sharp, unkind and unfriendly.
Lang Ying lowered his head and also shrank back behind Xie Lian anxiously.
Xie Lian held the bamboo hat in hand and said, “If you’re gonna come, just come. What
are you doing cleaning Puqi Shrine?”
“It’s nothing more than some house cleaning, don’t you think everything feels so much
more refreshing now that all the trash is cleared out?”
“…” Xie Lian remembered the missing Qi Rong, and wondered did Hua Cheng actually
throw him out like he’s garbage? Just then, there was a sudden wail from behind Puqi
Shrine, “HUA CHENG YOU FUCKER GO TO HELL AND GET BOILED IN A POT OF
FRYING OIL! MURDER! HUA CHENG IS COMMITTING GHOST MURDER!!!”
Gu Zi cried, “Dad!” And his two little legs ran, rushing on out over, and Xie Lian hastily
followed too. There was a small creek behind Puqi Shrine, and it was where he usually
did laundry and washed rice. At that moment, Qi Rong was also dunked in the water, his
body bound tightly by Ruoye, desperately keeping his head above water, roaring with all
of his might, “I WON’T GET OUT, I REFUSE TO GET OUT! I WILL STAY IN THIS
BODY UNTIL IT DIES! I WON’T SURRENDER!!!”
Hua Cheng spat out that piece of weed grass, “You take yourself for some kind of a
hero? Useless trash.”
Xie Lian explained woefully, “…I captured him a few days ago on some mountain. He’s
possessing someone else and won’t come out. The man is still alive, so if we forcibly rip
out a soul, the flesh won’t survive. Honestly… does San Lang have any ideas what we
can do?”
Hua Cheng replied, “Hm? You want ideas on how to make him suffer a fate worse than
death? There’s plenty.”
That was obviously a threat. Qi Rong cussed, “THE TWO OF YOU! BROKEN POT
MATCHING A ROTTEN COVER! HEARTS OF SNAKES AND SCORPIONS!
GUrglegurglegurgle…” He hadn’t finished before he was submerged in the creek again.
Although whenever Xie Lian saw him he’d remember how his mother’s corpse was
dissolved into ashes and would be filled with anguish, still that body belonged to another
and so it must be conserved. Thus, he fished Qi Rong up from the creek and dragged
him to the front door of Puqi Shrine.
Qi Rong hadn’t eaten for a full day and night, so his stomach was shriveled from
hunger, and after having been bullied by Hua Cheng, he was full of rage but no energy.
He wolfed down the meat pies Gu Zi snuck back from that wealthy merchant’s house,
leaving not a single crumb, appearing truly wretched and pathetic. Xie Lian shook his
head and noticed that Qi Rong’s limbs were stiff, probably from some spell casted by
Hua Cheng and was petrified, so he called out, “Ruoye, return.”
Ruoye had spent days binding Qi Rong and was already feeling extremely aggrieved,
so with the call it immediately whooshed over, and wrapped itself in loops around Xie
Lian’s whole body like a white snake. Xie Lian pushed open the door and comforted it
as he did so, untying it from his person, “Alright, alright. I’ll give you a bath in a bit, don’t
feel bad. Go play on the side.”
Thus, Ruoye dragged its bandages and dejectedly floated to the side. Hua Cheng also
casually tossed E’ming, and E’ming itself assumed a dignifying pose to land and stood.
On the wall, Ruoye suddenly discovered a silver, shimmering scimitar leaning next to it,
and very carefully approached. That eye on the hilt of the scimitar E’ming also twirled
and looked over, its eye calculating. Fang Xin somberly did not move, making no show
of acknowledging anything.
Xie Lian had been spending these past days studying up on cooking and felt he might
have gained quite the insight, his heart full of confidence. Wanting to show off his skills
and host Hua Cheng properly, Xie Lian kept him for the meal, and naturally Hua Cheng
agreed to it cheerfully. When they returned from town Xie Lian had bought a bunch of
groceries, and he piled them all on the altar. Picking up the butcher knife, he chopped
and sliced, clinking and clanking the pots. That altar table could be used as a desk, a
kitchen island, and also a dining table; cutleries could be set, kids could all sit around,
truly a table of a hundred uses. Hua Cheng leaned against the wall and watched for a
bit, but finally he couldn’t watch anymore and spoke up, “Do you need help?”
Xie Lian was at the height of his fervor and dismiss him, “No need. Just Ruoye’s help is
plenty.” Then he threw out a few bundles of firewood that hadn’t yet been chopped into
kindle. PA! Like an attacking viper, that white silk bandage whipped the logs and the
chunks of wood that were thick as thighs were instantly chopped into thin sticks of
kindle.
Having shown off its skills, Ruoye arched into an exaggerated, odd form in front of
E’ming and Fang Xin, as if demonstrating its strength and beauty. The demonstration of
beauty didn’t last long before Xie Lian moved again and placed a plate on the ground
then threw over a big cabbage. Ruoye was just about to strike when suddenly, E’ming’s
eye flashed, and it flew off the ground, whirling out shimmers of silver light. Leaves of
the cabbage filled the air, and when it was about to land on the ground, it had already
been thinly and cleanly chopped into a plateful. Xie Lian squatted down to pick up the
plate and praised when he saw the cabbage, “Amazing. You cut better than Ruoye!”
Instantly Ruoye pressed itself against the wall, looking like someone backing away and
had nowhere left to run after having touched the wall. E’ming however, started twirling
its eye crazily, appearing fully cocky and content, like it had reached a state of
sainthood. Between the sabre and the bandage, Fang Xin still remained unmoved. Xie
Lian hadn’t noticed the little battle between the spiritual devices at all, and was focused
on throwing all sorts of different veggies and seasonings into the pot. He turned to ask,
“By the way, how long are you staying for this time, San Lang?”
Hua Cheng had been watching his actions the entire time and had looked like he
wanted to advise him of something at first, but in the end said nothing. He smiled,
“Depends. If there’s nothing going on over there, I’ll stick around here and play for a few
days. If I hang around, pray gege won’t mind.”
Xie Lian hastily said, “Why would I? As long as you don’t mind my place being a bit
cramped.” Chattering and blabbering, Xie Lian told Hua Cheng all about how the female
ghost was throwing blames, causing troubles the moment she arrived at the Great
Martial Hall. Of course, he refrained from mentioning how he himself was accused and
the whole business with dripping blood on Yan Zhen. Then, he remembered Jun Wu
saying Hua Cheng had planted a spy in the heavenly realm, so maybe Hua Cheng
already knew everything? Fortunately, whether or not he knew, he made no show of it,
and only looked contemplative. Xie Lian chatted, “San Lang, who do you think the father
of that fetus spirit is?”
Hua Cheng looked up and smiled faintly, “Hard to say. Maybe, that Golden Belt really
was just something she picked up off the ground.”
A vague response like this wasn’t at all like Hua Cheng’s usual style, and Xie Lian was
puzzled. But soon, a bubbling pot robbed away his focus.
After two incense time, he opened the cover to the pot.
Usually, all Qi Rong ate were offerings to Xie Lian from the village people, and although
it was nothing more than steamed buns and pickles, noodles and eggs, wild fruits or
such others, at least they were food fit for humans. The moment the pot cover opened
and the smell of its contents wafted outside Puqi shrine, he started cussing deafeningly,
“GOD FUCKING XIE LIAN! BLACK HEARTED SNOW LOTUS! YOU MIGHT AS WELL
JUST KILL ME WITH THE BLADE RIGHT NOW! SO ACTING ALL GOOD FISHING ME
OUT WAS TO MAKE ME SUFFER THIS TORTURE?! I’VE SEEN THROUGH YOU!!!”
Before opening the pot cover Xie Lian was full of confidence. Now, he started doubting
himself again. He tried his best and exerted so much effort but resulted in such a pot,
Hua Cheng was still watching on the side, whatever should he do? Was he really going
to make Hua Cheng eat something like this??? Listening to Qi Rong screaming bloody
murder, Xie Lian was becoming even more demoralized. Sensing Hua Cheng crossing
his arms about to go out, Xie Lian raised his hand to stop him, “Nevermind him.”
He sighed, filling a bowl with the thing from the pot, and said to Hua Cheng, “Don’t eat
anything from this pot. Just wait for me for a second,” Then he went out, ushering Gu Zi
and Lang Ying to go get a bucket of water, sending them away from the premises,
before squatting down with that bowl, looking pleasant and airy, “Little cousin, it’s time to
eat.”
Qi Rong was both shocked and terrified, “WHAT. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE
YOU PLANNING?! XIE LIAN I’M WARNING YOU, I’VE A LIFE IN MY HANDS, YOU
BETTER THINK THIS THROUGH! WHOEVER THE HELL CAN EAT THAT SHIT WILL
BREAK FREE FROM THE BONDAGE OF THE THREE REALMS, FLEE THE
DHARMA WHEEL, NO ONE…”
He trailed off when he saw Hua Cheng, who was inside the shrine, ladle himself a full
bowl, sitting down next to the altar table, and taking a bite, his face unchanging, steady
like the mountains. Qi Rong was shaken to the core. A thought he had never had
flashed through his mind –
As expected of a Supreme!
Xie Lian pressed the bowl against his face and said calmly, “It’s fine too if you don’t want
to eat it. If you come out.”
That was never going to happen. Qi Rong bit down his teeth tightly. However, Xie Lian
squeezed his cheeks and forced open his mouth, dumping the contents of the bowl
straight down his throat.
The next second, a sharp scream shot through to the skies above Puqi Shrine.
The bowl in Xie Lian’s hand sat empty, and Qi Rong who was on the ground bore a
twisted, scrunched up face, even his voice was hoarse like an old man wasted away,
groaning, “…I…hate…”
Seeing that even with a bowl forced down Qi Rong still refused to come out, Xie Lian
didn’t know whether if he should be glad or anguished. Although he really wanted to
force Qi Rong out as soon as possible, but since he didn’t succeed, it almost seemed
like it proved what he cooked with all his heart wasn’t that bad after all, and maybe it’s
even something worth being happy about. Turning around, he saw Hua Cheng also had
a bowl in his hand, eating leisurely, looking his way as he ate, and that bowl was almost
empty. Xie Lian’s eyes lit up and he rose to his feet, “San Lang, you finished?”
He thought he flopped the meal at first and was too embarrassed to offer it to Hua
Cheng, but who knew Hua Cheng himself went and started eating. Hua Cheng
chuckled, “Yea.”
“…” Xie Lian prodded very carefully, “What did you think?”
Hua Cheng slurped up the soup too and smiled, “Not bad. A little thick. Try making it a
little lighter next time.”
Xie Lian sighed a breath of relief and nodded, “Alright, I’ll remember that. Thanks for
your feedback.”
Qi Rong: “UUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHH–!!!”
——-
●[六道輪回 ] Dharma Wheel - Buddhist beliefs in the six realms of existence:
Heaven, Asura, Human, Animal, Ghost, Hell
——-
Ch.102: Sage Stew of the Crown Prince to Welcome Unexpected Guests
At first, Xie Lian had planned to show off his culinary skills, but after tonight, his
confidence plunged by a million fold.
Hua Cheng had suggested that he could make dinner instead, but how could Xie Lian
have the face to ask him to cook after Hua Cheng fixed his door and cleaned his shrine
too? Who in their right minds would treat their guests this way? Besides, who did he
take an esteemed Supreme Ghost King for?
Fortunately he brought plenty of supplies back from town and although a large portion of
it went into Xie Lian’s pot, there were still some buns and pies, veggies and fruits left, so
they munched on what they had. But after munching, what then?
The next day, the problem was solved on its own. Bright and early in the morning the
door of Puqi Shrine opened to the knocking of a bunch of village girls who came to offer
large pots of porridge and a roasted chicken. The village girls were shy and anxious, so
who they came for was quite obvious. Xie Lian couldn’t help but sigh in awe to himself,
thinking beauty really could fill a stomach.
That roasted chicken was divided between the two children; Xie Lian only had some
porridge and Hua Cheng didn’t touch anything. He smiled, “Gege is really popular in this
area.”
Xie Lian laughed, “Don’t tease me, San Lang. They were obviously drunk but not on
wine.”
After that bowl went down, Qi Rong was bound outside the shrine for an entire night,
howling and screeching, yelling along the lines of “I’d rather be captured by Lang
Qianqiu, be butchered to a million pieces, than to be stuck here and fed poison by you!”
“Cousin Crown Prince, I’m wrong, please I beg you, give me the antidote!” And he even
seemed to have hallucinated and became delusional. Little Gu Zi was horrified. By early
morning Qi Rong was shrivelled up and sucked dry, his face completely green, and
lapped at the the porridge Gu Zi held in his hand before finally regaining some strength,
croaking with a broken voice, “Bullshit! Popular? Who the hell would come for him??
Look at that shabby appearance! Also, don’t you be so full of yourself, Hua Cheng you
fucker. You can only attract some country chicks from remote places like these at most.
They only came clinging because you’re dressed so extravagantly. If you dressed the
part of a beggar, I doubt they’d even look at you!”
Xie Lian thought that wasn’t right at all. Even if Hua Cheng dressed like a beggar, Xie
Lian believed, should he went begging he would collect a mountain of gold. Still, he said
nothing, and started doing chores leisurely. After a while, another wave of smell wafted
outside and Qi Rong roared again, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?! WHAT THE
HELL!”
Xie Lian replied warmly, “That pot of ‘Love for All Seasons’ stew. I’m heating it up.”
Hearing this, Hua Cheng applauded softly, “What a good name.”
“YOU GAVE THAT FUCKING THING A NAME?!?! STOP!!!”
Afraid that Xie Lian would really feed that to him again, just heating the thing up
reminded Qi Rong of his terrifying memories so he daren’t talk anymore. After finishing
the meal, Lang Ying silently collected the cutleries as if going to do the dishes and Xie
Lian chided, “Let it be. Just go play. I can take care of this.”
Maybe he wasn’t allowed to cook, but he could still do dishes. Hua Cheng watched
Lang Ying take Gu Zi out to play and said, “Let me do them.”
Xie Lian declined the offer, “There’s even less reason for you to do them. Just sit.”
Before he finished speaking, just then, they heard the Qi Rong who was bored with
nothing to do after having filled his stomach make catcalls, speaking with a greasy tone,
“Hey chickee, what’re you doin’ checking me out? Did I make your little tender heart
quiver?”
That ghost was just griping about how he didn’t care for country girls but turned around
and started flirting, and so tastelessly too! Xie Lian shook his head, thinking he best
drag Qi Rong in after all, lest he scare people while stuck outside. Unexpectedly, before
he even opened the door, voices of awe from the villagers rang out, “Whoa, legendary
beauty!”
“Why would such beautiful ladies come to our village…”
“I’ve never seen such pretty ladies in my life! And there’s two of them!”
Soon after, there was a series of knocking on the door of Puqi Shrine. Xie Lian was
puzzled, ‘Legendary Beauty’? Two of them? Why would two legendary beauties come
knocking on my door? Ah, could it be? Did that wealthy merchant bring his new wives to
come return their gratitude?’ Thinking that this could very well be the case, Xie Lian
hurriedly grabbed for the “Please donate to help with renovations of this shrine” sign,
ready to set it outside. But then, he heard the frosty voice of one of the women, “What’s
this thing at the door? Burns the eyes.”
Immediately, the voice of another woman came, sounding puzzled, “Maybe it’s for
guarding the door? No way. There’s no reason to sink so low as to use such a vulgar
spiritual beast?”
Although they were female voices, but Xie Lian had certainly heard of them before. It
was Wind Master Qing Xuan and Earth Master Yi!
At first he had wanted to open the door immediately, but then, he whipped his head
around, and looked at the Hua Cheng behind him who was lazily cleaning up the altar
table, and Xie Lian stopped his hands, cautiously peeking out the door through the
cracks instead.
Outside the door stood two slender and delicate women. One was dressed in white
cultivation robes, her lips rosy, her form charming and sensual, a whisk in her hand, her
eyes bright; the other was a black clad woman, skin white as snow, brows beautiful and
sharp, yet her expression was dark, her hands clenched in fists, looking away into the
distance. That white robed woman cultivator was face full of smiles, waving her hands
all around, “Haha, thanks everyone, thank you! No need to compliment so much, no
need to make such a show. I’m very troubled with you all like this. That’s enough now,
thank you. Haha.”
Xie Lian: “…”
All around was a large tightly knit crowd of beauty-watching villagers, and after having
seen beauties they started pointing and bashing Qi Rong. Qi Rong was displeased and
yelled madly, “WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKIN’ AT! SO WHAT IF THIS ANCESTOR
LIKES LYING ON THE GROUND! FUCK OFF! THERE’S NOTHIN’ HERE TO SEE!”
The villagers saw how freakily that man behaved, looking maliciously violent with a
green face, and dispersed in fright. Shi Qingxuan turned to Qi Rong, “This… green
young master, pray tell is His Highness the Crown Prince inside the shrine?”
Hearing that woman address Xie Lian as “His Highness the Crown Prince”, Qi Rong
immediately lost interest in the two beautiful women before him, and clicked his tongue,
“TSK! So you’re shitty officials from the Upper Heavens! As if this ancestor is a dog
guarding his door. Listen here, I am…” He hadn’t finished before Ming Yi glumly
approached, and then there was a wail followed by sounds of smacking. From Xie
Lian’s position he couldn’t quite see just what Ming Yi was doing and could only see Shi
Qingxuan sweep his whisk, chiding, “Ming-xiong, it’s not good to use violence!”
Ming Yi said coolly, “What’s there to be afraid of? Didn’t he say he’s not a domesticated
spiritual beast.”
“…”
To prevent Qi Rong from getting beaten to death, Xie Lian could only open the door,
raising his hands to stop her, “My lord! Have mercy! Don’t hit him, he’s a person!”
Seeing that Xie Lian had opened the door, Ming Yi flipped away her black hem and
removed her boot from Qi Rong’s back. Shi Qingxuan on the other hand rushed up and
clutched her hands in a curtsy gesture, “Your Highness, I’ve come a few days early!
What’s with that person? He’s so full of demonic essence, you can’t hide it, do you take
us for blind? Well, let’s talk inside. This time I’ve something really important I need your
help with…” As she spoke she walked around Qi Rong who was lying on the ground
and crossed over the threshold. Hua Cheng was still inside, so how could Xie Lian dare
to let them in, and he cried hastily, “Wait!”
However, it was too late. Puqi shrine was only so big and had no place to hide.
Immediately the two saw behind Xie Lian’s person stood a Supreme Ghost King who
was in the middle of doing dishes. Four pairs of eyes met; sparks flew. Hua Cheng
smiled a smile with teeth, yet the smile was ominous and his eyes had no trace of mirth.
In an instant, Ming Yi’s pupils shrank, and she backed three feet away. Shi Qingxuan
flung out her Wind Master fan, striking an attacking stance, exceedingly alarmed,
“CRIMSON RAIN SOUGHT FLOWER!”
Outside the door, the ashen faced Qi Rong roared with rage, “AND I’M THE NIGHT
TOURING GREEN LANTERN! HOW COME NONE OF YOU RECOGNIZED ME WHEN
BEATING ME BUT KNEW IT WAS HIM WITH JUST ONE LOOK?!”
Ming Yi had once infiltrated the Ghost City and spent many years as a spy under Hua
Cheng. It was only recently that she was discovered and captured by Hua Cheng, then
locked in a maze dungeon and beaten. To have enemies face each other, their eyes
bloodshot, the tiny little Puqi Shrine was filled with the smell of venom inside and out.
Hua Cheng tossed the rag in his hand and squinted a smirk, “Lord Earth Master looks
lively.”
Ming Yi also replied coldly, “Lord Ghost King also looks leisurely as always.”
After having made false perfunctory greetings, the next words that came out of Hua
Cheng’s mouth were even colder, his expression icy.
“Leave.” He warned, ”I don’t care what important business you have. Do not come
anywhere near here again.”
Although she feared Hua Cheng, still she refused to back down meekly and Ming Yi
responded with a solemn voice, “To come here was not my will!”
The smell of venom was going to turn into explosives. Next to them, Xie Lian was
growing nervous, “W-w-what, Lord Wind Master, what should we do?”
Shi Qingxuan knocked her fan on her head a few times and said, “I didn’t expect
Crimson Rain Sought Flower would be here either! Didn’t you guys just meet recently?
How come you’re together again so fast? Anyway, if this can be solved without fists
that’d be good. Violence is bad. If they start fighting we’ll have to hold them back.”
“I agree, mostly.” Qi Rong was hoping the two would start brawling and had been
listening intently. Just then he suddenly spoke up, “OHhh – so you’re that slutty woman
Wind Master???”
Both Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan turned to look at him. That was exactly how Qi Rong
had called Shi Qingxuan when he was in his own cave, but even before the person
herself he’d dare curse her like this, and Xie Lian couldn’t tell if it was out of bravery or
lack of mental capabilities. Shi Qingxuan had always been raised in dignified grace, so
this was probably the first time hearing someone else curse her in this way. She blinked,
looking confused, then turned to Xie Lian, “Your Highness. Please wait.”
Then, she exited the shrine and closed the door. Outside, there was another desperate
wail from Qi Rong and another bout of smacking. A moment later, Shi Qingxuan opened
the door to come back in, and he had returned to his male form. “Alright, where were
we. I’m feeling kind of hungry too, so how about we all sit down and eat something?
There’s nothing that can’t be negotiated, and nothing that can’t be solved at the dinner
table.”
“…”
Even though Xie Lian kind of didn’t want them to start fighting inside Puqi Shrine, but
Hua Cheng seemed to be extremely angry over the whole affair of Ming Yi’s infiltration,
and without knowing the inside story, it seemed rather impossible to have them sit down
and eat agreeably. However, Hua Cheng actually didn’t seem to object to the idea, and
after a frosty moment, the ice on his face cleared away and he turned back to continue
doing dishes. After he was done, he walked to the pot and ladled a full bowl of that Love
for All Seasons stew.
Seeing that he backed down first and ceased a battle, the others all sighed a breath of
relief. The next step was to change the subject and liven the atmosphere, so Shi
Qingxuan asked, “Your Highness, what’s in that pot? It seems to be hot still?”
“Oh. I made that.” Xie Lian said.
That pot had been stewing for a long time, the flavours completely soaked in, and most
of the smell had already dissipated. Although the colour was still questionable, but the
shapes had all but melted away from the stewing, looking much better than it did the
night before. Hearing his response, Shi Qingxuan was vibrating with excitement,
“Really? I’ve never eaten anything made by the hands of heavenly officials! Come come
come, let’s have a taste.”
He said as he went to grab for two sets of cutleries and filled two bowls. To be honest,
Xie Lian had wanted to stop him at first. However, because Hua Cheng had been so
firmly encouraging, burying seeds of confidence within him, and plus earlier that
morning he had changed up the seasoning according to Hua Cheng’s suggestions as
he heated the stew, so the thought “maybe I saved it” appeared in his mind. After some
hesitation, he still didn’t say anything, and secretly watched with hope as Shi Qingxuan
passed one of the bowls to Ming Yi. “Come, Ming-xiong. This one’s yours.”
Ming Yi took a look at the contents in the bowl and turned her face away, looking
unwilling.
It was a rude gesture. Shi Qingxuan was outraged, and forced the bowl to her,
unrelenting, “EAT! Didn’t you say you were hungry earlier on the road?”
Hua Cheng lazily raised a spoonful and blew on it, bringing it to his lips then swallowed.
He smiled at Xie Lian, “It’s definitely lighter today. The flavour’s just right.”
Xie Lian smiled too, “Really? I added more water today.”
Hua Cheng took another bite and smiled happily, “Gege did his best.”
Watching Hua Cheng looking like he was tasting some delicious delicacy, it was
exceedingly convincing. A moment later, Ming Yi took the bowl after all. Shi Qingxuan
smiled, “That’s better!” And the two spooned a mouthful at the same time, taking a bite.
————–
Ch.103: Venerable of Empty Words; Mourning at the Feast
“How is it?” Xie Lian asked.
THUD! And Ming Yi collapsed onto the altar table face down, as if she lost
consciousness.
Next to her, two lines of tears silently streamed down Shi Qingxuan’s face.
“…”
Xie Lian asked hesitantly, “My lords, how is it exactly? Will you pull yourselves together
and give me some constructive criticism using words?”
Shi Qingxuan snapped out of it, wiped a face full of tears and clutched Xie Lian’s hands,
pressing down with force, and said unintelligibly, “…Your Highness.”
Xie Lian reversed the hold and clutched his hands back, “What?”
Shi Qingxuan was tongue-tied, unable to speak, and a moment later, he sobbed as he
pushed Ming Yi, “Ming-xiong… Ming-xiong! Ming-xiong, what’s wrong? Pull yourself
together, wake up!”
Ming Yi laid on the table, unmoving. Shi Qingxuan could never stand anyone ignoring
him, and push became shove until finally he was strangling the other, shaking with
force. Xie Lian couldn’t watch anymore and suggested anxiously, “Lord Wind Master,
why don’t you put down the broom, we can talk things out.”
Shi Qingxuan was strangling that broom and whipped his head around, shouting “HAH?
YOUR HIGHNESS WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
Feeling a little helpless, Xie Lian yelled into his ear, “LORD WIND MASTER! THE
THING IN YOUR HANDS IS NOT LORD EARTH MASTER. LORD EARTH MASTER IS
HERE. HERE!”
Just then, Ming Yi whipped up. He actually returned to his male form in a flash, his face
dark like steel, and he proclaimed scornfully, “I have evil in the heart now. Please
exorcise it for me.”
A spoonful of stew can produce evil in the heart? Xie Lian was shocked to the core. He
mumbled, “…That can’t be possible…”
Shi Qingxuan however, was pointing at Ming Yi, his eyes round and bulging, “HOLD IT!
YOU! What evil are you to dare show your petty tricks before this Wind Master?
Where’s Ming-xiong? Quick, I’ll shield you! Let’s take it down together.” And with the
broom in one hand, the other flung out the wind master fan. If that fan was to attack,
then the entire rooftop would be blown away for sure! Xie Lian hastily rushed up to hold
him down, “DON’T DON’T DON’T. MY LORDS PLEASE, WILL YOU BOTH SNAP OUT
OF IT!”
“HAHAHAHAHahahahHEHehehehheehheeeheheehuehuehuehue…”
Qi Rong was slamming his fists on the ground laughing outside, yelling, “Y’ALL
DESERVED IT! FUCKING OFFICIALS! GO DIE AND ASCEND! THIS IS FUCKING
GREAT! I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!”
The two officials inside were falling all over themselves, groaning nonstop. Hua Cheng
leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and Xie Lian looked at him, then looked
at the Wind Master and Earth Master clutching their heads buckling on the ground, and
whispered, “Is it maybe because I didn’t add enough water after all… why would their
reactions be stronger than Qi Rong’s?”
Hua Cheng raised his brows, “I think it’s fine. It’s probably a problem with their taste
buds. It happens.”
Xie Lian however, had never thought about what Qi Rong typically ate and what
heavenly officials usually ate. Comparing the two, heavenly officials were much more
sensitive and emotionally delicate, so that was probably why their reactions were much
stronger. Of course, he also didn’t think about whether if anything had been added after
that pot had passed through Hua Cheng’s hands.
Feeling both depressed and guilty, Xie Lian fed seven to eight bowls of water each to
Shi Qingxuan and Ming Yi before the two slowly came to. Although their faces were
green like Qi Rong and their eyes dead, at least they were conscious, their speech
returning. The only small problem was the unstoppable tears streaming down Shi
Qingxuan’s face, and when he spoke he’d accidentally bite his tongue at times. Other
than that there weren’t any real issues.
After all that ruckus, two hours later the four finally sat down orderly around the altar
table.
Ming Yi still had his face down on the altar, still as a corpse. Xie Lian righted his
expression and inquired solemnly, “Lord Wind Master, you said there was something
important you wanted my help with earlier? What is it exactly?”
Looking wan and sallow, Shi Qingxuan threw a soundproof spell on the door, making
sure that no one outside could hear anything before he croaked with a hoarse voice,
“…It’s like this. Ahem ahem. Ahem ahem. Your Highness, you’ve been hiding in the
world, cultivating in the mortal realm for eight hundred years. You’ve walked and seen
much, so you must have bumped into plenty of ghosts and monsters, right?”
Xie Lian folded his hands one over the other and replied, “I’ve met some.”
“Then I want to ask,” Shi Qingxuan said, “Have… have you ever met a ‘Venerable of
Empty Words’?”
Xie Lian was taken aback, “The Venerable of Empty Words who mourn at feasts?”
Shi Qingxuan lowered his voice and replied ominously, “That’s right!”
Suddenly, Xie Lian felt a wave of hair-raising cold breeze blowing up his spine,
swishing.
At the same time, there seemed to be someone next to his ear, giggling coldly and
humming an exceedingly creepy tune.
Somehow, the sunlight that shined through the windows and cracks warming the little
Puqi shrine also dimmed, like the whole place was enveloped in a large shadow. Xie
Lian’s extremities were getting colder, icy like steel.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Xie Lian had to clutch his robes tight and felt this must be brought up directly and spoke
up, “I have to ask… who’s laughing? Who’s singing? Who’s blowing cold air behind my
back? Who made the shrine this dark?”
Shi Qingxuan wiped away his tears and said, “Oh, that’s all me. It’s just a little spell,
don’t mind it. It’s just for creating the mood.”
The other three at the altar table were speechless. A moment later, Xie Lian supported
his temple and said exasperatedly, “…Lord Wind Master, how about we stop this
breeze? With this weather, none of us are dressed in layers. Besides, the mood was
already there, but it’s all dissipated after you added the cold breeze and music…”
“Huh? Really?” Shi Qingxuan said, then with a wave of his hand, the blowing cold air
behind everyone’s backs were dispersed. “But I think it’d be good if the shrine remains
this dark. Let me light a candle, the ambiance will be even better.” As he spoke, he
really did take out a candle and lit it. In the flickering candlelight illuminated the two
snow white faces and two other pale, greenish faces. The mood was actually quite
strong, the haunting atmosphere exceptional, and perhaps even Qi Rong who was
outside would howl and scream in fright of ghosts.
The other three didn’t want to say anything anymore. Hua Cheng leaned back and Ming
Yi remained as a corpse. Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s continue…
Where were we? The Venerable of Empty Words? Why didn’t you just say the Jinx
monster? Calling it the Venerable of Empty Words, it took me a minute to realize what
you were talking about.”
The Venerable of Empty Words, although given the title ‘venerable’, people only
addressed it as a venerable for show, giving it some face, afraid that if its name was too
unseemly and it found out, it’d come after you. In truth, everyone wished they could
curse it as the foul-mouthed venerable, the jinx monster, and the worse it sounded the
better. However, it really was abominable to the extreme.
That’s right. Typical demons and monsters were at most scary, but this one was
‘abominable’. This was because if someone should be happy, in their moment of joy it
would appear and dunk a bucket of cold water over their heads, a real killjoy. Think for a
moment; at the reception of a pair of newlyweds, something of this sort appeared, ate
up the feast then suddenly claim: “It won’t take long for the two of you to break up!” Or
in another case, if an old master of a household was promoted in office, it would also
suddenly appear and cry in the midst of congratulations: “You’re going to get cuffed and
go to jail in a few years!”
If it should attach itself to someone, it would become like the shadows and firmly wrap
itself onto that person, endlessly cursing for the opposite whenever a joyous occasion
should occur. Truly abominable. Especially for those who feared ominous signs; if they
ran into that thing they’d die from distress. No one wanted something of the sort to
attach itself to themselves, but if they bump into it, they could only accept their fate,
because up until now, there was still no one who knew just how it selected prey.
It seemed Shi Qingxuan was quite fearful of that creature but Xie Lian didn’t think it a
big deal, “Don’t worry. It’s nothing to be scared of.”
To say it correctly, that creature was more likely to be scared of him. Shi Qingxuan
became energetic, “So Your Highness has met one? Is there any way to exterminate
that thing completely?”
Humming for a moment, Xie Lian replied, “I did bump into two many years ago, but
they’ve never shown themselves again, so I don’t know for sure if they were completely
exterminated. But by my experience, it’s not that difficult dealing with them.”
Shi Qingxuan was overjoyed, “TWO? You managed to deal with two?! I’ve really come
to the right place! So what happened?”
Thus Xie Lian began his tale. The first one was like this: Many years ago, Xie Lian
passed through a small town, and there was a wealthy merchant sending his daughter
off to the capital to study. Because of how outstanding his daughter was, he made a big
show of publically commending her, a joyous occasion. Who knew, from joy brewed
tragedy, and at the sendoff feast, there was suddenly a voice that belted, “Your
daughter’s carriage will overturn on the road and she will die crashing down the valley!”
That wealthy merchant jumped to his feet in rage on the spot and was going to catch
the one who said those words, but that person ducked under the table right after and
disappeared into thin air!
After that, everyone was scared. Fortunately, Xie Lian went to that household that day
to collect junk. He managed to obtain some leftovers and was about to head back when
he heard what happened. He knew what that creature was so he told that wealthy
merchant not to worry. He asked the wealthy merchant to hire some twenty guards, and
with Xie Lian himself included, they carefully escorted the little lady to the capital safely,
and protected her for a while. A month later, that little lady won first place in a beauty
contest, and the chance had come.
That night, a feast was held at a restaurant in the capital to celebrate the little lady, and
sure enough, there was a voice mixed in the crowd again, belting, “You will be…”
The moment Xie Lian heard it’s voice he immediately seized that creature from the
crowd, choking its neck, stopping it from uttering another word. Then, he immediately
used a charm to seal its body, beat it to a bloody pulp, then ordered for a carriage,
taking it to the valleys to run wildly astray. At a winding corner of the mountain pass the
reins snapped, and that carriage crashed down the cliffs, fulfilling its own curse to
others.
“That’s it?” The other three asked.
“That’s it.” Xie Lian said. “To deal with the Jinx… alright, the Venerable of Empty Words.
To deal with the Venerable of Empty Words, there are three ways: first, don’t let it open
its mouth, and cut it off before it could speak. This can only help guard you for the
moment but it won’t protect you for life, so you need to be constantly vigilant.”
“Second, if it should speak, don’t let the subject of its curse hear. Anyone would be
scared if they should hear a curse against them whilst at the height of their joy, and that
creature feeds on that fear; it revels in it. The more scared you are the happier it
becomes. If you should lose yourself from terror and ruin your own affairs according to
its words, its powers will increase significantly. But unless you’re deaf, you’ll definitely
hear it speak one day. To be honest, not even the deaf could escape probably, because
there were some who’d sew up their own ears in an attempt to escape the thing but it
was still useless in the end.”
“On the flip side, if you don’t pay any mind to however it curses or however it pours cold
water over you, then it can’t do anything to you. So, the most effective way is the third
method: surround yourself with happy thoughts and ignore it completely. Let it speak or
not speak, but forget everything it says. Make yourself stronger and continue down your
path according to your own will and not the tragedy it predicted for you. This way, in the
end, if it can’t draw any despair from you, it will most likely sneak away on its own. Of
course, it can still very well just be lying low waiting for the next chance to ambush.”
Although the third method was the most effective, it was still really difficult to
accomplish. After all, who in the world could truly build a heart of stone and feel not a
single ripple? The more Shi Qingxuan listened the deeper his frown grew, “Then what
about the second time? Did you take care of it the same way the second time?”
“The second time might not be useful as a reference for anyone. After all, it was a
unique situation.” Xie Lian said.
“How is it unique?”
“The one it attached itself to was me.” Xie Lian replied.
————
Ch.104: Venerable of Empty Words; Mourning at the Feast 2
It was also many years ago when Xie Lian met a Venerable of Empty Words.
That time, he had just finished constructing a small hut by his own power and was just
standing there admiring his new abode when suddenly, a tiny little voice came from one
of the corners, “This dwelling of yours will collapse in two months!”
“So what did you do?” Shi Qingxuan asked.
“Nothing.” Xie Lian replied. “I said, “Two months? If it’s still standing in seven days then
it’d be a real miracle”.”
“…”
Hua Cheng’s lips curved slightly but immediately that smile faded away.
That Venerable of Empty Words hid in the shadows, waiting to suck Xie Lian’s fear,
frustration, insecurity, and other such negative emotions. However, it sucked nothing but
empty air, and even when Xie Lian had finished brushing up and fell asleep in his new
house, it still hadn’t managed to suck anything.
Although Xie Lian never saw its form, he could still sense that it was probably quite
angry.
Not a few days later, a lightning struck down, and the entire hut was scorched.
That Venerable of Empty Words was pleased, probably thinking that scorched was no
different than collapsed, so its curse was technically fulfilled, and Xie Lian must be
afraid now. Yet that didn’t happen. It still didn’t manage to suck anything that could fill its
stomach. Of course it was malcontent, thus, it followed after Xie Lian and waited for the
next joyous occasion.
Who knew that this wait turned into over half a year, and in that half a year, Xie Lian had
not one joyous occasion!
If this was anyone else they would’ve given up already. However, the Venerable of
Empty Words had a unique trait, and that was obstinance. If they should eye a prey they
would be relentless in their pursuit, and so it starved pathetically for half a year. Finally,
an opportunity had risen.
One day, Xie Lian managed to collect a large bundle of junk and made a small fortune.
The Venerable of Empty Words was overjoyed. Having waited this long, it immediately
used all the tricks it had and stream after streams of curses erupted, such as the
exciting life of after Xie Lian struck it rich he would waste his fortune on drinks and
gambling then fall sick with long strings of debt, etc. Xie Lian counted his money and
listened with indulgent amusement. After, he still only brushed up and went to bed, and
that Venerable of Empty Words still sucked nothing.
That night, Xie Lian’s pile of junk caught on fire.
After the fire was put out, ashen faced, Xie Lian sighed and said to the Venerable of
Empty Words, “What a shame. It’s all burnt. Not a single scrap left. I haven’t even
experienced any of those drunken dreams and lifetime of riches you spoke of. I think the
things you say are quite interesting, so how about you tell me some more?”
This happened several times, and towards the end, Xie Lian would actually ask it before
it even spoke: do you have anything to say? Do you want to say something? Until that
Venerable of Empty Words couldn’t take it anymore and fled.
To Venerables of Empty Words, a God of Misfortune like Xie Lian was extremely
unfavourable. Either he’d have no happy occasions and it’d wait for nothing; or he’d
already gotten used to all the bad luck and suffered neither fear nor anxiety. His luck
was so bad to the point it was outside the imagination of that Venerable of Empty
Words, so Xie Lian felt nothing of its curses, and even treated them like well wishes or
daydreams.
In any case, after that, Xie Lian never ran into any Venerable of Empty Words again.
He’d even suspect that maybe after having fled, that Venerable of Empty Words went
back to its people and rudely publicized how awful he was.
Listening up to this point, Shi Qingxuan didn’t manage to hold it in and and snorted a
laugh. “Is it very funny?” Hua Cheng said quietly.
Shi Qingxuan knew it was inappropriate too and instantly schooled his expression,
apologizing with a serious tone, “Sorry, Your Highness.”
Xie Lian laughed, “Don’t worry. I think it’s pretty amusing too.”
He concluded, “The Venerable of Empty Words suck power from fear in people’s hearts,
and from this power, it’d push for its predictions to come true then make a new
prediction. The cycle continues until the person is thoroughly broken and their heart
destroyed. So, the more unsteady the heart, the worse it gets; and the more one has,
the more one fears loss.”
After a pause, he suggested, “Did my Lord Wind Master receive a prayer of this sort
from a worshipper and is asking you for help? You’re the God of Wind, something like
this isn’t under your jurisdiction. If you received this prayer you can very well pass it on
to a martial god.”
However, Shi Qingxuan replied, “It’s not a worshipper who ran into it, it was me.”
Now Xie Lian was even more bewildered, “You ran into one yourself? The Venerable of
Empty Words usually don’t dare to mess with heavenly officials. Even if they messed
with you, as an esteemed heavenly official, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Shi Qingxuan sighed, “If I had run into it after my ascension then of course there’s
nothing to worry over, but… it’s a long story.”
This was many hundreds of years ago. When the Wind and Water Masters were still
mortals, they were born and raised in an affluent and prosperous merchant household.
Shi Qingxuan was the second son, and when he was born, the entire family rejoiced.
They gave the second son the baby name* “Xuan”, and they widely distributed porridge
and such fares to feed the hungry in order to build merits through acts of compassion.
At the time, there was a fortune teller who ate porridge and saw the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes. He asked for the birth details and said this:
“Since I’ve eaten porridge from your household, I will say this. This son of yours might
have a good life, but it’s hard to tell you the whole story. Just know, if you want to save
him, he must be kept low profile. Don’t raise him to be the boisterous, flaunting kind;
don’t give him the chance to shine. Remember to build fortune in muffled quiet, and this
will ensure he live a life of peace. Be sure to never host any feasts for him or it will bring
something bad.”
Those were not pleasant words and very much like something a Venerable of Empty
Words would say. The Shi family was a merchant household, and all of the qualities he
described were especially valuable to them, so the fortune teller was shooed away
immediately, and his words were not taken seriously. A few days later, a feast was held
in Shi Qingxuan’s honour, the lanterns shone and the banners flew, drums roared and
gongs sounded.
However, at the feast, just as the guests were at the height of hollering their
congratulations, singing songs of praises to the second young master of the Shi family
wrapped in swaddling cloths, a singsong voice suddenly rang out from the ground,
chanting, “WRETCHED BEGINNING, WRETCHED END!”
That voice really did come from the floor but it overtook the voices of everyone present,
and all became dumbfounded with shock.
The feast ended with apprehension thick in the air, and that very night, Shi Qingxuan
who was still a baby became hot with fever, crying nonstop, and the heat refused to go
down no matter what was done, even dry heaving at times. The entire family was
terrified. The Shi family remembered that not long ago there was that fortune teller who
spoke strange words and was kicked out, so they hastily searched all over and invited
him back. That fortune teller said, “I told you to keep a low profile but you wouldn’t
listen. Now that child has caught the eye of the Reverend, his entire life will be filled with
misfortune. This bout of fever is nothing, it will go away on its own. But this, it’s nothing
more than a greeting gift!”
Of course, he was talking about the Venerable of Empty Words. Except, this wasn’t a
typical Venerable of Empty Words that could be chased away so easily, but one that
was extremely old in years, one that was strongest in cultivation. How strong? Even
without joyous occasions it could still mourn. Thus, it was called the ‘Reverend of Empty
Words’.
This ‘Reverend’ was the so-called “The shop that can close for three years, but eats for
three years once it opens.” Its eyes were sharp and malicious; the prey it clung to were
never any less than characters of greatness whose lives were filled with large waves
and legends. Some managed to win against it, but still they’d pay their entire lives to
battle, providing it with significant portions of food; some were defeated and thoroughly
became a source of its powers. Having hoarded for close to a thousand years, its
foundation was deep and thick. Now, it had rested for over a hundred years; counting
the days, it was time to stretch its legs, and when it opens its mouth to feed, for sure it’d
be another large bite. Coincidentally, Shi Qingxuan who was just born was exactly to its
taste, and was thus ‘reserved’ by this Reverend. Although the tiny baby wouldn’t
understand its predictions even if he heard, there would come a day when he could
understand, and one day he would know fear. Besides, once this fear was planted in the
boy’s childhood, it would be deeply embedded, unable to be dispelled.
Fortunately, monsters like these usually only had one nerve in their brains, and the way
they thought was bizarre, quite abnormal. Thus, the fortune teller thought of a way to
trick it: Have the Shi family send Shi Qingxuan away and pretend he was given to
another family, then change the appearance of the son to that of a female baby before
bringing him back. Have the family claim that the female babe was a kept daughter and
have the whole Shi Family call the little young master little lady, raise him as a girl. As
long as the Reverend of Empty Words could not find the male baby it reserved, after
time passed, it surely wouldn’t be able to remember who it picked.
Thus, sure enough Shi Qingxuan matured to ten years of age in peace.
Within those ten years, the once wealthy merchant household had gradually declined.
The parents of the two masters passed away; internal conflicts raged in the family,
fighting over inheritance. Shi Wudu was tired of it all, so the year he turned sixteen, he
left home bringing with him the little Shi Qingxuan who was younger by many years.
The brothers depended on each other to survive, and Shi Wudu was the first to enter
the mountains to cultivate under a master, settling the little brother in a town at the foot
of the mountain. Everyday he’d cultivate and train til late, not descending the mountains
until late into the night. There was nothing to eat in the mountains and he could only eat
at home at night. One evening, Shi Wudu lost sense of time sparring with another. Shi
Qingxuan waited for a long time and still his brother wasn’t home. Worried that Shi
Wudu would be hungry, he decided to deliver the food up the mountains.
Shi Qingxuan was still a child at the time and didn’t know how to hike the mountain
paths. The night was dark and after having walked a long time with the food box, he
suddenly needed to relieve himself. Anxiously, he immediately pulled up his skirt at the
side of the road. Just then, a black shadow approached from the far end of the
mountain road, asking, “Is it Xuan-Er up ahead?”
Hearing someone call his baby name, Shi Qingxuan thought it was his brother who had
send someone to come find him, so he hurriedly dropped his skirt again, acknowledging
the call, “IT’S ME!”
That foreign voice asked again, “Is your birth such year such month such day such
time?”
Shi Qingxuan was puzzled. First, why the sudden ask for his birth information, and
second, that person had it all correct. So he acknowledged again, “That’s right! How did
you know? Who are you? Do you know my brother?”
That voice didn’t answer but in the end it said, “Come over here and let me see your
face properly.”
That was the tone of a command. At this point, Shi Qingxuan finally noticed something
amiss.
He hugged that food box and dashed away. As he ran, he could hear whirls of wild
winds behind him, laughing like crazy. That thing was chasing him closely! It shouted,
“YOU’RE GOING TO FALL RIGHT NOW!”
Shi Qingxuan was thoroughly horrified, and when it said “fall”, he tripped and fell,
breaking the food box and rice spilled all over the ground. Just as that creature was
about to pounce, Shi Wudu arrived.
Seeing someone had come, that Reverend of Empty Words disappeared out of sight.
Shi Wudu hugged the little brother who was face covered in blood and rice from the fall,
both of them shocked and terrified.
It still found him!
After having hidden for so many years, the Reverend of Empty Words finally had its first
taste of sweetness, and from then on, it would appear regularly, each time more
mysterious than the last. The cultivation of that creature was too strong; the Shi family
fortune was already depleted and the cultivators that Shi Wudu managed to hire could
do nothing to it. He hadn’t the power to throw out a million merits to have his voice
heard directly by the heavens either. Although that creature never asked for Shi
Qingxuan’s life, still the two brothers knew that it was only biding its time, waiting to
butcher only when the prey was fattened. Right now it was only slapping your face
gently, reminding you to fear it, but there would be one day when the slap would hurt.
This was like a hunter who wouldn’t kill its prey with just one arrow, and had to brush
many against it, thoroughly terrifying the prey, feeding off its terror.
This was nothing more than death by a thousand cuts*.
Fortunately, a turning point had finally come. After many years of aggressive training,
Shi Wudu ascended.
The moment he ascended he immediately brought Shi Qingxuan to the Middle Court,
aggressively throwing rare treasures and divine riches all over him, and a few years
later, Shi Qingxuan also successfully ascended. That Reverend of Empty Words thus
quieted and disappeared.
Shi Qingxuan naturally believed that it finally gave up and backed off knowing its own
hardship. Yet, it seemed it was he who thought too well of things.
A few days ago, he invited a bunch of friends to drink, and as he was inebriated, he
suddenly heard a malicious voice in his ear: “You will never be able to see your brother
again!”
That voice was exceedingly familiar; in the days between he was ten and before his
ascension, he could hear that voice at least once or twice every year, his fear for it
sunken deeply into his bones, and this was like an explosive had exploded next to his
ear. Shi Qingxuan sobered up instantly and rushed to Pei Ming’s domain in terror, only
relaxing when he personally saw Shi Wudu well and hanging out with Ling Wen and the
other.
Afterwards, he wondered if that voice was his own delusion. After all, that creature had
planted a deep shadow in his heart since he was young, and it wasn’t the first time
that’s happened. However, after some thought, he was still worried, so he dragged Ming
Yi over to find Xie Lian to ask for assistance. He hadn’t expected to bump into Hua
Cheng at Puqi Shrine, truly the road is narrow for enemies.
After hearing the story, Xie Lian commented, “So, the one Lord Wind Master met and
the one I met were on completely different levels.” After some thought, he turned to Hua
Cheng, “San Lang, have you ever seen that Reverend of Empty Words before?”
Hua Cheng was toying with a pair of chopsticks in his hand and replied, “Hm? I’ve never
seen it personally. But, I know someone who had.”
Although Xie Lian was curious who this “someone he knows” was, he didn’t ask after it,
and only said, “Just how strong is its cultivation? Is it really that powerful?”
Hua Cheng tossed the chopsticks and replied lazily, “Very strong.”
Hearing this, both Shi Qingxuan and Ming Yi’s expression grew solemn. Hua Cheng
added, “It’s not like your regular little minions. It’s definitely hard to deal with.”
Although he said “hard to deal with”, still his expression remained neutral, like he was
only saying it out of courtesy. However, to receive such a comment from Hua Cheng it
was definitely something. Xie Lian said, “Lord Wind Master, this problem doesn’t seem
small. Why not tell Lord Water Master?”
Shi Qingxuan waved his hand, “No, no. You have to know, my brother is about to
undergo another heavenly calamity. If he should go fight that Reverend of Empty Words
during this time, what if he loses focus? I have to keep this a secret, no one must know.
I didn’t tell a single official who has a good relationship with my brother.”
A heavenly official didn’t just go through a heavenly calamity the once. The more
calamities passed, the greater their divine state, the more unshakable their status, and
the stronger their spiritual powers. Shi Wudu was a heavenly official who had passed
two calamities already, and Xie Lian had also heard in the leisurely chats in the spiritual
communication array that he was waiting for the third one now. It definitely wouldn’t be
favourable should he lose focus. To fail to pass a calamity, no matter what, the attained
divine state would be dropped.
————-
●Baby names are nicknames given before a formal name is decided.
●The torture described in the original text is Ling Chi [淩遲]. It’s a torture technique
that appeared in the early tenth century where the executioner would slice the
flesh of the condemned with a small knife bit by bit until the person is dead.
●Suika Notes: To ascend, a mortal must pass through a “heavenly calamity”, a test
of strength to see if the person has what it takes to become divine (usually it
involves hella thunder and lightning strikes). Once ascended, a god can go
through many more trials to level up, aka “attain a greater divine state”. The trials
are non-negotiable and written into the fate of each god, so they come at
different times. Each trial is different; sometimes the god descends to live one
lifetime as a mortal, or fight natural disasters, etc., etc. To fail a trial however,
means dropping in the attained divine state and losing powers, so the stakes are
high going in and there’s no turning back.
————
Ch.105: Three Gods One Ghost; Reverend Nowhere in Sight
Shi Qingxuan returned to being serious and continued, “I want to try and see if I could
take care of that thing myself. Your Highness also has more experience, so are you
free? If not, don’t force yourself.”
Shi Qingxuan had helped Xie Lian out many times before in the past, and now that he
had an emergency and came to him for assistance, there was no way Xie Lian could
decline and say he had the heart but not the power. However, Hua Cheng came from
faraway as a guest and hadn’t even stayed for more than a few days. If he left, who’s
going to host Hua Cheng? Although it wasn’t like he was a very good host.
Just as he was considering his options, Hua Cheng supported his chin with one hand
and smiled, “Is gege going to try and catch a glimpse of that Reverend of Empty
Words? If it wouldn’t be a bother, will you bring me along? It’s a rare monster after all,
I’ve never seen it myself either.”
Xie Lian thought to himself, ‘Much ashamed, but San Lang understands me.’ Filled with
gratefulness of his consideration, he nodded. Shi Qingxuan didn’t say anything on the
subject; of course he knew Hua Cheng coming along wasn’t to help him, but at least he
wouldn’t be messing around, so whether if Hua Cheng came meant nothing to him. Xie
Lian then said, “That Reverend of Empty Words is a mysterious creature, who knows
when or where it would appear again?”
Shi Qingxuan replied, “I don’t know either. If anything, I plan on going to the imperial
capital and reserve the best room at the best restaurant to drink eighty or a hundred
days, put on plays and set off firecrackers everyday. It’ll come out eventually.”
“That’s one way to do it,” Xie Lian said, “However, even if it comes out we might not be
able to capture it. The best way to win every battle is to know oneself and the enemy
inside and out. Has Lord Wind Master investigated what its preys had been in the past?
How does it operate? See if there’s any patterns.”
“Od course my brother had already investigated this.” Shi Qingxuan said as he took out
a scroll from his sleeve, spreading it open. Xie Lian scooted closer to take a look and
was awe in spite of himself, “Amazing. Amazing.”
What a guy! That creature really only fished for the big ones. The series of names on
that scroll were pretty much all the big names in the mortal realm, each of them a
character of notoriety, and almost all of them ended in tragedy. Every one of those tragic
ends were all suicides after breakdowns.
There were those who slit their own throats after armies were ruined like mountains fell;
those who cleanly offed themselves by a three meter long white bandage after their
amassed fortune dissipated overnight; and those who were sunken into the depths of
despair having spent their entire lifetimes seeking influence and affluence but achieved
nothing. They weren’t necessarily defeated in the hands of the Reverend of Empty
Words, they were defeated by the fear of ‘loss’ in their own hearts.
However, there weren’t any emperors or kings on that list. True kings had the protection
of the aura of heaven’s son, and evil could not invade easily. Generally speaking, those
who had the potential to ascend would also have a natural spiritual shield covering their
bodies and force the demons and monsters to evade, so Xie Lian felt whatever it was
that attached itself to Shi Qingxuan wasn’t something so simple, and perhaps there’s
someone behind the scenes purposely coming for him. If that was the case, whoever it
was must be quite formidable. However, Shi Qingxuan was marked when he was but a
baby, so how did he attract such a character?
Just then, Hua Cheng spoke up, “Gege, may I take a look?”
Xie Lian passed the scroll over to him “Here.”
Hua Cheng only swept a look over it roughly and questioned, “Who put this scroll
together?”
“My brother. What?” Shi Qingxuan replied.
Hua Cheng tossed the scroll back on the table and said, “Nothing. It’s crap full of
mistakes. I suggest your brother try again.”
Hearing him, Shi Qingxuan was going to throw a fit, “CRIMSON RAIN SOUGHT
FLOWER!”
Xie Lian immediately held him down and said apologetically, “Lord Wind Master, please
sit down. Sit down. Let it go, San Lang always talks like this. He doesn’t mean it.”
Shi Qingxuan sat down, sounding doubtful, “Always like this?”
Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng and asked, “San Lang, you said it’s full of mistakes. How
so?”
Hua Cheng shuffled over too and the two sat much closer than before. Hua Cheng
pointed at a few names and said, “These ones are wrong.”
Xie Lian looked at the names closely and they were all vengeful, malevolent tyrants.
“How do you know?”
“Because I killed them.” Hua Cheng said.
“…”
“Doesn’t this say they all died by suicide?” Xie Lian said.
“Before I make my move I’d send messengers to greet them first, and they’d end
themselves.” Hua Cheng replied, “So I don’t know if that counts as my kill?”
Who knows whether if that counted as his kill, but at least he was honest. Shi Qingxuan
coughed a few times uncomfortably, his lips twitching, “Can ghosts please not so plainly
describe how they kill people in front of heavenly officials? Can ghosts please not
discuss these types of questions openly with other heavenly officials in front of other
heavenly officials?”
Hua Cheng pointed at a few other names and said, “These ones are wrong too.”
“And who killed those ones?” Xie Lian asked.
“Black Water killed them.” Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian was taken aback, “That Black Water Demon Xuan? Doesn’t he always lie low?”
“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t kill.” Hua Cheng said.
Then, he turned to Shi Qingxuan, “Your esteemed brother gave you a scroll that’s
inaccurate and full of mistakes, there’s no heart in this investigation at all, and it only
looks like a suspicious red herring, a bunch of rags. So, I suggest, you rip this up and
rewrite another one.”
Shi Qingxuan grabbed that scroll back and exclaimed, “My brother isn’t like that!”
Although his words were weak, his tone was firm. Shi Wudu wouldn’t be so careless
when it came to his own younger brother, so, there could only be one possibility, and
Xie Lian asked, “Every profession has its own niche, Lord Water Master should’ve
borrowed another’s power in his investigation. May I ask who was the one who actually
put the scroll together?”
After some hesitation, Shi Qingxuan replied, “Ling Wen.”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and stopped speaking. Although the other heavenly
officials all cursed the Palace of Ling Wen for its inefficiency, still it shouldn’t have made
so many mistakes; it’d almost look like this was nothing more than a rough draft. The
Tumours look like they shared a good relationship, at least on the surface. Just what
twists and turns were underneath, outsiders would probably never know.
Hua Cheng shuffled back and continued, “Let me tell you another way to tell the
difference between what’s true and fake: once the Reverend of Empty Words sets its
eyes on a prey, it will pull the weed out by the roots. Not only will its prey suffer
breakdowns and die, the families and friends of said prey will all be affected. So, those
who only died by themselves here on this scroll whose friends and families are alive and
well, those names are all wrong too.”
Hearing this, Shi Qingxuan’s face paled by another shade. Soon after, he regained his
cheer and laughed drily at Ming Yi, “Ming-xiong, doesn’t that mean you’re in danger
too? You’re my best friend after all!”
Ming Yi shifted to sit further away from him, his entire face written with “Can I not have
you as a best friend please”. This move brought him closer to Xie Lian, and Hua
Cheng’s eyes swept over him, sharp as knives. Seeing Shi Qingxuan still hadn’t
forgotten to joke around even at times like these, Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile.
Nevertheless, he could faintly tell Shi Qingxuan was anxious. Or rather, it was because
he was anxious that he had to use extra cheer to push it down.
Shi Qingxuan flashed his Wind Master fan and fanned faster than usual by five, six
times, his black hair flying wildly in the wind, “Then let’s go right now! To the fanciest,
tallest tower to drink ourselves into oblivion! I gotta see for myself if it’d dare come out
with so many of us around. We’ve got the numbers, HAHAHAHahahahaha…”
“…”
“Lord Wind Master, please calm yourself.” Xie Lian said, “Wait for me for a moment, I’ve
got some little things to take care of in the shrine still.”
Who knows how many days this trip would take, and with two children, two mouths plus
a godforsaken ghost possessing a man, he couldn’t just leave them be. He thought
about finding someone reliable in the village to help watch other them, but it seemed
Hua Cheng knew all of his worries and considerations and spoke up, “If gege must go,
then go without a worry. I’ve got hands. When you’re gone, there’ll naturally be people
to watch over the shrine.”
Xie Lian let out a breath of relief, “Thank goodness for San Lang. It’d be better if there’s
someone here to watch over things.”
Hua Cheng smiled too, “Yea. There needs to be someone watching over things.”
Their “watch over” obviously meant different things. However, no one pried about it.
Ming Yi moved the altar table away and started drawing the Distance Shortening array
on the ground. Shi Qingxuan’s fan was fanning so rapidly, its form no longer seen, “By
the way, Your Highness, I forgot to ask earlier. Just who is that outside the door? How
did I piss him off, to have such rude words come out of his mouth?”
To be asked about only at the end and in such an offhanded manner, if Qi Rong heard,
he’d no doubt suffer heartburns again. It really was rude, Xie Lian thought as he packed
up Ruoye and Fang Xin leaning against the corner, “Didn’t he already announce his own
title?”
“What, that really was the Green Ghost?” Shi Qingxuan was surprised, “A face with that
attitude? You really gotta see things for yourself indeed!”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and briefly gave an account of things, reminding him to
keep things a secret, especially to Lang Qianqiu. Between their exchange, Ming Yi also
finished drawing the Distance Shortening array. The one Nan Feng drew the last time
was crude and rough and it took him a long time. Ming Yi was the complete opposite;
his hands were swift and precise, completing the drawing with but one line, and the
circle he drew was cleaner and more accurate than if one was to use a ruler. The
characters were also neat and orderly like they were pressed prints, and Xie Lian
couldn’t help but gape in awe secretly.
With the array finished, Ming Yi said, “Let’s go.” Shi Qingxuan sucked in a breath and
blew gently, extinguishing the candlelight.
Hua Cheng took the lead and was the first to push the door. The little door creaked
open, and it was pitch black outside, as if the door was connected to an old house that’s
been abandoned for many years, the air was thick with mold and dust.
Following behind Hua Cheng was Xie Lian, softly thanking the Hua Cheng who took the
initiative to open the door as he crossed through, then Shi Qingxuan, and the last one
was Ming Yi. Once he crossed over, he closed the door behind him.
The moment that door was shut, within the darkness came a voice from behind the
door, gloomy and chilling, “The place you wish to go will become the nightmare you
wish to never remember!”
The instant Xie Lian heard the voice his foot kicked out.
That door instantly collapsed from his kick, yet once that array was used it’d lose its
effect, and behind the door was no longer Puqi shrine but a pile of trash. That intense
action roused thick clouds of dust, and Xie Lian coughed, a little glad that he didn’t
break the door Hua Cheng made, and said with his sleeve covering his face, “Was that
the Reverend of Empty Words?”
Shi Qingxuan was gripping his whisk and his Wind Master fan tightly and replied,
“That’s its voice! Has… has it been following me?”
Xie Lian waved away the dusty air and negated, “No. There were only three heavenly
officials and one ghost king earlier, if something was following you, how would we not
know? Clearly it’d only just come.”
Ming Yi said too, “Calm down.”
Shi Qingxuan exclaimed, “I’m calm. I’m very calm. I’ve been calming!”
Hua Cheng however, stood ahead and said leisurely, “Calm is good. But there’s
definitely something going on. Does anyone know where we are?”
Xie Lian looked around and wondered too, “Weren’t we going to the nicest restaurant in
the imperial capital?”
No matter how he looked, this old abandoned house looked nothing like that restaurant
Shi Qingxuan spoke of. The four of them explored around and found the entrance but it
was locked by giant locks! Xie Lian kicked again and the locks broke, opening the
doors. Once the doors opened, what appeared before the four were neither hellish fires
nor mysterious landscapes of evil. It was a perfectly normal, indistinct little town.
Hua Cheng raised his brows, “The imperial capital shouldn’t look like this.”
Xie Lian agreed wholeheartedly. The aura of an imperial capital could not be compared
to such a small town, and he turned around, “Lord Earth Master, did you make a
mistake in your array?”
Ming Yi however, said, “I didn’t make any mistakes. The original destination wasn’t
here.”
Xie Lian immediately understood. This meant that creature had meddled. They were
sent by it to this place.
———–
Ch.106: Three Gods One Ghost; Reverend Nowhere in Sight 2
“It dodged in to tamper with the array the moment we left Puqi Shrine?” Shi Qingxuan
said, but immediately debunked his own theory, “No! It can’t have.”
Xie Lian said too, “That’s impossible. We had already pushed the door open earlier, so
even if it snuck in to meddle with things we should’ve still arrived at our original
destination because the spell of the array was already initiated, so changing it wouldn’t
have done anything. So, it only had a split second time to do anything.”
Which meant it was the brief moment after Ming Yi finished drawing the array, Shi
Qingxuan blew out the candles, and the entire Puqi Shrine fell into complete darkness.
However, that contradicted Xie Lian’s own theory earlier. Shi Qingxuan said, “But earlier
in the shrine there were clearly only the four of us.”
In the tiny Puqi shrine, there were three heavenly officials and one ghost king; if there
was anything extra would they not notice? And if it was someone amongst them
meddling in the darkness, who’s the one who was more likely to do it?
Shi Qingxuan couldn’t help but steal a glance at Hua Cheng. Although he stopped
himself immediately, Hua Cheng didn’t miss that glimpse and smiled, “What’s with that
look? In my opinion, don’t you think Lord Earth Master is the most suspicious one?”
Ming Yi’s eyes also swept over. Hua Cheng added, “Instead of focusing on guessing
who meddled after, what if the array he drew was wrong from the beginning?”
Ming Yi didn’t rebuke, acknowledging nothing. Shi Qingxuan however, couldn’t listen
anymore, “Lord Hua, you stop right there, alright. I know the two of you have had a
quarrel before in the past, but, Ming-xiong really isn’t someone like that. I dragged him
out here last minute, so he has no reason to meddle.”
“You don’t necessarily need a reason to do something.” Hua Cheng said, “Lord Wind
Master, you yourself are suspicious too.”
“Huh?” Shi Qingxuan had never thought the tables would turn on him, and pointed at
himself, “Who? ME?!”
“Yea. A thief crying thief is a common thing.” Hua Cheng said, “Just why have you
come? If you and your esteemed brother are truly scared of the Reverend of Empty
Words, why were those bunches of rags put together? It’s not a stretch to say that the
two of you schemed and falsely led us here intentionally.”
Just by looking at his expression one could tell that he was cheekily gabbing nonsense,
but he looked so confident, so much so that almost anyone would start doubting too. Shi
Qingxuan was almost shaken, “Am… am I that nonsensical?”
Hua Cheng chuckled, “Same logic. I’m not that nonsensical either.”
However anyone hit him, he’d hit right back the same way. Xie Lian was still musing and
waved his hand, “Alright, everyone stop. Nothing’s been solved yet and we’ve already
started doubting our own people.”
Hua Cheng laughed out loud and stopped talking. However, his attitude was more than
clear: he wouldn’t help and he wouldn’t cause trouble; he was purely there for fun.
There was no need to expect anything from him, and there wasn’t any need to guard
against him either. After humming for a moment, Xie Lian said, “Actually, there’s another
possibility, which is after Lord Earth Master had drawn the array inside the shrine, there
was already someone else outside drawing a stronger array on the door.”
At the time, in order for Qi Rong who was outside the door not to hear, Shi Qingxuan
casted a soundproof spell, sealing Puqi shrine. Relatively speaking, if anything was
tampered with on the outside, it wouldn’t be easily detected from the inside. Two spells
of the same calibre colliding, the more powerful one would win. This ‘power’ didn’t just
depend on whether if the caster was stronger, it also depended on the material. At the
time, Ming Yi used the aged cinnabar Xie Lian picked up while collecting junk that even
other scrappers rejected. If someone had used fresh blood to ‘suppress the array’, of
course it’d be stronger by a notch.
Shi Qingxuan immediately accepted that possibility. “Outside the shrine? Could it be the
Green Ghost? Can he even do anything in that state?”
“I don’t think so…” Xie Lian said.
Hua Cheng said flatly, “He can’t even dream of moving in the next seven days. But, it
wasn’t just him outside the shrine.”
He seemed to be implying something. Xie Lian said, “In any case, let’s not panic first
and hurt our own trust in each other.”
After walking a few steps he added, “But that monster’s words were really strange. Why
did it say that this place will become Lord Wind Master’s “nightmare you wish to never
remember”? Are we going to run into anything here?”
Looking around, Shi Qingxuan’s frowned slightly, “…Wait. Is this…”
He hadn’t even finished when suddenly Ming Yi’s eyes grew sharp, his hand flashing
out and chopped right for the back of Shi Qingxuan’s head. Xie Lian shouted, “LORD
WIND MASTER WATCH YOUR BACK!”
PANG! Ming Yi’s hand chop cracked a large rectangular object into two. That object
came plunging down from above and was going straight for Shi Qingxuan’s head. He
leapt a few feet away, patting his heart, “That was close!” Then he looked down and his
pupils shrank. Xie Lian approached to take a look and was also stunned. That object
was an establishment plaque, blue based and golden letters with the giant words
“Temple of Wind and Water”.
To split the establishment plaque of the palace of a heavenly official into two was a huge
taboo. Ming Yi dropped his hand, his expression icy. Shi Qingxuan was stunned for a
moment but immediately waved his sleeve, sweeping away the broken pieces of that
plaque, speaking in a small voice, “Keep this a secret. No one say anything! Don’t
anyone speak of this. If my brother knew his plaque was cracked he’d go mad angry!”
Xie Lian turned around, speaking in disbelief, “This… is a Temple of Wind and Water?”
Indeed, the broken down house they ended up in was a Temple of Wind and Water.
The Water Master was the God of Wealth; no one detested money and the temples that
worshipped him were always abundant in donations. To see it desecrated was
practically as impossible as seeing a bundle of cash thrown out onto the streets,
exposed to the elements without anyone picking it up. Shi Qingxuan rushed back into
the hall anew, and the interior of the temple was full of cobwebs and layers of dust,
desolate from neglect. He rummaged around and finally pulled out two pitiful divine
statues from a pile of rubbish.
The divine statue of the Lady Wind Master was missing a leg and an arm, and the
divine statue of the Lord Water Master was straight up decapitated. Those damages
didn’t look like they were from decay through the years either, but rather that someone
had used something sharp to smash them, as if they were venting infinite hatred onto
the statues. Those two divine statues were extremely realistic too, almost as if alive, so
to see them lie on the ground with curved smiles on their faces in this state of
unbearable abuse within this chilling temple was exceedingly uncomfortable.
Shi Qingxuan held a divine statue in each of his arms and wondered, “What is this
hate? What is this grudge?”
Even if Xie Lian felt this was a sight filled with malevolence, in order to steady Shi
Qingxuan’s mind, he replied gently, “Lord Wind Master, steady yourself. As long as
there are those who worship, there will be those who desecrate. It’s a common sight in
the world, no need to pay it any mind. This must be intentionally set up by that creature
for the very purpose of fanning fear in your heart and absorb spiritual power from you.”
Ming Yi however, was succinct in his words, “You good or not? If not, leave.”
Shi Qingxuan wiped away the grime on the faces of those divine statues, gritted his
teeth and gripped his Wind Master fan then rose to his feet abruptly, “I’M GOOD! Now I
have to see just what that creature’s made out of!”
The four exited that rundown Temple of Wind and Water and walked around that little
town. It was a very quiet town, peaceful, not bustling but not behind the times either,
nothing out of the ordinary. Rather, the most bizarre was them. To be thrown into a
crowd of mortals, their appearances, look and style were all overly conspicuous. Thus,
soon after, they ducked into a small alley and changed their attire.
Xie Lian was already dressed plainly so he didn’t need to change, but the other three all
changed completely from head to toe. On the side, Shi Qingxuan was having opinions
on Ming Yi’s new get up. Over here, Hua Cheng had changed into a set of refreshing
black robes, his long hair neatly tied up with a white jade accessory, losing some
sluggishness and instead giving him an air of youthful energy, looking like an
extraordinarily handsome, talented and clever young disciple of some renown house.
He was still extremely conspicuous; an emperor really couldn’t look like a beggar even if
you force him to dress like one. Looking at him, Xie Lian couldn’t help but remember the
saying: “For men to look handsome they must dress in all black”, and he said to himself
that really was true. Coming to, he looked over to Lords Wind and Earth Masters and
remembered something, and he whispered, “San Lang, there’s something I’ve been
meaning to ask you.”
Hua Cheng fixed his sleeves and said, “What is it?”
Xie Lian clenched a hand into a fist and pressed it against his lips, clearing his throat
lightly, then tried to sound extremely casual, “…What’s the verbal password to your
private communication array?”
In order to communicate and pass on messages directly through a private spiritual
array, one must be able to receive the other party’s verbal password. For example, to
reach Shi Qingxuan, one must loudly recite four verses of a doggerel mentally: “Lord
Wind Master is boundlessly talented” “Lord Wind Master is funny and carefree” “Lord
Wind Master is kind and righteous” “Lord Wind Master is aged sweet sixteen”. Of
course, usually heavenly officials wouldn’t setup verbal passwords that were so painful
to say and were much more simple.
The verbal passwords of heavenly officials in the Upper Court weren’t given away so
freely, and only to those who were close. As a Supreme Ghost King, Hua Cheng was
naturally the same. The two might not have known each other for long, but their
relationship could be said to be fairly good. That they haven’t exchanged passwords yet
was a little strange. But looking back, every time there was anything, they’d meet
directly, so whether if the passwords were exchanged didn’t seem to be a big deal.
Xie Lian had never asked for the verbal password of any heavenly official because if
anything should happen he’d just call out within the spiritual communication array, and if
he needed to speak to anyone privately, he could still ask for them in the array. This was
also the first time he asked for someone’s private communication first and didn’t have
much prior experience so he was a little worried he might be too forward. Seeing that
Hua Cheng’s eyes were twinkling but didn’t move, Xie Lian felt a little awkward and
hurriedly added, “Is it inconvenient? Don’t worry if it is, don’t mind me, I was just asking
casually. Because I wanted to discuss something privately later so I was being
presumptuous. I can also try and talk to you in secret…”
Hua Cheng cut him off, “It’s not inconvenient. I’m really happy.”
Xie Lian was taken aback, “Huh?”
Hua Cheng sighed and said, “I’m really happy that gege finally asked me. Because you
never brought it up, I thought it was inconvenient for you, that you didn’t want to
exchange passwords with other people, so I never asked. Now that I’ve finally had gege
ask, how can you say it was only a “casual” request?”
Xie Lian let out a breath of relief and immediately brightened up, grabbing onto Hua
Cheng’s hand, “So we both had the same concern! It was my bad earlier, those were
the casual words, I apologize to San Lang. So, your verbal password is?”
Hua Cheng’s eyes shimmered and he leaned over slightly, “This is my verbal password,
gege, listen closely, I’m only going to say it once.” Then he whispered a phrase.
After listening, Xie Lian’s eyes widened, “…What? Is that really it? San Lang, you didn’t
make a mistake?”
Hua Cheng looked at ease and replied, “Yes, that’s it. If gege doesn’t believe me why
not give it a go?”
Xie Lian didn’t dare. “Then… then doesn’t that mean every time someone tries to reach
you they have to recite that phrase three times mentally? W… Wouldn’t that be very
embarrassing?”
Hua Cheng snickered, “It’s because I don’t want anyone to reach me that I purposely
set the password to that phrase. Let them know to back off. But, if it’s gege who’s trying
to reach me, I’m always free.”
Xie Lian was feeling a little incredulous and thought, ‘That’s really mean…’
He hesitated, wanting to initiate the private communication array, but just couldn’t recite
those words no matter what. Even mentally it was difficult. Seeing Xie Lian cover half of
his face with his hand, turning his head away but still couldn’t make up his mind, Hua
Cheng finally had enough fun and said, “Alright. Fine. If gege daren’t recite it, then I’ll be
the one to reach you. What’s your verbal password?”
Xie Lian turned his head back around and said, “Just recite the Ethics Sutra a thousand
times.”
“…”
Hua Cheng cocked an eyebrow. A moment later, Xie Lian heard his voice next to his
ear, “It’s the phrase ‘Just recite the Ethics Sutra a thousand times’, right?”
The two were clearly standing facing each other but their lips were closed unspeaking,
communicating with their eyes, whispering secrets to one another using a voice others
couldn’t hear, having a good time. Xie Lian replied using the private communication
array too, “That’s right. I can’t believe you weren’t fooled.”
Hua Cheng blinked and continued to reply, “Hahahaha, I was almost fooled. It’s too
good.”
Xie Lian blinked too, his merry apparent.
It must be known that this verbal password was something Xie Lian came up with very
seriously eight hundred years ago. He himself thought it was fun so he employed it after
he ascended. Only, not too many other heavenly officials thought it was amusing, and
even after they were fooled they were more speechless than entertained. Mu Qing told
him directly “Your Highness your idea is terrible, forgive me if I can’t laugh”, and
although Feng Xin laughed to the point of rolling on the ground screaming himself
hoarse, he was a person who laughed at almost anything for no reason, so him
laughing didn’t make Xie Lian feel any bit accomplished. Since now Hua Cheng laughed
too, maybe that meant it really was somewhat amusing.
The original plan was to go to the best restaurant in the imperial capital to drink, but
since they didn’t make it to the imperial capital, it made no difference where they drank,
so the group went and reserved a room at the biggest restaurant in town, sitting around
bored and spiritless. When the waiter brought their drinks, Xie Lian inquired, “May I ask
just where this place is?”
Although it was a strange question, it was still the most direct and effective way. That
waiter was amazed, “Did the honoured guests not come because of our reputation?
This is the town of Fu Gu.”
“Reputation? What reputation?”
That waiter gave a thumbs up, “Our town’s Fire Social! It’s really famous around here.
Every year around this time there are quite a number of outsiders who’d come to watch
the spectacles.”
Shi Qingxuan was curious, “What’s a Fire Social?”
Xie Lian answered, “Celebratory festivities during folk holidays. There will be some
busking, some local plays, etc. It’s worth watching.” It was similar to the ShangYuan
Heavenly Ceremonial Procession of Xianle back in the days. However, the Heavenly
Ceremonial Processions were sponsored by the monarch, hosted by the authorities, but
Fire Socials were festivities of the commoners. Shi Qingxuan commented, “But it’s not a
holiday today? At most, it’s only the end of Autumn tomorrow.”
“It doesn’t have to be a holiday,” Xie Lian explained, “Sometimes it’s for remembering
someone, and the folks pick a special day to celebrate, have some fun.”
Just then, there was a huge commotion down the main streets below the restaurant,
and someone was shouting, “MOVE, MOVE! CHILDREN AND WOMEN DON’T STAND
AROUND! BACK AWAY, THE TROUPE IS COMING!”
The four looked below. And what a look! Xie Lian’s eyes immediately widened. There
was a long procession parading down the maint street, and in that procession, everyone
was covered in heavy layers of bright, vivid makeup, dressed in strange and bizarre
outfits, and also, a weapon embedded on each of their heads.
Those sharp or dull axes, butcher knives, iron tongs, scissors, were all deeply buried in
their skulls, piercing their brains, and some even had eyeballs squeezed out, hanging
on the cheek dripping with blood. Some were stabbed from the forehead and pierced
through the back of their heads, exceedingly gorey. Each of the person parading all had
tightly knitted brows, their expressions full of agony, their faces covered in blood. Yet,
they continued to trumpet and play music, marching forward slowly, like a procession of
ghostly spirits.
————
Ch.107: Gods and Ghost Hear the Tale of the Blood-Soaked Fire Social
Xie Lian immediately rose to this feet. Shi Qingxuan, too, stomped a foot down on the
table, rolling up his sleeves as if ready to charge right down. Xie Lian hastily held him
back and said, “It’s nothing, don’t worry, Lord Wind Master, please calm down.”
“IS IT NOTHING EVEN WITH EYEBALLS SQUEEZED OUT???” Shi Qingxuan was
alarmed.
“It’s nothing.” Xie Lian reiterated. “What a rare chance that we can witness a Bloody Fire
Social here!”
Shi Qingxuan immediately dropped the leg that was on the table and asked, “Bloody
Fire Social? What’s that?”
The two sat down anew and Xie Lian explained, “Different regions have different kinds
of Fire Socials, and the Bloody Fire Social belongs to a special type, extremely rare. I’ve
only heard about it too, I’ve never seen it before. Since their performances are
gruesome and freakish, and their makeup artistry is an untold secret that isn’t passed
down, there’s less and less of them.”
Shi Qingxuan was stunned, “Makeup artistry? That’s all fake? Th-th-th… That’s just too
real, and here I thought it was something transformed by evil!”
His words weren’t exaggerated, and Xie Lian sighed in awe too, “There are many
extraordinarily talented people in the world.”
Watching those performers in the parade, not only did they have weapons “deeply
embedded” in their skulls, some also had exposed innards, missing limbs, crawling on
the ground, crying and howling; there were a few carrying a large wooden stack, a
woman hung on one of the beams, a rope wrapped around her neck as if she was hung
to death; and then came two who were dragging the two legs of a woman, and that
woman herself had clothes all ripped into rags, her face down dragged along the road
the entire way leaving long trails of blood. This was truly a very real sight of hell. Even
though it was clearly a performance done by humans, it was more horrifying than the
ghosts of Ghost City. In comparison, Ghost City was almost like a bustling human
market. Just how was all the makeup done? Even if Xie Lian had heard of this tradition,
at first glance he’d also almost thought it was the coming of ghosts.
There were quite a few women and children who tried to squeeze in the front of crowd
to spectate out of curiosity, but screamed from fright after having actually seen and
backed away. Shi Qingxuan commented, “Your Highness, didn’t you say that the point
of FIre Socials was to celebrate? Who celebrates like this? People are running scared,
and those little girls are going to have nightmares. Do people really feel happy watching
these kinds of performances?”
It really was hard to tell whether if people would feel happy after watching such
performances. However, in truth, slaughter and the sight of blood did create excitement
in people. Whether or not there was fear, after the initial shock was over, a rush of
adrenaline would be produced in many’s heart. There seemed to be a slang for Bloody
Fire Socials such as this called “Stabbing Ecstacy”, and Xie Lian figured it meant: once
a person was stabbed violently to death, the heart would be filled with ecstasy.
There’s a thirst for ‘slaughter’ deep in the hearts of people.
Of course, Xie Lian didn’t say that much on the subject and only watched intently for a
while. In that impressive parading troupe, there was a pale-faced man dressed in black,
his form tall but skinny as a twig, his hand gripped a weapon, and he was striking
towards the head of one of the lavishly dressed performer. That knife instantly
penetrated through the other’s skull, and he took out a long spear right after, hoisting
the other up and hung the other in the air, cruel and gruesome, as if it was a real murder
happening right there, and the crowd screamed in waves of horror though some also
cheered.
“I’m guessing they’re enacting a tale.” Xie Lian said, “That black clad man should be the
protagonist and the people he killed should be the antagonists, the villains. This entire
story is expressing the defeat of evil and the proclamation of good.”
Having said that, something clicked in Xie Lian’s mind and he said, “Lord Wind Master,
watch closely.”
“I am watching.” Shi Qingxuan said.
“No, I’m telling you to watch for the story.” Xie Lian explained, “Watch for the characters
they’re performing, and the kind of story this is. There must be a reason why that
Reverend of Empty Words brought you here, and picked today of all days. Maybe it was
so you’d watch this Bloody Fire Social.”
That black clad man had a deep frown, looking to be in severe agony, ‘butchering’
hundreds of ‘villains’ in the troupe by himself, and he himself was also pierced by all
sorts of weapons all over his body. At the end, he carried a number of mangled
‘corpses’ with white bandages around their throats and lowered his head, unmoving. It
was an ending where all perished together. As one troupe went past, another troupe
followed and continued to perform, and the parade cycled around thus.
“Have you all figured out what the story was about?” Xie Lian asked.
Shi Qingxuan knitted his brows and said, “No. I don’t think I understand. He’s doing
nothing but killing people.”
Next to Xie Lian, Hua Cheng said lazily, “Seems it’s not a widely known story. Ask a
local and see if it’s someone of renown from around here.”
Coincidentally, that waiter came by again to bring their orders and inquired, “Honoured
guests, how’s the show? Is it exciting?”
“It’s good. Very exciting.” Xie Lian responded, “May I ask, who is the character this
town’s Bloody Fire Social is enacting?”
Sure enough, that waiter said, “Oh, outsiders usually don’t know and always had to ask.
The Fire Social of our town Fu Gu enacts the story of a legendary character. This was
passed down through word of mouth, but many centuries ago, there was a scholar here
named He.”
“This He Sheng, although his family was very, very poor, he was quite the man of
talents. He was scarily intelligent since his youth, and picked things up fast and precise.
He was also known everywhere as a good son; there’s really nothing bad to say about
the guy. Unfortunately for him, he’s just very unlucky, and nothing good ever lasts.”
“He studied hard and took national exams, and even though he clearly did well, the best
of them all, because he didn’t pay up a greeting gift to the examiner, he offended the
officials and they hid his test scrolls, exchanging them for blank ones, and for years he
couldn’t land a rank. He got engaged, his fiancee was a childhood friend, beautiful like
flowers, kind and compassionate, but both his wife and little sister were kidnapped by a
wealthy household who turned them into bed attendants; one wouldn’t obey and was
beaten to death, the other couldn’t bear the shame and committed suicide. He went to
quarrel but the other turned around and accused him of committing adultery instead. He
was locked up in jail and almost died from starvation. His old ma and pa of seventy
years begged for mercy for him, kowtowed their heads an entire night, but no use. He
was jailed for two years before he was released. His mom had no one to take care of
her and was long dead from illness, and his dad had to labour for the family by himself
and had only but a breath left. He couldn’t study anymore and got into business, but
because he was too good at it, the other merchants ganged up on him to suppress him.
All the money he made was cleaned away and instead he owed an entire string of
debt.”
“…”
“So what do y’all think?” That waiter sighed, “How can anyone be so unlucky?”
Xie Lian cleared his throat quietly and said earnestly, “Yea.”
How can anyone be so unlucky other than him!
After having lamented, that waiter’s face changed, looking cheery and alive, “And then
that man went crazy, going completely mad. One night, the day before the last day of
Autumn just like today, he took up a bunch of weapons and butchered everyone who
hurt him! It was a bloody sight, flesh and gore flying all over, extremely satisfying! Since
all those he killed bullied all the people in town for ages, everyone cheered for him. So
that’s why, every year on the day before the last day of Autumn, the town would
commemorate him with a Bloody Fire Social, pray Lord He Sheng would watch over us
and kill all the villains.”
Although it was supposed to be the defeat of evil and the proclamation of good, it
seemed like neither ended well. That waiter went away and Xie Lian saw Shi Qingxuan
had on a face of contemplation so he asked, “Lord Wind Master, do you have any
thoughts?”
Shi Qingxuan snapped out of it and said, “I’m having some baffling thoughts, but… it’s
too confusing so I can’t put my finger on it. What about you, Your Highness?”
“I’m thinking, could the Reverend of Empty Words be this He Sheng in its past life?”
In between their exchanges the next troupe had started performing the same story
again and Shi Qingxuan looked over, “His past life?”
“That’s right.” Xie Lian said, “Monsters that are similar to humans are usually born from
the extreme grudge or obsession of some person. For example, I hear there’s a
monster in Dongying called ‘The Bridge Princess”, and it was formed by the grudge of
women. They say it was from the grief of women who waited for husbands that never
returned, and others say it was the madness of jealousy. If, the Reverend of Empty
Words came from the misfortune of someone, it’s not impossible to say it was formed by
that person’s jealousy of another’s fortune or the hatred of his fate?”
“Check for landmarks. Match the timeline.” Ming Yi said.
“Right. This needs to be verified.” Xie Lian said.
To find out if this theory stood, they must investigate how many hundreds of years ago
this “He Sheng” character appeared. If his appearance was later than the earliest record
of the Reverend of Empty Words than this theory would not hold. Shi Qingxuan nodded,
pondered, but still said, “And another thing…”
Just then, a booming voice suddenly came from below, laughing heartily, “JUST WAIT!
YOUR CLOSEST FAMILY, YOUR BESTEST FRIEND, THEY WILL ALL DIE
TRAGICALLY BECAUSE OF YOU!”
Hearing this, Shi Qingxuan’s face immediately changed. He slapped down on the table
with his left hand and leapt down the restaurant, light as a feather.
That voice had come from the parading troupes!
Xie Lian yelled from atop the building, “LORD WIND MASTER! COME BACK!”
Shi Qingxuan landed in that crowd of bloody, live dead people and raged, “COME THE
HELL OUT! COME OUT!!!”
However, those performers all bore wooden expressions; no one cared for him, and
they continued to march like they were in a dream state. Shi Qingxuan was getting
pushed around all over by the flowing crowd, and couldn’t figure out just who looked
fishier; this one looked suspicious, and he’d whip out his Wind Master fan to knock at
them, but then another over there would look more suspicious. If he hit wrong, then it’d
be a life on his hands. Hua Cheng pushed the veggies he hadn’t touched on his plate
into a smiley face, never having looked up once, “It’s useless. It’s too easy for a
thousand-year old monster to hide its foxtails.”
Amidst such a freakish parade, it was too easy for anything unhuman to infiltrate.
Besides, the Venerables of Empty Words already took on the forms of humans,
nevermind the Reverend who was the strongest among them all?
A moment later, Ming Yi jumped down too and pulled Shi Qingxuan out. The group of
them left the main street, walking towards that Temple of Wind and Water. Shi
Qingxuan’s hand that gripped his Wind Master fan was still trembling, but rather than
from fear like earlier, it was more from anger. A small pot of wine from the restaurant
hung from his hand, and after walking for a while, he took a long drink from the pot
before the seething redness of his eyes faded away. “Ming-xiong, maybe you shouldn’t
be my best friend for the time being. Wait til I’ve killed that thing first!”
Ming Yi however, instantly said without holding back, “Who’s that. I’ve never been.”
“…” Shi Qingxuan was outraged, “MING-XIONG THAT’S TOO MUCH. CAN YOU NOT
TURN YOUR BACK ON PEOPLE SO FAST WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH???”
The two of them were bickering and noisy, and Xie LIan shook his head, bringing out
two little objects from his sleeve, “Here, Lord Wind Master I think you best use these
after all.”
Shi Qingxuan took the objects, “Ear plugs?”
Xie Lian nodded, “The idea might be a little dumb and it doesn’t help the root problem,
but it still works for the time being. As long as you can’t hear, that creature can’t do
anything to you. I casted an array, the verbal password is “By Heaven Official’s
Blessings, No Paths are Bound”. Let’s just talk in the array if we need to talk to you.”
Shi Qingxuan plugged his ears and sure enough, he could hear nothing after, and the
four entered the array one after the other. Just then, Xie Lian suddenly heard Hua
Cheng’s voice floating next to his ears, “Gege, gege.”
Xie Lian looked over and saw Hua Cheng was blinking at him. His lips weren’t moving
but his voice was still resounding next to his ears, “Didn’t you say you wanted to talk to
me? You won’t come to me, so I’m reaching out to you.”
Xie Lian smiled and replied, “Well, you’re the one who set your password to something
like that.”
“Fine, fine. My bad.” Hua Cheng said.
Shi Qingxuan adjusted the ear plugs and saw the two of them were looking at each
other smiling without saying a word, and asked in the communication array, puzzled,
“Your Highness, Crimson Rain Sought Flower, what are the two of you doing? Did you
exchange verbal passwords? And now you’re exchanging secrets?”
Xie Lian cleared his throat and said in the communication array with a serious voice,
“Nothing of the sort.”
Hua Cheng raised his brows slightly and passed another message, “You liar.”
Xie Lian’s slipped in his step.
Looking only straight ahead as he walked pretending to be serious, he replied, “San
Lang, stop teasing me… I need your help with something.”
The two of them walked side by side, not looking at each other, and Hua Cheng asked,
“What is it?”
Xie Lian replied, “Work with me to test and see if someone is the Reverend of Empty
Words.”
————-
Ch.108: In the Temple of Wind and Water; Night Chatter to Discern Truth
Hearing this, Hua Cheng turned his head and his eyes fell on the Shi Qingxuan and
Ming Yi who were strangling each other behind them, and he signaled, “Him?”
Xie Lian nodded.
“How do you want to test it?” Hua Cheng asked.
“Many years ago I went up against two Venerables of Empty Words, and even had one
cling on to me for over half a year.” Xie Lian replied, “During those times, I’ve tried to
trap their words and discovered one of their unique traits. They themselves didn’t realize
they have such a trait, so with just a little push, they’ll be easily identified.” Xie Lian then
passed on the secret. Once Hua Cheng heard, he said, “That’s easy. Let’s do it this
way.”
The two finished their discussion and coincidentally they arrived back at that broken
Temple of Wind and Water. It was slightly chilly in the autumn air, the skies were
dimmed. Shi Qingxuan searched all over for the head of his brother’s divine statue and
glued it back on, righting the two statues, and placed them in their proper place on the
altar anew. Xie Lian started a small fire inside the temple using rotten logs he picked up
from around, and the four sat around the fire.
Shi Qingxuan had his ears plugged and petulantly drank a few swigs but finally couldn’t
sit still anymore, “We can’t possibly just sit around to wait for that thing? Is there
anything we can do for entertainment?”
He brought it up first and it was just as Xie Lian had wanted. Ming Yi poked at the fire
and said, “You can still think of entertainment at a time like this?”
Shi Qingxuan spat, “It’s necessary! That thing wants me scared? This ancestor ain’t
scared! This Wind Master will play as happily as he will, happier than ever before. It’ll be
like new years! I hope it dies from anger.”
In the communication array, Xie Lian suggested, “How about let’s roll some dice?”
Shi Qingxuan pulled a long face, “Dice again? Betting over big and small rolls again?
Your Highness are you perhaps addicted?”
“What? No…” Xie Lian said.
“Nevermind. There’s nothing else around anyway. Dice it is. But there’s four of us here,
won’t things get a little confusing?”
“It won’t. Here.” Xie Lian said.
He opened his palm and revealed two crafty little dice. Xie Lian explained, “The four of
us can form two teams. San Lang and I will be one team, my lords can be another team,
and we’ll compete to see who has the better luck. Two dice. Each team gets one turn,
each person rolls once, and add up the rolls of that turn. If the roll is big, that team wins,
and can ask any question of the losing team that they must answer, or have them do
something.”
“I have a question.” Shi Qingxuan said.
“Please ask.” Xie Lian replied,
Shi Qingxuan tapped his foot, “Why are the two of you so naturally a team? Did you
take our feelings into consideration when you divided the teams?”
Xie Lian cleared his throat softly, “Um, well, if you want to switch up the teams that’s fine
too. It makes no difference.”
Shi Qingxuan stuffed his whisk into the back collar of his outer robe and said,
“Whatever. I don’t have any complaints about it anyway, but Crimson Rain Sought
Flower has such good luck, wouldn’t we be at a disadvantage?”
Xie Lian smiled cheerfully at him, “That’s not entirely true. Our team’s San Lang might
be extremely lucky, but my luck is extremely bad. With the two combined, one good one
bad, don’t we cancel each other out?”
Shi Qingxuan gave it a thought and it did make sense, so he smacked his thigh and
shouted, “GOOD! Then let’s have at it!” Then he elbowed Ming Yi, “Ming-xiong, did you
hear the rules? Don’t drag me down, alright?”
Ming Yi gave him a look, and within the spiritual communication array came his cold
voice, “Forgive me but I’m not playing.”
Shi Qingxuan hastily dragged him back, “It-It-It’s ok if you drag me down too!
Nevermind, nevermind, come come come! Just play. Otherwise it’s too sad for me to be
in a team all by myself!”
Thus, the four swore to a simple oath of following the rules and started playing. The first
round, Shi Qingxuan rolled out a ‘five’, Ming Yi rolled out a ‘four’; Hua Cheng rolled out
a ‘six’ and Xie Lian rolled out a ‘one’.
Shi Qingxuan was overjoyed, “HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOUR HIGHNESS YOUR LUCK
REALLY IS BAD, SO BAD! HAHAHAHA….”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and said gently, “Although what lord Wind Master said is
the truth, but, can you not say it with such glee?”
“Ahem! Fine. Then what, we won. This Wind Master will ask the two of you to do
something.” Shi Qingxuan said, “Then, Your Highness, Crimson Rain Sought Flower! I
order you to – to immediately strip each other’s clothing!”
Xie Lian: “???”
“Lord Wind Master???” Xie Lian was alarmed.
Ming Yi turned around looking disgusted, covering his face as if he didn’t want to see
such a repulsive sight. Shi Qingxuan cheered, “Come come come, don’t be a sore loser.
An esteemed heavenly official and an esteemed ghost king, you won’t bail, right? I’m
sitting in place, now, please start your show.”
“…”
Xie Lian looked to Hua Cheng, and Hua Cheng flipped open his arms, mouthing the
words “Gege, it’s not my fault.”
Feeling helpless, Xie Lian could only ask, “How much do we strip?”
Shi Qingxuan was only playing around and would of course not make them look bad, so
he laughed with his legs shaking, “Just one layer is fine. Keep a few on for later,
hehehehehe.”
He actually wanted to continue… Xie Lian hesitated and secretly passed his voice, “San
Lang…”
Hua Cheng’s face showed no ripple of reaction but the voice next to Xie Lian’s ears was
comforting him earnestly, “Don’t worry. Didn’t we agree to let them win a few rounds?
They’ll lose eventually.”
That was indeed something they agreed upon, only, Xie Lian had not expect Shi
Qingxuan would play like this, and felt like he was slapping his own face. He reluctantly
shuffled over to untie Hua Cheng’s waistband, painstakingly helping Hua Cheng out of
his black outer robe, revealing the snow white inner tunic underneath. Hua Cheng also
helped him out of his outer robe looking at ease, his hands slow and gentle, and didn’t
touch any part of Xie Lian’s body. The two of them really only removed their outer robes,
nothing extraordinary and nothing unseemly, but Xie Lian still felt extremely weirded out.
Assuming a proper sitting position, he stammered, “A… Again.”
The second round, Shi Qingxuan rolled out a ‘three’, Ming Yi a ‘six’; Hua Cheng rolled
out a ‘six’ once again, and Xie Lian still rolled a ‘one’.
Shi Qingxuan slammed his fist on the ground repeatedly, laughing out loud, and Xie
Lian looked to Hua Cheng again, the two of them still connected through the private
communication array, “…San Lang!”
This is different than what they agreed on!
Hua Cheng apologized profusely, “Sorry sorry, I forgot just now. Don’t be mad, gege. It’s
my fault this time.”
Shi Qingxuan cheered again, rolling up his sleeves, “Alright, this round, I order you to…”
Xie Lian hurriedly cut in, “Stop! Last round we did the request and stripped. This round
should be questions.”
Shi Qingxuan laughed heartily, “Ask questions? That’s fine too. Then my first question:
Crimson Rain Sought Flower, what’s the worst suffering in the world to you?”
Hua Cheng’s smile faded away and a brief silence settled in the Temple of Wind and
Water.
Shi Qingxuan added, “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean anything by it, I’m just really
curious. To make it as a ghost king like Crimson Rain Sought Flower, is there really
anything left in this world that can make you suffer? Maybe, nothing of the sort exists?”
“What do you think?” Hua Cheng asked back.
Shi Qingxuan pondered and guessed, “The City of Gu at Mount Tong’lu?”
There were indeed many who’d come with that answer when they ponder this question.
However, Hua Cheng only smiled faintly, “That’s nothing to fear.”
Shi Qingxuan was amazed, “That’s not it? Then what is it?”
Hua Cheng’s lips curled but that curve soon disappeared, “I’ll tell you what it is.”
He said softly, “To watch with your own eyes your beloved be trampled and ridiculed yet
unable to do anything. That’s the worst suffering in the world.”
Hearing this, Xie Lian’s breathing stopped and his body froze. In that rundown Temple
of Wind and Water, not a single soul spoke. Shi Qingxuan couldn’t find anything to say,
and only squeezed out after some time, “…Oh.”
Ming Yi’s face still remained cold and he poked at the fire. “Continue.”
Shi Qingxuan scratched his head and waved his hand, “I’m done. Ming-xiong, you ask
something.”
Thus, Ming Yi looked up slightly, staring at Xie Lian, “Your Highness.”
Xie Lian snapped out of it and answered, “Hm?”
Ming Yi asked, “What’s the biggest regret of your life?”
Ming Yi was usually quiet and unspeaking, but the moment he opened his mouth it was
unexpectedly a question of such weight, and Xie Lian was stunned for the moment.
Was it his unheeding of advice and warning, and selfish descent to the lesser realm?
Was it his hubris in thinking himself powerful enough to create rain for Yong’an? Was it
his wishful thinking he could save Xianle? Or was it his reluctance in killing certain
people?
He knew it was none of that.
It was a moment before Xie Lian answered, “My second ascension.”
The other three in the temple all looked at him, unspeaking. Xie Lian spaced out for a
moment, and it was a while before he snapped out of it and asked, “What is it?
Everyone, I’ve answered the question.”
Hua Cheng said quietly, “It’s nothing. Let’s continue.”
The third round, Shi Qingxuan rolled a ‘two’, Ming Yi a ‘two’; Hua Cheng rolled a ‘six’
and Xie Lian a ‘one’.
Seeing this, Xie Lian let out a big, big sigh of relief.
By heaven official’s blessings, they’ve finally won!
It was finally Shi Qingxuan’s team’s turn to be punished, but he was eager and thrilled,
as if he was afraid of nothing, “Come at me! Hit me with your best shot!”
Xie Lian smiled, “Then I will. Lord Earth Master, you first.”
He turned to Ming Yi, “My lord, please answer the questions I’m about to ask properly,
and please don’t lie.”
Ming Yi didn’t say anything and Shi Qingxuan waved his hand, “Don’t worry. Ming-xiong
is someone who doesn’t even know how to lie.”
Xie Lian grinned, “Very well. First question: Who am I?”
Shi Qingxuan was taken aback, “Your Highness, what kind of question is that? Aren’t
you, you? Who else can you be???”
Hearing this, Ming Yi slowly raised his head and looked Xie Lian in the eyes, then he
answered, “The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Xianle, Xie Lian.”
Xie Lian nodded, then asked, “The second question, who’s the one sitting next to me?”
After a pause, Ming Yi answered, “The Lord of Ghost City, Crimson Rain Sought
Flower.”
Xie Lian then asked again, “Then, the last question – who’s the one sitting next to you?”
Shi Qingxuan was becoming more and more confused, “Your Highness, what are you
two playing at? Who am I? I’m the Wind Master???”
“Lord Earth Master, please answer.” Xie Lian pressed.
This time, Ming Yi didn’t answer as fast.
After having run into the Venerables of Empty Words many times, Xie Lian discovered a
fascinating trait they possess and that was this: whenever the Venerables of Empty
Words speak, out of three sentences, at least one would be a lie.
This unique trait was akin to how a normal human being, no matter how healthy or
strong, would need to drink water in the span of three days, otherwise they’d die from
dehydration, and this nature could not be changed no matter how powerful one was.
The Distance Shortening Array was drawn by Ming Yi, the last one out the door was
also Ming Yi, so if anyone should meddle, he had the most chance. Therefore, of course
Xie Lian would suspect him. However, at the time Shi Qingxuan was obviously
distraught, so if Xie Lian voiced his suspicion, it would no doubt only make Shi
Qingxuan even more distressed, allowing for the Reverend of Empty Words to suck
more negative emotions from him, turning them into its powers. Thus, at that time, Xie
Lian immediately found another possibility. But, in reality, he had never given up on the
most straightforward possibility.
Although generally speaking the Wind Master and the Earth Master shared a very good
relationship, and it’d be impossible for the Wind Master not to notice if the Reverend of
Empty Words was pretending to be the Earth Master. However, what if the Reverend of
Empty Words really did surreptitiously possess Ming Yi?
Thus, at the beginning he wanted Hua Cheng to work with him to beat around the bush
and trap Ming Yi’s words. Hua Cheng however, suggested that since they never really
conversed, if he should be the one to trap Ming Yi’s words it’d be unnatural. Why not
use the pretense of a game and create opportunities? Let Ming Yi himself speak then
see if they could observe and find anything without the Wind Master and the Earth
Master noticing.
Yet, Ming Yi had always been a man of few words, and even in a fervent atmosphere
each of his words were precious like gold. Earlier in the duration of the game, Xie Lian
paid close attention to everything he said but it was all equivocal, nothing that could
determine whether if he was lying. In the end, he had to use the killing hand and borrow
Hua Cheng’s skill, secretly controlling the roll of dice to make Ming Yi lose intentionally.
Then with the three sudden questions, Ming Yi would have no choice but to answer on
the spot.
Because it was all a game, Shi Qingxuan hadn’t yet realized anything and thought they
were still joking around, and thus that Reverend of Empty Words couldn’t take the
chance to sneak in and suck out power. However, should Ming Yi answer wrong, he’d
show himself and Xie Lian would seize him immediately.
A creature like the Venerable of Empty Words would lie within three sentences. Now,
Xie Lian had asked two questions, and Ming Yi answered both correctly. Which meant, if
Ming Yi was the Reverend of Empty Words, he would no doubt answer the last question
with a lie.
————-
Ch.109: In the Temple of Wind and Water; Night Chatter to Discern Truth 2
If Ming Yi really wanted to fudge the test, he could very well answer ambiguously or
pretend to joke. However, he answered the first two questions simply and succinctly
without any tricks, so the last answer should also be the same, otherwise it would be out
of Ming Yi’s character which would also prove that he wasn’t normal.
Xie Lian and Ming Yi stared at each other calmly. A moment later, Ming Yi finally spoke.
He used a tone that was no different than the last two times he responded, “One of the
five elemental masters, the younger brother of the Water Master Wudu, the Wind
Master Qingxuan.”
Shi Qingxuan shook his head, “Sigh, why the hell didn’t you say “My best friend”?”
Ming Yi looked at him, “Who’s that?”
Hearing this, Xie Lian silently blew out a breath.
As aforementioned, although the Reverend of Empty Words was called ‘Reverend’, it
wasn’t a real man of cloth with any holy spirituality. As long as it remained classified as
ghosts and demons, it would never be able to escape from the unique traits of their
kind. Three sentences had been fulfilled, and all three were undoubtedly true, so it
seemed there’s nothing amiss with Ming Yi. Except unless Shi Wudu and Shi Qingxuan
were not real blood brothers, but such an unbelievably shocking turn of events shouldn’t
be possible.
Unexpectedly, before he fully exhaled, Ming Yi’s hand suddenly shot out, grabbing
straight for his throat!
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng both moved to fend off that hand at the same time, three
hands fast as lightning, so intense it made Shi Qingxuan leap to his feet,
“MING-XIONG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Ming Yi glared at Xie Lian intently, speaking with a dark voice, “You asked three
questions, but in the last round I only asked one.”
Xie Lian smiled, “Lord Earth Master, please think back on the rules carefully. I never
said you could only ask one question per round.”
“Very well.” Ming Yi said, “Then I’ll add to my question now. Who are you?”
“Didn’t you already answer this question yourself earlier?” Xie Lian asked.
Ming Yi replied, “Perhaps I answered wrong. Otherwise, will His Highness please
explain why the need to setup this game so suddenly, and why ask those three strange
questions? Lord Ghost King is skilled in the art of manipulation, but to use it on petty
entertainment seems to be overkill and unnecessary.”
Hua Cheng laughed, “Well, now. As long as I feel like it, I’ll use it however I will.”
It must be said that while Xie Lian and Hua Cheng saw Ming Yi as suspicious, Ming Yi
too thought them equally suspicious. From the moment Ming Yi suddenly struck, they
had spoken through their lips, and stopped using the communication array. Shi
Qingxuan didn’t know what they were arguing about but he didn’t dare remove his ear
plugs rashly either, so he could only say, “Stop stop stop, I order you all to stop right
now and tell me what happened. Otherwise… OTHERWISE I’M GONNA BUTT IN
TOO!” Then he flashed open his Wind Master fan. Ming Yi however, shoved him aside,
“Move! Stop adding to the trouble!”
Just then, a sudden eerie breeze blew past, and the flames of the small campfire the
four surrounded quivered with the eerie wind, dancing wildly. Silhouettes and shadows
illuminated by the flames flickered madly, such that even the two one male one female
divine statues on the altar seemed to be smiling but not, crying but not, exceedingly
creepy. Ming Yi then dragged Shi Qingxuan up and said, alarmed, “Something’s here.”
Shi Qingxuan was first shoved by him head first to the ground in a heap and now was
dragged up abruptly, he was dizzy and seeing stars, “MING-XIONG! CAN YOU
PLEASE BE NICER TO ME!!!!”
“No time.” Ming Yi said.
Xie Lian had been watching and staring at the two statues and suddenly said, “Look at
their eyes!”
The four looked over and saw on the smiling faces of those two divine statues hung four
lines of blood. From the eyes of those clay divine statues streamed tears of blood.
Divine statues that had been blessed in ceremonies and worshipped possessed certain
repelling powers against evil. Even if evil wasn’t warded off for miles, it typically still
couldn’t be defiled and abused by non humans. That Reverend of Empty Words was
certainly powerful. Shi Qingxuan was still here and it made the statue of the Wind
Master cry blood tears before the Wind Master himself. The tears of blood were growing
thicker and heavier, dripping to the ground and gathering into a twisted, complex form.
Shi Qingxuan was bewildered, “What’s that thing? Is it… drawing?”
He couldn’t make out just what shapes it was forming and he didn’t go closer, only
looking at it from different angles trying to figure it out. Soon after, Xie Lian suddenly
snapped out of it: it wasn’t a drawing, it was an upside down word!
He immediately shouted, “DON’T LOOK! IT’S WRITTEN FOR YOU!”
Ming Yi struck out a palm and BOOM! Both the traces of blood on the ground and the
two divine statues were blasted into pieces. Shi Qingxuan was eyes wide with shock,
“Ming-xiong! You… you you you, you can’t let my brother know about this, otherwise
he’ll never forgive you!”
To destroy a heavenly official’s divine statue was to be extremely disrespectful of said
heavenly official. Yet today, Ming Yi first cracked the establishment plaque into two then
blasted the statues into pieces. This was no different than bashing down someone’s
household then soundly slapping the face of said household’s old master. If this went
out and the person in question found out, they wouldn’t sit back and do nothing; who
knows if a bloody storm would rise from it.
Just then, Xie Lian inadvertently turned his head and suddenly noticed the plaque that
they broke earlier and properly set aside had characters that weren’t quite right. That
establishment plaque had a blue base and golden letters with the words “Temple of
Wind and Water”, but now the words had turned into twisted, bloody red shapes,
seemingly forming the word “Death”.
In a blink of a second, he covered Shi Qingxuan’s eyes and yelled in the communication
array, “CLOSE YOUR EYES!”
“WHAT NOW?!” Shi Qingxuan shouted back.
“Nothing. But the words on the establishment plaque of your temple have changed too.
That creature knows you can’t hear anymore so it’s changed to writing.” Xie Lian
explained.
“The hell!” Shi Qingxuan exclaimed, “Now I can’t hear anything nor see anything, am I
not both deaf and blind?!”
Xie Lian let go of his hands and said, “Don’t worry, just calm down. We’re here for you.”
Ming Yi grabbed hold of Shi Qingxuan’s back collar and dragged him aside. Shi
Qingxuan still had his eyes closed and he put his palms together as in a prayer, “So
reassuring!”
Just as the words left his mouth, there was suddenly a huge noisy commotion that came
from just outside the rundown temple. Black blurs crossed Xie Lian’s eyes and the next
moment, there was a large rowdy crowd of people howling like devils and they poured in
like blackened tide.
The crowd was truly full of bizarre strangeness, weird forms and monstrous shapes.
Some had decapitated heads, some were hanged, some had large blades piercing their
skulls, some had their abdomens cut open… all sorts. Shi Qingxuan couldn’t hear and
couldn’t see, but instinctively sensed the footsteps all around were disorderly and
chaotic, and in the ruckus he was also pushed around a couple times. He asked in the
communication array, bewildered, “What’s going on? What’s come? Why are there
suddenly so many people???”
“It’s nothing major,” Xie Lian said, “It’s the night parade of the Bloody Fire Social. Let’s
just get out of here.”
The Bloody Fire Social of some regions, other than parades in the day, sometimes there
would be further entertainment in the night. Not only did the parading performers want
to get their fill of scaring people, many common people also had the urge to do the
same, thus, they would imitate the eerie makeup of the Bloody Fire Social and use the
dark of night to come out and scare others. Unfortunately the four of them seemed to
have run into such a group of night cruisers.
This rowdy crowd of ordinary common people didn’t have the same realistic, intricate
makeup as the parading troupes, but they were nevertheless formidable due to sheer
numbers, and was quite the sight to behold. Especially with the dimmed skies, their
appearances were exceedingly ghastly. Thus, towns that had such after hours
entertainment, on the night of Bloody Fire Social, the locals would all lock up tightly,
keeping indoors. Those night cruisers had been wandering about for some time, and
when they finally saw there were people inside the broken shrine, they were quite
excited as if they spotted prey, and in an instant over fifty of them charged in,
overcrowding that small temple.
The four of them were drowned in the pandemonium; Xie Lian kept looking back but
could only see Hua Cheng who was still next to him, never more than two steps away,
and the other two were pushed more than seven to eight feet away. He shouted,
“Everyone, let’s get out!”
However, among the night cruisers, some were purely there for fun, but there were
others who were shrewd small merchants, there specifically to scam some money from
tourists who had come from afar to watch the Bloody Fire Social. They blocked them,
not letting them leave, clingy and tenacious as they cajoled, “Young masters, grant us
some rewards!”
“We worked so hard to dress up, if you had fun then grant us some rewards!”
“Yea, it ain’t easy for us either, and this is only a once a year thing!”
“If you don’t reward us watch out for the Old Ghost Master who’ll come haunt you!”
Since this whole affair had nothing to do with him, Hua Cheng only watched from the
side, not a single bit anxious, so when he heard he only laughed out loud, “Well now, I
like to see what kind of ghost dare come knocking on my door!”
Just then, as Xie Lian swept a look at the crowd, he suddenly saw at the edge a pale
faced hanged ghost who was just smiling creepily as it wrapped a rope around
someone’s neck.
Although it was riotous all around and everyone was covered in blood, their faces
askew, endlessly enacting you kill me, I kill you, you’re now dead, I’m now dead, and
oftentimes there’d be someone who’s wail and fall, hard to differentiate the real from the
fake, still Xie Lian’s instincts told him that ‘person’ wasn’t right, and he threw out his
arm. Ruoye flew out and struck that hanged ghost squarely on the head.
Sure enough, that hanged ghost wailed and turned into a wisp of black smoke, fleeing
through a small crack in the ground. No one around noticed but Xie Lian saw everything
clearly. He warned in the communication array, “Everyone be careful! Something’s here
mixed within!”
Compared to earlier, there seemed to be an added cloud of evil within the Temple of
Wind and Water; it naturally wouldn’t be the Reverend of Empty Words but some little
minions that came from who knows where. Having enacted ghosts for so long, there
would for sure be a day real ones be attracted. To have them show up right now, it really
was adding oil to fire. There really was too many people, too much chaos in the temple,
heads knocking heads, feet stepping on feet, too difficult to determine just who that
essence of evil came from. Xie Lian grabbed Hua Cheng and ran out of the Temple of
Wind and Water. He was about to ask after the others but found he didn’t have enough
powers, that his power was almost depleted and couldn’t enter the communication
array. In that moment of urgency he turned to Hua Cheng, “San Lang, lend me a bit of
spiritual power, I’ll pay you back later!”
Of course, his “I’ll pay you back later” was nonsense. He had never been able to pay
back any powers he borrowed. “Alright.” Hua Cheng said, then extended his hand to
hold Xie Lian’s. Xie Lian could faintly feel warmth passing over, and it just so happened
a few bloody individuals came running out of the temple straight for him. The last one
behind who was dropping innards as he ran, his face full of livor mortis, setting off a
faint essence of evil, and without thinking, Xie Lian raised his hand to blast a shot from
his palm.
A booming sound like that of an explosion was heard, and at the same time, a blinding
white light flashed. It was only after a good moment before Xie Lian came to.
The place where that ghost with the cut belly was mixed with the crowd had only a
mound of black ash like residue. As for the Temple of Wind and Water before them, the
entire rooftop was blown away. The rioting night cruisers in the temple were all stilled,
frozen in shock from that booming sound and that white light.
“…”
Xie Lian raised his head to look at that Temple of Wind and Water with a missing roof
then looked down at his own hand before finally slowly turning his head back around to
look at the Hua Cheng standing behind him. Hua Cheng smiled at him, “It that enough?”
“…”
“It is.” Xie Lian said, “Actually… really, just a little bit, would’ve been fine.”
“That was a little bit,” Hua Cheng said, “Do you want more? You can have as much as
you want.”
Xie Lian immediately shook his head. Before, he had also borrowed spiritual power from
Shi Qingxuan, Nan Feng, and others, and they lent very generously. However, Xie Lian
had never experienced such a feeling, as if all the blood in his veins had turned into
electricity and was charging through his body. If it’s said the powers he borrowed from
before had to be economized and saved, taking one bite at a time afraid to waste it,
then now, he felt like he could eat one full bowl and throw away ten others and it
wouldn’t be a problem.
The powers Hua Cheng passed onto him was too great, filling his entire body, to the
point where Xie Lian was almost afraid to move, scared that with just a wave of his
hand, something else next to him was going to explode. Using the temporary calm of
their surroundings, he hurriedly entered the communication array and asked, “Lord
Wind Master, where are you? I’ve left the temple but I didn’t see you.”
“Ugh, my god…” Shi Qingxuan groaned inside the communication array, “Your Highness
why did your voice suddenly turn so loud? I left the Temple of Wind and Water too.”
Xie Lian lowered a bit of the power and replied, “Sorry, I’m having some trouble
controlling it. How did you leave? Are you alright?” Shi Qingxuan had his ears plugged
and eyes closed right now.
“Pff, how else could I have left? Ming-xiong pulled me out. Thank goodness I wasn’t
trampled to death by that crowd.” Shi Qingxuan said.
Soon after, Ming Yi’s voice also sounded in the spiritual communication array. However,
his words froze the small smile that only just surfaced on Xie Lian’s face. “That’s wasn’t
me!” He said.
It wasn’t?!
Oh no! Xie Lian whipped his head around, “LORD WIND MASTER! JUST WHO WAS IT
THAT PULLED YOU AWAY?!”
———-
Ch.110: Fight the Reverend; Crown Prince Takes Wind Master’s Place
However, no more sounds came from Shi Qingxuan.
Xie Lian was feeling unsettled, “Lord Wind Master, what happened to you? Are you still
here? What’s going on? Why aren’t you saying anything???”
If he was only taken away by rowdy night cruisers who were only seeking a bit of fun, he
wouldn’t be so quiet so suddenly, so had he met harm already? But being anxious and
distraught was useless, since he didn’t even know where Wind Master was.
The crowd finally quieted down and Ming Yi was finally able to push out from the Temple
of Wind and Water. The heavenly realm had a decree to never use spiritual powers
selfishly on mortals nor appear before them at will. If mortal lives were harmed or taken,
it would be recorded and penalized. That decree certainly made things difficult for
law-abiding heavenly officials, otherwise, with just a wave of their hands, those people
would fly away like that roof. The crowd finally snapped out of it and started screaming
wildly, “IT, IT’S APPEARED! IT REALLY APPEARED!” “THE MONSTERS HAVE
COME!” And the crowd broke up and dispersed.
“Lord Earth Master!” Xie Lian asked anxiously, “How come you didn’t hold on to Lord
Wind Master earlier? Have you seen him? When was he lost?”
“There were ghosts snuck in and ambushing people in the crowd earlier.” Ming Yi
explained.
It seemed that he saw there were lives on the line and split his attention to go save
them, attacking ghosts but lost a friend.
“Let’s split up and search!” Xie Lian said, “He shouldn’t have gone far.”
Suddenly, within the communication array came Shi Qingxuan’s voice anew. He was
laughing boisterously, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA….”
This laughter came abruptly and at least there was finally something, and Xie Lian
hurriedly asked, “Lord Wind Master! What happened to you just now, why did you
suddenly stop talking? I thought something happened to you.”
“HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA HOWCANANYTHINGHAPPEN TO THIS WINDMASTER I
WASONLYTRYINGTOSCAREYOUALL HAHAHAHAHAHA MINGXIONGYOUBASTARD
HOWDARE YOUNOTGRABHOLD OFME IF I DIE
I’MDEFINITELYTURNINGINTOASUPREMETOCOME AND HAU N T Y O U u
HAHAHAHAHAH…”
“Stop your haha-ing. Say something sensible!” Ming Yi demanded.
Xie Lian already knew that the more anxious and frightened Shi Qingxuan was the more
he would hahaha. In fact, he’d even forgotten to pause between words. Xie Lian
interrupted, “You didn’t open your mouth to speak, did you? Your expression didn’t show
any obvious changes? Have you fought back?”
“I didn’t speak. My expressions didn’t change. I didn’t fight back.” Shi Qingxuan said.
Xie Lian relaxed his tone and said gently, “Very good. Lord Wind Master, listen to me.
Everything’s alright, don’t be scared. Keep up the current status quo and pretend you
didn’t notice anything. If you have something to say just tell it to us here in the
communication array secretly. Absolutely do not let that creature notice you already
know what it is. Slowly spread your spiritual aura and form a spiritual barrier to protect
your person, that way you can at least ensure you won’t trip or fall into a ditch. If any
weapons should attack you you’d be able to sense it too.”
Shi Qingxuan’s voice sounded like weeping without tears, “Oh. And then?”
Xie Lian continued, “And then take deep breaths. Just like that. Do it a couple times…
do you feel a little better?”
His tone was very soft and gentle, quite effective when it came to comforting another.
Shi Qingxuan said, “Maybe a little bit. Thanks, Your Highness.”
Xie Lian then tried probing, “Now… how do you think you would feel if you tried to open
your eyes and sneak a look at that creature pulling you?” Would he be able to hang on?
“I’ll probably die.” Shi Qingxuan said.
“…”
It seemed if Shi Qingxuan was to open his eyes, his terror would peak the moment the
eyes could see, and turn into the most delicious and delicate meal for the Reverend of
Empty Words. After that, he would probably lose all ability to fight. Besides, if the
moment he opened his eyes and that thing was also staring back at him, the esteemed
Wind Master would probably foam at the mouth on the spot and crash like a fallen star.
Xie Lian said, “Then you just keep your eyes closed.”
“After it took you out of the Temple of Wind and Water, which direction did you go?”
Ming Yi asked.
Right now what they needed the most was Shi Qingxuan’s location. Shi Qingxuan’s
eyes were closed and couldn’t see where he was going, but he should still have a
general idea of his position and use the count of his steps to determine how far away he
was.
Yet, Shi Qingxuan replied, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t even know such a thing?!”
Shi Qingxuan was outraged, “Who in their right minds would remember those things?
And didn’t I think it was you pulling me?!”
On the side, Hua Cheng was still only observing, and was already bored to the point
where he changed back into his red robes. Then he changed to black robes again. Then
to white robes. Almost every time Xie Lian looked back, he would be donning a different
appearance, and every look accompanied different hairstyles, accessories, and boots,
etc., sometimes playful, sometimes elegant, sometimes deadly, sometimes glamourous.
Xie Lian was growing dizzy from all the colours and kept looking back, unable to look
away. Yet the moment he realized what he was doing he blinked fiercely, stopping
himself from blurting out, “That outfit’s not bad” “That looks good”, and said instead,
“Stop, stop, now’s not the time to argue. With every word Lord Wind Master takes
another step, and the more he goes the harder he’d be to find.”
Shi Qingxuan moaned grievously, “I say, is it really that hard for you guys to find me? It’s
not more than fifty-sixty steps? It can’t be over a hundred, and we’re not even going that
fast!!!”
Not over a hundred steps? Ming Yi immediately charged out, disappearing at the end of
the street. Not long after, he reappeared fast as lightning before the entrance of the
Temple of Wind and Water. “Not there!”
Curses. “The Distance Shortening Array!” Xie Lian cried.
After that Reverend of Empty Words used that chaos to take the Wind Master out of the
Temple of Wind and Water, it probably casted the Distance Shortening array and sent
them both elsewhere. Otherwise, a distance within a hundred steps should’ve been
easy to find. Once that spell was used, who knows where in the world they were sent?
Searching for the Wind Master was no different than searching for a needle in a
haystack!
They couldn’t be careless in this affair, and Xie Lian immediately said, “I will go report
this to the Heavenly Court.”
However, Shi Qingxuan hastily stopped him, “Wait! Your Highness, don’t go! You
promised me to keep this a secret. My brother’s third heavenly calamity is about to
approach. The third one is huge, he can’t be perturbed right now!”
“Keep this up, I’ll make you go through a trial right now.” Ming Yi said.
Shi Qingxuan was enraged, “I said no and I mean it. How many eyes are watching my
brother? This thing definitely picked this timing intentionally, I won’t let it have its way!
Never! Even if I die and my bones rot, it’ll still have to be after my brother’s completed
his trial before I be dug out!”
A moment later Ming Yi relented, “Fine. Very good.”
Xie Lian was sharp and sensed that in his tone there was a wave of fury oppressed, and
it was an intense emotion that never surfaced before, making Xie Lian feel rather
unsettled. Unwilling for any other issues to start, he cut in, “Lord Wind Master, is that
creature still moving with you in hand?”
“Yea.” Shi Qingxuan replied, “It’s dragging my arm.”
“Is there anything notable on its body? Like a peculiar essence of evil, or a certain
scent, feel, or something?” Xie Lian asked.
“No. There’s nothing.”
“What about your surroundings? Like, is the path under your feet jagged or smooth?
Have you stepped on something or kicked something?” Xie Lian wanted to see if he
could draw a general perimeter based on surrounding environments.
“The path is very strange!” Shi Qingxuan said, “Very soft, very light, like clouds.”
“…”
Xie Lian thought, ‘You’re probably just weak in the knees from terror….’
Two out of five of Shi Qingxuan’s senses were already sealed; it was hard to scrape any
clues and they would more than likely break off from here. Although Hua Cheng had
always been next to them watching the show leisurely, but him coming had always been
only for entertainment; he had no attachments to Shi Qingxuan whatsoever and as an
entity of the ghost realm, he had no reason to help a heavenly official. Second, Xie Lian
didn’t want to trouble him and beg him for help all the time. Thus, he steadied himself
and said, “Lord Wind Master, I have a way to have you break away from that creature
immediately. But, I need your permission.”
Shi Qingxuan instantly replied, “Ok! I give you permission!”
However, Hua Cheng suddenly stopped, “The Soul Shifting Spell?”
“What?”
Xie Lian responded, “That’s right. The Soul Shifting Spell!”
The Soul Shifting Spell was exactly like as its name indicated and it was a stint to switch
souls. Using my eyes to see what you see. This spell wasn’t often used; first it brutally
burns spiritual power, second, very few were willing to give up control of their own
bodies. Hua Cheng’s expression grew serious, “Gege, prudence.”
“What’re you gonna do if it faces you?” Shi Qingxuan asked.
“I’m not scared of it so it doesn’t matter.” Xie Lian replied.
“Do it.” Ming Yi said.
Hua Cheng however, pressed again, “Gege, please reconsider.”
Suddenly, Shi Qingxuan said, “It’s stopped.”
Hearing this, Xie Lian shouted in the communication array, “No more time to hesitate!
Now!”
Shi Qingxuan gritted his teeth and said, “It’s all up to you now, Your Highness!”
“Ok!” Xie Lian said.
Just as the words left his mouth, he closed both his eyes and his body suddenly felt
feather light, light to the point it felt like he was floating into the heavens; abruptly it
became exceedingly heavy, to the point like he was going to bore into the earth. It was
after a wave of nauseating whirling before senses returned to him. He steadied his form
but his eyes were still closed. However, not a single sound could be heard from his
ears.
There was an hand grabbing hold of his arm, standing still.
Xie Lian opened his eyes in a flash, one hand removing the ear plugs and the other
flipped, seizing the Reverend of Empty Words in reverse. He smiled, “Hi there.”
Shi Qingxuan had his eyes closed for a long time, and it was pitch black all around,
thus, in the instant Xie Lian opened the eyes of his body, he couldn’t yet adjust to the
darkness and couldn’t see anything. However, what was grabbing onto him was now
something he grabbed onto. Ruoye wasn’t around so Xie Lian casted a hand locking
spell, and secured that hand like a steal cuff to prevent the other to escape using magic.
Within the communication array came Shi Qingxuan’s voice, “Your Highness! Are you
alright? Maybe it’s better if you switch back and I’ll take over myself!!!”
It seemed Shi Qingxuan had also safely switched to this body. Xie Lian had in his hand
a firm grip on that Reverend of Empty Words, and his leg shot out, kicking at it over
thirty times, “I’m fine!” Since souls were only just switched, it would need time to adjust.
Once he’s gotten used to it, his moves would become even more brutal.
“Your Highness, let me tell you the incantation for manipulating my spiritual devices, use
as much of my spiritual power as you need, don’t hold back!”
Xie Lian had no sword to wield and flashed open the Wind Master fan, “Ok!”
Shi Qingxuan then added, “I’ll tell you the spell for transforming into a woman too, I’m
stronger in my feminine form!”
Xie Lian resolutely refused, “No. That’s not necessary.”
Hua Cheng spoke up gravely, “Gege, hurry and take a look at the surroundings. Tell me
what place it is.”
“No,” Ming Yi said, “Tell us first what is fighting you right now.”
After some exchanges, Xie Lian’s eyes were gradually adjusted to the dark
environment. He squinted and looked to that black shadow before him.
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