Wind carried over exotic sounds of singing, sweet like frolicking and ethereal like a faint breeze.

Following the singing, Xie Lian walked in and lifted up the clinking beaded curtain with one hand, and a warm fragrant breeze rushed towards his face. He turned his head a little, seemingly to avoid this air of decadence.

The main hall of Paradise Manor was covered with a thick red carpet, and girls baring their snow-white feet spun freely, as if roses with poisonous thorns blooming deep in the middle of the night. When they spun towards Xie Lian, they would eye him flirtatiously. But with a quick glimpse, the glazed mirror on the ceiling reflected their true shapes - skeletons draped in tattered gauze and dry, loose hair.

Pink skeletons.

This kind of female ghosts were transfigured from the unburied corpses of prostitutes. They sang and danced for others when they lived, but sang and danced for themselves only after death. If a traveler broke in late at night, probably before he could indulge in the land of tender for any duration, he would already be frightened to death.

At the end of the main hall was a long couch, covered with the full pelt of some unknown monster. It could accommodate more than ten people lying together, but only one man in red sat on it, which was Hua Cheng.

Numerous beautiful girls sang and danced in front of him, but he didn’t even lift his eyelids, only stared at before himself a little golden palace. Suddenly, he flashed a bright smile and flicked at the top of the little golden palace - crash boom bang, the whole golden palace collapsed.

Gold foils scattered all over the floor. Yet Hua Cheng was as happy as a child pushing down his toy blocks. Tossing aside the piece of gold foil he absentmindedly played with, he jumped off the couch. The girls quickly backed away to both sides and stopped singing. Meanwhile Hua Cheng stepped on the shiny golden pieces covering the floor and walked towards him with hands behind his back, “Now that you are here, why hasn’t gege come forward? Did you grow distant from San Lang after only a few days apart?”

Xie Lian let go of the beaded curtain, “Just now at the gambler’s den, it was San Lang who pretended not to know me.”

Hua Cheng had walked up to him. “Gege’s colleagues from the Heavenly Realm were also there, so I had to muddle through and put on a show.”

Sure enough, Hua Cheng had seen through the three of them tearing up the place. But Hua Cheng still allowed them to mess around, which was truly considerate. Hua Cheng said, “Gege, did you come this time specially to see me?”

Not this time. Xie Lian didn’t want to lie to him on this issue. Fortunately, Hua Cheng was not at all expecting his answer. Hua Cheng smiled slightly, “Whether you come specially to see me or not, I am happy.”

Xie Lian was taken aback, and the pink skeletons who had stayed quiet at both sides let out a burst of giggles. Hua Cheng glanced at them, and the girls cupped their faces and screamed softly, pretending to be frightened, then in an instant turned into dispersed red smoke and blew outside. Such a grand palace, only two people remained. Hua Cheng tilted his head a little, “Come and sit here, please.”

The two of them walked to the couch side by side; Xie Lian looked up and down at Hua Cheng. He actually changed into another outfit, a white middle shirt with the collar slightly open, and a red coat that fell off his shoulders, which was more casual and more luxurious than the earlier one, seemingly meant for leisurely breaks at home.

He studied for too long, and Hua Cheng asked, “Gege, what are you looking at me for?”

Xie Lian said, “So, is this the true form that you wouldn’t show me before?”

Hua Cheng’s shoulders appeared to have briefly stiffened. Xie Lian said, “It is great.”

Hua Cheng said, “What’s so great about it?”

Xie Lian sighed, “Last time you made it sound so scary. I was prepared for you to have a green face, raised teeth, and ugly like a yaksha, but looking at you now, you are simply a little bit older and taller.”

Hua Cheng let out a smile. Xie Lian continued, “No one has ever seen Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s true form, but we have been true to each other since we first met, isn’t it great? Moreover, I think everyone else is convinced that this is also a fake skin, and I am the only one who knows that this is the true form, privy to such an amazing secret, isn’t it great?”

Hua Cheng’s smile deepened, his expression returned to normal, and he said, half serious and half joking, “Gege is so good at talking.”

Xie Lian said frankly, “It’s not that I’m good at talking, it’s because you are genuinely good-looking.”

Hua Cheng was actually stunned. He turned his head to the side for a while before turning back, “Gege, you are making fun of me!”

Xie Lian said sincerely, “I’m not making fun of you. City Lord Hua has exceptional style and superb skills; I happily admit my inferiority.” Remembering during the night talk at Puqi Shrine, Hua Cheng seemed to place great importance on a man’s appearance, Xie Lian of course had to vigorously praise him, so he wouldn’t have any doubts about himself.

When it came to “exceptional style”, Hua Cheng’s eyes sparkled, but when it came to “superb skills”, he said seriously, “Now that you’ve mentioned this, I have something to say. Gege, you forgot this.”

The branch of richly red flowers had at some point reappeared in his hand, and he passed it over. Hua Cheng said, “Gege intentionally lost, was it because you have some misunderstanding about me? Would I have killed it?”

Xie Lian took the flowers and was mildly surprised. Hua Cheng actually saw through him.

Xie Lian also only realized in the final round that the question was inappropriate. Whether the talisman burned or not could indeed indicate whether the thing in the cup was dead or alive. But if he answered “alive”, it was easy to right there make the thing inside dead. If the thing in the cup was a bunny, a little demon, or even a human soul, then the game would no longer be just good fun.

Xie Lian shook his head, “It’s not that I was worried. Of course I knew you wouldn’t do this. I just thought that it’s better not to afford others the opportunity to make this kind of choice.”

Looking around, he stood up, “I heard on the way that Paradise Manor is City Lord Hua’s own warm nest, so has San Lang brought me to a pleasure-seeking place of fire flowers?”

Hua Cheng opened his eyes wide, “What are you talking about, gege? I never go to the place of fire flowers.”

He sounded as if his innocence had been wrongly called into doubt; Xie Lian deliberately teased him, “What, so you never go there?”

Hua Cheng looked up at him, “Gege, do I have a face that makes you think that?”

Xie Lian only then smiled, “It’s very good that you don’t go there. Treasure yourself and keep yourself clean, behave the body and cultivate the mind, and don’t go there in the future either.”

Hua Cheng appeared very obedient, “I will carefully follow gege’s teachings.”

Xie Lian was nodding with satisfaction when he caught a trace of unusual movement. It turned out that the scimitar on Hua Cheng’s waist had popped its silver eye wide open and rolled it around once. Hua Cheng lowered his head and took a look, “Gege, please excuse me for a moment.”

Xie Lian said, “Something happened? Shall I go and have a look, too?”

Hua Cheng gently pushed him back, “It’s nothing, just trash making trouble. Now that you’ve come to my place, gege can just relax; call someone if you need anything, no one dares not to listen. I’ll be right back.”

Having said that, he turned around and proceeded to walk out, seemingly unhappy about his mood being spoiled. He waved a hand from afar, and the beaded curtain pitter-pattered open to both sides. After he exited, the curtain of jades and pearls pitter-pattered together again, clashing into a crisp rattling rain.

Xie Lian sat on the monster’s fur for a bit then left the hall and wandered around Paradise Manor. They had already searched the outskirts of Ghost City, so the last place where the heavenly official might be hidden would have to be here. The criss-crossing vermilion corridors were deserted. Xie Lian walked around aimlessly for a while, then suddenly glimpsed a black figure flashing past.

The Waning Moon Messenger!

He was rushing, so he must not be taking a casual stroll. Xie Lian immediately got on his tail.

After a while, the ghost messenger had made many twists and turns, and Xie Lian still tailed him from about ten meters behind like a phantom. The two of them turned into a long corridor with a sumptuous door at the end. The Waning Moon Messenger arrived at the door, then abruptly looked back.

But he didn’t see anything, because Xie Lian was already above his head.

Next to the door stood a statue of a lady, lithe and elegant, her hands holding up a jade plate. The Waning Moon Messenger did not open the door at first, instead he threw something onto the plate. Hearing a couple crisp sounds of “clink clank”, Xie Lian secretly guessed, “Dice?”

Having listened to this sound all day, he was worried that it would keep on ringing in his ears for a long time to come. Sure enough, when the ghost messenger removed his hand, there were indeed two dice on the plate, both showing bright red sixes.

The door popped open by itself, and the Waning Moon Messenger retrieved the dice and entered.

Xie Lian floated to the ground like a piece of paper. By reasoning, this room was not big, and whatever one was doing inside should make some noise. But there had not been a single sound since the ghost messenger entered and closed the door. Xie Lian raised his hand decisively and pushed.

As expected, there was no one in the room, and all furnishings were clearly visible, rendering hidden space impossible. Xie Lian looked thoughtfully at the nearby statue of a lady. It appeared that the house was indeed locked. However, it was not a real lock, but a spell lock.

To open a lock one needed a key. The key for unlocking this door was to throw the dice and get two “sixes”.

But this was what’s most difficult. For him, it was absolutely impossible!

Suddenly, a voice came from afar, “Gege, it took me forever to find you.”

Xie Lian spun around. A tall man in red walked towards him, with a slender silver scimitar hanging at his waist. The scimitar and the silver chains on his boots jingled as he walked, vying to shine, looking extremely brash. It was Hua Cheng. He folded his arms and asked as he walked, “Why are you here?”

Xie Lian said, “I… was looking for you. But your home is too big, so I got on the wrong path.”

Hua Cheng corrected him, “Residence, not home. I built this place for fun. I hang out here when I have time and leave it be when I don’t.”

Xie Lian decided to ignore his “built for fun”, “Residence and home, is there any difference?”

Hua Cheng said, “Of course. A home has a family.”

Xie Lian’s heart vaguely stirred. If a place must have a “family” to be considered a “home”, then he had, for more than 800 years, been homeless. Even though Hua Cheng’s face showed no loneliness, Xie Lian still felt a tinge of sympathy for his being in the same boat. Then he heard Hua Cheng added, “Other than empty grandeur, what else is there at this poor place? Gege’s Puqi Shrine may be small, but I find it much more comfortable than Paradise Manor.”

Xie Lian was ashamed, “You think too much of Puqi Shrine. That is the real ‘poor place’. If you don’t mind it so much, you’re welcome to come and hang out whenever you want in the future.”

Hua Cheng immediately said, “Then obedience is better than politeness. Gege can’t complain later about me being annoying.”

Xie Lian kept feeling like he had once more been tricked, but he couldn’t pin it down. He was still puzzling when Hua Cheng walked up to him, “So, why was gege looking for me?”

Xie Lian did have something. He took off the silver chain from his chest, “You left this with me last time.”

Hua Cheng gave the ring a glance and smiled faintly, “Ah, this? I told you, it’s for you.”

Xie Lian asked, “What is this?”

Hua Cheng said, “Nothing valuable, you just wear it for fun.”

The more he said this, the more Xie Lian understood that this item must be valuable. Seeing him put the ring back on, Hua Cheng said softly, “I’m very glad that gege didn’t offer it as a betting pledge.”

Xie Lian said, “As I mentioned earlier, since I have accepted it, I will cherish it. If you ever want it back, feel free to come to me at any time.”

Yet Hua Cheng smiled, “I never regret the things I have done, and there is absolutely no reason to take back the things I have gifted.”

Xie Lian said, “All in, no regrets even with death?” Reminded of today’s game, he asked, “Do you know where the man in black was from?”

Hua Cheng said, “It’s a painted skin, nothing to be found. But, something will always turn up.”

It was more or less expected. Xie Lian added, “Speaking of which, why do you want that sword so badly? It was simply reckless to gamble like that.”

The scolded Hua Cheng looked at him, “But I can’t let that sword fall into other people’s hands.”

Xie Lian smiled helplessly, “It’s just like me in the past, when I saw a famous weapon or valued sword, I’d do whatever it took to get my hands on it.”

Hua Cheng smiled, “Now that you’ve mentioned this, I happen to have a place that I would like gege to see. Would you do me the honor?”

The two walked through several vermilion corridors until Hua Cheng led him to a towering hall. The doors to the hall were made of steel and carved with ferocious beasts, utterly frightening. As Hua Cheng walked in, the beasts automatically parted to create a path for him. Before Xie Lian even entered, he sensed a murderous aura rushing at his face.

Veins appeared on the back of his hands, and Ruoye was ready to strike. But after getting a clear look at the scene inside, Xie Lian was briefly dumbfounded, then promptly dropped all guard, and was carried inside automatically by his legs.

All around him were various kinds of weapons on display: swords, spears, shields, whips, hammers… No man could be in this place and not feel his blood boiling!

Xie Lian was surrounded on all sides by exceptional weapons, as if in heaven; his eyes glistened, and his heart pounded so hard that he stuttered, “Can… can I touch them?”

Hua Cheng smiled, “Gege, feel free.”

Xie Lian reached out his hands and touched them. “This sword blade is elusive and suitable for assassination; this scimitar has no problem in one against a hundred as long as it’s in the right person’s hands… Wait! What is this? Is this the legendary…”

Hua Cheng leaned against the door, watching his admiring look, “Gege, what do you think?”

Xie Lian had buried his head there and couldn’t bear to look back; squeezing some time out of his busy schedule, he asked, “Think about what?”

Hua Cheng asked, “Do you like them?”

Xie Lian said, “I do!”

Hua Cheng asked, “How much do you like them?”

Xie Lian said, “Too much!”

Hua Cheng seemed to be snickering, but Xie Lian didn’t notice. His whole face was flushed, his heart raced as he pulled out a gleaming four-foot blue blade from the scabbard, completely awestruck. Hua Cheng asked, “Is there any that looks good to you, gege?”

Xie Lian pulled out another sword, raised the swords in both hands, and struck them with a clang, his face glowing in the sparks from the swords, “To be honest, everything you have here are all exceptional, I like the look of them all.”

Hua Cheng said, “I originally wanted to say that, since gege didn’t have any handy weapon, if there was any here that caught your eye, you could pick one to play with it. Now that gege has said this, I may as well give them all to you.”

Xie Lian finally struggled to clear his head and said hastily, “That’s not what I meant, you don’t have to! I don’t need any weapon.”

Hua Cheng said, “Really? But I see that gege clearly likes swords.”

Xie Lian glanced at the two swords in his hands and felt that declining them in such a posture might not be convincing. He cautiously put them back on the shelf and smiled, “Liking them doesn’t mean I have to have them. I haven’t used a sword in so many years, I’m very happy just looking at them. Besides, I don’t even have a place to put them if you give them all to me.”

But Hua Cheng said, “Easy. I can give you this room too, won’t that work?”

Xie Lian simply assumed he was joking, “But I can’t take such a large room with me.”

Hua Cheng said, “You don’t need to take it away, you can have the land, too. Gege can just visit them when you have time.”

Xie Lian said, “But an armory also needs people to clean and take care of it regularly, I’m afraid that I can’t do them justice.” He said nostalgically, “I also had an armory like this before, but unfortunately it was later burned down. You’d better cherish them.”

Hua Cheng said, “This is easy, too. I can come and help gege when I have time, won’t that work?”

Xie Lian smiled, “There’s no way I can afford you. How dare I ask Your Excellency the Ghost King to do chores for me?”

As he was teasing, his gaze fell in the middle of the hall, and a long sword that looked like black jade broke into his vision.

There were paintings hanging on all four walls, the colors rich and lustrous, but there were a whole row of paintings hanging above this sword, so it was particularly eye-catching. Xie Lian’s fingers twitched, as if aching to touch it. Right then Hua Cheng asked, “Gege, which weapon here do you think is the most powerful?”

Xie Lian withdrew the hand that already lifted a little. Naturally, Hua Cheng would not believe the nonsense he spouted when he held the sword today, but he also did not ask him why he could make the evil aura on the sword disperse, which was a relief. Xie Lian let out a couple dry laughs, “Of course it would be your Scimitar of Doom Eming.”

Hua Cheng arched an eyebrow, “I guess gege has heard something? About my scimitar.”

Xie Lian said, “A little bit.”

Hua Cheng chuckled, “Let me guess again, probably not some good ‘bit’. Did someone tell you that this scimitar was forged by countless human blood sacrifices and evil methods?”

Xie Lian said, “So what is the truth?”

Hua Cheng stepped over to Xie Lian, “As for the truth, gege, why don’t you take a look at it and see for yourself?”

The red pupil in the silver eye on the scimitar at his waist rolled to Xie Lian, and the demonic long lines narrowed a sliver.

Bending down, Xie Lian greeted it, “Hello.”

Hearing his greeting, the eye narrowed even more and curved into an arc, as if smiling. The red pupil rolled around and around, very lively, also very pleased. Seeing this, the corners of Hua Cheng’s lips curled up, and he said, “Gege, it likes you.”

Xie Lian looked up, “For real?”

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows, “Mn. For real. If it doesn’t like someone, it won’t even bother to spare a glance, unless it’s going to kill them – it’s quite rare for Eming to take a liking to someone.”

Xie Lian smiled at Hua Cheng, “I quite like it, too.”

Hearing this sentence, the eye blinked several times in a row, and suddenly the silver chain jingled, as if the blade was shaking. Hua Cheng said seriously, “No.”

Xie Lian asked, “No what?”

Hua Cheng repeated, “No.”

Eming jingled wildly again, as if trying to jump out of its sheath. Xie Lian was perplexed, “Are you saying no to it?”

Hua Cheng said to Xie Lian in all seriousness, “Yes. It wants you to pet it. I said no.”

Xie Lian was amused, “What’s wrong with that?” He reached out a hand as he was speaking. Eming popped its eye wide open, full of anticipation. Xie Lian figured that he probably shouldn’t touch the silver eye or red pupil, the feeling of having one’s eyeball poked would not be good, so he lightly scratched a couple times along the curvature of the scabbard.

The eye narrowed into a slit, as if thoroughly enjoying it. Xie Lian also felt fantastic. He used to pet cats and dogs, and when they felt comfortable, they would squint their eyes, purr and grunt, and insist on crawling into his arms, who knew that he could now also pet a cold “Cursed Edge” like a dog…

What kind of Cursed Edge or Ominous Blade was this!

The two of them evaluated and discussed the amazing weapons in the armory, eventually Hua Cheng had to remind Xie Lian that the dinner banquet had been arranged, only then did he reluctantly leave, and in his excitement, he even took Hua Cheng’s hand.

Hearing that he would be received on the highest platform of Paradise Manor, Xie Lian said, “Isn’t it too much trouble?”

Hua Cheng said, “Just a small banquet. Now that gege is here, you should stay for a few more days, so that I can do my best to be a proper host.”

Having been pushed to the head of the table, Xie Lian watched helplessly as shapely girls from the Ghost Realm sashayed up the stairs and presented them with various delicacies. He remembered the eyeballs he saw at the market before, and was determined to look death in the eye and swallow whatever Hua Cheng had arranged, but who knew that the dishes were surprisingly normal, or even exquisite. Then, recalling the horror story the Wind Master told about the ghost king hosting a banquet, he couldn’t help but feel amused.

Hua Cheng asked, “Gege, what are you grinning about? Did you have fun today?”

Xie Lian said, “Yes, I did. Ghost City is very interesting.”

Hua Cheng smiled, “Of course. This place of mine, while everyone claims that it is the murky current of the Three Realms and filled with prancing demons, but in fact everyone likes to sneak around here. If a heavenly official tells you that they have never been to Ghost City, they must be lying. Even though they pretend to be disdainful on the surface, they have done no less dirty business here in private, all quite amazing.”

A beautiful girl brought wine cups. Hua Cheng held up a cup and indicated, “Gege, how about a drink?”

Xie Lian said, “No, just tea…” When he looked up, he happened to catch the girl serving wine throw him a flirty wink.

He spitted on the spot, “Pfft —”

Fortunately, he had already swallowed the sip of tea and nothing came out; he merely choked himself and couldn’t stop coughing. Hua Cheng patted his back gently, “What happened? Can gege choke even on tea? Then might as well switch to wine?”

Xie Lian said in a hurry, “No! Cul, cultivating my way one must abstain from alcohol.”

Hua Cheng said, “Ah, my bad then. I didn’t think it through and almost made gege break the abstinence.”

Xie Lian broke out a cold sweat, and the girl who brought the wine cups charmingly stood in attendance on the side.

He had to be blind if this weren’t Shi Qingxuan!

Was this the meetup he had in mind?

Xie Lian was quite shaken by that wink. Luckily, Hua Cheng focused solely on him, not sparing even one glimpse at these beautiful ghost girls. And when he seemed about to turn back wittingly or unwittingly, Xie Lian abruptly grabbed him.

Hua Cheng lowered his head, looked at the hand holding the red sleeve on his forearm, and broke into a small smile, “Gege, just tell me if there’s anything, what’s the rush?”

Xie Lian said, “I… I thought about it again, it doesn’t hurt to have a drink.”

Hua Cheng blinked, “But, gege, what about the abstinence?”

Xie Lian went all out, “If it’s with San Lang, it doesn’t matter if I break the abstinence!”

Hua Cheng said, “Really? But wouldn’t San Lang be doing gege harm, does it still not matter?”

Xie Lian started talking gibberish, “It doesn’t matter; how could this be your doing? The truth is I have broken abstinence before.”

Hua Cheng let out an “Oh”, “Did you break the alcohol abstinence or …”

Xie Lian hurriedly said, “Not celibacy. Absolutely not, not before, and not in the future!”

Hua Cheng’s brow furrowed slightly, hard to tell whether he was pleased or felt a little troublesome, “Okay. However, I think that the Tao follows nature, and precepts and abstinences are inconsistent with Taoists’ free nature. What do you think, gege?”

As he spoke, he again seemed about to turn around and look. Xie Lian grabbed his shoulders with both hands and once more pulled him back, “I feel!”

Hua Cheng let him grab him and smiled, “Gege, how do you feel?”

Xie Lian said, “I feel a little stuffy…”

Hua Cheng said, “Stuffy? Then why don’t we go out and get some fresh air?”

Just what he wanted! Xie Lian was about to get up, “Then let’s go now.”

But he heard Hua Cheng say, “Gege, sit tight.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Lian felt the ground tremble and all of a sudden became weightless, as if he was flung from a tall building. After a good while, Xie Lian finally realized: it wasn’t that he was flung out, but rather the entire banquet hall in this tall building was flung out!

With a tremendous noise, the banquet hall plummeted from a thirty-meter high building into the water, causing a three-meter splash, yet it did not sink. After a round of spinning and swaying, Xie Lian was sitting steady, but Hua Cheng still reached out a hand to support him, “Be careful.”

After everything quieted down, the banquet hall transformed into a pleasure boat and swimmed leisurely on the lake.

The night breeze was as cool as water, blowing in from the river. Inside the hall, neither their clothes were splashed with any water, nor did any cup fall. Hua Cheng poured a glass of wine for Xie Lian, “It is not stuffy now, is it?”

Without Shi Qingxuan, Xie Lian wiped his sweat, “Your Paradise Manor is truly magical and interesting.”

Hua Cheng blinked, appearing quite proud, and said, “This is nothing. I have more amazing and interesting things here that I haven’t shown gege yet.” He was almost like a ten-year-old kid showing off his treasures, and Xie Lian couldn’t help but be amused.

At this moment, faint sounds of strange voices drifted in from outside. Xie Lian listened carefully for a moment; it was as if someone was shouting “Deliver me! Deliver me!” He rose to look, and saw this “Ghost Pleasure Boat” floating in the dark night and water, resembling a massive lantern, around which floated many small lanterns.

The gorgeous, warm glow attracted bits and pieces of little ghost fires to circle around them, and those soft calls were emitted by them.

Xie Lian reached his palms out to hold them, but the little ghost fires seemed to have suddenly received some command, and they shut their mouths and promptly dispersed.

Xie Lian looked back and asked, “Are those all small ghosts that no one has helped deliver?”

Hua Cheng walked up to him, “Yes. They pester them for help whenever they see a person. Some are simply playing around, so gege doesn’t need to pay them any mind.”

Xie Lian said, “It’s no bother to deliver them while I’m here.”

Hua Cheng leaned on the red railing and beamed, “Gege is kind-hearted, but there are thousands and thousands of lonely souls on See You River, you can’t deliver them all.”

Silently whispering the words “See You” in his mind, Xie Lian asked, “Is this river called See You River? Why is it called such a name?”

Hua Cheng said, “Because this river connects to the Human Realm.”

Xie Lian understood, “Each day I miss you ’n never see you.”*

Beside the river, many small ghosts in miserable white clothes or misshapen shapes crouched along the bank, eagerly watching the water lanterns drifting here from afar, as if awaiting pieces of news from their relatives in the Human Realm. Night river, water lanterns, ghost fires, wandering souls, Ghost Pleasure Boat, the two of them were in an eerie yet tragically beautiful painting scroll.

Xie Lian said, “What can they do if there’s no one to deliver them?”

Hua Cheng said, “Do it themselves. Give me some good light along the riverside path, and once they honestly finish with the work, they will naturally be set free.”

The night wind carried over occasional bursts of ghost cries and howls. Hua Cheng waved his hand, and the Ghost Pleasure Boat obediently turned around and swimmed in the other direction. Xie Lian peered in the direction where the cries came from, “Such heart-wrenching cries! What’s going on?”

Hua Cheng said, “Nothing. A night constant. It’s just some small ghost who has waited in vain for twenty years for the person he misses howling a couple times.”

Xie Lian was mildly awed, “Twenty years? This is too long, why not give up? So that he can free himself.”

Hua Cheng said, “Won’t give up.”

Feeling something amiss here in his voice, Xie Lian looked back. Yet Hua Cheng had already turned his head to the side and said with a usual smile, “The lanterns released in the Human Realm often float here along the river, too, especially during the Zhongyuan Festival. Gege, take a look.”

As he was speaking, he lowered a hand, picked a lantern from the water, and extracted the note inside. Xie Lian couldn’t detect anything unusual in his expression and assumed it was just himself being oversensitive, “Don’t look; it has other people’s wishes.”

Only after having said that did he realize that Hua Cheng also had a large number of believers in the Human Realm, and these were prayer lanterns sent by believers to the Ghost Realm. He said with a smile, “I was silly. They were meant for you in the first place. You look at it.”

Hua Cheng said, “Let’s look together?”

Xie Lian said, “Isn’t it inappropriate?”

Hua Cheng said, “Nothing inappropriate. Come here, please. Otherwise, who has the patience to look at so many lights?”

After all, Xie Lian was curious about the difference between people’s wishes written to the ghost king and those written to the gods, so he sat next to Hua Cheng and treated it as helping him handle official business. The two of them picked out rolled-up pieces of paper from the lanterns, unfolded them, and read several in a row, such as “I’m ugly and have no money, but please still let me get seven wives”, and “I’m going to rob a tomb tomorrow, please let it be a big tomb for princes and nobles”. Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “What kind of messes are these?”

When people made wishes to gods, they probably still maintained a little bit of reserve, but when they made wishes to the ghost king, they fully exposed their true colors. Xie Lian picked up a piece of prayer paper at random, which read, “I pray that all candidates who did better than me this year die off.” It looked so familiar. Xie Lian asked, “San Lang, how long has your Ghost Gambler’s Den been open?”

Hua Cheng said, “A long time. What about it?”

As Xie Lian considered how to phrase it, Hua Cheng said, “Gege wants to say that the Ghost Gambler’s Den is unorthodox and too dangerous, and it’s best that I quit?”

Xie Lian said, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to interfere in your business.” Hua Cheng said, “Your Highness, have you asked Lang Qianqiu why he charged out at that time?” Xie Lian didn’t know why he asked, “Yes, I did.”

Hua Cheng said, “Let me guess; he must have told you that if he didn’t do this, no one would do it.”

That was indeed how it went. Xie Lian said, “You have seen through him.”

Hua Cheng said, “Then, I am in the complete opposite situation.”

Setting down the wine cup he had been toying with, he said, “Between letting oneself live ten more years and shortening the life of the enemy by ten years, choosing the latter without any hesitation, that is human; it won’t get worse because of one more ghost gambler’s den, and it won’t get better because of one less ghost gambler’s den. If I don’t control this kind of place, there will naturally be someone else in control. Rather than having it in someone else’s hands, I may as well have it in my hands. Gege, don’t you feel more comfortable knowing it’s in my hands?”

Xie Lian gave these words some serious consideration, “What you said makes sense. I overstepped.”

Hua Cheng smiled, “Not really. Thank you for your concern, gege.”

Apparently, while Hua Cheng might be a person who wore his heart on his sleeves, he was more insistent than he imagined in the pursuit of power. Nevertheless, this was not necessarily a bad thing.

Xie Lian held up the prayer paper in his hand, “Then, are you going to help them realize this kind of wish?”

Hua Cheng fiddled with the lanterns in the water, “Why would I? Gege can just throw them away when you are done reading.”

Xie Lian was surprised, “Don’t you care?”

Hua Cheng said lazily, “No, I don’t. I normally don’t even look at them.”

“Why is that?”

Hua Cheng said, “It’s better to rely on yourself than relying on others. What’s the use of counting on others when trying to climb out of the abyss? Others won’t come to your rescue every single time.”

Xie Lian said offhandedly, “That’s why they need gods.”

Yet Hua Cheng said, “But if everyone is counting on gods to save them, what can gods do? Won’t gods be exhausted?”

Xie Lian was mildly stunned; a moment later, he laughed, “But don’t you have a lot of believers, if you ignore them, wouldn’t they call you useless?”

Hua Cheng snickered, “I never asked them to worship me. They took it upon themselves to kneel before me. Besides, only those whose wishes happened to have come true dare to speak. As for those whose wishes didn’t come true, would they dare to talk nonsense?”

Some officials in the Heavenly Realm worked diligently just to attract a few more believers. If they by accident failed to serve the believers well, they would be complained about everywhere and endlessly. If they knew that no one dared to say a word against Hua Cheng when he didn’t even read the prayers, they just might rage enough to burn their own shops. Xie Lian smiled and shook his head. He memorized the few more or less normal prayers and planned to fulfill them on behalf of Hua Cheng when he had time, hoping to gain him some brownie points.

But he did not forget about proper business. Setting down the water lantern, he asked, “Speaking of which, is there any secret to throwing dice?”

Hua Cheng said, “Sure, just be lucky.”

Xie Lian said, “So, San Lang was indeed teasing me in the gambler’s den today, right?”

But Hua Cheng said, “How dare I tease gege? When it comes to ‘luck’, it is the mysterious among the mysterious, but it is not impossible to practice, except that it’s not a single day’s work, and not everyone can succeed.”

Xie Lian sighed, “Then it seems that I must be in the group that can’t succeed.”

Hua Cheng smiled, “If gege really wants to win, I have a quick fix.”

“What is it?”

Hua Cheng lifted his right hand. A red thread was tied at the back of the hand at the base of the third finger into a small bow, quite bright and vivid. He said to Xie Lian, “Give me your hand.”

Xie Lian didn’t know what was happening, but since Hua Cheng said give it to him, he gave it to him. Hua Cheng’s hand lacked warmth, but it was not ice-cold either. He held Xie Lian’s hand in a soft grip for a while, then, with a small smile, turned his hand and tossed over two dice, “Give it a try?”

Xie Lian took the dice and threw them; clinkety-clank, straight away there were two bright red “sixes”. He wondered, “What kind of spell is this?”

Hua Cheng said, “It’s not some spell. I just lent a little luck to gege.”

Xie Lian asked, “So luck, like spiritual energy, can also be borrowed?

Hua Cheng smiled, “Of course you can. Next time gege wants to bet with someone, come to me first. I will lend you as much as you want. I promise that you will win effortlessly in every battle, beating your opponent so badly that they can’t turn around even in a hundred years.”

The two of them randomly played dozens of rounds against each other until late into the night; it was only when Xie Lian mentioned feeling a little tired that Hua Cheng made the Ghost Pleasure Boat leisurely take them back to Paradise Manor. Having bid each other good night, Hua Cheng left.

After watching the figure in red slowly walk away, Xie Lian had sat for only a short while when he heard someone calling softly from outside the door, “Your Highness… Your Royal Highness…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*This is a line from the poem “Busuanzi · I live by the river’s head” by Li Changyi (1048-1117). The full poem goes like this:

I live by the river’s head,

You live by the river’s tail.

Each day I miss you ’n never see you,

But the same water we take.

When will the river rest,

When will the pain dissipate,

Wish only your heart be like mine, too,

Never your love will I betray.