In the next few days, Hua Cheng let Xie Lian accompany him to different places on the pretext of “doing him a favor”.

Quiet towns, majestic imperial cities, remote mountains and ancient forests, wherever they went, Hua Cheng would tell him about the local lores and customs. Sometimes it happened to be a place that Xie Lian had visited, then Xie Lian would tell him about it. Comparing notes like this, the two found that they had actually left separate footprints in many of the same places, merely missing each other due to being there too early or too late.

Xie Lian said, “It is better to travel ten thousand kilometers than to read ten thousand books, no wonder City Lord Hua is so erudite. I have always felt that you have been to many places, and it turns out to be the case.”

Hua Cheng also smiled and said softly, “Hasn’t gege been to many places as well? It’s a pity that we somehow never met each other for such a long time.”

Even though Xie Lian also felt regretful, he still comforted him, “We met after all, it’s not too late.”

This day, Hua Cheng was in the mood for mischief; he turned a few evil people and ghosts into roly-polys and teased them mercilessly at the slightest disagreement. The two of them slipped away laughing their heads off as a few dirty beggar kids kowtowed, and Xie Lian asked, “Didn’t you say that you didn’t care about prayers?”

When they went on the evening boat tour on See You River, Xie Lian had noticed the few rare and normal prayers, which were all children’s wishes, and had planned to help Hua Cheng fulfill them when he had some free time in the future; yet to his surprise, Hua Cheng also remembered. Hua Cheng winked at him, “I take care of them occasionally.”

Xie Lian said, “You don’t care about the dignitaries’ prayers, but you care about these children’s?”

Hua Cheng said, “It can’t be helped. Since they are begging me, whether I respond or not, it has to go by my mood even if they are heavenly kings, doesn’t it?” The two smiled at each other. Xie Lian felt even more so that although this ghost king terrorized the Three Realms, he often let slip a youthful nature, was truly cute and amiable, and almost wished he could give him a squeeze. “So, is this what you want me to help you with?”

Hua Cheng said, “Of course not.”

Xie Lian said, “Not this, and not that. So, what on earth is it?”

At first, convinced that he needed help, Xie Lian was on full alert and prepared for battle, but gradually he discovered that other than treating his injuries and accompanying him on sightseeing tours everyday, Hua Cheng had done absolutely nothing.

The injuries from the Scimitar of Doom Eming were indeed cursed and difficult to heal. With Hua Cheng helping treat the injuries, the recovery speed was greatly improved, but it would still take seven days. Five days had passed by now, and between the two of them, it seemed that only Xie Lian was still thinking about his “very urgent, very important, and very dangerous” matter. Whenever he asked Hua Cheng, Hua Cheng would smile and say nothing, yet Xie Lian couldn’t push him too much, otherwise it would seem like he just wanted to save Lang Qianqiu then rush off, so he could only keep him company this entire time. No, to be more precise, it’s to let Hua Cheng keep him company.

He roughly guessed that Hua Cheng simply used doing him a favor as an excuse to treat his injuries.

Hua Cheng smiled slightly, “So, what is it? You will know soon.”

Xie Lian asked, “How soon is soon?”

Hua Cheng said, “Well, let me think about it. Anyway, please let your injuries heal first! Oh gege, look, it’s another city up ahead.”

Xie Lian guessed that he would answer like this; could neither laugh nor cry, he shook his head. But when he looked in the direction of his gaze, the little bit of smile on his face instantly vanished.

The two arrived at the city gate; looking up, they found the two large characters “Cangcheng” grand and majestic. Hua Cheng walked a few steps, realizing that the person beside him was gone, turned around and asked, “Gege?”

Xie Lian only then cleared his head, “Coming.”

Hua Cheng said, “Don’t worry; come, please.”

Xie Lian’s heart stirred; he felt there might be something meaningful in his words, but he couldn’t be sure, and eventually just followed him. His gaze skimmed the ancient cornices by the street and fell on the dark teal mountains in the distance, but his heart was not as composed as his face showed.

The reason why Cangcheng was called Cangcheng was because the city was located next to a high mountain, Taicang Mountain. But eight hundred years ago, it was not called this name.

Back then, it was the Imperial City of the Kingdom of Xianle.

Xie Lian believed himself no longer someone who enjoyed reminiscing about the past, nevertheless, he was born here and grew up here. Perhaps because he was nervous about being close to home, or maybe because he didn’t want to allow himself the chance to lament how things had changed and people were different, he hadn’t returned for many years. Seas turning into mulberry fields, a hundred years passed in a blink of an eye, and the once romantic and magnificent imperial capital was now teeming with mundane hustle and bustle.

As he walked, he thought, “Why did San Lang bring me here?”

Coincidence? Maybe. Except, he honestly couldn’t believe that, with Hua Cheng’s knowledge, he wouldn’t have known the old name of Cangcheng.

While his hometown had become like a stranger, after taking a few steps, they found the city all decked out with lights and festoons, extremely lively. It turned out that they arrived just in time for a temple fair. There were people fighting flowers, fighting tea, fighting crickets, setting up stage, and walking on stilts, all very spirited. The two strolled around for a while, and came across some hundred people gathered in front of a bright red platform, gearing up and eager for action. Xie Lian looked at it for a good while and couldn’t figure out what was going on, “What is this about?”

Someone on the side answered, “Don’t you know, this Tao Master? This is a competition for the golden flowers! Look at the top of the platform, do you see it? Up there is a bouquet of golden flowers. Whoever grabs the bouquet of golden flowers first and brings them to the temple wins!”

Xie Lian said, “So that’s what it is. Win first place, offer the golden flowers, and both the god and believer will look good.”

Hua Cheng also seemed very interested and even asked, “Since it is a competition, is there any reward for the person who grabs the golden flowers?” Another person replied, “Yes, yes! As long as you offer the golden flowers to the temple, make a wish, and it will definitely come true! Just ask if you don’t believe me; His Highness Tai Hua wins the golden glowers every year, hasn’t it worked every year?”

Hua Cheng dragged his voice, “Rea–lly? Does he win the competition every year?”

Everyone was completely oblivious, “His Highness Tai Hua is the City God of this city; if not him, who else can win first place?”

At this moment, there was a commotion in the street, and someone shouted, “Make way, make way! His Highness Tai Hua is here!” When Xie Lian heard this, he looked back and saw that it was indeed Lang Qianqiu on the way here. However, it was not himself, but a golden statue. The statue looked young and handsome, sitting upright on a palanquin with eight carriers, leisurely approaching. Flowers fell like rain from all sides, tossed by passers-by. The statue floated into a temple shiny from new paint surrounded by crowds. At the door, Taoist priests in fine robes handed out free incense sticks. It seemed that they had chanced upon the completion of a new temple and the induction of the statue of the god into the temple.

Xie Lian followed the crowd to the entrance of the temple, joining the excitement from the edge out of curiosity. He had always lit an incense whenever he came by the occasion; just as he was about to step through the doors to have a look, he caught a glimpse of the threshold under his feet and froze. Behind him, Hua Cheng walked up languidly, “Is there anything interesting to see?”

Xie Lian retracted his foot in a haste, turned around and smiled, “You have seen plenty of palaces and temples, so naturally, there is nothing interesting to see here, why don’t we go look somewhere else.”

Hua Cheng glanced above his shoulder, seemingly not having noticed anything; he smiled faintly, “Okay.” Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief. When the two had walked for a short distance, he took another look over his shoulder. Suddenly he heard Hua Cheng say, “Gege, what are you looking at?”

Xie Lian turned his head back. “Nothing, the new temple is nice, just taking a random look.”

Yet Hua Cheng said, “Is it? But I think this temple is very ugly. Moreover, it looks inauspicious.”

Xie Lian was perplexed, “Why would the City God’s Temple be inauspicious?”

Hua Cheng said with a small smile, “It sure is inauspicious, looking like it can easily catch fire.”

Xie Lian remembered the legend of the ghost in red burning down the temples and felt deeply abashed. Right then, someone came to ask them again, “You two, are you going for the golden branches?”

Xie Lian assumed that Hua Cheng would not bother with this kind of game, and was about to smilingly decline, unexpectedly, Hua Cheng said, “I want to participate.”

Xie Lian was surprised, “You want to participate? Participate in the competition?”

Hua Cheng said, “Just have some fun. Gege, wait for me here, please?”

Xie Lian nodded with a smile, “Okay, you take your time, there’s no rush. But, since you are competing with mortals, don’t scare them, please.”

Hua Cheng agreed, rolled up the sleeves over his forearms, and joined the team waiting for the competition beneath the high platform.

When the time came, from beneath the platform came three drum beats, and hundreds of people rushed forward at the same time, but within a moment, they were all effortlessly left behind by a young man in red, and an insurmountable gap opened up almost right from the start!

Hua Cheng now appeared sixteen or seventeen years old, with a bright smile; apart from the almost dazzling handsomeness, he looked just like a human youth who loved to romp and rollick. On the way up, he turned around and waved to this side from a distance, which at once caused a commotion around Xie Lian, and a swath of beautifully dressed girls waved back at the decorated platform in unison, regretting only that they hadn’t been six meters tall and were buried in the crowd, couldn’t be seen at a glance by the youth. Xie Lian also smiled and waved to him. He saw that the decorated platform was very high and would take a long time to climb. In addition, people all rushed over to watch the competition for the flowers, and there were fewer people piled at the entrance of the temple, so he slowly made his way back to the entrance of the City God Temple.

In front of the Hall of Tai Hua, several richly dressed Taoist priests were preaching to a group of common folks, “Eight hundred years ago, the ancient Kingdom of Xianle was defeated and destroyed, leaving behind a city full of resentful spirits. To save these homeless and never memorialized lonely spirits, the Crown Prince of Yong’an Lang Qianqiu came here alone to cultivate, and eventually delivered everyone, completed his merits, and ascended to godhood. Ever since then, he has been protecting the people of Cangcheng… …”

The people below deeply respected and loved the heavenly official enshrined in the City God Temple, and clapped their hands as they heard this. Xie Lian also clapped his hands along with the crowd.

When he existed as Imperial Preceptor Fangxin in Yong’an, there was almost no one who didn’t fear him, because he always looked frigid and unapproachable, when he roamed around aimlessly, which was in truth roaming around aimlessly in boredom, it was yet exaggerated and interpreted as some extremely mysterious and terrifying activity.

He also liked to perform esoteric and meaningless rituals just to make himself look more in line with the image of a master. As a result, he successfully frightened everyone including the king, queen, and thousands of royal relatives half dead; they looked at him with trembling eyes, ever more awed, didn’t even complain when he blew up two palaces, and instead expressed their cordial condolences, “Imperial Preceptor, we understand, you were just serving the country and the people!”, which made him too embarrassed to admit that he had merely tried to cook.

There was only one person who didn’t fear him so much. That would be his disciple, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Xie Lian took him as his disciple when Lang Qianqiu was twelve years old, and taught him for five years. He watched him grow from a frail child who could barely get out of bed to a valiant youth who climbed trees and could hardly be pulled down. This disciple was very quick to learn how to beat people up, but if you teach him something he had no interest in, such as fortunate telling, he would always fall asleep.

Of course, Xie Lian was scarcely qualified to chide him. He himself hadn’t studied fortune telling rigorously back then, either. Yin Yang, Five Elements, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, all because his master had told him these were typically used by traveling peddlers to swindle people, as a prince, you didn’t need to learn this! Consequently, when it would have come in handy later, he was afraid to hurt people’s lives despite wanting to earn a little food money by going out and setting up a fortune-telling stall.

He himself was bucket half-full, and Lang Qianqiu, whom he taught, straight up had a hole in the bottom of the bucket. Xie Lian was often ashamed of himself for hampering young people’s progress while enjoying a prestigious position and generous pay, so he was determined to thoroughly fulfill his responsibilities. In terms of the manifestations, one was that Lang Qianqiu would be punished to copy “Tao Te Ching” or run around the Imperial City whenever he fell asleep during lectures; the other was to teach the essentials of swordsmanship even more meticulously, including trampling Lang Qianqiu on the ground and beating him violently if he made a single wrong move, until he wailed like a ghost and howled like a wolf, and didn’t dare repeat the same mistake.

One day, the fourteen-year-old Lang Qianqiu came to him, “Preceptor, I’ve discovered a secret of yours!” That moment Xie Lian’s heart jumped, he thought he had truly found out something, and his hand involuntarily reached for the silver demon mask that would never fall off. He asked, “What secret do I have?”

The crown prince climbed onto his desk and, with an air of mystery, said, “I can tell, Preceptor, that you are but one person, yet you practice two martial art styles! Am I right?”

Xie Lian secretly issued a sigh of relief, “Oh? Which two styles, please tell me.”

In high spirits, the crown prince talked eloquently on the table, “One is what Preceptor you have been teaching me everyday – the ‘World in Heart Flow’. This style has a bright demeanor, with a blade that dazzles; it’s also solemn and open, with the air of a king.”

These were Xie Lian’s exact words; he was able to recite them, Xie Lian was very satisfied, kicked him off the table, and said with hands behind his back, “Mn. Legend has it that this style was created by Jun Wu, the Heavenly Emperor of Divine Might, and has the comportment of a king, so naturally it’s the most suitable for children of the royal family.”

The prince rocked back up on his feet and changed the tune of the conversation, “But when you and I first met, what you used wasn’t this style of martial art!” By the first meeting, he was referring to the move he used when the crown prince went on the trip and he used a flower branch to ward off demons. He continued, “It’s at sixes and sevens, yet shows perseverance. It has power enough to cancel the force of a thousand tons, and prevails wherever it goes! – Preceptor, I want to learn this style!”

Xie Lian said, “The Crown Prince is smart and what he said is not wrong. However, let’s not worry about this style.” The crown prince asked, “Why?”

Xie Lian said, “That move is not practical. At least, it is not suitable for you.”

“I don’t understand.”

Xie Lian sat upright opposite him, “Your Highness, I want to ask you a question.”

“Ask away!” the prince added, “just don’t ask me questions like at what year my great-great-great-grandfather enacted what law.”

Xie Lian said, “Who wants to ask you that; I too have no idea at all about the answers to such questions. What I’m going to ask, you listen carefully. Now, there are two people traveling in the desert, dying of thirst, with only one glass of water left. The one who drinks it will live, and the one who doesn’t will die. In order to survive, the two of them try to kill each other. Then, a third person comes.”

The crown prince asked, “What is the third person here for?”

Xie Lian said, “This third person wants to stop these two from killing each other. Do you think persuasion will be useful at this time?”

“It’s no use.”

“Why is it no use?”

“Because those two people need water to survive. Just reasoning with them will not help at all.”

Xie Lian said, “That’s right. If you don’t address the root cause, no one will listen to your reasoning. So there is only one way if this third person wants them to stop killing each other – give them his own water.”

The crown prince frowned, “So, how is this question related to what we talked about earlier?”

Xie Lian said, “I am telling you why it is not suitable for you.

“The advantage of this style of martial art you want to learn is, as you said, ‘perseverance’; as long as he is alive and still breathing, the sword wielder can stand up and continue to fight.

“But you are wrong when you say that it ‘has power enough to cancel the force of a thousand tons’. Its essence lies not in ‘cancellation’, but in ‘endurance’.”

“Endure what?”

Xie Lian said, “Endure everything.”

He said serenely, “There is no move in the world that can cancel force out of thin air. If people have desires, they must be satisfied; if people draw swords, someone must be injured. If you don’t want them to kill each other for water, then give them your own water. This style of martial art can indeed redirect attacks and damage, but can only redirect them towards oneself.

“Sustaining injuries to oneself in order to stop a fight, this is a very stupid move; one won’t use it unless there’s absolutely no other choice. As the Crown Prince, you don’t need to learn that move.”

The crown prince might or might not have understood, but seemed lost in thought. Xie Lian continued, “Your Highness wants to learn it now just for the novelty. But before the time comes, you will not be able to comprehend its true meaning. And after all, it is an arduous and messy feral style, whereas the World in Heart Flow represents the martial art style of kings.

“What makes a king? Only when all people come to pay respects are they a king. Therefore, to reach the pinnacle of the World in Heart Flow, it has to be after one ascends and receives the incense and worship of the common people, only then can one unleash its utmost power – Your Highness, do you have any more questions?”

The crown prince crossed his arms and, with a deepening frown, said, “I do have some.”

“Just ask if you don’t understand.”

The crown prince said, “Preceptor, if the third person also has no water, what should they do?”

“…”

The crown prince added, “If the two people take his water but are not satisfied, want more, and keep asking him for more, what should the third person do?”

“…”

“Is this really the right thing to do? Should he really step in?”

Xie Lian said, “Why do you have so many questions? Copy the scripture fifty times!”

The prince was astounded, “Preceptor, you let me ask if I don’t understand!”

Xie Lian said, “You’ve asked too deeply, I can’t answer!”

The prince slapped the table and laughed, “So it turns out that there are questions that even the Imperial Preceptor doesn’t know the answer to!”

Xie Lian said, “I’m not a god, so what’s so strange about that?”

The prince straightened up as he laughed; Xie Lian had his hands taken by him and spun around a few times, wanting to laugh but also wanting to scold, utterly confused. Who knew, the prince all of a sudden said, “But, even though the Imperial Preceptor said it is a stupid move, I still want to learn it.”

Xie Lian hurriedly picked up the sword that had been stepped on several times by the two, “Why?”

The prince said matter-of-factly, “Because I am the Royal Highness Crown Prince. All the water in the world is in my hands; if I don’t be the third person, who else can do it?”

Xie Lian choked and patted the dust on the sword. The crown prince added, “So, if you have the chance, could the Imperial Preceptor please teach me. When I finish with the studies, the first thing I want to do is to go to Cangcheng and deliver the resentful spirits. Didn’t you say that one can never have too many skills? It will definitely come in handy in the future! By the way, every style has a name, so what’s the name of this style?”

Xie Lian finally gathered his thoughts, and broke into a subtle smile, “This style is nameless.”*

Nameless person, nameless style.

Later, Lang Qianqiu did find a use for this move, except he didn’t expect that it would be for exposing him.

Now that things had come to this, he didn’t regret blocking the strike for Lang Qianqiu, instead simply thought that back then, he indeed shouldn’t have taught him that move.

Suddenly, remembering something, Xie Lian lowered his head to look at the threshold at his feet. The threshold was dark and silent, and it could be vaguely seen that it was made into the shape of a small person prostrating on the ground.

He certainly had seen that right. Xie Lian was thankful that just now he had turned Hua Cheng back, otherwise if he had let him see the threshold clearly, it would have been way too embarrassing. Right then, he suddenly heard someone ask, “Then was there no god that protected the people in Cangcheng before? Why do we need a crown prince to come all the way here to deliver the spirits?”

A Taoist priest said, “This is a good question. It’s not that there was no other guarding heavenly official before, just that he was far inferior. The previous heavenly official who protected Cangcheng was also a crown prince. Except, he was an arrogant and decadent crown prince.”

Xie Lian, “Huh?”

A young man’s voice popped up from the crowd, “How do you know he was arrogant and decadent?”

This young man stood a head taller amongst the crowd, who else could it be but Nan Feng? The Taoist priest was taken aback, “That’s what all the books say.”

Nan Feng was obviously suppressing his anger, “Then I will write a book right now, saying that you drove your eighty-year-old mother out of the house to fend for herself, and then you will be an unfilial unworthy son?”

The Taoist priest also got mad, “You kid, how can you talk nonsense!”

Xie Lian didn’t like where this was headed; afraid that Nan Feng would chop another pillar with his bare hands or imitate Feng Xin and put on a show of martial god shouting abuse in the street if the quarrel continued, he charged over and pulled him out of the crowd, smiling apologetically, “Please don’t mind it, don’t mind it, young people don’t know any better, why bother getting angry? Speaking of which, please tell me, Tao Master, you just mentioned Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession, what is that? Could you please explain it to us?”

Seeing him change the topic, with Nan Feng staring daggers at him, the Taoist priest also didn’t want to get mired in it, so he took the out Xie Lian gave him, “Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession was the grandest heavenly event in the ancient Kingdom of Xianle. Especially the event from the year the Crown Prince of Xianle turned seventeen, exhausting resources from the whole country, the king built a thousand-meter-high golden platform out of pure gold, which took eighty-one horses to pull it. The entire country mobilized and turned out just to watch the crown prince performing the God Pleasing Sword Dance by himself…”

Everyone lamented, “That certainly is arrogant and decadent!”

“Uh… …” Xie Lian was speechless, and suddenly another young man’s voice said, “Oh? A-thousand-meter high, do you know how tall and heavy a thousand meter of pure gold is, and what kind of thing can pull it? At least eighty-one horses definitely can’t. Also, the street outside the door is precisely the site of the Avenue of Divine Might in the Kingdom of Xianle. Do you know how wide it is to have eighty-one horses running side by side? Are you sure that this street can hold them?”

The voice was glacial. Xie Lian looked back again, and saw a tall young man in black standing way above the crowd on the other side with his arms crossed and a frigid look on his face. It was surely Fu Yao!

Heckled by two people one after another, the Taoist priest snapped, “Which temple are you from? Well well, so you are here to wreck the place!”

Xie Lian hurriedly pulled Fu Yao out of the crowd, too; with one in each hand, he said with a smile, “Hey, what does an ancient person have to do with you and me? Why bother arguing about this? We are leaving, and no need to see us off.” But it was already too late. The Taoist priest might have simply said it offhandedly at first, but now, even if it was just to save face, he had to prove that the Crown Prince of Xianle was an arrogant and decadent douche, and frantically racked his brains for evidence. Xie Lian could have pretended not to hear it, but when the other party said that wearing plain linen would leave him covered in bruises and moaning in pain, he was stunned, “Was I so squeamish before?” Was this talking about him or some Highness the Princess?

He was questioning himself, but Fu Yao said, “Yes!”

Xie Lian, “Absolutely not! How do you know? You never saw me when I was seventeen.”

Fu Yao snorted and was about to counter, but the Taoist priest threw another strike at the top of his lungs, “There’s more! The book also said that when the Crown Prince of Xianle was just born, a mage was wrongly sentenced for committing a major crime and died in prison simply for making a mistake in a performance and scaring him. So tyrannical!”

Nan Feng struggled in Xie Lian’s hand, “You also said it’s when he’s just born, that had fucking nothing to do with him! C’mon! I can’t beat you, but can’t your ole man here scold you?”

Xie Lian pressed him down, “I’ve never heard of such a thing, why are you seriously arguing with him? Are you sure that you, a mighty martial god, want to compete with a mortal in shouting abuses in the street?”

As soon as the words fell, eggs, cabbage, and metal scraps came dropping like arrows from the sky! The three of them awkwardly fled. After finally escaping to safety, Nan Feng was still mad, “Why did you stop me?”

Xie Lian clapped off the cabbage leaves on his head, making sure they were completely rotten before throwing them away regretfully, “Why do you have to look for abuse in someone else’s place?”

Nan Feng nearly died from anger, “What other people’s place? Whose place is it in the first place? When you were here guarding the place, the god they worshiped wasn’t even born yet!”

Xie Lian helped him pick off the eggshells on his shoulders, “Just forget it, forget it. How did you find this place?”

Yet Fu Yao said, “We can forget about this thing, but can’t forget about other things. Your Royal Highness, you secretly consorted with the Ghost King and escaped from confinement, do you know what kind of crime it is? Right now, there is a lot of uproar in the Upper and Middle Courts of Heaven, and half of the officials are saying that you held a grudge against Lang Qianqiu and had killed him to silence him.”

Even if Xie Lian had guessed the purpose of their visit, he was still lost for words, “I killed him to silence him? Had I wanted to silence him, I would have done it hundreds of years ago.”

Fu Yao said, “Who let you beat him up!”

Right away Xie Lian’s face went dark, “Wait a minute, how did you know that I beat him up?”

Fu Yao rolled his eyes, “The entire Upper Court knows about it, okay? You were spotted by the silver mirrors of the Palace of Ling Wen that night, and almost the entire Heavenly Capital watched the battle in real time. World in Heart Flow against the World in Heart Flow, how brilliant.”

Xie Lian looked miserable. So his “No. 1 in the Three Realms” face had been seen by everyone? On second thought, he found a tiny relief, “It’s okay, okay, half of them are saying it, it means at least the other half is not saying it.”

Fu Yao said, “In your dreams. Half of them are saying that you killed him alone, and the other half are saying that you and Hua Cheng worked together to kill him.”

“Uh… …” Xie Lian said, “Do you think this is possible?”

Nan Feng said, “Of course not! As long as His Highness Tai Hua shows up, these jokes will fall apart on their own. Where is he now?”

Xie Lian said, “He is in fact in the hands of City Lord Hua. Wait, what are you doing!”

Fu Yao’s raised hand was caught by him, and he said, “What am I doing? Get in the Communication Array right now and notify the Heavenly Capital.”

Xie Lian said, “You both know the temperament of City Lord Hua. Notifying the Heavenly Capital and letting a bunch of officials come and bother him will only make things worse. Were this a good idea, I would have notified the Heavenly Capital days ago, and why wait until now?”

Fu Yao said, “Then what are you going to do? An official from the Upper Court of Heaven can’t just be held by him like this.”

Xie Lian said, “Allow me a few more days, please. I promised City Lord Hua to help him with something, and he will free Qianqiu once that’s done. He is just being naughty, why make it a big deal?”

Fu Yao said incredulously, “What kind of vixen is Hua Cheng that he can make you shield him like this?”

Xie Lian said with a straight face, “City Lord Hua is a ghost, not a vixen. I only know that he has no ill intentions.”

Both of them looked unyielding. It was quite a while before Fu Yao said, “There’s no time for you anymore. You want to turn big problems into small ones, and small ones into no problems at all, that’s no longer possible.”

Xie Lian was shocked, “Why?”

Nan Feng said, “When Hua Cheng took you away, didn’t he break a hole in the front doors of the Palace of Xianle? Now, many officials are advising His Heavenly Majesty, and their plan is that, if His Highness Tai Hua doesn’t show up before tomorrow night, they will attack Ghost City.”

Now Xie Lian was truly astounded, “Attack Ghost City? How could they be so reckless! What did His Heavenly Majesty say?”

Fu Yao said, “His Heavenly Majesty has always been steady as a mountain, so of course he didn’t agree to attack Ghost City. But who can bury this thing now given where it is at? Who knows what will happen in the end!”

The more Xie Lian thought about it, the more he realized that the situation was serious, and that it was all because of him. He sighed, “I haven’t known this City Lord Hua for that long, and it appears that I have already caused him a lot of trouble.”

Fu Yao said, “That’s right. Glad you know.”

The look on Nan Feng’s face changed as soon as he heard this, and he shoved him aside, “What are you talking about? Get out of the way if you don’t know how to speak!” Fu Yao shoved right back with a palm heel strike, “Is it not true? In the hundreds of years since Crimson Rain Sought Flower emerged from the Copper Kiln, Ghost City has become more and more prosperous every passing year. Doesn’t the Heavenly Realm want to strike early? Why wait until now to launch an attack?”

Xie Lian had a premonition of his next words, “Because there is no excuse?”

Fu Yao said bluntly, “That’s right! Hua Cheng’s mind is treacherous, but his actions are very measured, and he never allows any hold over him. So when it comes to him, the Upper Court has never had any excuse to launch an attack. But now he illegally held heavenly officials and broke into the Heavenly Capital; he has left more openings in this short period of time than in the past hundreds of years combined. Who would miss such an opportunity? If you genuinely think of him as a friend, you should keep your distance instead of becoming his jinx… …” Before he could finish speaking, Nan Feng couldn’t bear to listen anymore and snarled, “You just go on and on and on!” The two traded kicks, and were again at each other’s throats. Xie Lian was pulling one with each hand; right at this moment, a firework shot into the sky and exploded, and not far away, there was a sea of people thundering with joy. Xie Lian turned his head and a large group of people was pushing over. A youth in red was surrounded by the crowd, tossing the glittering golden branch in his hand, and approaching at a leisurely pace.

Appearing triumphant, he beamed, “Gege, I won first place, won’t you come and congratulate me?”

Xie Lian smiled, “Congratulations to you.”

Hua Cheng said, “Is it my illusion? I just seemed to hear the sound of something falling into the water.”

Xie Lian said, “Of course it’s your illusion.”

Just then, Xie Lian was standing at a corner, Nan Feng and Fu Yao were going at each other on the right, Hua Cheng was approaching from the left, so he could see both sides, but the two sides could not see each other. Seeing that the four of them were about to bump into each other, and there was a river right next to them, Xie Lian made a quick decision and directly kicked Nan Feng and Fu Yao into the river. When he turned around again, Hua Cheng had just waved away the cheering crowd and walked towards him.

He handed him something as soon as he walked over. Xie Lian was taken aback, “Is this for me?”

Hua Cheng said, “I don’t know any other god, who else can I give it to except you? But this thing is cheap, just throw it away if gege doesn’t like it.”

While the golden branch was called “golden flower” and fought over by everyone, it was in reality just a crude trinket, with the golden powder still streaming down. Nevertheless, Xie Lian was very happy; he couldn’t even remember how many years it had been since he was last offered flowers, and immediately put it in his sleeve with great care after thanking him. Hua Cheng watched him put it away with his eyes narrowed, and suddenly said, “Since gege has accepted my flower, is he also going to fulfill my wish?”

Xie Lian was amused, “You are so powerful, can there still be any wish that I can help you realize?”

Hua Cheng smiled nonchalantly, “That’s hard to say. There are some things in the world that, no matter how powerful I am, remain beyond my influence.”

Xie Lian said, “Well then, tell me what your wish is? Perhaps I can actually be of some help.”

Hua Cheng yet merely looked sidelong at him, smiling without a word. Assuming that he was reluctant to speak about it, Xie Lian was ready to smooth things over when Hua Cheng said, “I want to ask gege for something.”

Xie Lian said, “Can there be anything I have here that you like?”

Hua Cheng said, “Oh there’s a lot. But, what I want to ask gege for now is an amulet.”

“An amulet?”

“An amulet. The kind that protects against ghosts, that amulet.”

Xie Lian suspected that he heard it wrong, “And you want the kind that protects against ghosts, that amulet?”

A ghost asking a Taoist priest for an amulet – how should he respond? On the other hand, since he asked for it, just gave it to him. Xie Lian almost had to turn over the entire sleeve to find some, “Thank goodness I still have them! Here, pick whichever you want.”

Seeing him shoving over a big handful, Hua Cheng said half-jokingly, “Gege is so generous.”

Xie Lian said, “Not at all, I still have a lot more.” He then again asked a little embarrassedly, “But are you sure you want this? I don’t know why, but I can never give these amulets away, no one wants them, they have all piled up for many years, and I almost couldn’t find them… …” Hua Cheng said, “This is exactly what I want. Others don’t want them because they’re blind; gege may as well give them all to me.”

Xie Lian said, “Let’s not do that. These amulets are in fact quite powerful, I’m afraid they will do you… …”

Before he could finish speaking, Hua Cheng had hung several amulets with gold patterns on white background all on his waist. Xie Lian saw that he seemed to love them too much to put them down, demonstrating no self-awareness of being a ghost at all, he held back from saying anything, when all of a sudden, he heard another clamor. He said casually, “There is another competition over there, I wonder what the prize is this time!”

Hua Cheng followed his gaze, and said with a smile, “Do you want it? Wait for me.” Seeing that he actually rolled up his sleeves and was about to set off, Xie Lian hurriedly grabbed him, “No no no, I don’t want it! I think it’s getting late, why don’t we find a place to rest.”

Hua Cheng only then put down the sleeves and said happily, “Okay. Then let’s wait together.”

Xie Lian asked, “What are we waiting for?”

Hua Cheng lifted his chin towards behind him, “Here it comes.”

Turning around, Xie Lian saw that slowly coming into view at the bend of the river was a bright red pleasure boat, with golden lanterns hanging on all four corners, and people on both sides of the river bank chased it to see the rare sight. The pleasure boat didn’t stop until it swam in front of the two of them. Hua Cheng jumped down lightly, turned around and extended his hand to Xie Lian.

The two got on the boat, and when they opened the door, they found an entirely different world, with three courtyards layered one after another, like a small palace. Hua Cheng walked Xie Lian to a room, and Xie Lian said, “I hope you get some good rest.” Once he said that, he remembered that Hua Cheng was a ghost and there was no need to rest, but he had forgotten this every night these past few days, and couldn’t help but say good night each time. Hua Cheng also said, “Thank you. I hope gege get some good rest, too. I will be right opposite of you.”

As soon as he closed the door, Xie Lian heard the sound of “rat-tat-tat” coming from the window. When he opened it, he saw two pairs of hands reaching out from the water below the window panes, grasping onto the hull of the boat. Then two heads surfaced, both spitting out water. Fu Yao was the first to question him, “What were you doing?”

Xie Lian said, “You guys make a ruckus every time you meet, you’re better off not seeing each other.”

Fu Yao said, “Then you could kick him into the river. Why did you kick me?”

Xie Lian, “I didn’t know if he could swim. Wait!”

He once again pushed the two young men who were about to climb through the window and set foot on the boat down into the river. Fu Yao gurgled in the water, “What are you doing now?”

Xie Lian said, “Don’t come in. There are restrictions on this boat, and uninvited guests will be found out as soon as they set foot.”

Fu Yao gargled, “Got it, stop pushing me down, I’m about to drown!”

Xie Lian let go, and the two heads surfaced again. Xie Lian said, “You haven’t notified the Upper Court yet, have you?”

Fu Yao said, “Not just yet, but you have to think it through. If Lang Qianqiu doesn’t show up tomorrow night, it’s hard to say what will happen.”

Xie Lian sighed, “I’ll try my best. You guys wait.” Having said that, he shut the window.

Given where things stood now, only by finding Lang Qianqiu could a catastrophe be avoided. So, leaving the room quietly, he floated to the door of Hua Cheng’s room on the opposite side like a phantom.

The window panes were engraved with flowers, and through the flowers he saw Hua. Hua Cheng was lying on his side on a chaise lounge, as if napping, or maybe meditating.

Xie Lian pulled out a talisman from his sleeve, which featured a painted incense stick. He stuck the talisman to the window, bit his finger, dabbed a bit red on the tip of the incense stick, and it looked like the incense string on the talisman was lit. Not long after, there truly was a wisp of smoke drifting into the room.

Xie Lian waited with bated breath for a while, tried knocking on the door, and Hua Cheng didn’t move. He then pushed the door open, and Hua Cheng didn’t move, either. Apparently, the Trance Talisman had taken effect, and Hua Cheng had fallen into a trance.

Xie Lian sighed. If possible, he didn’t want to use the Trance Talisman, feeling like a lecher who was about to do something improper. He said sorry in his mind and took action. After all, Hua Cheng was a Supreme Ghost King, even if he had spent his life savings and kept this talisman for desperate occasions, it probably still couldn’t daze him for even half a stick of incense’s time, so he must act fast. He tugged on his sleeves, which were not Magic Universe Sleeves, and could not hide anything; he pulled at his chest and pulled open the red coat, revealing the white middle shirt underneath, and there was no magic, either. But he wore a small amulet, which rested right on top of his heart; when Xie Lian saw it, he was briefly stunned. Right then, Fu Yao’s voice came from the window, “Why are you picking with two fingers when you search him, like a young lady washing dishes? Put your hand in there and check!”

When he looked back, the two heads of Nan Feng and Fu Yao were somehow right outside the window, and at first glance, looked like two peculiar potted plants on the windowsill. Xie Lian suppressed the urge to grab the jade pillow on the side and smash it over, and said with a restrained voice, “That’s way too rude!”

Fu Yao said, “Why are you talking about etiquette when you’re almost sitting on him? He’s not a woman, what’s the big deal even if you strip him naked and search him from head to toe?”

Pretending not to hear, Xie Lian picked him through gingerly with two fingers and came to the conclusion, worried: the roly-poly wasn’t there. At this point, underneath his hands, Hua Cheng’s clothes were half-undone, and the black hair was also slightly loose. Xie Lian had even felt through his hair, and was certain that there was nothing amiss, so he had no choice but to pull up his clothes, comb his long hair, and try his best to restore him to the original shape. Who knew that when he was halfway through pulling up the clothes, Hua Cheng’s eyes popped open.

Mountains collapsed and the earth split open in the unexpected collision of their eyes, but all were calm and still on their faces. Xie Lian said politely, “San Lang, you’re awake.”

Hua Cheng looked at his face, then at his hands holding his own collar, broke into a small smile, and said languidly, “If gege wanted to share a room with me, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

With a short dry laugh, Xie Lian promptly rolled off the chaise lounge.

There were two “clunks”, and it was Nan Feng and Fu Yao, seeing the situation deteriorating, broke through the window and leapt behind him. Nan Feng got straight to the point, “Blood Rain Sought Flower, hand over His Highness Tai Hua!”

Hua Cheng sat up from the lounge, the red coat slid to his shoulders, and he propped up one leg, still in a leisurely pose. He said, “Gege, you promised to help me with a matter. Right now the matter isn’t over, how can you ask me for his release?”

Xie Lian dare not mention that the Heavenly Realm was preparing to attack Ghost City tomorrow night, otherwise with the pride of a Supreme Ghost King, he would not be able to release him no matter what, so he could only say, “San Lang, when it comes to your matter, just say the word, and I assure you I will accompany you until the end. However, could you please let Qianqiu go first?”

Hua Cheng said, “But Lang Qianqiu is indispensable for what I want to do.”

Xie Lian said, “Then, can you tell me directly what exactly is the matter?”

Hua Cheng let out a sigh, “No, I can’t. If I tell you, gege definitely won’t be willing to help me.”

Fu Yao humphed, “It doesn’t sound like anything good.”

All of a sudden, Nan Feng said, “There is fire in the city!”

Xie Lian followed the sound and looked out the window; the pleasure boat was now traveling on a secluded river, and in the distant city, there was indeed a place where a blaze lit up the sky. Xie Lian eyed the location, and it appeared to be the new Palace of Tai Hua that they had passed today. He then remembered the jest Hua Cheng made during the day, and it had turned out not to be in jest. He hastily said, “Hurry up and go put out the fire!”

Nan Feng and Fu Yao pounced towards the window, but all the doors and windows simultaneously closed. Evidently, the owner of the pleasure boat had no intention of letting them leave. Hua Cheng only then leisurely lowered his feet from the lounge, the silver chain jingling. “Gege, please relax, there is no one in the three-mile radius, nothing worth saving, just let it burn.”

Nan Feng said, “What did the temple do to you that you had to burn it?” Despite being nearly concussed by fruits and cabbages thrown at them in the temple today, for all heavenly officials, having a temple destroyed was akin to having a piece cut off from the body, and they felt such sympathy upon witnessing it that they couldn’t just leave it be. Yet Hua Cheng said with a faint smile, “Nothing, didn’t like the looks of it.”

Nan Feng let fly a talisman with a flick of his wrist, and a fight finally broke out between the two sides. Somehow the only free person in the melee was Xie Lian; no one hit him, and he didn’t know whom to hit, but he had already burned a Paradise Manor, so he would rather not also sink this Ghost Pleasure Boat. Xie Lian reached into his chest for any talisman that could be useful at the moment, and suddenly felt an unfamiliar one. Startled, he took it out to have a look; when he saw that the talisman bore a drawing of a bright red compass, his eyes lit up immediately: This thing was somehow still there!

Hua Cheng also saw the talisman. He paused the moves, and the expressions on his face cycled rapidly, even if subtly. He had obviously guessed who would be on the other side of the talisman, “Your Highness, please don’t go!”

Once he stopped, the two sides naturally quitted fighting. Nan Feng and Fu Yao both looked confused, and Hua Cheng repeated, “Gege, don’t go. Put the talisman down.”

Seeing his expression usually solemn, Xie Lian hesitated for a moment, but in the end said decisively, “City Lord Hua, I’m sorry.”

As long as he found Lang Qianqiu, everything would be over!

But what he never expected was that, when he tore up the talisman, his vision abruptly went dark, and he was struck by a wave of dizziness and the urge to vomit.

Xie Lian thought he had thrown up, but when he lifted his hand and wiped it, it turned out to be blood.

The more he wiped, the more it streamed, and increasingly so. He finally realized something –

He had set foot where he shouldn’t.

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

* The word “nameless” written in pinyin is wuming.