His face showed an expression of ridicule, but he strangely held an inexplicable calm and instead seemed to display a vast omniscience. Even though he had the voice of a teenager, it was a little deeper than the voice of a boy his age and was very pleasant to hear. Xie Lian sat upright on a ox cart, still, with serious concentration. He pondered for a moment before saying, "Rain of Blood Reaches Flowers, this scene sounds rather impressive. Friend, will you tell me how it started?"
As a courtesy, Xie Lian decided not to add the word 'child' in front of 'young *. The teenager sat relaxed, hands propped on raised knees. He smoothed the cuffs on his sleeve before indifferently saying, "The story behind him is not so impressive. It's only because Hua Cheng once eradicated another ghost's nest, and right when he finished, the nest began to explode into rain, then rained down on the the whole mountain area was raining with blood. When he was about to leave, he saw a flower on the side of the road beaten miserably by the rain of blood, so he returned with his umbrella and stopped to protect it with his umbrella, giving him a little cover. "
* The standard word for this is directly translated as 'little friends' but in this context it can be understood as 'young friends'. Basically, even though it's more natural for Xie Lian to say 'Hey kid' (because he's a very old haha), he chose not to respect him. '
Xie Lian imagined the scene and only felt that in the rain of blood and wind, there was some elegance and sentiments that were closely related. He recalled it again, the legend of how the red-clothed ghost had set fire to thirty-three heavenly official temples, before he said laughingly, "Does Hua Cheng fight a lot wherever he goes?"
The teenager answered, "Will not talk often, I guess it depends on his mood."
Xie Lian asked, "What kind of person was he before he died?"
The young man replied, "He is certainly not a good person."
Xie Lian asked, "What does it look like?"
When this question was asked, the teenager raised his eyes to look at him. He tilted his head from side to side before he stood up to walk towards Xie Lian, then sat down again to take his place. The teenager answered himself with a question, "What do you think? What does it look like?"
After staring at him more closely, Xie Lian felt that this teenager was even closer. Besides that, his face was the type of good looks that could bring a feeling of weakness, because he was attacked by such a stare, like a sharp sword drawn, ready to cut anyone before him in a subtle way. It was a picture that was so dazzling and enthralling that he could not bear to see it directly, causing people not to look straight into his eyes. 'I-it's like he can't take his eyes off his eyes, but he also can't look at him for longer ah!'
Their gazes only met briefly, and Xie Lian could no longer stand it. After slightly lowering his head to the side, he said, "Being a famous Demon King, it can be assumed that he can change in many forms, so he must have many appearances."
When he saw how Xie Lian turned her head, the teenager raised an eyebrow and said, "That's right. But sometimes he still uses his original appearance. The appearance we are talking about naturally is his real self."
Xie Lian was not sure if he felt a mistake whether it was odd, but he felt as if the distance between the two of them was getting further away. So, he looked back again before saying, "Then I feel like the real self can definitely be a teenager like you."
Hearing this, the teen's mouth curved up before he said, "Why?"
Xie Lian said, "It's not 'why', because you can say whatever you want, then I can also think whatever I want. Everything can be whatever we want."
The teen laughed twice before saying, "Maybe. Although, he is ... blind in one eye."
He tapped on the dot under his right eye and said, "This one."
That statement had never been heard before. Previously, Xie Lian also somewhat heard about this. In a certain version of the legend, Hua Cheng wore a black eye patch over his right eye, covering the missing eye. Xie Lian said, "Then, do you know what happened to his eyes?"
The teenager answered, "Nhn, this question, many people want to know it too."
When other people want to know what made Hua Cheng lose his right eye, they actually just want to know what his weaknesses are. But with Xie Lian asking this, he was purely just curious. Xie Lian had not said the next words before the teen said, "He dug it (gouged it out) himself."
Surprised, Xie Lian asked, "Why?"
The teenager answered, "He's gone crazy."
.. After going crazy, he will even dig his own eyes. Xie Lian's curiosity about the Rain of Blood Reaching Flowers, the red-clothed Ghost King, continued to increase. Obviously there has been a growing sense of interest about what a ghost king really looks like. He assumed it wouldn't be as simple as going crazy, but since the boy had already said it like this, maybe there wouldn't be a more detailed explanation. Xie Lian kept asking, "Then, does Hua Cheng have a weakness?"
Xie Lian did not expect the boy's answer to this question, but he thought he would ask whatever it was worth. If Hua Cheng's weaknesses can be easily discovered by others, then the subject in question is not Hua Cheng. But who knows, the teenager will answer without hesitation, "His ashes."
If someone can get ash from ghosts, then they will have the power to command ghosts. If the ghosts disobey their orders, someone can destroy their ashes, which will extinguish their form and make their souls scattered and scattered. This is general knowledge. However, when it came to Hua Cheng, even this general knowledge would not mean much to him. Xie Lian laughed and said, "I'm afraid no one can get his ashes. Thus, this weakness is equivalent to not having it."
But the teenager answered, "You don't have to. There is one type of situation where ghosts will take the initiative to give their ashes."
Xie Lian said, "Like how did he challenge the thirty-three Heavenly Officials to fight, risking his own ashes as a bet? Is that so?"
Mocking, the teenager said, "No way."
Even though he didn't say it fully, Xie Lian could still hear the meaning behind his words. He might mean 'How could Hua Cheng lose? The teenager continued, "There is a tradition in the Ghost Realm. In cases where ghosts have chosen a person, they will entrust their ashes to that person's hands."
In reality, that would be the same as putting one's life in someone else's hands. For such devotion, what kind of touching story can capture one's imagination? Being preoccupied with this problem, Xie Lian said, "So it turns out that the Ghost realm will have this quite romantic sentimental habit."
The teenager said, "They did it. But not many ghosts dare to do it."
Xie Lian thought that was the case. If there is a devil in this world who will deceive or captivate people's hearts, then there will also be humans who will fool the devil. There will be a lot of exploitation and betrayal that is taking place. He said, "If it is left in madness, but it only results in broken bones and scattered ashes, it will make a person's heart feel sad."
However, the teenager laughed before saying, "What is there to be afraid of? If it were me, after giving my ashes, I would not care if that person wanted to break bones, sprinkle ashes or just throw them carelessly for fun."
Xie Lian smiled before he suddenly remembered that regardless of how the two of them talked for so long, he still didn't know the name of the other boy. He said, "This friend, how should I call you?"
The teenager raised his hand to rest it on his eyebrows, covering his eyes from the sunset light that was burgundy. He narrowed his eyes, making it appear as though he didn't particularly like the sun. He said, "Me? In my family, I'm ranked third. Everyone calls me San Lang *."
He did not take the initiative to tell Xie Lian his real name, it was not something that could be forced, so Xie Lian did not keep asking. He replied, "My family name is Xie, and my name is the sole character of Lian. It's called Xie Lian. When you see you heading this way, do you also go to Pu Qi Village?"
San Lang leaned against a haystack. He slid his hands under his head as a pillow and crossed his legs before saying, "I don't know. I just randomly chose the path."
There seems to be someone else's story in his words, what he said must have a reason. Xie Lian said, "What's the matter?"
San Lang sighed before casually saying, "There was a fight at home, and I was kicked out. I walked for a while but there was nowhere to go. Today, I was so hungry that I almost fainted at the end of the main street of the city, and only that's when I randomly found a place to lie down. "
While this boy's clothes seem to be quite casual, the quality is very good. Besides that, with his smooth manner and how he seemed to be very quietly behaving well, having the time to read this and that, who most knew everything, Xie Lian had long suspected that he was the young master of a wealthy family who came out. Just to play. A pampered boy who has been hanging around alone outside for so long must face many difficulties along the way. This is something that can be closely related to Xie Lian. Hearing he was hungry, Xie Lian began rummaging through his bag, but could only produce a single steamed bun left. When he realized that this bread was not yet rigid, he rejoiced internally in his heart, before he said to the teenager, "Do you want to eat it?"
The teenager nodded, so Xie Lian gave him steamed buns. San Lang looked at him and asked, "You don't have any more?"
Xie Lian said, "I'm fine, I'm not hungry."
San Lang pushed the steamed buns back to him and said, "I'm fine too."
After seeing this, Xie Lian took back the steamed buns and cut them, dividing them in half. Then, he once again gave the teen half and said, "Then you take the half, and I'll take the half. How?"
Only then did the boy take the steamed buns, take a bite with him as they sat side by side. Seeing how he sat on his side and took a bite of the bread while looking rather well behaved, Xie Lian could not help feeling as though he had done something wrong to her somewhere.
The ox cart moves up and down along a bumpy mountain road, slowly being pulled as the sun begins to set in the west. They both sat on the train and kept chatting. The more they talked, the more Xie Lian felt how strange this boy was. Despite his young age, every word and action has his own impression about him. He is always undisturbed, as if between heaven and earth, there is nothing in this world that he will never know or can ever mess with. That made Xie Lian believe he understood in a lot, and was quite mature even though he was very young. However, sometimes, he will also express the enthusiasm of a young man. When Xie Lian said that he was the ruler of the Pu Qi Monastery Temple, the teenager said, "Pu Qi Monastery Temple? It seems like there are plenty of water chestnuts to eat, I like it. Who is the Temple devoted to?"
After being once again asked the question that caused this headache, Xie Lian lightly coughed and said. "Crown Prince Xian Le. Y-You might not know about him."
A lazy smile appeared on the teen's face, but before he could answer, the oxcart suddenly snapped in a sudden earthquake.
Both wobbly. Xie Lian was worried that the boy would fall and reach out his arms to grab it. But who knows, when he touched San Lang, the teenager acted as if he was scorched by something hot and forcefully let go of his hand.
Even though his expression only shifted slightly, Xie Lian still felt it. He thought to himself, maybe this kid really hated him? But during this trip, obviously they were busy chatting. However, at present, there is no time to think further about the topic. Standing up, he asked, "What happened?"
The old man riding the oxcart said, "I also don't know what happened! Old Huang, why did you stop moving? Come on, hurry up!"
At this time, the sun had set with the approaching twilight. But the ox cart was still in the mountain forest, where it looked gloomy and dark all around. The old cow stubbornly stood where it was, refusing to move and being stubborn. All the old man's insistence was useless with the ox, because he acted as if he wanted to bury his own head in the ground. His tail swayed like a whip as he continued to make Moo's voice. Xie Lian felt that something was wrong and was just about to jump out of the train, but suddenly, the old man pointed to something in front of them and started screaming in panic.
Xie Lian turned around, only to look in front of the mountain road, many groups of green flames in the east and west were faintly burning.
A group of people dressed in white held their heads as they slowly walked towards him. Seeing this, Xie Lian immediately said, "Protect!"
Ruoye escaped from his wrist before circling the ox cart once, creating a floating ring in the air that protected the three of them and the only fat animal there. Xie Lian turned her head and said, "What day is it today?"
The old man had not responded when the teenager behind him said, "Zhongyuan Ghost Festival *."
* Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan) is held in mid-July in the lunar calendar and underworld celebrations. Offerings made for the dead to calm their souls and help them move on. July is a ghost month when the gates to hell open, so the gods patrol more diligently.
In the middle of the seventh month, the Door of the Ghost Realm will open. He hasn't seen the date when he left, but today happens to be the Ghost Festival!
Xie Lian lowered her voice "don't walk randomly. If we walk on the wrong path we can't go back"