Hsien Lian hooked his leg on the black horse, petting him lightly. XingYing and Hsien Lian would ride the black horse, while Chen Guo and Fang Hai would ride the white one.Hsien Lian sighed, staring at the temple behind them. Jin Lei and Da Hong were not the same ghost. It was impossible.
Even though ghosts can change forms, the problem isn't that. It was instead the amount of dead bodies in the temple. If Da Hong altered herself to become Jin Lei, there is no one hundreds of people could have gone missing at the temple in a week, and no one from the village would notice. Someone from one of the mourning families would have noticed the strange occurrence.
Jin Lei must have been doing this for decades. Whilst Da Hong only did it for a couple of months. However, they still did the same thing. Killed anyone who went to Tao Wu's temple. "The only way a ghost can go into a temple is if someone allows them, correct?" Hsien Lian asked, turning his back to look at XingYing, who nodded. "Precisely, why?"
That must mean someone allowed them in. That means that this must be connected. Jin Lei and Da Hong are both being allowed into Tao Wu's temples by the same person, to do the same thing. Kill on behalf of God's Reaper. But why? And by who? "What is someone? Can it be a person?" XingYing shakes his head lightly. "No, only demons and gods can allow ghosts to come into temples and other sacred places."
No god will do something like that. Tao Wu would have found out. But a demon could. He felt XingYing's hands go to Hsien Lian's waist so he wouldn't fall off. "Why are you asking questions?" XingYing asks as Hsien Lian continues to pet the horse's mane. "We were looking for a female ghost named Da Hong. She was doing the exact same thing that Jin Lei was. I'm starting to believe that maybe these two are connected. A demon is finding every ghost that has vengeance against gods, and allowing them to go into different Tao Wu temples."
XingYing hums softly, nodding his head. He lays his chin on Hsien Lian's shoulder, looking forward. Not a bad thought. You should probably tell that to thing one and thing two." XingYing jokes, tilting his head to Fang Hai and Chen Guo. Hsien Lian smiled softly, watching the two actually have a decent conversation. "Are you ok? That blast knocked out both Buo and Fu Hai, and it would have knocked out Yao Wang too.It surely should have killed you. But I'm happy it didn't."
XingYing only smiled, practically back hugging Hsien Lian, not that he minded much. " Yao Wang? Is that the other you?" XingYing asked, changing the subject. Hsien Lian frowned softly, but nodded. "Yes it is." "Hm, I wonder how many other gods I secretly met without knowing." XingYing mumbles to himself. Fang Hai, looks over at them. "Are we ready?" Fang Hai yelled. Hsien Lian nodded, snapping his fingers to tell the horse to run.
"That makes a lot of sense." XingYing starts again, holding Hsien Lian slightly tighter. Lian smiled. "What makes a lot of sense?" "Well, you have long hair. It's actually very nice. Very smooth." XingYing compliments, combing a hand in XingYing's dark brown hair before placing his arm back at his waist. "Also, what are those bandages for?" XingYing asked, making Hsien Lian hide his arm, but it was too late.
"You don't want to tell me? You don't have to." XingYing said, leaning back slightly. Hsien Lian shook his head. He shouldn't not tell XingYing. It's not necessarily bad. Well, it is. But, it wasn't something that was terrible. At least, not to Hsien Lian. The man sighs, sucking in a breath.
"They're burn marks. From my punishments." Hsien Lian explained. "They are burned in talisman rings that prohibit the use of most of my aura. I can barely control Xui because of it." Hsien Lian could hear XingYing's soft hum, yet it was obvious there was sadness behind it. "A punishment. The God Of Flowers having a punishment? What did you do?" XingYing asked. Hsien Lian sighed, pushing the horse to go faster.
Hsien Lian didn't exactly remember what he had done wrong. But he knew it was something terrible. He remembered how Jing Mei and Tao Wu looked at him. With disappointment. It was terrible. He was in chains. Everyone saw him as the bad guy. He was sad that he couldn't remember, yet it was for the best. "I don't remember." Hsien Lian answered. XingYing slowly nodded.
"Have you taken the bandages off since you got burned?" XingYing didn't dare touch Hsien Lian's arm, instead keeping his hands at the god's waist. "No, never want to." Hsien Lian didn't know that if he was turned back into a Melee Gods and the walls stop inhibiting him, will the scars all stop being there. Hsien Lian didn't know if he wanted them to disappear or not.
"Hsien Lian, is that why you're doing all of this? To become a Melee God again?" There are three types of gods in Heaven. When most people ascend, they start off as a Noble God, the lowest class. However, based on how they act, they can rise to be a Melee God. Hsien Lian started as a Melee God, because the King of the Gods was impressed by him. But when he ascended again, he was a Noble God. However, this is his chance to become a Melee God once again. "I am a god, you are correct. But it's not up to my standards." XingYing hummed, sitting back once again.
Hsien Lian sighed. "What is it?" He grumbled, glanced back at the young man, but XingYing only shook his head. "Nothing, nothing at all." XingYing simply spoke, giving Hsien Lian a blood smirk. It made the god want to hit him. Hsien Lian rolled his eyes. "It's obvious you want to say something. Just say it." Hsien Lian urged, slowing down the dark haired horse.
"Well, if you insist. I just think, well. You're a god right? Maybe you shouldn't go so hard on yourself. This isn't a life or death situation. If you aren't able to catch this ghost, you're not going to get pushed to the Ghost Realm. You will be perfectly fine if you say a Noble God. I get it's your standard, and you just want to get where you last stopped at, I totally get that but…" XingYing sighed.
"Even if you don't reach that point, you shouldn't punish and hate yourself for not getting there."