At the sudden, blood-curdling shriek, Xie Lian's heart suddenly trembled. Before his thoughts could catch up, he had already rushed outside. At the mouth of the alley, he saw a grotesque, group of ghosts of every imaginable size and shape crowding around in a circle, calling out excitedly, "Got him!
"Beat him to death again!"
"Fuck, however much food this brat has stolen from me, I'm gonna dig it back out from his body!"
Shi Qing Xuan asked, "Your Highness, what's wrong?
Xie Lian did not answer as he strode over to the group. Every step he took gradually increased in speed until he was finally running over and forcefully shoving a few ghosts away, then froze— the one who was crushed and beaten in the middle of the press was a young, shabby looking boy. From his height, he looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, at most. He was curled up in a tight ball, shivering on the ground
Although the boy was hugging his head tightly, Xie Lian could still make out the layers and layers of messy bandages wrapped around his head. Like his head, the bandages were caked in filth and grime.
Is this not the bandaged-faced boy from Mount Yu Jun whom Xie Lian had a brief encounter with before he completely disappeared without a trace despite their best efforts at searching for him?
No wonder the people from Ling Wen's Palace Hall had been unable to find any traces of him. If this boy had escaped into the Ghost Realm, how could the Ling Wen Palace Hall, who had been scouring the mortal realm for him, be able to find him?
The ghosts who had been rudely shoved away by Xie Lian burst into an indignant rage and dragged him away. One ghost tugged at the boy's bandages and began unravelling it as he said, "This lil' piece of shit is probably even uglier than me, why else would he be so scared of people pulling at these things on his face..."
Lang Qian Qiu demanded angrily, "What are all of you doing!" Before Shi Qing Xuan could stop him, he barrelled over and tossed those people aside again. The Wind Master flung his fan down crossly, "Qian Qiu, you just promised you wouldn't be impulsive again!"
By this time, Lang Qian Qiu had already offended quite a number of the ghosts. With curses and swearing of, "Another violent maniac turned up, what the hell is your problem!" they flung themselves at him. Lang Qian Qiu uttered a hasty, "I'm sorry Wind Master, I swear this will be the last time!" Then he proceeded to give them all a sound beating.
Driven to the limits of his endurance, Shi Qing Xuan retorted angrily, "Damn! I'll never go on inspection tours with you ever again!" Of course, he was then left with no other alternative apart from rolling up his sleeves and joining in the fight. Because they could not expose their divinity, they could only grimly resort to punching and kicking the whole way. A small number of ghosts who were still beating up the young boy were tossed away by Xie Lian. As he bent over to help the boy to his feet, he asked, "Are you alright?"
At the sound of his voice, the boy's shoulders shuddered, before slowly lowering his arms a little to look at him. Xie Lian found that the bandages wrapped around the boy's face were heavily soaked with blood, black and red, terrifying to behold. The boy looked even more terrible than the last time they met. From a gap in the bandages, two large eyes shone bright and limpid. But those eyes which reflected Xie Lian were filled with fear and dread.
Xie Lian gripped the boy's arm. "Come, stand up. You're safe now." But the boy suddenly broke away with a sharp cry, pushed Xie Lian away, jumped up and fled.
Because the boy had once contracted the Human Face plague, it was certain that he has some relations to the Kingdom of Xian Le. Xie Lian's heart had shivered when he saw the boy, and his state of mind was somewhat distracted. The push caught him off guard, and his bamboo hat fell to the ground. Startled, he shouted, "Wait wait!"
Xie Lian was about to give chase, but the few ghosts he had tossed aside earlier clung to him angrily. The boy ran into the bustling streets, lowered himself and dove into the press of bodies. Seeing how he was about to disappear into the sea of ghosts, Xie Lian knew it would be very difficult to search and catch up to him again. In a moment of desperation, Xie Lian said, "My lords, I'll be leaving this to you both! Let's split up first, conceal well your whereabouts, we'll meet here again latest in three days!" Ruoye suddenly snapped out and sent the ghosts flying towards the two Heavenly Officials. Xie Lian bent down and picked up his bamboo hat, before running in the direction he last saw the boy disappear into.
With much difficulty, he squeezed his way into the bustling street, shouting "Excuse me! Excuse me!" as he forged ahead. The boy had been able to evade and hide himself in the mortal world, naturally he had no problems slipping away like a fish in water. At one moment, Xie Lian could see his head, one moment later his back, then the next moment, he could no longer be seen. He was slipping farther and farther away.
Also, Xie Lian wasn't sure if it was his misconception, but this particular street seemed to be growing more and more lively. Ghosts and humans rubbed shoulders and practically trod on each other. It was getting harder and harder to squeeze his way through. Due to the tumultuous state of his mind, he accidentally knocked over a couple stalls. Xie Lian immediately apologized, "Sorry, I'm sorry!"
Ghosts are not known to have the friendliest of tempers after all. It cursed, "What's the damn use of you saying sorry? Seize him!" Xie Lian suddenly felt something cold at his back, as if something was fast approaching. He struck backwards with a palm. "Who is it?!"
It was a tentacle that had appeared out of nowhere, attempting to grab him. A group of ghosts came rushing up to surround him, tall and short, fat and thin, different voices rushed into his ears: "Hey! Let's teach this pretty boy a lesson! How dare you make trouble in Ghost City!"
A large wave of densely packed ghosts and ghouls rushed forth, looking fit to tear Xie Lian and the young boy to pieces. Xie Lian seized hold of the tentacle and wrenched it off him with some effort, before beseeching, "Gentlemen! My humblest apologies, this was truly a misunderstanding. Would you allow me to first look for my companion, before returning to discuss recompense?"
The ghosts roared, "Dream on!"
After some pushing and shoving, the boy finally disappeared from their sight. Xie Lian fell into a brief daze. Truth be told, he was uncertain if he should be feeling disappointment from failing to catch him, or relief that a nightmare was no longer in front of him.
Suddenly, the crowd stirred in agitation, and began parting to form a path in the middle, seemingly heralding the arrival or some extraordinary person. Xie Lian came back to his senses to see a tall, thin figure in black heading for his direction through the path formed in the crowd. "Cease this at once, release him!"
Like many of the demons and ghosts thronging the streets, the person in black had a ghost mask over his face. The expression drawn on the ghost mask was rather peculiar, depicting a bitter, helpless smile. The ghosts exclaimed noisily, "Deputy¹ Waning Moon is here!" and finally let Xie Lian go. It would seem that this person was someone who held significant clout in the Ghost City.
When he reached Xie Lian, the man offered a bow and said, "Honoured cultivator², our City Lord extends his invitation to you."
Xie Lian pointed at himself. "Ah, me?"
"Yes," Deputy Waning Moon said. "The City Lord has been anticipating your arrival at Paradise Manor for quite a while now."
Gasps sounded from around them.
"The City Lord invited him? Did my ears deceive me? Our City Lord?"
"Paradise Manor? That's the City Lord's own private nest, he never invites strangers in!"
Someone from the other side of the street gave a startled hiss. "Wait, isn't this the fellow at the gambling house who defeated the City Lord, ah no, who received the City Lord's teachings? It's that cultivator guy right?!"
With multiple eyes trained on him, each pair being at least as large as copper bells, Xie Lian could not help lifting his straw hat to cover his face. Deputy Waning Moon said, "This way, please."
Xie Lian nodded and followed him.
The crowd on both sides immediately split apart again to allow them through. The ghost deputy led Xie Lian away. Despite their burning curiosity, no one dared to follow after them. After an incense sticks' worth of time, the two left the bustling streets.
Along the way, neither spoke much. Deputy Waning Moon seemed to blend into the darkness, always seeming one step away from vanishing from sight. Xie Lian made sure to follow more closely. When his eyes happened to skim pass the ghost deputy's wrist, he inadvertently discovered a black, curse mark circling the wrist.
Xie Lian could not be any more familiar with this thing.
A cursed shackle?!
As his eyes widened in silent shock, the ghost deputy said abruptly, "We're here."
When Xie Lian looked up, he realized he had been led before a lake. Flickering ghost lights³ danced and chased around on the surface of the water. A magnificent building stood tall by the shore.
Heaven and the Ghost Realm both boasted beautiful architecture. However, Heaven's buildings leaned towards regal magnificence, whereas the beauty of the Ghost Realm's buildings were unabashedly flamboyant and vivid. Even the characters scrawled high above the building proclaiming it to be 'Paradise Manor' looked somewhat fiendish.
Soft strains of exotic music and singing drifted from within, light and breathy, charming the ears and bringing to mind a picture of women gathered together, giggling flirtatiously as they sang and danced.
Xie Lian walked in slowly, following the sound of singing. As he lifted up a beaded curtain, a warm, wash of fragrance blew across his face. He angled his head slightly to one side, as if to avoid this air of decadence.
Within the main hall of Paradise Manor, a thick, furred carpet was spread over the floor, covering it in its entirety. The skin seemed to have come from some monster or enormous beast, as it was one intact piece instead of several smaller pieces joined together. Beautiful young girls danced sensually on white bare feet as they sang and laughed, their bodies draped in gauzy silk. The voices he had heard came from them.
The group of girls spun around on light feet, like a flurry of roses with venomous thorns blooming deep in the night. When they whirled in front of Xie Lian, they sent playfully inviting gazes his way. If a traveller at night was to stumble upon such a scene, it was hard to say if they would be more bewitched or terrified. However, when Xie Lian's eyes swept over the interior of the hall, they went straight through these women. The first thing he saw was Hua Cheng who was seated at the far end of the hall.
At the very end of the main hall, was a long divan made of jet black jade, capable of seating ten people. But only one person lay sprawled on the divan, and that was no other than Hua Cheng. Countless beautiful ghost women danced and serenaded before him, but Hua Cheng did not spare them even a glance, seemingly fighting tedium as he studied a small, dazzlingly golden palace in front of him with a dull eye.
At a glance, it looked like a model of the heavenly palace. Upon careful observation however, the palace was actually built of thin, delicate sheets of gold foil stacked atop one another. Hua Cheng absently fiddled with a gold card between his fingers, flipping and turning it over again and again.
A golden palace of cards. In Xie Lian's childhood, he used to play this game frequently within the Imperial palace of Xian Le. This bit of amusement was actually no different from a commoner's child piling up small stones to build a little house. When he was young, he enjoyed putting things together but hated taking them apart. No matter what it was, once he has combined something together, he would refuse to pull it apart. After assembling something, he would not wish to tear it down. As a result, whenever his built something, he would never allow anyone to knock it down. In fact, he often wished he could glue everything together to let his constructions forever stand, unchanging. When he had been even younger, if the little buildings he had built collapsed, he would be so upset he could neither eat nor sleep, and his Emperor father and Empress mother would have to expend quite a bit of effort to coax him.
Seeing this palace of cards stacked layer upon layer, made up of at least a hundred gold sheets, swaying a little in the air, it called a saying to mind: as precarious as piled up eggs.
As he stared at the fragile palace that looked ready to topple from the faintest breath of air, Xie Lian could not help inwardly praying: Don't collapse, don't collapse.
Unexpectedly, after fixing his eye on the palace for a brief moment, Hua Cheng gave a small smile, stretched out a finger and rested it lightly on the little golden palace—
Crash, the whole golden palace collapsed on itself.
The gold foil sheets were scattered. After destroying the palace, Hua Cheng actually looked a little cheerful. It was like the joy of a little child who had just pushed over his toy building blocks to watch it topple spectacularly.
Hua Cheng tossed aside the gold card he had been toying with and jumped up from the divan. The young women who had been gaily dancing immediately withdrew to the side, silent. Hua Cheng heedlessly stepped on the dazzling gold scraps as he walked towards the entranceway. "Since gē gē has arrived, why do you not enter? Could it be that after leaving for but a few days, you no longer recognize San Lang?"
Xie Lian lowered the bead curtain and said, "But was it not San Lang who first pretended not to know me at the gambling house earlier?"
Hua Cheng stood in front of him. "Lang Qian Qiu was present," he replied easily. "If I did not at least put on some form of pretence, I feared I would cause gē gē some trouble."
Xie Lian thought, That farce of yours was certainly pretentious enough. In all likelihood, Hua Cheng had probably been aware of Shi Qing Xuan lurking in the crowd amongst the ghosts as well. Thus he abandoned all thoughts of subterfuge and said, "San Lang is as astute as usual."
Hua Cheng smiled. "Naturally. Did gē gē come to pay me visit me this time?"
"..."
If he was honest with himself, Xie Lian could admit that if he had known that Hua Cheng was here, he would have requested a few days off and run here to pay him a visit. But it was not this time.
Hua Cheng did not wait for him to form a reply. With a faint smile hovering over his lips, he added, "Whether or not your purpose was to visit me, I am still happy you came."
Xie Lian stared in blank surprise. Before he could speak, he heard the women who had withdrawn to the sides giggle to themselves.
Hua Cheng gestured lightly, and the women bowed their heads before departing. In the large main hall, only the two of them remained. "Gēgē, come sit over here," Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian observed him as they walked together, then smiled and said, "This is your true appearance, right?"
Hua Cheng's steps paused.
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Translator Notes:
¹shǐ – envoy, messenger, ambassador
²Dào cháng – title of respect for practitioners of the Tao/Dao, aka cultivators. Basically there are many terms such as Dao friend (fellow cultivator), Dao priest (cultivator), Dao person (also cultivator). Dao chang is a title, like Tao Master or Master Cultivator. But I'll stick to 'honoured cultivator' or just 'cultivator'.
³will-o'-the-wisp