Nan Feng thrust another palm at Fu Yao, and once again the two of them started fighting. On the other hand, Xie Lian originally wanted to invite the girl inside the teahouse to sit for a bit, and then help her order some fruit tea and other snacks. However, Little Ying rubbed away her own tears before leaving. Thus, Xie Lian could only sigh and watch her leaving back before walking into the teahouse himself. When he came inside, the tea sommelier reminded him, "Remember to pay for the pillar."
Thus, when Xie Lian sat down again, he faced Nan Feng and said, "Remember to pay for the pillar."
Nan Feng: "..."
Xie Lian continued, "Before that, however, we should manage our proper work. Could someone lend me some spiritual power? I need to enter the spirit communication array to verify some information."
Nan Feng raised his hand. The two of them clapped their hands together, establishing what was considered to be an extremely simple contract. With this, Xie Lian was finally able to enter the spirit communication array again.
The moment he entered the array, he heard Ling Wen speak, "Your Highness finally managed to borrow some spiritual power? Is everything at the North advancing smoothly? How are the two small martial gods who willingly offered a helping hand?"
Xie Lian raised his head. He took a look at the pillar that had crumbled because of Nan Feng, before taking another look at the indifferent Fu Yao who was closing his eyes and meditating. Then, Xie Lian replied, "Each of the two small martial gods have their own merits, and they're both capable individuals."
A hint of a smile could be heard when Ling Wen spoke again, "Then we truly have to congratulate General Nan Yang and General Xuan Zhen. According to His Highness' words, these two small martial gods have boundless prospects. Ascending may even be an imminent event, ah!"
However, a quick moment after Ling Wen finished speaking, Mu Qing's cold voice floated out. "He didn't inform me of this adventure of his and left just like that. I was truly ignorant about this."
Hearing that, Xie Lian thought to himself, "You're really guarding the spirit communication array all day long..."
Ignoring Mu Qing, Ling Wen continued to speak, "Your Highness, where are you right now? General Pei is the deity who watches over the North, and his incense there burns quite prosperously. If Your Highness is in need, you could temporarily stay at one of his Ming Guang temples."
Xie Lian replied, "There's no need to trouble him. We didn't find a Ming Guang temple in the vicinity and thus settled at a Nan Yang temple. But I do have a quick question, Ling Wen, concerning the ghost bridegroom. Do you have more information regarding this case?"
Ling Wen responded, "We do. Just a while ago, my Palace Hall gauged the rating of the ghost bridegroom. He should be of the 'Wrath' rank."
'Wrath'!
For the demons and ghosts that wreaked havoc on the mortal realm, the Ling Wen Palace Hall classified them into four ranks according to their abilities. These four ranks were the 'Fierce', the 'Severe', the 'Wrath', and 'Devastation'.
Ghosts from the 'Fierce' rank had the capability to kill single targets. 'Severe' ranked monsters could wipe out a household, while 'Wrath' ranked ghosts could massacre a whole city. And the most terrifying of them all was the 'Devastation' rank. Whenever one was born, it could destroy a country and cause suffering to the people, turning the whole mortal realm into a mess.
The ghost bridegroom hiding on Mount Yu Jun was actually of the 'Wrath' rank, second only to the terrifying 'Devastation' rank. Since that was the case, anyone who managed to catch a glimpse of him shouldn't have escaped unscathed.
Thus, when Xie Lian retreated from the spirit communication array and informed the other two martial gods of what he had learned, Nan Feng remarked, "If that's true, then the information about the ugly creature or the man covered in bandages were just complete rumours. It's either that, or the people who claimed to have seen those things instead saw something else, not the ghost bridegroom."
Xie Lian mentioned his own theory, "There's another possibility. Perhaps the ghost bridegroom wouldn't, or couldn't, hurt people under certain circumstances."
On the other hand, Fu Yao didn't add his ideas and instead criticized, "Ling Wen Palace Hall has really low efficiency! It took them this long to give us a ranking of the ghost bridegroom, what's the use of telling us now?"
Xie Lian replied, "In the very least, we now know the strength of our enemy. However, since we're dealing with a 'Wrath' rank, then the spiritual strength of this ghost bridegroom must be quite high. It would be impossible to deceive him with a fake person. If we want to trick him out, then we can't use the diversion tactic where the people delivering the bride to the fake wedding are disguised puppets. In addition, they cannot be holding any weapons. However, the most important aspect is that the bride must be a living person."
Fu Yao spoke up, "We can just go onto the streets to find a woman and get her to be our bait."
However, Nan Feng immediately rejected his idea. "We can't do that."
Fu Yao asked, "Why? If she isn't willing, we can give her some money and she'll be willing."
Hearing that, Xie Lian cut into their argument. "Fu Yao, even if there's a woman who is willing to do that, it's best if we don't use that plan. This ghost bridegroom is of the 'Wrath' rank. If we mess up, we would be fine. However, if the bride gets taken away, a frail mortal girl wouldn't be able to escape or resist. If that really happens, she'll only have death waiting for her."
Fu Yao stated, "If we can't find a woman, then we can only find a man."
Nan Feng questioned, "Where are we going to find a man who would be willing to disguise himself as a..."
He hadn't even finished speaking when both his and Fu Yao's line of sight started shifting over.
Xie Lian was still smiling gently, "???"
In the evening, at the Nan Yang temple.
Xie Lian popped out of the temple with completely dishevelled hair.
The moment the two small martial gods guarding the temple door saw him, Nan Feng immediately started yelling curses. With a "F*ck!", he rushed out.
Xie Lian was speechless for a moment before asking, "What's worth such a reaction?"
If you asked anyone to come and see, they would be able to tell with a glance that this was a young boy with a gentle and handsome looking face.
However, that was exactly the reason for Nan Feng's reaction. For a proper and handsome boy to wear a woman's wedding dress, that image was one where many people were unable to directly look at. An example would be Nan Feng. He probably just couldn't accept it, and thus his response was that intense.
Xie Lian saw that Fu Yao was staring at him with a complicated gaze. As Fu Yao gave him a once-over, Xie Lian asked, "Do you have something to say?"
Fu Yao nodded before saying, "If I was the ghost bridegroom and someone wanted to gift this kind of woman to me..."
Xie Lian finished his sentence, "You'll wipe out this town?"
Fu Yao coldly corrected him, "No, I'll just kill this woman."
Xie Lian smiled. "Then I can only say, it's fortunate I'm not an actual girl."
Fu Yao suggested, "I think you should try going into the spiritual communication array and see if there are any Heavenly Officials who are willing to teach you a spell that can help you transform your body. It would be more practical that way."
There were indeed Heavenly Officials in Heaven who, because of their particular needs, were proficient in spells that transformed their bodies. However, Xie Lian was afraid that with the time left, it was already too late for him to learn a new spell. At the other end, Nan Feng returned to the temple with a green face. After he finished cursing, he had cooled down a considerable amount, a habit that was almost exactly the same as the General he served under.
Xie Lian took a look at the already late, night sky before saying, "Never mind. After you cover my head with a veil, it will all look the same." When he was finished talking, he began to really cover himself with his veil.
However, Fu Yao raised his hand to stop him and said, "Wait a moment. You don't know how that ghost bridegroom would harm people. If he takes off your veil and realizes he was tricked, something unexpected might occur when he rages. Wouldn't that just create more problems?"
When Xie Lian heard his words, he thought they were quite reasonable. However, the moment he took a step forward, he heard a ripping noise.
The red wedding dress Fu Yao had found for him really did not fit Xie Lian.
The woman this dress was originally intended for had been quite petite. When Xie Lian wore it, although the waist area was unexpectedly quite fitting, raising his sleeves or lifting his feet were actions that felt extremely restrictive. In addition, the moment he made a bigger movement, the dress would get torn apart. Just as Xie Lian started looking around everywhere to try and find what had ripped, a voice floated over from the temple doors. "Excuse me, may I ask..."
The three of them turned around toward the sound. However, what they saw was a Little Ying holding some folded white clothes as she cowardly stared at them.
She explained, "I remembered that I encountered you here yesterday, so I decided to come and see if I could meet you again. I already washed these clothes. I'll place them here. For both yesterday and today, thank you so much."
Xie Lian was just about to give her a smile when he suddenly realized what he currently looked like. Thus, he decided to speak less so he wouldn't scare people.
Who knew that not only Little Ying wasn't scared of him, she even stepped forward and asked, "This is...if you like it, I can help you?"
"..." Xie Lian replied, "No, young lady, please don't misunderstand. I don't have this kind of hobby."
Little Ying hurriedly explained once more, "I know, I know. What I meant was, if you don't mind me, I can help you. You guys...you guys want to catch the ghost bridegroom, right?"
"..."
Both her tone and her head rose a bit as Little Ying continued, "I know how to alter clothes. I always carry some needle and thread on me as well. Whatever doesn't fit, I can fix it. I also know how to do some make-up. Let me help you!"
"..."
After the time it took to burn two incense sticks, Xie Lian once again walked out of the temple while bowing his head.
This time, the bride's veil was already covering his head. Nan Feng and Fu Yao seemed to want to take a peek, but in the end, they still decided that it was better to cherish their eyes. The sedan chair they found was at the front of the temple, and the carefully selected people who were supposed to carry the chair had long been waiting there. The moon was already high up in the night sky. Thus, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sat onto the grand, red sedan chair, clothed in a bride's wedding dress.