In that instant, Xie Lian's eyes bulged.
Never in his life had anyone treated him like this.
First, no one dared; second, no one could. However, this person was swift like the devil and had appeared so suddenly that he had no chance to defend himself before he'd been plunged into such a state. Flustered, he thrashed and desperately tried to push the person away. Instead, he only succeeded in choking on large mouthfuls of water as string after string of bubbles escaped from his mouth like crystal beads.
Of course, this was a big mistake underwater. The hand around his waist only tightened, pressing their bodies closer together, and Xie Lian's struggling hands were firmly folded and crushed against his own chest, trapping them in place. His lips, too, were securely sealed. The kiss deepened, and with it, a breath of cool, gentle air was transferred into his mouth.
Completely helpless and at a loss, just as Xie Lian began to accept his fate, he finally saw the person's face clearly. It was Hua Cheng.
The moment he realized it was Hua Cheng, he stopped struggling. Innumerable random thoughts popped into his mind, all inappropriate for the time and place, such as: So it was Hua Cheng! No wonder he's cold. Ghosts don't need to breathe, but he can still transfer air to me?! Don't ghosts sink in the water?
Hua Cheng suddenly opened his eye.
Staring into that dark eye from such an intimate distance, Xie Lian froze again, then resumed struggling, his arms flailing like a duck so clumsy it was drowning. Hua Cheng easily corralled those thrashing limbs, and with his arm still firmly locked around Xie Lian's waist, Hua Cheng took him and speedily swam upward. It didn't take long before they broke through the water's surface.
The waters were freezing and the air was likewise, yet Xie Lian's whole body burned. The moment they surfaced, Xie Lian wanted to turn his head away, but the cloud of black smoke was still swarming above and watching with predatory attention. When it saw someone emerge, it immediately locked on and flashed forward. Xie Lian only slightly turned his head away, but Hua Cheng's hand cradled his head and pressed him back into place. Their lips hadn't separated for a second before they were pressed tightly together once more.
Xie Lian's lips were aching and numb from the kiss, and he felt as if he was about to lose all sense of himself. If this were anyone else, he would've long since stabbed them with his sword—but it just had to be Hua Cheng! He was so completely at a loss as to how to respond that tears threatened to fall.
Just then, beyond Hua Cheng's face, he saw thousands upon millions of silver butterflies break through the water beside them.
With a sharp trill, that rain of butterflies shot from the surface like iron pellets, their blade-sharp wings reflecting a chilling glare. Within moments, the child spirit was slashed apart and screaming, and the black smoke dispersed as it tried to flee in all directions. However, the countless butterflies swarmed so thickly that they blotted out the sky, and they easily trapped it within their web of wings. No matter how the spirit rammed and pounded, it couldn't break through. Hua Cheng's eye never once lifted to regard the sight, and with Xie Lian in his embrace, he once again dove into the waters.
After a while, their lips finally parted.
Once separated, another stream of air bubbles spewed from Xie Lian's mouth, and Hua Cheng freed a hand to toss a die. The die spun rapidly in the water; it spun out a strong, whirling current before it finally stilled. Afterward, Hua Cheng and Xie Lian once again surfaced.
This time, the shore was not far away, and Hua Cheng finally swam over with Xie Lian in his grasp. Who knew what shore it was; there were lights and voices, seemingly close, yet also far away. Over the waters behind them, the swarm of butterflies shot into the sky with the cloud of black smoke their captive, flying toward the faint lights in the distance and leaving the fading trail of the child spirit's wails in their wake.
"Moooooom…!"
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng climbed ashore and collapsed heavily on the ground to stare at each other. Now Xie Lian was finally able to take a good look at him.
It had in fact only been a few days since they parted ways, but Xie Lian felt like it had been a long time since they were last in each other's company. Hua Cheng looked good in different ways each time they met. This time, he seemed older by a couple years. His face had always been handsome, and out of the water it was even more eye-catching. His locks were exceedingly black, his skin extremely pale, and on the right side of his cheek, a very thin braid with a red string was intricately woven through his hair. For the first time, Xie Lian realized that Hua Cheng's hairline was a subtle widow's peak; it made his face look even more shapely and fine. The black eyepatch covering his eye added a murderous aura that muted this elegance, but it balanced his good looks almost perfectly.
Hua Cheng's brow was knitted, as if he was enduring a most arduous ache. He gasped a few times before he opened his mouth to speak, his voice distinctly lower than before.
"Your Highness, I…"
From the hair on his head to the clothes on his body, Xie Lian's entire person was dripping with water. His lips were swollen, his eyes vacant. He was dazed for a good moment before he managed to stammer out, "I…I… I…"
The I's were uttered innumerable times until he randomly blurted, "I'm a little hungry."
Hua Cheng was taken aback.
Xie Lian hadn't yet recovered from the shock; his mind was a jumbled mess. "No. I…I…I'm a little sleepy…"
He flipped around and landed on his hands and knees, his back facing Hua Cheng. His hands fumbled across the ground like he was searching for something.
Behind him, Hua Cheng asked, "What are you looking for?"
Subconsciously, it was because Xie Lian didn't dare look at him. "I'm looking for a thing. I'm looking for my bamboo hat," he babbled incoherently. "Where's my bamboo hat?"
If anyone else were watching this scene play out, they would certainly yell, "He's done for! He's lost his marbles!" But in reality, it was only because Xie Lian had never experienced something like this, and the shock was too great… You see, he had simply lost control a little.
Xie Lian crawled around on his hands and knees as he continued to mumble to himself, shuffling away with his back still facing Hua Cheng. "I…I can't find it. I'm leaving now. I'm going home to eat…I need to go collect some scraps…"
"…I'm sorry," Hua Cheng said.
Sensing that the voice behind him was coming closer, Xie Lian jumped to his feet and cried, "I'm leaving now!"
That was practically a cry for help. Hua Cheng hastily said, "No!"
Xie Lian tried to run, but after only a few steps, his ankle twisted and he fell to the ground. He looked back to see a trail of blood behind him. The needle was now completely, deeply embedded in the bottom of his foot.
Hua Cheng seized his ankle, his voice alarmed. "What's wrong?"
Xie Lian immediately tried to pull his leg out of that grip. "Nothing, nothing, nothing, it doesn't hurt at all, it's fine!"
Hua Cheng was slightly angered by this. "How can it not hurt?!"
Then his hands moved—he was actually going to remove Xie Lian's boot!
Terrified, Xie Lian scrambled away again, exclaiming as he crawled, "No, no, no, no, there's no need!"
He kept crawling, kept trying to scamper off, but Hua Cheng held him tightly and stopped him from doing so. The chaos finally caught the attention of everyone else on shore, and in a racket as noisy as the beating of drums and gongs and other hellish clamor, a squawking crowd of whoknew-what kind of weirdos surrounded them.
"Who goes there?! Who dares?! Don't ya know what this place is? Are ya done with life or did ya wanna die again? I… Holy crap, ain't this Chengzhu?!"
The crowd of ghosts immediately hollered in unison, "GOOD DAY, YER OL' LORDSHIP!"
Xie Lian let out a wail in his head, wishing desperately that he could cover his face with his hands. This was Ghost City!
There were a number of ghosts in the crowd who he remembered seeing the last time he came by; Xie Lian even saw a familiar hog's head. He and Hua Cheng were surrounded by countless humans and ghosts alike, watching them. They were drenched from head to toe, and Hua Cheng still had Xie Lian's ankle grasped in his hand, not letting go. This was such a shocking scene that it finally snapped Xie Lian out of his tizzy.
Once the crowd of ghosts recognized Hua Cheng, they became even more excited, shouting their encouragement.
"Chengzhu! Are you trying to rape someone?! Do you need help?! We'll help you hold them down!"
"Beat it!" Hua Cheng furiously ordered.
The crowd of ghosts hastily beat it. However, even if they had only watched from afar and hadn't dared come close, Xie Lian still wanted to just pass out and end everything. This was because Hua Cheng had risen to his feet, bent down, and gently swept Xie Lian up into his arms to carry. They headed in the direction of Ghost City with a heavy gait.
Xie Lian was still dressed in women's clothing, and he could only be grateful that the pillow was no longer stuffed up his skirts; otherwise they would paint an even more frightening picture. But that frightful thought finally brought him completely back to the present. He squirmed a bit in Hua Cheng's arms without success, then cleared his throat softly.
"…San Lang, I'm sorry. I sort of lost my head just now. How embarrassing."
What had just happened had really been too shocking a blow for him to withstand. The word "blow" was harsh, but after all, that had been his first time… Yet it wasn't entirely because it was his first time. In the many centuries past, there had of course been a multitude of gorgeous female ghosts who tried to tempt him with their naked bodies, but Xie Lian's reaction had never been so embarrassing. So why, tonight, had he devolved into such a state? He supposed it had to be because the state preceptor had only ever taught him how to defend against the wiles of women, not men. Because of his lack of experience, he'd been swept off his feet.
Thinking back on his conduct, Xie Lian was slightly ashamed and felt that he might have overreacted. San Lang had meant well, so it was terribly rude of Xie Lian to respond in such a frightened manner.
But Hua Cheng replied, "Nothing of the sort. I was the one who crossed the line and offended gege. San Lang should be the one apologizing."
Seeing that he hadn't taken it to heart, Xie Lian secretly let out a breath of relief.
"I was in dire straits, and you were only trying to help; it wasn't really a big deal in the first place. Oh, that's right." Xie Lian suddenly remembered his mission. "San Lang, why have you suddenly appeared? Where's that child spirit?"
Hua Cheng, however, replied authoritatively, "Treating your wounds comes first."
During their exchange, they had arrived at a magnificent building. Xie Lian looked up to see, hanging upon the entrance, the establishment plaque of Paradise Manor.
He was astonished. Had Paradise Manor really been rebuilt so fast after it burned down? It looked exactly the same as the old version. But Xie Lian's was a guilty conscience, and he was too embarrassed to ask further. Hua Cheng carried him into the building in his arms and set him down upon a black jade divan. As Xie Lian sat there, Hua Cheng knelt before him, holding Xie Lian's injured foot and inspecting the tiny puncture on the sole, dyed by blood.
The position made Xie Lian uneasy. He cried, "Don't!" and made a move to get down, but Hua Cheng pushed him back and swiftly removed his boot and sock with a steady hand.
This leg also happened to be the one with the cursed shackle. The deep black chain locked around that clean white ankle made for a powerful contrast. Hua Cheng's eyes only lingered for a moment on that soft ankle before his palm pressed against Xie Lian's injured foot.
"This might hurt a bit," Hua Cheng murmured. "Don't hold it in, gege. Say something if it hurts."
"I…" Xie Lian trailed off.
Before he could finish, he felt Hua Cheng squeeze with a bit of force. Pain crawled up his leg, and he couldn't help but shrink back.
Hua Cheng's strength was extremely controlled, and little discomforts of this sort were normally nothing to Xie Lian. But for some reason, Xie Lian seemed unable to hide his pain in front of Hua Cheng. Maybe what Hua Cheng told him beforehand had made him try extra hard to endure the pain, and his efforts backfired.
Sensing Xie Lian shrink back, Hua Cheng held his ankle tighter and reassured him with a soft voice, "Don't worry. It'll be over soon. Don't be scared."
Xie Lian shook his head, but Hua Cheng's hands became even gentler. He operated speedily, and when he raised his hand again, the tiny needle had been extracted.
"All right, it's done."
Xie Lian focused on the tip of that needle. It shone with a vicious glint. Hua Cheng closed his fingers and crushed it easily into nothing but a small puff of black vapor that dissipated into the air.
Seeing this, Xie Lian put aside his discomfort and commented soberly, "What intense resentment. A typical fetus spirit wouldn't have powers that strong."
Hua Cheng stood. "You're right. So this fetus spirit must not derive from a normal miscarriage."
A masked man entered just then with his head down; he presented a clay pot with both hands and handed it to Hua Cheng. Xie Lian checked to see if that man's wrist still carried a cursed shackle, but this time, the man's sleeves were tied down fully and completely. Hua Cheng took the pot with one hand and glanced at it, then turned to pass it to Xie Lian where he sat on the black jade divan. Before Xie Lian even reached for it, the muffled cries of a child could be heard from within. It seemed something was madly knocking about inside the clay pot, making it shake and rattle from side to
side. Xie Lian became even more cautious. When he took the clay pot, he peeled up a small corner of the seal
and peeked in. A dreadful chill rushed up his spine.
Inside the pot lay something that resembled a fetus. Although the arms and legs were grown, they were weak and powerless, and the head remained obscured in shadows. All in all, it was no more than a malformed lump of organs.
This was its true form!
Xie Lian immediately resealed the pot and said, "I see."
He had once heard of individuals who searched for pregnant women who had not yet come to term. These people cruelly cut open the women's wombs to transform the unborn children into little ghosts to cast spells on their behalf. The ghosts could be incited to do harm, ordered to protect the caster or a dwelling, or kept for general luck. This fetus spirit was no doubt the product of such sinister magic. Its mother was almost certainly one of Xie Lian's worshippers, or his protection charm wouldn't have been tucked inside the clothes of that unborn child.
Xie Lian hummed, then said, "This fetus spirit was captured by San Lang, but would you mind if I take it with me to investigate? I encountered it before at Mount Yujun, so this is the second time it's appeared before me. I don't know if it's mere coincidence or if there's a connection."
"If you want to take it, then take it," Hua Cheng said. "Even if I didn't make an appearance, you would've captured it."
Xie Lian chuckled. "Be that as it may, San Lang caught it effortlessly. Much more so than if I were to try."
It was only an offhand comment, but Hua Cheng remarked, "Is that right? And if I hadn't come, how did you plan to capture it? Take it into your stomach, then swallow your sword?"
"…"
He had actually hit the nail right on the head.
There was no trace of displeasure on Hua Cheng's face, but Xie Lian somehow sensed that Hua Cheng might be a little peeved. Instinct told him that if he didn't answer truthfully, Hua Cheng would become angrier.
Just as Xie Lian was thinking of a response, he suddenly felt his stomach shrink slightly, and without thinking, he said, "I'm a little hungry."
"…"
It was only after the words had left his lips that Xie Lian realized he'd said anything at all. Embarrassed by the reaction on Hua Cheng's face, Xie Lian explained himself honestly.
"This time it's true…"
A moment later, Hua Cheng finally snorted and laughed out loud. Once he laughed, it was as if all of Xie Lian's clouded gloom dispersed, and he sighed in relief.
Hua Cheng, in comparison, was half laughing and half sighing as he nodded.
"All right."
Hua Cheng wanted to host Xie Lian and set out a feast at Paradise Manor, but when Xie Lian heard "feast," he knew it'd be far too much of an event. He suggested instead that they go out for a stroll and find something to eat at the same time. Hua Cheng agreed.
It was quite warm within Paradise Manor, and while they had entered dripping wet, they were both dry soon after. But it would be awfully conspicuous for Xie Lian to stroll around in women's attire, so he borrowed a set of clean white robes from Hua Cheng. Afterward, they set out. Even after walking for quite a distance, the fetus spirit's wailing was still audible, its cries of "Mom!" tearing through the air with dogged tenacity. However, Ghost City was resonant with a wicked racket of its own, so the din drowned out its cries.
The main street of Ghost City was as extraordinarily bustling as always, and on either side of the street, stalls sold specialty snacks. Although the ghosts running the stalls were the same as last time, their attitude toward Xie Lian was completely different. As Hua Cheng walked next to him, shoulder to shoulder, the bizarre-looking stall owners came out to greet them with smiles, bowing almost halfway over and fighting one another to offer welcome. It reminded Xie Lian of a certain idiom: the fox assuming the power of the tiger.
Even as the citizens paid their respects to Hua Cheng, hundreds and thousands of eyes fixated on Xie Lian, their burning gazes full of judgment and conjecture. Just who was he, to be able to walk side by side with the Lord of Ghost City? This made Xie Lian wonder if maybe he had made another mistake.
Hua Cheng seemed quite at home here, standing before the eyes of millions as a sturdy rock in the flowing pandemonium of the current. He asked Xie Lian, "What do you want to eat?"
Xie Lian wanted to end things quickly. Finally seeing a stall that was selling something not too awfully weird, he said, "Let's go with this one."
However, Hua Cheng said, "Not this one."
"Why?" Xie Lian was curious.
Hua Cheng didn't say a word but gestured for him to look inside. Xie Lian took a look, and when the stall owner saw them stop, he rubbed his hands excitedly as if waiting to welcome them. He vigorously wiped down the tables, chairs, and benches, but the tool he used to clean the furniture was his tongue.
"…"
The bowls and cutlery dripped with shimmering beads of water after having been licked by that long, wide tongue, and they reflected a shine that made them look brand new. Xie Lian decided to abandon the stall and hurried away. After a few steps, he spied another stall—a shop selling chicken soup. It appeared neatly put-together, and the sign on the door said: "Home-raised chicken, slow-cooked broth. Made fresh, guaranteed clean!"
Xie Lian stopped. "Oh, chicken soup. How about a bowl?"
Hua Cheng, however, said again, "Not this one either."
Xie Lian got it. "Is the problem with the dishware or the chicken?"
Hua Cheng brought him into the shop, peeled aside a set of curtains, and gestured for Xie Lian to look. Curious, Xie Lian poked his head in and was immediately rendered speechless. An enormous pot sat inside the kitchen with a roaring fire beneath it, steam rolling forth. Inside the pot was a large man with a bright red cockscomb on his head, and he was happily taking a simmering bath in the boiling water. Next to the pot were many buckets; they contained salt, pepper, herbs, and other such seasonings.
From the storefront, a customer yelled, "Boss, add more salt to the soup! It's too plain!"
As the man bathed, he grabbed a large handful of seasoning and smeared it on himself, rubbing it hard into his body with a towel to increase the flavor. Then he let out a long, warbling "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
Xie Lian dropped the curtain and silently walked out.
After making a great round of the stalls, they finally found a shop. Its branded specialty was "Authentic delicacies of the Mortal Realm," though Xie Lian remained doubtful of just how "authentic" the cuisine could be. For example, as far as he knew, mortal chefs wouldn't use the flesh of large, hard-to-hunt yao beasts to make barbecue skewers. Nonetheless, this shop was the most normal compared to its brethren.
The moment Xie Lian and Hua Cheng sat down, the mob of ghosts who had been following them immediately crowded around, eagerly soliciting the opportunity to offer more dishes to their meal.
That hog butcher carried a pale and nicely meaty human leg, and he slapped it soundly as he cried with his rough voice.
"Chengzhu! Do you want fresh thighs?! This just came in!"
The crowd yelled at him.
"Get outta here! D'ya think Chengzhu's friend would eat that shit? Ya takin' him for the Green Ghost? Maybe yer own thighs would be more edible!"
"It fuckin' reeks of blood! You're disgustin'!"
That hog actually raised one of his pig legs and shouted, "If it suits the palate of Chengzhu and Chengzhu's friend, my ol' leg is nothing, I'll butcher it! Lemme tell you, meat of my ol' flesh is definitely bursting with flavor!"
Xie Lian grinned in spite of himself and ate his congee with his head down. Hua Cheng pointedly ignored them, so the crowd of ghosts instead fervently tried to push their goods onto Xie Lian.
"Local street food specialty: brain juice! Specially picked yao brains, aged with over fifty years of cultivation! Smell this delicious fragrance, my good sir!"
"This duck blood pudding is really good, quack! Take a look, quack! It's freshly cut from me own flesh, quack! Won't you give it a try, quack?!"
"Authentic fresh graveyard fruit; if it ain't growin' on dead bodies, we won't pick it. It's true, not a word of falsehood…"
Mountains and mountains of food were offered, so much that Xie Lian had trouble seeing it all, and he thanked them endlessly. He didn't want to snub this wave of ardent affection, but at the same time, so many of those exotic street foods were truly difficult to accept. In the midst of the chaos, he saw Hua Cheng sitting there, his hand propping up his cheek, watching him with a broad grin.
Xie Lian looked around, cleared his throat, and pleaded in a small voice, "San Lang…"
Only then did Hua Cheng speak. "There's no need to mind them, gege. They're overly excited because there's a guest."
"Chengzhu, don't say that!" a ghost immediately pleaded. "It ain't like we get excited over just anyone! If Chengzhu is our granddaddy, then Chengzhu's gege is our great-uncle…"7
"Yeah! Of course we gotta get excited when great-uncle comes around!"
Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What the heck were they even saying?
"Stop that nonsense!" Hua Cheng barked. "Shut up!"
The crowd of ghosts hurriedly acquiesced. "Yes, sir! Chengzhu is absolutely correct. We're shutting up. He's not our great-uncle!"
A few female ghosts who had been giggling on the side clearly couldn't hold it in any more, and unexpectedly they called out to Xie Lian.
"Hey! You… Weren't you that Daoist gege who told Lan Chang you couldn't get it up?"
"…"
Xie Lian almost spat out his mouthful of congee on the spot.
It was as if that crowd had uncovered a major secret, and they exploded.
"Holy shit! You're right!"
"It's him, it's him, it's him! Lan Chang was going around telling everyone!"
The smarter ghosts hastily smothered the mouths of those who were chattering, but Hua Cheng had no doubt heard. Xie Lian peeked up and saw Hua Cheng cock an eyebrow and watch him with an unreadable eye, as if trying to make sense of what "get it up" had to do with Xie Lian. That was the original excuse Xie Lian had used when that female ghost clung to him; even though the crowd had mocked him at the time, he faced it like it was nothing. Yet now that the claim had been thrust in front of Hua Cheng, Xie Lian suddenly couldn't endure it. He was so embarrassed that he desperately wished he could choke himself to death with his congee.
"I…" Xie Lian began.
Hua Cheng seemed to be waiting patiently for him to continue, but how could something like this possibly be explained? Was he really going to argue with a straight face that he was not, in fact, impotent?
Xie Lian finished pathetically, "I'm full."
That wasn't a lie, he really was full, so he stood up immediately and hurried out of the stall. The ghosts howled ceaselessly after him as they carried their mountains of delicacies and exotic dishes.
"Goodness, My Lord! Yer not gonna eat any more?!"
Hua Cheng ran after him too, but spared a moment to look back. He once again commanded them, "Beat it!"
Yet again, the crowd of ghosts hastily beat it. Xie Lian had taken off in a random direction, but seeing that the ghosts hadn't followed him, he slowed his pace to wait for Hua Cheng. It wasn't long before Hua Cheng came strolling up with his hands clasped behind him.
"I didn't know…gege suffers from such an unspeakable affliction?" he asked, deadpan.
Xie Lian immediately cried, "I don't!" Then he lamented woefully, "San Lang…"
Hua Cheng nodded. "Very well. San Lang understands. I won't speak another word on the subject."
He put on the face of an extremely good and obedient individual, but he was very obviously faking it.
"You're so insincere," Xie Lian said.
Hua Cheng laughed. "I promise, you will not find another person more sincere than me in this world."
At that familiar response, Xie Lian laughed too.
A moment later, he asked in all seriousness, "San Lang, do you know where Thousand Lights Temple is?"