"It darted in and tampered with the array when we left Puqi Shrine?" Shi Qingxuan wondered, then instantly dismissed his own theory. "No! It couldn't have."
"That isn't possible," Xie Lian agreed. "We had already opened the door, so even if it crept in to meddle afterward, we should've still arrived at our original destination. The array was already activated; changing it wouldn't have done anything at that point. It only had a split second to interfere."
Which meant it happened in the moment after Ming Yi had finished drawing the array—when Shi Qingxuan blew out the candles and Puqi Shrine fell into darkness. However, that contradicted Xie Lian's own theory.
"But there were only the four of us in the shrine," Shi Qingxuan said.
There had been three heavenly officials and one ghost king in tiny Puqi Shrine. Wouldn't they have noticed if there was anyone or anything extra? And if someone among them had meddled in the darkness, who was the most likely culprit…?
Shi Qingxuan couldn't help but steal a glance at Hua Cheng. Although he stopped himself quite quickly, Hua Cheng didn't miss it. He smiled.
"What's with that look? Personally, I think Lord Earth Master is the more suspicious one here. Don't you agree?"
Ming Yi's eyes also swept over.
"Rather than worrying about who meddled after the fact, consider whether the array he drew was wrong from the start," Hua Cheng pointed out.
Ming Yi neither refuted nor acknowledged the accusation, but Shi Qingxuan couldn't let this line of questioning continue.
"Hua-chengzhu, you stop right there, all right? I know the two of you quarreled in the past, but Ming-xiong really isn't like that. I dragged him on this expedition at the last minute to help me, so he has no reason to meddle."
"One doesn't always need a reason to do something," Hua Cheng said. "Lord Wind Master, you're very suspicious too."
"Huh?!" Shi Qingxuan hadn't expected the tables to turn on him, and he pointed at himself. "Who? Me?!"
"Mm-hmm. It's common for a wolf to cry wolf to shift the blame," Hua Cheng said. "Why exactly are you here? If you and your esteemed brother are genuinely scared of the Reverend of Empty Words, why were those raggedy scrolls so sloppily cobbled together? It's not a stretch of the imagination to think that the two of you schemed to intentionally lead us here."
It was easy to tell from his expression that he was being cheeky and spouting nonsense. But he'd made such a good point that anyone was now worth considering as a suspect. Even Shi Qingxuan was almost persuaded.
"Am…am I that ridiculous?"
Hua Cheng chuckled. "The same logic applies to me. I'm not that ridiculous either."
He would strike back with whatever others used to strike him. But Xie Lian was still busy mulling over the evidence, so he waved dismissively.
"All right, everyone, stop. Nothing's clear yet, and we've already started doubting our own people."
Hua Cheng laughed out loud and stopped talking. However, his attitude was more than obvious: he was purely there for fun. He wouldn't help, but he wouldn't cause mischief either. There was no point in expecting anything from him, but there was also no need to guard against him.
After thinking for a moment, Xie Lian said, "Actually, there's another possibility. When Lord Earth Master was drawing the array inside the shrine, someone else might've already been drawing a stronger array on the other side of the door."
Shi Qingxuan had cast an isolation spell to seal Puqi Shrine and prevent Qi Rong from listening at the door and eavesdropping on their discussion. But that spell also made it hard for those on the inside to easily detect whether someone was tampering with things outside. When two similar spells collided, the more powerful one always won, and "power" wasn't solely based on the caster's abilities—it also depended on the materials used when spellcrafting. Ming Yi had used the aged cinnabar that Xie Lian picked up while collecting junk—stuff that had been discarded by his cultivation peers. If someone had used fresh blood to weave their own array, it would naturally be stronger.
Shi Qingxuan eagerly accepted that possibility. "Outside the shrine…could it have been the Green Ghost? Can he do anything in his current state?"
"I don't think so…" Xie Lian said.
"He won't even dream of moving for the next week. But it wasn't just him outside the shrine," Hua Cheng said evenly, an implication hanging from his words.
"In any case, let's not panic, and let's not hurt our trust in each other," Xie Lian said. After pacing for a few steps, he added, "But the monster's words were very strange. Why did it say that this place will become Lord Wind Master's 'nightmare' that he'll 'never wish to recall'? Are we going to encounter something here?"
Shi Qingxuan looked around and wrinkled his brows. "Wait. This place looks like…?"
Before he finished, Ming Yi's expression suddenly turned sharp. His hand struck out in a flash, and the move was aimed at the back of Shi Qingxuan's head.
"Lord Wind Master, look out behind you!" Xie Lian shouted.
Thwump! Ming Yi's hand-chop cracked a large rectangular object in twain. The object had tumbled down right as Shi Qingxuan passed under it. He leapt a few paces away, patting his heart.
"Whew! That was close!"
He looked down, and his pupils shrank. Xie Lian approached to take a look, and he tensed as well.
The object was an establishment plaque painted blue with golden characters that proudly spelled: "Temple of Wind and Water."
Shattering the establishment plaque of a heavenly official's temple was an enormous taboo. Ming Yi dropped his hand, his expression icy. Shi Qingxuan stood in numb shock for a moment, but he then spirited away the broken pieces of the plaque with a sweep of his sleeve.
"Keep this a secret, a secret! Nobody speak of this," he said in a low voice. "If my brother found out one of his plaques got smashed, he'd be totally furious!" Xie Lian turned to look around the room, and his tone was one of disbelief. "This is…a Temple of Wind and Water?"
Indeed, the broken-down house they had been transported to was a Temple of Wind and Water.
The Water Master was the God of Wealth. No one hates money, so the temples that worshipped him always had donations in abundance. To see one of his temples desecrated was as unimaginable as seeing a bundle of cash discarded on the street, exposed to the elements and ignored by passersby. Shi Qingxuan rushed back into the main hall. The interior of the temple was desolate from neglect and heavy with cobwebs and dust. He rummaged around, then finally pulled two wretched-looking divine statues from beneath a pile of rubbish.
The divine statue of the Lady Wind Master was missing a leg and an arm, and the head of the divine statue of the Lord Water Master was broken off altogether. The damage didn't look like it was from decay but rather like someone had used something sharp to smash them, as if they were venting immeasurable hatred onto the statues. The divine statues were extremely realistic too—almost lifelike. It was exceedingly unsettling to see them lying on the floor of this eerie old temple in such a state of abuse, one still wearing a curved smile on its face.
Shi Qingxuan hugged a divine statue in each arm. "What kind of hatred provoked this?" he wondered aloud. "What grudge?"
Even though Xie Lian could sense a strong malicious intent from this scene, he replied gently to keep Shi Qingxuan calm. "Lord Wind Master, steady yourself. As long as there are those who worship, there will also be those who desecrate. It's a common thing in the mortal world; no need to pay it any mind. The creature must have set this up intentionally to fan fear in your heart and allow it to absorb your spiritual power."
Ming Yi, however, was more succinct in his response. "Are you okay or not? If you can't handle this, leave."
Shi Qingxuan brushed away some of the dust off the divine statues. He gritted his teeth, gripped his Wind Master fan, and leapt to his feet.
"I'm fine! Now I have to see what this creature's got up its sleeves!"
The four of them exited the rundown Temple of Wind and Water and walked around the little town. It was a very quiet, peaceful place. Not bustling, but modern and well kept. Nothing out of the ordinary. Rather, the most peculiar thing there was the four of them—their appearances, bearing, and dress were much too conspicuous to blend into a crowd of mortals. They ducked into a small alley for a costume change.
Xie Lian was already dressed quite plainly, so he didn't need to change. However, the other three changed their looks thoroughly from head to toe. On one side of the alley, Shi Qingxuan voiced his critique of Ming Yi's new getup. On the other side, Hua Cheng changed into a set of refreshing black robes. His long hair was tied up neatly and properly, which was a rare sight. Complemented by a white jade hair accessory, the new style changed his languid appearance into something more spirited. He looked like an extraordinarily handsome and intelligent young disciple of some renowned orthodox sect, as intensely eye-catching as always—an emperor simply couldn't look like a beggar, even if you forced him to dress like one. As he gazed at him, Xie Lian couldn't help but remember the saying: "For men to impress, in black they must dress." He reflected on the profound truth of this statement.
Once his mind came down from the clouds, he looked at the Lords Wind and Earth Master and remembered something.
"San Lang, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Xie Lian whispered.
Hua Cheng fixed his sleeves. "What is it?"
Xie Lian clenched his hand into a fist, then pressed the fist to his lips. He cleared his throat lightly and tried to sound extremely casual. "...What's the verbal password to your private communication array?"
To directly send a message to someone's private spiritual array, one had to have their verbal password. For example, to reach Shi Qingxuan, one had to loudly recite in their mind the following doggerel:
"Lord Wind Master is divinely gifted,
"Lord Wind Master is funny and carefree,
"Lord Wind Master is kind and righteous,
"Lord Wind Master is aged sweet sixteen."
Of course, other heavenly officials didn't set up verbal passwords that were so embarrassing to say; most were much more normal.
The Upper Court heavenly officials didn't freely give away their verbal passwords; they only provided them to close friends or associates. As a Supreme Ghost King, Hua Cheng would naturally have the same standards. But although he and Xie Lian might not have known each other for long, their relationship was fairly good, and it was a little strange that they hadn't exchanged passwords yet. They'd always seen each other face-to-face every time there was something to address, so exchanging passwords hadn't ever seemed all that important.
Xie Lian had never asked for the verbal password of any heavenly official. He'd call out in the general spiritual communication array whenever he needed assistance; if he wanted to speak to anyone privately, he would just ask for them in there. Since this was the first time he was the one asking for someone's private communication, he didn't have much prior experience and was a bit worried he might be acting too forward. And now Hua Cheng's eyes were twinkling, but the man didn't respond, so Xie Lian felt a little awkward.
"Is it inconvenient? If it is, don't worry and don't mind me," he hurriedly added. "I was just asking, nothing serious. There's something I wanted to discuss privately later, which is why I made such a presumptuous request. I can also figure out a way to speak to you in secret…"
"It's not inconvenient," Hua Cheng interrupted him. "I'm very glad."
Xie Lian was taken aback. "Huh?"
Hua Cheng sighed. "I'm very glad that gege finally asked me. You never brought it up, so I thought it would be inconvenient for you—that you didn't want to exchange passwords with anyone. That's why I never asked either. But, gege, now that you've finally asked, how can you dismiss it as 'nothing serious'?"
Xie Lian let out a breath of relief and brightened up, grabbing Hua Cheng's hand. "So we were both concerned about the same thing! It was my fault just now; my 'nothing serious' was the unserious comment. I apologize to San Lang. So…your verbal password is…?"
Hua Cheng's eyes shimmered, and he leaned over. "This is my verbal password. Gege, listen closely, I'm only going to say it once."
Then he whispered a phrase.
Xie Lian's eyes widened once he heard. "What…? Is that really it? San Lang, you didn't make a mistake?"
Hua Cheng was perfectly composed. "Yup, that's it. If gege doesn't believe me, why not give it a try?"
As if Xie Lian dared. "Then…then doesn't that mean every time someone wants to talk to you, they have to mentally recite that phrase three times? W-wouldn't that be extremely embarrassing?"
Hua Cheng snickered. "I set it to that phrase because I don't want anyone to talk to me; it lets them know to back off. But if it's gege who wants to talk, I'm always free."
Xie Lian felt a little incredulous. That's so mean…
He hesitated. He wanted to initiate the private communication array, but he just couldn't bring himself to utter that password no matter how hard he tried. It was difficult, even in his head. Xie Lian pressed his hand to his face and twisted his head away, unable to make up his mind for the longest time.
Seeing him fretting, Hua Cheng finally had his fill of teasing.
"All right, fine. If gege dare not recite it, then I'll be the one to reach out to you. What's your verbal password?"
Xie Lian turned his head back. "Just recite Dao De Jing a thousand times."
"..."
Hua Cheng cocked an eyebrow. A moment later, Xie Lian heard his voice next to his ear:
"It's the phrase, 'Just recite Dao De Jing a thousand times,' right?"
The two stood facing each other, but their lips were closed and unspeaking. They were communicating with their eyes, whispering secrets to one another using a voice no others could hear. Xie Lian replied using the private communication array as well.
"That's right. I can't believe you weren't fooled."
Hua Cheng blinked and continued to reply to his messages. "Ha ha ha ha, I almost was. How fun."
Xie Lian's delight was apparent as he blinked back.
It must be known that this verbal password was something Xie Lian spent serious effort coming up with when he first ascended eight hundred years ago. He used it because he thought it was funny, but not many other heavenly officials appreciated the joke; even after he revealed the trick, they were more speechless than entertained. Mu Qing told him bluntly, "Your Highness, your joke is bad. Forgive me if I can't laugh at it." On the other hand, Feng Xin laughed to the point of rolling on the ground screaming himself hoarse—but he laughed at almost any joke no matter the quality, so sending him into hysterics didn't make Xie Lian feel the least bit accomplished. However, if Hua Cheng laughed, maybe it really was somewhat amusing after all.
The original plan was to go to the best restaurant in the imperial capital to drink, but since they didn't make it to the imperial capital, it made no difference where they went. The group reserved a room at the biggest restaurant in town, and they lounged at the table, bored out of their minds.
When the waiter brought their drinks, Xie Lian inquired, "May I ask where we are?"
Although it was a strange, blunt question, it was still the most direct and effective way to gather information. The waiter was amazed.
"Did our honored guests not come because of our reputation? This is the town of Fu Gu."
"Reputation? What reputation?"
The waiter gave a thumbs-up. "Our town's Fire Social! It's really famous around these parts. At this time every year, a number of outsiders come to watch the spectacle."
Shi Qingxuan was curious. "What's a Fire Social?"
"Celebratory festivities during folk holidays," Xie Lian explained. "There will be busking, local plays, and so on. They're worth seeing."
They were similar to the Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession of Xianle back in the day. However, Heavenly Ceremonial Processions were sponsored by the monarch and hosted by the state. Fire Socials were the entertainment of commoners.
"But it's not a holiday today," Shi Qingxuan commented. "The closest thing is that tomorrow is Hanlu, the official end of autumn."
"It doesn't have to be a holiday," Xie Lian explained. "Sometimes they're for commemorating a person or event. The common folks pick a special day to celebrate and have some fun."
Just then, there was a huge commotion on the main street that stretched out below the restaurant.
"Move aside, move!" someone was shouting. "Women and children, don't stand around! Back away, the troupes are coming!"
The four looked below, and what a sight they saw! Xie Lian's eyes widened. A long procession paraded down the main street, and everyone in the line was painted with thick layers of vivid makeup and dressed in all sorts of bizarre costumes. There were also weapons embedded in each of their heads.
Axes, butcher knives, iron tongs, scissors—implements both sharp and dull, all were deeply buried in their skulls, piercing their brains. Some even had their eyeballs squeezed from their bleeding sockets and dangling down their cheeks. Some had been stabbed all the way through their foreheads, and the weapon jutted out the backs of their heads in an exceedingly gory display. Every one of the paraders had tightly knitted brows and expressions scrunched in agony, and every face was covered in blood. And yet they continued to slowly march forward amidst the trumpeting music like a procession of phantoms.