Ch.14: Maple-Red Clothes; Snow-White Skin 2

He looked as though he was bantering, but he had the inexplicable composure of an omniscient

being. Though he sounded youthful, his voice was deeper than was typical for his age, pleasant

to the ears.

Sitting upright on the cart, Xie Lian watched him thoughtfully for a moment, then said, “‘Crimson

Rain Sought Flower’ is quite the name. Do you know where it came from, my friend?”

Out of respect, Xie Lian didn’t say “my little friend”.

The youth sat up casually, propped an arm up on a raised knee, and fixed his sleeves. He

replied drolly, “Nothing major, really. Just that, there was once an incident where he cleaned out

the nest of another ghost, and a shower of bloody rain poured from the skies. He saw a flower

was getting battered by the bloody rain, so he stopped to shield it with his umbrella.”

Xie Lian pictured it in his head, and imagined an act of elegance under the rancid shower. He

then thought about the burning of those thirty-three temples and laughed.

“Does Hua Cheng pick fights often?”

The youth answered, “Not often. Depends on his mood.”

“What was he like before death?” Xie Lian asked.

“Definitely not a good person,” the youth replied.

“What does he look like?”

The youth raised his eyes to look at him when he heard the question, tilted his head, and stood

up before sitting down next to Xie Lian.

“What do you think he looks like?” He turned the question on Xie Lian.

Seeing the youth up close, Xie Lian thought he was too handsome for words, but his beauty

was deadly like a sword, sharp and mesmerizing, making it hard to look at him head-on. Xie

Lian stared for a moment then lowered his eyes in defeat.

He turned his head slightly and continued to ask, “If Hua Cheng is a big-shot ghost, I’m sure he

has many forms, and changes often.”

The youth arched his brows at Xie Lian turning away, and replied, “Yeah, but there are still

times when he would use his real face. Of course, we’re talking about the real man himself, not

clones.”It might be his imagination, but Xie Lian thought the distance between the two of them seemed

to be a little wide, so he turned his face back around.

“Then, I feel his true form is probably a youth like you.”

The youth lifted his lips slightly. “Why do you say that?”

Xie Lian replied, “No reason. You say whatever and I think whatever, so whatever.”

The youth laughed. “Who knows? But, he’s blind in one eye.” He pointed to his right eye. “This

one.”

That was nothing outrageous. Xie Lian recalled one of the many backstory versions where Hua

Cheng wore a black eyepatch to hide that missing eye, and asked, “Do you know what

happened to that eye?”

“That’s a question everyone wants the answer to,” the youth replied.

Others asked because they wanted to know what Hua Cheng’s weakness was, but Xie Lian

asked purely out of curiosity. He didn’t say anything and the youth continued.

“He dug it out himself.”

Xie Lian was taken aback. “Why?”

“A moment of madness,” the youth answered.

...He could dig out his own eye when struck by madness. Xie Lian was now more curious than

ever about this Crimson Ghost King. It couldn’t have been something as simple as a moment of

madness, but there were probably no more details in regards to that story.

Xie Lian pressed on, “Does Hua Cheng have any kind of weakness?”

Xie Lian wasn’t expecting the youth to have the answer, it was just a casual question. If Hua

Cheng’s weakness was so easily known, then whatever the rumored weakness was couldn’t

possibly be true.

But the youth answered immediately, “His ashes.”

If one got a hold of a ghost’s ashes, one could take command of said ghost. If the ghost

disobeyed, then by getting rid of the ashes, the ghost would, too, dissolve, and its soul

disintegrate. This was common knowledge, but using it on Hua Cheng seemed fruitless.

Xie Lian smiled. “There’s probably no one who can obtain his ashes, so this weakness doesn’t

count.” “You never know,” the youth said. “There are circumstances where a ghost voluntarily gives

away his ashes.”

“Like the bet he had with those thirty-three heavenly officials?”

“Yeah, right,” the youth scoffed. He didn’t need to say the words for Xie Lian to understand that

he meant there was no way Hua Cheng would have lost. He continued, “There’s a custom in the

ghost realm where, if a ghost has a chosen someone, they would entrust their ashes to that

person.”

That was like handing over one’s life to another person. Such passion, what charming tales.

Xie Lian excitedly said, “I didn’t know the ghost realm had such a romantic practice?”

“There is such a tradition,” the youth said. “But not many dare to practice it.”

Xie Lian thought as much. It wasn’t only ghosts who deceived humans; there were humans who

deceived ghosts, too. There must be endless tales of betrayal and abuse.

Xie Lian sighed. “It’s definitely painful to think about. To have given everything for love, and lose

everything in return.”

The youth laughed out loud. “What’s there to be afraid of? If it were me, I’d have no regrets

giving away my ashes, destroyed or not!”

Having chatted for so long, Xie Lian suddenly realized that they hadn’t even introduced

themselves. “My friend, what’s your name?”

The youth raised one hand over his forehead to block out the rays of the blood-red sunset, and

squinted his eyes as if loathing the sun. “Me? I’m the third in the family. They call me San

Lang26.”

He didn’t say his full name, and Xie Lian didn’t bother to probe.

“My family name is Xie, name is Lian. Are you heading to Puqi Village, too?”

San Lang laid back into the hay, put his arms behind his head, and crossed his legs. “Dunno.

I’ve no destination in mind.”

It sounded as if there was a story to his words, so Xie Lian gently asked, “What’s the matter?”

26 San Lang means “third youth”. There are a number of expressions involving “San Lang”, probably

because in stories, the third time’s the charm. It’s also (very rarely since it’s old) a term of endearment

women use for their lovers, derived from the Tang Dynasty.

San Lang sighed. “My parents were quarrelling and kicked me out. I walked for a while, but had

nowhere to go. I almost passed out from hunger on the streets before finding a place at random

to lie down.”

The clothes on the boy’s back looked simple, but they were of high quality. With the

knowledgeable way he spoke and how carefree he appeared, Xie Lian had long since thought

he was a boy from a wealthy family. It must be quite difficult for a respectable young man to

wander so long on his own. Xie Lian understood that feeling. Hearing he was hungry, Xie Lian

searched through his sack, but only found a small steamed bun. Good thing it hadn’t turned

hard yet.

“Want it?”

The youth nodded and Xie Lian gave him the bun. San Lang took a look at Xie Lian.

“What about you?”

“I’m alright. Not hungry yet,” Xie Lian replied.

San Lang pushed the bun back. “Then I’m alright too.”

Xie Lian looked at him, then split the bun in half and gave him half. “You can have half, and I’ll

have the other half.”

Seeing this, San Lang accepted the steamed bun and started munching. Watching him sit and

eat a simple bun obediently, Xie Lian felt like he was abusing the boy.

The ox cart drove slowly over the rugged hills as the sun gradually set and the two chatted in

the back. The more they spoke, the more Xie Lian thought San Lang to be an extraordinary

youth. At such a young age, his diction and behaviour were already mature and intelligent, calm

and collected, as if there was nothing in this world he didn’t know, and nothing could stump him.

Xie Lian thought he was wise beyond his years, but still possessing the guise of youth.

Xie Lian said he was the Shrine Master of Puqi Shrine, and San Lang asked, “Puqi Shrine?

Sounds like there are plenty of water chestnuts to eat! I like them. Which god is it for?”

Having gotten asked that troublesome question again, Xie Lian cleared his throat and said, “It’s

the Prince of Xianle. You probably don’t know him.”

San Lang smiled but before he could say anything, the ox cart shook violently.

The two rattled with the cart, and Xie Lian reached to grab San Lang, fearing he might fall. But

just when his hand touched San Lang, the youth shook off his hand as if burnt. There was only

a slight change in his expression, but Xie Lian saw it and thought, maybe this boy actually

disliked him? They had such a good time chatting all this way though, hadn’t they? But now

wasn’t the time to ponder. Xie Lian stood up and looked around. “What’s going on?”

The old driver responded, “I don’t know! Old Huang, why aren’t you moving? Go on now!”

The sun had set by now and the ox cart was still in the deep woods, now filled with darkness.

That Old Huang ox just stood there, stubbornly refusing to move no matter how the old driver

urged it. It kept mooing, wanting to dig its head into the earth, and flicking its tail like a whip.

This didn’t feel right. Xie Lian was about to jump off the cart when suddenly, the old driver

pointed straight ahead and screamed.

Further up the road, a number of hovering green flames gathered and burned, floating through

the woods. A group of white-clad figures slowly made their way towards them while holding their

heads.

Seeing this, Xie Lian cried, “Protect!”

Ruoye flew out from his sleeve and wrapped itself in a circle around the ox cart from above,

protecting the three plus the one beast.

Xie Lian turned back and demanded, “What day is it today?”

The old driver hadn’t responded before the youth spoke up from behind.

“It’s Zhongyuan.”

The middle of the seventh month, when the gates to the underworld opened. He didn’t check his

calendar before coming out today, and it just happened to be the Zhongyuan Festival!

Xie Lian’s voice dropped. “Stay close to me. We’ve run into evil tonight. If we go down the

wrong path at the fork, we’ll never return.”

TBC

*im a little busy today so i wrote less sorry about that see you soon*

1857 words :)

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