Chapter 133: By the Heaven Official’s Blessing, No Paths Are Bound

“CONGRATS, CONGRATS!”

“Congratulations, Your Highness!”

The newly built Puqi Shrine was bustling and lively; people came and went. Xie Lian traveled along the long tables packed with guests to deliver bowl after bowl of hot, steamy noodles, soups with oil that glistened like gold, and mouthwatering snow-white rice. His movements flowed like water.

Even as he ran hither and thither swamped with various tasks, Xie Lian still had to greet incoming guests. He managed to spare a moment to say, “Thank you, please have a seat!”

The original Puqi Shrine had unfortunately collapsed in a brawl, but it was now rebuilt.

The once-dilapidated little shrine was much more sumptuous this time; a new courtyard had even been added. Neither Xie Lian nor Hua Cheng had handled the reconstruction—rather, it had been spearheaded by the residents of Puqi Village. On the day when Xie Lian fled, they had rummaged through the wreckage and found a box full of gold bars. Naturally, they were the ones that had been stuffed into his donation box day after day by Quan Yizhen.

The villagers were almost scared out of their wits; they had never seen so much gold. After they came to their senses, the village head used a portion of it to rebuild Puqi Shrine. They didn’t dare to touch the rest of it and kept it safe for Xie Lian until he returned.

Thus, when Xie Lian returned with Hua Cheng, they were greeted with enthusiastic cries of “Daozhang” and “Xiao-Hua”—and also by a brand-new shrine and a box heavy with gold bars.

Xie Lian had planned to return the gold bars to Quan Yizhen, but Quan Yizhen would allow no such thing, refusing them left and right until Hua Cheng told him in no uncertain terms that, “If you don’t take those bars back, you can forget about learning how to properly nurse a ghost’s soul.” Only then did the child settle down and break his bad habit of blindly stuffing gold bars into people’s hands.

After making their greetings, the group of heavenly officials led by Mu Qing cautiously crossed into the yard. The moment they got a full look at the shrine, their words stuck in their throats.

Gaudy.

Too gaudy!

The bright, clashing celebratory reds and greens weren’t even the worst of it, nor was the extremely exaggerated divine statue painted in a rainbow of colors. The worst thing of all was the establishment plaque.

What in the world was even written—or drawn—on that plaque?

There naturally needed to be a celebration when a new shrine was established, but this shrine’s taste was terrible in every sense of the word—especially that ghastly establishment plaque. It was quite difficult for anyone to force compliments past their lips; all the congratulatory niceties they had prepared had been completely forgotten.

Xie Lian, on the other hand, didn’t mind the decor at all; he even thought it was rather nice. At least it wasn’t a dilapidated building that was constantly teetering on the brink of collapse.

“Please have a seat, won’t you?” he offered again.

The group of heavenly officials didn’t look like they wanted to sit; they probably had only stopped by to congratulate him and quickly show their faces. After delivering their gifts, they left in a hurry.

Xie Lian turned to Mu Qing. “Why did they leave in such a rush?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Mu Qing said.

“Well, yeah.”

“Then why don’t you go ask your dear San Lang?” Mu Qing spat crankily.

When Hua Cheng came back, the first one to know was Xie Lian. Second to know were the gods of the Upper Court, who hadn’t even warmed their seats yet in the new Heavenly Capital. On the day of the Shangyuan Festival, they had worked so hard to put together a Battle of the Lanterns…which was abruptly obliterated by Hua Cheng’s casual wave of three thousand lanterns, the same move he’d pulled at the Mid-Autumn Banquet. In addition, the heavenly bell had been tolling nonstop ever since that night. The entire Upper Court echoed with its ceaseless reverberating gongs, as if it were reminding them that the Nightmare of the Heavens had returned!

And right now, the Nightmare stood before them; no normal heavenly official would dare approach. However, they still wanted to get in Xie Lian’s good graces so they could beg Hua Cheng to show them some mercy in the future. After all, the gossip about the relationship between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian in the Upper Court was already fairly lurid with no need for exaggeration.

When he heard about this, Xie Lian recalled how Hua Cheng had demanded the Upper Court proclaim his heroism for an entire year. “Cheeky,” he said with a laugh.

“This is not just a matter of cheekiness!” Mu Qing scolded. “Tell him to lay off a little—it’s getting out of control. That bell is so noisy that everyone’s on edge, and the Upper Court can’t function with it constantly tolling. It keeps falling off the tower and crashing onto people. The Heavenly Capital has finally been rebuilt; don’t let it be destroyed again by something like that.”

“All right,” Xie Lian said. “I’ll tell him in a bit. While we’re here, wanna try some food?” He pointed at the rice, noodles, and soups on the tables in the yard, then added, “I didn’t make it.”

Rejection was written all over his cold expression when Mu Qing heard the first half, but his face returned to normal when he heard the last part. Right then, Feng Xin arrived. He entered the yard just in time to brush past several other junior officials who were about to leave.

After the junior officials greeted him, they began to whisper amongst themselves.

“It’s General Nan Yang.”

“It’s him. It’s so sad, his wife and son ran off with some guy…”

Veins bulged violently on Feng Xin’s forehead as he roared out curses at them. “What the fuck?! Aren’t you guys sick of this?! How many months have you been yapping about it?! Also—it’s just ‘ran off,’ not ‘ran off with some guy’! Stop fucking spreading false rumors!”

The gossipy junior officials were quickly scared away. Mu Qing stood to the side with his hands tucked in his sleeves.

“You shouldn’t have bothered to clarify. Now it just sounds even more embarrassing.”

Outraged, Feng Xin seized a broom and threw it over. Mu Qing caught it easily and snorted.

“Stale moves. You can’t use that trick on me anymore.”

Before Feng Xin could yell some more, Xie Lian walked over and stuffed another broom in his hands.

“Oh good, then how about both of you help me sweep the yard? We set off some firecrackers earlier, so the ground is covered in red scraps. Thanks. You can train some idioms if you get bored, okay?”

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both struck speechless.

An hour later, the sound of rowdy human voices approached from a distance. The gathered guests looked outside, and after a short while, a large and boisterous crowd of people poured into the yard of Puqi Shrine.

“Is it here?”

“It’s here! Oho, and it’s pretty impressive too.”

“There’s really rice—so much rice!”

“And meat!”

The temple grounds which Feng Xin and Mu Qing had just swept were immediately made filthy again by the giant crowd of muddy feet. Eyes wide, Mu Qing gripped his broom, feeling as though he’d been given fleas.

“…What’s with those beggars?”

A man with messy hair and dirty clothes was leading the crowd of beggars—it was Shi Qingxuan. He hobbled and hopped over to Xie Lian, putting his hands together in courtesy.

“Your Highness, I’ve come to bother you! So, how about it? Does our agreement still stand?”

Xie Lian laughed. “Of course it stands! Everyone is very welcome. Please have a seat, have a seat.”

“Isn’t this too many people?” Mu Qing wondered.

“No!” Shi Qingxuan said. “All the amazing people who helped guard the human array at the royal capital last year are here now.”

When they were guarding the human array, Shi Qingxuan had promised them all that everyone would be treated to chicken legs after the deed was done, and that all would be welcome. With so many people missing in action after their grand battle, the chicken leg treat was never delivered. However, they could finally fulfill the promise today by serving up bowl after bowl of noodle soup with chicken legs.Everyone, no need to hold yourselves back today! Let’s eat!” Shi Qingxuan called out.

The cheering beggars crowded inside, filling the yard from the tables to the ground. They hugged enormous bowls close as they ate, slurping and slurping, chomping and chomping.

Suddenly, someone spoke up. “Wait, something’s wrong. I sense evil qi!”

The crowd turned their heads and saw that the complaint had been voiced by Heaven’s Eye and company.

Xie Lian felt his head ache. “Why did you guys come?”

“We helped out too, so why shouldn’t we come?” Heaven’s Eye raised his bowl high, his expression serious. “Everyone! Listen to me—I am definitely not wrong! There’s evil qi in the food! It’s highly dubious, very suspicious! Put your bowls down, quickly!”

No one even acknowledged him. The crowd of beggars had already finished eating their first round, and they raised their empty bowls. “Seconds!”

Feng Xin and Mu Qing had been fighting with their brooms as they swept the yard clean of the red scraps left over from the firecrackers, but when they saw everyone eating with such contentment and satisfaction, they each sat down and picked up a bowl.

“Why will none of you listen to reason?!” Heaven’s Eye exclaimed furiously.

He got up, ready to go check the kitchen, but Shi Qingxuan held him back.

“Honestly, Daozhang, you’re overthinking things. This is Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s territory; it’s normal to sense nefarious qi. Are you really that concerned? Fine, I’ll go take a look. Just sit there and don’t get too riled up.”

And then he rose to his feet and walked to the kitchen, lifting the curtains to peek.

“You see, what’s there to be suspicious about…”

“Wait, I’ll go look too…” Xie Lian said.

When he, Shi Qingxuan, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing poked their heads inside, they were stunned.

Inside the kitchen, a hulking boar butcher was hacking at the cutting board like mad; they’d have assumed he was chopping up humans if it hadn’t been for all the pork legs hanging behind him. A fire was lit under a giant pot that sat to one side of the kitchen, and within the pot a long-necked rooster spirit was scrubbing himself and having the time of his life. But when he noticed that new people had seen him bathing, he screamed and covered his chest with his hands.

Utterly flummoxed, Xie Lian hurried inside to whisper, “Didn’t I say you couldn’t do this?”

The rooster spirit crowed in laughter and slapped his chest. “Granduncle! We took a bath before we got here, we’re very clean!” he promised. “Besides, this broth has longevity-boosting effects; eating it won’t harm anyone! It can be consumed with total peace of mind!”

“…”

Shi Qingxuan silently dropped the curtains. Feng Xin and Mu Qing flung away their bowls, sputtering as they did.

“I’d rather you do the cooking!”

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, feeling both amused and woeful. “They were so adamant about helping, I couldn’t say no. They’re doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.”

Right then, Heaven’s Eye came over, for he found their sneaking around too suspicious to ignore. Xie Lian quickly stopped him, afraid that he’d start another riot if he saw the boar butcher and the rest.

“Can I help you?” Xie Lian asked.

Yet unexpectedly, Heaven’s Eye hadn’t come to check out the kitchen—instead, he went straight for Xie Lian.

“That’s weird…” he mumbled in confusion, circling Xie Lian a few times.

“What is?” Xie Lian asked.

Heaven’s Eye was visibly puzzled. “This isn’t right, Xie-daozhang. Why has the evil qi on you intensified?”

“…” Xie Lian lightly cleared his throat.

Mu Qing humphed. “Of course it’ll get worse if he’s hanging around a Ghost King all day.”

“No,” Heaven’s Eye replied. “Even then, it shouldn’t be like this.”

“Like what?” Feng Xin asked.

After much hesitation, he decided to be blunt. “Why is the evil qi…internal? It’s…it’s coming from inside your body.”

“…”

“You must’ve suffered something truly torturous. What did you do? Why are you this unwell?”

“…”

Xie Lian couldn’t even cough anymore. His entire face was so red it was about to burst.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing didn’t understand at first, but once they figured it out, they turned silently to stare at Xie Lian.

“…”

Shi Qingxuan was the only one who couldn’t wrap his head around it. “What is it? What happened? What’s going on? Your Highness, are you really sick? Does Crimson Rain Sought Flower know? Is he not taking good care of you?!”

No, no, no. Xie Lian was like this because Hua Cheng had taken care of him so thoroughly!

“Um. Actually. No. Don’t…I think…why don’t you…hmm…” Xie Lian mumbled haltingly.

A mess of images filled up his mind, and a jumbled pile of meaningless, confused words kept falling from his mouth. This was only interrupted when his back bumped into someone’s chest. An arm wearing a silver vambrace circled his waist, and a familiar voice spoke with an obvious grin.

“I think that all of you should return to your seats, eat your food, and stop worrying about anything else. How’s that?”

Considering the current situation, Xie Lian really didn’t know whether he should feel relieved or even more awkward.

“San Lang!” he exclaimed.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s expressions got very complicated the moment they saw Hua Cheng emerge, but they couldn’t really say anything in front of Xie Lian.

Only Shi Qingxuan persisted, asking very seriously, “Crimson Rain Sought Flower, have you checked out His Highness’s body lately?”

Xie Lian slapped his forehead, desperately hoping Shi Qingxuan wouldn’t ask any more questions. Just then, the crowd of beggars started complaining loudly.

“One more bowl!”

“Add more meat!”

“This chicken soup is so bland—add more salt!”

Mu Qing couldn’t listen to this any longer. “Are all of you aware that this is a temple? It’s for worshipping gods—how about you please tone it down a notch?”

However, the crowd of beggars refused to take this scolding. They had once supported the human array alongside heavenly officials, and they had seen with their own eyes that many of those officials couldn’t even match them in valor—they had trembled and fled in the face of danger. Furthermore, they were now well acquainted with Shi Qingxuan. They couldn’t help but think, “So, that’s what gods are really like.” They weren’t all that different from ordinary folk when their lives were on the line. And so, those once-untouchable gods no longer appeared so mighty and sacrosanct.

Suddenly, a surprised scream came from the kitchen. “Who’s there?!”

Xie Lian tensed and dashed into the kitchen. The boar butcher and the rooster spirit were screaming and shouting, and Xie Lian hastily comforted them.

“Calm down! Calm down! What happened?”

The rooster spirit was so shaken that goosebumps had risen all over his body. “Granduncle! There’s a ghost! A ghost devoured all the food we prepared! I only just dipped my head under the broth, and when I came back up, there wasn’t a single bowl left! It’s a ghost!”

“What are you so scared of?! You’re a ghost!” the boar butcher spat.

Xie Lian was slightly perplexed. “How can that be? I just saw you guys make fifty fresh bowls.”

“Yeah!”

But sure enough, now all fifty bowls were empty—even the broth had been completely cleaned out!

As Xie Lian puzzled over the matter, someone in particular came to mind. When he turned around, he saw Hua Cheng leaning against the doorframe.

“San Lang, could it be…?”

“More than likely,” Hua Cheng replied flatly.

“Yes…” Xie Lian mused. “He probably came to congratulate us. Of course he’s welcome, but he ate a bit too much… Now that he’s eaten all the food, what should we do?”

Hua Cheng smiled. “Nothing. Add it to his tab.”

The troubled mob of Ghost City kitchen ghosts resigned themselves to cooking up a new batch from scratch. Just then, a clamor came from the main hall and the yard—it sounded like a quarrel had started. Xie Lian was just about to go to mediate when Hua Cheng caught his hand and led him out through a side door.

The two walked out of Puqi Shrine hand in hand. There were trees blocking the way as they went, and it surely would’ve been easier to traverse the path if they separated. But neither wanted to let go, so they twisted and turned, detoured and deviated.

As they meandered, Xie Lian asked, “San Lang, where are we going now?”

“It’s too noisy,” Hua Cheng said. “Let them riot. We’ll leave first.”

Xie Lian peered over his shoulder as they walked. “Are we really going to let them be?” he asked, sounding a little worried. “Puqi Shrine was just rebuilt. What if it collapses again during the fight?”

Hua Cheng was not concerned about such trifles. “If it collapses, it collapses; we’ll build another one. Gege can have as many as he wishes. He need only ask.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha…”

***

That night, within Thousand Lights Temple, Xie Lian was leaning over the jade table next to the divan wearing nothing but a light, snow-white inner robe after his evening bath. He was putting together a calligraphy copybook for Hua Cheng, writing it out stroke by stroke.

Hua Cheng reclined all alone on the divan; he was also wearing nothing but an inner robe with the collar slightly open. He had been gazing at Xie Lian all this time, illuminated by lamplight as mild as jade. He was clearly bored to death, and his fingers busied themselves by twiddling the red coral pearl at the tail end of his braid. After drinking in the view for a while, he squinted his eye, looking satisfied.

“Gege, enough of that,” he sighed. “Come rest now.”

But Xie Lian had only just endured Hua Cheng’s torment—he was determined not to be tricked again. Even if that tone of voice made the tips of his ears burn, he forced himself to stay calm as he continued to write.

“No. San Lang, today someone said your writing is ugly again. You have to practice hard, all right?” he said sternly. “Otherwise, I don’t want anyone to know that I taught you.”

Hua Cheng sat up slightly and arched his brows. “Gege, I remember you once said very clearly that you liked my handwriting.”

After Hua Cheng returned to him, Xie Lian was compliant and docile for a long while, going along with his every whim…which was probably how he wound up spoiling Hua Cheng rotten, and why he became such a bully.

Xie Lian finished writing and placed the brush down. In an even stricter voice, he said, “Knock it off. I’m done; come practice.”

Hua Cheng lazily shuffled over to sit behind Xie Lian. He slipped his arms around to hug his waist and bent slightly to rest his head on his shoulder. He removed the red coral pearl from his hair and placed it on the paper, making it chase after Xie Lian’s hand. It rolled around, purposely obstructing Xie Lian from writing properly.

So mischievous, but at the same time so forceful in asserting his presence. Xie Lian remembered how Heaven’s Eye had said his whole body was radiating evil qi from the inside out—that was all thanks to Hua Cheng, and he felt his heart go soft and aflutter despite himself.

As he struggled lightly, he whispered, “…Write properly.”

“All right. I’ll listen to gege,” Hua Cheng said.

He raised his brush, but he put it back down after only two verses. A single look was all it took for Xie Lian to shake his head and mentally sigh for the umpteenth time, It’s hopeless.

After a pause, he also raised a brush and helped Hua Cheng fill in the last two verses. Once he was done, Xie Lian blew lightly and picked up the paper so they could both admire the poem they’d written together.

The ink upon the paper formed the four elegant phrases that had spread throughout heaven and earth.

“After seeing the vast sea, no water can compare;

Scattered from the peak of Mount Wu, there are no other clouds;

Many times I’ve passed through the flowers, yet I spare them no glance;

For half my fate is in cultivation, and the other half, in you.”

Even Eming, hanging beside the table, admired the work with a wide, unblinking eye.

Hua Cheng laughed. “Exceptional. Gege, quick, sign your name. These words will surely stun future generations and echo through the ages.”

Xie Lian had already signed Hua Cheng’s name at the bottom, but despite his urging, he couldn’t bring himself to pick up the brush and add his own name. Hua Cheng finished laughing and pretended to be serious.

“Gege, are you too embarrassed? Let me help you.”

He took hold of Xie Lian’s hand and wrote two characters with rough strokes. Not a single soul would be able to tell that those were characters at all if not for their place on a page, much less that they were supposed to be the characters of Xie Lian’s name.

Feeling ridiculous, Xie Lian could only lean his head against Hua Cheng’s chest and watch as his own hand wrote this thing. But suddenly, those characters looked familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere else before.

A moment later he remembered, and his eyes lit up.

“San Lang! On your arm!” he exclaimed excitedly, catching hold of Hua Cheng’s forearm and pulling up his sleeve. “It’s this!”

Back when they lived together in the old Puqi Shrine, Xie Lian had once noticed a tattoo on Hua Cheng’s arm. The word had seemed like it was written in characters from a foreign land. At the time he had chewed on the matter in his mind, but he never could have imagined that it wasn’t “foreign writing” at all—as it turned out, it was Xie Lian’s own name!

Hua Cheng also glanced at his arm and laughed. “Does gege finally recognize it?”

“I should’ve recognized it a long time ago,” Xie Lian said. “It’s just…”

It’s just…Hua Cheng’s handwriting was truly the craft of the devil. He didn’t need to say anything; Hua Cheng could guess what he was thinking and started laughing heartily. With one arm hugging Xie Lian around the waist, he gave his forehead a gentle peck.

“Don’t worry. As long as gege’s handwriting is beautiful, it’s fine. That makes me a million times happier than my own handwriting ever would.”

Xie Lian’s hand caressed the spot where the tattoo was. The ink of the tattoo was deep, and it was easy to imagine just how painful it had been to receive.Was this done when you were little?” he asked softly.

Hua Cheng smiled and pulled his sleeve down, nodding.

Then it was definitely something he had tattooed on himself. An image came to Xie Lian’s mind—a small boy sneakily carving the name of the one he admired into his own arm. So childish, but so brave.

A red string twined between ten fingers clasped tightly together. A scene from a year ago surfaced in Xie Lian’s mind—it was when Hua Cheng had dissipated into butterflies at Mount Tonglu.

In his final moments, Hua Cheng had sworn a soundless oath. Although it had been inaudible, Xie Lian still knew exactly what he said. They were the words Hua Cheng had lived by since he was a child and eternally thereafter beyond his death.

“I am forever your most devoted believer.”

***

Tales of Curious Folk Customs

In folk tradition, they tell tales of the Scrap Immortal.

Although he is called the Scrap Immortal, this immortal does not grant his grace to scrap collectors alone—rather, he secures the peace of the entire Mortal Realm. This is because he is also the strongest of martial gods. There exists no evil he cannot vanquish; there are no ghosts he cannot slay. He possesses the power to annihilate the world, but he does not lack the heart to cherish the flower.

However, there are rules and taboos when worshipping a god. If you come across a temple that worships this immortal, you must never prostrate casually, for this Scrap Immortal apparently has a special constitution that summons misfortune.

Don’t believe it? First prepare a set of dice, then rub the hand of the immortal’s divine statue. Then, roll the dice and observe the results—your luck will most certainly be the worst there is.

And so, paying regular devotion to the Scrap Immortal’s dusty-white divine statue might only bring more bad luck the more you pray—even reaching the point where water gets stuck between your teeth or you see ghosts while wearing Daoist robes.

In folk tradition, they also tell tales of the Red-Robed Ghost King.

Although the Ghost King is not considered human, he possesses an enormous number of worshippers. There are legions of people who secretly set up shrines to the Ghost King in their own homes to worship him day and night, praying for good fortune. For not only is the Ghost King invincible, it seems that he has never tasted a single defeat. Furthermore, his luck is powerful beyond match.

Don’t believe it? Before rolling a set of dice, prostrate before him. If he is willing to assist, your next roll will definitely be exceptional.

But ghosts aren’t like gods, so naturally there are even more taboos. Although this Ghost King is powerful, his personality is eccentric and extreme. If he’s happy, he will help you even if you don’t pray. If he’s displeased, you can give a thousand gold and he will still turn away. If he’s very displeased, he may just end your life.

So, by the same logic, it’s best to show your respects, but stay far away.

However, if you worship the divine statues of this god and this ghost together, you will witness a miracle.

The Red-Robed Ghost King will dispel all the misfortune enveloping the Scrap Immortal and allow him to reveal his true appearance. You will be shocked to discover that the Scrap Immortal’s color isn’t dusty white—rather, it is shimmering gold.

Legends are usually based in fact. However, this is a tale from a long, long time ago, and perhaps it would need to be told in full to be understood. And as a saga spanning eight hundred years, it would be a very, very long tale to tell. People might not have the patience to listen.

But one thing is certain: in order for them to display their true strength, the two must be worshipped together. In this way, one can receive double the fortune and twice the invincibility.

By the heaven official’s blessing, no paths are bound!

THE END

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