“What saying?”
“When humans ascend, they become gods; when humans fall, they become ghosts.”
Xie Lian gave it some thought. “Is there something wrong with that?”
The State Preceptor replied, “Of course it’s wrong. Remember: when humans ascend, they are still human…when they fall, they are still human.”
Xie Lian chewed on those words, and the State Preceptor patted him on the shoulder and glanced behind.
“In any case, as for that child…don’t take it to heart. Everyone has their fate. Many times, there won’t be a way to help just because you want to. If anything happens, we’ll deal with it then. Go out and experience the world. I pray that when you return you will have matured.”
However, that very night, outside of everyone’s expectations, that child escaped from the Royal Holy Temple and disappeared.
And even further outside of everyone’s expectations, after his travels, at the age of seventeen, Xie Lian the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Xianle soundly defeated a nameless ghost at Yinian Bridge. Just like that, he ascended to the heavens amidst roars of thunder and lightning.
It was the sensation of the Three Realms.
Characters
The identity of certain characters may be a spoiler; use this guide with caution on your first read of the novel.
Note on the given name translations: Chinese characters may have many different readings. Each reading here is just one out of several possible readings presented for your reference and should not be considered a definitive translation.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Xie Lian 谢怜 “THANK/WILT,” “SYMPATHY/LOVE”
Heavenly Title:?Xianle, “Heaven’s Delight” （仙乐） Four Famous Tales Title:?The Prince Who Pleased God Once the crown prince of the Kingdom of Xianle and the darling of the Heavens, now a very unlucky twice-fallen god who ekes out a meager living collecting scraps. As his bad luck tends to affect those around him for the worse, Xie Lian has spent his last eight hundred years wandering in solitude. Still, he’s accepted his lonely lot in life, or at least seems to have a sense of humor about it. Even for the perpetually unlucky, there’s always potential for a chance encounter that can turn eight hundred years of unhappiness around.
Xie Lian has seen and done many things over his very long life and originally ascended as a martial god. While it was his scrap-collecting that saw him ascend for the third time, Xie Lian’s feats of physicality are hardly anything to scoff at…though he’d sooner use them as part of a busking performance than to win a fight.
His title Xianle is a multi-layered nickname. “Xianle” is Xie Lian’s official heavenly title and also the name of his kingdom. “Xianle” itself can translate to “Heaven’s Delight,” which ties into Xie Lian’s “Four Famous Tales” moniker, “The Prince Who Pleased God.” Jun Wu referring to Xie Lian as “Xianle” sounds professional and businesslike on the surface （as Jun Wu generally refers to gods by their heavenly titles only）， but it deliberately and not-so-subtly comes across as an affectionate term of endearment.
Hua Cheng 花城 “FLOWER,” “CITY”
Four Calamities Title:?Crimson Rain Sought Flower A fearsome king of ghosts and terror of the heavens. Dressed in his signature red, he controls vicious swarms of silver butterflies and wields a cursed scimitar known as Eming. His power and wealth are unmatched in the Three Realms, and for this he has as many worshippers as he does enemies （with considerable crossover between categories）。 He rules over the dazzling and otherworldly Ghost City in the Ghost Realm and is known to drop in at its infamous Gambler’s Den when he’s in a good mood. But it’s hard to imagine anyone would be foolish （or desperate） enough to bet against the house when Hua Cheng is infamous for his supernaturally good luck.
In spite of all this, when it comes to Xie Lian, the Ghost King shows a much kinder and respectful side of himself. He will sleep on a single straw mat in Xie Lian’s humble home or get his hands dirty doing household chores at Puqi Shrine without a moment’s hesitation. From the very start, his secret identity as San Lang seemed to be no secret at all to Xie Lian, but Xie Lian still calls him by this name at Hua Cheng’s request.
Honghong-er 红红儿 “RED,” “RED,” FRIENDLY DIMINUTIVE
A young street urchin who Xie Lian saved from certain death long ago, when Xie Lian was a prince in Xianle. Honghong-er is tiny, emaciated, and hardly looks like the ten-year-old child that he is, nor does he act like it. He is constantly on guard and quick to attack, though he strangely seems to become tame—and quite bashful—when Xie Lian is around. He bears immense shame regarding his supposedly ugly appearance and refuses to remove the bandages he wears to cover half his face.