Shi Qingxuan looked at him. “Why not?”
Lang Qianqiu replied seriously, “Your Highness Xianle, do you really know Crimson Rain Sought Flower? I heard your conversation earlier; it seems you two are friends.”
Xie Lian nodded.
“Then of course that plan is not feasible!” Lang Qianqiu said. “Even though a ghost king is no saint, the fact that he went easy on you must mean that he sees you as a friend. And one should never deceive a friend.”
Shi Qingxuan could feel an oncoming headache. “My god, Qianqiu, you stubborn mule!”
Yet Xie Lian laughed and nodded. “It’s good. What His Highness Tai Hua said.”
Lang Qianqiu beamed. “You agree with me, right?”
“How is that right?” Shi Qingxuan protested. “The three of us are heavenly officials, you know. If we report back empty-handed, people will no doubt say that our success rate is even lower than the Palace of Ling Wen’s. And what an utter embarrassment that would be.”
Xie Lian grinned, but just as he was about to speak, a terrible ruckus erupted from behind them and made the three turn their heads. Just outside of the alley, a mob of nefarious creatures ran past with raised fists, shouting.
“Where’s that brat with the bandaged face? Where is he?”
Seeing the other two gods’ alarm, Xie Lian reassured, “Don’t worry, they’re not after us.”
Just as the words left his lips, their ears were pierced by a shrill, deafening cry.
Chapter 15:
At Paradise Manor, Questions of Xianle
THAT SHARP CRY of desperation made Xie Lian’s heart drop. He had hardly gathered his thoughts before his body was already charging in that direction. Outside the alley, there were a bunch of oddly shaped, sinister creatures gathered in a circle, yelling one after another.
“We caught him!”
“Beat him to a pulp again!”
“Fuck! However much food this little scumbag pilfered off me, I’m gonna slice the same off him, every single bit!”
Shi Qingxuan caught up. “Your Highness, what’s going on?”
Xie Lian didn’t respond. He walked toward the group step by step, his pace growing in speed, and soon he broke into a run. He forcefully pushed past a couple of ghosts on the outside of the circle and saw that the one getting beaten was a boy dressed in tattered clothes. Judging by his size, he appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, and he was curled up on the ground trembling uncontrollably.
Even though he clung tightly to his head, the layers of bandages that were messily wrapped around it were still visible. The bandages were covered in dirt, the same as his hair.
Wasn’t this the same bandaged boy that Xie Lian had briefly met at Mount Yujun, the boy who had run off and couldn’t be found?
No wonder the Palace of Ling Wen had been saying they couldn’t find any trace of him. How could Heaven’s Palace of Ling Wen find him in the Mortal Realm if the boy had escaped to the Ghost Realm’s territory?
The ghosts that had been pushed aside by Xie Lian were outraged and shoved him out again, just as one of them moved to yank on the bandages on that boy’s head.
“This little beggar is probably a freak, even uglier than me! Look how scared he is of people pulling these things off his face…”
Lang Qianqiu was furious. “What are you doing?!” he cried, then he walked up and hurled a few ghosts off to one side.
Shi Qingxuan didn’t have time to stop him and could only wave around with his fan. “Qianqiu, I thought we agreed not to act so impulsively!”
This time around, Qianqiu had riled up even more ghosts than before. “Where the hell did you come from?” they roared as they tackled him.
“I’m sorry, Lord Wind Master,” Lang Qianqiu called. “This will be the last time!” Then he jumped into the fight, whacking the ghosts about.
Shi Qingxuan let out an exasperated sigh. “Ugh, I’m never going on a mission with you again!” After that, of course he also had to join the brawl.
Annoyingly, they couldn’t use any spells—lest they give off spiritual light—so they had to resort to fighting with fists and feet. A smaller part of the group that was still beating up the boy was forcibly broken up by Xie Lian. He knelt, wanting to help the boy up.
“Are you all right?”
Upon hearing his voice, the boy shuddered and took a peek at him from his fetal position. Now that Xie Lian could see his face, he finally noticed that the bandages wrapped around the boy’s head were thoroughly drenched in blood. With patches of black and red, it was a frightening sight, an appearance more terrifying than when they had last parted. The two big eyes peeping out of the gaps between the bandages were rapt, black iris against the white, unusually clear. And yet those ink-black eyes that reflected Xie Lian’s silhouette were filled with terror.