“I did attack head-on the first time, but the moment Qi Rong found out, he ran away,” Hua Cheng said. “This time I’m here for the ghost himself, so of course I can’t have him notice I’m here.”
Is the Green Ghost the person who San Lang wants Lang Qianqiu to meet? Xie Lian wondered. Is there a relationship between the two of them? Well, whatever he wants to do, I’ll go with him. I’ll ask him to undo the spell on Qianqiu later.
Xie Lian still had the burning of Paradise Manor on his mind, so he couldn’t help his guilty conscience. As he was thinking, Hua Cheng spoke.
“That useless trash can’t do anything, but he’s very vigilant. These little ghosts can’t get near him, and it’s not easy to disguise oneself as the henchmen he trusts. There’s only one way to get close to him.”
Just then, four little ghosts came by, laughing and chatting. Hua Cheng slowed his steps, and Xie Lian followed his lead. They saw that the little ghosts had a queue of bound humans behind them, dragged along by a long rope.
Among the collection of humans, some were ragged and unkempt and some wore extravagant clothes, but they all seemed to be young men and women under the age of thirty. There was even a child, clutching the sleeve of one of the young men; they were probably father and son. All of their hands were bound, each looking terrified and some even ready to faint as they trudged through the demonic cave. They brushed past Hua Cheng, and without missing a beat, he turned around and seamlessly joined the end of the march. He gently elbowed Xie Lian, and he imitated Hua Cheng’s actions. When he looked over, Hua Cheng had already changed skins again—this time, he was a clean-cut young man. Xie Lian knew he probably looked similar.
The little band made twists and turns through the tunnels and caves. The little ghosts leading the group seemed quite content in their duties, and from time to time, flaunted their meager authority, yelling and snarling at the prisoners behind them.
“No funny business! No crying! If you ruin our great ghost king’s appetite with your faces all covered in tears and snot, we’ll teach you what it’s like to want to die!”
Out of the Four Great Calamities, there had never been any rumors that the three supremes devoured human flesh. Only the Green Ghost Qi Rong was gluttonous in this manner; no wonder his peers and enemies alike scoffed at any mention of him, mocking him as unsightly and ignorant. Earlier, Hua Cheng said there was only one way to get close to the Green Ghost Qi Rong—it appeared that mixing in with the “food” was the plan. As he walked, Xie Lian reached for Hua Cheng’s hand. Once he succeeded in grabbing hold of it, he felt Hua Cheng freeze like he wanted to pull away. It wasn’t that Xie Lian didn’t notice, but given the circumstances, there wasn’t much room for thought. He held Hua Cheng’s hand tight and lightly drew a word on his palm: “Save.”
Since Xie Lian had seen their plight, he had to save these people. The gesture was meant to inform Hua Cheng of his intentions.
After the word was written, Hua Cheng gently folded his fingers and closed his palm. A moment later, the group left the tunnel and made their way into a massive cave.
As soon as they entered the cave, a mass of densely packed objects appeared in their vision. Xie Lian squinted up at them, not quite able to tell what those objects were, when he felt Hua Cheng grip his wrist and draw a few words on the back of his palm: “Watch your head. Don’t touch.”
At first, Xie Lian thought that there were many rags hanging from above, but when he looked closer, his pupils shrank—what rags? It was clearly a large crowd of densely packed people, suspended in midair with their feet up and heads down.
The forest of upside-down corpses!
But despite the suspended dead bodies, there was no bloody rain. It was because these corpses were all dried, not a drop of fresh blood left flowing in their veins. Those dried corpses all looked like they were in pain, their mouths open wide, and there was a thin layer of snow-like crystals on their bodies and faces. Salt.
In the deepest recesses of the cave, the lights shone bright; there was a giant chair, a long table, golden goblets, and jaded utensils. Such extravagance made it look more like a royal banquet hall than a deep mountain cave. A bit farther away from the long table there was an enormous steel cauldron, big enough that more than ten people could swim within. Red, boiling water bubbled in the cauldron; if anyone should accidentally fall in, it would be mere seconds before they were cooked through!
The four little ghosts ushered the group of prisoners toward the cauldron, but some fell to the ground shivering in fear when they saw what was waiting for them. In the midst of all the yelling, hitting, pulling, and dragging, Xie Lian suddenly felt that beside him, Hua Cheng’s arm had gone stiff and he’d stopped moving.