TGCF Extras 245-252 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

[TGCF Extra - Chapter 245] Lanterns & Riddles, Yuanxiao Night - The taste of yuanxiao is the taste of reunion! Yuanxiao Festival, a lovely night since sundown. Although it was considered the start of spring, winter was not yet distant, and the wind was crisp and cold. Xie Lian hefted a huge sack as he walked slowly along the side of the road, a faint red flush on his face from the wind. The sack contained a jumble of scraps he had just collected. He did not know if they were of any use, but regardless of whether they were of use or not, it was to be his only livelihood from now on. Not too long later, he came across a stall by the side of the street. The stall was called “Heji Xiaoshi” [1], and sold some snacks and small bites. It appeared that the stall-owner’s family of three were sitting at a small table placed towards a lane. A slim and rather pretty lady was bustling amidst rows of tables; she did not heed the stall-owner as he called for her to stop bustling about and to take a seat at the table, instead only saying, “be there soon,” her voice like an oriole’s call. Although customers sat at the other tables in twos and threes, but all of them seemed to be there for the young ladies passing by, as they sat and chatted casually before heading home after a while. After all, it was Yuanxiao Festival today. In front of the stall was a small pot. The contents of the pot - white, round, glistening little objects, piping hot in a roiling boil - made him slow down his footsteps. Xie Lian remarked internally: “Ah, it’s yuanxiao.” When he was little, every Yuanxiao Festival, Xianle’s king and queen would eat a meal of yuanxiao with him. Xie Lian was an extremely picky-eater, and did not like yuanxiao. Even the tiny delicacies made by renowned chefs, served to him in dishes of gold and jade, were not to his liking. He disliked how they were too sweet, how they made his teeth feel funny when he ate them; he would not eat this filling, nor would he eat that filling; a couple of bites and he would be done. Afterwards, when he had grown up a little and run off to cultivate on Taicang Mountain, he only went home for Yuanxiao Festival occasionally, and all in all only ate a few meals. Thinking about it now, Xie Lian discovered that he could not remember just what yuanxiao tasted like. Xie Lian darted a few glances cautiously from the side of the stall, and set the huge, ugly sack down from his shoulder cautiously, and finally, stepped cautiously towards the stall. He took off his straw hat, and held it in his hands as he said, “Boss [3], could I have a bowl of yuanxiao? Do you have any here?” The stall-owner was quite old, and gave Xie Lian a look, but before he could answer, that slim young lady replied with a smile, “Yes, you have a seat first!” With that, she hurried to prepare a bowl. Xie Lian, but saw the stall-owner shake his head. He found it strange, and wondered if it was because he looked dirty, such that he was displeasing to others, and he looked down deliberately to study his clothes. After ascertaining that he was not dirty, he felt slightly relieved, and asked, “What is it?” He thought, if the stall-keeper did not like that he had brought that sack in, he would just place the sack outside. But the stall-keeper gave him another look, and shook his head, saying, “Pitiful. How pitiful.”

Xie Lian said, “Ah? What did you say?” The stall-keeper said, “On Yuanxiao Festival, a single person sitting at an outdoors stall in the cold, eating yuanxiao, is too pitiful, surely.” “……” Xie Lian said, “Don’t be like that. Aren’t you making a business……” The stall-owner did not speak to him further, but started collecting bowls. After sitting for a while, Xie Lian felt that the people around him were studying him, or rather, studying him and that extraordinarily and unexpectedly large sack beside him. The stall-owner’s daughter came over furtively, crouching down to poke at the sack, as though curious about what the bulky items in it were, and only going back after her mother had called a few times for her. At this time, Xie Lian had yet to cultivate the thick skin which even knives and spears could not penetrate [3], that he would have in the future. He could not help but use his leg to kick the huge sack under the table, hoping to stuff it in a place where the passers-by would not be able to see it. Alas, the stall was small, and its tables and chairs and benches were also small, such that it was simply impossible to hide such a thing. Xie Lian had no choice but to cough lightly, and do his best to ignore the gazes of the people around him. He would get used to it. It was no big deal. Suddenly, he remembered something, and hurriedly reached his hand into the chest of his robes and felt around. His expression changed as he thought, “Now this is even more pitiful! Not only am I sitting alone at an outdoors stall in the cold, eating yuanxiao, on Yuanxiao Festival, I don’t even have enough money!!!” He had intended to slip away hurriedly, but just at that moment, the stall-owner came over with a large porcelain bowl, and set it down on the table, saying, “Five bits of money.” “……” Xie Lian felt faintly as though he was unable to breathe, as he said, “Uh…… I……” He coughed a few times, his fist raised before his mouth, as he heard the stall-owner say, “Is it that you don’t have any?” Xie Lian was just about to thicken his skin and stand up and scram, when he saw the large porcelain bowl being put on the table before him with a thud. He froze, and heard the stall-owner say, “Forget it. Seeing how pitiful you are, I’ll give you a bowl. I’ll need to close up the stall after you finish this, so hurry up and go back. It’s Yuanxiao Festival today, you should be together with your family!” “……” Xie Lian sat down again, and although he remarked to himself that he had nowhere to go back to after he finished this bowl of yuanxiao, he said out loud in a soft voice, “Thank you.” The stall-owner also said, “It’s so late out, and to go back back this late on Yuanxiao Festival is improper!”

His wife said, “He looks like he’s worked hard too, and will be leaving soon, stop scolding him in the meanwhile. Miao-er [4], Miao-er, stop bustling about. Always having you come over to help, it makes us feel bad. Come here and eat with us.” That young lady said, “I’m not bustling around!” She put away the last table, and went over to sit and have a portion of yuanxiao with them. The four people seemed to be waiting for another person to come back to join their gathering, as they talked and laughed. Xie Lian looked at them, held up his bowl, spooned a piece into his mouth, and drank a sip of sweet soup. But he still did not know what its taste was. + “Gege, gege?” Only then did Xie Lian recall his attention. Hua Cheng was by his side, staring at him. In his red robes, Hua Cheng’s brows and eyes were all the more brilliant, and the light from the lanterns gave his otherwise pale (to the point that he looked lifeless) face a layer of soft colour. Xie Lian grew slightly distracted as he looked, saying, “What?” Hua Chen said, “Is gege tired? Or is it that he can’t walk?” Xie Lian nodded without much thought. Hua Cheng said, “Sorry. I overdid it last night.” Only after a while did Xie Lian react to what he had said, and hurriedly waved his hands, saying, “…… what are you saying, it is nothing of that sort! This has nothing to do with that!” Hua Cheng raised a brow, saying, “Really? If this has nothing to do with that, that means, I did not overdo it? And so, I can……?” “……” Xie Lian suddenly recalled that they were still in middle of the main street of the Ghost City, and gave a startled, wary glance about. Indeed, at some unknown point in time, they had become surrounded by a huge crowd of misshapen and bizarre creatures [5], those with long ears extending their ears [6], those with with short ears stretching their necks, and seemingly all of them with eyes opened as wide as a copper bell, staring at them [i.e. HuaLian] hard. Xie Lian was so startled that, for a moment he did not know what to say. Finally, he exclaimed, “San-lang ah!” Hua Cheng gave a slight smile, and hid his hands behind his back as he said, “Alright, alright. It’s my fault, I’ll stop talking.” Xie Lian had also already drawn back his gaze from the yuanxiao creature’s stall by the side of the street. On both sides of the Ghost City’s main street hung a profusion of bright red lanterns, and the lanterns were covered with riddles. The crowd of ghosts clamoured, “Guess a riddle! Guess a riddle! Guess correctly and you’ll get a prize! Lots and lots of prizes!” Hua Cheng said to Xie Lian, “ Gege, give it a go? There are prizes.” Xie Lian walked up, saying, “Let me try?”

The crowd of ghosts grew excited, pushing at each other: “Sh! Sh! Da bogong [7] is going to guess a riddle! Da bofu is going to guess a riddle!!!” “……” Faced with the overwhelming clamour of the crowd, almost as though they were expecting him to break into a dance, Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry. Just as he was thinking of picking a riddle at random, a tentacle from goodness-knows-where anticipated him, passing him a lantern and saying, “Please! Please!” To Xie Lian, any of them would be the same. And so, he received the lantern, and gave it a look. There were four words on the side of the lantern with the riddle: “Found a white head.” Xie Lian did not even need to think, saying: “I.” [8] Hua Cheng clapped his hands, praising, “Gege, you’re amazing.” The surrounding crowd of ghosts clapped along thunderously with him, whooping and howling, and an indistinct, pitch-black shape even did somersaults in the air as it cheered, which felt a bit much. Xie Lian felt embarrassed, saying, “Actually, this…… was really simple ah.” The tentacle again passed him a second lantern, saying, “Please! Please” Xie Lian received the lantern, and this time, the riddle read: “One day in the Spring Festival.” Similarly, without even needing to think, Xie Lian spoke the answer, “Husband.” [9] Hua Cheng raised his hands once again and applauded. Xie Lian said, “No need. This was simple too.” Hua Cheng beamed at him, saying, “Really? But, I do sincerely think that gege is amazing.” Xie Lian remarked internally, “Nonsense, nonsense. If you personally came up with a riddle on the lantern, and I could solve that, now that would be amazing……” At that moment, the tentacle yet again passed him a third lantern, singing, “Please! Please!” Xie Lian looked, and his brows crinkled slightly. The crowd exclaimed too, “Wah! This time, it’s tough!” Xie Lian nodded his head. Indeed, this riddle could not be figured out with a glance: “Shyly lowering one’s head to express adoration.” But, it was not too difficult. After a while, Xie Lian said, “The word ‘shyly” refers to the mimosa plant, take the part of the word for grass; ‘lowering one’s head’, take the head of the word for ‘lower’; ‘to express adoration’, take the heart of the word for ‘pour’. Put the three together, it’s…… ‘Hua’. The answer to the riddle is Hua.” [10] After he finished saying that, he tugged on his year. As expected, once he gave the answer to the riddle, the ghosts all around them started to dance wildly, without any restraint or decorum, their gestures overblown, in a manner that was almost nauseating. Hua Cheng smiled as he looked at him, saying, “Gege, this time, you were truly amazing.”

The tentacle once again raised a lantern and offered it tentatively. With a smile of his own, Xie Lian said, “I have something even more amazing. Would you believe me if I say that, this time, I can guess the answer without even looking at the riddle?” Hua Cheng widened his eyes, and said, “Oh, really? Gege has such a special move?” Xie Lian received the lantern, saying, “Of course. I’m guessing, this time the answer is ‘Cheng’. The ‘Cheng’ in ‘Hua Cheng’, right?” Raising the lantern to look, indeed, “Once the dagger handle and blade of the dagger move they fix towards the south direction”. Xie Lian said, ‘once the dagger and handle move’, invert the word for ‘handle’, you get the word ‘soil’; retain the word for ‘blade’; ‘fixed towards the south direction’, take the word for ‘direction’ as the south portion, and fix words for ‘soil’ and ‘blade’ in the centre, it becomes ‘Cheng’.This would have been the hardest riddle, what a pity……” [11] What a pity, he had guessed the rules of the game first. String the four answers together, and what do you get? [12] With Xie Lian having seen through their ruse, the crowd of ghosts did not dare to cheer, but instead began to cough, each of them glancing towards the sky. When Hua Cheng’s gaze swept slowly across them, they seemed as though greatly frightened, some of them diving into the lanterns, some of them diving into the ground, each of them hugging their heads and crying, “Cheng-zhu [13], don’t be angry!!! It was not my idea!!!” “It wasn’t mine either!” “Bullshit! You were the one who agreed the most loudly!!!” In a soft voice, Hua Cheng said, “Scram.” In an instant, every human and ghost on the street disappeared as though like clouds blown away by the wind, with no one left behind. XIe Lian hung the lantern back onto its rack, and said with a smile, “Let’s go back.” The two of the walked towards Qiandeng Temple together, shoulder to shoulder. As they walked, Hua Cheng said with a serious look, “Gege, please don’t look at me like that. It really wasn’t me who let them do that.” Xie Lian smiled, saying, “I know. If it was you, the riddles definitely would not have been designed like that.” Hua Cheng said, “Oh? Then how does gege think I would design the riddles?” Unguardedly, Xie Lian said, “Of course it would be, ‘my husband is San-lang’……” [14] Only after having spoken to this point, did XIe Lian realise what he had said something which he should not have said [15], and hurriedly shut his mouth. However, it was too late. Hua Cheng began to laugh loudly, saying, “Gege, gotcha! Beautiful!” “…… sly, sly…….”

Just at that moment, the two of them arrived back at Qiandeng Temple. Upon entering the great hall, Xie Lian discovered that, unexpectedly, a table of items had been placed on the jade platform. Startled, he went up to take a look. They were two bowls of yuanxiao. He looked back. Hua Cheng had joined him on the platform, and was saying, “This was what gege was looking at just now while we were out, wasn’t it?” Xie Lian nodded his head. Hua Cheng, “Sit down and eat with me, gege.” “……” But Xie Lian didn’t sit, but instead threw himself towards Hua Cheng, burying his head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around Hua Cheng tightly, refusing to let go. In response, Hua Cheng hugged him too. After so many years, he finally remembered once again, what the taste of yuanxiao was. — =-=-= Translator’s notes: [1] 贺记小食 [2] 老板 (lao ban): Literally, boss. A typical form of address in Chinese for the person running a store. It was also used in the parts where I have translated as “stall-owner” (because “boss”in those sentences sounds kinda weird, I feel…). [3] The Chinese concept of having a “thick skin”, is to be impervious or insensitive to embarrassment, criticism etc. [4] 妙儿, presumably the lady stall-assistant who was bustling about at the start of the chapter. [5] 歪瓜裂枣奇形怪状的玩意儿: Literally, strangely-shaped things like crooked melons and broken dates [6] Imagine a creature with long ears, holding said ears out vertically in HuaLian’s direction. [7] 大伯公: The Ghost City’s inhabitants’ title for Xie Lian. Literally translated as, big (or eldest) grand-uncle. But in this case, it can also mean something like master / lord, a title of respect. [8] The riddle is 找到白头, i.e. found (找到) a white (白) head (头). The answer is 我, i.e. I. Take the 丿 stroke on the head of 白, and put it on the head of the 找 instead (like a hat!) - you get 我.

[9] The riddle is 春节一日, literally Spring (春) Festival (节) one (一) day (日). The answer is 夫, i.e. husband. Take away the 一 and 日 characters from the bottom half of 春 - you get 夫. [10] The riddle is 含羞低头表倾心, with shyness (含羞) lower (低) head (头) to express (表) admiration (倾心 - lit. pour out one’s heart). The answer is 花, i.e. hua, flower. 含羞 refers to the mimosa plant, a.k.a. 含羞草. Take away the portion of the word which represents plant (草), you get 艹. Next, take the head, i.e. the front, of the word for lower (低), you get 亻. Finally, take the heart, i.e. the middle, of the word for pour (倾), you get 七. Arrange them together, you get 花! [11] The riddle is 干戈一动南方定, the dagger (干戈, an olden type of weapon, with a long handle (干) and a blade (戈)) one (一) move (动) south (南) direction (方) fixed (定). The answer is 城, i.e. cheng, city. Flip or move the first character in the word for dagger, i.e. 干, and you get the word for soil, 土. The second character in the word for dagger, i.e. 戈, remains. The word for direction, i.e. 方, is fixed in the south or bottom of the final answer-word. Put in the other two characters, 土 and 戈, with 戈 in the centre, you get 城! [12] 我夫花城: My husband is Hua Cheng. :D [13] 城主 (cheng zhu): Owner of the city. Hua Cheng’s subjects’ title for him. [14] 我夫三郎 :DDDD [15] Xie Lian realised that he had 祸从口出 literally, disaster comes from the mouth. [TGCF Extra - Chapter 246] The Curious Incident of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince’s Memory Having Wandered Away 1 - Big Huahua Picks Up an Amnesiac Lian

The moment Xie Lian opened his eyes, he discovered that he was lying on the floor. It was a strange room. He felt extremely confused. He had clearly been cultivating in the royal temple on Taichang Mountain, so why was he here? Feeling mildly at a loss, Xie Lian sat up from the floor. He discovered that he was wearing a set of simple, white robes that were really just a bit too simple, crude and lacking in detail[1] like a poor commoner’s. The material was also not good, its texture rough, rubbing against his skin in a way that felt uncomfortable.

Xie Lian wrinkled his brow, and thought about climbing up from the floor. He did not expect that the moment he stood, he would discover even more places where his body felt uncomfortable. His hips hurt, his legs hurt, his abdomen hurt, his neck hurt. Could this be the result of spending a night lying on the floor and catching a chill? … Impossible. Besides, he wasn’t that delicate and frail. What about Feng Xin and Mu Qing? Recalling them, Xie Lian called out, “Feng…… cough, cough cough……???” Even his voice did not feel very comfortable. He remembered, last night, Feng Xin and Mu QIng had once again started fighting over a small, trivial thing, making so much noise to the point that it was impossible for him to meditate. As such, he had ordered them to continue arguing[2] outside. Having listened to them trade, with great resentment and irritation, more than two hundred lines, Xie Lian had begun to feel drowsy, and took a rest. How was it that upon waking up, he had fallen into such an unthinkable and muddled situation??? Supporting himself on the side of a table, Xie Lian finally stood up, and surveyed his surroundings. This place should be an inn, but generally speaking, if he did not choose to camp, but chose to stay at an inn instead, he would not have chosen to stay at such an inn that was clearly budget. HIs hands and legs had not been tied, and the room door was not locked, so this meant that he had not been imprisoned. If someone or something was plotting against him, then what point did throwing him here have? The more Xie Lian thought about it the more bizarre he found it, but the most bizarre was still the present state of his body. Tolerating the ache in his arms, he removed his outer clothes, ready to survey what sort of injuries he had on his body. But unexpectedly, upon removing his outer clothes, when he lowered his had to look, his whole face went pale in an instant. From his abdomen, to his chest, all were densely covered with ambiguous red marks. It was as though large flower petals had fallen and blanketed skin that was as pale as fine white jade, like the blooming of blush-red blossoms. So red were they that he was stunned, and he lunged in front of the mirror by his side to take a look Indeed! Not just on his chest and abdomen, they were even on his neck, even on his beck! “……” Xie Lian did not dare remove the clothes on his lower half to continue to look. The situation was very clear. At some point when he had been unconscious for a reason he did not know, someone had… defiled him.

It was the first time in his life that Xie Lian felt “weak in the legs”, but he steeled himself and held on, and stood firm. He had very early on in the past listened to the chambermaids who waited on him, talk about some of the scary legends from outside the palace, such as black-hearted people who worked on the black market and who specialised in abductions for nefarious or sexual reasons, drugging maidens before doing bad things. But… But… Xie Lian clutched his head in both hands, muttering, “But, I, I’m a male ah! ……” His appearance now, was truly indeed unsightly. Besides these love bites, and bruises where he had been held with too much force, there were even embarrassing bite marks. Xie Lian covered his face, feeling has though his head was feverish, while his body was cold. Suddenly, he remembered something that was extremely serious: Oh no! His cultivation path required absolute chastity, but from this, hasn’t he committed a great taboo?! Xie Lian hurriedly gave a try. Upon a try, as expected, he no longer had any magical power! Xie Lian was typically considered quite calm, but under the present situation, he felt as though he was about to collapse. Inexplicably, upon waking up, he had become like this, Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both missing, and he himself still did not know who had used what method to beguile and defile him. He really wanted to collapse. After a good while, he was still unable to accept this reality, and he felt terribly upset. But, he also could not continue to be in a daze like this, and so, he had no choice but to carelessly pick up and put on his clothes, and left the inn. No one tried to stop him on his way out. Xie Lian breathed out in relief, and did not care that even the buildings all around him, the clothing of the passers-by and their accents, were all quite strange. But perhaps because there was a niggling feeling in his heart, he kept feeling as though other people could tell that something had happened to his body, and that they were measuring him with odd stares. This made him pick up speed as he walked, until in the end, he was running madly. He rushed into a patch of forest, and with one punch, punched a tree. The tree snapped with a “crack”. He yelled angrily, “Asshole!!!” He wanted to use the foulest language to curse and scold the person who had done such things to him, but after tossing and turning all he could only scold, “Asshole, bastard, scoundrel!”[3], and he just could not give vent to the fire in his heart, leaving him suffocated. But he also could not let loose and cry, and so he could only keep it in and strike out wildly. “Peng peng peng peng peng peng", he knocked down tens of trees in a row, knocking them down until finally the very ground on the spot crawled up to hug his thighs, yelling and crying: “Taizi Dianxia![4] Tazi Dianxia, don’t hit any more!” Xie Lian’s heart was full of fury, but this old man had suddenly emerged from the ground, and was clearly not an ordinary person. The sight left him slightly startled, and he said, “Who are you?”

The old man wiped his tears and said, “I am the Ground here, Taizi Dianxia! This patch of forest was raised by me! If a senior like you[5] keeps hitting, I would have nothing left!” Xie Lian thought to himself, after all this did not concern anyone else, and he should not act indiscriminately in anger. Besides, even though this was a small god, he was still a god, and he was old, and should be respected. As such, he reluctantly held back some of his fire, pulled back his hand, slowed his breaths, and said, “…. sorry, it was I who was acting out. How about this, let me pay you for all the trees I had knocked down just now.” The Ground released his hands that had been hugging Xie Lian’s thighs, and hurriedly said, “No no no no no, no need, no need, how can a senior like you be expected to pay? The fact that you are willing to speak to me, graces this little god’s place with glory!” Xie Lian felt that it was a little odd, no matter how it might be said, this Ground was still a god, and by the look of it was much older than him, so why was he so afraid of him, even calling him “a senior like you”? But he did not have the mood to enquire further, and courteously asked, “Since you’re the Ground of this area, you must know the in’s and out’s of this area very well. Can you help me look for two people?” As he said that, he reached his hand into his sleeve with the intention of retrieving a few gold leaves as payment, but the Ground saw his action, and hurriedly and frantically waved his hands, “No need no need no need! Who do you wish to find?” Coincidentally, Xie Lian also did not pull out anything. He took out his hand, and said, “My two attendants, Feng Xin and Mu QIng.” “……” The ground’s expression suddenly became very strange. Xie Lian said, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” The Ground said, “No no no no, no problem at all. It’s just……” It’s just, what was with Taizi Dianxia it’s been eight hundred years, and he still calls the Nangyang General and Xuanzghen General his attendants. Who knew whether the two generals would be angry? Sigh, forget it, it didn’t matter if the two generals were angry; if this person did not serve him well, then it would be more terrifying when that person got angry. And so he said, “Please wait here for a while, I’ll immediately conduct a search for you!” Xie Lian said, “Much obliged.” He bowed in courtesy, and when he lifted his head, that Ground had long since disappeared. Xie Lian felt as though his head was still feverish, and he held his forehead. After goodness knows how long, he heard a doubtful voice before him say, “What’s wrong?” Xie Lian lifted his head, and saw Feng Xin and Mu Qing. However, it was not a Feng Xin and Mu Qing he recognised. In truth, both their appearances hadn’t changed, but the air about them was different, no longer like two brash youths, but rather like two generals who had experienced many victories in the arena. Furthermore, they both were wearing expensive and luxurious black robes, not like the sort which regular people could wear. At least, never had Xie Lian seen them wear such clothes.

The person who had asked was Feng Xin, and he walked over, saying, “Dianxia, what are you doing here by yourself?” “……” Xie Lian said, “I’m the one who should be asking, where did the both of you run off too? I let you both go outside to argue last night, why did you disappear this morning?” Feng Xin and Mu QIng both showed expressions as strange as the Ground, as though they did not understand what he was saying. Xie Lian’s head hurt as though it might split, and he said again, “What’s with both your get-ups? What’s going on???” Feng Xin lowered his head and studied himself, and said doubtfully, “What’s wrong with these clothes? Aren’t they very normal?” Mu Qing then said, “What are you saying? Did you lose your wits when you slept? I was not at yours last night.” Xie Lian hugged his head. He wanted to yell and scream, but he resolutely forced himself to remain calm, and after considering for a while, said, “I understand? You’re both like me, and are being held at ransom by something.” Feng Xin’s and Mu QIng’s expressions grew more and more strange. Feng Xin said, “I’ve been remiss. Dianxia, why don’t you say why you had summoned us.” Mu Qing rolled his eyes, and said, “There’s no need to ask. Like I said, for him to ask someone to look for us, and not look for that person, it is eighty percent likely that there’s something wrong with his brain.” Xie Lian completely did not understand what they were talking about, and said, “Who is that person? The State Preceptor[6]?” “……” Feng Xin and Mu Qing looked at each other, and after a pause, Mu Qing took a step forward, saying, “Taizi Dianxia.” Xie Lian said, “What?” Mu QIng said, “My memory right now is a bit fuzzy. Can you tell me, do you remember what we have been doing these few days?” Xie Lian said, “Haven’t we been cultivating in the royal temple these few days?” Mu QIng said, “Where is Hua Cheng?” Hearing this name, Xie Lian felt a strong sense of familiarity, but after thinking about it, he indeed did not recognise it, and so, he suddenly said, “Who is Hua… Cheng……?” “………………”

Mu Qing said, “Alright. I get it.” He cast a glance to the side, and stepped aside to discuss with Feng Xin, whose expression was dumbfounded. Xie Lian suddenly felt that this was rather suspicious, and warily said, “What did you get? What are you two talking about?” Having finished their discussion, the two people turned back. Feng Xin said, “Dianxia, let us go.” Xie Lian grew even more suspicious. “Go where?” Mu QIng said, “We’ll take you to see someone who can solve the present situation. Come along!” By now, Xie Lian was already eight percent wary, and he took many steps back. Seeing that Xie Lian wanted to flee, Mu Qing said, “Don’t go!” He reached out his hand and brandished a bolt of spiritual light, as though planning to restrain him. But how could Xie Lian not leave? Run! The moment he ran, Feng Xin and Mu QIng felt as though they were in over their heads. The two of them chased and roared into the wind, Feng Xin saying, “Fuck me! I’m really fucked! How did this happen? Even if he has amnesia it can’t be this severe! Forgetting eight hundred years in a go?” Mu Qing said, “Finally! Finally, he’s damaged his brain from eating all sorts of nonsense!” “How can this be! I’m afraid he may have met with an accident while out alone, let’s hurry up and find him! His mind right now, is of a seventeen year old!” Even at this time, Mu Qing did not forget to get in a few digs, “Yeah, the naive, silly, and pampered Taizi Dianxia!” “Wait! Let’s tell him first, hurry up and tell him first!” Something like this happening, of course one had to tell that person first! + Xie Lian ran 20 li[7] in a breath, slightly gasping only when he finally stopped. He felt as though he was still caught within a giant, confusing and foggy net, and had yet to escape. Just on earth was going on? Things were abnormal. Far too abnormal! Didn’t he have clear knowledge of Mu Qing’s powers? To cultivate that sort of spiritual light, he would have had to cultivate for at least a few hundred years more. How could this now be the real Mu Qing? He must be a fake!

And him. He himself wasn’t normal. He only discovered with this run, that his body’s movements were light as a swallow’s. Even though his movements had always light as a swallow’s, but now, his body’s skills were faster, stronger. Everything was not right! Calm down, calm down, and calm down again. Xie Lian suddenly remembered: just now, Mu Qing seemed to have mentioned a name. He had muttered, “Hua Cheng.” For some unknown reason, this name should have been very unfamiliar to him, but the moment he said it, his heart seemed to move faintly, as though a flower had bloomed in some corner in his heart. ANd so, he could help but say this name out loud a few times, back and forth. Hua Cheng, Hua Cheng, Hua Cheng. This must have been a very important person, perhaps the key to the present situation. He would have to find him first. Having reached a decision, Xie Lian walked towards the city. Even though Xie Lian was completely unable to accept it when he first discovered that something had happened to his body, he began to calm now. Even though his heart and body still felt uncomfortable to the extreme, but with the present puzzle that he was in, he did not have time to fret. The real Feng Xin and Mu Qing were still missing without a trace, and until he uncovered the perpetrator behind the scenes, he had to pull himself together at once, and investigate the truth. And so, when he stepped into the city, he had regained complete calm. Picking a teahouse at random, he picked a seat by the window on the upper floor, but did not have the mood to drink tea. Xie Lian picked up a cup from the table and examined it. Inside the cup were some old tea stains that could not be wiped away. The sight made him exhausted, and put the cup down and ignored it. In the teahouse, a rather pretty young lass was holding a pipa[8], strumming and singing, while a circle of men of various ages sat and leered at her. The girl had originally been singing a common, local folk song, about a maiden heading out early to pick floors etc., but she had barely sung for a while when a group of old men said, “Meaningless, not pleasant to listen to, change!” “Yeah, this song isn’t nice to listen to, change, change, change!” “Change the song! At a loss, the singer had no choice but to take on their suggestions, and changed to a famous erotic song, the melody slow and soft, to the point that the listener would blush and their heart quicken. Only then was the group of onlookers satisfied, and called out their approval. But to Xie Lian who sat in his seat by the window on the second floor, it was extremely inappropriate. Carefully listening to the lyrics, it appeared to be about the honey-sweet passions of a young husband and wife on their marriage night, and was indeed audacious to the extreme. Had he heard it in the past, he would have ignored it like wind by his ears, because it did not concern him, as never in his life would he have ever thought of doing such things. But now, it was not quite the same.

Even though he completely did not remember what had happened, but something had happened, and when listening to such things, one’s thoughts would be different. Furthermore, he had discovered something frightening: his thoughts were completely beyond his control! While the song was thirty percent light and teasing, his emotions swung back and forth a hundred percent. Furthermore, many fractured images arose in an endless stream in his mind: two hands, their fingers tightly interlocked; between the fingers a red thread wrapped firmly and never to be undone; and even seemed to hear, by his ear, broken gasps, begging sobs, as well as a man’s seductive low voice. …… what were all these. What were all these?! Xie Lian felt both embarrassed and vexed, and biting his lip, clenched his fist tightly. The next moment, at breaking point, he was finally unable to bear it any longer and viciously slammed his hand on the table. The “peng” sound startled the customers at the few tables nearby, who looked at him with wide eyes. Only then did Xie Lian come to himself with a start, and apologised quietly. He desperately wished to use both hands to stop his ears, so that he could no longer hear anything. He thought to himself, if she kept on singing, then he would leave! Suddenly, the singing stopped abruptly, and a sharp scream pulled him out from where he had been lost in his thoughts. When Xie Lian jerked his head up, to see that group had surrounded the songgirl, and seemed to be baiting her. The song-girl hugged her pipa, and stood up in fright, saying in an upset voice, “My lords, it’s enough for us to listen to my songs, stop touching me……” A few of the men said in a coaxing manner, “What’s wrong with touching? After all, it can’t be only us to have touched, I refuse to believe that you haven’t been groped by a few people while out selling your trade!” The song-girl was so upset that her eyes sockets were red. She said, “What do you mean, selling my trade? I sell my songs, not my body!” But the surrounding people deliberately did not hear her clarification, and said,”Heh! You speak as though you’re a virgin. If you were really proper, you wouldn’t be out selling yourself!” “Yeah! Singing that song just now to entice people, and now saying that you’re not for sale, what sort of gate[9] are you trying to erect, totally laughable!” The song-girl was so angry that she could faint. In a trembling voice, she said, “It was all of you who let me sing it, it was all of you who let me to sing it, that I sang it ah.” However, no matter what she said, that group of ill-hearted listeners always had words to counter. “So you’ll sing just because we let you sing it? So obedient? This indicates that you had already planned in your heart to sing it in order to seduce people!” Xie Lian could not bear to listen further. He was already feeling angry, and now he felt even more outraged. A white shadow flashed, and before that group of cat-calling men realised what had happened, they had been knocked down in a

row. The man who was leading the crowd landed with his ass to the fair, and he scolded loudly, “Who the hell do you think you are? You dare to anger us?” Xie Lian stood protectively in front of the song-girl. Even as he cracked his knuckles, his face did not show any sign of anger. He said in a deep voice, “Let’s stop right here. Faced with such a beauty, anyone’s heart would be moved. But if you do not know how to treat her with courtesy, then that is shameful and despicable.” Someone shouted, “It was clearly she who started singing first. She can sing as she likes, but we can’t touch as we like?” But Xie Lian said, enunciating each word and sentence, “That’s right. It is indeed that she can sing as she likes, but you guys can’t touch as you like!” Even before he finished speaking, he had tossed seven or eight burly men downstairs to the floor below. They landed on their asses, and their falls filled them with fright. In truth, none of them was heavily injured, but it was enough to make a point. After all, no one could see clearly how Xie Lian had attacked, so how could anyone even talk about counter-attacking? In a panic, they scattered. Upstairs, Xie Lian looked back. The song-girl stood up and, with great gratitude, bowed towards him, saying, “Many thanks to this daozhang[10] for breaking up this crowd!” Xie Lian, “It was no more effort than raising my hand. Lady, Do you still intend to remain here?” The song-girl nodded her head. Xie Lian nodded his head too, saying, “Alright. Then continue singing.” Saying that, he resumed his seat, adjusted his robes, and sat with his clothes on straight, where he kept watch. The other men, seeing that he did not leave, looked in their direction, but as expected, did not dare bother them anymore. The song-girl, understanding his intentions, felt even more grateful. When she next opened her mouth, it was the lively but common, local folk song. Xie Lian poured himself a cup of tea and was about to drink, when he lowered his head and once again noticed the tea stain. He hesitated for a moment, but still could not overcome how he felt, and put the teacup, sighing. Unthinkingly, he turned his head back, and froze. Facing him across the street, in a many-storeyed winehouse even more elegant than the teahouse he was at, sat a person on his own. It was a tall man dressed in red. Even though he wore a black eyepatch, which added a bit of an air of wildness to him, it did not hide his handsomeness. His clothes were as red as maple leaves, his skin as white as snow, and his hand held a silver cup, filled with wine which reflected light like his silver vambraces. Even with one glance, he was eye-catching to the extreme. He was looking in Xie Lian’s direction, facing him from the distance. Seeing that he had now caught Xie Lian’s gaze, he gave a faint smile, and raised his cup lightly, as though paying his respect to him across the distance. “……”

For reasons inexplicable, the moment Xie Lian’s gaze met this man’s, he felt as though a current had passed through his body, and he hurriedly retrieved his gaze. However, even though he pretended to be nonchalant, his heart thudded wildly. How strange. That man was indeed glamorous and eye-catching, with a secretive and mysterious sort of allure. However, it wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen men as glamorous as this in the past, so why was he having such a reaction to this man? Thinking about it, he once again quashed this line of thought. This was totally incorrect. Because, having considered carefully, he had indeed never met a handsome man as glamorous as this in the past. His thoughts having reached this point, Xie Lian thought to himself, this person must be someone very rare; I had best be more mindful of him. He turned his head back. However, looking across this time, the man in red had instead disappeared. To think he had disappeared just like that. Like a brightly-coloured maple leaf drifting down, flashing mischievously before his eyes, brightening his world for an instant before vanishing. As though it wasn’t real, but an ephemeral dream or bubble. Cautiously peering again at the elegant winehouse for a while, but still not seeing any sign of the man, Xie Lian finally gave up. He did not know whether he felt a little disappointed. He exhaled lightly, and kneaded his brows, thinking, “Forget it.” Unexpectedly, when he looked back again, he discovered that, at some point in time, unbeknownst to him, someone had sat across him at the table. The someone sat with his cheek propped on a hand, and was staring at him. The two men’s gazes connected. Xie Lian startled lightly, but the person said with a small smile, “Would this daozhang like to treat me to a cup of wine?” It was the man, dressed in red, who had raised his cup to greet him from across the distance. Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 —– The author has something to say: JUST[11] Lianlian having had a little accident while out, losing his memory. It’s not a case of him swapping consciousness with his past self, there is no change in timeline, so the crown prince of the past will not have this stretch of memories. The main purpose of this extra is for Big Huahua to get to experience the seventeen year old crown prince, of course our Lian will definitely recover his memories (I assume no one was worried that he wouldn’t recover them…… I’ve discovered that every time, there would always be people worried about the most obvious questions, so I felt that it would be better to say it out……) Having to update the main text every day almost made me want to vomit blood, so I’ll take the extras slightly slower. If there’s nothing unexpected, the next chapter should be updated at 10 o’clock.[12] =-=-= Translator’s notes:

[1] 清汤寡水 [qing tang gua shui]. Literally a clear soup with few ingredients in it; a poor commoner’s fare. Xie Lian likens his robes to such a soup. [2] 成语接龙 [cheng yu jie long]. A game where one person says a Chinese idiom, and the other person says another idiom which begins with the last character of the previous idiom. In the text, Xie Lian orders Feng Xin and Mu Qing to go outside to continue chengyu jielong-ing. Since we can (quite reasonably) assume that they weren’t actually playing this game (lol!), I think it gives a pretty good idea of just how Feng Xin and Mu Qing were cutting off each other mid-sentence! [3] 混蛋、混账、混球 [hun dan, hun zhang, hun qiu]. It’s funnier in Chinese because he uses three similar-sounding curses which start with the same word (混, hun). I’ve tried to use English curses that sort-of capture the feel of the Chinese curse words in this context. [4] 太子殿下 [tai zi dian xia]. Your Highness, the Crown Prince. It’s less of a mouthful in Chinese, so I’ll just be using it as-is. [5] 您老人家 [nin lao ren jia]. Note that the 您, nin is a more respectful way of saying you (你 , ni). 老 人家, lao ren jia literally means “old person” or “old fellow”. [6] 国师 [guo shi]. I’ve seen some people referring to this title as “Head / High Priest”, but a more accurate translation for it is “State Preceptor”. It’s an actual, historical Chinese court title, originating from the 1200s in Kublai Khan’s court (when the Mongols conquered China). [7] 里 [li] - a traditional Chinese unit of measurement, now standardised to about half a kilometre. [8] 琵琶 [pi pa]. A traditional Chinese musical stringed instrument, sort of like a lute. [9] 牌坊 [pai fang]. Sort of like an arched gateway in historical Chinese-style architecture. Search “pailou” on Google for some visual examples! [10] 道长 [dao zhang]. An honourific title for for a righteous pugilist or cultivator. Song Lan has this title in MDZS, i.e. Song-daozhang. 2ha’s Mo Ran 2.0 is also addressed as Mo-daozhang in the later chapters (which I don’t think have been translated yet, as of the date of this translation). [11] This was originally in English in MXTX’s note. [TGCF Extra - Chapter 247] The Curious Incident of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince’s Memory Having Wandered Away 2 - Big Grey Wolf Hua Picks Up Little White Rabbit Lian and Coaxes Him into Turning in Circles To think he had seated himself in front of him so casually as he pleased.

XIe Lian blinked, and only ascertained after a good while that the man was really talking to him. He reacted immediately, telling himself that he should allow his shock at this person’s manner to place him at a disadvantage. Maintaining his previous calm, he said courteously, “Alas, this lowly person will not be drinking, and I am afraid will not be able to treat you to this drink.” The man dressed in red gave a laugh, and his sitting posture became even more casual, as he said, “Really? Looking at this daozhang’s appearance, I think he has something troubling him, and needs a drink to relieve him of his troubles ah.” Without changing his expression or inflection, Xie Lian said, “Then I’m afraid your excellency is mistaken.” Even though the greatest taboo had been committed, but this did not mean that he should adopt a self-defeated attitude and be uncaring of the other smaller taboos. Even though his manner continued to be mild and distant, the man did not show even a slightest intention of retreating, but instead, as though settling in for a while, said, “Since daozhang is not willing to treat me, then, how about I help myself?” Xie Lian studied him, then studied his surroundings. Strange. It wasn’t as though there weren’t any empty spaces around them, so why did he have to sit here to drink wine? But as he also did not have a reason to reject him, Xie Lian said, “Please help yourself.” And so, the other party waved his hand lazily. Never before had the waiter seen such a stylish person, and not daring to show any annoyance, hurriedly served up a jar of wine and some wine cups, and diligently wiped down the tabletop, afraid of showing this person any disrespect. Seeing how the man dressed in red was calm and at ease, helping himself to the wine, Xie Lian could no longer resist and said, “Could it be that your excellency, when meeting anyone for the first time, would ask that person to treat you to a drink?” Beaming, the man said, “Hn? Of course not. To be frank with daozhang, the average person would not even get to see my face.” This tone of his, was quite arrogant. However, Xie Lian did not find himself put off. The two people sat in their seats. During this time, Xie Lian continued to look somewhere else, projecting a manner as though he was very calm. After a while, it was still that man who first opened his mouth to speak. Propping a hand beneath his chin, he said, “What is this daozhang’s surname, that I may address you?” WIthout thinking, Xie Lian came up with a fake surname, “My surname is Hua.” The man raised an eyebrow, and said, “Oh – Hua-daozhang.” Xie Lian said, “How should I address your excellency?” That man said, “It’s fine if daozhang calls me San-lang.”

Xie Lian sensed that this person was not willing to reveal his true identity, and did not press. Having thought for a while, he was unable to think of what type of person would be arranged third in order, and so decided not to waste effort speculating. At this moment, he suddenly noticed that, on the side of one cheek of the man in red, a lock of crow-black hair had been plaited into a thin braid, with a red coral bead at the end of the braid. The bead was lustrous and gleaming, and although small in size, one could tell from a look that it was incredibly expensive. But Xie Lian could not shake off the feeling that he had seen this bean before somewhere, perhaps in his palace chambers where jewels were strewn everywhere? But he also could not be sure. Noticing his gaze, San-lang said, “Do you like this?” As he said this, he lifted his long, pale and elegant fingers, lightly twisting that coral bead, pinching it. For some unknown reason, as Xie Lian looked on, a flash of pain suddenly bolted across his chest, as though some part of his body was also being pinched, and he jerked back violently. This action was too large, and a number of guests beside all turned to look this way. Casually and unconcerned, San Lang lifted his gaze, and said, surprised, “This daozhang, are you alright?” He reached out a hand, as though intending to help Xie Lian up. Of course, Xie Lian did not want him to help him up, and hurriedly sat back properly, saying, “It’s, it’s nothing. That bead……” “Oh.” The hint of a smile at the corner of San-lang’s lips did not lessen, and he said, “This bead?” His hand playing even more with the brightly coloured and beautiful bead, he said with a slight smile, “This is a gift from my beloved wife. What does daozhang think of it?” “……” Xie Lian said, “Uh…… It’s very good, very good.” In fact, he had no idea what he was saying, and his fingers gripped his thigh tightly. He felt restless, unable to sit still. This unfamiliar man dressed in red was clearly playing with that cutely charming bead, an action that could not be simpler, but Xie Lian was seeing in it some hint of excessive lewdness. It was as though the thing which was being twisted by those fingertips, slowly massaged and rubbed, kneaded and flattened, wasn’t the red bead, but some part of his body that was sensitive. Xie Lian’s face inexplicably grew hot, and his breathing grew rapid, as he found it extremely hard to bear. This was not normal. This was definitely not normal. This man dressed in red, who called himself “San-lang”, was very handsome, but for an inexplicable reason, strongly gave off a fey, unearthly air, making one shiver and tremble. Xie Lian’s internal alarm bells were ringing loudly, and he forcibly calmed himself down, his breaths evening out, as he fixed his gaze on him with hardly a hint of fear, and asked, “If I may ask, just why did your excellency decide on your own to approach this lowly person?”

San-lang gave a smile, and slowly said, “Why so suspicious? It was no big deal. I merely noticed daozhang’s elegance and charm, and it touched my heart. I couldn’t resist. If I have offended, please forgive me.” “……” Xie Lian did not know whether he should believe him, and shifted away his gaze. He silently regretted in his heart, he should not have let this person sit across him, stirring up such messy and troubled thoughts and feelings now. Just at that moment, the song-girl wrapped up her shift, bowed to the crowd, and gave Xie Lian a sweet and charming smile, before drifting away. Now that she had left, Xie Lian had no reason to remain either, and he stood up, saying, “Farewell. Your excellency, please take your time to drink.” He had intended for this last sentence to carry a hint of challenge, but the moment the words reached his mouth, they still left his lips courteously. Xie Lian did not dare look further at the man dressed in red, and practically flew downstairs, and after walking aimlessly for a while, this way and that, he determined that no one was following him, and finally released a breath. But now that he had come to a standstill, he felt at a loss once again. HIs clothes had disappeared, his money and possessions had disappeared, his sword had disappeared, his attendants had also disappeared, even his magic had disappeared. In his seventeen years of living, never before had he encountered such an unsolvable situation. Xie Lian shook his head, and stopped a passer-by to ask where this place was. The passer-by answered with a place Xie Lian had never heard of, and he asked again, “Then how far is it to the imperial city? Which direction is the imperial city?” He did not say that he was referring to the Xian Le imperial city. The passer-by said, “Imperial CIty? This place is to the south of the imperial city. The imperial city is very far away!” As expected. The accents of the people here, as well as the architecture style, were all somewhat strange. They did not appear as though to be from somewhere near the imperial palace, and Xie Lian had guessed that he must be very far away. What the motives of the person who had brought him here were, he did not know. After walking further for a while, Xie Lian encountered a new, difficult question. He was hungry. But, as said earlier, his money and possessions had all disappeared. The accessories which could be used to verify his status as the crown prince had also disappeared, and he was unable to pull out anything just now when he had wanted to give the Ground a few pieces of gold leaves. Just sitting for a while in the tea house, that one place had already spent what little bit of coin he had managed to find after rummaging left and right, and furthermore, because he had been unable to tolerate the old tea stain, he did not even drink a mouthful of tea, and his stomach now continued to be empty.[1] This was truly a case of being done in by a tiny problem.[2]

Just as he was frowning because of this difficulty, he suddenly discovered that just further ahead, beside one of the tiles on the ground, was something shiny, as though someone had dropped something there. Xie Lian walked up, and crouched down, curious. To think that, on the ground of this tumble-down alley, were a few pieces of gold leaves! Besides the gold leaves, there were also silver leaves and a few bits of coin. To unexpectedly be able to pick up money from the ground in broad daylight, it was though food had fallen from the sky, and Xie Lian did not know whether he should consider his luck to be bad or good. After Xie Lian had picked up the money, his first reaction was to wonder whether had dropped this money by accident, and so, he walked out of the alley, and rushed up to the passers-by, asking, “Excuse me, did anyone drop some money here?” Most of the people shook their heads. Some lazy louts shamelessly came over and said, “I dropped it! I dropped it!” to which Lian asked, “How much did you drop”. But all of them were unable to give an answer, and ran away amidst surrounding laughter. Xie Lian was out of ideas. And so, after waiting for the length of time of one incense stick, he walked by the roadside to buy a mantou. Xie Lian had never eaten a mantou before, more so such a mantou made of coarse floor. It looked large and clumsy, white and bland. But he did not want to use any more of the money he had picked up. After all, it would be terrible if it was money which someone needed desperately, and so he only took out the least amount of money necessary. It was the first time he held such a big mantou, and it held some novelty for him. He crossed the small street, and approaching a more deserted alley. Just as he was about to bring the mantou to his mouth, a hand suddenly reached out from beside him, and grabbed the mantou away. This act was truly extraordinary. Xie Lian was startled, his hands already empty. He turned his head to look. Unexpectedly, standing beside him, was the man in red from the winehouse! Xie Lian was shocked into stillness. He did not think that this person would have unexpectedly followed him here. Even more, he did not think that he would have unexpectedly snatched his mantou! After remaining stunned for a good while, he finally remembered that he wanted to take the mantou back, and he jumped up, saying, “Give it back!” His actions to retrieve the mantou were extremely quick, but the man’s movements were even quicker. Plus the fact that he was taller, he dodged in a flash, saying, “Don’t eat this.” Even though he said this, he himself took a bite of the mantou, leaving a mouthful missing. With this, XIe Lian was unable to bear the idea of eating it even if he had wanted to eat it. He was born as a crown prince, and it was simply impossible for him to bear eating a mantou which someone had taken a bite of. His eyes widened, as he said, “You!”

After a pause, he angrily said, “Why are you doing this?” To think that when he first saw this person, he had thought that he was someone rare, and had wanted to befriend him. Never did he expect him to be a frivolous rogue! Two silhouettes, one red and one white, moving so fast that they were blurs to the onlookers. No one would have dared to believe that such an exciting fight was over trying to snatch a mantou. Even though Xie Lian faintly felt that his own speed could be even faster, fast enough for him to be able to catch up with this San-lang’s actions, but it also did not feel as though it was guaranteed, and his limbs did not seem quite willing to listen to his commands. Furthermore, he had spent the whole day feeling tired and frustrated and wary, and his hips and legs hurt. Amidst his fury, his leg unexpectedly twisted, and he fell to the ground. At that moment, a low yelp of pain escaped out from behind behind his gritted teeth. Something hurt. An indescribable pain, radiating from an indescribable place. This pain had already been present; it was just that the wound had previously been tended to carefully, plus he had exerted extreme effort to ignore it deliberately, and so, it had not been obvious all this while. But with this fall, his expression changed in an instant. San-lang’s expression changed too, and immediately bent over and caught hold of his arm in a swift movement, saying, “Ge……” Then he immediately corrected his speech, saying, “Are you alright” Xie Lian felt extremely embarrassed, and greatly wished that he could dig a whole in the ground to bury his face in it. He desperately tried to pull back his arm, and with his face a burning red, said, “Please don’t address me as you wish, and please don’t grab me like that!” As expected, San-lang released his arm, but it was only symbolic, because he switched to grabbing Xie Lian’s shoulder, saying, “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” His tone was extremely concerned, and it did not seem feigned. On the principle that one should not return politeness with rudeness,[3] Xie Lian should have reacted with courtesy. However, the moment he thought about where hurt, and why it hurt, he felt both ashamed and frustrated, and a whole day’s worth of grievances surged up to the fore. In a single motion, he knocked away his hand, and got up on his own in a flash, saying, “…… I don’t hurt anywhere, not at all!” Having thrown this line down, he turned and ran. But unexpectedly, the man behind him caught hold of his wrist, and no matter how he struggled, he was unable to struggle free. Unable to bear it any longer, Xie Lian turned around violently, his eyes wide and round in his anger, to see that San-lang gazing at him, and saying softly with a sigh, “Ai, this daozhang, even if it is a thousand wrongs or ten thousand wrongs, it’s all my fault, please don’t be angry with me anymore.[4] How about this, let me take you out again for a drink, to make up for this.” For reasons he could not explain, each time Xie Lian looked at this person’s face, his heart would beat erratically. He was very unused to this feeling, and thinking only of making a quick escape, said, “Who wants you to take them out,[5] I don’t drink wine! Hurry up and let me go.” San-lang said, “Okay, alright, we won’t drink wine Then let me take you out for a meal? You must be hungry.”

Xie Lian was beside himself with anger. How dare this person use this sort of tone to speak to him! It was as though he was trying to coax Xie Lian like a child! Never before had he experienced this sort of humiliation, and he said, “I don’t want you to take me out for a meal either. I’m not hungry. Show more respect!” Embarrassingly, he had barely finished speaking, when his stomach made weak noises of protest. Xie Lian’s body stiffened. He grew angrier, his face turning red in his anger, and his voice began to stutter, “You…… You……. You, why are you bothering me? Stop bothering me anymore!” But San-lang stared at him hard, saying, “Daozhang, could it be that you still haven’t discovered it? Seeing that his expression had suddenly become serious, Xie Lian said, “Discovered what?” San-lang said, “There is a cursed object on your body ah.” Xie Lian froze. Suddenly, something on his wrist loosened, and the bandage that had been wrapped around his wrist glided down like a white snake, rising up in front of him. The next moment, it dived straight towards him! But before it could touch him, the man in red caught hold of it in a single motion, and said, “Look.” “……” That piece of white silk was like a poisonous snake of seven cubits length which had been caught, twisting continuously. The sight gave one goosebumps. To think that such a creature was hiding on his body! At this, Xie Lian finally understood. He blinked, and said, “So…… the reason why you approached me, was because you had discovered that this cursed object was hiding on my body?” San-lang’s expression grew more solemn, and he said, “Hn. This thing was rather peculiar, and so, I was slightly cautious. Fortunately, it did not hurt you.” The truth had been revealed. Thinking about how he had indeed been uncourteous to this gentleman previously, Xie Lian clutched at his face and wrung his hands. Now that the truth was out, that this person had approached him with good intentions, Xie Lian felt extremely embarrassed. To him, he gave a sombre bow, and said, “Many thanks to your excellency. I was mistaken previously.” He waist had barely even vent when San-lang held him up, saying, “Not at all, not at all. It was hardly any effort.[6]” Raising his head, Xie Lian felt slightly troubled. For some unknown reason, he kept feeling that, even though this man dressed in red had an appearance that was prim and proper, his brows and the corners of his eyes seemed to hold a hint of laughter. As expected, thinking about how the other party had had a full view of his messy and wretched behaviour, Xie Lian felt a bit awkward and embarrassed.

Strange as it might sound, amongst his peers, Xie Lian was already considered to be very mature. Who knew that he would be unable to stay calm the moment he looked at this man. This made him rather uneasy. However, San-lang did not seem to have noticed this, as he said, “Since this has been resolved, then, I’ll head off. Daozhang, until we meet again?” Instinctively, Xie Lian said, “Hn, until we meet again.” San-lang waved his hand, and turned and left. Unexpectedly, unable to help himself, Xie Lian followed a few steps after him. Perhaps it was because he just didn’t know where he should be going, or perhaps because he was still in a muddle. When San-lang looked back, Xie Lian startled, and only then did he come to his senses, hurriedly coming to a stop and pretending to look in another direction. However, it was already too late. Light laughter came from that direction, and Xie Lian could sense that even his earlobes had turned red. Stubbornly looking in his direction, San-lang hugged his arms and laughed, saying, “Let’s not wait for the next time we meet again. I feel that now is the right time. How about it? Is daozhang now willing to have a drink with me?” * They returned to that elegant tavern from before. The man in red whom Xie Lian had only just become acquainted with was extremely generous, ordering a full table’s worth of the best dishes and wine the tavern had to offer. Unexpectedly, not only were the dishes not inferior to those served in the royal palace, there were even many that had been prepared in a manner that was extremely novel, the likes of which Xie Lian had never seen before. Famished, he ate and ate, only belatedly realising that San-lang had been sitting across him all this while with his cheek propped on his hand, his gaze unwavering as he stared at him. That gaze, was as though he regarded Xie Lian as his meal. “……” As a result of being stared at by such a gaze, Xie Lian once again felt restless and unable to sit still. Convincing himself that he had not displayed poor mealtime etiquette just now as a result of his hunger, he put down his chopsticks, and coughed lightly, saying, “…… I let you see something embarrassing.” San-lang said, “Hn? What so embarrassing about this? Don’t mind me. Please, please. Continue.” Following which, he took the mantou which the two of them had fought over briefly, and without a shift in his expression, bit into it. Seeing this, Xie Lian felt even more as though he was in a difficult position. He smoothed his clothes and sat straighter, then looked at the strip of white silk, deciding to talk about this matter. He said, “Why would this cursed object hide on my body? To think that I

completely failed to discover its existence, it’s simply as though……” It was simply as though it was something which he had worn on his person for a very long while, and had grown accustomed to it. That white silk constantly kept swimming towards him, bobbing its head and tail. If not for the fact that San-lang was keeping a firm grip on it, it was likely that it would have long since wrapped him up like a rice dumpling.[7] Looking at it, it was as though…… it liked him very much. San-lang used a chopstick to pin it down to stop it from diving towards Xie Lian, and said with a small smile, “It looks like this cursed object has some pretty bad habits, and is in need of a proper teaching.” Xie Lian said, “Rather than teaching it, it’d be better if we look into its origins first.” Both of them talked for a while about a great many topics. Xie Lian had grown up in the Xian Le imperial palace since a young age, and afterwards cultivated in the royal temple. Until now, he never before met someone who was such an interesting conversationalist, someone who had seen and encountered such a rich number of experiences. As he listened to San-lang speak, his eyes grew bright, and he could not stop smiling. He even almost forgot all his cares. It was only after a long while that he suddenly remembered one of the weird mysteries before him[8], and said with a straight face, “San-lang, can I ask if you have heard of someone?” San-lang tossed that piece of white silk to the floor, using some unknown method to ensure that it remained lying limply, unable to leap up. He said, “Who.” Xie Lian said, “It’s like this. I’m looking for someone by the name of Hua Cheng.” Hearing this name, San-lang’s eyebrow rose. He said, “Hn. If I may ask, by looking for this person, what do you plan on doing?” Xie Lian said with sincerity, “To be honest with you, I don’t know.” Listening to San-lang’s tone, Xie Lian guessed that San-lang definitely knew who Hua Cheng was, and so he said again, “Perhaps you may be thinking that I’m hiding something from you, but it’s the truth, I too don’t know what finding him would achieve. From the moment I woke up today, I discovered that I am in a very strange situation.” In a breath, he laid out everything, only omitting those things that were too embarrassing to be mentioned. At the end, Xie Lian said, “And so, I was thinking, this person must be very important. If San-lang knows who he is, is it convenient for you to tell me?” San-lang smiled and said, “Ah, there’s nothing inconvenient about it. With daozhang and I getting along so well on our first meeting, I naturally would want to help you. As for this person, Hua Cheng……” Xie Lian listened with all his attention and said, “Well?” San-lang said, “Is a mad man.” Xie Lian said, “How is he mad?”

Hua Cheng poured out a cup of wine, and picked the cup in his hand, saying, “He is a disciple.” “Whose disciple.” “The Xian Le Crown Prince’s.” “Cough cough cough —” Xie Lian hurriedly swallowed a mouthful of tea, before finally being able to cough it out. He said, “Wait, wait. I – our Xian Le Crown Prince Xie Lian, has yet to become a god, so how does he have a disciple?” San-lang said, unconcerned, “He would ascend sooner or later. After all, gods are just like that. If you say someone is a god then he is a god, and if you say someone isn’t a god then he isn’t a god. If he feels like it, then he is.” Xie Lian did know whether to laugh or cry. He said, “Surely this is too casual!” After a pause, he added, “…… however, does he really believe that much, that the Crown Prince, HIs Royal HIghness, will definitely become a god?” San-lang said slowly, “It’s not belief.” Following that, he smiled. “It’s conviction.”[9] Xie Lian smiled along too, as he thought, “Then I had best not let down this person’s expectations.” He hugged his arms, saying, “So, where can I meet this Hua Cheng?” San-lang said, “Daozhang, do you really wish to meet him?” Xie Lian said, “Yes.” It seemed as though San-lang did not approve of this idea of his. He said, “But Hua Cheng is very bad.” Xie Lian frowned slightly, saying, “Very bad? How is he bad?” He was not too willing to believe, that a disciple who was convinced that he would ascend, would be a bad person. San-lang said, “About this……” Just at that moment, Xie Lian noticed something. Up to now he had been very careful, and did not really look directly at San-lang. Now, after both of them had interacted for a while, and had warmed up to each other, he had finally started to relax, and to look directly as he pleased.

One of San-lang’s hands had been resting all this while on a railing by the side, his finger tapping on the railing in a manner that was not too light and not too heavy. His five fingers were long and elegant, and on his third finger, was tied a thin red thread, like the bright edge of a knot. Xie Lian immediately thought of the incident in the tea house, when the song-girl was singing, and a series of jumbled and messy images had flashed across his mind: beneath the gauzy bed curtains, two hands, ten fingers locked interlocked tightly. The hand that had lain above, had such a red thread tied to it. —– Translator’s notes: [1} From the sound of it, customers in the teahouse paid an entrance fee for a seat. Their entrance / seat also comes with a portion of tea. In Xie Lian’s case, he could not bear to drink any of the tea he was entitled to, from the tea-stained cup. [2] 一文钱难倒英雄汉 [yi wen qian nan dao ying xiong han] - A Chinese idiom, lit. a small bit of money being too difficult for a hero to overcome. It conveys the idea of a large undertaking or a very talented person, being unable to proceed because of a small problem which cannot be solved. [3] 伸手不打笑面人 [shen shou bu da xiao mian ren] - A Chinese idiom, lit. don’t raise your hand to hit a smiling person. The idea is that if someone is polite, it is difficult or awkward to react rudely in return. [4] “千错万错，都是我的错，不要生我的气了。” Aaahhh this sounds so flirty and coy in Chinese, like a husband trying to placate his angry wife! [5] If you speak Singlish, what Xie Lian literally says is, “I then don’t want you to take me out” - like a sulky wife! [6] “举手之劳罢了 。” - Lit. “It was no more effort than raising my hand.” [7] 粽子 [zong zi] - Glutinous rice and meat, packed in a pyramid shape, wrapped in leaves and cooked. Here’s the wiki link. [8] 眼下正处于一个诡异的漩涡之中 - lit. inside one of the mysterious / weird whirlpools that were before his eyes [9] 不是相信。 / 是坚信。 - 相信 [xiang xin] is belief (n) or believe (v). 坚信 [jian xin] is a strong, unshakeable belief; conviction; certainty; faith. [TGCF Extra - Chapter 248] The Curious Incident of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince’s Memory Having Wandered Away 3 - San-lang is a good gege! Both of Xie Lian’s eyes widened suddenly. At his incredulous expression, San-lang said, “What’s wrong?”

How could Xie Lian even put it into words? The shame of having been conned, of having been fooled into turning in circles - the misery, mixing with his heated blood, rushed straight to his head. He slammed his palm onto the table top, biting out every word and sentence, “…… So. It. Was. You!” It was impossible for the table top to have withstood his blow, and it broke on the spot. Fortunately, there was no one on the second floor of the tavern besides them, otherwise they would have been greatly frightened and horrified. Xie Lian did not have any weapons in his hands, but struck out with his fist. However, San-lang continued to sit on his seat as before, and only tilted his head slightly. That strike crushed into the wall behind him. Stone crumbled and fell. However, he did not move an inch, instead hugging his arms, and raising his gaze very slightly, said, “Daozhang, what is the meaning of this?” Xie Lian’s face felt extremely hot, and he had no idea just how red his face currently was. The bones in his other hand cracked and popped, as he said with fury, “You…… cease your pretense. What you did to me…… You know full well.” San-lang’s gaze rose a little more. He said, “Very unfortunately, I am indeed unsure, just what I have done to daozhang, to cause you to be thusly angry? Could you please enlighten me?” “……” To think that this person would say such to him with a face full of innocence. What could he say in response? To speak of such things in broad daylight? Never before had Xie Lian encountered such a person, and he was so angry that he shook from his shoulders to his heart, his face growing redder and redder, his speech incoherent as he scolded, “Shut up! Someone like you…… I, I’m going to beat someone as shameless as you to death……. indecent……. despicable…… you……” San-lang sighed, and said, “Daozhang, I did not expect my wholehearted sincerity, to receive such a response from you. Just how am I shameless, indecent and despicable?” With difficulty, Xie Lian regained a modicum of calm, and said, “Don’t think you can trick me further! The red thread on your hand is clear proof, that you are that……. that……” “Oh?” But San-lang was not harried. He raised his hand, and said, “Are you talking about this? Is there something wrong with this red thread?” Looking at that red thread, Xie Lian felt as though he had been pierced. He said, “I’ve seen it. At that time, your…… hand had this red thread……” San-lang said, “At what time?” “……” In an instant, Xie Lian really wanted to beat him to death. Still asking despite knowing the answer, it was too vile! But for an inexplicable reason, regardless of how furious he was, he could not bring himself to lift a hand. Furthermore, it wasn’t because he was under the control of someone, that he was unable to move; but rather, it was his own body that was not allowing him to move!

Just at this moment, a few people thudded upstairs, saying, “What are these two honoured guests doing?! Don’t fight and smash things as you wish!” Xie Lian turned his head and said, “It’s dangerous here! First, you should……” Who knew, with that one look, he froze again, stupefied. To think that, on the hands of all these few people, a red string was tied! Unthinkingly, Xie Lian said, “What’s with the red thread on your hands?” A person said, “Red thread? Isn’t a red thread just a red thread, what so strange about it, it’s no big deal…… there’s nothing about it ah.” Xie Lian became confused. Could it be that in this place, the tying of red thread on one’s hand, was a very normal fashion trend? He turned his head back. As though having read his thoughts, San-lang said, “Daozhang’s guessed pretty well. The tying of a red thread on one’s finger is a custom here. If you don’t believe, please look at the crowds below.” Xie Lian cast his gaze at the lower floor of the tavern. As expected, amidst the ever-flowing crowd of people, were quite a number of hands which had a red thread tied on them, and some even had quite a few tied on. He said, “What sort of custom is this?” San-lang gave a small smile, and said, “About this, it is also related to this Hua Cheng.” “Ah?” “It’s because, on his hand and the hand of his beloved, is tied such a red thread. And so, many people followed suit, to pray for their fated marriage partner, or to express that they are in love.” Xie Lian listened in a daze, and said, “That is to say…… This Hua Cheng, must be quite an amazing person? To have so many people ardently follow suit……” San-lang said, “Whether he is amazing or not, would depend on who you are comparing him with. Oh yes, daozhang, there seems to be something which has fallen onto the floor, can I pick it up to examine it?” At that, Xie Lian finally began to react. He had thus far been maintaining an attacking stance, but it actually was yet another foolish mistake on his part,[1] and his anger drained away completely. He hurriedly withdrew his hand, saying, “Sorry, sorry, San-lang, I’m really…… truly very sorry. It was me who was on edge, and misunderstood you again……” San-lang continued to remain at ease, and bent at his waist to pick up something, saying,“No harm done. Daozhang, is this something you dropped?” From the mess on the floor, he had picked out a piece of gold leaf. It had likely fallen from from Xie Lian’s sleeve just now when he had struck out. Xie Lian was just about to speak, when he saw Sanlang lift that gold leaf before his eye, and squinting, said, “Eh, this gold leaf, looks rather familiar ah.”

Having spoken, in a manner that was neither too hurried or too slow, he retrieved an item from around his waist. It was another gold leaf. Two pieces of gold leaves, exactly identical! Without giving it any thought, Xie Lian said, “So this actually belongs to you?” San-lang said, “Oh, I had indeed dropped something, which was why I had doubled back to look……” Hearing this, Xie Lian was deeply afraid that he would misunderstand, and hurriedly said, “San-lang, let me explain.” San-lang said, “No need to be anxious. I would naturally listen to daozhang’s explanation.” Xie Lian breathed out in relief, and said, “It’s like this: This gold leaf, I had picked up just now on the road. My original thought was to wait for the owner to return so that I may give it back to him, but after I had waited for more than an hour, no one came by to look for it. At the same time, I was indeed……” Having spoken up to here, he felt a bit embarrassed. He lowered his head, and said in a small voice, “And so, I…… acted on my own initiative, and borrowed a little first, to buy a little something to eat. It was that mantou….. I had intended to pay back the money with interest at a later date, but no matter how I put it, it still returns to the point that I had taken something that wasn’t mine without asking. I’m sorry.” But San-lang was beaming as he said, “There’s no need for daozhang to feel like that. Isn’t it after a common human response? Besides, I always had the intention of inviting you to join me for a meal, and that mantou, in the end, wasn’t I the one who ate it? Such a small thing, don’t let it trouble you. Don’t you find it very astonishing? What a coincidence, for something I had lost, to be picked up by no other person than daozhang. This must really be a fated meeting.[2]” Having received his forgiveness and understanding, Xie Lian’s heart eased. He said. “That said, San-lang, you too should be careful ah. Dropping something so shiny on the road, and yet you did not notice - next time, don’t be so careless ah.” At this moment, the crowd of waiters who had been cowering at the side, said, “These two honoured guests, have you calmed down? If you’ve calmed down, then let’s calculate the cost of this smashed table!” Xie Lian: “……” If things had been as they were, payment would not have been an issue regardless of the sum. But now, he could barely even afford to buy a mantou. However, San-lang said, “It’s alright. Put it on my tab.” It was clearly him who had struck out at San-lang just now, but San-lang was volunteering to help him pay for the things he had smashed. Xie Lian was so moved by his warmth and generosity that he was speechless, and after swallowing, said, “You……”

There was also something odd about the crowd of waiters. Even though their shop had been smashed up, they still came over cheerily to assist them with changing to an even more elegant table. As the two people sat down once again, Xie Lian could not help but feel both guilty and grateful, that no amount of words could sufficiently express how he felt. With a concerned tone, Hua Cheng spoke again, “Daozhang, listening to your speech just now, it seemed as though something is troubling you. What’s wrong? Daozhang, just what has been done to you, and by whom?” “……” Something like this, how could Xie Lian voice it aloud? His expression, which had only just calmed down, blushed with shyness once again. Softly, he said, “…… it’s nothing, there’s nothing wrong.” But San-lang said, “If you don’t mind, why don’t you tell me about it? Perhaps San-lang, too, can assist a little.” Even though he meant well, but Xie Lian felt as though he was being chased and cornered, without a way out. Unable to sit still, he said helplessly, “…… it’s really nothing. San-lang, can you please stop asking anymore……” It was too difficult to speak the truth. Seeing how things were, San-lang no longer forced it, and said “Alright. Where did our previous conversation leave off? You wanted to meet Hua Cheng?” Xie Lian gathered his attention, and said clearly, “Uhn. Does San-lang know a way?” San-lang said, “Of course I know. But, for these few days, it won’t be easy to meet Hua Cheng.” “Why?” Using chopsticks, San-lang arranged the vegetables plate into a large smiling face. He said, “It is said that, recently, his heart’s beloved is feeling slightly unwell, and so he needs to accompany them. Besides this, he has no time for anything else.” Xie Lian thought, indeed, this Hua Cheng was truly a someone of a temperate personality, someone full of affection, and he grew to regard him even more favourably. He said, “I see. Then, how long must we wait before we can meet him?” “Five days as an upper estimate, three days as a lower estimate. I suggest, daozhang, that there’s no need to be anxious. Until then, why not be at ease and take a break.” Just as Xie Lian thought to himself that he did not have a place to stay, he heard San-lang add, “If daozhang does not have a place to stay, why not stay at my place for a bit? After all, my house is large, and not many people live there.” Xie Lian could no longer hold back, and said lightly, “San-lang, you really are…… very good ah.” It was the first time that he had used such straightforward speech to praise someone, and he felt a bit embarrassed, but other than that, he simply could not find a better way to express how he felt. San-lang seemed to enjoy it greatly, and said, beaming, “Why else would daozhang and I got along

so well from our first meeting? Oh yes, I’ve one more question, which I forgot to ask: what is daozhang’s age?” Xie Lian replied, “Seventeen.” San-lang said, “Ah, seventeen, that’s younger than me.” Indeed, from his looks, he appeared to be around twenty years old. Seeing as things were, San-lang casually remarked, “If so, then daozhang should call me gege.” Xie Lian was still of the royal family, the Taizi Dianxia compared against whom no one else was more noble. By right, he should not be addressing the people around him as his fellow brothers, as barely anyone would be worthy of such a title. However, this San-lang truly gave Xie Lian a very good feeling, and since he never addressed those around him as a brother, it was a huge novelty for him. And so, he smiled and said, “So it’s San-lang gege.” “……” Perhaps he was mistaken, but after he said “gege”, San-lang’s smile before him turned slightly strange. It was simply too difficult to describe. The light in San-lang’s left eye seemed to flare up all of a sudden, so hot that it made Xie Lian feel simply as though his skin was heating up. He blinked, and said, “What’s wrong?” That terrifying burst of heat disappeared in an instant. Immediately, San-lang reverted back to as he was, and smiled as he said, “It’s nothing. I was just too happy, that’s all. There’s no one younger than me in my family, and so I’ve never heard anyone call me that before.” Xie Lain said, “If San-lang doesn’t mind, then….. How should I address you?” The light in San-lang’s eye flashed as he laughed. However, in his speech, he still declined, “Oh, of course I definitely would not mind. It depends on whether daozhang minds.” Xie Lian said, “I don’t mind, of course I don’t mind. San-lang gege, shall we return to your home now?” San-lang placed his chopsticks down, and said, “Then, come with me now.” San-lang’s residence, was an extremely spacious, beautiful and elegant mansion. Upon entering it, XIe Lian could only feel that when compared with some of the compounds within the XIan Le royal palace, it did not pale in comparison. This reinforced his impression that this San-lang was not a commoner. At night, lying alone in bed, Xie Lian tossed and turned. He kept feeling as though something was missing beside him, and no matter how he tossed and turned, he was unable to find any peace. Furthermore, with that hidden discomfort in his body, lying on his back meant pressing on his hips in a manner that was uncomfortable; but lying on his front made him feel as though something was pressing on his back.

In his dazed confusion, he had a number of messy dreams. He wanted to move, but someone was holding him down firmly in place, and that voice was once again speaking in a low tone by his ear, sometimes a man’s, sometimes a youth’s; sometimes it called him gege, gege, sometimes it called him dianxia, telling him, don’t be afraid, dianxia. Tender to the utmost, wicked to the utmost, but also treasuring him to the utmost. He jolted awake. His clothes were soaked through with sweat. As Xie Lian gasped, he clenched his fists tightly, and viciously pounded on the bed, angrily, but weakly. He raked his fingers through his slightly damp hair, and thought, “…… This sort of thing, when will I be able to forget! Once I catch ahold of this shameless bastard I definitely will……” At this moment, he discovered that at some unknown point in time, someone had placed a set of clothes by his pillow. Even it though these clothes were also white, but their style was one which he liked. Feeling as though he had been given a reprieve, and hurried to the back of the house to take a quick bath. After removing his clothes, and immersing himself in the water, he suddenly discovered that hanging on his neck was a fine silver chain. On the chain hung a ring that was crystal clear. Who knew how long he had been wearing it - in any case, for him to have completely not felt it, was what was strange: “Do I have such a pendant?” This ring was simply too pretty, and as he looked at it, he almost fell into a trance. However, he did not lose his wariness. Suddenly, he detected a flash of silver to his side, and he immediately shouted, “Who!” A strike to the water, and water splashed into the air, as though a steel ball had been thrown, ricocheting noisily off the walls. And what he had knocked out of the water was not a person, but……. a saber? Xie Lian caught hold of that hard and unyielding saber, feeling extremely doubtful. Suddenly, a silver slit on the saber’s handle parted, as though the opening of an eye, with the eyeball rolling around wildly. Xie Lian was even more shocked. What was this strange thing?! That curved blade of the saber was long, and as though it had life, dove enthusiastically into his embrace. Caught unawares, Xie Lian was unable to stop it, and was chilled to the point that he could not help but cry out, “wah”, and his whole body gave a shiver. But more or less because he did not feel any killing intent, Xie Lian did not find this curved saber to be dangerous, and besides strenuously trying to push it away, he did not intend to use more violent actions against it, such as sending it into the clouds with a slap, and other such like. At this moment, a red shadow darted over, and with a single move snatched that saber, saying in an ominous tone, “So here you are……” Focusing one’s gaze, San-lang was already standing by the bathing pool, and pinched within his hands was the saber. Even though he still wore a faint smile on his face, the hint of green veins had

appeared on his temples, and without any courtesy, he gave the saber a slap, saying, “Didn’t I say that you’re not allowed to come here now?” Xie Lian said, “San-lang, is this saber your…… magical weapon?” San-lang turned towards him, and the green veins in his temples disappeared in an instant, and he once again resumed an air of calm. He said, “It’s just an ignorant thing, gege…… Gege has let you see something embarrassing.” But Xie LIan only felt greater awe and respect. His eyes lit up, and he caught hold of the side of his red clothes, saying, “No no no, San-lang gege, you’re far too amazing! To be able to cultivate such a sentient magical weapon!” After having been smacked by San-lang, the saber had scrunched up its eye, as though it had been wronged. Listening to Xie Lian’s praise, its eye once again began to roll around smugly, and sneakily tried to inch its way towards him. Very callously, San-lang gave it another slap. This time around, it gave up, and fell to the ground with a “dong” and rolled and rolled and rolled around, like a child who had been hit by an adult and was rolling on the ground and crying. It was almost as though Xie Lian’s ears could hear the sound of its wailing cries. The sight made his heart ache slightly, and he hurriedly stood up and said, “Wait, San-lang! Forget it, don’t hit it anymore. I guess he was just being mischievous in the moment, and wanted to come over and to greet me. There’s no need to reprimand it like this ah.” But only after emerging from the water, did Xie Lian remember that his body, which had been in the water, was bare, and his face inexplicably turned red again. Awkwardly, he sank back into the water. However, San-lang had earlier turned around in a manner that was very natural, and left. Xie Lian hurriedly climbed out of the water and changed into his new clothes. He could feel, from where the clothing clung to his skin, that the material was extremely fine. Finally, his skin would not be chafed uncomfortably, and in his heart he felt even more grateful for this. Emerging from the room, and arriving at the elegant hall for receiving guests, San-lang was already seated there, waiting. Goodness only knew how he had disciplined that saber. Now, it hung honestly by San-lang’s waist. When it was not moving about this way and that as it pleased, it unexpectedly had a cold and lethal air, and it was completely impossible for one to imagine its previous manner of rolling around and throwing a tantrum. Seeing that Xie Lian had arrived, San-lang smiled and said, “You’re up? Did you sleep well last night?” Xie Lian answered honestly, “For some unknown reason, during the first half of the night, I kept having dreams…… but I slept well in the second half of the night. San-lang said, “Perhaps you were too tired.” The two of them spoke whatever sentences came to them, and with a few rounds of conversation and discussion, the day more or less passed by. It seemed likely that, until that Hua Cheng person was free to meet, they would continue to spend their time together like this.

However, at night, as Xie Lian lay by himself on the bed, he once again had those dreams which made one feel heated up and unable to be at ease. In his dreams, he was tossed and turned about, teased until he could hardly bear it. When he woke up with a jolt, his body was once again soaked in sweat. Feeling angry and helpless, he could only get up and go out, with thoughts of walking a few rounds to calm down. However, he suddenly heard from afar, sounds coming from another room. It was from San-lang’s master-room. The soundproofing of the room was excellent, and the sounds were very soft, but Xie Lian’s five senses were extremely sensitive and he had caught it. Soundlessly, he crept outside the room. Through the crack between the doors, he peered into the room. He saw Sanlang seated on a seat in the room, holding a brush[3] in his hand, as though writing something. His expression was cold, completely different from whenever he faced Xie Lian. To his side, there was even someone in black clothing and a mask with the face of a ghost, bowing at the waist, giving his report in a low voice. For some inexplicable reason, the person in the ghost-face mask had a very muted presence, as though one might accidentally not notice him at all. Xie Lian was just about to listen more carefully, but that person had finished giving their report, and he could only faintly hear fragments of phrases and sentences, “That creature had been making trouble for a long time” “Think he went to settle it before receiving any prayers, and had an accident” “This is the direction that was just investigated” etc. He was slowly combing his hair, when he heard San-lang say, “I need to accompany him now, and can’t excuse myself. Deliver that creature here before tomorrow night.” The person in the ghost-face mask said in a low voice, “Yes. Do you want it to be left with a breath?” San-lang put away the brush, and looked at what he had written. He did not seem to be too satisfied with it, and crumpled it up into a ball, tossing it aside. Only then did he say, slowly and leisurely, “Leave a few breaths, let him spit out that thing, then slowly crush its ugly head.[4]” As he spoke these words, his expression and tone were the sort that made one shiver. However, unexpectedly, Xie Lian did not feel any revulsion or wariness despite this. The person in the ghost mask gave a wordless noise of assent, and made to leave. Immediately, Xie Lian darted away and hid himself. Xie Lian was all the more unable to sleep after he returned to his room. He paced a few rounds back and forth, thinking, “Just what sort of person exactly is San-lang? What creature was he referring to?” Based on what he had heard, it sounded like something important had been swallowed up by a creature that had been creating trouble and causing disasters for a long time, and San-lang was very angry. But because he had to accompany him for now, he was unable to excuse himself to smash that creature’s head. His thoughts having reached this point, Xie Lian felt very embarrassed. This San-lang, truly treated him with utmost sincerity.

Suddenly, an idea flashed across his mind: Why should he just sit here idling like this? Besides, he wouldn’t be able to meet Hua Cheng for now, and he had also been continuously thinking about doing something for San-lang, who was a good gege. Why not help him capture this creature? It was a decision made on the spur of the moment. Having decided as such, Xie Lian immediately left a letter behind, writing, San-lang gege, do not worry, Lian has left and will return etc. Then, with a leap, he soundless left this elegant mansion. —– The author has something to say: This extra about the curious wandering of [Xie Lian’s] memory has one more chapter. I had originally wanted to finish writing it today but the word count was more than I had imagined, so it will continue tomorrow![5] Taizi calling him gege, Huahua is overjoyed. E-ming was not deliberately trying to peep at the bath! E-ming is a good child! It’s just that he often took baths with Xie Lian previously, and so he had gone over today with great anticipation. Who knew that he would get beaten up. =-=-= Translator’s notes: [1] 乌龙 [wu long] - I translated this as “foolish mistake”, but I’m not sure if it captures the full nuance of this term. It’s like a mistake one makes, which is also to one’s detriment. One suggested English equivalent I found when I was searching for better words was “own-goal”, which I think captures it quite well. [2] 有缘千里来相会 [you yuan qian li lai xiang hui] - Lit. if two people are fated, they will be able to meet even across a thousand miles. [3] Specifically, a 紫毫 [zi hao] calligraphy brush. Its bristles are made with the fur of a particular type of rabbit, and is darker in colour (the 紫 refers to the bristles being a darkish purple) and supposedly more sturdy than a brush with bristles made from goat fur. [4] San-lang actually calls refers to the creatures head as its 狗头 [gou tou] - literally, “dog’s head”, but I don’t he’s being literal here about the type of head that the creature has. “Dog” here is used more like an insult, e.g. ugly, worthless etc. [TGCF Extra - Chapter 249] The Curious Incident of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince’s Memory Having Wandered Away 4 - I meet you again. The directions that the person in the ghost mask had given were not complicated: just head a few li[1] southwards, on a certain mountain in a certain lair[2]. Xie Lian was also confident that a regular person would not be able to match him, as he was now, in speed, and that he would arrive at the location faster than San-lang’s underling.

Indeed, after an hour, he had fought and killed his way to the place, a frenzied battle the moment he entered the mountain, with the cries and howls of the spirits and beasts on the mountain.[3] Finally, he found that certain mountain with that certain lair. Even though the monster appeared to of some influence, with three hundred to four hundred strong lackeys guarding the entrance for him, to Xie Lian, this was no different from just having three or four strong lackeys guarding the entrance. At first, he had been worried that the enemy would be extremely strong, and did not act rashly, but after patiently staking out the vicinity of the lair for a while, listening to the lackeys’ idle chatter, he discovered that the monster had gone through more than enough these past few days. “…… That’s right, that’s right, shan-zhu[4] only managed to escape from a stinky cultivator with difficulty. They[5] were frightened half to death, and came back with injuries. The moment they returned, they gave up their original lair in a great panic[6], and fled here.” “I see! I’ve been wondering why they’d suddenly summon all of us away - so, it’s because they’re afraid that the cultivator will be back for revenge!” “There’s no reason for them to be afraid. That cultivator was bitten a few times by shan-zhu. Even if he wakes up now, he’d definitely be all in a muddle, unable to even find where the northern direction is.” “How can they not be afraid? Shan-zhu is a few centuries old and a famous monster,and yet, I heard that this cultivator had emerged suddenly out of nowhere, and with two strikes beaten them until their nose had gone crooked and their eyes crossed. If not for the fact that the cultivator seemed to have some injury on his body, giving shan-zhu an opening to land a few bites, I’m afraid shan-zhu would not have been able to return.” “Goddamn, how can a wild cultivator be so powerful!” Having listened up to here, Xie Lian felt that it was more or less enough. He walked out casually, and greeted them warmly, “Hello.” The crowd of little monster lackeys were greatly startled, and leapt up, crying, “Who’s there!” “Where did this pretty boy[7] come from?” Xie Lian gave a small smile, and without sparing any time to explain, directly slaughtered his way into the lair. Just casually reaching out to grab, and he’d catch a few tens of them; and just casually flinging them aside, he’d flung them a few tens of zhang[8]. Even without magic, he still managed to give the crowd of lackeys such a fright, that their shrill cries filled the air without pause: “What’s up with this pretty boy!!! He looks so genteel! Why is he so rough and violent!!!” And so, in this manner similar to plucking wild grass, Xie Lian stepped into the lair unimpeded. He had been prepared to do great battle with a great monster, but who knew that upon entering the lair, what he saw was a creature who had taken on human form, and who was rolling around on the ground, hugging his stomach and moaning and wailing. At first, Xie Lian thought that it[9] was just putting up a pretence, but taking another look, it did not appear to be the case. Its stomach was greatly bloated, as though it had swallowed something incredibly fearsome, and so, Xie Lian crouched down and said, “What’s wrong with you?”

Perhaps that monster was in so much pain that it was delirious, for upon seeing Xie Lian, it let out a great cry, “You came at the right time! You! I’m not eating anymore! I don’t dare eat anymore! Never again will I dare! Let me return the thing I swallowed back to you! I can’t digest it, I can’t digest it ah!” Xie Lian said, “Are you mistaking me for someone else? You haven’t swallowed anything of mine, so what are you returning to me?” But that monster continued to roll on the ground in great pain, and could hardly be bothered to reply. Feeling at a loss, Xie Lian proceeded with drawing a talisman first, deciding to capture it first before clarifying things with it. But curiously enough, the moment he slapped on that talisman, that monster unexpectedly turned into a large and roly-poly budaoweng[10], with a stomach that was much larger and rounder than other budaoweng, incredibly comical. Xie Lian found it both hilarious and starting. He examined the talisman he had drawn, wondering how it could have turned into this. Did he draw a couple of strokes wrongly? But this was not much of a huge problem either. This battle was simply easy to the extreme, and when Xie Lian emerged from the mountain depths, the day had brightened. He kept the budaoweng in his sleeve, and hurried back towards the city. Now that he had done something for that San-lang, Xie Lian’s felt happy, and had already begun to think about how he would present the captured monster to San-lang. He secretly warned himself, that if San-lang gave a surprised expression, he should still maintain a reserved front, and not reveal any of his delight. Having been out roaming and sprinting all night, Xie Lian’s legs were sore, and so, he sat at a stall along the way, and got a free bowl of tea to drink. As he drank, he suddenly heard someone from behind him, rush towards him and yell, “Xie Lian!” Immediately, Xie Lian put down the tea bowl. Who was this person, to be so greatly daring as to directly call out his name in the middle of the main street? Even amongst the royal household, few would be so disrespectful; didn’t everyone address him as taizi dianxia with great deference and reverence? Turning his head to look, that person was unexpectedly a commoner. He was carrying a large wooden box, and strode forward with great steps, yelling, “Wait! Wait up! You forgot Xie Lian! Bring him along too!” So he wasn’t calling out to him, but someone who had the same name as him! But Xie Lian found this even more curious. Even though he did not really care about taboos on avoiding names and such like, but to think that someone would dare to have the exact same name as him, that was surprising! But he immediately realised, the “Xie Lian” which that person spoke of was not a human. A man was sitting near Xie Lian. The person who was carrying the box walked up and sat beside this man. He patted the wooden box, and said, “I’ve brought Xie Lian along. Remember to bring him to that person whom your family serves today! Don’t dismiss the superstition. if you don’t display the two of them together, there would be a lot of bad luck!” “Yes, yes. Naturally, I know it……”

Xie Lian was simply unable to bear it any longer, and opened his mouth, saying, “Excuse me……” As one, the two people turned their heads and looked at him. Xie Lian said, “Please forgive this one for being presumptuous. Excuse me, what’s in this box?” That person said, “Haven’t I said it already. It’s Xie Lian inside.” Xie Lian did not understand: “But…… Isn’t Xie Lian the taizi dianxia?” The two people seemed to find it very funny, saying, “No one said he wasn’t the crown prince ah. He always was to begin with. Look!” Saying that, they opened the box. Xie Lian’s eyes widened. Unexpectedly, within that wooden box, was a tiny worship altar, and within that altar was a plain and rustic-looking statuette of a god, of a cultivator dressed in white with a straw hat on his back. He did not recognise it. “……” Xie Lian was completely unable to comprehend it, and said, “Are you saying that this statuette is of the Xianle crown prince, Xie Lian?” “Who else?” Other people had started to gather around, one after another, half of them looking at him as though he was a rare one: “You young people are really strange, and you look like a cultivator too, so how is it that you don’t even know such a simple thing?” The other half were looking at this “statuette of a god”: “Wow! The carving of this scrap-picking immortal is not bad! Looks woeful enough.” “Yes, full of tragedy and woe. One look and you immediately feel that it’s a likeness of misfortune!” “Great, great! The uglier it looks like now, then it would look even better when that other one helps him break away. Display them together for eight days at most and the results will show.” “…..” With ignorance, Xie Lian said, “Scrap-picking immortal? How did he become a scrap-picking immortal?” The surrounding crowd said, “Cultivator, you really are very strange ah! Xie Lian was always a scrap-picking immortal to begin with!” “……” Xie Lian was generally not someone who was easily angered, but at that moment, he felt slightly annoyed.

Anyone who listened to other people laugh and mock them for picking scraps wouldn’t feel very happy about it. In a moment, he stood up, and in a deep voice said, “Does everyone have some dissatisfactions with the Xianle royal family? Even if there is, the way you’re insulting the crown prince like this, is not in keeping with etiquette.” The crowd looked at each other, and laughed at him, saying, “What are you saying? In keeping with which country’s etiquette? Xianle country was destroyed more than eight hundred years ago!” …… An hour later, Xie Lian was still in somewhat of a muddle as he walked down the main street. It was too frightening. Everything he had received just now, was simply too frightening as far as he was concerned. “How was Xianle country destroyed? Aren’t my royal father and mother still alive and well? And how could it have been destroyed by me? I lost a battle? I destroyed my country? And I was cast down twice? I became a scrap-picker?” He questioned himself over and over again, and told himself over and over again: It was impossible. Impossible. Impossible! He tried to convince himself: “All of this simply isn’t real, there must be some villain making trouble behind the scenes.” However, everything felt off-kilter: The strange accents, the strange clothing and the strange buildings, and even the strange Feng Xin and Mu Qing, all of them were telling him that this was not a nightmare, and this place was also not some illusion. No demon or monster would have been able to create such a vast and realistic illusion. Eight hundred years had really gone by. How could eight hundred years have just gone by? How did he become like this after eight hundred years? Xianle country was destroyed; his royal father and mother were dead; Feng Xin and Mu Qing had ascended. And he had become a scrap-picker. How did it become like this? It couldn’t be like this. It shouldn’t have been like this! Xie Lian walked faster and faster, until, in the end, he had begun to run, as though a vast and boundless darkness was pressing hard behind him, about to devour him. Suddenly, a red silhouette flashed by, and a lanky figure appeared before his eyes, saying, “Daozhang, where did you go? I searched high and low for you for a long while.”

It was San-lang. He was still smiling, and as he said that he made to come over and take Xie Lian’s hand, but upon seeing him, Xie Lian felt goosebumps rise all over his body, and he yelled loudly, “Don’t come near me!!!” His cry had an immediate effect. San-lang paused, but his expression did not change. He said, “What’s wrong?” Xie Lian clenched his fists tightly, and coldly said, “Just who the hell are you? What do you plan to do?” San-lang said, “I had thought that we had gotten along quite well yesterday, and no longer cared about these small bothers.” Xie Lian said, “You lied to me.” After a moment of silence, San-lang said, “So you already know.” Xie Lian said, “I already know that it’s now……” Eight hundred years later. Typically, he would not have taken so long before realising that those things were not quite right, but this person had deliberately kept things from him, keeping him charmed and deceived and confused until he couldn’t even have figured out which way was north; otherwise, how could he had discovered the truth only after a day? San-lang took a step towards him, saying, “Dianxia.” Xie Lien took many more steps back, yelling, “Don’t come closer!!! If you come any closer, I’ll hit you!” Both his voice and his body were trembling. Xie Lian was extremely terrified. What he was terrified of wasn’t some demon or monster, nor was it of the man before him who could mean good or evil. He was terrified of this entire, strange world. In this world, he was without glory that he could be proud of, without loyal subjects, without his parents who loved him dearly, without his own country, without believers who loved and respected him. Nothing, nothing, he had absolutely nothing! But San-lang took yet another step towards him, saying, “Don’t be afraid, dianxia.” “……” Hearing this sentence, Xie Lian’s expression changed. He suddenly recalled, within those fragmented memories, the man who said in a deep voice by his ear, “Don’t be afraid, dianxia.” How could he not have realised it? The manner of speech and voice of both men, were identical!

So angry was Xie Lian that he trembled, as he said, “It’s you…… It’s really you……” Thinking about how this person had deceived him and led him around in circles, while he had felt nothing but gratitude and was full of good feelings, and even called him “gege” - Xie Lian was unable to bear it, and his anger skyrocketed. He lashed out with a strike, crying, “You liar!” This strike squarely hit San-lang’s chest. Xie Lian readied himself to strike a second time, but discovered that he was somehow unable to move. It was his own body, that was stopping him! Xie Lian could not understand what was going on, but San-lang had grabbed ahold of his hand. Xie Lian was startled, and immediately cried out disjointedly, “Don’t touch me! You, you liar, you lied to me. I’ll never believe you again. You……” But San-lang said quietly, “Dianxia, believe me.” Xie Lian cried angrily, “I’ll never believe you!!! I’ll! ……” However, just like how his attack had been stopped, the “will never you” that should have followed, somehow could not leave his lips. The concern and pain in this man’s eyes was a completely and utterly genuine. Anyone who saw a person show such an expression to another person, would no longer suspect his sincerity. As though desiring to seal Xie Lian away from this strange world which terrified him, San-lang finally drew him into an embrace, his lips kissing his hair lightly, and in a warm and gentle voice, said, “Don’t be afraid, dianxia. It’s all in the past. Dianxia. You’ve made it through.” “……” After a long while, Xie Lian’s body finally softened. Now, throwing aside all his shame and frustration, and thinking carefully: within the fragmented scenes in his dream, the voice of the man who had called out to him, had always been warm and gentle to the extreme, without even a hint of coercion. As for himself…… Even though he had indeed begged for mercy and cried, but he could tell from listening, that there wasn’t even a hint of unwillingness. It was just that, before now, he had been unwilling to confront it directly, and so he had not discovered it. At least Xie Lian finally knew why it was that, the moment he saw this man, he could not help but want to trust him. Unfortunately, the “him” after eight hundred years, had a relationship with San-lang that was…… not quite simple. He thoroughly gave up fighting against his body, and went along with his heart’s desire, burying his face against San-lang’s chest. He said, his voice muffled, “We……” San-lang said, “Hn.”

After a long silence, Xie Lian mumbled, “Why…… did I suddenly clean forget everything that happened in these eight hundred years?” San-lang said, “It’s my fault. The previous day, you suddenly received a prayer in the middle of the night, and left in too much of a hurry. I didn’t help you restore your magic, and didn’t tell you in time that when the monster bites you, it swallows memories.” Xie Lian said, “Then this simply wasn’t your fault. It was me who was careless.” San-lang said, “Dianxia would never be at fault.” Xie Lian forced a smile, then said again dispiritedly, “Then, San-lang, how did I…… cause the destruction of Xianle country?” After all, he had treasured his people so much, and it had been his ambition for Xianle to continue to prosper for another thousand years. San-lang hugged him even tighter, and said with conviction, “It was not your fault.” Xie Lian mumbled, “How did I fail so badly? How did I become like this?” Who did not start of by wanting to accomplish grand feats which would move the heavens and the earth, and live on through the ages? While perhaps only one in a million people would truly be able to make this dream become reality, but Xie Lian had never once doubted that he would be that one in a million. Perhaps this was the reason why San-lang had not let him discover that eight hundred years had gone by. San-lang said, “You did not fail.” Xie Lian shook his head, saying, “But I don’t have any believers anymore.” San-lang said, “You do.” Just thinking about it made Xie Lian grieve. He said, “I’m a scrap-picking immortal. I pick scraps. Of course no one would be my believer, and no one would take me as a god. Who would respect a scrap-picking immortal?” This was completely unlike what his dream had been. But San-lang said, “Haven’t I already told you? You have a believer.” Xie Lian lifted his face. San-lang gave him a small smile, saying, “Dianxia, I said that you would be able to meet Hua Cheng very soon. Right now, you’ve met him.” “……”

Xie Lian lifted his head, and gazing at his face, said, slightly confused, “San-lang, you…… when did you recognise me?” Hua Cheng said, “From a very long, very long time ago, even before you had ascended.” Xie Lian slowly blinked. Hua Cheng said again, “Dianxia, perhaps the “you” now, might feel that the “you” after eight hundred years is a huge failure. Perhaps you feel disappointed, and unable to accept it. But please believe me, it’s not like that.” His bright left eye gazed at Xie Lian, and the look in his eye was as soft and gentle as his voice. He said, “You saved me. I’ve always looked at you. “In this world there are countless people who are more “successful” than you, but none of them could have saved me like you did, and none of them could have done those things you did — “You have no idea how much courage you gave me, for me to become the me today. “In my heart, you are forever my only god.” Xie Lian said, “And you are forever my most devoted believer.” Barely had he finished speaking, when he came to himself. That sentence which he had said just now, was something he had instinctively said in the moment as a response, as though he had heard such a treasured promise before. But San-lang started to smile, and held up his hand, kissed the back of his hand, and said, “Yes.” “……” After a long while, Xie Lian seemed to have come to a decision, and retrieved the budaoweng of the monster from his sleeve, saying, “Was it this monster which swallowed my memories?” Hua Cheng received that monster, saying, “So it was indeed dianxia who destroyed his new lair.” Xie Lian nodded his head, saying, “To recover my memories, I would have to act on him here, yes?” Within Hua Cheng’s palm, that budaoweng opened its large mouth. From its mouth flew out a few specks of light, like fireflies, which flew and surrounded Xie Lian. Hua Cheng said, “Catch them, and you would be able to retrieve those eight hundred years of memories.” Hearing this, Xie Lian reached his hand out to them. However, just before he touched them, he stopped. Recovering these eight hundred years of memories, would be as though reliving those eight hundred years, once again experiencing everything which had happened: the agony of the hundred swords stabbing his heart, the shame of having being defeated utterly, the anger of being powerless and unable to do anything.

Even though he knew that all this would actually be over in a moment, but his fingertips still trembled slightly. Hua Cheng stood behind him, letting him feel as though his back was resting against a sturdy wall. He heard Hua Cheng’s voice from behind him, “Don’t be afraid, dianxia.” Xie Lian tilted his head back slightly, and Hua Cheng wrapped his arms around his waist, saying, “Believe me. No matter how long it takes, I will always wait for you. You will still meet me again.” That’s right. They would still meet again. And so, Xie Lian reached his hand towards the lights. Like stars, the specks of light dissolved into his fingertips. There was a great brightness before his eyes, as though something burning hot was approaching. Before that bright light reached him, Xie Lian said, “I am very glad to have met you.” After he said this sentence, the specks of light dissolved into his body and disappeared. Xie Lian slowly toppled forward, and was caught by Hua Cheng. After a long while, Xie Lian finally began to stir. The moment he opened his eyes, Hua Cheng said in a low voice, “Gege?” Xie Lian slowly gave a light smile, and reached out a hand, caressing Hua Cheng’s face, and said, “…… I meet you again.” Hua Cheng began to smile too, saying, “Didn’t I say it. Believe me.” Xie Lian sighed and said, “Does this count as us having waited for each other again for another eight hundred years? Hua Cheng said, “Didn’t I say it, no matter how long it takes, I will always wait for you. However……” He pulled Xie Lian up. The two of them stood face to face, and Hua Cheng held his hand tightly, saying with a smile, “Right now, I don’t want us to be separated again for even a moment.” There was no way of changing the past. EIght hundred years ago, the seventeen-year-old Xie Lian who was everyone’s pride, had no way of knowing what the future had in store for him. Fate had given him two doors. The path of a martial god left a fleeting but indelible impression; in a brief moment a demon had met an immortal on a bridge. And he had opened both doors. After that, he was alone in the turbulent waves of being powerless and unable to return to the heavens, and he struggled to eke a living through those long and tortuous years. Pain, anger, disappointment, hate, despair, insanity. A heart as indifferent as dead ashes. And after that, the dead ashes reignited back to life.

However, all of these were already in the past. * “Gege, welcome back.” “Hn……” “Look, I said that you would still meet me again. I didn’t lie to you.” Xie Lian aimed a look at Hua Cheng, and said, “Really?” Hua Cheng smiled slightly, and said, “Of course. When have I ever lied to dianxia? Gege, I……” “……” “……” Xie Lian reached his hand into the breast of Hua Cheng’s robes, and took out a piece of paper, reading out loud, “‘Having received San-lang gege’s care, Lian has no way to repay you, and am willing to exhaust what little power I have, to help gege solve his problems, and so will leave for a while. May San-lang gege not be worried, for Xian will be back shortly after leaving.’” San-lang raised a brow, and brought his hands behind his back and did not speak. After Xie Lian finished reading out loud, he copied Hua Cheng’s manner and raised a brow, saying, “San-lang gege, good gege, you truly are good ah.” Hua Cheng laughed, saying, “Whether I’m good or not, wasn’t gege clear on this point from very early on? Xie Lian’s face turned slightly red, and he said vaguely, “….. I’m not sure what you’re talking about. In any event, you’ve gone too far in these couple of days, and you should reflect.” Hua Cheng said with seriousness, “Gege, don’t be like that. These two days, I’ve been constantly treating you with courtesy and decorum, and resisting has been very hard on me.” Xie Lian said, “Since when did you treat me with courtesy and decorum. You clearly…… clearly……” Clearly teased him, and teased with great delight. Thinking about how, in those two days, he had become the naive, silly, and pampered[11] little seventeen-year-old dummy, tossed and turned this way and that as Hua Cheng played with him… as Xie Lian once again recalled what happened with perfect clarity, he was simply unable to look directly at himself, and he could not help but moan, and massage his temples. His expression entirely serious, Hua Cheng said, “Really, even if I am scolded as a despicable, shameless, indecent asshole,[12] San-lang has no complaints or regrets.” “……” “If gege is unhappy, he can continue to scold me. It doesn’t matter to San-lang.” Xie Lian was simply unable to listen further.

Massaging his temples, he slipped away. When Hua Cheng turned his head, the other person had disappeared. He said, “Gege? Don’t run away, alright, it’s my fault, gege!” Don’t call gege anymore! —– Translator’s notes: [1] 里 [li]. A traditional Chinese unit of measurement, now standardised to about half a kilometre. [2] 洞府 [dongfu]. I translated it as “lair”, but a dongfu is a bit more than that. A more accurate description would be… a place where a spirit or magical creature dwells? The other closest English equivalent I could think of was “grotto”, but a grotto - associated with faeries and such like in western folklore - doesn’t quite have the right connotation for this context, I think. [3] 山魈夜猫鬼哭狼嚎 [shan xiao ye mao gui ku lang hao]. A 山魈 or shanmao can refer to a type of mandrill primate, but also a one-legged creature/monster which dwells on the mountains in Chinese folklore. A 夜猫 or yemao literally translates into night-cat, but also can refer to an owl. 鬼哭狼嚎 [gui ku lang hao] is literally, the cries of ghosts and the howls of wolves. [4] 山主 [shan zhu]. The lackeys’ honourific title for the monster, lit. lord / owner of the mountain. (Like how Hua Cheng’s subjects in the Ghost City refer to him as 城主 [cheng-zhu] or lord / owner of the city.) [5] Chinese pronouns are divided into male 他, female 她, and gender-neutral / it 它 (used for animals or inanimate objects, not people) - all of them pronounced as ta. The way the lackeys are speaking in Chinese is more colloquial, and omits pronouns when referring to their big boss monster. However, later on in the chapter when Xie Lian encounters the monster, he uses the gender-neutral 它 (see translator’s note 9). However, I didn’t think it would be appropriate for the lackeys to refer to their boss as an “it” in English, so I used “they/them” here. [6] 屁滚尿流 [pi gun niao liu]. Lit. (so frightened and panicked that it was) farting and pissing nonstop. [7] 小白脸 [xiao bai lian]. Lit. “little white face”, used to describe a young man with a pretty face. It’s not really a compliment, and is usually used in a teasing (at best) or derogatory (at worst) context. I just find it incredibly funny that Xie Lian was referred to as one here. [8] 丈 [zhang]. A traditional Chinese unit of measurement. I think the modern equivalent is about 10 feet? So Xie Lian was flinging these monsters a few hundred feet in one toss. [9] See translator’s note 5. The sentence here uses 它. Unlike the monster’s lackeys, I don’t think Xie Lian would have any issues with using “it” to refer to the monster.

[10] 不倒翁 [bu dao weng]. A toy that’s shaped sort-of like an oval, with a heavy base. The idea is that you can push the toy down, and it would stand or bounce back up, i.e. it doesn’t fall down (不倒). It’s also what Hua Cheng transforms Lan Qianqiu, Qi Rong into in book 1. [11] Exactly what Mu Qing had described Xie Lian in chapter 246 / part 1 of the Amnesia extra. [12] See how Xie Lian had scolded Hua Cheng at the start of chapter 248 / part 3 of the Amnesia extra. [TGCF Extra - Chapter 250] The Demon King’s Bedtime Story - Reading Material for Children Hua Cheng was ill. Although it was a small illness, but the fact that a demon king could actually fall ill, was very curious and unexpected. As such, when Xie Lian returned to Qiandeng Temple, and went to check on Hua Cheng’s handwriting practice as usual, but instead saw that Hua Cheng’s face was slightly flushed, he was greatly worried. After pressing Hua Cheng down on the altar – yup, just the other day, they both had a round on this wide and spacious altar; after all, there weren’t any [god] statues – Xie Lian reached out a hand, and after checking his cheeks and forehead, grew even more worried: “That’s really hot.” Hua Cheng smiled and said, “I naturally get hot when I see gege, and when gege touches me I get even hotter.” XL found himself at a loss, be he hurriedly pretended that he was in red in the face from exasperation, saying, “Your mouth is still so dishonest even when you’re ill.” Hua Cheng innocently replied, “What did I say? I’m super honest. Gege, don’t be worried, it’s a small thing, no big deal.” But Xie Lian could hear how Hua Cheng’s voice was lower and more hoarse than usual, and a small crease appeared between his brows as he said, “Then you should rest properly. I’ll accompany you here for these few days, until you get better.” Saying that, he took the pen-brush, ink, paper and sand which Hua Cheng had been using for his writing practice and brought them beside the altar. Hua Cheng patted the place beside him, saying, “Won’t gege join me on the altar?” Once he got onto the altar, he could forget about any rest for these few days. Xie Lian tactfully said, “I’d best not, my San Lang has overexerted himself already.” Hua Cheng said laughingly, “Nonsense, if it’s gege, why should San Lang fear overexertion?”

Xie LIan decided not to play along with him anymore, and concentrated on writing out practice lines [for Hua Cheng to copy]. Hua Cheng turned his body around, propped his cheek on a hand, and stared at Xie Lian’s face. No matter how many times this happened, XIe Lian would always start blushing beneath his gaze. He said uncomfortably, “…… San Lang, look at the practice lines, not at me.” Hua Cheng sighed and said, “Gege, to be frank, my head hurts the moment I look at this trifle, but because it’s written by gege, I can’t bear not to look. Who knows, maybe this illness was caused by looking at too many practice lines.” Xie Lian said, “Since when was there such an illness.” Hua Cheng laughingly said, “How about I look at gege instead, gege looks so much better than these practice lines, who knows, maybe if I look [at gege] more, I would recover.” Xie Lian found himself at a loss and yet wanting laugh, and he put down his pen-brush, shaking his head as he said, “Why are you even more fond of talking nonsense these days… nothing proper comes out of your mouth. Alright, I get it, I’ll listen to you. Instead of looking at the practice lines, what should we do?” Hua Cheng said, “Actually we don’t have to do anything, I just want you to accompany me, it won’t be long before I get better.” Xie Lian touched his forehead again. Although this person had a manly, handsome face, but the way he was acting cute and spoiled now, made Xie Lian think of a little child who buried himself beneath a warm nest of blankets in winter and peeked out with a red face, making the heart feel very fond. After thinking for a bit, he said, “How about this: just as well, I picked up this thing today.” He reached into his sleeves, and fished out something, saying, “This a an old, no longer wanted book I collected today, which I was about to read. Let me read you a story.” In his hands was a very old and small book, tattered, its pages yellowed, with the curious scent of books and ink. It must have been flipped through countless of times. But Hua Cheng said, “I don’t want to listen.” Xie Lian asked curiously, “Why?” Hua Cheng lazily replied, “After all no matter how you spin it, it’s all stories about the other heaven officials, and I’m all too clear about their their useless and irrelevant doings. It’s already nothing worth listening to, why should I trouble gege to specially read them to me?” That was true too. After all Hua Cheng was the man who best grasped the black history of the three realms [tn: ghost, human, heaven]. Hua Cheng said, “If gege must read something to me, why not tell me something else? Like, a story about you.” Xie Lian smiled, saying, “Of my affairs, is there anyone else beside you who is more clear about them, or who has seen more than you?”

Hua Cheng said, “Then tell me again. I want to listen. It will never be enough no matter how much I listen.” Xie Lian knew that Hua Cheng meant what he was saying, and he carefully combed the hair by Hua Cheng’s cheek. He gave a casual glance [at the book], and suddenly exclaimed, “San Lang, this book seems to be written about you and me.” “What?” Xie Lian flipped through the book again, saying, “Really. There are lots of references to a “great ghost king in red robes” and a “rag & bone immortal”. Aren’t these you and me?” Hua Cheng also seemed interested, saying, “Oh? What’s written?” Xie Lian was also very curious why the people would have spun a story of him and Hua Cheng, and so he opened the collection of stories, and began to read it to Hua Cheng, “Once upon a very long time ago, there was a great ghost king who loved to wear red robes. Although the great ghost king was very powerful, and had accumulated a few mountains of gold and silver, but he was very unhappy. This was because he was very lonely, and greatly wished for a wife of his own…” “……” Xie Lian gave a puff of laughter, not quite able to continue reading, saying, “A lonely ghost king waiting in an empty nest…… hahaha……hahahaha……” Hua Cheng raised a brow, saying, “That’s not wrong. At that time gege was not around, and I was very lonely.” XIe LIan’s face heated, and he continued to read on. Once upon a very long time, there was a great ghost king who only loved to wear red robes. Although the great ghost king was very powerful, and had accumulated a few mountains of gold and silver, and had more money than he could spend, but he was very unhappy. This was because he was very lonely, and greatly wished for a wife of is own. But he waited for a few hundred years and still he did not meet his heart’s beloved. So, he consulted an old immortal who was greatly skilled at calculating fortunes, where is my wife? The old immortal told him, “You will meet the person you are waiting for on a mountain. Your wife will be dressed in bridal clothes, and be brought to marry you on a wedding sedan.” The great ghost king was determined to find his wife, and so he went to that mountain, where he waited patiently. In the meantime, somewhere very far away, there was a rag & bone immortal. The immortal collected rag & bone scraps, and as such he was the poorest amongst the heaven officials, poorer even than most mortals.

But although he was very poor, but he was very kind. One day, on his way back from collecting scraps, he saw a maiden crying by the roadside, and asked her, “Maiden, what is it that has made you so upset?” The maiden cried as she said, “I am to marry, but on the day of my wedding I will need to cross a mountain, and on the mountain lives a ghost groom, who snatches brides who are passing by. Only a few have been rescued. I will be snatched away and killed!” The rag & bone immortal felt great sympathy for her, and also being determined to help the people get rid of harm, decided to take the bride’s place in the wedding procession, and kill the monster. The rag & bone immortal had two friends. Because one of them was irritable, and one of them was very petty, so let’s differentiate them by calling the irritable immortal and the petty immortal. While bickering with each other, they also told the rag & bone immortal, “That ghost groom must be a great ghost king, with a terrible temperament, and also very crafty, with the greatest dislike for gods and immortals. If he catches you, he will definitely eat you!” But the immortal insisted on going, and so, they made a sedan for the immortal. On the day which the wedding procession was to set off, the immortal wore a set of beautiful bridal robes which he had borrowed the Lady Feng Shi [tn: Wind Master], and disguised as the bride, sat in the sedan chair, and was carried up the mountain by the pair of bickering friends. In the pitch darkness of the night, a ghostly wind blew, and as the sedan was carried up the mountain, not a single person was in sight. The immortal waited and waited, until finally the groom he was waiting for to receive him, arrived, Raising his veil to look, the immortal discovered to his surprise, that the great ghost king was unexpectedly an extremely handsome youth. And what made him even more surprised, was that the youthful groom was very courteous, and seemed as though he had good upbringing, warm and gentle and caring. He did not shed his human facade to reveal a ghastly [green-faced and sharp-toothed] “true face”, and nor did he force him to do anything bad. Indeed, he was hardly like the terrifying, great ghost king of legend. The mountain was very large, and the great ghost king took the immortal to his lair, saying to him, “From now on, I am your husband, and you are my beloved wife. This entire mountain belongs to me, and now belongs to you too, you can go anywhere you want to explore. But remember, at the back of the mountain there are two houses, which you must never go to.” The immortal asked, “Why?” The ghost king who was the groom replied, “That is my secret, you don’t need to know. But, even if you want to go there you also won’t be able to, because I have erected barriers before those two houses, and you must have something from my body in order to pass through the barriers.” The immortal continued to ask, “What things?” The ghost king answered, “One of the houses holds dirty rubbish, and you must use something from my body that can be touched, and a lot of it, in order to open the barrier; one of the houses holds a powerful magical treasure, and you must use something from my body that can’t be touched, but which is very hot, in order to open the barrier.”

Of course the immortal did not listen to him. Although he pretended to be very obedient when in front of the great ghost king, but the moment the ghost king was away, he sneakily flew to the back of the mountain. Indeed, as expected, from the house that held dirty rubbish, came terrifying screams and calls for help. The immortal suspected that the missing brides were all imprisoned in there, and so, he was determined to steal something from the great ghost king’s body, to open up the mystery house. But, what could he steal? The great ghost king had a head of crow-black and lustrous hair, that he sometimes left loose, and that he sometimes tied up crookedly. The first plan which the immortal thought of, was to steal a few strands of hair every day. As such, he asked, “Please, may we live together in the same home?” His groom said very courteously, “Of course we may. We are husband and wife after all.” And so, this way, they moved in together into the same room. But even though they slept in the same bed, the immortal refused to let the groom remove his clothes, and so, the great ghost king graciously refrained from touching him. But, as the immortal discovered very quickly, not a hair did his groom shed. No matter that he helped him comb his hair every morning everyday, or while sleeping at night, on the pillow, the bed, the floor, the comb - none of them had a strand of hair! This was frustrating. The immortal took hold of a sword, and thought of waiting for the great ghost king to fall asleep before using the opportunity to cut off a lock of hair. But the great ghost king was very watchful, and the moment he drew close, the great ghost king opened his eyes. But although the immortal was caught red-handed, he remained very calm. To prevent the great ghost king from becoming suspicious of him, he immediately cut off a lock of his own hair and gave it to him. Receiving it, the great ghost king was very happily. Very soon, the quick-witted immortal thought of another plan. He said to the great ghost king, “Please, may I kiss you?” His groom said, pleased, “Of course you may, we are husband and wife after all.” And hence, the immortal took the initiative to embrace the ghost groom, and kissed him for a long time with great might, before finally tasting a tiny bit of the ghost groom’s flavour, and he hurriedly closed his mouth and ran to the back of the mountain. But after he arrived, he discovered that this still not did not work. This was because he needed lots and lots of that something, and what he had was not enough. He still could not enter the house, he could only stick his head in, but his body had no way of entering. The rag & bone immortal felt a little despondent. He had originally thought that it would be simple to steal something from the great ghost king’s body, and never thought that it would be this hard.

He remembered his good friend, Lady Feng Shi, and so paid a visit to FengShui Temple [tn: Wind Water Temple], where he asked, “What else can I do to get something from the great ghost king’s body that can be touched, and a lot of it too?” Lady FengShi said, “Dai! [tn: like an exclamation] That’s too simple. Take on a female appearance, and consummate the marriage [tn: lit. enter the marriage chamber], and you’ll have it!” The immortal shook his head frantically. His immortal cultivation method had a rule, that once he lost his virginity, his powers would suffer a great damage. How could he go with this plan? At this moment, Lord Shui Shi [tn: Water Master] returned, and having heard what the Lady had said, angrily shouted, “Outrageous! How could you say something so immoral!” Once Lord Shui Shi was angry, he would use money to club people to death, and so the rag & bone immortal hurriedly fled. As he ran, he thought of his other two very good friends, the irritable immortal and the petty immortal, and so he looked for them and asked them what he ought to do. The irritable immortal and the petty immortal were again bickering, and as they bickered they told him some bad news: because too many people had been snatched away, the heaven officials were about to attack the mountain, and apprehend the great ghost king! The immortal was greatly shocked, and began to worry. By now he had discovered that this youthful ghost king would not do anything bad, and thought perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding, or maybe what was locked away at the back of the mountain was not those brides, but something else. However, because the rag & bone immortal was very poor, he also had no influence, and no one listened to him. The immortal was very anxious. If he did not discover the truth soon, then the great ghost king might be surrounded and attacked by the heaven officials. Left without any other option, the immortal could only run back to the great ghost king to ask, “Please, could you consummate our marriage with me?” His groom beamed as he said, “Ah, of course I can. We are husband and wife after all.” And so, the rag & bone immortal and the great ghost king consummated their marriage. Midway, the immortal was afraid that the great ghost king would not leave him with a lot of that very important thing, and so embraced the great ghost king tightly as he cried, “Can you give all of it to me? And give it to me a few times?” His groom warmly and gently said, “If that’s what you wish.” The immortal answered, “I do…” And so, the quick-witted immortal had his wish and obtained the thing which he had been looking for. Something from the great ghost king’s body that could be touched, and lots and lots of that thing. The next day, the immortal took the thing which he had spent all night begging from the great ghost king, to the house in which hid the dirty rubbish. This time, he could finally enter. Once he opened the entrance, the immortal discovered many corpses all messily strewn about, and some of them even decomposed to white bone!

These corpses were all dressed in wedding garments, and unfortunately appeared to be the missing brides. His hopes dashed, the immortal was shocked and upset. He looked back, and suddenly discovered that, at some time unbeknownst to him, someone stood behind him - unexpectedly, at some time unbeknownst to him, the great ghost king was standing there! The immortal had a great shock. He recalled what the irritable immortal and the petty immortal had told him, that the great ghost king was extremely crafty, and also greatly disliked gods and immortals. He was now at his wit’s end. Could it be that the great ghost king had in actual fact long since seen through him, and had been stringing him along all this while? Angry and hurt, the immortal began to flee, running faster and faster. But, who knew, he could not run out [of the house]. It turned out that he had run too fast, and the thing which the great ghost king had given him, had fallen out, and so he was again blocked by the barrier in front of the house. The great ghost king caught up and, embracing the immortal in one swift move, finally explained what was going on. It turned out, the great ghost king was not abducting people to eat them, he was just waiting here for his fated person. One day, a wedding procession accidentally bumped into him while he was out on a stroll, and the groom in the procession was so frightened that he himself fled, abandoning his bride who sat on the spot crying. The great ghost king was not looking for trouble. The bride said that she did not wish to marry such a man, and so did not go back, but left on her own. Later on, after he encountered a few other similar events, the great ghost king decided that he may as well, while waiting, also start testing the newlyweds. If the groom dared to risk himself to protect his bride when faced with ghosts and ghouls, the great ghost king would not cause difficulties for the couple, and let them go. But if the vile groom pushed his own bride to the ghouls in order to buy some time to escape, then the groom would be caught and imprisoned in this house. Because these people were not right and moral in their hearts, they would often kill each other, in the end becoming white bones. These were the corpses which the immortal saw. As for their brides, some of them had since gone home, while others had escaped with their lovers to somewhere far away, wandering the world together, or safely setting up their own homes. The great ghost king said, “I’ve been waiting for you for a few hundred years, gege, and I finally have you.” Having resolved the misunderstanding, the two of them embraced each other. In order to leave the house, the great ghost king again gave the immortal lots and lots of his thing. But unexpectedly, and suddenly, there was a great rumbling noise from the sky. It turned out, the heaven officials, having feared the great ghost king for a long time, were seizing this opportunity, and finally starting their attack on him! The rag & bone immortal rushed out and after a round of fierce battle, pushed back a ring of heaven officials. But the heaven officials had caused the mountain to collapse, trapping the great ghost king beneath the mountain. The mountain was too tall, and the immortal, afraid that that the great ghost king would be crushed, desperately tried to use his shoulders to hold it up. Just at that moment, he suddenly recalled that there was still another mystery house which he had not yet opened, and surely the powerful magical

treasure held in that house, could be used be used to push aside the great mountain. And so, he rushed into the mountain cave. Upon entering, he discovered to his huge delight, that the great ghost king was standing there safe and sound, and even stronger and more powerful at that! The two of them broke out of the mountain, and together chased away the heaven officials who had been causing trouble. Finally, they sat shoulder to shoulder on the mountain top, and watched the cloud trails and stars left in the wake of the heaven officials as they fled. The immortal asked, “Didn’t you say, the house which held the dirty rubbish needed something from your body that could be touched, and a lot of it, before it could be opened; while the house which held the magical treasures needed something from your body which could not be touched, but was very, very hot, before it could be opened?” The great ghost king beamed as he said, “Yes. And that thing, isn’t it something which gege has had since very early on?”” The immortal finally understood. That thing, was the burning heat of the ghost king’s love for him. And so, the rag & bone immortal and the great ghost king happily entered into the marriage chamber together, nevermore to part. “……” “……” Having finished reading out the story, Xie Lian was still stupefied as he said, “What on earth was written? Doesn’t this story go overboard? No no no, this……” What was this mess? How could it be called a story??? But Hua Cheng was already laughing so hard that he had collapsed on the daybed. Xie Lian said, in a puzzled manner, “It’s completely inaccurate! How did this story originale? Is it to do with what happened at Jun Shan [tn: Jun Mountain]? What happened wasn’t like this… Isn’t it completely distorted? Furthermore, is it really alright to let children read this sort of story? It’s too inappropriate. Who wrote this?? And all these characters who seem very familiar but are just a little off, what’s up with them……” On a closer look, although the stories in this book appeared to be innocent romances at first glance, like something one might read to children as a bedtime story, but the contents were extremely spicy, so much so that it was even harder for someone to look one straight in the eye compared to simple erotica. But upon reading to the end, there was also a sort of curious and inexplicable feeling, causing Xie Lian suspect if the problem lay with himself. Hua CHeng said, “Hn? But it’s not completely distorted. At least some points are correct. For example, I do indeed call gege, ‘gege’. Another example, at Jun Shan I did indeed go to receive gege’s bridal sedan. And another example, that night when we consummated, gege did indeed……” Xie Lian had thought that, after all these years, he had cultivated a sufficiently thick skin, but who knew, a pink blush still frequently rose on his face when he was before Hua CHeng. He said, “How

did they even know something like that! …… and, and besides those things, nothing else was correct……” Although he knew that many blindly-spun folk stories were miles away from the original, and it was not odd for them to morph into goodness-knows-what after countless embellishments, but to see it with his very own eyes was still shocking to the extreme. There were many times in the middle where was too embarrassed to read on, but was forced by Hua Cheng to carry on reading to him. It made Xie Lian want to hit him, but at the same time he just could not bring himself to land a blow. Hua Cheng’s expression was still unfazed, as he said, “Clearly, someone in the know had let slip a few tiny details, and people strung them together, added a few details, and threw in some speculation, to arrive at this.” Xie Lian tossed aside the collection of stories, saying, “Let’s not read such a messed up, pointless book anymore. Get some proper rest.” But Hua Cheng brought his hands together and begged, “I think it’s well-written, and shows talent. When I listened to gege read the story I felt as though I was full of energy. Gege, please read another.” Xie Lian refused flatly, “No.” “Gege, my head hurts.” “This……” “Gege.” “…… alright.” It was after all rare for Hua Cheng to be ill, and given that Xie Lian was already usually giving in to Hua Cheng’s wishes and demands, how could he resist at this time? Even if he was embarrassed, he just had to bear it. He once again picked up that yellowed little book, and lay down beside Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng wrapped his arms around Xie Lian’s waist, and Xie Lian steeled himself and continued to read on. “Once upon a very long time ago, there was a handsome and young crown prince who was cultivating on a remote mountain. One night, he met a mysterious guest……” — [TGCF Extra - Chapter 251] Aiyah! Thousand God Cavern – Lots of Huahuas and Lianlians! As Xie Lian laughingly pushed Hua Cheng - who was pressing down on him to the point that he could hardly breathe - off his body, their passionate mood having yet to fade, Xie Lian suddenly thought of something, and casually said, “Oh yes, San-lang, in the Thousand God Cavern……”

Hua Cheng’s arm came up once again to Xie Lian’s chest. As he played with goodness-knows-what, he said lazily, “Hn? What about the Thousand God Cavern.” Xie Lian said, “Nothing much, I just suddenly thought of it. With Tonglu’s eruption, would the many statues in the Thousand God Cavern have been fine?” If that were indeed the case, it would be a huge pity. After all, every statue in there had been crafted by Hua Chen painstakingly, and he liked them all. Hua Cheng said, “No. I had erected a barrier even before that. Even if Tonglu collapsed entirely, the cave would still be fine.” His interest piqued, Xie Lian said, “Really? That’s great, then it will indeed be alright. I want to go over to take a look. Can I?” Hua Cheng seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then casually smiled in response, saying: “Sure. Of course gege can go over to take a look anytime he wants to.” His interest climbing, Xie Lian, “Then let’s go tomorrow. After all, Tonglu has been unlocked, and can be entered anytime.” Hua Cheng raised a brow, saying, “Tomorrow? Alright.” He did not express any objections, and nor did he say much more, but the next moment, he flipped back on top of Xie Lian. Xie Lian wasn’t sure if he was mistaken, but in the latter half of the night, he was tumbled even more vigorously by Hua Cheng, such that after barely two rounds, Xie Lian was forced to cry for mercy, before passing out into slumber. He should have been able to sleep soundly until the day brightened. But less than an hour later, Xie Lian felt in his sleep, a movement beside his body. When he opened his eyes to look, the other person was already gone. Startled, all sleepiness fell away, and Xie Lian at up in an instant. After a perfunctory clean-up, Xie Lian slowly got off the day-bed, and pushed open the door to leave, thinking, “Where did San-lang go?” Going missing all of a sudden, in the middle of a night’s sleep - it was indeed the first time something like this happened. After circling Ji Le Manor once without even seeing the shadow of the person, Xie Lian remembered that there was a room in Ji Le Manor that was used for teleportation, and so he went to have a look. As expected, someone had opened the door to that room. He remembered that a different array had been drawn on the door previously. And now, the cinnabar used to draw the new array had not yet even dried. Without thinking further, Xie Lian pushed the door and went in. When he emerged again, what was outside the door was not Ji Le Fang, but pitch darkness. Xie Lian closed the door, and held up a flame in his palm, illuminating his surroundings. When he saw the sight that greeted him, he was stunned.

To think that the destination of the distance-shrinking transportation array, was a dark and gloomy giant cave. The Thousand God Cavern! Why would Hua Cheng go to the Thousand God Cavern on his own, in the middle of the night? Didn’t they agree to go together tomorrow? Why did he come here first tonight? Shaking his head, holding out that flame, Xie Lian began to walk slowly in the dark and cool cave. The sounds of his footsteps echoed all around him. The gauze veils which were used to cover the faces of the statues[1], had been removed. In the darkness that surrounded him, countless of faces, identical to his, maintained their silence. Just thinking about this image, still evoked some terror. As Xie Lian passed a cave chamber, his gaze swept by casually. Within the cave was a statue of ‘The Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods’, a warm and kind expression in its brows and eyes, standing with a flower and a sword held in its hands, its posture beautiful. The number of statues here, at the highest estimate was a thousand, at the lowest estimate at least a hundred. It was unfathomable how many long hours and how much painstaking effort Hua Cheng had spent to carve everything, and who knew how long the statues had spent in the darkness, silent. This thought occurring to him, Xie Lian sighed. Facing the statue, he bowed his head slightly, murmuring, “It must have been very lonely.” He was referring to the person who had carved the statues, and also to the statues. The statue of ‘The Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods’ nodded. Xie Lian: “……” This was too frightening. After standing frozen for a while, Xie Lian finally figured out what had happened. It was largely because his magical energy had just been topped up, and his entire body, from head to toes, was brimming with magical energy. Because of this, his standing here affected the statues, causing them to come to life. Xie Lian hastily reined in his magical energy, but it was too late. The statue of ‘The Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods’ had started to take a few steps. Because it had been afflicted by Xie Lian’s magical energy, which had been so abundant to the point of overflowing, and yet because no one was trying to control it with serious intent, its movements were clumsy, and it tripped and fell with a “dong”. Xie Lian hurriedly helped him up, saying, “Careful!” Helped up by him, the small smile on the statue’s face remained unchanging, and it even slightly raised its head, a noble and proud expression on its face, as it nodded at him in thanks. Seeing its proud demeanour, Xie Lian couldn’t help wanting to laugh, but resisted, saying, “Have you seen Hua Cheng?”

Statues could make simple noises, but didn’t know how to speak, unless it was a statue of a god who had passed the gift of languages and tongues. When the statue of the Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods heard his question, he revealed a confused expression, as though it did not who he was talking about. Xie Lian suddenly understood – the him at that time did not know Hua Cheng. And so, he changed his question, “Have you seen a person dressed in red?” At that, the statue finally gave a smile, and nodded its head aloofly. Xie Lian said, “Do you know which direction he went towards?” Such a big cavern, and he wasn’t familiar with it either, so his only fear was getting lost. The statue hm-ed, and pointed out a direction for him. Xie Lian said, “Many thanks your highness.” After walking for a bit, he turned back. The statue of the Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods seemed to have rapidly grasped the mechanics of walking, and was even practising swordplay where it was, the posture graceful and excellent, as though performing before the gaze of thousands of audience at the festival. A pity, there was no one to admire. After not too long, Xie Lian once again encountered another fork in the path. Naturally, he readied himself to ask another statue for help, and walked into the nearest cave.The moment he entered, he saw a human-shaped figure sitting on a stone altar, clutching a jar of wine and drinking desperately. Xie Lian: “……” In a flash he snatched the wine jar away, saying, “Stop drinking!” That statue was also of him, just that its face was slightly clearer, and its white clothes no longer as luxurious. When Xie Lian had snatched the wine jar away, it tried to snatch it back, but in its muddled state could not, and grew so angry that It could only turn in a circle, before suddenly hugging Xie Lian and crying noisily. Xie Lian was dumbfounded, and said, “You don’t need to cry ah……” The statue cried even harder, as though it had been wronged and bullied endlessly, and no longer snatching for the wine, just hugged Xie Lian and refused to let go. Xie Lian didn’t know that he was such a sticky drunk, and had no choice but to hug the statue too, gently rubbing its back, comforting him, “It’s alright, it’s alright……” On a second look, the wine jar in his hand did not even contain wine, so it didn’t matter if he returned the jar to the statue, and he said, “Have you seen a person dressed in red? Which way did he go?” The statue pointed him towards a path, and Xie Lian returned the wine jar to it, before continuing to move onwards. The statue had stopped crying, hugging the wine jar as it sat on the ground, once again falling into a stupor. Turning his head back look at it, Xie Lian sighed, and continued moving forward. After yet another while, he heard a ga-zhi ga-zhi sound, like the sound of metal chains scraping against each other, as he came before an expansive cave.

A swing had been affixed from the roof of the cave, and on the swing sat a statue, in high spirits, full of youthful energy, dressed in the clothes of a son of the royal family. It was him at approximately sixteen or seventeen years old. The statue held on to the metal chains of the swing, doing its best to send itself aloft. But because it was sitting on the swing, it was simply unable to lift itself off, and it showed a frustrated expression. Seeing the situation, Xie Lian came up and helped it with a couple of pushes. The swing finally began to fly, and with that the statue that was dressed in many robes, was finally happy. Xie Lian seized the opportunity to ask, “Have you seen a person dressed in red? Which way did he go?” The statue clutched the swing with a hand, and pointed out a direction with its other hand. Xie Lian pushed him again a couple of times, and said, “Alright, goodbye.” But after the swing lifted up about ten more times, it gradually came to a stop. Without anyone to push it, the statue of the youth sat there again in a daze, once again showing a frustrated expression. After for a while, XIe Lian estimated, “This should be it.” At that moment, he suddenly heard a small sound that was muffled and full of pain, and he couldn’t help but startle. “What’s that sound? …… Panting?” That sound came from the cave just ahead. Xie Lian walked in to take a look. Set within the cave was a stone altar, and on that altar, seemed to be a statue lying down horizontally, a white gauzy cloth covering it from its head to its legs and hanging towards the ground. The figure beneath the gauze was indistinct, sometimes curling up into a ball, sometimes tossing and turning, as though the person beneath was being tortured and was struggling in the torment. “……” Xie Lian was about to go up and pull off the gauze, a hand from behind him covered his eyes. A low voice came from the same direction, sighing, “Gege.” Xie Lian gave a laughed, and said warmly, “San-lang, do you think that just because you won’t let me look, I won’t know what this is?” After a long while, Hua Cheng sighed again, saying, “Gege, I was wrong.” Xie Lian took Hua Cheng’s hand off, and looked back, saying, “Wen rou xiang[2]?” Standing behind him, was a tall and lanky man dressed in red. As expected, he was Hua Cheng. Caught on the spot, a hand on his forehead, he finally admitted, “…… yes.” No wonder. As to be expected, no wonder Hua Cheng had always refused to let him look. Xie Lian said, “You coming here tonight, was your intention to hide away this statue before I came?” Hua Cheng looked in another direction, and said, “Yes.” Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Did he really not dare to let him see this statue so much?

He said, “Why hide it? Actually, it’s not really a big thing. It’s just that now, a tricky problem has appeared……” And that tricky problem was, Xie Lian’s arrival had unintentionally caused all the statues to be able to move. This in itself wasn’t a big thing, but for this special statue, it would have been very painful. This was because, the statue beneath the gauzy cloth, was one carved of Xie Lian at seventeen, in the cave in the wilderness, struck by the wen rou xiang. For the other statues, be it practise sword play, drink, swing on a swing, whatever they wanted to do was fine. It was just this statue that was unlucky, having been afflicted by the terrible venom of the flower demons. This meant that after it came to “life”, it had to suffer the torment of the venom. The heavy panting coming from beneath the gauzy cloth was full of unbearable pain, and listening to it, Xie Lian could hardly bear it. Remembering that soul-wrecking and bone-aching night, he said, “…… this is surely too pitiful. If I were to leave now, would it revert to just being a statue?” If so, then it wouldn’t need to suffer such torment. But Hua Cheng said, “I’m afraid not. After all, gege’s magical energy is more or less at its strongest point now, and all the statues in this cavern have been affected by you. Even if you left, they would continue to move for a long while.” That was simply far too painful. Xie Lian said, “Then…… is there another way?” Hua Cheng always had a plan. He nodded his head slightly, and said, “This was what I was sorting out just now. Gege, come with me.” He led Xie Lian into another cave. The moment they entered, Xie Lian’s eyes widened faintly. Standing in the cave was the statue of a male, its figure tall and lanky, its brows and eyes handsome, the corners of its mouth slightly curved, an eye patch where its right eye would have been, more or less resembling the red-garbed person in front of him who had led him here. To think it was a statue of a ghost king! Xie Lian said, “This is……” Hua Cheng said, “This was something I had hurriedly carved after I discovered that the situation was not right. Having not done it for many years, I’m a bit rusty. Gege, take a look, does it look like me?” After examining it careful for a while, Xie Lian said, “Very like! But……” Hua Cheng said, “But…… what?” Xie Lian smiled and said, “But not as good-looking as you are in person.” Hua Cheng laughed too. Following up swiftly, Xie Lian spoke again, “And so, San-lang, the plan you spoke of, was it……”

Was it to let this ghost king statue, help the god statue which had been poisoned by the wen rou xiang venom, “release the venom”? After staying silent for a while, Hua Cheng forced a smile, recovered his composure, and fixing his gaze on Xie Lian’s face, said, “Yes.” At first, Xie Lian did not notice the slight cautiousness in his expression, and thought, “Surely this method is too……” Although it was one method of curing it, with immediate effect, but even just thinking about it felt absurd to the extreme – to put it bluntly, wasn’t it to use the ghost king statue to break into the body of the statue of himself as a youth, and from there to release the venom? Even saying it out loud felt difficult/ As he struggled for a response, Hua Cheng suddenly went down on a knee before him. Xie Lian was startled, and hurriedly tried to pull him up, saying, “San-lang?” What was he doing? Hua Cheng said quietly, “Your highness, I was disrespectful.” Xie Lian was unable to pull him up, so he crouched down to join him and, uncomprehending, said, “How were you disrespectful?” But Hua Cheng stared at him, and lightly sucked in a breath, saying quietly, “Your highness, please believe me, it was because there was no choice today that I came up with this. Even though I had personally carved that god statue, but, I never had even a bit of blasphemous intent or disrespect towards the statue of your highness. If your highness feels that this method is not appropriate, I’ll find another method.” At last, Xie Lian realised why Hua Cheng was being so sombre. Going to the root of it, towards the whole matter of him having personally carved so many statues of Xie Lian, Hua Cheng was ultimately worried that Xie Lian would find him offensive, his actions perverse. To bring up this method now, it was inevitable that he would be even more worried that Xie Lian would think that his head was full of nonsensical thoughts and that his sentiments were not respectful. Xie Lian smiled as he sighed, and with both hands pulling on Hua Cheng, finally pulled him up to standing. He said, “Of course I believe you. I know, that you’ve always been very respectful of me.” But, “never had even a bit of blasphemous intent or disrespect”, that was harder to say. After all, if one kept track, since Hua Cheng returned after turning into butterflies, every three or five days, he would want to “blaspheme” the god at Qiandeng Temple, growing more and more daring. Xie Lian coughed, saying, “I feel that this method…… doesn’t have anything bad. It’s very good, very good.” But, thinking about what this method essentially was, his cheeks heated up slightly, and he felt that his speech was perhaps too reserved. Meanwhile, the Hua Cheng who had received his permission gradually recovered his calm. Xie Lian placed his hands on the shoulders of the ghost king statue, and said, “Shall I give this statue a spark?”

Hua Cheng blinked, and laughed slowly as he said, “If gege is willing, I won’t refuse.” Xie Lian nodded. Immediately, the statue lightly arched a brow. Seeing the situation, Xie Lian couldn’t stop himself and retrieved his hands, saying, “This way it’s far too similar!” As though having felt something, a few figures slowly appeared outside the cave. A few of the god statues gathered around curiously, as though wanting to look at the new statue in this cave which did not resemble the rest of them. The ghost king statue appeared to have noticed them too, and blinked its eye, and its brow lifted even higher as, though thinking about goodness only knew what, even as it appeared to be searching for something. With a mix of coaxing and shooing, Xie Lian finally managed to push aside the group of statues of himself, but after glancing from the corner of his eye, suddenly said, “Where’s the wen rou xiang statue?” He had started to use this directly to refer to that unfortunate statue. At some unknown time, only a white gauzy cloth had been left on the stone altar, and that prone wen rou xiang statue had disappeared! Xie Lian reflected on what a disaster it was, and even Hua Cheng, who had followed behind with his hands behind his back, raised his brows. Xie Lian said, “The Thousand God Cavern is very large, it wouldn’t have been awen rouble to leave in such a short time. Let’s hurry up and look for it!” But Hua Cheng said, “I’m afraid not. Gege, look.” He pointed towards the ground. Xie Lian came over to look, and only then did he discover, that the ground had a circle array, drawn directly into the rock with an extremely strong finger strength. Teleportation array! How much of Xie Lian’s magical energy did this statue absorb, to be able to draw a teleportation array with its bare hands?! Xie Lian wanted to faint on the spot. That statue was of him when he had been afflicted by the wen rou xiang. What if it ran into mortal females after its escape? What type of strange and bloodthirsty legends would arise after today??? He said, “When did he run off? Where could he run off to?” Hua Chen said, “Gege, don’t panic. First, think, if it was you who had been afflicted by the wen rou xiang at that time, who would be the first person you would look for?” This was not a difficult question. Xie Lian was originally not too anxious, and he calmed down quickly, saying, “I would look for……” Before he could finish speaking, a message on the spirit communication array appeared. Caught unprepared, XIe Lian raised his hand and received it, and heard Feng Xin’s voice ring loudly by his ear, “Your highness! Something terrifying[3], there was a creature impersonating you just now!” …… as expected! At that time, Xie Lian’s strongest and most effective assistants were Feng Xin and Mu Qing, and if something like that happened, he would naturally look for them first! Thank goodness the statue looked for Feng Xin first instead of running wildly in the streets. Xie Lian released a breath, and hurriedly said, “No, no! That’s not a creature, and it’s not impersonating me.” Feng Xin was shocked. “What do you mean??? Not a creature and not an imitation? Don’t tell me it’s you yourself??? That can’t be!”

Xie Lian: “Not that either! Alright, what’s it like now? Have you caught it? Don’t let it escape!” But Feng Xin said, “Too late, it’s already escaped!” Xie Lian said, “What? That’s bad!” Feng Xin: “Yeah, that’s bad. Naked and running around, what would people say when they see that?!” Xie Lian: “Wait, what did you say? Naked? I…… no, it isn’t wearing any clothes???” Feng Xin said, “More or less! It’s wearing clothes, but not much, all broken and raggedy as though someone had torn it up. Oh yes, if it’s not a creature and it’s not an imitation, then what on earth is it? What the heck is going on? It looked to me like a statue…… wait, a statue?” He exclaimed, “Did it escape from that place in the bottom of Tonglu? What are you guys doing???”[4] Xie Lian also could no longer quite remember how much clothing he had been wearing when he had been struck by the wen rou xiang. At that time, it had felt unbearable, and he may have torn his own clothes up in his stupor. He said, “I’ll explain later! I’m coming over immediately!” Having said that on this side, he disconnected the spirit communication array and said to Hua Cheng, “San-lang, we need to go to Xinxian City[5]!” On the other side, Hua Cheng had already sorted out the newly-carved ghost king statue, turning it into a smaller statue that could stand in the palm of his hand. He said, “Alright!” and drew an array in seconds. Barely any time had passed, when the two of them directly appeared in Xinxian City’s Nanyang Palace. The moment the door opened, they saw Feng Xin, and the moment Feng Xin saw Hua Cheng, his eyes grew round, “Blood Rain Reaching for the Flowers? What are you doing here too? What did you come to the heavens for?!” A Devastation-rank ghost king, all day refusing to stay obediently in his territory, instead going up to the immortals’ city whenever he felt like it – this was far too inappropriate! Hua Cheng ignored him, and cocking his head to listen for a moment, said, “Where’s the bulletin? Surely the Upper Heavens is not just all words and no follow-up action.” Feng Xin naturally knew what bulletin Hua Cheng was talking about. Wasn’t it the “The Upper Heavens must report for a whole year on the heroic exploits of Blood Rain Reaching for the Flowers as he rescued the gods” bulletin? A vein pulsed in his forehead, and he said, “What’s there to report on in the middle of the night! Everyone needs to rest, we’ll report on it in the day!” At that, Hua Cheng made an “Oh” sound, as though to indicate that he would not pursue the matter further. Xie Lian said, “Alright, as everyone wishes! More importantly, where’s the “me” that you saw? Which way did it go?” Feng Xin pointed at a direction, saying, “He ran there, I was just about to give chase, the two of you can come along!” Suddenly, the feeling of an ominous premonition appeared in Xie Lian’s heart, and he said, “Let me ask, that direction, could it be……”

Feng Xin said crisply, “The direction of Xuanzhen Palace.” Xie Lian: “……” Hua Cheng said in a deep voice, “Go!” The two of them didn’t dare to delay, and hurried to Xuanzhen Palace, bursting in through the main door and rushing in immediately. Upon rushing in, they saw Mu Qing sitting on the altar, looking as though he had just seen something unthinkable, his entire person in a state of dumb shock. Xie Lian went up to him and waved a hand before his eyes, saying, “Mu Qing?” Seeing Xie Lian, he finally regained his wits, but his expression remained one of extreme shock, and only after a long while did he say, “Xie Lian, what are you doing?” Xie Lian: “…… I did something? I…… I too don’t know what I did? Please tell me?” Mu Qing, still staring, said, “Why did you run into my palace just now, in the middle of the night, with your clothes in disarray?” “……” Hua Cheng smirked[6]. Xie Lian said, “Don’t speak in a manner that causes people to have misunderstandings! Whatever it was that you saw just now, that definitely wasn’t me!” Mu Qing rubbed at half of his face, as though he wished he could dig out whatever he had seen from his eyes. With a pale and sickly pallor, he said, “Even if it wasn’t you, its connection with you is inescapable! It’s a statue from that cavern, isn’t it? What are you guys doing, letting such a statue that is harmful for society’s morals, run loose in the middle of the night – surely Blood Rain Reaching for the Flowers and you do not need this type of play?!” Hua Cheng said mockingly, “What’s that got to do with you?” Mu Qing said angrily, “What do you mean, what’s it got to do with me. This is my palace!” Hua Cheng said leisurely, “Rebuilding the immortals’ city, I had a role in it too.” It was the truth, for the Upper Heavens had suffered great damage previously, and so a number of gods had to secretly beg the head of the ghost city for help. Calculating it properly, it would not have been possible for Xin Xian City to have been built without Hua Cheng. Xie Lian said, “We weren’t playing around. This was an accident. Where is it now?” Mu Qing said, “He snatched a sword from me, and ran……” Even without him having to say more, Xie Lian knew where it would have gone. From the garden outside Xuanzhen Palace, came a dang dang[7] noise. At the same time, the tiny statue of a ghost king which Hua Cheng had brought, dropped down itself and hopped, and hopped, towards the garden. Xie Lian rushed out immediately. As expected, that wen rou xiang statue, was standing at the fake mountain in the garden! The clothes of the statue were in disarray, revealing more than half of bare shoulders and chest. The clothes on the bottom also had pieces that there were and pieces that were missing, giving a

suggestive appearance overall. The design of the statue’s face was yet another level, its brows drawn together tightly, almost as though one could see the red flush staining its skin and the thin layer of sweat covering it – to call it a piece of uncanny workmanship would not be too far off the mark. And before their eyes, the statue was holding the sword it had snatched from Xuanzhen Palace – dang dang, dang dang! – and trying its best, again and again, to stab itself. Naturally, it had thought of doing what Xie Lian had done that first time, using self-injury to release the venom. But because stones formed in Tonglu were strong, the sword just could not pierce through, but instead bent and broke. The statue seemed to despair, and raised its palm, looking as though it was about to hit its head until its skill shattered. Xie Lian hurriedly called out, “Stay calm! Stay calm!” The statue looked at him blearily. Xie Lian flew across and, with a blow, knocked the statue off the fake mountain, causing it to fall into a hole in the cave where it was unable to stand. And Hua Cheng darted to Xie Lian’s side, and threw down something. It was the statue of the ghost king! Rather than say that the ghost king statue had been thrown down by Hua Cheng, it could also be said that it had struggled to free itself upon seeing the youthful statue god, and with one struggle left his palm. It reverted to its original size mid-air, and landed on top of the body of the god statue, covering it. From beneath it came a startled breath. Xie Lian hurriedly jumped off the fake mountain, and pushed Mu Qing, who had ventured over after hearing noises, back towards Xuanzhen Palace, saying, “There wasn’t enough time! I’m so sorry, let us borrow your precious ground for a bit!” Mu Qing was shaken. “What were you two doing just now?” Xie Lian said, “I’ll explain another day. A thousand apologies!” Hua Cheng said languidly, “What’s there to apologise for? Haven’t you saved this person’s life lots of times?” Mu Qing: “No, you’d better explain it clearly now. I seemed to have seen you throw a you down, and he threw a him down. My eyes aren’t mistaken, right? So what on earth are the two of you doing? What’s happening right now in the fake mountain?” At that, Xie Lian began dragging him back inside the palace by his neck. “A terrible emergency! Really, Mu Qing, don’t go over there! Why would you want to bring suffering onto yourself?” Mu Qing roared, “Xie Lian!!! What did you guys do in my palace? I’m fucked, I’m really fucked!” “It wasn’t us! This is just an accident, there really wasn’t enough time…… and you’re rambling again!” * After an hour, the two statues finally used up the magical energy which they had gotten from Xie Lian and Hua Cheng. Going into the fake mountain to have a look, Xie Lian immediately rested his forehead in his hand.

As Hua Cheng sorted out the statues, Xie Lian stood at the side, silently blocking Feng Xin and Mu Qing who had wanted to come over and take a look. He said sincerely, “You wouldn’t want to see this.” Feng Xin was naturally not a curious person, and sensing that something was not good, immediately had the wits to back away in defeat. Mu Qing, however, was unable to let it go, and his face was as black as the base of an old pot, and furiously flung his sleeves and muttered, “I simply can’t believe…… I just can’t believe it! To think there’s such a thing! To think that such a thing could happen in my palace!” After that, it was as though his soul had floated out of his body, and he was no longer able to look directly at the fake mountain in his own palace. Xie Lian very much suspected, that he would be levelling this area with a blow later on. To speak the truth, Xie Lian himself didn’t have much confidence. To think that there could be such a ridiculous accident, he really didn’t know if he should feel embarrassed. Looking back at the two sta – no, as of now, they should be considered “one” statue, he said, “They’ll…… remain like that?” Hua Cheng said, “Just like that. Anyway, they can’t be separated.” Xie Lian covered his face. Which heaven official had a statue in such a position! What if someone saw it? It was just simply too improper. How infuriating! He moaned, “…… San-lang, these…… hide them well. Don’t let anyone see them.” Hua Cheng laughed. “That’s a given. Gege can relax.” After bringing these two statues which had become one, back to the Thousand God Cavern, and back to their original place, Xie Lian finally wiped the sweat off his brow. And the other Xie Lian(s) in the Thousand God Cavern once again gathered around curiously, and had to be once again coaxed away by Xie Lian: “It’s indecent, don’t look. It’s indecent, don’t look.” The statues had no choice but to leave. Although they did not get to look at the final position of that statue, they kept looking back as they walked away, as though envious that the wen rou xiang “Xie Lian” finally had a “companion”. The wen rou xiang venom had been released, but the other statues were still lacking something. The Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods didn’t have an audience, the drunken one had no one to help up, the one on the swing didn’t have anyone to push it…… Xie Lian couldn’t help but feel greedy, and thought, “If only every Xie Lian had a Hua Cheng, then that would be alright.” Unexpectedly, Hua Cheng also said the same thing out loud, “Gege, don’t you feel, that it would be better if every Your Highness had a San-Lang?” Two people had come together easily. There and then, they stayed on in the Thousand God Cavern, where they displayed their skills. In moments, Xie Lian witnessed with his own eyes the process of how Hua Cheng turned a clumsylooking rock into an exquisite stone statue. The skill was indescribable, because Hua Cheng was

simply too fast for him to have a clear look at what Hua Cheng was doing. Thinking about how Hua Cheng had melded technique with method from early on, Xie Lian only had praises left. All in all, Hua Cheng turned around and, from a ground strewn with broken rock pieces, lifted a newly carved child, its hair messy, its clothes ragged, its face covered with bandages, looking very pitiful. And in its hands it clutched something which he would not let go of. Xie Lian placed his hand on the child’s head. Almost immediately, it blinked, and turned its head looking all around it. Seeing that there was someone holding onto the back of its collar, it gave a vicious kick. Hua Cheng seemed to have anticipated that it would do such a thing, and dodged easily, holding it into his arms and letting it struggle and kick as it would. Xie Lian did not expect that the little Hua Cheng would be so fierce-spirited, and unable to hold back a laugh, said, “Ai, how fierce!” Hua Cheng tsked, and threw him aside. Thus thrown, the child fell sprawled onto the ground with a “dong”, but it got up again very quickly, and stared at Hua Cheng with a fierce glare. Xie Lian was worried that it had fallen too hard, and extended an arm towards it, saying, “San-lang, you were too vicious! What if it gets damaged in the fall?” If one was really counting, this child was practically a new-born! But Hua Cheng said, as though nothing was the matter, “It’s alright. He’s[8] very tenacious.” The child was incredibly fierce towards Hua Cheng, but towards Xie Lian it was friendly and companionable. Seeing Xie Lian gesture towards it, it was just about to go towards him, when at that moment, the statue of the Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods that was not too far away, seemed to sense something, getting up from its place and walking over, its gaze fixed in their direction. Seeing the statue of the Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods, the child froze, and the one eye that was visible through the bandages grew really large, and it sprinted over noisily, as though wanting to catch him, to fall against the front of his robes, but at the same time didn’t dare get too close, as though afraid of dirtying the god’s robes. Only after a long while, did he carefully raise out his hand, opening the palm which he had just now stubbornly refused to open. It turned out, hidden within his palm, was a flower. As though receiving the flower, his royal highness, the crown prince, gave a small smile, and raised out a hand, and of his own initiative carried him up, and the two of them left happily together. Looking at them, one of them had finally found someone to appreciate his swordplay, and one of them had finally found someone he could offer his flower to. Watching them, Xie Lian felt quite reassured, when he suddenly thought of another question, and said, “San-lang, when you’re done carving, won’t this cavern be filled with lots and lots of statues of you and statues of me? Would they get each other mixed up? After all, another of them look alike.” But Hua Cheng laughed quietly and said, “No, they won’t.” “Why?” Hua Cheng repeated, “They won’t.”

He lifted his gaze to look at Xie Lian, and with a faint smile, said, “Even if ‘Your Highness’ gets it wrong, ‘I’ will never get it wrong. Because each Hua Cheng will forever be the follower of only one Your Highness, will only be devoted to one person. And so, they never will.” And Xie Lian gazed at him, and said, “I, too, won’t get it wrong. Each Xie Lian’s most devoted follower, will forever be just the one, ‘I’ will forever remember this. I……” Having said that, he suddenly felt oddly embarrassed. The two of them now, were like two small children, ardently declaring to one another that “The person I like the best will forever be you, and only you”. Even though it was sincere, it was also very childish. Even though it was childish, it was also very sincere. After a moment of silence, Xie Lian gave a light cough, and said, “Then…..next, let’s carve for the crown prince, his highness, on the swing, a ghost king, his mightiness, to push the swing.” Without anyone to help it push the swing, it looked very lonely and distressed. Hua Cheng said happily, “Alright.” Xie Lian said again, “What about that one drinking wine? That one’s rather tough to figure out. It seems all muddled up, and even cries. Ai, there are too many statues in this place, goodness knows when we’d be done carving for each and every one?” Hua Cheng laughingly said, “What are you afraid of? Let’s just take our time, eventually they’ll meet.” Smilingly, Xie Lian nodded his head too, saying in a light voice, “Hn, they definitely will meet.” Within the cavern, two statues that were originally separate, had now joined together into one. Embracing each other tightly, gazing at each other’s faces so close to their own, their gazes and their bodies tangled together, never to be undone – that was truly being together, never to part. Translator’s notes: [1] 神像 (shen xiang), lit. god (shen) statue/image (xiang). Because it’s a bit of a mouthful, I’ll just be translating this as “statue(s)”, unless it’s necessary to distinguish between the different types of statues, e.g. “god statue” vs “xxx statue”. [2] 温柔乡 (wen rou xiang), the shapeshifting sex-pollen flower creatures from book 2. Literally translates to “gentle (wen rou) village (xiang)”. [3] 活人见鬼 (huo ren jian gui), lit. “a live person sees a ghost”. An exclamation used when you see something terrifying or bizarre in a possibly supernatural way. [4] I love the number of question marks and exclamation marks in this conversation. And I love how Feng Xin automatically assumes Hua Cheng’s involved too. [5] 新仙京 (xin xian jing), lit. new immortal city. Just like how there’s a ghost city where ghosts live, there’s an immortal city where gods/immortals live.

[6] Literally, Hua Cheng’s eyes narrowed (眯了眯眼, mi le mi yan) – which is used to describe someone smiling in a manner that results in the eyes becoming like slits. Unfortunately, “narrowing his eyes” doesn’t have the correct nuance in English. [7] Like a metallic clang. [8] Thus far, the Chinese word for “it”, 它, has been used when referring to the statues. But here, Hua Cheng uses the word for “he”, 他. Assuming it’s deliberate, I guess we could regard it as Hua Cheng talking about himself. One of the few times we get Hua Cheng pov, really! Mind, the words for “it” and “he” sound the same in Chinese (ta), so Xie Lian would not have heard the difference.

[TGCF Extra - Chapter 252] The Ghost King’s Birthday Recently, something important and urgent has emerged. Because of that, Ghost City was in a state of great anxiety. When Xie Lian found out what incident he meant, he was as surprised as the ghost had secretly told him, his heart filled with worry, "Birthday?" "Correct!" It is true. Chengzhu from Ghost City [1] Hua Cheng - no matter how old he changes, his birthday will come! [1] Chengzhu = city governor, ruler, overseer, etc. Xie Lian was completely unprepared for this. Feeling very uneasy, he said, “this, this… what did San Lang do on his birthday in the past?” The ghosts excitedly replied in chaos, "How festive !!!" "Not much, we were just making a fuss aimlessly ..." "But Chengzhu doesn't care at all?" Hearing this, Xie Lian said, “What do you mean he doesn't care?” The ghost replied, "That Chengzhu never celebrates his birthday." “Well, he never cares what we do on his birthday. He never even paid attention to the gifts people sent him. Every year it's just us playing around and having fun on our own. "

“Dear Chengzhu forgot many things. Looks like he never even remembers when he was born in the first place! ” Xie Lian thought for a moment, and immediately made up his mind. Since Hua Cheng didn't care about his previous birthdays, this time Xie Lian had to find a way to make this birthday extraordinary - and make it a little more interesting, so that at least he could be happy on that birthday. But what's the difference between Hua Cheng's birthday and Xie Lian's, compared to those without a birthday? Aren't they the same? First of all, he had to give her a birthday present. Xie Lian was deep in thought - what should he give him? The ghosts stared at him, "Xie Daozhang [2] are you thinking about what gift you want to give Chengzhu?" [2] Suffix for Taoist priests Xie Lian, “Mm. I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but… I'm not sure what your Chengzhu will like. I'm afraid I might give him something that doesn't suit his taste… ” The pork butcher said, “Yo, what are you really worried about. If it's something Big Uncle… [3] Xie Daozhang gave, I think our Chengzhu will be happy regardless of what kind of gift you will give. ” [3] Xie Lian is old, isn't it www. "Yes. I bet even if you give him a piece of scrap paper, he will be happy. How is it that… the gifts given by Great Uncle Xie Daozhang can be compared to gifts given by others! ” Xie Lian laughed slightly, thinking that this attitude might be too narcissistic and reckless, and a little less sincere, “We can't say that. Choosing a gift must be done carefully and with consideration. Do you have any suggestions? "

After all, Hua Cheng had been in Ghost City for many years; and maybe the residents of this Ghost Town would have a better understanding of what he liked. With a little bit of

exchange of opinion, if Xie Lian thought harder, he would find a suitable and extraordinary gift he could give Hua Cheng. And indeed, all the ghosts there say, "We have it, we have it, we have it!" As they talked, dozens of chicken claws, pork feet, octopus feet and the like began to collect, creating a pile of all kinds of things. Xie Lian is unfamiliar with these things. Being surrounded by ghosts there, he thought it was really amazing. Thus he decided to take out what looked like a mysterious and elegant jade bottle, asking, “Oh? What is this?"

The one who gave the bottle replied, “That is the number one seduction medicine! You only need to use a few drops, and I guarantee that the passion and love of the person you are about to medicate will skyrocket, falling head over heels for the medic! And it doesn't have any side effects! ” "... ..." Xie Lian replied firmly, “Thank you for the advice. However, love must come naturally from the heart. How could we use potions to control it? It would be better if no one used this from now on. " The ghost who presented the bottle spoke in fear, “Yayayaya, don't use it. But actually we don't use something like this, I only got this because Xie Daozhang asked for advice ah! ”

Xie Lian didn't know whether to cry or laugh, thinking, "Why do you think I should give this kind of medicine to Hua Cheng?" She smiled, "I'm afraid that your Chengzhu won't use this medicine either." All the other ghosts were frantically pushing the ghost away, screaming, "Exactly! If Chengzhu wanted someone, would he even need to use such medicine? Really!"

Xie Lian thought, this is a big truth. For example, on her own - she didn't even need that kind of medicine - and she had fallen head over heels as soon as she saw Hua Cheng. Too bad. In order to stop his embarrassing thoughts and blushing face, he quickly grabbed another box. He opened it, “What's in here? Pearl? Panacea?" The ghost who gave the box replied, "It is a pill containing a child!" "... ..." Xie Lian didn't even need to ask what was the use of this pill. He immediately closed the box with a "plaque" sound, said helplessly, "All this ..." How could he give something like this to Hua Cheng? After all, with the help he had, Xie Lian knew he would not find any useful advice. She tells the ghosts there to secretly plan something for the demon king's birthday and surprise Hua Cheng, while he goes off to think. Maybe he had thought too much about this - the frustration showed on his face. Today, he was helping Hua Cheng practice calligraphy and thinking of other ideas when suddenly a voice came from beside him: "Gege." Xie Lian stopped thinking, tilted his head, “What's wrong?” Hua Cheng looked at him. He put his brush down, “Am I wrong? Gege seems worried about something. If you don't mind, can you tell us what's bothering you and share your worries with San Lang? ” Xie Lian's heart tightened. He immediately put on a stern face. Warn, “You can't put down your brush. Don't be lazy. Raise your brush and continue. " Hua Cheng chuckled, and picked up his brush again, casually sighing, "You caught me." Seeing him return to work, Xie Lian let out a sigh. Who knows, after writing two lines, Hua Cheng casually said, "But recently, Gege is a bit unusual". Xie Lian stiffened again, but his face remained calm, “Oh? Like what?"

Hua Cheng actually gave her a little look, smiling, “I think… too obedient”. Xie Lian smiled, "Aren't I always like this?" Xie Lian is desperately running out of ideas for a birthday present to give Hua Cheng. He decided to take the plunge - he'd first ask a few useless questions to see if something was missing, and then play around with it a little. With an indifferent face, Xie Lian said, “San Lang, let me ask you something”.

Hua Cheng, “Mm? What is that?"

Xie Lian, "Do you think something is missing somewhere?" Hua Cheng, “Lost? What does Gege mean? Are you missing something? " Xie Lian, “Oh, no… I'm talking about you. Just asking … "

Too bad he doesn't dare to talk too bluntly, like asking the question "what do you like, what do you want". In order to prevent Hua Cheng from realizing that something was up, he could only make small talk like that. But doing it like that made it even more difficult to find what Hua Cheng wanted. It made Xie Lian a little nervous.

Hua Cheng, “Me? What do you think Gege is missing? "

…… It is true. Xie Lian could only feel a little embarrassed. Hua Cheng spoke again, "Why is Gege asking me this?" Xie Lian was afraid that he would be caught. Feeling wary of the wind [3], he pushed it hard with his hands. Hua Cheng had never stepped up his guard against Xie Lian, so he was pushed away with a “thump,” leaning back on the bed [5] with his eyes wide open - that was not what he thought. He smiled, “What is Gege doing? Being this aggressive, you ... "

[4] Something that could be said like, "That child!" [5] An ancient Chinese hybrid with a low sofa-bed Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Xie Lian bravely walked over, stopping his words. And just like that, Hua Cheng was no longer in the mood to continue asking questions. He grabbed his arm and reversed the positions of the two of them - whatever Xie Lian did didn't matter anymore. Thinking alone seemed completely useless, so Xie Lian decided to ask for help. And the first people he turned to help were, of course, his two competent former subordinates. The three of them sit in an unknown secret broken shrine. After a brief silence, Feng Xin asked, "Why are you looking at me?" The other two people stared at him, not saying a word. They can't help it. Among the three of them, only Feng Xin already had a wife [6]. Logically, he must know what makes the person he loves the happiest. But Feng Xin's face turned gloomy from their gaze. He said, “…… looking at me like that is useless. I only gave him one thing. " It was the golden belt, which Xie Lian gave him. [6] I don't know if what is meant here is that Feng Xin really married Jian Lan or just because it was between the three of them that Feng Xin had the first partner. Mu Qing was utterly in disbelief when he found out that Xie Lian would drag him along to ask such a thing - it was already very polite for him to limit his gaze. He wanted to finish this ordeal quickly, saying, “That's a great idea ah. Giving him a belt was really nice too. Why don't you just give him a gold belt ah? " Xie Lian automatically ignored the strange tone in his voice, saying “I've lost all my golden belts long ago.” I don't have it anymore!

Mu Qing's tone grew even more strange, “Isn't your situation much better now? The streets are filled with temples and worshipers. You just need to appear in their dream and ask for a belt and they will give you one. " Xie Lian, “It is meaningless. If I had to ask a devotee to present a gift for me, wouldn't that be too reckless? ” Seeing that his strange tone had no effect on Xie Lian, Mu Qing's tone returned to normal, saying, “Why are you so troublesome? You can make one for him. " Xie Lian quickly replied, “What a great idea! But I don't know how. " "You can study." Xie Lian, “That's right. Of whom?" Mu Qing impatiently said, “How do I know? You can … " Before finishing his sentence, Mu Qing realized that this time, the other two were staring at him. After two shichen [7], Xie Lian's hands and fingers appeared to be injured dozens of times, wrapped with bandages many times so that his hands wouldn't be covered in blood. In his hand was a ribbon-shaped object with unclear shape and intent. [7] Two shichen = 4 hours Mu Qing couldn't take it anymore. "What is this?" Xie Lian sighed, “Belt”. Mu Qing, “I know this is a belt. What I'm asking is, what have you sewn on that belt? What is the meaning behind those two nuts that you have sewn? " Xie Lian, “These aren't nuts! Can't you see that they are two people. " In order to let them see clearly, he even showed it, "These are the faces of two people - these are the eyes, the mouth is here ..."

After seeing that they were two heads, Mu Qing said in an extraordinary way, “Why would anyone sew two large heads on this belt? Can this even be used? Your taste in clothes isn't all that bad, but why could something like this be created from your hands? ” Xie Lian couldn't help it either. He was much better at repairing houses and building wells and walls. He can do it fast and very well. But it seemed that from birth he had never been very good at household chores directed at women - once he got hold of the needle and thread or cooking pot, the situation got out of hand. She stared at her hands, draped like zongzi - although they didn't hurt, she didn't get any better at sewing. He could only feel helpless, saying, “… I will change the design.” But the wooden planks had become a boat [8], how could he possibly change them? He added a bunch of petals around the two heads, turning them into two familiar and awkward flower heads. Feng Xin and Mu Qing's faces were pitiful. [8] Chinese idiom: raw material has become a finished product, like the idiom rice has turned into porridge. Green veins appeared on Mu Qing's face, “I can even teach pigs. Why are you like this? Did you even sew your own palms? ” Feng Xin, “When did you ever teach pigs? Tell a lot of baseless lies! " Without any manners, Mu Qing said to Xie Lian, “Just give up. You don't have the talent for this. " It's not every day that she says “you don't have talent” to Xie Lian - saying it confidently feels good enough. Feng Xin couldn't listen to this any longer, saying, “Can you stop talking? You don't even praise Dianxia [9] in the slightest; wearing clothes and making clothes are two different things! It's not even that bad - this belt is still wearable. " [9] Suffix for royal people. "Your Excellency" Mu Qing, “Alright then, why don't we give this belt to you. If you dare to wear it, I won't say anything else [10]. ” [10] 服气: "I will admit that you are right", and "I will give you concessions / respect you"

Before Feng Xin could answer, Xie Lian quickly hid the embarrassing and terrible belt, “It can't be used. I'll keep it, okay! " This kind of thing, really can't be used as a gift! Feng Xin and Mu Qing didn't help much, so Xie Lian decided to turn to someone else. "Gift? Taizi Dianxia [11], you are really asking the right person. Thinking about that time, * I * [12]…… what treasures have I never seen before? ” [11] Your Majesty the Crown Prince [12] * I *: he wanted to refer to himself with a more respectable pronoun "I" that was different from the normal "I", but decided to correct himself. The two of them crouched by the side of the road. Shi QingXuan - with his disheveled hair, passionate character, and talkative mouth - one could tell that he was an expert in this field with just a glance. Xie Lian humbly accepted his teachings. Shi QingXuan confidently said, "There are unclaimed treasures out there, but if you want to acquire them, you will have to do a lot of work." Xie Lian quickly said, “It doesn't matter. It's exactly what I want. " The more effort it takes to obtain something, the more valuable it must be, so doesn't that mean the gift will definitely feel more sincere? The best treasures to acquire are the hardest treasures in the world - treasures that no one person can ever get. If he got it for Hua Cheng, it would be a meaningful gift. Imagining that his gift could make Hua Cheng raise his eyebrows or smile a little, Xie Lian couldn't hold back his excitement, and he became even more excited to try this idea. Shi QingXuan thought for a while, then said, “Xingtian Hu! [13] Taizi Dianxia should have heard it before, right? This Hu is very precious. If you put it under the night sky, the stars and moon will be reflected in the wine, and it will absorb the spiritual energy from the sky, earth, sun and moon. The cup is not only elegant, but it can also aid cultivation… ” [13] Hu. Hu = cup to hold alcohol (or other drink)

Who knows, the more Xie Lian listened, the more he had a bad feeling in his chest, and he quickly interrupted, "Wait." "What is wrong?" Xie Lian stretched out his hand to show a size comparison, said, “QingXuan, what are you talking about, is black jade this big? And within that jade there are hints of starlight? ” Shi QingXuan was confused, “Eh? How did Taizi Dianxia know? Have you seen him before? " "... ..." He didn't just see it. Last month, he tried pouring water to drink. Because he forgot his hand was injured, he lost his grip, and crushed the hu. At that time, Hua Cheng immediately came over to inquire about the injury to his arm. Xie Lian, seeing how beautiful the hu was, asked Hua Cheng what to do and if it could be fixed. Hua Cheng instead said that it was nothing, that it was just a toy. He didn't even look at the shattered pieces before telling his underlings to sweep and throw them away, and took Xie Lian away to take care of his arm. Now that he thought about it, didn't he destroy what Shi QingXuan called a rare precious treasure - Xingtian Hu ?! Xie Lian felt his heart turn cold, “This… might not be very suitable. What about other treasures? " "Oh." Shi QingXuan couldn't think of anything else, so he grabbed his hair, thought for a while before saying, “How about a BaHuang brush [14]! This brush is hard to believe is truly amazing. The hair used for the brush is extracted from the tail end of an ancient animal. The handle is made of a branch at the top of the Yuzhu Tree [15]. If that brush is not used, the hair will grow… ” [14] Fancy name BaHuang = Eight Directions (?) [15] Yuzhu = lit. translation: bamboo jade. Scientific name: polygonatum odoratum Xie Lian said, "Yuzhu leaves are green?"

Shi QingXuan, “That's right! Taizi Dianxia, how do you know about this too? Have you seen him before too? " How could he not have seen it. It was the brush that Hua Cheng used to practice calligraphy every day. She would blame her unpleasant handwriting on her bad brush, and throw it on the floor. Sometimes he kicks it somewhere. Xie Lian often had to find it, pick it up and clean it before putting it in a safe place. “……” Xie Lian said, “This one… might not be suitable either. How about the others?" As Shi QingXuan gave dozens of suggestions, Xie Lian realized that the legendary and rare treasures he spoke of were all very familiar to him. And they were all very pitiful - they were the stools Hua Cheng had used as a footrest or carpet on the floor. If they weren't toys he used for his entertainment, they were discarded, and lost items. That makes perfect sense. What kind of treasure in this world has Hua Cheng not seen and yet been able to obtain? So getting a gift for the demon lord wouldn't work using this idea. Like a doctor who was desperate to use every treatment he knew [16], Xie Lian almost asked everyone he could. However: Quan Yizhen only knew how to give gold - Hua Cheng was not short of money; Pei Ming - this guy only knows how to give gifts to women. If you ask him what to give a man, he can't say anything proper; Ling Wen - although he had several other heavenly officials to help, heaven could not function without his presence, and he was no longer locked in prison [17] - he was always surrounded by documents that nearly knocked him out. He no longer knows how to do anything but process official documents, and prefers to have quiet in a prison cell. [16] Idiom: doing whatever a person can to fix the problem. [17] Book spoiler 5. No one could help, and Hua Cheng's birthday was only 2 days away. Xie Lian really has no idea.

She stayed up all night, her eyes red. At least when the sky was almost dawn, he thought of something to give. As soon as her mind cleared up, she quietly got out of bed, looking beside her at Hua Cheng who was fast asleep. Hua Cheng's hair was dark like a crow, and his eyelashes were like varnish. With both eyes closed, you couldn't tell that he had lost his eyes. His handsome face and natural hostility emanated from his sleeping face. Looking at her now, she looked gentle somehow. Xie Lian's heart was touched. He stretched out his right hand, hovering over Hua Cheng's face. But because she was afraid that she might wake him up, she withdrew her hand. Who knows, even before he got out of bed, his waist tightened, and it turned out that he was being held back by an arm. A lazy voice came from behind, "Gege, why are you up so early?" Hua Cheng is awake! His voice was low, a little hoarse, as if he was half dreaming, half awake. Xie Lian was caught red-handed and pulled back onto the bed. Feeling very guilty, he calmly replied, "Oh, someone sent their prayer." Hua Cheng approached him, and kissed his ear, saying, “The sun hasn't risen yet. Who went to pray so early in the morning? Are they looking for trouble? " Perhaps it was her guilt, but when Xie Lian listened to the voice beside her ear, her face felt hot, “I don't just accept prayers. I still have some piles of prayers ... " When he spoke, he felt that speaking in his current position was a little difficult. When he tried to get up again, Hua Cheng also sat up, wrapped his arms around his neck, rested his head on his shoulders, “If it's piled up, then why not delay it a little longer? Gege worked too hard last night. Sleep a little longer. " Xie Lian struggled against that person's alluring voice and arms, barely able to do it, "I ... ... have been putting it off for a long time, I can't put it off anymore ..."

Hua Cheng, “Oh. Then I'll go with you? " Xie Lian quickly said, “No need. I won't be long. I will be right back. You must rest!" Hua Cheng, "You really don't need me to go?" Xie Lian, “No need! You can't come with me. Of course, you absolutely can't come! ” Hua Cheng opened his eyes [18] slightly, "Why?" [18]: Chinese does not distinguish "one eye" and "two eyes" “……” Xie Lian choked. In an instant, she quickly turned around, grabbed Hua Cheng's hands and stared at him, seriously saying, “You. Must practice calligraphy. " Hua Cheng innocently looked at him, blinking his eyes. Xie Lian sternly said, “You must stay at this temple today to practice calligraphy. I'll check it out when I get back! ” Hua Cheng looked even more innocent, tilting his head. But in the end he obediently replied, "OK". Xie Lian struggled to finally get over the situation, frantically getting off the bed. Hua Cheng leaned back slightly on the bed, squinting at Xie Lian as he panicked and fled the room. Hua Cheng smiled and lay down again, using his arm as a pillow. Xie Lian first went to the barren desert to take what he wanted, then went to Tonglu. Within the Tonglu mountain forest is a small house. Entering it, Xie Lian saw Guoshi [19], with three empty shells by his side, playing mahjong with a serious face. Without saying a word, Xie Lian turned to leave, but as soon as Guoshi saw him, his eyes lit up, shouting, "Stay there!" [19]: Xian Le Guoshi - advisor to the Xian Le Kingdom. Mei Niang Qing. Xie Lian knew that there was only one situation where Guoshi would tell him to 'stay there' when he was in the middle of mahjong. Indeed, the next time Guoshi pulled up the table, said, “Let's stop playing, I have something to do so I have to go! Taizi is back! Do you need me for something? "

Turning his head, Xie Lian saw three empty shell people lying on the floor, knowing full well that Guoshi must have been on the verge of losing the game. She guiltily said, "It's not really that important." However, Guoshi quickly said, “No, no, I saw how hard your face was. It must be something very important! The game can wait, let Weishi [20] help you! ” [20]: Weishi = "I, your teacher". My pronoun for honorable teacher "... ..." But when Xie Lian explained why he was here, Guoshi changed his expression. The two of them sat on a rough looking bench as Xie Lian listened to Guoshi lecture him, “It's not an important event. Just birthdays - yet you spend a long time thinking about it, running around, just thinking about such things! " Xie Lian knew that there was no way for him to explain it to this person, and even if he did, this person would not understand his intentions. He rubbed the space between his eyebrows until they turned red, “I've got the ingredients. I just don't remember how to make the Xian Le Key to Longevity that I got as a child. I'd like to ask Guoshi for advice - you don't have to do anything, I'll make it up myself. " Guoshi still didn't seem to understand it, saying, “You don't have to prepare any birthday gifts. You even belong to him, what other gift does he want ??? ” "... ..." His words sound like “you are the best gift yourself”, right? Xie Lian really couldn't stand this kind of logic; she didn't even want to think about it, slapping her forehead, thinking, "I'm not that smart." Seeing her shake her head in serious protest, Guoshi said, “You really are useless. You, are the only god in heaven who rose three times! Flower Crown Martial God! Xian Le Taizi! Who at 17 has the courage to declare to the whole world that you will save everyone! At 18 ... "

Xie Lian immediately said, “Guoshi! Stop! Guoshi! Do not say that again! Stop!" There's nothing to be proud of about this bleak history! Guoshi looked at her with a complicated expression, looking annoyed that the iron had not been hammered into steel [21], he said, "Taizi Dianxia, you really don't need to underestimate yourself too much." [21] Upset that Xie Lian hasn't learned his lesson. Xie Lian, "I'm not looking down on myself, it's just ..." It's just that, when it comes to people you admire, you naturally want to give them the best in the world. But you always think that you are still not good enough. Seeing her in such trouble, Guoshi sighed. He put his hand on his sleeve, thought for a moment, “Making the Key to Longevity, right? Wait, I'll think about it. It's been so long, I don't dare say I remember all the crafting and ceremonial procedures. ” Xie Lian, “It doesn't matter. If you don't remember, I'll make it up with the procedure I can remember. With enough faith, it will work. " Suddenly, Guoshi looked at him, "Why don't you ask him?" [22] [22] Book spoiler 4. Main character spoiler, but not relevant to this chapter "... ..." He did not say the name, but Xie Lian knew who he meant. Jun Wu was suppressed by Tonglu, deep underground. After being silent for a while, Xie Lian still shook his head. After staying in Tonglu for most of the day, Xie Lian returned to Ghost City. At this time, there were only a few shichens before Hua Cheng's birthday would take place. The ghosts and Xie Lian agreed beforehand that they would pretend nothing happened, and secretly decorate the city. Xie Lian walked into a small shop. Not long after, a group of ghosts also came, anxiously and confusedly asking, “How? How?"

Xie Lian thought that they were almost acting like thieves, “How is your Chengzhu? Did he find anything out of the ordinary? " The ghosts replied, "No, no. Chengzhu has been inside the Qiandeng Temple [23] all day “. [23] Qiandeng Temple = Temple of a thousand lights / lights Xie Lian found it a little strange, "All day?" "Yes! Chengzhu's mood seems quite good today. Uncle… Xie Daozhang, have you prepared a birthday present for Chengzhu? ” Xie Lian felt a little comfortable now, took from his sleeve the Longevity Key he had made so much effort, smiled, "It's ready." The ghosts celebrate. They talked about how to prepare for tomorrow's birthday celebration when Xie Lian started walking back to Qiandeng temple. Inside, Hua Cheng was, in fact, practicing his handwriting. To think that without Xie Lian's insistence, Hua Cheng would practice calligraphy on his own - that was truly extremely rare. Looks like he really is in a good mood. Looking at the poor Bahuang brush in his hand that was used to write perverted ugly characters, Xie Lian felt it was a little funny, shaking his head. Hearing that Xie Lian had returned, Hua Cheng put down the brush, releasing him from his agony. She softly smiled, “Gege is back? Great timing, look what I did today. " Xie Lian smiled, “OK”. He walked forward. At that instant, his face froze. He stopped in his tracks, frowning. Hua Cheng immediately sensed something was amiss. In the next second, he was beside Xie Lian, "What's wrong?" Xie Lian's expression immediately returned to normal. "It is okay". It is nothing. Just now, he felt a slight pain in his heart. Hua Cheng never let her act carelessly, and walked over to grab her wrist, “Where are you going? Are you hurt again? "

Xie Lian, “No”. This is the truth - he wasn't hurt. The last few days, he had spent running here and there, and he had not encountered anything dangerous. Hua Cheng pondered for a while, and left when he didn't find anything abnormal [24]. Xie Lian also checked himself, but couldn't find anything, thinking that the pain might be just an illusion. He smiled, “Maybe it was a sprained muscle [25] ah. Let me see what you are doing today? " [24] I believe he checked his pulse in the same way the ancient Chinese doctor examined them for a person's vital signs. In the drama, they can even check the pulse to detect pregnancy… [25] Muscle sprains sound like a big deal, but I can't put it into words. Xie Lian's sentence really means, "the tendon or muscle may have sprained somewhere." Hua Cheng then smiled, taking her hand, "Come here." Before Xie Lian could answer, his heart suddenly ached again. This time, it was definitely not an illusion! He clearly felt that, if the first felt like he had been stabbed, the second was a pain like sharp nails. If Hua Cheng accidentally looked away, Xie Lian might not be able to say “It's okay” this time. Xie Lian didn't want to surprise Hua Cheng for now. After the two of them played around at Qiandeng temple for a while, he found an excuse to go and examine himself more closely. He put his hand down after that, looking serious. There was actually nothing wrong with her, otherwise Hua Cheng would know when he grabbed her wrist. So why did his heart hurt from nowhere? After pondering, Xie Lian guessed that it might be a curse or some kind of poison, but he wasn't worried - at least, not for now. Hua Cheng's birthday will soon be celebrated. If something happened now, Hua Cheng wouldn't be happy to celebrate, and instead healed his wounds. Xie Lian was used to enduring pain, so it seemed like he had never experienced

things like this before. He decided not to think about it for now, and waited until the day was over before silently healing himself. At night, because it was almost time, Xie Lian returned to the Qiandeng temple. Hua Cheng was still inside, bored to death, pretending to be serious about practicing his calligraphy as he carelessly scribbled paper and made trash. Xie Lian couldn't help laughing, but before he could laugh he felt his heart ache again. Using her fingers to massage her chest was also useless. He thought, "Looks like this thing is quite strong ... ... I'll hold it a little longer." He took a deep breath, walked out and said softly, “San Lang? I need your help with something. " Hua Cheng put down his brush, "What is that?" Xie Lian, "Please close your eyes." Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows, but did not ask any further. She closed her eyes. Xie Lian took both hands, smiled, "Follow me." It's like the opposite of what happened at Yu Jun Mountain. Hua Cheng smiled, “OK”. Xie Lian guided his two hands as they slowly walked to the door. "Be careful with the door frame." Who knew how long Hua Cheng had been walking around Qiandeng temple - he naturally didn't need to be guided around the buildings. But he still waited for Xie Lian to remind him before lifting his leg. The silver chains on his boots clinked as the two of them exited through the large door, arriving at the main street. After walking for a while, Xie Lian said, "OK, open your eyes." Hua Cheng did as he was told. At that moment, his pitch black iris was like a burning candle, shining in an instant. The streets were covered with lanterns, looking much cleaner than before. It's as if every household is working hard to clean it up, replacing everything that is broken with a new installation. The roof also glowed as if new. The ghosts surrounded them quietly, not daring

to make a sound. As soon as Hua Cheng opened his eyes, they noisily made a fuss, shouting "Happy birthday Chengzhu ah!" Plus a few other mixed phrases such as "May you live a long and happy life together" and "May you give birth to children soon". That's so annoying! Seeing the extremely bad results, Xie Lian slapped his forehead. They had been practicing for so long and successfully synchronized beforehand; why now does it sound messy ?! Hua Cheng was expressionless, looking almost completely unmoved. He raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing? You guys are annoying to death. " The ghosts had given up everything they had practiced, saying, “If it's irritating to death, so be it! There's no one here after all, ah! " Hua Cheng sneered. Turning around, he saw Xie Lian behind him, his hands hidden behind him. "San Lang, I heard ... today is your birthday?" Hua Cheng looked as if he was waiting for this, crossed his arms and tilted his head. Seeing Xie Lian, he smiled, “Mm. Yes." Xie Lian gently coughed a few times, then suddenly jumped up, placing the Key of Longevity pendant on Hua Cheng's neck. “This… I made this in a hurry, but I hope you don't mind!” That Key to Longevity was engraved with the same kind of pattern on the vambraces on her wrist - maple leaves, butterflies, beasts, etc. It is very subtle, and contains very strong spiritual power. One could tell from the first glance that it was an extraordinary item. The ghosts exclaimed happily, “Wow! Looks too good! What kind of treasure is this !? ” "Ah! Only Chengzhu is suitable for this kind of treasure! And only treasures like this are a match for Chengzhu! ” Their cheers were blown to the extreme. Xie Lian didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry - he became even more nervous, but didn't know if he should ask Hua Cheng what he thought of the gift. Hua Cheng also didn't say anything, but his eyes were very bright, and he seemed to want to smile. He took the key, as if he wanted to speak. Who knows, at this point, something happened.

Xie Lian's knees suddenly became weak, and he began to fall. This is so sudden. The cheering ghosts suddenly let out a horrified voice. Hua Cheng's smile immediately faded, quickly catching him before falling. He said, “Gege? What is wrong?" Xie Lian's face turned pale. He shook his head, forced a smile, "It's nothing ..." Without finishing his words, his throat closed. Shit, it's back! The pain appeared out of nowhere again. And this time, the pain was even worse than before. It was as if his heart was falling apart. Xie Lian's luck was bad, but he never expected that this pain would come so suddenly with every pain more painful than the previous one, and even now - at such a bad time! He was still calm, but the pain continued. It felt as if someone took a walnut nail and slammed it repeatedly into his heart. Xie Lian was in so much pain that he had difficulty breathing. He couldn't lift his head, and his forehead broke out in cold sweat. Hua Cheng's expression changed completely. "Dianxia ?!" He grabbed Xie Lian's wrist, but couldn't find anything wrong. “Dianxia! Where did you go yesterday?!" There is fear howling everywhere. Xie Lian opened his mouth, and, as if something had been nailed in his throat, he couldn't even speak. Hua Cheng's arms embraced him trembling. Seeing Hua Cheng's previously calm face now turn into a face that looked extremely impatient and terrified, Xie Lian's heart felt as if it had been crushed by a large hammer. As if he couldn't take it anymore, he fell unconscious. Before he lost consciousness, his mind was filled with the words, "I'm sorry." After all, today was Hua Cheng's birthday. After an unknown amount of time, Xie Lian suddenly woke up. Taking a deep breath, he stared at the ceiling thoughtfully, his mind blurry, “This is… a Qiandeng temple? How can I… fall asleep? ”

He slowly got up when suddenly an arm supported him. Hua Cheng's voice was nearby. "Dianxia?" Xie Lian raised his head and saw his face. His expression was burning. Xie Lian was startled; just as he was about to speak, he felt an intense pain in his heart again. This woke him up completely. Its entire body arched, and its fingers were about to claw at its chest with great force as if it wanted to pluck out its own heart. Hua Cheng immediately lowered his wrist, saying, “Dianxia!” If Hua Cheng didn't act fast, Xie Lian might have actually dug five bloody holes into his chest. Just then, a voice from nearby said, "I think something is wrong here, why don't you let go first!" Mu Qing is here. Hua Cheng said, "What are we going to do if I let him go and he injures himself ?!" Feng Xin's voice immediately came, “I'll hold it for you! If we don't hurry up and find out what's wrong, the pain won't stop! " Xie Lian's body bent, and he felt another hand grabbing his wrist. After hearing this, Hua Cheng's movements stopped, and he let go. Surprisingly, as soon as he let Xie Lian go, the pain disappeared. Xie Lian can move now, and when he turns around, he sees Feng Xin and Mu Qing standing by the bed. They may be called upon to help. Hua Cheng stood nearby, staring at him. Seeing him, Xie Lian's pain returned again. Mu Qing, seeing the change in his expression that flashed across his face, said to Hua Cheng, “Stand further! Looks like he feels sick if he is near you or looks at you! " Hearing this, Hua Cheng froze, his face looking extremely terrifying. Not knowing what to say, he quickly left, leaving the place. As soon as he disappeared from Xie Lian's sight, the pain in his heart also quickly subsided.

With pain that came and went, Xie Lian had gone completely insane. Taking a deep breath, he spoke with difficulty, "This ... just ... what's going on ah?" Mu Qing and Feng Xin held him back, stopping him from seeing Hua Cheng. Mu Qing said, “That's our question to you! What is wrong with you? You must have caught something! ” Xie Lian, “…… If I caught something, how could I not know?” Apart from that, Hua Cheng had checked it out too. Mu Qing, "In that case, have you been going anywhere strange these past few days?" Xie Lian, “Recently, I only went to Tonglu Mountain, and… Guoshi Tomb” Mu Qing furrowed her brows, “What? Guoshi's Tomb? What is Guoshi's tomb? " Hua Cheng was standing outside, but he understood, "Fang Xin Guoshi's Tomb?" Xie Lian, "San Lang, you must enter ..." Hua Cheng's serious voice came, “Gege has to get well. I'll check it out. " Xie Lian immediately said, “I'll go too!”, But when he got up, he felt so sick that he had to lie down again. She didn't hear Hua Cheng say anything more after that, so she must have left already. Xie Lian wanted to push himself up again. Mu Qing, “I think you should stop running around. Don't walk anymore! ” Xie Lian was held by four hands, struggling, “It's not that I haven't felt pain before. I will get used to it after a while. ” Just because she was in pain, didn't mean she would let that stop her from seeing Hua Cheng ah. However, Mu Qing said, “You are willing to endure pain, but your San Lang definitely doesn't want it.” Xie Lian was shocked. She thought about how Hua Cheng's face looked the moment before she passed out, then thought about how Hua Cheng would look when she realized she would be in pain every time she approached him. His breath stopped and his heart ached, his face immediately turned pale. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both looked at him. Stunned, Feng Xin said, “Didn't Xueyu Tanhua [26] leave already? Why is he still in pain? "

[26] Xueyu Tanhua = 血雨 探花 - the rain of blood reaches the flowers Mu Qing was very sharp-minded, "Are you thinking about it now?" Xie Lian grit his teeth, endured the pain for a while before forcefully replying, “What… is that… I can't even think about it?” Mu Qing, “Don't think. The more you think, the more you suffer. I'll get water for you. " Xie Lian didn't even have the strength to shake his head. Mu Qing got up to pour water on him, and he closed his eyes, barely calming his heart. But the calmer his heart, the more worried he became. She didn't know what kind of curse was attached to her so neither she nor Hua Cheng could figure out what it was. To think that Hua Cheng would go alone to find out, Xie Lian wasn't sure. At this time, Mu Qing gave him a cup of tea. It was a snow white tea glass. Hua Cheng used it last night. Thinking of this, Xie Lian's face once again ran out of color, and he lied without a word. With one glance Mu Qing could tell to whom his mind had flown back. With the teacup still in his hand, Mu Qing's face darkened, “Why does everything remind you of him? Do you want to die ?! " Xie Lian, “…… how could I possibly control it?” If 'not thinking about someone' was something as easy to do as the people in this world said, that would frustrate anyone even more. Mu Qing, “I'm going to knock it down. Save him from trying to control his mind. " However, being Xie Lian's former subordinate, Feng Xin would absolutely not beat Xie Lian. Of course, he would not allow others to hit Xie Lian around him. He immediately said, “No! You'd better talk to him more, distract him, so he'll stop thinking about Xueyu Tanhua. " Mu Qing, “What can I talk to him about? As if he wouldn't start thinking about Xueyu Tanhua regardless of what I said? Make him pass out better! "

Feng Xin, “You can't hit him! He couldn't think of anything else if we all played Chengyu Jielong [27], right? I bet he can't. I'll start, 'Shoubi nanshan (Age as long as the southern mountain)'! " [27] Chengyu Jielong: Dictionary says: a game in which the last word of one Chinese idiom (chengyu) is the first word of the next. Each chengyu usually comes in four words. In the previous translation the name was the Idiom Train. Sort of like Shiritori Mu Qing really hated this game, but he still played the next round sadly, “…… 'Shanqiong Shui'e (barren mountains, ferocious waters) [28]'. " [28] To describe an inhospitable environment There is nothing Xie Lian can do. Weakly continued, “…… 'E'zi duoju' (Violence purple replaces red truth) [29]……” [29] Describes something evil that has replaced something good, or is presented as something good. Confucius hated purple and liked red, associating the color with bad and good characters When she finished her turn, she curled up again. Mu Qing was confused, “How could this make you think about it? It's not even connected! ” Xie Lian thought, how could it not be related? Red. Red. Dark red clothes. If he thought of the crimson clothes, how could he not think of Hua Cheng? Because he was so tormented, he couldn't take it anymore. With a burst of strength, he struggled free from the two holding him back, and rolled off the bed with a “bam” sound. Feng Xin and Mu Qing knew he had tremendous explosive power, so they were trying to strengthen their own strength. But even that wasn't enough to endure it. Seeing him run away, the two of them rushed to subdue him, but Xie Lian gave them a slap which sent them back to the ground, unable to get up. Mu Qing lifted her head, saw Xie Lian escape through the door. "Where are you going? Do not run!"

But Xie Lian was already running as fast as he could. He pulled two exquisite dice from his sleeve, threw them, and clumsily rushed through a door. Hua Cheng once said, if Xie Lian wanted to see him, he would meet him no matter what number he got from the dice. Rushing through the door, Xie Lian didn't even know where the dice would take him, but as soon as he fell through the door, he fell into someone's arms. Hua Cheng's voice came from above his head, slightly surprised, “Dianxia!” Xie Lian quickly held onto it, as if afraid that he would disappear. “San Lang! Do not go. I want to stay with you ... " Hua Cheng seemed like he wanted to hug her right away, but her arms froze halfway. Barely holding back, he said, “Dianxia, come back. Your pain will get worse. " But Xie Lian gritted his teeth, hugged him even harder, his voice trembled, "If it hurts, then it doesn't matter !!!" Hua Cheng, "Dianxia!" If she was just sitting elsewhere, dying from the thought of Hua Cheng, then why not die in pain while tightly hugging Hua Cheng. The more it hurt, the tighter his arms were around it. Xie Lian's head was covered in sweat, his words intermittent, “Wait for me. Only a while. I will be fine. I'll get used to this. I'm really good at enduring pain. If you are beside me, I can endure the pain. If you leave, then…… I really can't stand it…… ” Hearing this, Hua Cheng was shocked for a long time. He quietly spoke, "Dianxia ah ……" His voice was mixed with sighing and pain, and he looked even more tormented than Xie Lian. Xie Lian held him, waiting for the unbearable torment to pass. As he calmed his breath, a voice came from behind, "This thing was forged using your mask, right?" In the middle of his dizzy head, Xie Lian had just realized where they were. It was a lonely and sinister tomb - Guoshi's tomb that he had visited two days ago. The person standing behind them, and looking tall, was Lang Qianqiu.

When Xie Lian first arrived, he was already delirious, so he didn't see a third person here. Realizing it now, naturally he couldn't feel embarrassed. At this time, Feng Xin and Mu Qing also caught up. Mu Qing had just been slapped by him so hard that he couldn't get up from the floor, and was so angry that the green veins on his forehead might never disappear. He shouted, “What are you running for? Two people, four hands - can't stop you! —- What's in the purgatory of this place? It's like a tomb! " Feng Xin also looked around, “This is a funeral, right? The tomb someone had dug before. So this is Fang Xin Guoshi's grave? " He looked at Lang Qianqiu. Stunned, Feng Xin said, "Why is Taihua Dianxia [30] here too?" [30] Taihua Dianxia = Lang QianQiu, prince of Yong'an Kingdom Lang Qianqiu didn't look too good, answering, “I felt something strange going on at the Guoshi Tomb, so I came to take a look”. He came to see her, and happened to run into Hua Cheng and Xie Lian. He pondered something, did not bother to say hello or explain further. Looking at Xie Lian, he asked again, “Did you use that silver mask to fake the Key to Longevity? Did you come two days ago and take the mask? ” Hesitating, Xie Lian nodded. When he was in the Yong'an Kingdom which was designated as Guoshi long ago, he always wore a silver mask. The silver on the mask was extremely rare, being crafted from half a jin [31] demon silver. It didn't just cover her face - its true strength was that it could reflect spells and protect them. After Fang Xin Guoshi "died", the mask was buried with him, placed in the same coffin. [31] 1 jin = 0.5 kg To give someone a gift, it must be something very precious to itself. Xie Lian thought very hard, and finally remembered that he once possessed a treasure like this. It was very useful, and had helped her several times. He liked the mask, but didn't take it with him when he

crawled out of the coffin, so he rushed to Guoshi's Tomb in the middle of the night, dug up his own grave, and got the mask back. He melted the mask into silver metal again, and faked it back into the Key to Longevity Self-Protection. Everyone had strange expressions. After all, no one had ever visited Guoshi's Tomb - the weeds had grown several feet tall. Even though he came back, Xie Lian didn't even sweep the tomb, and instead dug up his own tomb …… no one else could do something like that! After a moment of embarrassment of silence, Xie Lian saw Lang Qianqiu's strange expression, explaining, “I didn't take that mask from your family. I used the silver demon I subdued to forge… ” If it was something that belonged to the Yong'an imperial family, he absolutely wouldn't melt it down and turn it into Hua Cheng's birthday present. He had no idea that Lang Qianqiu still occasionally visited Guoshi's Tomb - he thought that after burying him, Lang Qianqiu would leave and never care about this tomb again. If he had known, he would at least have put the excavated earth back into his tomb so that Lang Qianqiu wouldn't be shocked enough to check what happened. Lang Qianqiu stared blankly, then angrily said, "I'm not angry about that!" Hua Cheng stared at him, his eyes a little cold. Lang Qianqiu's face flashed a terrified expression. When Xie Lian saw the silver key, he suddenly frowned as if he was thinking of something. Looking at Lang Qianqiu, he realized that he had the same expression. Hua Cheng naturally took notice. "The problem is in this lock, right? Dianxia, do you know what that is? " Xie Lian does have a clue. He could guess what was going on, but didn't know how to say. However, Lang Qianqiu spoke up on his behalf, his face turning blue. He said, "It was himself". Hua Cheng coldly said, "What do you mean?" Xie Lian frantically interrupted, "Qianqiu!"

Lang Qianqiu looked at him, but continued, "After the Liujin Banquet, I brought him here." Xie Lian, "Stop talking". Lang Qianqiu looked at him, and stopped talking, maybe because he didn't know how to explain next either. But even if he didn't speak, the other people present were able to continue his explanation. After the Liujin Banquet, Yong'an Taizi Lang Qianqiu arrested Fang Xin Guoshi [32]. In retaliation, he nailed her to the coffin alive. The coffin is located in a lonely countryside, and everyone is forbidden from visiting his grave to pay their respects. Of course, not many people would come to visit. [32] The over-romanization may be confusing: After the banquet, Lang Qian Qiu captured Xie Lian, who was the head priest, and nailed him to a living coffin. At that moment, when the walnut nail pierced Xie Lian's heart, the blood from him stained the silver mask he was wearing. The evil energy from the silver demon absorbed the blood - even if it left its body, it never died. And when Xie Lian returned to dig his own tomb and took the mask to make the Key to Longevity, he woke up the blood, and the blood returned to his body. No wonder why when Hua Cheng and himself checked his vitals, they couldn't feel anything extraordinary - the source of the problem was his body - his own blood. Of course they couldn't detect it as strange! Hua Cheng moved. Xie Lian couldn't see his expression clearly, frantically enduring it. "San Lang!" Lang Qianqiu killed him for revenge. Emperor Yong'an did indeed die at his hands, and in return, he was nailed to the coffin. Xie Lian's breath shortened. And once again his heart ached, he groaned and couldn't take it anymore. Hua Cheng's expression turned fiery. "Dianxia?"

Lang Qianqiu hesitated, seeing that Xie Lian's face was as white as paper, he asked, “I… do you need my help?” Xie Lian knew that he was going to ask, quickly answering, “It's okay, it's okay. I don't need your help, Qianqiu. It's none of your business, and it's not your problem. I'm just clumsy. You don't have to get yourself involved in this matter. " Mu Qing also thought that Lang Qianqiu, as the victim's family and the culprit in this scenario, was in a somewhat awkward place. He said, “Indeed. Taihua Dianxia you don't have to be responsible for her. Go home. " A moment passed quietly before Lang Qianqiu answered, “OK”. Even though he said 'okay', he still didn't leave. No one else could care about that, because Xie Lian was in such pain at the threshold of his body falling on the floor. However, even in her current state, she embraced Hua Cheng in a deathly grip, unwilling to let her go. Feng Xin said, “Let's solve this problem first! … Dianxia? How are you??" Xie Lian is still fighting tooth and nail. After the “ka” sound came from elsewhere, he fell silent. Her face was covered in cold sweat as she was in Hua Cheng's embrace, motionless. Hua Cheng hugged her firmly, her voice calm, “OK, Dianxia. The pain has stopped, hasn't it? " It was then that everyone realized that in his hand was crystalline silver powder. The Longevity Key that he cherished and wore near his heart had disappeared. If the Key to Longevity is destroyed, then Xie Lian's blood that has been dyed with evil energy will also be calm. So Hua Cheng held onto the Key to Longevity and gently crushed it into pieces. Lian Xie's breath returns to normal. Tilting her head, she could see sparkling silver seeping through Hua Cheng's fingers. He looked at Hua Cheng, and for some reason, his heart hurt a little again. He muttered, "Mm ... it doesn't hurt anymore".

After finally releasing his curse, Xie Lian bid farewell to Feng Xin, Mu Qing, Lang Qianqiu and the others. Together with Hua Cheng, they walked slowly towards Ghost City. As the two of them walked side by side, Xie Lian's face felt hot during their journey home. This was Feng Xin and Mu Qing's fault. Just before their two groups parted ways, Feng Xin wiped her sweat and asked, “So why is Dianxia being like this every time she sees Xueyu Tanhua? What's with that evil blood? Does that blood want him to suffer? " Xie Lian himself knew exactly why. Hearing her ask this question, she interrupted, "Don't think too deeply about this!" Feng Xin suspiciously asked, “Why can't you think more deeply? What if this happens again? At least we have to understand why. " Mu Qing snorted, “Can't you see? The blood had left his body for years. After returning to its original body, the blood needed to readjust, so it did all those strange things. If her heart is calm, then she will be fine… ” However, if his heart was restless and his heart rate increased, the blood would become excited and cause him excruciating pain. This will bring him back to life from the pain of having a walnut nail stabbed through his heart. Xie Lian could not tell Hua Cheng's expression at that moment, but he could only think that he would lose face in front of Hua Cheng for the rest of his life. What Mu Qing was trying to say was - didn't that just mean that every time he saw or thought about Hua Cheng, his heart would race with madness? So that's why he's in so much pain! Thinking of this, Xie Lian's heart beat even faster. Fortunately, no matter how fast his heart beats now, he won't be in pain. Hua Cheng, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "Dianxia." Xie Lian immediately replied, "What's wrong?"

Hua Cheng, "How long were you in the tomb?" Xie Lian was shocked. He replied, "I don't remember it clearly." After all, it was for a very, very long time. So long that he didn't even want to count. Pain, hunger, loss of blood, hallucinations. At first he didn't want to move, but then he regretted it, and violently hit the casket to crush it and escape. But finally he allowed himself to sink back into the boundless darkness. It was not as strong as the unavoidable pain, cursed from being stabbed a hundred times by the sword. But it was a persistent pain that seemed to last forever. He sighed. Hua Cheng immediately asked, “What's wrong Dianxia? Are you still in pain? " Xie Lian shook his head. After a while, he sadly said, "San Lang, I'm sorry ah." Hua Cheng asked, "Why are you apologizing to me?" Quitting in his footsteps, Xie Lian said, “Today is your birthday. I want you to celebrate well, but instead make you waste your birthday by trying to break the curse. " She originally hoped to endure it until the birthday ended, but in the end she couldn't. Xie Lian, "Even the gifts I have prepared for you must be destroyed to destroy my curse". In fact, it had to be crushed by Hua Cheng's own hands. Thinking about this from the start, Xie Lian thought that today was not good at all. He felt very sad. However, Hua Cheng said softly, "Dianxia." He stopped his steps, "I have got the gift you gave me." Xie Lian was surprised, "What did I give you?" Please don't say something like 'you are the best gift', it will be even more embarrassing. Hua Cheng looked at her, speaking in a low voice, “Dianxia said, even if it gives you pain, you still want to see me. Even if it hurts you, you don't want to leave. " "... ..." Hua Cheng, "I'm happy" .

Thinking back to when he grabbed Hua Cheng and stated those words, Xie Lian cleared his throat, pretending to naturally cover his own face. However Hua Cheng suddenly grabbed her, hugged her tightly. Shocked, Xie Lian pressed down on his chest, hearing it tremble as he spoke in a low voice. Hua Cheng, "Really, I'm so happy." I'm very happy too, Xie Lian thought. In the hundreds of years that have passed, even if it was painful, Hua Cheng never thought of giving up on him. Xie Lian, who had realized this, was certainly the one who felt the happiest. Hua Cheng, "But even if I'm happy, I don't want to see you endure such pain again." The two of them return to Ghost Town. The ghosts there felt so anxious all day long. Seeing the two of them return peacefully, they immediately changed from turbulent to celebrating hastily. Hua Cheng remained the same, did not care to care, and entered the Qiandeng temple with Xie Lian. But when they went inside, they found that there was more to the inside. Hua Cheng, "Who put all this here?" Xie Lian looked - inspecting the items, he said, “Eh? They look like gifts? This one is from Yushi Daren [33] right, fresh produce like this… This is from QingXuan? …… This must be from General Pei…… ” [33] Daren = honorable title for official. He looked at it all for a moment, smiling, "San Lang, this is a birthday present to demon king Gexia [34] ah." [34] Gexia = honorable title for someone in power. While he didn't mention whose birthday was coming when he'd spent the past few days asking for advice on what birthday gifts to get, everyone could guess who it would be. On the other hand, Hua Cheng had absolutely no interest, “Don't look, Gege. Throw everything away later. They take up space. "

Looks like he really intends to make someone throw it away. Xie Lian quickly said, “Why don't we save it? They send their salute, ah… Wait, why are they here, who brought him ??? ” Xie Lian could see seductive potions and pills containing children among the piles of gifts. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, tossing it aside as if it were a sweet potato burning a hand. Hua Cheng seemed to be interested in these things, taking it to be seen, "What is this?" Xie Lian quickly blocked his path, “Nothing good at all! Do not see!" In the end, after a moment of conflict, Xie Lian gave Hua Cheng a handmade belt to replace the Key to Longevity. When Hua Cheng saw him, he laughed until he could barely breathe - even though the ghost never needed to breathe in the first place. After all, he hugged her and kissed her for a while, praised her endlessly, praised Xie Lian until she felt embarrassed, lying on the bed pretending to be dead. What made Xie Lian want to pretend to be dead even more was, the next day, Hua Cheng actually put it on, getting ready to leave as if nothing was wrong. When Xie Lian saw that, he almost fainted, immediately got off the bed and clung to him. He begged her half a day before Hua Cheng forcefully promised to turn the belt over so that the side with the embroidery would be hidden from the public. Xie Lian had actually barely escaped the fate of having his handicrafts publicly humiliated. But because Hua Cheng made what happened that day a big problem, heaven and purgatory all know that Xie Lian passed out from the pain on his birthday. Once they learned the reason behind it all, heaven and purgatory now all knew that Xie Lian had fallen deeply in love with Xueyu Tanhua. At least, this is the last word of the story.