Unexpectedly, before Xie Lian could reply, Lang Qianqiu heard him and said, “No!”
Shi Qingxuan asked, "Why not?"
Lang Qianqiu asked seriously, "Your Highness Xianle, are you acquainted with Xueyu Tanhua? From what you're saying, I think you're friends with him."
Xie Lian nodded. Lang Qianqiu said, "Of course not. Although I don't think this Ghost King is a good person, he's probably letting you off because he considers you a friend. If that's the case, you absolutely cannot lie to a friend."
Shi Qingxuan said with a headache: "Hey Qianqiu, you are such a stubborn person!"
Xie Lian smiled and nodded, saying, "Very good. That's what His Highness Taihua said."
Lang Qianqiu smiled and said, "You agree with me, right?"
Shi Qingxuan said, "What's so good about that? We still have three priests. If we go out and return empty-handed, word will spread that we're even less efficient than the Lingwen Palace. That would be humiliating."
Xie Lian smiled and was about to speak when he heard a ghostly howl behind him. The three of them turned around and looked. At the entrance of the alley, a group of demons and monsters were chasing and fighting each other, shouting, "Where's that little masked boy? Where's that little masked boy?"
Xie Lian noticed the other two people's wary expressions and said, "It's okay. They're not looking for us."
As soon as the words fell, a shrill scream pierced their ears, sharply piercing their ears.
Xie Lian's heart suddenly trembled at the sound of this scream. Before he could react, he had already rushed out. Outside the alley, a group of bizarre monsters and demons gathered in a circle, shouting, "Got him!"
"Beat him to death again!"
"Damn it! This little bastard has stolen so much food from me! I'm going to take it all from him!"
Shi Qingxuan asked, "Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
Xie Lian didn't answer, but continued walking towards that direction. He walked faster and faster, finally breaking into a run. He pushed aside the people outside and took a quick look—the one being pinned down and beaten was a ragged young man, about fifteen or sixteen, curled up in a ball, shivering on the ground.
Although he held his head tightly, one could still see that the boy's head was covered with several bandages in a mess. These bandages, like his hair, had become dirty.
Could this be the same bandaged boy that Xie Lian had briefly met on Junshan Mountain, then disappeared without a trace and the search for him was fruitless?
No wonder the Lingwen Palace has been saying for the past few days that their search for his whereabouts has been fruitless. If this young man escaped into the territory of the ghost world, how could the Lingwen Palace in heaven search for him in the human world?
The ghosts that Xie Lian had pulled away flew into a rage and began pulling him away again. One ghost tugged at the bandages on the boy's head, saying, "That little bastard is probably uglier than me. He's so afraid of having these things pulled off his face..."
Lang Qianqiu yelled angrily, "What are you doing!" He rushed over and threw those people away again. Shi Qingxuan had no time to stop him and could only slam his fan and said, "Qianqiu, you promised not to be impulsive again!"
Many people were now annoyed by Lang Qianqiu, cursing, "You're just another random guy!" and rushed towards him. Lang Qianqiu said, "Master Feng, I'm sorry, this is the last time!" Then he started to fight with them. Shi Qingxuan had no choice but to shout, "Hey! I won't go on patrol with you again!" Then, of course, he had to join the fight. Unfortunately, they couldn't cast spells and expose their spiritual light, so they could only punch and kick. A small group of people were beating the young man, but Xie Lian pulled them apart. He leaned over to help the young man up and said, "Are you okay?"
At the sound of the voice, the young man's shoulders trembled, and he shrank back to look at him. When he looked over, facing Xie Lian, he realized that the bandages wrapped around his face were completely stained with blood, a dark and red color that was truly terrifying. This appearance was even more terrifying than when they last parted. The two large eyes that peeked through the slits in the bandages were clearly black and white, and unusually clear. However, the reflection of Xie Lian in these dark eyes was filled with fear and timidity.
Xie Lian supported the young man's arm and said, "Come on, stand up. It's okay." But he suddenly screamed "Ah", pushed Xie Lian away, jumped up and ran away.
Because this young man had been immunized, he must have had a connection to Xianle Country. Xie Lian's heart was shaken at the sight of him, and his mind was inevitably a little dazed. He was caught off guard and pushed away, even his bamboo hat fell to the ground. He was startled and said, "Wait!"
Xie Lian was about to give chase when the same demons he'd just deflected returned to haunt him. The young man fled toward the long, bustling street. He ducked and dove among the demons, nearly disappearing. Ruo Xie couldn't pry out and capture him in such a place. Desperate, Xie Lian called out, "My lords, I leave this to you!" Ruo Xie swiftly appeared, whipping several demons toward the two men. He ducked, grabbed the bamboo hat, and dashed off in the direction the young man had fled.
He struggled to push his way through the streets, shouting, "Excuse me! Excuse me!" The young man, who had been hiding and dodging in the human world for years, was naturally adept at escaping. He could see his head, then his back, then disappear again, fading further and further away. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Xie Lian felt the street growing increasingly bustling in his direction, people and ghosts jostling each other, making the squeeze increasingly difficult. As he was giving chase, a huge wave of people suddenly emerged, completely separating him and the young man.
Seeing that little figure completely lost in the chaotic crowd, Xie Lian stood there in a daze, lost in thought.
Honestly, he didn't know how he felt. Was he disappointed that he hadn't caught her, or was he feeling like a nightmare was over.
Washed by the surging swarm of ghosts, Xie Lian remained motionless. After a while, he suddenly heard a strange song.
The singing was light, soft, and strangely charming, as if a group of women were flirting and playing while singing and dancing. Following the sound of the song, Xie Lian turned and saw that he had followed the young man to a magnificent building.
Both the heavens and the ghost worlds boasted magnificent architecture. However, while the magnificent buildings in the heavens were dignified and majestic, those in the ghost market were glamorous and frivolous. Even the three large characters "Jilefang" (Paradise Place) on these tall buildings exuded a demonic aura.
After hesitating for a moment, Xie Lian walked in.
The beaded curtain was lifted, and a warm, fragrant breeze blew towards him. Xie Lian tilted his head slightly, as if to avoid the lingering air. Then, he saw a large hall.
The hall was covered in a thick, snow-white carpet, made from the fur of some unknown animal. Many beautiful women, barefoot and draped in gauze gowns, stretched their bodies seductively, singing and dancing to their heart's content. The sound of their singing was theirs.
The group of girls spun with abandon, like countless thorny roses blooming in the night. As they passed before Xie Lian, they shot him a rather suggestive glance. If a late-night passerby were to witness this scene, who knows if they would be more horrified or more captivated. However, as Xie Lian scanned the hall, his gaze pierced through the group of girls. The first person he caught sight of was Hua Cheng, seated at the back of the hall.
At the end of the hall was a long couch made of black jade. It was extremely spacious and could accommodate more than ten people lying side by side, but there was only one person sitting on the couch, and that was Hua Cheng.
There were countless gorgeous girls from the ghost world singing and dancing in front of him, but Huacheng didn't even look at them. He just stared at what was in front of him with boredom.
Before him lay a small, glittering golden palace. At first glance, it looked like a celestial palace. A closer look revealed that the palace was constructed from delicate sheets of gold foil, and the piece he was absentmindedly toying with was also a piece of gold foil.
Building a palace out of gold foil. Xie Lian often played this game in the Xianle Palace when he was young. The fun of the game was actually no different from the ordinary children building houses with small stones. When he was young, he always liked to gather and not to separate. No matter what it was, once it was put together, he didn't want to separate it. Once it was made, he didn't want to destroy it. So he didn't allow anyone to touch anything he built. He wanted to paste it with glue so that it would never change. When he was younger, if he saw the small house he built collapsed, he would be so sad that he couldn't eat or sleep. He had to be comforted by his father and mother. Seeing this palace stacked up layer by layer, with about a hundred pieces of gold foil stacked up, trembling, it reminded people of a word: precarious. It seemed as if it would fall down with a breeze. Xie Lian couldn't help but say to himself: "Don't fall, don't fall."
Unexpectedly, after a while, Hua Cheng stared at the palace for a moment, then suddenly smiled brightly, stretched out a finger, and lightly flicked it above the small golden palace.
With a loud crash, the entire golden palace collapsed.
Gold foil scattered all over the floor. Having destroyed such a small golden palace, Hua Cheng's expression was somewhat delighted, like the joy of a child who had knocked over a toy building block.
He tossed the piece of gold foil he was playing with and jumped off the couch. The dancing girls quickly retreated to the sides, covering their mouths and not singing. Hua Cheng, stepping on the golden fragments, walked towards the door and said, "Brother, since you're here, why haven't you come forward? Could it be that after just a few days away, you've become estranged from Sanlang?"
After hearing this, Xie Lian lowered the beaded curtain and said, "Just now at the gambling house, Sanlang pretended not to know me."
Hua Cheng had already walked up to him and said, "Lang Qianqiu is here too. If I don't just pretend to be there, I'm afraid I'll cause trouble for my brother."
Xie Lian thought to himself, "That's certainly a perfunctory approach..."
He wasn't particularly surprised that Hua Cheng had figured out Lang Qianqiu's identity. Perhaps Hua Cheng also knew about Shi Qingxuan, who was among the ghosts. Xie Lian didn't try to hide anything, saying, "San Lang is still as knowledgeable as ever."
Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Of course. Brother, did you come to see me specially this time?"
“…”
If Xie Lian knew Hua Cheng was here, he would probably take advantage of a day off to visit him. However, that wasn't the case this time. Hua Cheng didn't even wait for his answer. He smiled and said, "Whether you came to see me or not, I'm happy."
Hearing this, Xie Lian was startled. Before he could say anything, he heard the girls on either side of him, covering their mouths, burst into giggles.
Hua Cheng tilted his head, and they all bowed their heads, leaving the palace empty in an instant. Only two people remained in the vast palace. Hua Cheng said, "Brother, come sit over here."
Xie Lian followed him, glancing at him and smiling, "Is this your true appearance?"
Hua Cheng paused slightly.
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