Suddenly, Xie Lian's eyes widened.
He had never been treated like this before in his life. No one dared, no one could. But this person, like a ghost, appeared so quickly that he had no time to prepare, and he was now in this predicament. Flustered, he tried to push the person away, but choked on his saliva, and bubbles like crystal beads gurgled from his mouth. This was a big no-no underwater. Then, the person tightened his grip around his waist, pressing their bodies closer. Xie Lian's pushing hand was pinned against his chest, unable to move. His lips were sealed, the kiss deepened, and a gentle, icy air slowly passed over him. Bewildered and resigned, Xie Lian took in the person's features. It was Hua Cheng.
The moment he realized it was Huacheng, he stopped struggling. A multitude of random, inappropriate thoughts popped up in his mind, such as: It's Huacheng, no wonder he's so cold. Ghosts don't need to breathe, yet they can still breathe for him. But won't ghosts sink?
At this moment, Huacheng suddenly opened his eyes.
The moment Xie Lian met those close black eyes, he froze again, struggling and thrashing like a clumsy duck trying to drown. But Hua Cheng easily neutralized his thrashing. He grasped Xie Lian's waist and quickly floated upward. Soon after, the two of them suddenly broke free!
The bottom of the water was icy cold, and the air was chilly, but at this moment, Xie Lian's whole body was burning hot. As soon as he surfaced, he wanted to turn his head away, but the black smoke that was glaring at him was still shrouding the water. When it saw someone coming out, it immediately locked onto them. Xie Lian had just turned his head a little, but Hua Cheng grabbed the back of his head and pulled him back. Their lips hadn't even separated for a moment when they were pressed tightly together again. Xie Lian's lips were so painful and numb from the kiss that he almost lost consciousness. If it was anyone else, he would have stabbed him with a sword long ago, but this person was Hua Cheng. He had no idea what to do and was forced to the point of tears. At this moment, looking over Hua Cheng's face, he saw thousands of silver butterflies breaking out of the water around the two of them!
With a sharp whistling sound, the rain of butterflies shot out from beneath the water like a dense stream of steel bullets. Their wings reflected a cold, razor-sharp light, instantly slicing the child spirit, causing it to scream repeatedly. The black smoke dissipated, and it fled in all directions. However, the overwhelming butterfly formation locked it in the center, unable to break through even with all its might. Without even raising his eyes, Hua Cheng embraced Xie Lian and dived into the water again. After a while, their lips finally parted.
As they separated, Xie Lian blew out another stream of bubbles, while Hua Cheng freed a hand and threw a dice. The dice spun incredibly fast in the water, creating a violent current before finally settling. In a moment, the two of them resurfaced.
This time, the shore wasn't far away, so Hua Cheng swam over with Xie Lian. It was unclear where this shore was, but there were lights and voices, seemingly near and far. Behind them, a cloud of black smoke soared into the sky, carrying a butterfly formation, towards the faint lights. Only the child spirit was left behind, crying out in agony, "Mother—!!!..."
The two of them reached the shore and sat down heavily on the ground. Face to face, Xie Lian finally got a clear look at Hua Cheng standing across from them.
In reality, they had only not seen each other for a few days, but Xie Lian felt as if they had not seen each other for ages. Hua Cheng looked different every time they met, and this time he seemed to be a year or two older than last time. His face was already handsome, and it was even more dazzling when he was out of water. His hair was extremely black, his skin was extremely white, and a very thin strand of hair on the right side of his cheek was tied into a small braid, and a red thread was carefully braided into it. This was the first time Xie Lian noticed that he had a small widow's peak above his forehead, which made his face look more delicate and beautiful. And the eye covered by the black brought a few traces of murderous aura, diluting this delicacy and making his handsomeness reach a nearly perfect balance.
Hua Cheng frowned, as if trying to hold back. He panted a few times and then spoke in a voice that was noticeably lower than usual. "Your Highness, I..."
From the tips of his hair to his body, Xie Lian was dripping with water. His lips were red and swollen, his eyes were blank, and he was stunned for a long moment before he stammered, "I... I... I..."
He said "I" countless times before he suddenly blurted out, "I'm a little hungry."
Hearing this, Hua Cheng was stunned.
Xie Lian hadn’t recovered from his shock yet, and he stammered, “No. I… I… I’m a little sleepy…”
He turned over, his back to Hua Cheng, and landed on his hands and knees, groping slowly as if looking for something. Hua Cheng said from behind him, "What are you looking for?"
Xie Lian simply didn't dare look at him, speaking incoherently, "I'm looking for something. I'm looking for my bamboo hat. Where's my bamboo hat?"
Anyone else witnessing this scene would surely scream, "It's over! I'm a fool!" In reality, Xie Lian had never experienced anything like this before, and the shock was too great for him to handle. He walked a few steps on his hands and knees, his back to Hua Cheng, muttering, "...I, I can't find it. I need to leave. I need to go home for dinner... I need to collect scrap..."
“…”
Hua Cheng said, "I'm sorry."
Noticing his voice approaching from behind, Xie Lian jumped up and shouted, "I'm leaving!"
He cried out like he was crying for help. Hua Cheng said, "No!"
Xie Lian hurried to run, but after a few steps, his foot slipped and he fell back to the ground. Looking back, he saw blood all over the ground. The needle in his foot had completely penetrated. Hua Cheng grabbed his ankle, his tone changed, and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Xie Lian quickly pulled his foot back and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. I don’t feel any pain at all. It’s okay!”
Hua Cheng said angrily, "How could it not hurt?" As he spoke, his hands moved, actually trying to remove his boots. This frightened Xie Lian so much that he crawled forward, shouting, "No, no, no, no, no!"
He tried to crawl forward, but Hua Cheng grabbed him and stopped him. The chaos finally alerted the others on the shore. There was a clamor of gongs and drums, ghostly howls, and a horde of unidentified creatures gathered around, shouting, "How dare you! Who are you? Don't you know where this is? Are you tired of living or do you want to die again? Oh...oh my god, isn't this the City Lord?!"
The ghosts immediately shouted in unison: "Hello, Lord City Master!"
Xie Lian screamed inwardly, wishing he could cover his face with his hands. This was actually a ghost market!
Many of the ghosts were the same ones he'd glanced at briefly the previous time, and Xie Lian even spotted a familiar pig's head. The two of them, dripping wet, were surrounded by countless people and ghosts, with Hua Cheng still clutching one of his ankles and refusing to let go. This powerful scene finally sobered him up a bit. Unexpectedly, when the ghosts saw that one of them was Hua Cheng, they became even more excited, shouting, "City Lord! Are you planning to rape me? Do you need help? We'll hold you down!"
Hua Chengdao: "Get lost!"
The ghosts immediately rushed off in a flurry. But even if they were watching from afar, not daring to get close, Xie Lian wanted to get over it, because Hua Cheng had already stood up, bent down, gently picked him up, and walked calmly towards the shore.
Xie Lian was still wearing women's clothing. Fortunately, the pillow was no longer in his stomach, otherwise the scene would have been even more terrifying. However, this terrifying moment finally brought him back to his senses. He struggled a few times in Hua Cheng's arms, but couldn't break free. He coughed softly and said, "...Sanlang, I'm sorry. I lost my composure a little bit just now, and I made you laugh."
What had just happened was a profound blow to him. Let's call it a "shock," after all, it was a first. But it wasn't just because it was a first. Over the centuries, there had been beautiful female ghosts who had seduced him naked, but Xie Lian had never been so humiliated. He could only conclude that the Imperial Master had only taught him how to defend himself against women, not men. He was inexperienced, and that was why he was caught off guard.
Thinking back on his previous reaction, Xie Lian blushed slightly, feeling a bit overly aggressive. He thought Sanlang had good intentions, but he'd been so frightened that it was truly disrespectful to the person helping him. But then Huacheng said, "That's not the case. I was just messing around. I've offended you, brother. Sanlang should apologize."
Seeing that he didn't mind, Xie Lian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The situation was urgent at the time, and you were just helping out. It wasn't a big deal. By the way," he said, still remembering what he was doing, "Sanlang, why did you suddenly appear again? Where's Tong Ling?"
Hua Cheng said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "Heal the wound first."
As they were talking, they had arrived in front of a magnificent building. Xie Lian looked up and saw the words "Jilefang" written on the building.
He was astonished. Could the burned-down Paradise have been repaired so quickly? And it looked exactly the same as before. But he felt guilty and didn't dare ask. Hua Cheng carried him inside and onto the black jade couch. Xie Lian sat on it, while he half-knelt beneath it, supporting Xie Lian's injured foot and examining the small, blood-stained hole beneath.
This posture made Xie Lian very uneasy. He said, "No!" and was about to get down, but Hua Cheng pushed him back down and quickly and steadily took off his boots and socks.
This kick happened to be the one Xie Lian had locked in the cursed shackle. The deep black circle locked on the white ankle created a stark contrast. Hua Cheng's gaze lingered on the softly curved ankle for only a moment, then he placed his palm on the injured area of Xie Lian and said, "It might hurt a little, brother, don't hold it in. If it hurts, just scream."
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