The boss was surprised and asked, "Ah? That one? Taoist priest, are you sure?"
Xie Lian said confidently, “Yes, that’s it!”
With that, he rushed forward, grabbed the dress, and carrying Hua Cheng, he rushed to the back of the shop and slipped behind the curtains. This shop was quite daring, with a novel idea: a small changing room where customers could try on clothes on the spot. Everyone was stunned. A moment later, a Taoist priest in gorgeous clothes passed by the shop entrance, mumbling and rubbing his forehead as he walked. He was followed by a group of fierce-looking and bizarre monks and Taoist priests. Seeing the crowds of people gathered in the shop, they exclaimed in dissatisfaction, "What are you looking at?!"
"Oh, forget it, let's go, I want to go to the toilet again!"
"Wait, Brother Tianyan, there are a lot of people here, why not ask them if they saw anything?"
"Ladies, have you seen a Taoist priest in white, carrying a child with a bandaged face, passing by here?"
Everyone was silent, but some glanced involuntarily toward the back room of the shop. The monks and Taoists wore alarmed expressions, gesturing, "Go and have a look!" Tianyankai strode in, holding his breath, and slowly approached the curtain. A moment later, he suddenly pulled it open, triggering a scream.
There was a woman sitting behind the curtain, her long black hair was tied into a loose bun, her neck was slender and fair, and she wore a black collar about the width of a finger and a very thin silver chain. Her clothes were half removed, revealing her snow-white shoulders and half of her vest, which made people blush and their hearts beat fast.
After the curtain was drawn, the woman shuddered, covering her face with her sleeves and letting out a soft cry, as if frightened by such abrupt and reckless behavior. Tianyankai suddenly lowered the curtain and said, "Yes, yes, yes, I'm so sorry!!!"
Following the opening of his Heavenly Eyes, a group of monks and Taoists followed and shouted, "What a sin, what a sin!" They all covered their eyes. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the "woman" turned around abruptly. Who else could it be but Xie Lian? Hua Cheng was sitting in his arms, but was blocked by his body. Although Xie Lian was a man and his shoulders were broader than those of an ordinary woman, he only pulled down half of his clothes, revealing just the right amount, with a very good effect. Xie Lian put his arm around Hua Cheng with one hand and lifted the hem of his skirt with the other, and ran away quickly through the group of monks and Taoists who were covering their eyes and shouting. The owner of the clothing store and the girls were all stunned. Seeing him run away, the owner wanted to reach out to stop him, but he opened his mouth, looked down at the piece of gold foil, and thought it would be more than enough to buy two more pieces. He shrugged and didn't care.
Xie Lian carried Hua Cheng as he ran, leaving a trail of dust. The passersby, blurred by, could only see a "woman" clutching a child, hurtling past, as agile and swift as a cheetah. The dust kicked up in the air, making them cough repeatedly. It was simply unbelievable. A street vendor, covered in dust, cursed, "Are you kidding me?"
Xie Lian took a moment out of his busy schedule to turn around and apologize loudly, "I made a mistake! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" At this moment, he heard a frantic cry from behind him, "Stop—!!!"
Looking back, he saw the group of people rushing out of the clothing store. Xie Lian thought to himself, "I wonder what the person shouting 'Stop' from behind is thinking at a time like this? I know the person being shouted at won't stop. Better to focus, hold your breath, and run as fast as you can!" He immediately lowered his head and ran even faster. Such a huge group of people rushed by, raising a cloud of dust. This time, the snack vendor couldn't even curse. He was so angry that he threw the pot and said, "God damn it, are you going to let me do business?"
After two hours of chasing, the monks and Taoists, who had been shouting and chasing, were running out of breath and running slower and slower. Xie Lian, however, who had extensive experience in escaping, remained silent and persevered to the end. After completely shaking off the pursuers, he set Hua Cheng aside and stood by the road, panting. Hua Cheng held his shoulders and said in a deep voice, "Don't breathe too fast, or you'll get hurt."
Xie Lian looked up and saw Hua Cheng’s brows slightly furrowed, but his face still had a childlike expression. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “Haha, hahahaha… Ouch!”
He laughed so hard that his ribs suddenly ached. He clutched his chest. Seeing Hua Cheng's expression change slightly, he waved his hand and said, "It's okay... Hey, is there an inn over there?"
Indeed, not far ahead, in the gloomy blue night, a warm yellow light shone from an inn, seemingly guiding passersby. Xie Lian straightened up and said, "Let's go in and rest our feet."
Hua Cheng said: "Okay."
Xie Lian then took his hand and walked forward, one foot deep and one foot shallow. When he reached the inn, Xie Lian realized that the inn, with two floors, was much more spacious and splendid than it looked from afar. The door was closed. Xie Lian raised his hand, knocked gently, and said, "Is anyone here?"
After a while, someone inside shouted, "Here we come!"
After a moment, the door opened and several waiters came up to greet him with smiles on their faces, saying, "Sir..."
He wanted to call the guest "Master", but when he saw that the guest was wearing women's clothing, he changed his words and said, "This lady..."
Before she could finish her words, Xie Lian, holding Hua Cheng's hand, slowly emerged from the darkness. Carrying a child, she looked like she wasn't an unmarried woman. She changed her words again, "This husband..."
The "person" in "Madam" was still on his lips when Xie Lian's face was illuminated by the yellow light from the shop. Although this person was dressed in women's clothing and had a gentle expression, honestly speaking, this face looked more like a man. The waiters were speechless for a moment, and after a long while, they honestly returned to the original address: "Sir, please come in."
Xie Lian nodded with a smile. He was now incredibly adept at getting dressed in any outfit, feeling no discomfort, mental or physical. He brought Hua Cheng with him, stepped through the low threshold, and found a seat in the corner of the lobby. The inn was empty except for a few waiters. Upon their arrival, the waiters immediately closed the door and gathered around, all beaming with smiles. It was these smiles that made Xie Lian feel slightly uncomfortable.
He took the menu and said, "It's really not easy to find an inn in the wilderness."
The waiter also said, "Isn't it? It's not easy to get customers in the wilderness!"
For some reason, even though they were all smiling, their smiles seemed painted on, completely fake. Xie Lian remained calm, flipping through the menu and ordering a few dishes. The waiters then went down to the kitchen, giggling and ordering someone to cook.
Hua Cheng played with his chopsticks and said, "Brother, we've entered a shady shop run by demons and monsters."
Xie Lian said, “Yeah.”
If it weren't strange, in such a remote place, having a small one-story inn with one or two waiters would be a big deal. How could there be so many waiters and such a spacious store?
Of course, this wasn't strong evidence. The main reason was that as soon as Xie Lian entered the store, he smelled a strong, fresh smell of blood.
The scent of blood might be imperceptible to most people, but to Xie Lian, with his keen senses and extensive experience, it was too strong to ignore. Xie Lian said, "There's someone else on the second floor. I heard footsteps. I wonder if they're also here to stay."
If so, they must be rescued. The two sat opposite each other, talking in low voices for a long time. Finally, the waiters brought the food and said, "Here it comes!"
Xie Lian was about to speak when he caught a glimpse of movement outside. He immediately stood up and said, "Shopkeeper, we need to go inside to rest. Could you please bring the food upstairs?"
“Okay, okay!”
Xie Lian held Hua Cheng's hand with one hand, and expertly lifted her skirt with the other as they went upstairs. He turned around and said, "Oh, by the way, if anyone asks if they've seen us, please just say no."
“Okay, okay!”
Xie Lian hurried upstairs. Shortly after he reached the top, he heard someone banging on the door and shouting, “Open the door, open the door!”
The guys opened the door with smiles on their faces. In rushed the group of monks and Taoist priests that Tianyankai had been pursuing relentlessly!
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng had already entered their room on the second floor and closed the door behind them. They heard someone enter the inn and shout, "Outhouse, outhouse, outhouse!" They ran over, and someone else called out, "Boss! Is there any water?"
Seeing so many people coming at once, the guys said happily, "Yes, yes, wait a moment, they're coming!"
Tianyan opened his eyes and said, "Oh, I'm almost drunk! This is absurd! That 'Jade Purity Pill' is truly a deadly poison. I've only drunk twenty cups. When will I be able to drink the full ninety-nine and eighty-one cups?"
“…”
Xie Lian hadn't expected these monks and Taoists to be so sincere. If they were asked to drink ninety-nine and eighty-one cups, they would actually do so. One monk even said, "Amitabha, I've already drunk twenty-five cups. I have to say, the antidote is quite effective. I do feel much better now."
Hearing this, Xie Lian was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He fumbled around, trying to find a crack or hole to peek through. He saw Hua Cheng half-crouching on the ground to one side, saying, "Brother, look here."
Xie Lian also squatted down and looked at the place he pointed at. He saw nothing unusual and asked, "What's going on here?"
Hua Cheng suddenly poked his finger downwards, and a small hole suddenly appeared in the hard ground, letting in a ray of yellow light. He said, "Here, we can see now."
“…”
Xie Lian leaned down and peered through the hole. Everyone sat down around the long table in the center of the hall. Tianyan slammed the table and said, "Hmph! We were careless this time. Next time we see that sinister Taoist priest, we will never give him a chance. We must capture the Hua-Hua-Hua City Lord in one fell swoop and enforce justice on behalf of Heaven!"
Xie Lian whispered, "Sanlang, how on earth did you offend them?"
Before Hua Cheng could answer, someone asked on Xie Lian's behalf, "Oh, by the way, I haven't asked yet, why did you come to capture the Ghost King? What's your grudge against him?"
So, everyone started a critical exchange meeting:
"It's truly abominable! Twenty years ago, there was a village where a pig spirit went berserk and pushed down the owner's house, causing it to collapse and kill the entire family. The pig escaped to the ghost market. I had just started my business at the time, so I went to take it, but was beaten out by a group of ghosts with sticks. It was a huge humiliation. He even sent his men to tell me there was no reason you could eat a pig's entire family, that the pig couldn't kill your entire family in revenge. If it didn't take revenge, you were lucky, but if it did, you deserved it. Tell me, how can such a perverse logic exist in the world!"
"What a coincidence! Our sect has a similar situation, but it's all because of a chicken spirit."
"It's very simple. He specifically ordered the destruction of the priests we worship, so he burns down as many temples as we build. It's so infuriating! It's so unreasonable."
"And more. You all know my senior brother, he's a genius with a bright future! But he has a small flaw: he's obsessed with women. More than ten years ago, a prostitute ghost seduced my senior brother and sucked him dry. Hua, Hua, the Ghost King actually protected her."
While the criticisms below were fervent, Hua Cheng, above, looked completely bored, not even offering a mocking smile. At this moment, the Heavenly Eye spoke, "I seem to have heard of your senior brother. Isn't he the one who, under the guise of performing rituals, raped several married women and was imprisoned for three months before being released?"
“Cough cough cough!”
Just at this moment, the waiters brought the dishes over, and everyone hurriedly said, "The dishes are here, the dishes are here, come, come, come, Brother Tianyan, stop talking and come and eat."
Xie Lian stood up and glanced at the dishes the waiters had brought to the table. Hua Cheng said, "No need to look. They'll fall apart as soon as you put them in your mouth."
Xie Lian whispered, “This is going to be trouble.”
Although this group of monks and Taoists were nagging and extremely annoying, they couldn't let them get stuck in this strange and shady shop, but they couldn't warn them either. At this time, Tianyan said, "Wait a minute!"
He stared at the dishes, stopping the others, his gaze sharp. Xie Lian secretly praised him, "He really has some skills!"
Everyone asked, "What happened to Brother Tianyan?"
Tianyankai stretched out a finger, wiped the edge of the plate, raised the finger high, and said angrily: "I wiped it with just one finger, and there was so much oil! How can you do business if you can't even wash the dishes clean?!"
“…”
Xie Lian thought he'd noticed something, but it turned out to be something else entirely. Although he was speechless, the conclusion was the same. As soon as he said this, everyone started to exclaim, "Oh my god! What's this? It's so sticky and drool-like... Wait! There's hair in this dish!"
Someone put their chopsticks in and stirred a few times, and sure enough, they stirred up a few black hairs. Everyone said, "Oh my god, what's going on in your kitchen? Who is in there?"
The waiter rubbed his hands and smiled, "Well... we recently slaughtered a few pigs, so it might be pig bristles!"
However, the chopsticks held those few strands of black hair, pulling them longer and longer, and said, "There are pig bristles this long? Is your boss lady washing her hair in the kitchen?"
"Why don't you retreat and redo it!"
The waiter hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, we will do it again immediately. Drink some water, sirs."
Xie Lian thought to himself, “Even drinking water won’t work. There must be something in that water!”
But the fellow had not yet gone down, and when the water was at their mouths, the Heavenly Eye opened and said again, "Come back!"
The waiter came back and said with an apologetic smile, "Master, do you have any other instructions?"
The Sky Eye opened and said, "Let me ask you, have you seen a strange-looking woman with a child passing by?"
He did ask. Xie Lian thought to himself, "Luckily I told him not to tell him ahead of time." But just as he was thinking this, he heard the man say without hesitation, "Oh, yes!"
Xie Lian: “???”
Everyone was shocked. They put down their water and asked in a low voice, "Where is it?"
The guy also lowered his voice and said, "It's upstairs!"
Everyone immediately became alert, their eyes raised in unison. Xie Lian quickly blocked the black hole that Hua Cheng had poked out with his finger. A moment later, there was a rustling sound, as if a group of people were coming upstairs. Xie Lian quietly approached the door and listened to the footsteps. It was the guy leading the group of people, sneaking over. He was holding Hua Cheng in his left hand, holding a sword in his right hand, and Ruo Xie was guarding him. He was fully armed and on high alert, but he heard the footsteps passing by his door and going deep into the corridor. He felt strange and went to the door. He looked out through the crack and saw that the group of people had actually passed this room and were blocking the door of another room.
There seemed to be someone in the room. A faint light shone through the paper window, reflecting the black silhouette of a woman sitting at the table.
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