Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2(73)

Hua Cheng laughed out loud at his words.

“What’re you laughing at?” Feng Xin demanded.

“And here I was marveling at how straightforward you are, but it turns out you like to beat around the bush too,” Hua Cheng said. “You just don’t want His Highness to associate with the likes of demons and ghosts like me, so why not say so openly? Think it’s not your place?”

Xie Lian cleared his throat softly. “San Lang…”

“As long as you’re aware that he shouldn’t be associating with the likes of demons and ghosts,” Feng Xin said coldly.

Hua Cheng made no indication that he agreed or disagreed with that sentiment, and Xie Lian intercepted, responding to Feng Xin quietly.

“I will report in and give a proper account, but right now there are more important things at hand. Qi Rong had over three hundred humans hidden in his lair to feed upon. Thanks to San Lang’s help, they were all saved. There are currently a number of little ghosts left that still need to be taken care of. I will return to the heavens as soon as that’s done.”

“It won’t be good to take too long. Let me deal with this,” Feng Xin said.

Hua Cheng nodded. “Judging by heaven’s standards of efficiency, you’ll probably finish handling it by next month.”

“You say that as if you can handle it in an instant,” Feng Xin said.

The two clashed measure for measure. Shi Qingxuan used his eyes to ask Xie Lian: Did something happen between the two of them? But Xie Lian only shook his head. He was about to change the subject when Hua Cheng took out an umbrella from who knows where. The umbrella was crimson red like maple leaves, vivid like fire. Hua Cheng raised it with one hand and covered himself and Xie Lian, reflecting a blushing red on their cheeks.

This had to be the same umbrella that Hua Cheng used to shield them through the hanging corpse forest at Mount Yujun. However, it wasn’t raining at the moment, so Xie Lian was curious.

“San Lang, why did you open an umbrella?”

Hua Cheng looked at him and shifted the umbrella more to Xie Lian’s side, smiling cheerfully. “Just wait. The sky’s about to change.”

As soon as he spoke, it poured from the sky! The rain thundered down, flecking and flacking. It came so suddenly, Xie Lian was dumbfounded. However, he was properly covered under Hua Cheng’s umbrella, and not a single drop hit him.

Feng Xin was standing on the other side of the cave, however, and had not prepared at all. He was drenched head to toe by this rain. And the worst thing was, this rain was the color of blood.

Looking over, Feng Xin was now covered in blood and dripping; only his wide, bulging eyes were white, the rest of him red. Shi Qingxuan was conveniently standing in the interior of another cave so he wasn’t affected, but his eyes were also wide with shock; he even forgot to wave his whisk.

That pouring rain came suddenly and left equally suddenly, and soon enough, everything was quiet once more. It took Feng Xin some time to recover. He wiped at his face, but it was still smeared with red, his attempt useless.

“Wha…” Xie Lian’s mouth was agape.

Hua Cheng closed the umbrella and laughed. “An instant. How’s that?”

In the span of those four short words, he’d already taken a number of leisurely steps and was quite a distance away. Xie Lian was fumbling all through his sleeves looking for some rags, but instead, Shi Qingxuan plucked some white strands from his whisk and handed them to the deeply silent Feng Xin. The moment Hua Cheng left, Xie Lian immediately sensed the void behind him and turned around in a rush, running a few steps after him.

“San Lang, are you going back to Ghost City?”

Hua Cheng turned his head. “Aren’t you going back to the Heavenly Court?” He then added, half-jokingly, “But if you want to follow me back to Ghost City, you’re very welcome to.”

Xie Lian chuckled. “Next time,” he said sincerely. “Next time, if there’s a chance, I’ll definitely visit Ghost City again. I’ll help you lay bricks when you rebuild Paradise Manor.”

“No need to lay bricks. Just sitting there and watching would be fine,” Hua Cheng replied.

Xie Lian’s smile died a little. “This thing with Qianqiu—despite how it went down, I should still thank you.” He paused, then continued, “I don’t know what the right thing to do was, so maybe this wasn’t such a bad outcome.”

“You think too much,” Hua Cheng said lightly.

Xie Lian was slightly taken aback and tilted his head.

“Just focus on doing what you want to do,” Hua Cheng said.

After that, he turned around and waved his hand.

Soon after, from within the mountains and under the moonlight, that crimson silhouette slowly disappeared from Xie Lian’s sight.





Chapter 24:

In Search of the Past, Retracing Steps to Mount Taicang



FOR SOME REASON, Xie Lian was suddenly filled with courage again.

After Lang Qianqiu had left, Xie Lian’s steps had been hesitant, his shoulders slumped. But this courage came from nowhere, and it was hard to say where it would go; all Xie Lian knew was that it made him stand tall once more. He stood unmoving, and Shi Qingxuan approached, giving him a small pat on the back.

“What a guy. Your Highness, I don’t know how you managed to befriend him, but you’re very lucky.”