Separating Colours; Textile House Wide Open 2

The Wind Master once told him that this person was probably Yin Yu, since there were only a handful of heavenly officials who had been banished in recent years.

Thus, Xie Lian asked, "How do I address you, good sir?"

That ghost masked man replied, "Please, Your Highness. I'm nothing more than a nameless servant."

Entering that abandoned textile house, Xie Lian was taken aback. There were all kinds of clothing hung on racks upon racks of wooden stacks: wedding robes, government attire, ladies' satin, uniforms, children's clothes…there were also very simple and vulgar bloody hemp shirts, as if they were afraid people couldn't tell they were wicked. Piles and piles, layers and layers, haunting and eerie; heavy in the essence of evil, like each and every one was a live corpse standing. Even if they weren't the Brocade Immortal, they certainly wouldn't be anything good.

Long fabrics of various dyes hung high upon the stacks; some pale white, some filthy. It had been a long time since anyone had minded them. Quan Yizhen was squatting next to a large black barrel of dye with his head poked in, inspecting the dyes inside; the fluid had a funny colour and emitted a strange smell. Xie Lian was afraid that, at any second, he was going to dip his finger in and lick it to test. He hastily dragged him away. Outside in the yard, there was a band of ghosts and monsters all bound by a single iron chain, crouching and hugging their heads.

Xie Lian wondered, "What…?"

That ghost masked man answered, "The monsters and ghosts that had been selling the Brocade Immortal in the Ghost City and elsewhere are all here. A total of ninety-eight pieces of clothing have been collected."

Ninety-eight pieces. And they were all caught in a very short period of time. Xie Lian was slightly touched.

The ghost masked man continued, "If there are any new strange movements, we will also capture them for Your Highness with the utmost haste."

Hearing this, Xie Lian couldn't help but say, "There's no need. Please tell San…Hua Chengzhu that there's really no need to trouble him like this. I can do this myself, too."

The result would be the same, it would just take a little more time and energy, that's all. He was a titled heavenly official working for the heavens, after all; even if there weren't many worshippers, he still had a job to do.

That ghost masked man replied, "Naturally, Chengzhu understands that Your Highness is capable of doing this effortlessly. But this is also precisely why he hopes My Lord won't waste energy on small errands that anyone can do. Your Highness' time and effort should be spent on more important matters."

"…" Xie Lian hesitated, but in the end, he still asked, "May I ask how your Chengzhu is doing right now…?"

Lang Ying was nonchalantly swaying about next to Xie Lian. That ghost masked man replied, "Chengzhu is very busy at the moment."

Xie Lian quickly replied, "Oh. Then that's good. Hopefully everything goes well for him. I wish him success."

They questioned every single ghost and demon that were bound, and each and every one was adamant that their product had been distributed to them by a mysterious masked person. They didn't seem to be lying. But in a place like the Ghost City, how many hundreds of masked individuals roamed the streets in a day?

The interrogation was fruitless. And so, that ghost masked man pulled on that chain, and bid farewell as he led those yapping ghosts away. However, those ninety-eight pieces of ghost clothing were left behind. Xie Lian felt that, in all his time collecting scraps and old clothing, he had never seen so many clothes. Flipping through them, he suspected that, most likely, not a single one was the real thing.

He said to Quan Yizhen, "Qi Ying, why don't you come and take a look?"

However, Quan Yizhen only ruffled his loose, curly hair, and shook his head. "Too many."

Too many ghost robes. Every single piece of cloth emitted the essence of evil, affecting all the other clothes, and making one lose the ability to judge.

This situation was akin to someone who possessed a sharp sense of taste. Although they could differentiate between the flavours of pear and apple candied stuffings, if ninety- eight different kinds of fruity stuffings were mixed together and presented to the person to try, they would lose their sense of taste completely. Xie Lian was trying to think of another method, but when he turned his head around to look, he saw Quan Yizhen had picked up a robe and was just about to pull it onto his person directly. Xie Lian hastily stopped him and hung the robe back onto the rack.

"Stop, stop, stop. Qi Ying, let's agree on this: first, don't put random things in your mouth, and second, don't put on random clothes. These are both very dangerous actions."

However, Quan Yizhen pointed behind him. "Then what about him?"

Xie Lian suddenly smelled something burning, and he followed the direction of where Quan Yizhen was pointing to look. He saw Lang Ying had found some stick from a random corner and lit it on fire. He was holding that flaming stick and setting the hem of a ghost robe ablaze, looking serenely stoic.

"…Don't…play with fire, either???" Xie Lian exclaimed.

That ghost robe seemed to be in pain from the burning. The hem started rolling upwards, twisting like mad, trying to get away; looking more like a live eel than a piece of clothing, and painting a rather cruel picture. Yet, although there was the smell of burning, there was no trace of the fabric being burnt at all. It appeared that the essence of evil on those ghost robes had soaked in enough for them to escape fire disasters.

Hearing Xie Lian telling him not to play with fire, Lang Ying tossed that fire stick down and stepped on it to put out the flames, looking every bit obedient again. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and he walked over.

"Why are you so…today?"

He stopped mid-sentence, and his expression suddenly became serious.

He saw, not far away, a long and flowy white fabric that was hung high up on a wooden rack, gently fluttering in the night breeze. Upon the fabric was the shadow of a human figure, and it was slowly moving. This figure did not have a head.

Xie Lian pulled Lang Ying behind him and immediately unsheathed his sword. "EVERYONE, WATCH OUT!"

The swing of the sword cut the fabric and the shadow in half. However, when the fabric landed on the ground, there was not a single soul behind it; the headless shadow had disappeared. Xie Lian hadn't had the chance to rush up to check before something behind him made him shudder. He whipped his head around and his pupils shrank. Somehow, a beautifully-dressed woman had soundlessly appeared behind him.

No! It wasn't a woman, it was a robe!

What he cut in half just now was also a robe, and once it fell to the ground, it was covered by other textiles. From all around, suddenly, there were a bunch of humanoid figures emerging, swaying and rocking slowly, gathering around the three of them. Turns out, all ninety-eight pieces of ghost robes that were hung in the yard, in the hallways, within the entire textile house, had all struggled free of the racks!

Xie Lian was dumbfounded. "They were all fine before, what's going on?"

Beside him came a low voice, "The arousal of millions of ghosts."

Xie Lian turned his head to look, and the one who spoke was Lang Ying. Although he didn't show any nervousness, his veins were popping on the back of his pale hands. He was very obviously being affected by something as well.

Another wave of demonic arousal! The closer to the day Mount Tong'lu opened its gates, the stronger its tremors in the ears of ghosts became to remind them. The first thing Xie Lian thought of was: how is San Lang?

However, the current situation didn't give him much time to think. While his mind was spinning rapidly, twenty or so ghost robes had already pressed over. Quan Yizhen didn't blink or think before his fist swung out. If this fist landed on the wall or the ground, then surely the earth would move, the mountains shake, boulders and ground crack. But this thousand-ton fist was beaten on some clothes. Consider: even children know in "Rock, Paper, Cloth", that cloth wraps rock. That lightly-flowing, soft and supple cloth was perfect for subduing fists! No matter how hard his fists, that fabric could just wrap around it softly and incur no damage; only Xie Lian's sword could do anything. However, those ghost robes were light in their evasion, a simple spring back could bring several feet between them. Since they barely had any weight, there was practically no sound or breath, so detecting their movements to avoid their ambush was much more difficult compared to avoiding humans.

Usually, it was people who picked clothes. Now, it was clothes picking people. Those ninety-eight ghost robes were eagerly searching for a body that fit them, a person they fancied. Amongst people, it was women who loved picking clothes; amongst ghost robes, it was women's clothes who loved picking people. Some ten or so different-coloured and styled long ladies' dresses crazily pressed themselves against Xie Lian, and even the sword couldn't force them away. This battle was even more rigorous than a group of women who had seen a pretty robe they fancied and began to fight over it. In that moment, it was as if Xie Lian was surrounded by blooming flowers and silk, squeezed between those female robes, being pulled from all directions.

Quan Yizhen pulled off several pieces of children's clothing that were stubbornly trying to lower themselves over his head and tossed them aside. Looking at Xie Lian, puzzled, he wondered, "How come those women's clothes all like you?"

"Maybe because they think I look friendlier???" Xie Lian answered.

However, not a single ghost robe went to harass Lang Ying. Perhaps it was because he was also a ghost, and they knew they couldn't siphon anything beneficial off of him, so they didn't approach. Xie Lian swung his sword horizontally and sliced a number of ladies' dresses, but the ghost robes that were cut in half still moved as they willed, and somehow were even more agile in dodging. Xie Lian saw, from the corner of his eye, several ghost robes sneaking towards the window.

He shouted, "CLOSE THE DOOR, CAST AN ARRAY! DON'T LET THEM OUT!"

With two gods and one ghost, they could deal with the situation. But if those ghost robes snuck out to seek trouble with others, then it would be troublesome. However, his shout seemed to be too late. The yard of the textile house was open-air, and there was already a long robe fluttering its expansive sleeves. It flew into the air like a giant bat, jetting into the night sky.

Xie Lian groaned 'What a pain!' mentally, and shouted, "Qi Ying! I'll leave the textile house to you!"

Then, he tipped his foot and leapt off the wall, catching the hem of that long ghost robe.

With the added weight of an entire person, that long robe tried to flutter its sleeves as hard as it could, but to no avail. It plummeted to the ground, with Xie Lian still holding its hem in a deadly grip. However, it was exceedingly cunning, and RIIIPPP!—it tore off its own corner like a warrior chopping off his own arm, and it hastily slipped away from Xie Lian's hands. It just so happened that a passerby was on his way home after a night of drinking, and seeing a headless creature flying at him, he screamed from fright.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH A HEADLESS GHOST! IT'S HEADLESS!"

Xie Lian immediately charged over and seized that robe again to show it to that passerby, comforting him. "Don't be scared, don't be scared! See! It's not headless, it has nothing!"

That passerby looked, and sure enough, it was completely empty inside the folds of that robe, nothing! This was definitely more horrifying than a headless ghost, and his eyes rolled back, fainting on the spot. Xie Lian quickly caught him and gently laid him on the ground.

"So sorry! I'll take care of this immediately."

After that wave of chaos was over, Xie Lian finally was able to seize all the ghost robes that flew out of the textile house. He counted all of them, making sure not a single piece was missing, before letting out a sigh of relief.

With things thus, Xie Lian said, "I suppose we can only use Qi Ying's simple, crude method. Let's try each of these robes on and see."

He didn't mind trying them on himself, but it was harder to say for his two other partners. If he did actually put on the Brocade Immortal, who knew if they would be able to deal with any accidents that might happen? In the end, it was decided he would stand watch while the other two dressed.

Thus, both Lang Ying and Quan Yizhen peeled off their outer robes and started trying on one robe after the other. With every new robe, Xie Lian would give out simple commands, like "jump" or "spin around", to see if they would obey.

However, after trying on every single one of the ninety-eight robes, both trying on forty to fifty of them apiece, there didn't seem to be any strange reactions. It appeared that in this pile of ghost robes, not a single one was the Brocade Immortal, and they worked all night for nothing.

Lang Ying and Quan Yizhen squatted on the ground in their single layer, while Xie Lian sat atop a mound piled high with all sorts of clothes.

Supporting his forehead with his hand, Xie Lian mumbled, "There really is no value in buying fakes…"

After sitting there for a while, he went to seek Ling Wen in the communication array.

"Ling Wen, I've collected some ghost robes here. Even though the real Brocade Immortal is probably not in this pile, they're still rather evil; a little troublesome to deal with. Can you send someone down to take them away?"

"Acknowledged. I'll coordinate it immediately. How many pieces have you gathered?" Ling Wen answered.

"Ninety-eight pieces," Xie Lian replied.

"…" Ling Wen remarked. "Your Highness truly is a capable man, having collected more than what I reported to you."

Xie Lian softly cleared his throat. "It actually wasn't me…"

But before he finished his sentence, there was another familiar chill that ran down his spine. Xie Lian shuddered and looked up.

In front of him, upon a number of light and flowy white clothes was the black shadow of a human silhouette.

This time, it wasn't headless, nor was it fluttering. The one standing behind those long curtain-like fabrics was very much a man. It was easy to see that it was a very tall young man, and even disheveled strands of hair could be clearly seen on the edge of that silhouette.