Chapter 96: Mind in Disarray but Say Not the Tender Heart is Too (Part 2)
"I..." Xie Lian said.
Before he finished his sentence, he felt Hua Cheng squeezed with a bit of force, a series of pain crawled up his leg, and he couldn't help but shrink back.
Although Hua Cheng's strength was already extremely controlled and this little bit of pain was nothing to Xie Lian, but for some reason, in front of him, Xie Lian seemed to be unable to hide away his pain. Maybe it was because of what Hua Cheng told him beforehand and he tried too hard to hold back and it backfired on him.
Sensing Xie Lian shrinking back, Hua Cheng instantly held his ankle tighter and reassured with a soft voice, "Don't worry. It'll be over soon. Don't be scared."
Xie Lian shook his head, but Hua Cheng's hands had become even gentler, his hand operating speedily, and when he raised it again, that tiny little needle was already extracted. "Alright, it's done."
Xie Lian focused his eyes and saw the tip of that needle was glistening with vicious poison. Hua Cheng closed his five fingers and crushed it easily into a small waft of black gas, dissipating into the air. Seeing this, Xie Lian put aside all his discomfort and commented soberly, "What heavy air of grudge. A typical fetus spirit shouldn't have spiritual power this strong."
Hua Cheng stood up, "You're right. So, this fetus spirit must not be from a normal miscarriage."
Just then, a masked man entered with his head down, a clay pot presented with both his hands, and he handed it to Hua Cheng. Xie Lian unconsciously checked to see if that man's wrist still carried that cursed shackle, but this time the man's sleeves were tied down fully and completely.
Hua Cheng took the pot with one hand and glanced at it, then turned around to pass it to the Xie Lian sitting on the black jaded divan. Xie Lian hadn't yet reached over and the muffled sound of a child crying could be heard from within, and it seemed something was madly knocking about, making the clay pot shake, unable to remain standing up, so he became more cautious.
When he took that clay pot, he peeled up a small corner of the seal and peeked in, and could feel a sense of dreadful cold rush up his spine.
Inside the pot laid a puddle of something like a fetus. Although both the arms and legs were grown out, they were weak and powerless, and the head remained obscured in the shadows. All in all, it was no more than a lump of twisted organ.
This was its true form!
Xie Lian immediately resealed the pot and said, "I see."
He once heard that there were those who would search for pregnant women who hadn't yet reached term, and they would cruelly cut out the children from the women's wombs, transforming the fetuses into little demons to perform spells, urging them to do harm, either to protect the castor or for the protection of a dwelling and luck. By the sight of this, that fetus spirit was no doubt the product of such an evil spell, and its mother might very well have been Xie Lian's worshipper once, otherwise there wouldn't be his protection charm tucked in the clothes of that child yet born.
Xie Lian hummed then said, "This fetus spirit was captured by you, but would San Lang mind if I take it back with me to investigate? Because I've already bumped into it once before at Mount YuJun, and since this was the second time it's appeared before me, I don't know if it's mere coincidence or if there's some kind of a connection."
"If you want to take it, then just take it." Hua Cheng said, "Even if I didn't appear you would've still captured it."
Xie Lian chuckled, "Be that as it may, San Lang still caught it so effortlessly, much more so than if I was to try."
It was an offhand comment, but Hua Cheng remarked, "Is that right? And if I didn't appear, how did you plan on capturing it? Eat it into your stomach then swallow the sword too?"
"..."
He had actually hit it right on the mark.
There wasn't any trace of displeasure on Hua Cheng's face, but Xie Lian somehow felt maybe Hua Cheng was a little mad.
Instincts told him that if he didn't answer right, Hua Cheng would become angrier. Just as he was thinking of a response, he suddenly felt his stomach shrink slightly, and without thinking, Xie Lian said, "...I'm a little hungry."
"..."
It was only after the words had left his lips did Xie Lian realize what he had said. Too embarrassed to see the reaction on Hua Cheng's face, Xie Lian explained himself honestly, "This time it's true..."
A moment later Hua Cheng finally "pfft"-ed and laughed out loud.
Once he laughed, it was as if all of Xie Lian's gloomy clouds dispersed, and he sighed a breath of relief. Hua Cheng on the other hand, was half laughing, half sighing, and nodded his head, "Alright."
Hua Cheng had wanted to keep him and set out a feast at Paradise Manor, but when Xie Lian heard "set out a feast" he knew it'd be too big of a deal, and suggested instead that the two go out for a stroll and find something to eat at the same time. Hua Cheng agreed to it.
It was quite warm within Paradise Manor, and while the two entered dripping wet, they were both dried soon after. However, Xie Lian's dress in women's attire was awfully conspicuous, so he still borrowed a set of clothes from Hua Cheng, changing back into clean, white robes.
Afterwards, the two set out, and even after having walked for quite a distance the wailing of that fetus spirit could still be heard, the cries of "mom" ringing in the air, demonstrating its dogged tenacity. However, there were already howls and wails of demons and ghosts all over the Ghost City, and so its cries were drowned within, not the least bit noticeable.
The main street of the Ghost City was bustling as always, and either side of the street were stalls selling exotic foods. Although the demons and ghosts remained the same ones, their attitudes towards Xie Lian were completely different than the last time he wandered. Hua Cheng walked next to him, shoulder to shoulder, and the bizarre looking stall owners all came out to greet them with smiles, fighting each other to welcome them into their abode, bowing almost halfway, reminding Xie Lian of a random idiom: The fox assuming the power of the tiger*.
Other than paying respects to Hua Cheng, there were hundreds and thousands of eyes watching Xie Lian with heated eyes, as if judging and conjecturing. Just who was he to be able to walk shoulder to shoulder with the Lord of the Ghost City? This made Xie Lian wonder if maybe he made another wrong decision. To be positioned in the flowing current of monsters and demons, before the eyes of millions, Hua Cheng seemed to be quite at home, and he asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Finally seeing a stall that was selling something that wasn't that weird, Xie Lian wanted to end things quickly and said, "This one's fine."
However, Hua Cheng said, "Not this one."
"Why?" Xie Lian was curious.
Hua Cheng didn't say a word, but gestured for him to look inside. Xie Lian took a look, and when the stall owner saw them stopping before him, he rubbed his hands in excitement as if waiting to welcome them in, nervously wiping the tables, chairs, and benches vigorously. However, what he was using to clean the furniture was his tongue.
"..."
Although the bowls and cutleries were dripping with shimmering beads of water after having been licked by that wide and long tongue, reflecting a shine that made them look brand new, still Xie Lian decided to abandon that stall resolutely, and hurried away.
After a few steps, he saw another stall; a chicken soup shop that appeared cleanly put together, the sign in front of the door said "Home raised chicken, slow cooked broth. Made fresh, guaranteed clean". Xie Lian stopped, "Oh, chicken soup. How about a bowl?"
Hua Cheng, however, said again, "Not this one either."
Xie Lian blinked, "Is it a problem with the plates or is it with the chicken?"
Hua Cheng brought him into the shop, pulled aside a set of curtains, and gestured for Xie Lian to look. Curious, Xie Lian poked his head in, and immediately became speechless. Inside the kitchen was an enormous pot, a roaring fire beneath it, and steam rolled out of it.
Inside the pot was a large man with a bright red cockscomb on his head and he was simmering in the boiling waters happily taking a bath. Next to the pot were many buckets and they contained salt, pepper, herbs, and other such seasonings. In the shop front a customer yelled, "BOSS, ADD MORE SALT TO THE SOUP! IT'S TOO PLAIN!"
As he bathed, that man grabbed a large handful of seasoning and smeared it on himself, rubbing them hard into his body with a towel, increasing the flavour. Then, he let out a long crow: "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"
Xie Lian dropped the curtains and silently walked out.
After making a large round, the two finally found a shop, its specialty being "Authentic Delicacies of the Mortal Realm". Although, Xie Lian was suspicious of just how 'authentic' it was. For example, as far as he knew, mortal chefs wouldn't use the meat of large, hard-to-hunt monsters to make skewers. Nonetheless, in comparison, this shop was the most normal.
The moment the two sat down, the crowd of ghosts who had been following behind immediately approached and surrounded them, attentively soliciting to add more dishes to their meal. That hog butcher carried with him a thick, white human leg, slapping at it soundly, and cried with a rough voice, "MY LORD! DO YOU WANT FRESH THIGHS?! THIS JUST CAME IN!"
The crowd yelled at him, "GET OUTTA HERE! D'YA THINK THE LORD'S FRIEND WOULD EAT THAT SHIT? YA TAKIN' HIM FOR THE GREEN GHOST? MAYBE YER OWN THIGHS WOULD BE MORE EDIBLE!"
"WHAT A STRONG STENCH OF BLOOD! YER DISGUSTING PEOPLE!"
That hog actually raised one of his pig legs and shouted, "IF MY LORD AND MY LORD'S FRIEND LIKE IT, MY OL' LEG IS NOTHING, I'LL BUTCHER IT! LEMME TELL YOU, MEAT ON MY OL' FLESH IS DEFINITELY FULL OF FLAVOUR!"
Xie Lian couldn't help but smile and ate his porridge with his head down. Hua Cheng ignored them pointedly, so that crowd of ghosts and demons fervently tried to push their goods unto Xie Lian, blabbering:
"Street food specialty: brain juice! Brains of monsters specially picked, each one with cultivation of over fifty years! Smell this delicious fragrance, my good sir!"
"This duck blood pudding is really good, quack! Look, quack! It's freshly cut from me own flesh, quack! Won't you give it a try, quack!"
"Our fruits are authentic fresh fruits of graveyards, we don't pick the ones grown on dead bodies, it's true, not a word of lie..."
Mountains and mountains of food were given, so much that Xie Lian was having trouble seeing all of it, and he thanked them endlessly. He didn't want to put down this wave of fervent affection, but at the same time, so much of those exotic street foods were really hard to accept, and in the mess of things, he saw Hua Cheng sitting there, his hand supporting his cheek, watching him with a big smile. Xie Lian looked around him, cleared his throat, then whispered in a small voice, "...San Lang..."
Only then did Hua Cheng speak up, "There's no need to mind them, gege. They're only overly excited because there's a guest."
A ghost immediately said, "MY LORD, DON'T SAY THAT! IT AIN'T LIKE WE GET EXCITED OVER JUST ANYONE! IF THE LORD IS OUR GRAND DADDY, THEN THE LORD'S GEGE IS OUR GRAND UNCLE*..."
"YEA! OF COURSE WE GOTTA GET EXCITED WHEN GRAND UNCLE COMES AROUND!"
Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, wondering whatever the heck were they even saying, and Hua Cheng too, shouted, "Stop that nonsense! Shut up!" The crowd of ghosts hurriedly acquiesced, "YES SIR! MY LORD IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. WE'RE SHUTTING UP. IT'S NOT GRAND UNCLE!"
Just then, unexpectedly, a few of the female ghosts who had been giggling on the side finally couldn't hold back anymore, and called out, "Hey! You... weren't you that daozhang gege who told Lan Chang you couldn't get it up?"
"..."
Xie Lian almost spat out his mouthful of porridge on the spot.
It was like that crowd of ghosts had discovered a major secret and they exploded, "HOLY SHIT! YOU'RE RIGHT!"
"IT'S HIM IT'S HIM IT'S HIM! LAN CHANG WAS GOING AROUND TELLING EVERYONE!"
The smarter ghosts were hastily smothering the mouths of those chattering ghosts, however, Hua Cheng had no doubt heard. Xie Lian peeked up and saw Hua Cheng cocking an eyebrow, watching him with an unreadable eye, as if trying to make sense of what "get it up" had to do with Xie Lian.
Originally, that was the excuse Xie Lian had used when that female ghost had been clinging onto him, and even though he was made fun of by the crowd at the time, he could face it like it was nothing. Yet now that it had been thrusted in front of Hua Cheng, Xie Lian couldn't endure it, wishing desperately he could just choke himself to death with a mouthful of porridge.
"I..." Xie Lian started.
Hua Cheng seemed to be waiting patiently for him to continue, but how could something like this possibly be explained? Was he really going to argue with a straight face that he was not, in fact, impotent?
Xie Lian finished lamely, "...I'm full."
That wasn't a lie, he really was full, so he stood up immediately and hurried out of the stall. Behind him, that crowd of ghosts carried their mountains of delicacies and exotic dishes howling nonstop, "MY, MY LORD! YER NOT GONNA EAT ANYMORE?!"
Hua Cheng ran after him too but took a spare moment to look back and ordered again, "Scram!"
That crowd of ghosts hastily scrammed again. Ahead, Xie Lian walked randomly, but seeing that those ghosts and demons didn't follow, he slowed his pace to wait for Hua Cheng. It didn't take long before Hua Cheng came forward with his hands clasped behind him, speaking in a serious voice, "I hadn't known gege has such an unspeakable affliction?"
Xie Lian immediately cried, "I DON'T!"
Then he lamented woefully, "...San Lang."
Hua Cheng nodded, "Very well. San Lang understands. I won't speak another word on the subject."
He put on the face of one extremely good and obedient, but very obviously faking it. Xie Lian remarked, "You're so insincere."
Hua Cheng laughed, "I promise, you will not find another person who is more sincere than me in this world."
Hearing that familiar response, Xie Lian laughed too.
A moment later, he asked in a sobering voice, "San Lang, do you know where Qiandeng Temple is?" _____________________________________________________________________________________
●[狐假虎威] 'The Fox Assuming the Power of the Tiger' - one who is weak appearing to be strong only because they're next to someone powerful.
●The Chinese have a very strict hierarchy by age, and addressing another by a title older than one's own generation is meant as a form of respect since one is lowering one's own status. The ghosts here are saying whatever in order to please Hua Cheng and his friend, it has nothing to do with Hua Cheng's actual age.
Conversely, Qi Rong addressing himself as 'This ancestor' is him shamelessly raising his own self importance.