Separating Colours; Textile House Wide Open

It's the Half-Maquillage Woman!

The Half-Maquillage Woman was a vulgar monster formed by the jealousy of older women towards young girls. They couldn't accept their own aging, and were convinced that consuming the blood and flesh of young girls could bring back their youth. They enjoyed squeaking in high pitched voices, faking the sound of a young girl. However, as they say, "eyes are the windows to the soul"; old age was something they could not hide, no matter how hard they tried. While the more blood and flesh they consumed, the younger the bottom half of their face would appear, the upper half of the face that held the eyes would appear older, and the contrast of the face would become even more stark. Even then, they stubbornly refused to see the error of their ways.

Xie Lian emerged from the bath dripping, stepping a foot onto the edge of the water barrel, ready to leap to take her down. Yet it was like Quan Yizhen had returned from death; he shot up and slapped. That Half-Maquillage Woman really was too weak, and she was struck to the ground with a wailing cry.

"HAVE MERCY!"

In no hurry, Xie Lian grabbed for his cultivation robes, and casually draped them over himself. "So you're the one who stole the Brocade Immortal?"

The Half-Maquillage Woman immediately cried, "It's not me, it's not me! I wouldn't dare break into the Great Martial Temple!"

That was true, if he thought about it. Typical lower -ranked ghosts really didn't have the guts to break into Great Martial Temples so rashly; they'd be blown to smithereens for sure. Besides, this Half-Maquillage Woman probably had no connection to the Brocade Immortal; with a rough look, her ghost age was probably eighty-something, while that Brocade Immortal was said to be centuries old.

"Then where did you get your hands on this brocade robe?" Xie Lian questioned.

That Half- Maquillage Woman picked up her headscarf and covered the top half of her face anew, her voice shrieking high again, "To…to answer Daozhang! I…I picked it up in the Ghost City…"

"…"

Was that a thing? Picked it up from the Ghost City???

Xie Lian was speechless for a moment, then he questioned, "Then who was the one who sold the brocade robe to you?"

The Half-Maquillage Woman answered anxiously, "Daozhang! I beg you, please let me off the hook! I don't know, either. It's not like businesses in the Ghost City need to have their eighteen generations of ancestry checked!"

That was true, too. If starting a business in Ghost City required having eighteen generations of ancestry checked, it wouldn't be as bustling as it was now. Things could only thrive if there was room for loopholes.

Xie Lian interrogated for a while, but it was fruitless. After determining this Half -Maquillage Woman was no more than a little minion, he called, "Qi Ying, have one of your heavenly officials come collect this female ghost."

However, Quan Yizhen said, "No. I don't have any heavenly officials in my palace."

"Not even one?" Xie Lian asked. "You've never appointed any deputy generals?"

Quan Yizhen was confidently staunch in his answer, "Not a single one."

"…"

So, turns out this Martial God of the West was a lone wolf, and had never appointed anyone; not even a helper to manage the nitty-gritty. At least for Xie Lian, it was because he couldn't afford it. Quan Yizhen's situation could probably only be explained by his eccentric character. Without any other choice, Xie Lian could only fumble out a clay jar and seal that Half- Maquillage Woman away. Then, he took the brocade robe in Lang Ying's hands. When he shook it open to inspect it, however, his brows knitted slightly.

It certainly was wicked, but—what was the best way to describe it? In Xie Lian's opinion, its evil essence was too superficial; like it was nothing more than layers of cosmetic foundation, not emitted from within. Xie Lian's guts told him that this thing wasn't as dangerous as the legends said, but still he was high on guard.

Just then, Quan Yizhen took a glimpse at the robe and said, "It's fake."

Xie Lian was taken aback. "How do you know?"

"This robe is fake," Quan Yizhen said. "I've seen the real Brocade Immortal before. It's way more powerful than this."

Xie Lian was amazed. "When have you seen it? There's actually quite a number of people who've seen the Brocade Immortal before, but because it's hard to tell, how do you determine whether it's real or fake?"

But Quan Yizhen stopped talking. Coincidentally, Ling Wen reached out to him via the spiritual communication array just then. Her voice rang in his ear.

"Your Highness, we've just received information that there seemed to be a little ghost with the Brocade Immortal in hand who appeared about twenty miles away from your Puqi Shrine. We'll need to trouble you to go take a look."

"Another one? Alright," Xie Lian replied. Then he glanced at Quan Yizhen, and without making a sound, he asked within the array, "Oh, by the way, another thing. Ling Wen, has Qi Ying seen the Brocade Immortal before?"

"Qi Ying?" Ling Wen said. "He didn't just see it. It was much more than that."

"How do you mean?" Xie Lian asked.

"It's complicated," Ling Wen replied. "But has Your Highness ever heard? The martial god that ruled the west wasn't always the Palace of Qi Ying. It was the Palace of Yin Yu."

Xie Lian recalled that this was something the Wind Master had told him while he stripped back at the Paradise Manor that one time, and he couldn't help but feel his heart squeeze.

"I've heard this before. I heard the two Highnesses used to be a pair of shixiong and shidi?"

Turns out, before Yin Yu had ascended, he was the head disciple in their sect. One day, he saw a brash little street urchin, and in a moment of softheartedness, he asked the master to take him in. This little child was Quan Yizhen.

Disciples of the same generation, Yin Yu had always taken very good care of Quan Yizhen. He was the first to ascend, and he even appointed Quan Yizhen as a deputy general.

Ling Wen said, "You've met Qi Ying a few times, so you should know. He's a little bit…"

"Ignorant of the ways of the world? That's a good thing," Xie Lian said.

Ling Wen chuckled. "Good or not, it depends on the person and the situation. Some people think he's a selfish loose cannon; ignorant of manners, and doesn't give people the respect they deserve. The first few years when he first stepped into the Heavenly Court, if it wasn't for His Highness Yin Yu who shielded him, he'd probably have been beaten to death already by who knows how many people."

"Those two Highnesses must share a very good relationship then," Xie Lian mused.

"It was good at first," Ling Wen said. "But the sad thing was, later, Qi Ying himself ascended too."

Both ascended from the West, so what to do? Thus, the two agreed to rule the West together.

A pair of shixiong and shidi watching over a domain together sounded like a beautiful tale, yet, in the end, a mountain could not support two tigers.

If one was to say that Yin Yu's ability was enough for the heavens to send forth a Heavenly Calamity, a one in a million, then Quan Yizhen's ability was good enough to pass three Heavenly Calamities, and there might not even be one in a million who could possess this potential. It was alright at the beginning, it wasn't obvious, but the more time passed, the larger the skill gap was between the two. Quan Yizhen truly was asocial; not only did he ignore building relationships with fellow heavenly colleagues, he never tried to please his devotees either. In fact, other than Yin Yu, he didn't bother to remember the names of any other heavenly officials at all, and was even audacious enough to beat up his followers, telling them to go eat shit. He was as out of line as they came. Yet, his domain grew bigger and bigger, and his followers increased. In comparison, the Palace of Yin Yu was losing its shine, and finally became restless.

On their birthdays, this pair of shixiong and shidi would always gift each other presents. One year, on the day of Quan Yizhen's birthday, Yin Yu gifted him an impressive set of armour.

"…"

"The Brocade Immortal?" Xie Lian asked.

"That's right," Ling Wen said.

Not only could this Brocade Immortal suck blood and kill its wearer, it also had a wicked ability: whoever it was gifted to would obey any commands of the one who gave the gift. Since the two shixiong and shidi had maintained a good relationship, Quan Yizhen put on that armour without any second thoughts. Soon after, seemingly unintentionally, Yin Yu played a prank. Under the control of the Brocade Immortal, Quan Yizhen lost his mind and did what he was told. If it wasn't for Jun Wu, who noticed something amiss and stopped him in time, he would've cut off his own head and dribbled it like a ball.

"So, this incident was a huge deal at the time, quite the uproar," Ling Wen said. "To do something like harming a fellow heavenly colleague, as an esteemed heavenly official, Yin Yu was naturally banished immediately."

Which meant, after this, the two heavenly officials should've fallen out. However, Xie Lian recalled that silly play the worshippers of the Palace of Qi Ying put on during the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet. That clown who was jumping up and down behind Quan Yizhen's back was most likely Yin Yu; yet Quan Yizhen's reaction was rage, followed by him leaping down to beat up his own worshippers.

"I think Qi Ying still thinks very highly of His Highness Yin Yu. Was there maybe a misunderstanding in all this?"

"Who knows," Ling Wen said. "Whether or not there's a misunderstanding, the person in question has been banished for so many years now, so who's to care?"

Xie Lian nodded and was about to bid farewell when Ling Wen added, "Wait. Your Highness, there's more. I wasn't done earlier. Sixty miles out from your Puqi Shrine, there is also an unknown creature with the Brocade Immortal in hand."

"…Isn't that a little too far? Why are there more?" Xie Lian asked.

"I'm not done," Ling Wen said. "Listen well, there's more: forty-two miles out northwest, fifteen miles out southeast, twenty-two miles out north…"

After reporting twenty -seven to twenty-eight locations in one breath, Ling Wen finally finished, "Yeah. That's about it for now."

By the time she was done reporting, Xie Lian had forgotten everything, and was feeling rather woeful. "Your palace is quite efficient this time, huh. But, 'for now'? Are you saying there might be more…? Could the Ghost City be distributing the Brocade Immortal?"

"Most likely," Ling Wen replied. "There are many peddlers with unknown origins in the Ghost City who often sell counterfeits with fake skins. Once they're done selling fakes, they change skins, so connoisseurs usually won't buy anything randomly. Still, there are nonetheless ghosts who consider it like digging for antiques; thinking maybe they'd hit the jackpot this time. Now that the Brocade Immortal was stolen, many small- time vendors in the ghost realm received the news and are using this chance to deceive buyers, saying any random robe they found is the Brocade Immortal. What's incredible is that there are still many ghosts who fall for it, and try it out on people. It's really given those of us who gather information a lot of headaches."

This was completely messing up their search for the real Brocade Immortal; with so many "Brocade Immortals" popping up everywhere, who knew which one was the real one?

However, since they took on the mission, they had to come up with a way to complete it.

"I guess, let's start with the closest one, and search one by one," Xie Lian said.

Xie Lian didn't have any spiritual powers, Quan Yizhen didn't know how to draw the Distance-Shortening array, and neither of the two had deputy officials. But, fortunately, of the locations Ling Wen reported on, the closest to them was only five miles out; it was an abandoned textile house. Without further ado, they hastily departed in the middle of the night.

At first, Xie Lian was going to make Lang Ying stay back at Puqi Shrine, but he tagged along himself and refused to be ushered back. Since this trip shouldn't be too dangerous and could help grow Lang Ying's experience, thinking he was going to teach Lang Ying cultivation anyway, Xie Lian brought him along.

The three hurried on their way in the night. Suddenly, ahead of them on the road came creepy voices chanting a work song.

"YI YU XI! YI YU XI!"

Hearing that familiar work song, Xie Lian stopped in his step. Ahead in the mist, the giant contour of a shadow gradually emerged, along with those four haunting ghost fires floating about. Quan Yizhen was about to make a move, ready to beat it down first before asking questions, but Xie Lian pulled him back.

"Don't worry. I know them."

Sure enough, four golden skeletons carrying a step- litter appeared before the three. Quan Yizhen had never seen anything so magical before, and his eyes widened; bright and shimmering.

That head skeleton sang, "Is this Your Highness the Crown Prince of Xianle?"

"It is. May I help you?" Xie Lian answered.

The golden skeleton sang, "Nothing, nothing, only, we brothers have time on our hands and wanted to inquire if His Highness the Crown Prince is in a hurry, perhaps we can help give you a ride?"

The journey wasn't long, so Xie Lian wanted to decline. But Quan Yizhen cut in and exclaimed "YES!", and was already climbing on enthusiastically, looking like he really wanted to give this strange but glamorous step- litter a try. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and went up to grab him when suddenly, that step-litter tipped, forcefully tossing Quan Yizhen off of it. Xie Lian was going to fall back too, but was steadied by someone.

He blurted, "San…" but when he looked back, it was Lang Ying, who had climbed on without anyone noticing. He was holding onto Xie Lian's arm tightly, a pair of inky black eyes watching him, silent and wordless.

The skeletons hastily picked up the step-litter, their eight legs spinning like four sets of fire wheels, dashing away steadily while shouting.

"Move, move! Don't block the way, don't block the way!"

Quan Yizhen was heartlessly thrown onto the ground, but he jumped to his feet, appearing not to have given up yet. He was ready to leap up, but those skeletons were too fast, and he was always a step behind. He ended up in hot pursuit right behind, looking like he really, really, wanted to ride the step-litter to get a feel for it. Watching him chase after so vigorously, Xie Lian, who was riding the step-litter, couldn't help but feel this was a little mean, like he was bullying a child.

Although he knew this step- litter belonged to Hua Cheng and he might not appreciate letting other heavenly officials ride it, still he couldn't help but ask, "Um…can't this litter take three people?"

The skeletons sang, "It can't, it can't! It can only seat two people!"

They ran like fire wheels the entire way, and Quan Yizhen chased them the entire way. Once at their destination, the golden skeletons dropped Xie Lian and Lang Ying off, then picked up the step-litter and disappeared from sight. Quan Yizhen was never able to board the vehicle in the end, and was extremely disappointed, watching that step-litter disappear longingly.

Xie Lian stepped off the litter holding Lang Ying's hand. He heard ahead of them loud cries and wails, and they all came from that abandoned Textile House. Xie Lian was puzzled. Didn't they say this textile house was abandoned?

They walked closer and those wailing voices became clearer:

"THIS LOWLY ONE WON'T EVER DARE TO SELL COUNTERFEITS ON OL' HUA CHENGZHU'S TERRITORY AGAIN!"

"WE REALLY WON'T DARE TO ANYMORE! BUT, PLEASE TELL THE GOOD OL' CHENGZHU THAT I ALSO GOT THOSE FAKE BROCADE IMMORTALS FROM THE DISTRIBUTION OF OTHER GHOSTS! I'M A VICTIM TOO!!!"

The three came before the textile house and bumped into a black-clad, ghost-masked man who had only just emerged from within, seeming to have been waiting for a long time.

He inclined his head slightly and greeted, "Your Highness."

This voice belonged to that ghost officer who had once helped Xie Lian catch Lang Ying and brought him to Paradise Manor. And at the time, Xie Lian had seen a cursed shackle on his wrist.