CHAPTER 40

At the Paradise Manor ;

Question of Xian Le

•••

Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination, but Hua Cheng's shoulder seemed to freeze for a moment. The moment did not last long, and Hua Cheng casually replied, " I did say that when we meet at the next meeting I will greet you with my true appearance."

Xie Lian grinned. He tapped the young man's shoulder and said solemnly, " Not bad."

Xie Lian's tone of voice also sounds so relaxed, nothing more, nothing less, and very simple. Hua Cheng smiled back at him, and this time he seemed more relaxed. They took a few more steps and Xie Lian suddenly remembered something important to be confirmed with Hua Cheng, and he then removed the necklace made of silver chains around his neck.

" By the way," said Xie Lian, " Have you left this?"

Hua Cheng glanced at the ring and smiled,

" That ring is for you."

" What is that?" Xie Lian asked.

" That is not important." Hua Cheng replied,

" Keep it for fun."

Even though that's what he said, but Xie Lian knew that this object was not something so trivial. " Then thank you, San Lang."

Seeing that Xie Lian put the ring necklace around his neck again, Hua Cheng's eyes seemed to be filled with such bright sparkles. Xie Lian looked around and said, " Earlier when at the Gambling House you had said that you would come here, to the Heaven Manor and I thought that place was like a brothel or a red light district, but apparently this place looks more like a theater?"

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows, " Gege, what are you saying? I never went to the red light district."

Xie Lian looked so impressed, " Really?"

" Of course." Hua Cheng answered.

Both of them approached the black bed and both of them sat next to each other. Hua Cheng continued, " This is nothing but a place where I will renovate here and there, a kind of place to stay. I will come and relax here when I have free time. If I am busy then I will leave it as is."

" So, this is your home," commented Xie Lian.

" Residence." Hua Cheng corrected, " Not home."

" Is there a difference?" Xie Lian asked.

" Of course," Hua Cheng replied, " A house has a family in it. There a place where someone lives alone is not home."

Hearing this, Xie Lian's heart looked like it was being squeezed. By that definition, this means that it has been more than eight hundred years since he owned a 'home'. And it's been eight hundred years that he hasn't come home. Even though Hua Cheng did not have a trace of loneliness on his face, Xie Lian thought they might be the same. Hua Cheng continued, " If it's at home, then even a small place like Pu Qi Temple will be millions of times better than my Heaven's Manor."

Xie Lian agreed and smiled, " I didn't realize that San Lang looked so sentimental like this. But to make a comparison using my Pu Qi Temple, you really pulled my foot here."

Hua Cheng laughed, " What makes you ashamed? To be honest, even though the Pu Qi Temple belongs to a small gege, it is much more comfortable than my Heaven's Manor. That place is much more lively like home."

" Is that so?" Xie Lian said in such a warm tone,

" Then, in the future, come whenever you want. The door of the Pu Qi Temple will always be open for you."

Hua Cheng's face lit up, " Because you said that, I will gladly accept your offer. Never think that I will be annoying in the future."

" Impossible." Xie Lian replied. " By the way, San Lang, I want to ask for your help, but I don't know if you have time?"

" What is wrong?" Hua Cheng asked, " This is my territory. You only ask, and I will answer it "

After some thought, Xie Lian said, " Before, when I was dealing with the case at Mount Yu Jun, I met a child who might be from my kingdom."

Hua Cheng blinked slowly at the word 'comes' and didn't say a word. Xie Lian continued,

" I didn't handle this problem well before, and scared him. After that I asked for a search but until now there hasn't been any results. Before when I was running around the back alley of Ghost Town, I thought I had met again with that child. San Lang, you are the lord of this region. Is there a way you can help me find it? His face looks wrapped in bandages, and has just escaped from the front of the Heaven's Manor. "

Hua Cheng was silent, and then stood up to say something in such a low voice, he looked away from his face, as if he was communicating with someone. A moment later he sat down again and smiled, " Done. Just wait."

Because Hua Cheng is the ruler who oversees this Ghost City, it will be much more comfortable and easier for him to act. Xie Lian sighed in relief, " Really, thanks again."

" This is nothing," Hua Cheng answered.

" But this means you left Lang Qian Qiu just like that?"

If Lang Qian Qiu was there, someone who would say all things directly and have a short mind, it would be difficult to predict what nonsense would come out of his mouth and restart a problem who would know what kind of problem it was. Maybe they should meet later, Xie Lian thought. " His Highness Tai Hua has caused you trouble before at the Gambling House. Sorry about that."

Hua Cheng flashed an arrogant smile and said, " What are you saying? That's not a problem at all."

" The things that he has destroyed ..." Xie Lian began to say that and immediately Hua Cheng laughed, " For the sake of gege I will delete his account and forget it. He can do whatever he wants as long as he doesn't show his face in front of me."

Xie Lian now looked so curious, and asked, " You don't care if there are heavenly officials playing around about your territory?" Could it be that Hua Cheng really had no fear at all?

Hua Cheng smiled, " Of course you might not know about this, but gege, the three realms have stated that the Ghost City is a place filled with great corruption, demonic chaos, but in reality, everyone wants to come to this place. So much heavenly officials who pretend to not care and speak ill of this place, but behind everyone, they often come in disguise and do business that can't be said, I've seen too many events like that, if they don't cause trouble then I don't care, and if they do, it's even better, because they're the first to disturb and create chaos. "

" His Holiness Tai Hua is basically like that, so when he sees such a round of betting, he must stop it and cannot resist the urge to get involved and cause trouble," Xie Lian explained.

" That's because he has so little experience," Hua Cheng said clearly. " To choose between letting yourself live longer for ten years and cutting your enemy's life shorter for ten years and then choosing the latter, that is the basis of human hatred." He snorted and crossed his arms, " Even an idiot like Lang Qian Qiu can ascend, heaven is truly blind."

"..."

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead with a slightly guilty feeling, thinking, 'You can't say it like that, after all, someone who collects rubbish like me can also go up ..'

After looking so hesitant, Xie Lian spoke again,

" San Lang, maybe I can't say this, but I still have to say it. Gambling house is dangerous, don't you ever think that someday maybe that place will be able to destroy you?"

A place that allows someone to risk their sons and daughters and even the lives of all people, even to death, is very sinful. Forget about the few fights that might occur. If one day the bet cannot be controlled, heaven will not be able to sit still and close their eyes. There will be times when they act. Hua Cheng looked at him, " Your Majesty. Have you ever asked Lang Qian Qiu why he acted so hastily before?"

Xie Lian was a little surprised, didn't really understand the meaning of the question. Hua Cheng continued, " I'm sure he would have told you that if he didn't do it, nobody else would."

" You're right," said Xie Lian, " That's what he said."

" I'm the opposite." Hua Cheng said. " If I don't control a place like this, then someone else will control it. I would prefer if that person was me."

Xie Lian understood when it was time for him to stop and give up and then he nodded,

" I understand."

It seemed that even though Hua Cheng was a sentimental person, he also paid attention to the arrangement and strength more than what Xie Lian realized. Hua Cheng continued, " Even so, I thank the GeGe for your attention."

At that moment, Xie Lian heard a voice coming from the door. A young man said, " My lord, I have found the boy wrapped in bandages."

Xie Lian looked towards the front door and saw that it was Officer XiaXianYue from before who at that time was bending right behind the beaded curtain. And what was on his arm was none other than the tattered looking boy.

Hua Cheng never looked at him and said, " Bring him in."

The young man in black took the child inside and gently laid him on the floor. Xie Lian could not help but peek at the officer's wrist once more to see if there were indeed damned fetters there, but he bent down, quickly he returned to his feet after delivering the boy. Because there were things that were more important to Xie Lian at that time, he then bent down and sat down next to the boy wrapped in bandages and immediately calmed him down, " Don't be afraid. What happened last time was my fault, I won't do it again."

The boy's eyes seemed to widen and filled with fear and confusion, but after running away many times, he no longer had the energy to run back. He peeked at where Xie Lian was, then peeked at the small table on the bed made of black jade. Xie Lian followed his line of sight and saw that he was watching a plate of delicious fruit on the lap table.

The boy must have been hiding for too long and haven't eaten at all. Xie Lian turned towards Hua Cheng and before he said anything, Hua Cheng gestured, " Do whatever you want, no need to ask me."

It was not the time to be polite, so Xie Lian then thanked him and grabbed the plate of fruit before giving it to the boy. The boy took the plate from Xie Lian and began to put the fruit in his mouth.

It seemed he had been starving for days, and was very hungry. Even when Xie Lian was in his worst condition and was so starving like a stray dog, he never put food in his mouth like this. He did not know what to say, and only said softly,

" Slow down."

After a pause, he tried to ask again, " What's your name?"

The boy whispered and murmured while he was still eating his food, as if trying to say something but couldn't do it clearly.

" He may not have talked for years and forgot how to talk." Hua Cheng said.

Indeed, it seemed that this boy did not say much, even to Xiao Ying, and had been like this for a long time. Xie Lian sighed, " We can do this slowly."

At that time, all the fruit on the plate had been eaten. Seeing that the bandage looked wet with dried blood, covered in black and red spots, Xie Lian said softly, " Your face is hurt and looks worse. Let me see it."

Hearing those words, fear immediately enveloped the boy's eyes. However, after Xie Lian calmed and encouraged him, he resumed sitting there obediently.

Xie Lian then approached him and sat down beside him and then seemed to take out a bottle of medicinal powder from his sleeve, ready to take off the dirty bandages when Hua Cheng intercepted him, " Let me do it."

Xie Lian shook his head and moved his hand slowly, opening the bandage wrapped in indiscriminate from the boy's head.

As he had expected, even though the boy's face was a mess, all the scary little human faces had disappeared, with only large patches of bright red.

Last time when they met at Yu Jun Mountain, there was a burn that covered his face but not much blood at that time. This boy must have used a knife to cut the human faces from his own face and leave all the scars there.

Xie Lian's hands seemed to tremble slowly as he rubbed the medicine over the boy's wounds. Hua Cheng grabbed his wrist and said again, " Let me do it."

Xie Lian shook his head again and gently pulled his hand, and said in a low voice, " No. Let me do this myself."

Eight hundred years ago in the kingdom of Xian Le, many who had contracted this disease, without any other means, all chose the path of mutilating themselves. It is truly like hell on earth. Some people will lose their purpose and decide to cut where they shouldn't be and then end up dying from blood loss. Some people, even if they succeed in removing the little human faces on their faces, they will never recover from the wounds.

When Xie Lian wrapped and wrapped a new bandage around the boy's head, he realized that his face was really quite handsome, his nose straight and smooth, his eyes were so black and clear; he should be a handsome young man if it were not for this terrible disease. He was like many others who had it before himself; even if he cut off a human's face that was so disturbing from his own face, his face would forever become a nightmare, unable to recover as before.

Xie Lian finally finished wrapping and wrapping a new bandage and asked in a trembling voice,

" Are you from Xian Le?"

The boy turned to look at him with his big eyes, and Xie Lian repeated his question several times but he only shook his head. Xie Lian then asked, " Then where are you from, more precisely?"

The boy answered with a lot of struggle ".. Yong ... An."

This kid is from Yong An!

Xie Lian felt his vision darken, and he said,

" Have you ever met ... The Faceless White?"

White Faceless / White Disaster. The origin of the plague. The symbol of state misfortune and destruction.

The Devil who belongs to the 'Great' group often wears snow-white funeral clothes, and carries a Spirit Calling cloth flag in his hand, and wears a Smile Crying mask on his face. This mask is called by that name because half of the mask shows a smiling face, and the other half cries; joined together, it's hard to say whether the wearer is smiling or crying. If he is seen somewhere , it means that that place will soon be destroyed, and the world will fall into chaos.

Xie Lian can remember clearly the first time he met White No-Face. At that time he was standing at the top of the highest tower of Xian Le palace, his face covered with dust and tears, looking so blank and confused as he looked down at the direction where his kingdom was. In his blurred vision, there was a white silhouette between the corpse fields outside the fortress walls, his broad sleeves fluttering, clearly and distinctly different. Xie Lian lowered his head to look at him, and the white apparition also raised his head to look towards Xie Lian, and waved to him directly.

The Weeping Smile Mask was a nightmare for Xie Lian who could not be driven out of his memory even after hundreds of years.

The purpose behind the request was to make Hua Cheng the real culprit behind the chaos in the Small Road Inside Ban Yue! If Ban Yue is brought to heavenly court to be interrogated, then the end result will be very different.

Xie Lian gave a small smile, " General Pei, even if you don't believe me, you still have to trust the Wind Master. Recalling what happened in the Sinner Hole, General Pei Little has acknowledged the crime by luring people who pass through the Small Road in In Ban Yue with his imitation, and the Wind Master has heard everything. "

Pei Ming glanced at the white clothed cultivator before.

Xie Lian continued, " Besides, since we are both here precisely in the Great Martial Hall, you can well ask His Majesty whether I really have a trace of a deception spell."

All heavenly officials looked towards Jun Wu. The Great God's expression remained calm and completely unchanged, meaning Xie Lian was clean. Thus, heavenly officials are now turning their gaze back to the two. Xie Lian continued,

" General Pei, let's keep everything clear and separate. Don't talk about whether the young man who was with me while I was on the trip was Hua Cheng or not, and even if he was confirmed as Hua Cheng, it had nothing to do with what Little Pei General has done. "

His expression seemed calm and neutral when the name was spoken, but many people in the hall seemed to shiver with cold. Pei Ming watched him steadily and suddenly grinned. He would argue and Xie Lian was ready to fight when Jun Wu spoke, " That's enough."

As he spoke, Pei Ming stopped his dispute and then bowed.

Jun Wu spoke wearily, " Because Pei Su has confessed his crime and his confession is no different from Ke Mo's confession, the problem of the Small Road Inside Ban Yue has been resolved."

After a moment of silence, Pei Ming admitted,

" Yes, my lord."

Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief, but Pei Ming continued, " But Nan Yang and Xuan Zhen have proven that the wound on the empty shell was indeed inflicted by E-Ming's sword."

" That is another matter." Jun Wu answered.

" Pray to His Majesty will examine this matter." said Pei Ming.

" I will naturally investigate. Ming Guan and the other gods need not worry." After a long pause, Jun Wu continued, " All of you are disbanded and welcome to leave for today. Xian Le, you stay."

It looks like Xie Lian will be interrogated privately. If that's the case then Pei Ming doesn't have anything else to say. Xie Lian was also speechless, and bowed his head, " Yes, my lord."

After being dissolved, other heavenly officials came out in groups of two or three people. When Feng Xin passed him, he glanced at Xie Lian as if he wanted to say something, but then stopped his own intentions. Xie Lian smiled at him and he was shocked before rushing off. However, on the other side Mu Qin walked by passing without looking or glancing at him, as if Xie Lian had never been there. The white clothed cultivator walked with a horse tail whip in his arm and a big smile ready to speak when Pei Ming, in one hand rubbed his nose, also walked and said helplessly, " Qing Xuan, for your brother's sake, can you not cause trouble ?"

A smile disappeared from the face of the white clothed cultivator, " General Pei, there is no need to use my brother to fight me, I'm not afraid of him."

" You!" Pei Ming looked angry but could not do anything. Finally, he pointed at him, " You ... You really have done it to Little Pei now."

The white clothed cultivator swung his horse's whip wildly and said, " This is Little Pei's own work, obviously it has nothing to do with me!"

It seemed that he did not want to continue fighting with Pei Ming, the white-clothed cultivator then hurried away. Xie Lian thought Pei Ming might still be there to mock him even further, but he didn't and then came out of the hall. Actually it was the crown prince Yong An who remained in his place. Xie Lian looked curious, why did he still live there? When Xie Lian approached, this man seemed to close his eyes, he had been sleeping soundly while standing!

Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry, and gently patted the young man's shoulder, "Your Majesty. Your Majesty?"

Lang Qian Qiu woke up and rudely said, " What happened ?!"

" Nothing happened. The conference is over." Xie Lian explained.

When he just woke up, Lang Qian Qiu still looked a little confused and asked in confusion,

" Already? Just like that? What are we all talking about? I didn't hear anything ???"

" If you don't hear anything, don't worry about it too much," Xie Lian said, " that doesn't matter either. Come now, it's time to go back."

" Oh." Lang Qian Qiu left, but when he reached the door he returned and looked back, still looking confused. Xie Lian waved at him with a smile.

When everyone finally left, Xie Lian slowly turned around. Jun Wu held his hands behind his back and descended from his throne. " E-Ming's curved sword."

Xie Lian straightened up.

" I see. What really happened?" Jun Wu asked.

Xie Lian looked at him and then knelt down.