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They had left Guzi and Qi Rong with the ghosts to figure out how to get Qi Rong out of the other person’s body. The female ghosts lulled Guzi to sleep by humming a lullaby. The other ghosts and monsters he encountered began to play tag with Qi Rong, who ran away screaming from the ghosts chasing after him. Hua Cheng, Xie Lian, and Shen Yuan watched for a while, then turned around and entered the QianDeng Temple.
The QianDeng Temple was just as amazing as the last time Shen Yuan had visited it, when Hua Cheng had sent for them with the litter and those skull ghosts. The temple’s structure was meticulously detailed, right up to the ceiling, which was decorated with paintings. The only thing that might have changed were the lanterns floating on either side.
The three entered the vestibule and walked calmly to the altar dedicated to two gods. Despite the time that had passed, the altar still held the brushes, ink, and paper used several weeks ago.
As much as Shen Yuan and Xie Lian were stressed by what had happened and the previous commotion, and Shen Yuan more because he didn't want to dwell on the fact that Tian Yao had tried to do to stop him from helping Shi Qingxuan; the system hadn’t bothered him, so perhaps his mission wasn’t over yet.
In other hand, Xie Lian, seeing all this, intended to relax; he smiled gently and spoke to Hua Cheng. “The last time we taught you, we said you should practice when you had free time.”
“We assume you haven’t practiced much lately…” Shen Yuan said calmly.
Hua Cheng cleared his throat. “Gege and Didi have given my reward to other people. What am I supposed to eat tonight?”
“Don’t change the subject,” Xie Lian and Shen Yuan said in unison.
“I’m good at practicing swordsmanship but not calligraphy,” Hua Cheng said. “If no one is here to guide me, I might go astray practicing on my own and end up getting worse at writing.”
Shen Yuan smiled in disbelief.
“San Lang is so well-educated—how could there possibly be anything you’re bad at?” Almost the entire Ghost City was created by him, and almost everything he has told over time proves it.
Hua Cheng smiled mischievously at both of them, grabbed a brush, and dipped it lightly in the ink. “That’s true. I wonder if gege and didi could teach me?”
Xie Lian sighed, and Shen Yuan shook his head amusedly.
“Come on, write something first,” Xie Lian told Hua Cheng.
Upon hearing the order, Hua Cheng grabbed a scroll and wrote two verses with great seriousness. Shen Yuan found it amusing that he was trying so hard just to write, until he looked at the characters. Xie Lian was also looking on in horror; he couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
“Stop… stop. You… you’d better stop and not waste any more paper and ink.”
“Oh,” said Hua Cheng, stopping and putting away his brush. Shen Yuan shook his head disapprovingly several times.
“Don’t tell anyone we taught you how to write,” said Shen Yuan, and Xie Lian nodded.
“I did my best,” Hua Cheng pouted. The way he spoke was as if he were truly upset, a proud Supreme Demon King acting like a scolded student. Who would have thought that this Supreme Demon King, whose very name strikes terror into the three realms, would react this way! After Shen Yuan taught him a few more important points, Xie Lian this time took Hua Cheng’s hand to guide him. “Let’s try again. You have to be serious this time.”
Last time, it was Shen Yuan who had reflexively grabbed Hua Cheng’s hand to teach him, even though Hua Cheng was playing around and preventing him from doing his job properly.
The two of them were immersed in their composition. After watching them for a while, Shen Yuan asked casually, “Why is it still ‘Pain of Separation’?”
Hua Cheng replied softly, “I like that poem.”
Shen Yuan hummed in agreement, and Xie Lian asked, “Could it be that San Lang doesn’t have any other poems he likes? We’ve already written this one more than ten times, and once you get used to it, you can use others to practice.”
Hua Cheng remained unyielding in the face of that suggestion. “If I like something, then my heart will never change its mind about it; I will always treasure it. Hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years may pass, but it won’t change. This poem is like that.”
Neither of them said anything until Xie Lian replied with a “that’s true,” and Hua Cheng nodded.
Xie Lian let go of his hand, moving a little closer to where Shen Yuan was standing; Shen Yuan cleared his throat softly. “So we see that San Lang is a sentimental man. Why don’t you practice a little more? By the way, Qi Rong has been acting strange; he doesn’t seem to be doing well lately.” Shen Yuan shifted the topic of conversation slightly; he had noticed Xie Lian’s attitude because of what Hua Cheng had said, and that reminded him of what had happened in the fields.
Hua Cheng let the paper dry and set the brush down on the table. “How is he unwell?”
Xie Lian stepped forward, holding some scrolls as he spoke. “He said he felt unwell and his body ached. Though I’ve examined him and he doesn’t seem out of the ordinary, Yuan-ge already checked him over and didn’t find anything wrong with him either.”
Behind Xie Lian, Hua Cheng asked, “When did that start?”
“A few days ago,” Shen Yuan replied from the side, “Today was worse than the previous days…”
Before he could even finish the sentence, a sudden sense of foreboding seized his mind, and at the same time, there was a faint thud and the sound of something falling, as if it had been dropped from the air.
Xie Lian spun around, and Shen Yuan moved to try to help him.
“San Lang!?” Xie Lian asked, agitated. Hua Cheng had dropped the brush onto the scroll, letting the ink spread across the white paper; he had one hand resting on the altar while the other was over his right eye. He looked as if he were in a bad mood, and his body seemed unsteady. He couldn’t recall ghosts ever acting like this! Could even a Supreme get sick? Shen Yuan wondered.
It seemed like his right eye was hurting from the way he was acting; Xie Lian was the one who approached him first, followed by Shen Yuan. “Are you okay?”
Hua Cheng’s mouth tightened as if trying not to say anything; the silver eye on E-Ming’s hilt suddenly opened, and the eyeball began to move wildly. Shen Yuan reached out his hand to try to help with some spiritual energy, but Hua Cheng growled, “Both of you, get away!”
Xie Lian was startled to hear this and froze in place. Hua Cheng growled through clenched teeth, “…Your Majesty, Your Highness; please, hurry up and get out of here. I don’t know what I might do…”
Shen Yuan, overwhelmed by the response, interrupted him, “How can you tell us to get out when you’re like this!?”
Hua Cheng looked away and spoke in a gentle voice, “If you were to stay here any longer, I…”
Before he could finish speaking, screams and howls from the now-frantic ghosts began to echo outside the QianDeng Temple. The demons clutched their heads as if they were about to explode, and the women holding Guzi suddenly let go of him, causing him to wake up.
“I’m going to check it out!” Shen Yuan had said. The streets were filled with demons writhing in pain, while Qi Rong was running forward quickly; possessing a human body acted as a barrier against what was happening to the ghosts. Guzi ran after him, calling out for him to wait. Shen Yuan stepped in front of him to stop him, but on the way, he had grabbed Guzi and threatened to cut off his head if he didn’t let him escape. Xie Lian and an unsteady Hua Cheng approached.
Hua Cheng looked as if he were about to attack anyone he saw; Xie Lian had approached him and calmed him down, especially after Qi Rong had shouted insults in his direction. Hua Cheng hugged Xie Lian from behind. “Well done, Xie Lian! There’s no longer any risk of the city being destroyed by a single individual!” Shen Yuan rejoiced.
The two of them entered the Temple, and Shen Yuan shouted, “Catch that scum!” The ghosts, already furious over the insults to their lord, despite the trouble they were causing, went to attack Qi Rong, who was running and laughing at that moment. Shen Yuan planned to put an end to the commotion, but he had heard a scream from inside. In the end, an unstable Supreme King seemed more dangerous to him than Qi Rong. And although he had no doubt that Hua Cheng wouldn’t harm Xie Lian, he didn’t trust that something else might happen.
Shen Yuan went inside and nearly stumbled as he interrupted something he didn’t think he should have seen. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian were pressed against the altar; Hua Cheng was kissing Xie Lian with excessive passion.
Xie Lian didn’t seem to realize yet that Shen Yuan was there; every now and then he tried to pull away, but Hua Cheng wouldn’t let him go, wrapping his hands around Xie Lian’s waist until he was sitting on the altar, running his hands over his body without a shred of shame. Shen Yuan thinks it’s best to leave and let them be alone! But Hua Cheng was out of control, and Xie Lian, though he said nothing, wasn’t exactly in his right mind either! He can’t leave them like this—it’s wrong!
It wasn’t until Xie Lian seemed to collapse onto the altar table as if he were dizzy that Hua Cheng let him go, glancing in Shen Yuan’s direction.
Shen Yuan let out a shriek when he noticed this and tried to back away. Okay, he didn’t want to interrupt their love session! He didn’t want to end up in trouble because of it! Slamming into the wall, his blood pressure nearly dropped.
“San…”
Before Shen Yuan could even finish speaking, Hua Cheng pinned him against the wall and kissed him. Hua Cheng was hot at that moment, which was unusual for an undead being. Shen Yuan placed his hands behind his back and began slapping at him, trying to break free. But all he managed to do was make Hua Cheng press even closer!
Their lips were pressed tightly together. Shen Yuan felt waves of spiritual energy flooding into his body, so he stopped struggling and grabbed Hua Cheng by the shoulders.
The amount of spiritual energy Hua Cheng was giving him was overwhelming; he felt like he was going to explode at any moment! His throat, chest, and stomach were so hot it was uncomfortable. Now he understood why Xie Lian had been half-fainting during those moments!
Shen Yuan used his body to push him away, and although he didn’t succeed at first, he finally managed to push him off.
“What’s wrong with you!” he asked, overwhelmed.
“… ”
Although Hua Cheng had been pulled away from the kiss, that didn’t stop him from coming closer to give him a hug. Shen Yuan sighed in relief, accepting the hug, but that was when he felt all that unsettling energy trying to break free. It was no wonder Hua Cheng had caught him and kissed him and Xie Lian. With the internal chaos he was experiencing, he sought a way to get rid of that spiritual energy and expel it. And apparently, Xie Lian was like that because he wasn’t used to receiving such an excessive amount of spiritual energy.
After thinking for a moment, Shen Yuan mumbled an apology and grabbed Hua Cheng’s jaw with his hand, covering the other’s lips with his own. Guiding the warm energy into his body, to ease the other’s pain and suffering. Hua Cheng slipped his arm beneath him and lifted him up, causing Shen Yuan’s legs to dangle from Hua Cheng’s waist.
Those hands, those hands! It was totally unfair! While Shen Yuan tried not to touch more than he should, Hua Cheng, in his current state of mind, groped him and roamed his body without a shred of shame! Making Shen Yuan suffer in embarrassment, going from simply using his lips to having his entire mouth devoured.
In his mind, Shen Yuan realized that, in a way, he actually liked it—bad, bad, bad! Hua Cheng is supposed to be the protagonist’s love interest… he’s only doing this to help!
After a few minutes of a heated argument, Hua Cheng finally seemed to give in, letting Shen Yuan touch the ground again before falling asleep on his shoulder. Shen Yuan calmed his breathing and focused on checking on Xie Lian, who looked slightly better than before. With swollen, red lips, he looked at them both wearily, and who could blame him? Shen Yuan was tired too.
“Are you feeling better, A-Lian?” he asked.
“Hmm.”
“We won’t tell anyone about this, okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
Shortly after, Xie Lian staggered to his feet from the altar and sat down on the floor. Shen Yuan moved the heavy Hua Cheng to one side of him, then fetched the E-Ming scimitar to sit down next to Xie Lian. Both of them gave the sword gentle strokes until it finally softened into a crescent-shaped smile, as if satisfied. Xie Lian leaned against Shen Yuan’s shoulder, and to pass the time, they both started chatting about this and that.
Shen Yuan still remembers the time he had to rescue Xie Lian from the fetal spirit, jumping into the water without thinking twice since he could see Xie Lian starting to run out of air. He chose to give him air with a kiss underwater to save him. Doesn’t that count as something romantic, or does it!? Anyway, Hua Cheng was there to help them and they ended up reaching Ghost City.
Or like when he was swapping bodies and his soul was suddenly ripped away only to end up back in his own body, he hadn’t known Hua Cheng could drain him and give so much energy all at once. He knew that mouth by mouth was the most effective way, but it still took him by surprise, okay?!
Not long after, Hua Cheng jolted awake from where he had been sleeping.
“…Your Highness?! Your Majesty?!
Hua Cheng quickly scanned the interior of the QianDeng Temple; needless to say, it was a complete mess. Ink was spilled and splattered all over the floor, while various pieces of furniture and objects had been knocked aside and were piled up against the walls. It seemed he couldn’t remember what had happened.
“All your subordinates were in a terrible state last night, and that includes you! That’s what happened last night. you were in a bad mood and very upset!” Xie Lian said in a calm, confident voice, even though his ears were red.
“…What did we do? Was I upset?” Hua Cheng asked as if he’d committed a crime.
“Yeah! And we fought!” Shen Yuan replied.
“Yeah, yeah. We fought all night! That’s why everything’s a mess!”
Hua Cheng looked at both of them as if he didn’t quite believe them, but since he couldn’t remember anything, he accepted the explanation. The three of them set about tidying up the place until Xie Lian and Shen Yuan heard Ling Wen speaking over the intercom.
Shen Yuan sighed in relief, he really didn’t want to remember that night! And who knows if what she had to say would help clear his mind.