Suddenly, someone spoke up. “Wait, something’s wrong. I sense evil qi!”
The crowd turned their heads and saw that the complaint had been voiced by Heaven’s Eye and company.
Xie Lian felt his head ache. “Why did you guys come?”
“We helped out too, so why shouldn’t we come?” Heaven’s Eye raised his bowl high, his expression serious. “Everyone! Listen to me—I am definitely not wrong! There’s evil qi in the food! It’s highly dubious, very suspicious! Put your bowls down, quickly!”
No one even acknowledged him. The crowd of beggars had already finished eating their first round, and they raised their empty bowls. “Seconds!”
Feng Xin and Mu Qing had been fighting with their brooms as they swept the yard clean of the red scraps left over from the firecrackers, but when they saw everyone eating with such contentment and satisfaction, they each sat down and picked up a bowl.
“Why will none of you listen to reason?!” Heaven’s Eye exclaimed furiously.
He got up, ready to go check the kitchen, but Shi Qingxuan held him back.
“Honestly, Daozhang, you’re overthinking things. This is Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s territory; it’s normal to sense nefarious qi. Are you really that concerned? Fine, I’ll go take a look. Just sit there and don’t get too riled up.”
And then he rose to his feet and walked to the kitchen, lifting the curtains to peek.
“You see, what’s there to be suspicious about…”
“Wait, I’ll go look too…” Xie Lian said.
When he, Shi Qingxuan, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing poked their heads inside, they were stunned.
Inside the kitchen, a hulking boar butcher was hacking at the cutting board like mad; they’d have assumed he was chopping up humans if it hadn’t been for all the pork legs hanging behind him. A fire was lit under a giant pot that sat to one side of the kitchen, and within the pot a long-necked rooster spirit was scrubbing himself and having the time of his life. But when he noticed that new people had seen him bathing, he screamed and covered his chest with his hands.
Utterly flummoxed, Xie Lian hurried inside to whisper, “Didn’t I say you couldn’t do this?”
The rooster spirit crowed in laughter and slapped his chest. “Granduncle! We took a bath before we got here, we’re very clean!” he promised. “Besides, this broth has longevity-boosting effects; eating it won’t harm anyone! It can be consumed with total peace of mind!”
“…”
Shi Qingxuan silently dropped the curtains. Feng Xin and Mu Qing flung away their bowls, sputtering as they did.
“I’d rather you do the cooking!”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, feeling both amused and woeful. “They were so adamant about helping, I couldn’t say no. They’re doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Right then, Heaven’s Eye came over, for he found their sneaking around too suspicious to ignore. Xie Lian quickly stopped him, afraid that he’d start another riot if he saw the boar butcher and the rest.
“Can I help you?” Xie Lian asked.
Yet unexpectedly, Heaven’s Eye hadn’t come to check out the kitchen—instead, he went straight for Xie Lian.
“That’s weird…” he mumbled in confusion, circling Xie Lian a few times.
“What is?” Xie Lian asked.
Heaven’s Eye was visibly puzzled. “This isn’t right, Xie-daozhang. Why has the evil qi on you intensified?”
“…” Xie Lian lightly cleared his throat.
Mu Qing humphed. “Of course it’ll get worse if he’s hanging around a Ghost King all day.”
“No,” Heaven’s Eye replied. “Even then, it shouldn’t be like this.”
“Like what?” Feng Xin asked.
After much hesitation, he decided to be blunt. “Why is the evil qi…internal? It’s…it’s coming from inside your body.”
“…”
“You must’ve suffered something truly torturous. What did you do? Why are you this unwell?”
“…”
Xie Lian couldn’t even cough anymore. His entire face was so red it was about to burst.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing didn’t understand at first, but once they figured it out, they turned silently to stare at Xie Lian.
“…”
Shi Qingxuan was the only one who couldn’t wrap his head around it. “What is it? What happened? What’s going on? Your Highness, are you really sick? Does Crimson Rain Sought Flower know? Is he not taking good care of you?!”
No, no, no. Xie Lian was like this because Hua Cheng had taken care of him so thoroughly!
“Um. Actually. No. Don’t…I think…why don’t you…hmm…” Xie Lian mumbled haltingly.
A mess of images filled up his mind, and a jumbled pile of meaningless, confused words kept falling from his mouth. This was only interrupted when his back bumped into someone’s chest. An arm wearing a silver vambrace circled his waist, and a familiar voice spoke with an obvious grin.
“I think that all of you should return to your seats, eat your food, and stop worrying about anything else. How’s that?”
Considering the current situation, Xie Lian really didn’t know whether he should feel relieved or even more awkward.
“San Lang!” he exclaimed.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s expressions got very complicated the moment they saw Hua Cheng emerge, but they couldn’t really say anything in front of Xie Lian.
Only Shi Qingxuan persisted, asking very seriously, “Crimson Rain Sought Flower, have you checked out His Highness’s body lately?”
Xie Lian slapped his forehead, desperately hoping Shi Qingxuan wouldn’t ask any more questions. Just then, the crowd of beggars started complaining loudly.
“One more bowl!”
“Add more meat!”
“This chicken soup is so bland—add more salt!”
Mu Qing couldn’t listen to this any longer. “Are all of you aware that this is a temple? It’s for worshipping gods—how about you please tone it down a notch?”
However, the crowd of beggars refused to take this scolding. They had once supported the human array alongside heavenly officials, and they had seen with their own eyes that many of those officials couldn’t even match them in valor—they had trembled and fled in the face of danger. Furthermore, they were now well acquainted with Shi Qingxuan. They couldn’t help but think, “So, that’s what gods are really like.” They weren’t all that different from ordinary folk when their lives were on the line. And so, those once-untouchable gods no longer appeared so mighty and sacrosanct.
Suddenly, a surprised scream came from the kitchen. “Who’s there?!”
Xie Lian tensed and dashed into the kitchen. The boar butcher and the rooster spirit were screaming and shouting, and Xie Lian hastily comforted them.
“Calm down! Calm down! What happened?”
The rooster spirit was so shaken that goosebumps had risen all over his body. “Granduncle! There’s a ghost! A ghost devoured all the food we prepared! I only just dipped my head under the broth, and when I came back up, there wasn’t a single bowl left! It’s a ghost!”
“What are you so scared of?! You’re a ghost!” the boar butcher spat.
Xie Lian was slightly perplexed. “How can that be? I just saw you guys make fifty fresh bowls.”
“Yeah!”
But sure enough, now all fifty bowls were empty—even the broth had been completely cleaned out!
As Xie Lian puzzled over the matter, someone in particular came to mind. When he turned around, he saw Hua Cheng leaning against the doorframe.
“San Lang, could it be…?”
“More than likely,” Hua Cheng replied flatly.
“Yes…” Xie Lian mused. “He probably came to congratulate us. Of course he’s welcome, but he ate a bit too much… Now that he’s eaten all the food, what should we do?”
Hua Cheng smiled. “Nothing. Add it to his tab.”
The troubled mob of Ghost City kitchen ghosts resigned themselves to cooking up a new batch from scratch. Just then, a clamor came from the main hall and the yard—it sounded like a quarrel had started. Xie Lian was just about to go to mediate when Hua Cheng caught his hand and led him out through a side door.
The two walked out of Puqi Shrine hand in hand. There were trees blocking the way as they went, and it surely would’ve been easier to traverse the path if they separated. But neither wanted to let go, so they twisted and turned, detoured and deviated.
As they meandered, Xie Lian asked, “San Lang, where are we going now?”
“It’s too noisy,” Hua Cheng said. “Let them riot. We’ll leave first.”
Xie Lian peered over his shoulder as they walked. “Are we really going to let them be?” he asked, sounding a little worried. “Puqi Shrine was just rebuilt. What if it collapses again during the fight?”
Hua Cheng was not concerned about such trifles. “If it collapses, it collapses; we’ll build another one. Gege can have as many as he wishes. He need only ask.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha…”