Chapter 138:
Extra 3
The Ghost King’s Bedtime Story
HUA CHENG had fallen ill.
Although it was a minor illness, how very curious it was that ghost kings could even get sick.
When Xie Lian returned to Thousand Lights Temple to check up on Hua Cheng’s calligraphy practice as usual, he was highly concerned to find him slightly feverish.
He pushed Hua Cheng onto the altar—ah, yes…since there were no divine statues in the way, the two of them often took a tumble on the temple’s spacious altar—then only got more worried after he felt his cheeks and forehead.
“You’re so hot.”
Hua Cheng laughed. “I always burn hot at the sight of you, gege. If you keep touching me, I’ll get bothered too.”
Xie Lian blinked, then hastily tried to pretend he was blushing out of anger. “Naughty, even when you’re sick…”
“What did I say?” Hua Cheng protested, acting innocent. “I’m very well behaved. Gege, stop worrying. A small thing like this is nothing to be concerned about.”
But Xie Lian could hear that his voice was deeper and scratchier than usual, and he could see the slight fatigue that colored his brow.
“Get some rest, then,” Xie Lian said. “I’ll keep you company here for the next few days until you’re better.”
He gathered the stationery for writing practice and brought it to the altar. Hua Cheng patted the spot next to him.
“Is gege not coming up to join me?”
But if he went up there, when would Xie Lian have a chance to come back down? At that point, they could forget about doing anything else for a while.
“Nah,” Xie Lian declined politely. “My San Lang has overworked himself.”
“Nah,” Hua Cheng laughed. “How could San Lang ever be afraid of hard work when it comes to working gege hard?”
Xie Lian ignored him, refusing to participate in his games. Instead, he focused on putting together a calligraphy copybook. Hua Cheng flipped onto his side and stared at him, one hand propping up his cheek. His intense, rapt gaze always made Xie Lian blush, no matter how many times he was the subject of it.
“…San Lang, look at the copybook, not at me,” chided Xie Lian, sounding uncomfortable.
Hua Cheng sighed. “Gege, truth be told, just the sight of this stuff makes my head hurt. But since you’re the one who wrote it for me, I can’t bear to look away. Maybe staring at copybooks too much is the cause of my current condition.”
“What condition is that?” Xie Lian questioned.
Hua Cheng snickered. “It’s better for my health to look at you instead, gege. You’re a far better sight to stare at than copybooks. Maybe I’ll heal from exposure to you alone.”
Feeling helpless yet amused, Xie Lian put down the brush and shook his head. “Why do you spout so much nonsense these days…? Nothing serious ever comes out of that mouth of yours. All right, fine, I get it—we’ll go with what you want. No more copybooks. What shall we do instead?”
“We don’t have to do anything,” Hua Cheng said. “Just keep me company like this, and I’ll be better in no time.”
Xie Lian felt Hua Cheng’s forehead again. Although he was a handsome man, the way he was whining made Xie Lian think of a red-cheeked child peeking out of his nest of warm blankets in the winter. Affection and tenderness filled him at the thought.
After some consideration, he said, “How about this? I happened to collect something interesting today.”
He rummaged through his sleeve and fished out an item.
“It’s an old book someone threw away. I was planning to flip through it sometime,” Xie Lian said. “Why don’t I read you a few stories?”
The little book in his hand was very old and ragged, with yellowing pages that gave it a strange air of scholarship. Others must’ve flipped through it countless times before.
But Hua Cheng said, “No.”
“Why not?” Xie Lian asked, curious.
“Books like that are always full of tall tales people spun about the other heavenly officials,” Hua Cheng replied lazily. “And I already know everything about their ancient, sordid trifles. None of that nonsense interests me, so why would I trouble gege to tell me about it?”
That was true—Hua Cheng knew all the terrible secrets of countless powerful figures from across the realms.
“If gege must read something, why not pick another subject?” Hua Cheng said. “Your own story, for example.”
That suggestion made Xie Lian chuckle. “Is there anyone who knows more about me, or has seen more of me, than you?”
“Tell me even more,” Hua Cheng pleaded. “I want to hear it. I can’t hear enough about you.”
He was being completely serious—Xie Lian could tell. He carefully brushed away the strands of hair spilling over Hua Cheng’s cheek. As he did so, he inadvertently glanced at the book and exclaimed in amazement, “San Lang, I think this book is about us.”
“Is it?”
Xie Lian flipped through the book again. “It is. It’s filled with stories about the Great Red-Robed Ghost King and the Scrap Immortal. That’s you and me, right?”
That piqued Hua Cheng’s interest. “Oh? What kind of stories?”
Xie Lian was also curious to learn about the tales that common people had crafted about him and Hua Cheng, so he opened the storybook and started reading aloud.
“Once upon a time, there was a Great Ghost King who loved to wear red. Although the Great Ghost King was a powerful man and possessed mountains of gold and silver, he was very unhappy. That was because he was very lonely and yearned for a wife…”
“…”
Xie Lian snorted and laughed aloud, finding it a little hard to continue. “Is the lonely Ghost King waiting in an empty nest…? Ha ha ha…ha ha ha ha…”
Hua Cheng quirked an eyebrow. “It’s not wrong. I get very lonely when gege isn’t around.”
Xie Lian felt his cheeks go hot and kept reading.