Chapter 13

Hsien Lian held the different bags of vegetables. Carets, beets, onions. He didn't necessarily need food to eat, at least not as much, but he still liked to taste food. Being the Taoist god that he was, he liked any type of nature, veggies included.

He walked down the dirt path, humming an old folk song. It had been almost a week since he had last seen Jing Mei, and had been a week since he saw Heaven. Most would be in a rush, and though Hsien Lian was in a rush, he also wanted to do this right. The ghost left once, no need to chase it down quickly. He needed to be ready.

Hooking the bag of veggies on his back, Lian started walking towards his house, well…. Kind of. See, Hsien Lian had to take an old temple and turn it into a place to sleep. It was boring but made him humble. Hsien Lian had basically given up on even trying to be Yao Wang. It ruined his aura, and took too long. The good part is that no one recognised him. THe bad part is that no one recognised him as well.

Suddenly, he heard a snap of a carrot. At first, Hsien Lian thought that something had fallen. Turning around he noticed a young man, about his age, snacking on a carrot. One of his. However Lian didn't get mad, instead he just stared at him. The young man had black hair that reached half way down his back, with a modernized hanfu, black and red. He looked at Hsien Lian with a glossy smirk.

"Sorry, it fell on the ground. Thought it was up for grabs."

With a quick snap the man broke off the piece he had bitten, holding out the rest of the carrot for Hsien Lian to take, though the god shook his head. "You can have it." Hdien Lian voiced simply, before turning around to continue walking. But the man moved up to walk with him. "You're not from here, are you?" The man asked. Hsien Lian gave him a quick glance, seeing a bloody smirk and black hair covering one of his eyes. "Why would you say that?" Hsien Lian questioned, listening to the man's footsteps. Light and barely noticeable.

"Well first, no one has long hair anymore-" Hsien Lian clicked his tongue. This is why he liked the suburbs. It was a lot more traditional and what he used. He should probably have focused more on China's evolution. This is why sometimes, he preferred Yao Wang as a persona. Yao Wang has short hair, to the bottom of his neck. "That's hypocritical of you." The man also had long hair, longer than Hsien Lian's since he was still up in a bun.

The man hummed and shrugged his shoulders. "So, what's your name?" The man asked. Hsien Lian smiled. "Hsien Lian." He answered. The man smiled softly. "Like the Flower God." Hsien Lian smiled. Did the boy know Hsien Lian as The Flower God? Lian smiled softly. No one had ever said that to him. He didn't deal with praise very often, so those simple words warmed his heart. "Yes, like the Flower God. What's your name?"

"Xingying."

Xingying, such a nice name. Hsien Lian smiled. "Xingying, what are you doing following me?" Hsien Lian asked quite nicely, a soft smile still placed on his lips. "Hsien Lian, good question. Well, I want to know who you are. I want to learn about you. You seemed like a very amazing person that just dropped a carrot." Xingying answered politely, smiling softly. Hsien Lian never knew his smirk-y voice could shift into such a sweet one. Hsien Lian nodded. "Well, Thanks-"

A surprisingly loud wagon began to trot past the two, an old man controlling the two horses in the front. Hsien Lian gasped. "We need to get a ride." Hsien Lian whispered mostly to himself. However, when Hsien Lian turned around, Xingying was nowhere to be found. Hsien Lian frowned slightly. "Xingying?" Hsien Lian yelled. He would have liked to hang out with the boy more, but it seemed he wouldn't be able to. Hsien Lian sighed, turning around to continue walking.

"Do you have another carot. I heard horses like carrots." Xingying asked from behind him. Hsien Lian turned around once again, seeing Xingying holding onto two horses loosely. One a deep black color, and the other was white. He had a soft smile on his lips, but Hsien Lian didn't. "Where did you get those horses from?" Xingying continued to smile, walking up to Hsien Lian. "I stole them." Hsien Lian stepped back. "You shouldn't do that. Please return them." Xingying rolled his eyes, leaning slightly on the black one.

"I didn't actually steal them. They just walked up to me." XingYing smiled, handing Lian a lead. The god hesitantly took it, petting the white horse. She had blue eyes that Hsien Lian had only noticed then. "Do horses have blue eyes?" XingYing looked up at the question, glancing at the horse before heading back to Lian. "Eh, I believe they do. Horses have all sorts of eye colors, just like humans."

With a suck in of a breath, Hsien Lian hopped onto his horse, making sure he was steady. He turned to XingYing, who had already done the same. "Where are you going?" XingYing asked. Hsien Lian didn't have a place to go to. Hsien Lian looked down at the dirt path, now uneven from the amount of people walking on said path. He could start hunting for the ghost. He probably should have already started.

XingYing, how long have you lived here?" XingYing was quiet for a moment, petting his black horse's mane. "A very long time, why?" If XingYing was here, he would hear about something, wouldn't he? Something about a ghost? Or maybe, the ghost could be lying low. But Da Hong would go to another Tao Wu temple, since he would want to see him.

"Where is the most secluded Tao Wu temple you know o