Chapter 74: Out in the Wilds, Rioting at the Shady Inn

The store owner was taken aback.

"Huh? That one? Daozhang, are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes, that one!" Xie Lian definitively confirmed.

With that, he simply rushed up and grabbed the robe himself. He then picked up Hua Cheng, dashed to the back of the store, and slipped behind a set of curtains. This clothing store was a daring one, and innovative at that —there was a small stall inside for fitting, so those who came to purchase clothes could try them on right there.

The crowd was bewildered at the ruckus. Moments later, a magnificently dressed cultivator walked past the clothing store, grumbling as he rubbed at his forehead. Behind him followed a mob of strange and fierce-looking monks and cultivators.

When he saw the large crowd gathered at the clothing store, he barked, displeased, "What are you lookin' at?!"

"Sigh. Forget it, let's hurry. I need to go to the toilet again!"

"Wait, Heaven's Eye-xiong, there are plenty of people here. Why not ask if they saw them?"

"My lady benefactors, have you seen a white-clad cultivator pass by, accompanied by a small child covered in bandages?"

The crowd of customers said nothing, but there were some who unconsciously glanced at the back of the store. The chasing mob grew cautious, and they made silent gestures at each other indicating that they should go inside to investigate.

Heaven's Eye strode inside and slowly approached the curtains, holding his breath. A moment later, he yanked them open, which prompted a shriek from inside.

Behind the curtains, there sat a woman. Her long, raven-black hair was twisted up in a loose bun, and her slender white neck was decorated by a black choker and a thin silver chain. She had pulled down a small part of her shirt, which revealed her snow-white shoulder and nearly half of her back. It looked as if the robe was about to fall, and the sight made one's face burn and heart race.

After Heaven's Eye yanked back the curtains, the woman trembled and covered her face with her sleeves while whimpering softly, as if she was shocked and terrified by such a sudden, brutish act.

Heaven's Eye instantly dropped the curtains. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm sorry!"

The band of monks and cultivators trailing behind Heaven's Eye screamed as well.

"What a sin, what a sin!"

They all covered their eyes. Using this chance, the "woman" whirled around—who else could it be but Xie Lian? Hua Cheng was sitting in his arms and had been blocked from view by Xie Lian's body. While Xie Lian was a man and his shoulders were wider than the average woman's, he had achieved the perfect effect by only pulling down half of his clothing to expose the best angle.

With one hand full of Hua Cheng, Xie Lian lifted his skirt with the other and dashed like the wind past those screaming monks and cultivators once they'd covered their eyes. The store owner and lady customers were dumbfounded. Seeing him flee, the store owner initially wanted to stop him, but as he opened his mouth, he spotted that gold foil—it more than paid for two sets of clothing. And so he shut his mouth, shrugged, and stopped caring.

Carrying Hua Cheng in his arms, Xie Lian dashed madly away, leaving nothing but dust behind him. Passersby on the streets stared with unbelieving eyes, but they only saw the blurred afterimage of a "woman" holding a child, racing as lithe and ferocious as a jaguar. The clouds of suffocating dust stirred up in his wake left the crowds choking and coughing. A small food stall on the side of the road got covered in the stuff, and the owner started cussing.

"What's wrong with you?!"

Xie Lian spared the time to turn his head and shout, "Everything's wrong! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

He heard wild hollering from behind him. "Stop right there—!"

When he looked back, he saw the mob charging out of the clothing store.

I have to wonder what's going through the heads of people who yell "stop right there." It's obvious the one they're yelling at won't stop. They'll just hold their breath and run faster! Xie Lian thought, and he put those very thoughts into action, dashing away all the quicker.

With such a large, roaring mob running down the street, more dust flew and choked the air. The food stall owner couldn't even curse anymore, and he flipped his own wok in anger.

"Why the fuck do I even bother?!"

After keeping up the chase for four hours, the ceaselessly hollering monks and cultivators finally ran out of breath, and their steps slowed. Xie Lian was experienced in the art of escape, and he quietly persevered to the very end. Once they had completely lost their pursuers, Xie Lian set Hua Cheng down and stood on the side of the road gasping for breath.

Hua Cheng held his shoulders and said glumly, "Don't breathe too harshly, careful not to hurt yourself."

Xie Lian looked up and saw Hua Cheng's tiny frown, but since his companion was still wearing the face of a child, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Ha ha, ha ha ha…ah!"

He had laughed too abruptly; a sharp pain shot through his ribs, and he clutched his chest to seek relief. Seeing Hua Cheng's dismayed expression, he waved dismissively.

"It's nothing… Hmm? Is that an inn over there?"

Sure enough, there was an inn not far ahead, its warm yellow glow peeping through the steadfast blues of the evening. It almost seemed like it was beckoning travelers.

Xie Lian straightened up. "Let's go in and rest."

"All right," Hua Cheng replied.

Xie Lian grasped Hua Cheng's hand and the two strolled toward the small building. When they arrived at the entrance, Xie Lian realized that this inn had two levels; it was much more lavish than it appeared from afar.

The doors were closed, and Xie Lian raised his hand to give a light knock.

"Anyone there? We'd like to stay the night."

Soon enough, someone called from the inside, "Coming, coming!"

A moment later, the door opened. Several attendants came forward to greet them, their faces full of smiles.

"Good si—" They initially meant to say "good sir," but the person before them was wearing women's robes. They amended their statement.

"Mis—" Before the word left their mouths, Xie Lian fully emerged from the darkness with Hua Cheng in hand. This wasn't an unmarried lady if there was a child, so they amended themselves again.

"Mada—" "Madam" was still half on their lips when Xie Lian's face became illuminated by the light within the inn. This guest was dressed in women's robes, but if they had to be honest… While his face was gentle in appearance, it was a man's face no matter how they looked. The attendants fell mute at once, and it was a good moment before they simply went back to their original greeting.

"Good sir, please come inside."

Xie Lian smiled as he nodded. He'd worn pretty much every type of clothing at some point, and he felt not a drop of mental or physical discomfort. With Hua Cheng in hand, he crossed the extremely low threshold and sat down at a table in the corner of the lobby. Other than the attendants, there was no one else at the inn. The moment they entered, the attendants had immediately closed the door and gathered around their table, smiles plastered on their faces—smiles that were now making Xie Lian rather uncomfortable.

He took the menu card. "It's not easy to find an inn like this in the middle of nowhere. Amazing!"

"Isn't that the truth? It's not easy to attract customers like you in the middle of nowhere either!" the attendants responded.

For some reason, while they were all smiling, those smiles looked painted on—quite fake indeed. Xie Lian didn't let his thoughts show. He looked over the menu and ordered a few dishes, and the attendants merrily left to convey those orders to the kitchen.

Hua Cheng toyed with his chopsticks. "Gege, we're at a shady establishment run by ghosts."

"Mmm," Xie Lian acknowledged.

Out here in the middle of nowhere, even finding a small, one-level inn with a few attendants would have been quite amazing. Why would there be such a lavish establishment with so many attendants if there wasn't something suspicious afoot?

Of course, this wasn't strong evidence on its own. The real indicator was the fact that Xie Lian had smelled the thick, fresh stench of blood from the moment he entered the inn.

Ordinary folks probably wouldn't notice the smell, but to someone with his sharp senses and considerable experience, it was so heavy, it couldn't be ignored.

"There are more people on the second floor. I hear their footsteps," Xie Lian said. "I wonder if they're also travelers staying the night."

If they were, then they must be rescued. The two sat across from each other and brought their faces close, talking in whispers for a long while.

The attendants finally brought over their dishes. "Coming!"

Xie Lian was about to speak, but he sensed a slight movement from the outside and rose to his feet.

"We're going to go rest in our rooms. Can I trouble you to bring our food upstairs?"

"No problem, no problem!"

Xie Lian took Hua Cheng's hand and lifted his skirt with his other hand with practiced ease as they went upstairs. He looked back.

"Oh, by the way—if anyone asks, please tell them you've never seen us."

"No problem, no problem!"

Xie Lian hurried up the stairs. It wasn't long before they heard someone banging brashly on the front doors and a gruff voice calling out.

"Open up!"

The attendants opened the door with smiles on their faces. The crowd that poured in was the relentless mob of monks and cultivators led by Heaven's Eye!

By then, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng had already entered their room on the second floor. As they shut the doors behind them, they could hear the people who had just entered yelling "Toilet, toilet, toilet!" and running for the outhouse while others demanded, "Boss! You got water?!"

The attendants were overjoyed at the sight of so many people coming in at the same time.

"We do, we do, please wait, it's coming!"

"Haaah. I'm so bloated!" Heaven's Eye complained. "Unbelievable.

Those whatchamacallits—those Incorruptible Chastity Pellets really are tenacious poison. I've only gotten through twenty-something cups; how long will it take before I reach eighty-one?"

Xie Lian was speechless; he hadn't imagined that those monks and cultivators would be so gullible. He'd told them to drink eighty-one cups of water, and so they really planned on drinking exactly eighty-one cups of water.

"Amitabha Buddha. I have already imbibed twenty-five cups of water, and I must say it has been very effective as an antidote," one of the monks declared. "I am feeling much better already."

Hearing this, Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He fumbled around the room to see if there were any cracks he could peek through until he heard Hua Cheng calling to him. The boy was half crouched on the floor along the wall.

"Gege, look over here."

Xie Lian crouched as well and looked where he was pointing on the floor, but he didn't see anything unusual. "What am I looking at?"

Hua Cheng suddenly poked the floor, and a small hole instantly appeared. A thin ray of light shone through. "Here. Now we can see."

"…" Xie Lian leaned down and peeked through the hole. The mob was gathered at a long table in the middle of the lobby, and Heaven's Eye slapped its wooden surface.

"Hmph! We were too careless this time. Next time we see that evil cultivator, we won't give him any chance to take advantage of us! We must take down Hua…Hua…Hua-chengzhu and eradicate evil in the name of heaven!"

"San Lang, just how did you offend them?" Xie Lian whispered.

Before Hua Cheng could answer, someone else had already asked in Xie Lian's place.

"That's right, I never asked, but what brings all of you here to catch that ghost king? What's the story?"

With that, their condemnation meeting began.

"Just talking about it brings fury to my heart! Twenty years ago, there was a pig spirit who went crazy and uprooted the village master's household. The building collapsed and the whole family was killed, and the pig fled to Ghost City. I'd only just entered the trade at the time. I chased after the creature, but I was beaten to a pulp by a bunch of ghosts. What humiliation! He also sent one of his lackeys to tell me that if you eat a whole family of pigs, it's only fair for a pig to slaughter your whole family in revenge. It's your lucky day if the pig doesn't seek revenge; if it does, then you deserved it. Now tell me, what is that rotten logic?!"

"What a coincidence! Our sect experienced something similar, but it was in regards to a rooster spirit!"

"Our story's simple. The heavenly official we worshipped in our sect had his name on his hit list, so no matter how many temples we built, he'd always burn them down. What an outrage! Absolutely unreasonable!"

"Hear, hear. You all know of my shixiong, right? He was talented and had an infinite future! He only had one tiny vice: he loved to dally with women. Decades ago, a prostitute ghost seduced my shixiong and sucked him dry—turned him into human jerky. That Hua…Hua…that ghost king dared shelter her."

The criticism was flaming down below, but above it, Hua Cheng looked bored out of his mind, not even bothering to give a taunting smirk.

"I think I've heard of your shixiong before," Heaven's Eye said.

"Wasn't he the guy who would force himself on married women under the pretense of conducting rituals and ceremonies? The one who got locked up for three months?"

"Ahem, ahem, ahem!"

The attendants brought their food over just then, and the crowd's attention was diverted.

"Food's here, food's here. Come, come, come, let's say no more, Heaven's Eye-xiong. Let's eat."

Xie Lian straightened up and squinted at the dishes the inn attendants brought over.

"Don't bother looking. They'll keel over the moment they eat that stuff," Hua Cheng said.

"This is going to be troublesome," Xie Lian murmured.

While the mob of monks and cultivators was relentless and extremely annoying, Xie Lian couldn't just let them croak in this strange, shady establishment. But it would also be rather awkward for them to raise the alarm.

Suddenly, Heaven's Eye spoke up. "Hold it!"

He stared at the dishes and blocked the others from digging in, his eyes sharp and flashing.

He does have some skill! Xie Lian praised mentally.

"Heaven's Eye-xiong, what's wrong?" the others wondered.

Heaven's Eye reached out with one finger and wiped around the edge of a plate, then raised that finger high in the air. "So much grease from just one wipe of a finger!" he yelled in rage. "These plates aren't clean; what kind of business are you guys running here?!"

"…" Xie Lian thought the man had noticed that something was off, but he hadn't imagined it was a different sort of off. He was rather surprised, but still, the result was the same. The moment Heaven's Eye complained, the others began to gripe as well.

"My gosh, it's true! What is this, it's all sticky like spit… Wait!

There's hair in this dish!"

Someone reached out with their chopsticks and stirred out a few strands of long black hair.

"Holy shit, what's going on with your kitchen?! Who the hell's working in the back?"

The smiling attendants nervously rubbed their hands together. "Um… We recently butchered a few pigs, so those are probably pig hairs!"

But when the chopsticks plucked at those hairs to pull them from the dish, the hairs only seemed to grow longer and longer the more they pulled.

"What kind of pigs have hair this long?! Is your boss lady washing her hair in the kitchen?!"

"Take all of this away and redo it!"

"Yessir, yessir!" the attendants hurriedly acquiesced. "We'll redo everything right away! My Lords, please drink water, drink water."

They shouldn't drink the water either, Xie Lian thought. There must be something in the cups as well!

Just before the cups reached the mob's lips, and before the attendants could get away, Heaven's Eye called out again.

"Get back here!"

One of the attendants returned, smiling apologetically. "Does My Lord Daozhang need anything else?"

"Let me ask you something. Have you seen a very strange woman lurking around, accompanied by a small child?" Heaven's Eye asked.

So he did inquire after all. Thank goodness I instructed them not to tell, Xie Lian thought.

But as he was thinking this, the attendant responded without missing a beat. "Oh, yes!"

"…?!" Xie Lian was stunned.

The mob was shocked, and they put down their water and hushed their voices. "Where are they?"

The attendant also hushed his voice. "Upstairs!"

The mob went on high alert, their gazes flicking upward. Xie Lian swiftly blocked the hole Hua Cheng had poked out with his finger. A moment later, they heard the sound of a group of people creeping upstairs.

Xie Lian skulked to the door, listening to the footsteps; it seemed that the attendant had led the mob to the second floor, and they were sneaking toward them. His left arm held Hua Cheng, and he clutched his sword in his right. Ruoye stood next to them to serve as a shield. All weapons were at the ready, and Xie Lian was tense and wholly prepared to launch an attack.

However, the footsteps passed by their room and continued down the long hallway. Puzzled, Xie Lian pressed against the door and looked out through the crack. The mob had passed them by and surrounded the entrance to another room.

There seemed to be someone in that suite. Faint light filtered through the paper windows and reflected the silhouette of a woman sitting at the table.

He never would've imagined that the attendants would actually stick to their word and keep their presence under wraps, but the attendant had been referring to another guest. It seemed there was another "very strange woman" accompanied by a small child who had come to this inn to lodge for the night.

Heaven's Eye and his group shared a look. After miming a series of hand gestures to each other, the group prepared to kick the door down.

Suddenly, the light inside the room was extinguished, and the silhouette disappeared. Following right after was a series of hurried footsteps. Thud, thud, thud.

A woman yanked the door open, cussing. "What are ya stinkin' men doing, lurking outside my door in the middle of the night?! Yer grandmama wants to take a bath, so what are y'all planning? Huh?!"

The lady's figure was slender and sensual, and her face was unpainted. Although she had the air of a fighting cock, she was nonetheless wholly a woman. She clicked her tongue, rolled up her sleeves, and continued to curse.

"And it's a bunch of monks and cultivators, to boot! Aren't y'all men of the cloth? What happened to all yer chastity vows?!"

A few of the monks mumbled, "It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding…" The woman raised her brows impossibly high, then lifted her hand as if ready to strike. "I don't care if it's a misunderstanding or a meeting!

Leave now or this grandmama will grant y'all a nice tub of bathwater!"

"Hey, hey, hey, lady benefactor, how can you be like this?! Consider your virtue!"

"Let's get outta here…" While Xie Lian didn't recognize the woman's face, her voice and the air about her was extremely familiar. A moment later, he gasped in shock.

"Lan Chang?"

"That's right. It's her," Hua Cheng confirmed.

Seeing the crowd disperse, Lan Chang seemed to let out a sigh of relief. She glanced around, then hurried back to her room, shutting the door behind her. She wasn't covered in heavy makeup for once and showed the world a plain face. While there were quite a number of wrinkles around her eyes that made her age apparent, unexpectedly, she was rather elegantly beautiful. Xie Lian almost didn't recognize her. If she had presented herself like this on that day at the Palace of Divine Might, Pei Ming's claim to innocence might not have been as convincing.

During the first wave of tremors from Mount Tonglu's reopening, a significant number of ghosts and monsters used the chaos to escape imprisonment. Lan Chang and the fetus spirit were among them. If the "very strange woman" the attendant referred to was Lan Chang, then that meant the "child" was…

"The fetus spirit must be with her," Xie Lian whispered to Hua Cheng. "That creature is too dangerous; we can't let them run loose like this."

But the inn where they were staying was already seedy, and on top of that, there was that band of mortal religious masters in pursuit of Hua Cheng. It wasn't going to be easy for Xie Lian and Hua Cheng to capture Lan Chang under these circumstances.

The crowd of monks and cultivators made it to the staircase, and the attendant asked, "How did it go? Was that not the person My Lords were searching for?"

"It was not!" Heaven's Eye replied, then sighed heavily. "Let me ask you this, then. Have you seen a cultivator with a small child?"

The attendant gave it some thought. "There's no child, but there is a cultivator who is here by himself!"

Hearing this, the mob grew spirited again. "Where is he?" they asked in hushed voices.

The attendant replied in a hushed voice as well. "Over here."

This time, he pointed to a different room. The crowd exchanged glances once more and yet again tiptoed after the attendant to where he indicated.

When they were still a stone's throw away from the room's entrance, a sharp sound snapped through the air. A yellow talisman shot through the crack of the door, brushing past Heaven's Eye's cheek before nailing itself into the wall behind him. Stunned, the crowd went to take a look and found the talisman halfway embedded in the wall. The wood had been split, like that sheet of paper was made of iron. The group was deeply shaken.

Several of the mob's members were about to charge into the room, but Heaven's Eye stopped them.

"It's not him! But it's still someone formidable. Don't be rash and start something." Then he gestured politely with an arm tucked behind him and called out to the guest. "Sorry to have disturbed you, skilled master.

This is simply a misunderstanding."

The one inside the room declined to respond—as expected of a skilled master.

As the crowd backed away, someone asked, "Dao-xiong, why did you say it's not him inside the room? Wasn't that scrap cultivator's hand just as powerful when he threw those hidden weapons?"

Scrap cultivator… Xie Lian had to really think about it before he realized the "hidden weapons" they referenced were his Incorruptible Chastity Pellets. Well, all right… "Of course it's not him," Heaven's Eye replied in a low voice. "They both throw hidden weapons, but the one inside the room is slightly weaker in strength and skill than that scrap cultivator…" He hadn't yet finished his sentence before another seven or eight yellow talismans came shooting from behind them, nailing into the nearby doors and walls like a volley of arrows. The crowd fled downstairs in terror, and at great speed, without another word.

Seeing that everyone had left, Xie Lian stealthily opened the door, tugged a yellow talisman from the wall, and returned to his room. Hua Cheng pinched the yellow talisman with two fingers, then lightly tossed it away after taking only a cursory glance.

"Heaven's Eye's eye really isn't too bad."

A layer of spiritual qi was plated on the yellow talisman's surface, which was why it was as sharp as a knife and strong as iron when it shot out and nailed itself deeply into the wall.

When Xie Lian hurled those meatballs, they flew forth with such terrifying might that it was like they were a barrage of iron pellets. But they were not enhanced by any sort of spiritual powers—it was by his own strength alone. After all, he had spent centuries without any spiritual power, and he had long since gotten accustomed to depending on only himself and his own skill in all matters. The reliance on spiritual powers—that was how Heaven's Eye judged their difference in strength.

Just how many different kinds of people are gathered here? Xie Lian couldn't help but wonder. Why is there even a cultivator like that lodging here? Could he also be here to exorcise evil? It's understandable that those mortal monks and cultivators didn't notice anything, but it would be impossible for someone of his skill level not to sense anything weird about this place. Either way, now I absolutely can't let that mob discover that San Lang is here. If they raise their voices and that cultivator overhears, we might gain another pursuer. And he might not be as easy to deal with as the rest of them.

The mob went back downstairs and returned to the lobby, sitting back down at the long table. Xie Lian peeked through the hole Hua Cheng had created.

"I'll go have the kitchens redo your orders right away," the attendant said. "Please wait just a bit longer, My Lords, hee hee hee."

"Wait! Take the waters away too. Wash your cups properly before serving us."

"Of course, of course. Hee hee hee."

The attendant left with a face full of smiles; he was probably headed for the kitchen. When they were still outside, Xie Lian had noticed that the kitchen was located behind the building, so he picked up Hua Cheng and flipped out of the window to land outside the inn. As he circled to the back, he grabbed a few small pebbles and clutched them in his hand in case he needed to use them later.

He skulked to a spot outside the kitchen. Hua Cheng poked again, and a small hole silently materialized, as if the wall were made of tofu. Xie Lian pressed close, peering inside to see just what kind of person ran this shady establishment.

The light from the kitchen was dim. Only a few dying lamps were lit, and there was no one in sight. But if he listened carefully, he could hear the sound of crunching coming from one corner.

Xie Lian changed his viewing angle a few times, until he finally discovered that the sound was coming from below the stove. His vision was blocked by the stove itself, but there was a human leg flung atop the brick stovetop. Its owner was obviously already dead, but the limb was still twitching in time to the sounds of someone munching and savoring their meal.

Several attendants entered the kitchen. "My king…" A disheveled, grimy man abruptly raised his head from behind the stovetops.

"What?!" he replied blearily, his voice muffled by what he was chewing.

The man's lips were covered with fresh blood, and his eyes gleamed with a greedy glow. A human hand dangled from his mouth as if it were a chicken foot. His expression and appearance were as horrifying as his identity was obvious—it was the man Qi Rong was currently possessing!

He slurped the hand's uneaten fingers into his stuffed cheeks. A moment later, he spat out a few bones right at the attendants' faces.

"You useless trash! Born from a pile of shit!" he cussed. "Coming in here to cry like you're at a funeral! And here I thought you were bringing this ancestor food. Well? Where are the humans? Where's the meat?

DIDN'T I ALREADY GIVE YOU THAT POISON?! WHY ARE THEY STILL STANDING?!"

The person lying dead on the ground—and currently being munched on—was likely either the original owner of this establishment or some other traveler who had passed by.

The attendants were aggrieved. "My king, it's not that we're useless!

Those monks and cultivators are all picky sons of bitches; they're making everything difficult. First they complained that the plates were too greasy, then they complained that there was hair in the dishes… They refuse to eat anything we're serving."

Qi Rong chewed, crunched, and then sucked on the remains of the blood from those ten fingers. "What?! What the fuck?! This ancestor will personally cook them an execution meal! They should already be crying tears of joy for not being forced to kneel and lick their food off the ground!

Who gave those fuckfaces the right to complain about anything?! They should try eating what Cousin Crown Prince makes; that shit's worse than shit! THOSE FUCKERS SHOULD KNOW TO GROVEL BEFORE THIS ANCESTOR IN GRATITUDE!"

"…" Xie Lian was speechless.

"…Gege, don't pay any mind to what such useless trash says," Hua Cheng comforted.

"…Yeah."

Qi Rong leapt to his feet and erupted into a string of curses as he beat the attendants.

"It's 'cause you're all useless trash! Can't even wash a plate right!"

His anger satisfied, Qi Rong rolled up his sleeves and wiped his blood-covered lips clean with one hand. Cursing and griping all the while, he took up a spatula and impatiently beat it against an iron wok, producing a noisy riot of clinking and clanking.

"One more time! Open your shitty eyes—I'll let you witness this ancestor's skills! We'll see if any of you have any more crap to say after this!"

Flames roared to the skies, and he swiftly remade a full spread of dishes and ordered the attendants to carry them out.

And what a spread indeed! The meat was abundant and the vegetables fresh; the dishes were aromatic and alluring. Xie Lian returned to their guest room on the second floor and peeked below.

The monks and cultivators were in awe.

"This looks good!"

"Yeah! This is so well done. Especially these salt-and-pepper chicken feet. So fat and tender…though perhaps a little too fat and tender? I've never seen chicken feet with such long digits…" "Oh! This is our house specialty. They're not your typical chicken feet. They're the finest specially selected feet sourced exclusively from the rare white phoenix chicken," the attendants explained. "With their claws removed, don't they look tempting? Just like the soft, delicate hands of a young woman?"

"You're right. But I'm most excited for this fried pig skin; it looks lightly crispy and tender, and the fire was controlled just right… Wait, why does the pork have tattoos?"

"Oh! It's because our chef wanted to demonstrate his godly carving skills," the attendants explained. "He intentionally etched that on to show off a bit, that's all."

"The sweet-and-sour ribs don't seem cooked through, and the sauce is too thick. You're not trying to cover up anything funny with the flavor, are you?"

"Oh! Nothing of the sort," the attendants explained. "Everything in this establishment is butchered on the day of and sold fresh. It's just that our chef has a taste for stronger flavors, that's all."

"…" Seeing how they were endlessly praising the dishes and were ready to dig in, Xie Lian really couldn't continue to stand by. He flung one of the pebbles he'd picked up earlier out of the small hole. His shot hit the hand Heaven's Eye was using to raise his cup, which was filled with water for his continued pursual of "detoxing." His arm shuddered, causing water to spill from the cup and splash right onto a smiling attendant's face.

While the liquid wasn't hot, it was like he'd poured boiling water on the attendant. The attendant covered his face, wailing.

"Aaaah!"

Everyone at the table brandished their weapons in shock.

"What's going on?!"

Heaven's Eye seized the attendant's hand and yanked it aside, and the crowd gasped. The attendant's facial features were half melted, as if water had spilled onto a sheet of paper and blotted the ink. Blurry, hazy trails of ink spread along his cheeks and rolled down.

The attendant's facial features and ever-present smile had been drawn on with a brush!

"…" Without missing a beat, the mob flipped the table and started a brawl.

The attendants hugged their heads in defense as they were beaten.

"My Lords! Please stop!" they howled. "Um—that—um, that very strange woman with a small child you're looking for—that strange cultivator! He's upstairs! They're right upstairs! Go find them! Let us go!

We're only part-timers!"

"Bah! Part-timers? Who are you kidding?!"

"Tryin' to deceive us? Think we're that easy to fool?! It's too late now!"

"We're not lying! It's true!" the attendants cried miserably.

The brawl downstairs was getting wild, and, seeing that the masters had an overwhelming upper hand, Xie Lian shook his head and left them to it. He was about to make his move to capture Lan Chang and the fetus spirit amidst this chaos, but before he could even open the door to his guest room, an unexpected shriek came from the hallway.

The terrified voice of Lan Chang rang out. "No… I beg you, I don't want to go! Please, I beg you, let us go! I'll kneel and kowtow!"

"Who cares about your prostrating?" said the angry voice of a young man. "If you leave, then what can I—what can my general do? Fuck, you two really did him in this time! Enough useless talk; you're coming with me!"

Upon hearing that voice, Xie Lian flung the door open.

"It's you?!"

A black-clad youth stood in the long hallway blocking Lan Chang's path, his expression dark. He looked up the moment Xie Lian emerged, clearly flabbergasted.

"It's you?!"

Xie Lian walked outside his room. "Fu Yao? Why are you here?"

Lan Chang saw him and widened her eyes. "The Crown Prince…?"

"…" Fu Yao looked him up and down. His lips twitched, but at least his eyes didn't roll. "Why are you here?"

Xie Lian glanced down at himself, then hurriedly stripped off the women's clothing he was wearing. "It's a long story."

Just then, Fu Yao noticed Hua Cheng standing by Xie Lian's side, and his pupils shrank.

"…You?!" he cried in spite of himself.

Hua Cheng sneered and ignored him. As for Lan Chang, she turned to bolt the moment she saw him. Fu Yao noticed and whirled around.

"Stop right there!"

He hadn't taken a single step before a long, white silk band shot out and wrapped around her ankle. Lan Chang tumbled to the ground, but she immediately flipped onto her back, hugging her belly. It would seem that the fetus spirit was hidden in her stomach again.

"If you wanted her to stop, you should've done this… Just shouting about it is pointless," Xie Lian said as he reeled Ruoye in. "By the way, you were talking about your general earlier. What happened to him?"

Fu Yao didn't respond; he simply humphed and stormed over to seize Lan Chang's arm. He seemed truly furious. Not only did he forcefully grab a woman with a hard, unforgiving hand, but he had even uttered a profanity earlier. This was not at all the Fu Yao they knew. Unexpectedly, before he managed to pull Lan Chang up, her belly swelled up like a balloon. A white figure shot out and lunged at Fu Yao's face, shrieking.

It was the fetus spirit!

Every time it returned to its mother's womb, it recovered enough energy for another round of mayhem. Thus, its strike was ferocious and treacherous, and Fu Yao had to focus to beat it back. With a swift smack of his hand, the fetus spirit was slapped away like a ball. It hit a nearby wall with a bang, then ricocheted off and shot toward Xie Lian.

"Catch it! Don't let it run away!" Fu Yao shouted.

Before Xie Lian had even moved, Hua Cheng was already there in front of him to act as a shield. The fetus ball abruptly halted in front of him, then changed trajectory to charge at Fu Yao once again.

As the ghost ball ricocheted and rampaged about the upstairs corridor, complete chaos also reigned down below. From the first floor, they could hear the cries of the "attendants" begging for mercy.

"My Lord cultivators, please be magnanimous! We lowly ones were only doing this for a bite to eat!"

"Yeah, we won't do it again! Truth be told, normally we only steal chickens at most to eat! We only did this because that green…green lord forced us to be his underlings! He's in the kitchen right now!"

Seeing that the situation had fallen into complete chaos, Xie Lian suddenly remembered something and leapt out the second-floor window.

Qi Rong sat in the kitchen with his legs crossed, picking at his teeth as he cheerfully waited for his "meal" to serve itself.

A loud rumbling sound shook the room, then someone kicked down the wall and leapt into the kitchen.

"Qi Rong! Where's Guzi?"

This classic martial god entrance shocked Qi Rong to his feet. "You?!

Why are you here?! CAN'T YOU KNOCK LIKE A NORMAL PERSON?!"

Without missing a beat, Xie Lian went over and smacked Qi Rong's head onto the chopping board, then pinned him down hard like he was a duck to be butchered.

"Cut the nonsense! What did you do to the child?"

Qi Rong grinned a smile full of teeth. "Hee hee hee, look—isn't he right here, all over the ground?"

What was the ground littered with? Human bones!

Fury blazed in Xie Lian, and he squeezed harder. Qi Rong started wailing and howling.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Arm! My arm's broken! BROKEN, BROKEN!

COUSIN CROWN PRINCE, WAIT! Okay, okay, okay, I'll be honest, I lied, I didn't eat him! I didn't! I was gonna, but I haven't yet!"

"Where is he now?" Xie Lian demanded.

"STOP CRUSHING ME, STOP CRUSHING! I'll tell you! The excess baggage is locked up in the firewood shed right there! Just take a look and you'll see!"

Xie Lian ordered Ruoye to bind Qi Rong, then he opened a small door on the side of the kitchen. Sure enough, Guzi was curled up inside. Xie Lian reached out under his nose to check his breathing; it was steady, and his little face was red and flushed. He looked like he was sound asleep.

However, when Xie Lian lifted the boy, he could feel that the small child was feverishly hot to the touch. Oh no, Xie Lian thought.

By that point, the monks and cultivators had poured into the kitchen as well. The moment they entered, they nearly tripped on the piles of human bones on the floor. It was a shocking sight, and they cried out in alarm.

"Huh?! What a shady establishment!"

"So all those dishes… They were all…made of human flesh?!"

"I told you that I've never seen chicken feet that long!"

There was another loud rumbling noise, and a new hole was punched through the ceiling. A white ball came crashing down.

"What's that?!" the mob cried.

Soon after, Fu Yao jumped down through the hole as well, hurling out over a dozen yellow talismans with one swing of his hand. "Get lost! Don't get in the way of my work!" he yelled.

"Ah! It's the skilled master!" the mob cried.

Lan Chang dragged herself over and rolled down through the hole too. "Stop hitting him!"

"Wha—! A woman!" the mob cried again.

Yellow talismans shot everywhere like iron needles, like flying blades. While Xie Lian dodged by just slightly shifting his body, Qi Rong couldn't get away, and all of the talismans thudded squarely into his back.

"GHOST MURDER!" he wailed pathetically.

The mob swarmed over and gathered around him to examine the talismans, gasping in awe.

"Wow, what incredible aim…" The once perfectly serviceable kitchen was suddenly horribly crowded, cramped, and clamorous. Fu Yao was chasing the leaping and dodging fetus spirit, and Lan Chang was chasing Fu Yao as if she'd gone mad. Half of Qi Rong's face had been crushed out of shape by Xie Lian pressing him to the chopping board, and his back had turned into a target for the talismans Fu Yao had hurled while the crowd watched. Lan Chang would even occasionally step on Qi Rong in the heat of her chase.

"Why? Why are there so many people?!" Qi Rong lamented. "Who are you? And who are you? Is no one gonna let me fucking eat?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS NO MATTER WHERE I GO?! WHAT DO Y'ALL HAVE AGAINST ME?!"

As he wailed, his eyes spun, and he saw through the collapsed wall of the kitchen to the yard outside. Hua Cheng was out there, looking like he hadn't noticed the mayhem inside; he sat calmly under a tree, relaxed and idle enough that he'd built a gold foil palace. Who knew how long he'd been playing around, bored out of his mind? He had already constructed a sumptuous little mansion from over a dozen sheets of gold foil.

Qi Rong instantly changed his tune. "Everyone, look outside, quick!

Crimson Rain Sought Flower turned into a ghost brat!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "If you hold a grudge against him, go now! Don't miss this chance! If you pass this up, you won't get another shot…!"

Before he could finish, a cold, glistening, bloody butcher knife was thrust between his teeth. Xie Lian's hand was gripping the knife's handle.

Xie Lian smiled. "Hmm? What are you yelling about?"

Qi Rong did not see how Xie Lian had managed to thrust the knife into his mouth so swiftly; he had only felt a sudden chill on his lips before realizing there was a new and extremely sharp object present on the tip of his tongue. Although he was unharmed as of yet, blood would flood his mouth if he tried moving the slightest bit. His voice died in his throat.

However, the crowd had already seen Hua Cheng stacking the gold foil palace in the yard outside the inn.

"Is that him?!"

"Probably!"

With Guzi in one arm and pulling Ruoye with the other, Xie Lian dashed outside to get there before the rest of them. Qi Rong was still bound by Ruoye, and he shrieked as he was dragged along the ground.

"DOG-FUCKED XIE LIAN, YOU MUST BE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE! I've never seen anyone as evil as you! You fake white lotus, AAAAAAAAAAH—" The mob gathered around.

"Do we…charge?"

"Watch out for traps. How about we observe first?"

In the meantime, Hua Cheng had finished building the little gold palace and had risen to his feet. He arched an eyebrow as he looked condescendingly down at the building he'd constructed, and then he gave a gentle kick.

Flop, flop, flop. The gold palace collapsed.

And the inn crumbled as well, rumbling as it did.

The spell was broken. Xie Lian turned back and looked. Behind him was no inn but rather a collapsed little cottage—the type of building that was a normal sight in barren hills like these. The inn was only an illusion.

The crowd of monks and cultivators hadn't yet decided whether to charge outside, so they were crushed by the collapsing roof and knocked unconscious by rotten logs and ragged straw. Xie Lian jogged to Hua Cheng's side.

"San Lang, won't using your power like this affect you?"

Hua Cheng gave an effortless wave, and the gold foil disappeared into thin air. "Don't worry, gege, something small like this is no bother."

A piece of the broken roof moved, and Fu Yao's head poked out. He shoved a pile of hay away, exclaiming angrily, "You're not bothered, but I am!"

Just moments before, he had finally captured the fetus spirit—but his vision suddenly went dark. When he looked up, the dilapidated roof was splitting and caving in, crumbling right on top of him. What a disaster! Fu Yao plucked a bunch of straw from his hair and stomped over to Xie Lian and Hua Cheng. He glared at Hua Cheng, who was shorter than him at present.

"You… You did this on purpose!" he raged.

Hua Cheng blinked. He neither rebuffed nor taunted him; he only raised his inky black eyes to look at Xie Lian. Xie Lian immediately grasped Hua Cheng's shoulder to push him behind his own body.

"No, no, surely not. Kids don't know how to control their strength… Sorry about that, Fu Yao."

Fu Yao's hair was a frightful mess. He stared at Xie Lian in disbelief.

"Kids…? Your Highness, do you really think I'm blind enough to not recognize who that is?"

"What are you talking about?" Xie Lian replied, sounding puzzled.

"This is just a very normal little boy."

"…" Fu Yao stared at Hua Cheng and narrowed his eyes. Behind them came faint creaking sounds—Lan Chang had also pushed away a chunk of roof and crawled out, and Fu Yao turned to walk over. Xie Lian sighed a breath of relief. He settled Guzi on the ground, but a somewhat hesitant voice sounded by his ear as he was doing so.

"Your Highness…?"

Xie Lian straightened up at once. "…Feng Xin?"

It was indeed Feng Xin on the other end, and it sounded like he was sighing in relief.

"Thank goodness! You haven't changed your verbal password."

Xie Lian gave a dry, soundless laugh. Eight hundred years ago when he activated his verbal password for the first time, it was "just recite the Dao De Jing a thousand times." He'd never changed it, even centuries later, and Feng Xin actually remembered what it was. Xie Lian recalled the way Feng Xin had laughed until he was hoarse when he first heard that verbal password all those years back, and he couldn't help but feel nostalgic— even though it was hardly the right time.

"Yes, it hasn't changed. How are things in the Upper Court? Has the Heavenly Emperor been informed of the matter with Ling Wen?"

Hua Cheng could tell that he was talking to an Upper Court official and conscientiously stepped away, placing his hand on Guzi's forehead to check for a fever.

Feng Xin's voice grew serious. "Things aren't good. And yes, he knows. The entire Upper Court is in chaos right now."

Xie Lian sighed. "Ling Wen has always handled coordination and management of Upper Court affairs, so there's no helping that. Can't any other civil gods take her place?"

"They've tried, but they're not effective," Feng Xin said. "Usually they're the first to scorn the Palace of Ling Wen—like they could do the job ten times better if they had the chance. But now that we actually need them to take up the task, not a single one can do even half of what she does. Just organizing news and information completely overwhelmed them; a number of civil gods have already dropped out and refuse to help any further."

Xie Lian shook his head.

"And it's not just Ling Wen," Feng Xin continued. "Something happened with Mu Qing too. He was detained at first, but he attacked and injured the official who was guarding him and escaped."

"What?!"

On hearing this, Xie Lian jolted, then immediately looked at Fu Yao on impulse. The black-clad youth was saying something to Lan Chang, and while there was displeasure on his face, the disquiet was more obvious. Xie Lian walked farther away and hushed his voice.

"What happened to Mu Qing? How did it come to that?!"

"It isn't just that he was locked up. The entire Palace of Xuan Zhen has been suspended pending investigation," Feng Xin replied. "It's all because of the fetus spirit."

Xie Lian suppressed his voice further. "What happened with the fetus spirit? Is he really involved in that case?"

"Yes," Feng Xin said. "Mu Qing was responsible for apprehending the female ghost Lan Chang and that fetus spirit, as they were among the nefarious creatures that escaped. But he didn't manage to capture them; he let them get away. During the pursuit, the fetus spirit recognized Mu Qing.

It said Mu Qing was the one who carved it from its mother's womb and molded it into a little ghost."

"That's impossible!" Xie Lian blurted. "No way! Even though Mu Qing is someone who's…well…well, surely he had no reason to do something like that?"

"Who knows," Feng Xin said. "But apparently there's an evil cultivation method to accelerate ascension which involves the use of dead babies. Now many of us are suspicious of the legitimacy of his ascension, so they detained him so that they could take their time in thoroughly investigating all his past actions. Who knew he couldn't keep cool, or that he'd bolt like this? Now everyone believes he's guilty and went on the run because of it."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Xie Lian said. "This really isn't right.

If Mu Qing was the perpetrator, then why didn't the fetus spirit and Lan Chang recognize him at the Palace of Divine Might? Why did they only accuse him while trying to avoid capture? It's very obviously slander, is it not?"

"By the time I found out, things had already gotten bad, so I'm not sure what really happened," Feng Xin said. "It seems Lan Chang and the fetus spirit didn't know the identity of the one who performed the evil ritual, but the fetus spirit had a random moment of clarity while it was being molded. In that instant, it broke free of the spellcaster's control and bit their arm. When the fetus spirit was fighting with Mu Qing, it happened to see that there was also a bite scar on his arm—and it was centuries old."

"…Did the bite mark match the fetus spirit's teeth?" Xie Lian asked.

"It was an exact match," Feng Xin replied.

"And how did Mu Qing explain this?" Xie Lian asked, brow furrowed in contemplation.

"He admitted that he'd seen the fetus spirit before," Feng Xin said.

"But he doesn't admit to being the perpetrator; he says that he saved the fetus spirit out of benevolence, and it bit him in the process. He might as well not have tried to explain anything with a 'confession' like that."

That was quite true—as far as everyone else was concerned, Mu Qing would never do anything of the sort. He was hardly considered the type to help another out of the kindness of his heart, protect and cherish children, or perform anonymous good deeds. Mu Qing had always been a loner; he never showed any kindness that wasn't strictly required of him and didn't have any intimate friends in the heavens. Now that something like this had happened, no one would believe him even if he tried to argue, and naturally there was no one to speak on his behalf. This was probably why he chose to run away and investigate the truth himself.

"In any case, things are still out of control up here, Your Highness," Feng Xin said. "Where are you right now? The Heavenly Emperor said the gathering of ghosts probably can't be stopped at this point. Hurry back to join the emergency assembly!"

"I'm currently—" Xie Lian started.

Before he could continue, Fu Yao's cold voice sounded from behind him.

"Who are you talking to?"