Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 9

Staring intently at his breakfast instead of eating it, Xie Lian started thinking about a brief conversation he had with Ling Wen over the communication array the day before. After confirming that yes, it was now official he had no more debts to pay, she told him what plans he had now that he ascended again. The civil god also made sure to let him know she was vaguely aware of who his husband was, thus giving Xie Lian a bit of an anxious reaction.

At first, he told her he was going to stay in Ghost City, as his home was there and his husband as well, but then she mentioned the fact that the Crown Prince still had no worshippers. None aside from Hua Cheng, at least.

Although the issue didn't keep him up at night, when he woke up that morning it had been the first thing on his mind.

«Gege, is something wrong?».

Xie Lian snapped out of it and finally took a bite of his food, but then he sighed and stopped again: «San Lang, I was thinking... Maybe I should build a shrine for myself».

There was uncertainty in his voice when he said it, because Xie Lian personally thought it wasn't that bad to have no followers; plus, a god building his own shrine because mortals were unwilling to was something unheard of.

The awkwardness of the situation was mostly seen by other heavenly officials, because a formally ascended official without shrines or temples was simply ridiculous, and Xie Lian was used to the silence normally reserved for him. The thing was, if anything unlucky was to happen again, Xie Lian couldn't always rely on Hua Cheng to take care of his debts for him. No followers meant no merits, and although Xie Lian couldn't care less for such things, he didn't want to repeat another adventure such as the one with the Ghost Groom just because he couldn't pay back what he owed. It was embarrassing, to say the least.

Moreover, him building his own shrine would make for an entertaining anecdote, if anything.

He accepted Hua Cheng's gentle touch on his face and smiled a bit: «Qiandeng temple is beautiful, but I think something in the mortal realm would be better for this».

«I will build you a temple, gege! There's no need for you to do it».

Grateful, Xie Lian still shook his head: «I want it to be something small. Something that people could go to without feeling overwhelmed. A place that anyone can visit», he replied, chastely kissing him on the corner of his lips. «I love what you do for me, San Lang, but I really want to do this myself».

Hua Cheng understood, and nodded: «Alright, I will help you. But you're not going anywhere before eating».

Some deliberation later, they left Ghost City with a pair of dice and landed in a small village in the mountains called PuQi. Village was maybe too big of a word to describe it, the place was more like a hillside hamlet with green trees and clear waters. Continuous stretches of rice paddies added to the country scene, alongside all the flourishing nature all around.

Overall, it was a beautiful scenery, simple but perfect.

«Do you know this place, San Lang? I feel like you didn't roll the dice randomly», he asked his husband, still unable to look away from how quiet and calm the village was.

«I stumbled upon this place not too long ago. I think you were at Nether Water Manor, that's why you didn't see it».

It was completely by chance, as he was taking care of some business, but he still memorized the place. Hua Cheng liked to remember cities and villages his husband would one day like to visit, after all, and PuQi stuck with him. Standing there with Xie Lian, now, told him it had been a good choice not to forget it.