Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 15

Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and he was absolutely ready to choose both just to save time.

The moment she spoke, addressing Ke Mo, he immediately recognize the familiar tone of her voice, tiny like the grumblings of a sulky child. It still retained that hint of sadness Xie Lian remembered from two centuries prior. Her and the General argued for a bit, Ban Yue's voice calm and low a stark contrast against the loud shouting of Ke Mo, and then asked who was the other person with them.

Right. Hua Cheng was a ghost, without a heartbeat and in complete darkness his presence couldn't be detected. Not only that, it was complete chaos on top of the walls earlier, and no one kept track of who fell and who ran away. It was normal that she thought there was only Xie Lian.

«It was them who killed all of my soldiers, are you happy now?», Ke Mo scoffed. «Everyone you wanted to kill is finally dead!».

Xie Lian almost wanted to clarify that the only one doing the killing had been his husband, but kept his tongue at bay. Not the time to try and reason with an angry ghost general, not while they were so close to the truth.

Ban Yue went silent and a tiny burst of light flared, illuminating a small girl with a palm torch. She looked like to be fifteen or sixteen, both eyes blackened in unhappiness, her face full of distinct bruises. Upon seeing her clearly for the first time, the Crown Prince decided that a punch hitting him square in the stomach hurt less.

If it hadn't been confirmed earlier, no one would think that pale little girl with shaky hands was the Guoshi of BanYue, especially not Xie Lian. The last memory he had of her was of a smaller girl, a bit younger, but the sorrow in her eyes was exactly the same, if only worse.

His last hope of knowing her at peace died down right then. She was a ghost, and not only a simple one, but a Wrath. Peace was almost impossible for her to attain, at that point.

Thinking about a way to save her from the judgment of the heavens, Xie Lian took advantage of the flames in her hand to take a good look at his surroundings. The ground next to her feet was piled with the armored corpses of BanYue soldiers, and he peeked beside himself as well; the palm torch was very small, but the wee light told him that Hua Cheng reverted back to his youth form, maybe a bit taller than before.

Understandable, he didn't want to appear in his true form right in front of Pei Su. Not that it really mattered, between E-Ming and the fact that every single BanYue soldier had been killed in a flash... well, Pei Su had to be blinded by idiocy if he didn't understand who Xie Lian's husband was.

They were still surrounded by darkness, however, so the god couldn't see where the other official was hiding. He didn't really want to start another hunt so soon, but even if he wanted to, Ke Mo's sudden wail in the distance made him snap out of it.

He turned towards the General and saw him clutching his own head, clearly distressed. Despite the frustration Xie Lian had towards the ghost, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Hua Cheng didn't know mercy, while fighting, and not a single soul was left – relatively – alive. Piles and piles of corpses, all killed by the swift slashes of E-Ming, resting in pools of dense crimson blood. It was a terrible sight, for someone who cared.

However, Ban Yue's expression remained wooden, and she only nodded with a muttered "good". Right in the midst of his rightful mourning, hearing those words made Ke Mo rage once more.

«Good? What's good in this!? What the hell do you mean!?».

«We're finally freed», the Guoshi replied. «That's what good means».