Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 25

Qi Rong paled to the point that his borrowed body resembled the ghostly one he had before losing it. The blade penetrated deep into the ground, right before the ghost; Xie Lian, both his hand gripping the sword, bowed his head and rested his forehead on the hilt, teeth gritted so hard they might grind to powder in his mouth.

He could tell Qi Rong wanted to laugh and ridicule him again, but his eyes were wide open in fear, frozen on the scimitar now embedded in the dirt. Xie Lian looked up, his eyes cold, completely calmed down already: «I can't do anything do you, but there is someone who can».

Glancing at the child, still crying on the side, Xie Lian called forth RuoYe and bound his cousin: «You better keep you mouth shut. If one of these days I get into a bad mood, maybe I just might hand you over to Hua Cheng, and have him think of a way to deal with you. Watch yourself».

Hearing that, Qi Rong didn't even think about laughing anymore.

«What the fuck, you're vicious! I can't believe you'd come up with something like that! Why not just hand me over to Lang QianQiu?!», he said, terrified.

Why not just hand him over? Truthfully, Xie Lian wouldn't be handing Qi Rong to the Heavenly Court for the time being, the reason being exactly Lang QianQiu. The prince would charge immediately with his sword and kill him, nevermind the fact he was wearing someone else's body. It was a headache Xie Lian didn't want to get, at least not so soon. On the other hand, if Qi Rong was killed, another headache would come forth, because who knew what Lang QianQiu could decide to do.

Thus, even if Xie Lian didn't want to end up accused of protecting Qi Rong against the will of the heavens, it wasn't wise to hand him over yet.

All things considered, threaten Qi Rong using Hua Cheng' name was the best idea he could come up with. Maybe, in the past, he would have felt embarrassed about using such a low tactic, but he was too tired of dealing with other people messing with him.

Qi Rong turned his head and spat more blood, unceremoniously falling to the ground in a messy sitting position; that child, still trembling in fear, reached out pathetically to pat his forehead.

Xie Lian turned around, fully intentioned in leaving Qi Rong there for the time being, but the child quietly walked over and tugged at his robes.

His hands were too small and his arms too weak, but the man dressed in white stopped, lowering his eyes to him. He looked up: «Gege, won't you stop beating by dad up? I'm sorry he did that», he said, in a small voice.

Xie Lian's heart tightened, but he forced the feeling away: «What's you name, little one?».

«GuZi».

He nodded, and slowly replied: «GuZi, the one over there is not your dad, but someone else. He's been possessed by a ghost, and is currently a bad guy».

He didn't know how to talk with children, not when his anger still lingered, ready to burst out again. The god was afraid he might start yelling at poor, innocent GuZi if the conversation went on, and he didn't want to.

The child couldn't comprehend what he said, and looked confused: «Someone else? I recognize him, he's my dad».

Although, that dad was far more gentle than the one he remembered.

Qi Rong dared make a comment again, probably invigorated by the small child talking about him, and Xie Lian had to push down the instinct to kick him again.

GuZi was still young and had probably always lived depended on his father, so it was normal for him to be quite attached to the body Qi Rong possessed. Xie Lian couldn't think of a way to take care of him for the moment, so he took both of them – his cousin trailing behind him and GuZi under his arm – and stepped into the courtyard. Hua Cheng was nowhere to be seen, although his presence was still strong. Hiding, probably to give Qi Rong another scare.