Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 42

When Xie Lian didn't receive any message through the communication array he shared with He Xuan, his worries eased a little bit. It meant that a fight hadn't taken place, and that the ghost and the god either were still talking or separated with no animosity between them.

It didn't mean that the flurry of discordant emotions within his chest had calmed down, but he at least had one less problem to care about.

Now, with BanYue and Pei Su closely tailing him, he could finally think about his husband and how to quicken the process of him coming back to normal. The poisonous scorpion-snakes provided more than enough protection against low-level ghosts and monsters, and Pei Su was still skilled in the art of the sword, albeit a mortal.

A relief, really, being with someone that wouldn't try to kill anything that moved. Pei Ming was not an unpleasant company, but he could be a bit rash, like martial gods were. To reel it in as much as Xie Lian already did was nothing short than a miracle.

«Pei Su, you're awfully quiet back there», Xie Lian pointed out at some point.

Before their encounter with He Xuan, the former heavenly official kept exchanging some muttered chats with BanYue, never keeping entirely silent. In fact, it seemed he was comfortable enough to have those light conversations even in the midst of such a big crisis.

Caught red-handed, Pei Su opened and closed his mouth a few times before sighing, a frown deepening the shadows on his sharp face: «General Hua, I can't help but wonder how you can have a friendly relation with Black Water», he admitted, unable to hide anything from the man who once took care of his – relatively quiet and brief – happiness.

He thought he had accepted it, knowing BanYue and knowing the ties that ran between Xie Lian and many other ghosts, but it was rather difficult.

Maybe because he still vaguely remembered the bizarre glint of sadness in the eyes of Pei Ming, the ancestor who took him under his wing, whenever the Devastation was mentioned in this or that random conversation.

«You... ah, forget it, I understand». The scolding died on Xie Lian's lips before seeing the light. He could not change the course of a river by moving one stone, after all.

It took time and effort.

While Pei Su had done his fair share of despicable mistakes, changing the tides of one's mind was far from easy. A heavenly official, even the most corrupted one, was a stranger to the intricate threads weaving a story of ghosts and death. Incomprehensible was the nature of those who lived no longer, to those whose life was bright and splendid.

Xie Lian curved his lips in a sad smile, squeezing Hua Cheng's hand for comfort: «Don't think about it too much. There's not much I can say to ease your thoughts on this matter».

He Xuan had done what he had to do. The heavens knew of it. There was no honey to be fed before a bitter medicine when it came to him and his actions, and there would be no sugar following it. Xie Lian was well aware that his closeness with the deep darkness of that world was puzzling to others.

Better to leave it at that.

No one else talked after that, silence blanketing them if not for the occasional sound coming from fighting creatures. Their pace soon brought them to a giant, peculiar building on the side of the road. Looking at it from afar, it was more impressive than all the other houses around, an awe-inspiring presence despite collapsed eaves and enclosures.

Xie Lian furrowed his brows, and stopped in his steps: «What is this place?».

Hua Cheng only gave it a glance: «WuYong's divine temple».