Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 67

«He's not living a bad life up there», He Xuan said, between bites of delicious, tasty food. «I can tell you as much».

Since the little ghost had been secretly taken in the heavens, He Xuan did his best to keep an eye on how he was treated. Xie Lian didn't ask him to do so, and neither did Hua Cheng, but the ghost would be ungrateful if he said he didn't care about something so important for one of his friends.

Aside from Xie Lian himself, he was the only one in the heavens able to gain that information. It had been difficult, and he couldn't gather all that much because Jun Wu was being exceedingly careful, but he had enough to reassure Xie Lian everything was fine.

Lang Ying wasn't being mistreated, and as far as he could see, he didn't think of his new living place as a prison. At least for the time being.

Only two days had to pass before the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet would take place. He Xuan should have been up in the heavens to prepare for the event, because he cared very little about it during previous months and even ignored every single one of Shi QingXuan's attempts at forcing him to be presentable and appropriately behaved. In fact, he had been increasingly careless since Xie Lian ascended for the third time, caring less and less about appearances and only relying on the fact that people knew him as the Earth Master to keep his fake identity still believable.

He was starting to feel the weight of living a fake life in front of the public.

He Xuan wasn't too bothered by it. He had grown so used to calling himself Ming Yi and claiming he was the Earth Master that it became a habit, but honestly... he was tired.

He was a Ghost King, not a god. He was the calamity Black Water Sinking Ships, not a benevolent heavenly official that bore the title of Earth Master.

With Xie Lian's ascension, he started to move away more and more from the heavens, spending his time predominantly in his territory whenever possible. In the last few months, especially, He Xuan rarely went back up to the Heavenly Capital, and it was mostly to keep Shi QingXuan company whenever he did. Even his shovel stayed more in Ghost City with Yin Yu than with him.

Not the time to raise that specific issue, though. He Xuan gobbled down more food, not feeling bad in the slightest that he was raiding Hua Cheng's supply of expensive meat, and then shot a look at Xie Lian: «Don't beat yourself over it. This year's banquet will already be harsh on you, don't make it even heavier for your shoulders».

Leading Martial God... what a cheap way Jun Wu found to have control over someone he couldn't keep his hands on. With a title like that, Xie Lian was more or less forced to stay in the heavens for longer periods of time. The main martial gods already had their fair share of troubles and meetings to attend, not to count other more or less important events. Roaming the mortal realm wasn't unheard of, Feng Xin used to spend most of his time there before Xie Lian ascended again; the thing was, with Xie Lian being gifted such a hefty title, many officials would start having expectations of him.

And as much as one didn't care about those expectations, not meeting them for extended periods of time could only create hate, disdain, and mistrust. Add that to the fact that many officials were still scared shitless of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, and that others didn't trust the former in the slightest thanks to his marriage, and it created a break in the system.

Neither Jun Wu or Xie Lian had control over the other; they couldn't do whatever they wanted anymore because backlash would come at them from all directions, but at the same time they were the only ones capable of ignoring the rules because of their power.

An impasse.

No way out in a game that couldn't stop being played.

The heavenly officials trusted Jun Wu as their Emperor, but they were scared of Xie Lian. Still, they admired Xie Lian for his strength, and they questioned Jun Wu for his lenience.