Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 69

Five hundred Blessing Lanterns in only two years were a lot.

A lot.

It was a number that not even Jun Wu ever managed to put together in such a short amount of time, so everyone was rightfully stunned, unable to speak and unable to wrench their eyes away from the ocean of glowing lanterns slowly rising up to the moon.

«How many of them are from Ghost City?», He Xuan asked, putting down his food for once. Those officials looked like fish out of water, with their mouths and eyes wide open in shock. It was starting to creep him out, and he was a Ghost King that lived on a gloomy, haunted desert island.

It was the civil god who announced the numbers for that year's battle that answered him, coming out of his stupor. Apparently, half of the lanterns outside the three thousand offered by Hua Cheng came from the ghosts of Ghost City, at least judging by their appearance, while the majority of the others came from the new temples around BanYue and from PuQi Town.

One of them, however, had both the announced and He Xuan stumped, as no one had noticed it up until then.

«Your Highness», the ghost called Xie Lian. «What is the Temple of the Crown Prince of WuYong?».

Xie Lian's head snapped up, his pupils shrinking. Sure enough, amidst the golden and red lanterns, there was another one that managed to flee from everyone's line of sight. Now that the sky was beginning to clear up, as the bulk of the lanterns started disappearing, it was easier to spot the odd ones out. It was mostly the red lanterns that took longer to rise up, but Xie Lian didn't miss the one spotted by He Xuan that time around.

It was white, much brighter than the others, and the characters on it were both recognizable and unique. Swallowing dry, Xie Lian recognized the language of WuYong written alongside the commonly known one, and leaned back on his chair, surprised.

Of all things, he didn't expect his Guoshi to offer him a lantern, and he especially didn't expect said lantern to come from a temple that once belonged to the Crown Prince of WuYong.

To the one who later became Bai WuXiang.

«It's... a long story», the god simply answered He Xuan's question, feeling his heartbeat go faster and faster as thoughts filled his mind.

Was that Mei NianQing's attempt at easing the trauma both of them experienced with Bai WuXiang? Gifting a Blessing Lantern from that temple to Xie Lian had to be a lot more symbolic than the Crown Prince could understand. Light coming to Xie Lian from a place that once worshipped the same being who terrorized and haunted him.

Who knew.

Mai NianQing's mind worked in ways Xie Lian never understood. Maybe he just wanted to send him a lantern, and because he lived in WuYong there weren't many other places to write on it.

Whatever.

Xie Lian had no desire to have a mental breakdown over that. If anything, the gesture meant a lot more to Mei NianQing himself, as Xie Lian was only there to accept the gifts that were sent to him by the mortal and ghost realms.

So, he forcibly calmed himself down and drank his cup of wine, waiting for the shock to disappear on the heavenly officials' faces. He Xuan, too, seemed to have gotten the message and went back to his food, nudging Shi QingXuan with one elbow so he could stop gawking at the sky.

That simple gesture made Xie Lian laugh, which in turn made Feng Xin and Mu Qing turn their heads to investigate on the reason, and those movements caused a chain reaction that finally led to the banquet to become loud and lively again.