The young boy's face was indeed as Xie Lian had initially thought, covered with severe burn scars.
However, beneath the blood-red scars, three or four small human faces could be vaguely seen.
These faces were only about the size of a child's palm, scattered crookedly across his cheeks and forehead.
Having been scorched by fierce flames, each small face's features were intensely scrunched, as if screaming in pain.
These eerie, screaming little faces crowded on his originally normal face, making it more terrifying than any ghost!
Seeing this face, Xie Lian felt like he was plunged into a nightmare.
The immense fear numbed him completely, so much so that he didn't even realize when he had stood up.
He didn't know what expression he had on his face, but it must have been terrifying.
The boy, hesitantly unwrapping his bandages, was already uneasy.
Seeing Xie Lian's reaction, he took two steps back, seemingly aware that Xie Lian couldn't accept his face.
As if protecting himself, he suddenly covered his face, jumped up from the ground, shouted, and fled deeper into the woods.
Xie Lian snapped out of it and called, "Wait!!!"
He chased after him, shouting, "Wait! Come back!"
But he had been stunned for quite a while before reacting, and the boy, familiar with the mountain paths and used to escaping in the dark, vanished without a trace in no time, ignoring Xie Lian's calls.
With no one else to help search and his spiritual power exhausted, he couldn't communicate through the Spirit Communication Array.
He ran through the mountains for nearly half an hour but found nothing.
The cold wind cleared his mind a bit, and he realized that running around like a headless chicken wasn't going to help.
Trying to calm himself, he thought, "Maybe he'll come back to take Xiao Ying's body."
He returned to the front of the Bright Light Temple, only to be taken aback.
Several people dressed in black had gathered in the woods behind the temple, looking serious as they carefully lowered the forty-plus bodies that had been hanging upside down.
A tall figure with arms crossed was overseeing the operation. He turned his head, revealing a clear and cold young face—it was Fu Yao.
It seemed he had gone back to bring down some officials from the Profound Truth Hall to help.
Just as Xie Lian was about to speak, he heard footsteps behind him.
Nan Feng, having escorted the villagers, had returned.
Seeing the situation, he glanced at Fu Yao and said, "Didn't you run off by yourself?"
The words were harsh, and Fu Yao raised an eyebrow in displeasure.
Xie Lian didn't want them to start arguing at this critical moment and said, "I asked him to go back for reinforcements."
Nan Feng sneered, "And where are the reinforcements? I thought at least your general would come down personally."
Fu Yao replied calmly, "I heard General Pei Jr. was already on his way when I returned, so I didn't look for our general.
Besides, even if I did, he's so busy he might not have time to come down."
To be honest, based on what Xie Lian knew of Mu Qing, even if he had time, he wouldn't want to come down personally.
But he didn't have time to think about it now and said wearily, "Don't argue. Help me find that bandaged boy first."
Nan Feng frowned, "Wasn't he with you, guarding the girl's body?"
Xie Lian said, "I asked him to take off his bandages, and he got scared and ran away."
Fu Yao smirked, "Really? Your disguise wasn't that scary."
Xie Lian sighed, "It's my fault for being stunned and not reacting. Xiao Ying's death hit him hard, and he thought I was scared of his face. Unable to handle it, he ran."
Fu Yao wrinkled his nose, "Was he really that ugly?"
Xie Lian said, "It's not about being ugly. He... has the human face plague."
At those three words, Nan Feng and Fu Yao's actions and expressions froze.
They finally understood why Xie Lian had been so shocked earlier.
Eight hundred years ago, the royal city of the Ancient Celestial Music Kingdom was swept by a plague, leading to its downfall.
Those who contracted the plague would first develop small lumps on their bodies, which grew larger and harder, causing slight pain.
Then, the lumps would start to form depressions and protrusions—three depressions and one protrusion, resembling eyes, a mouth, and a nose.
As the features became clearer, they eventually formed a shape similar to a human face.
If left untreated, more and more faces would appear on the body. It was said that some faces, once fully formed, could even speak or scream.
This plague was known as the human face plague!
Fu Yao's face changed repeatedly, and he uncrossed his arms, saying, "How is that possible! This was eradicated hundreds of years ago; it can't possibly appear again."
Xie Lian simply said, "I didn't see wrong."
Nan Feng and Fu Yao couldn't argue. No one could refute Xie Lian's words.
Xie Lian said, "There are burn marks on his face, probably from trying to burn off the dead faces."
Many who contracted the human face plague would first think of cutting off the terrifying growths with a knife or burning them off, even if it meant cutting flesh and breaking bones.
Nan Feng said gravely, "Then he might not be an ordinary person. He could have been alive for hundreds of years. But, does the plague on him spread?"
Though his head was throbbing, Xie Lian had thought about this calmly and said confidently, "No. The human face plague is highly contagious. If the boy's plague was still contagious, this whole area should have been infected. His plague must have been... cured. But the scars it left couldn't be removed."
The three of them didn't dare take it lightly.
Fu Yao seemed to hold a significant position in the Profound Truth Hall and called on the officials to search Yu Jun Mountain thoroughly.
However, no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the boy's trace.
He must have escaped Yu Jun Mountain and disappeared into the vast sea of people.
For now, they could only return to the heavenly realm and ask the True Lord Ling Wen to help search for him, waiting for news. It was a relief that the plague on the boy wouldn't spread, but Xie Lian worried that with such a frightening appearance, if discovered after descending the mountain, he might be treated as a monster and hunted down.
They needed to find him quickly.
Not wanting to linger at Yu Jun Mountain, Xie Lian carried Xiao Ying's body and walked down the mountain step by step.
Distracted, he almost carried the body into the Encounter Inn when the Tea Master shouted, and he quickly apologized, entrusted someone to bury her, and returned.
After settling everything and sitting down, Xie Lian sighed silently.
One matter was finally settled, but he felt more exhausted than he had ever been while collecting scraps in the mortal world.
Climbing, leaping, rolling, yelling, disguising, and performing acrobatics—his whole body felt like it was falling apart, and there were still many unsolved mysteries and lingering troubles.
He almost wanted to hang a sign on his back saying, "Flying up is not as good as collecting scraps," and go around promoting it in the mortal world.
Fu Yao sat down beside him, flipping his coat tails, and couldn't help but roll his eyes at him, saying, "Why are you still wearing that outfit?"
Seeing Fu Yao's eye roll, Xie Lian felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
He finally took off the bridal gown he had worn all the way, wiping off the rouge and powder on his face, feeling slightly frustrated, "So I was wearing this when talking to General Pei Jr.? Nan Feng, you should have reminded me."
Fu Yao said, "Maybe it's because you seemed quite happy wearing it."
Nan Feng, finally able to rest after a long day, said, "No need to remind. General Pei Jr. wouldn't care what you wear. Even if you wore something ten times stranger, he wouldn't mention it to anyone."
Xie Lian felt grateful for the young official's hard work tonight, poured him a cup of tea, and thought of General Pei Jr.'s calm demeanor compared to Xuan Ji's madness, saying, "This General Pei Jr. is really calm and composed."
Nan Feng drank the tea and said, "Don't be fooled by his polite appearance. He's just as difficult as his ancestor."
Xie Lian could see that naturally. Fu Yao surprisingly agreed, saying, "Pei Su is a rising star who ascended in the last one or two hundred years, climbing quickly. He was only in his early twenties when General Pei picked him. Do you know what he did then?"
Xie Lian asked, "What?"
Fu Yao coldly spat out, "Massacre."
Xie Lian listened, thoughtful but not surprised. In the heavenly realm, emperors and generals were everywhere, and the saying goes, "A general's success is built on countless bones." To become a god, one must first be an outstanding person. Underneath the feet of such people lies a path of blood. Fu Yao concluded, "In the heavenly realm, there aren't many easy-to-deal-with people. No one can be trusted."
Xie Lian couldn't help but chuckle at Fu Yao's tone, guessing he might have had some unpleasant experiences in the heavenly realm.
But he also knew that even though he had ascended three times, each stay in the heavenly realm was as fleeting as a blooming flower, so he might not know as much about the gods as these two young officials.
Nan Feng, however, seemed to disagree with Fu Yao's statement, saying, "Don't exaggerate. There are good and bad people everywhere. There are many trustworthy officials in the heavenly realm."
Fu Yao retorted, "Haha, trustworthy officials? Are you talking about your general?"
Nan Feng said, "I don't know if it's my general, but it's definitely not yours."
By now, Xie Lian was used to such exchanges and didn't have the energy to intervene, as his mind was occupied with other matters.
Having wrapped things up in the north, he returned to the heavenly realm and first went to the True Lord Ling Wen's hall to report the bandaged boy's situation, asking Ling Wen to help search for him in the mortal world.
Ling Wen listened, her expression serious, and agreed, saying, "The Ling Wen Hall will search thoroughly. I didn't expect so many things to be involved on a trip north. It must have been hard for Your Highness."
Xie Lian said, "I must thank those two young officials who volunteered to help and also General Pei Jr. from the Bright Light Hall. I really don't know how to thank them."
Ling Wen said, "Since it was a matter caused by Old Pei's past, it's only right for Young Pei to clean it up. He's used to it, so no need to thank him. When you have time, please join the Spirit Communication Array. We need to discuss this matter."
Xie Lian also had many questions unanswered.
After leaving Ling Wen's hall, he wandered around and found a small stone bridge.
The bridge spanned over a gently flowing stream, the water so clear that clouds seemed to flow beneath it, and one could see the mountains and square towns of the mortal world through the water and mist.
He thought, "This is a nice place," and sat at the bridge's head, reciting the password to enter the array.
Upon entering, the Spirit Communication Array was unexpectedly lively, with voices flying back and forth, creating a chaotic scene.
The first voice he heard was Feng Xin's cursing, "Damn! Have you decided which mountain to seal her under?!
That ghost Xuan Ji is a lunatic.
No matter what we ask, she keeps demanding to see General Pei, refusing to reveal where the green ghost Qi Rong is!"
General Pei Jr. said, "General Xuan Ji has always been stubborn and intense."
Feng Xin sounded extremely frustrated, "General Pei Jr., is your General Pei back yet? Let her see him quickly, find out where the green ghost Qi Rong is, and get rid of her!"
Feng Xin was the least accustomed to dealing with women, and it was amusing that he was tasked with this interrogation. General Pei Jr. said, "Seeing him won't help; it'll only make her crazier."
A voice said, "Another hanging corpse forest... Qi Rong's taste is consistently low and unpleasant."
"Even the ghost realm dislikes his taste; it must be truly low."
The officials were chatting seamlessly, showing their familiarity with each other.
As someone who had ascended eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian should have remained silent, but he couldn't help but ask, "Everyone, what's with the hanging corpse forest in Yu Jun Mountain? Is the green ghost Qi Rong nearby?"
Because he rarely spoke in the Spirit Communication Array, his voice was unfamiliar, and the officials hesitated to respond.
The first to answer him was Feng Xin. He said, "The green ghost Qi Rong isn't in Yu Jun Mountain.
But the hanging corpse forest is an offering Xuan Ji made for him."
Xie Lian asked, "Is Xuan Ji a subordinate of the green ghost?"
General Pei Jr. replied, "Exactly. General Xuan Ji has been dead for hundreds of years.
Although she had grievances, she couldn't cause trouble until over a hundred years ago when the green ghost Qi Rong took a liking to her, admired her greatly, and recruited her as a subordinate, greatly increasing her power."
His words implied that Xuan Ji's troublemaking wasn't General Pei's fault because she didn't have the ability to cause such chaos on her own.
The blame lay with Qi Rong, who empowered her to harm others.
The officials originally felt this was General Pei's own doing but hadn't said it outright. General Pei Jr. seemed to have sensed this and subtly reminded them, prompting them to hide their thoughts even more.
Xie Lian asked, "Has Yu Jun Mountain been thoroughly searched? There should be a child spirit there."
This time, Mu Qing's voice appeared, cool and indifferent, "Child spirit? What child spirit?"
Xie Lian thought, perhaps Fu Yao hadn't told him the details, maybe even helped without informing him, so he didn't mention Fu Yao to avoid causing trouble, saying, "I heard a child's laughter when I was in the sedan chair, singing a nursery rhyme to give me a hint. There were two young officials from the Martial God Hall with me, but they didn't notice. This child spirit must have significant power."
Mu Qing said, "No child spirit was found in Yu Jun Mountain."
Xie Lian found it strange.
Could it be that the child spirit was there specifically to warn him?
Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered something he had been pondering all along and asked, "By the way, during my time in Yu Jun Mountain, I encountered a young man who could control silver butterflies. Does anyone know who he is?"
The Spirit Communication Array, which had been bustling with noise, suddenly fell silent at his question.
Xie Lian had anticipated this reaction. He patiently waited. After a while, Ling Wen asked, "Your Highness, what did you just say?"
Mu Qing said coldly, "He just said he met Hua Cheng."
Finally learning the name of the red-clad young man, Xie Lian felt inexplicably pleased and smiled, "So his name is Hua Cheng? Hmm, it suits him."
Hearing his tone and words, the officials in the Spirit Communication Array seemed speechless. After a moment, Ling Wen cleared her throat and said, "Well... Your Highness, have you heard of the so-called Four Calamities?"
Xie Lian thought, "I'm embarrassed to say, I only know the Four Famous Scenes."
The so-called Four Famous Scenes referred to the four legendary tales of four officials before their ascension in the heavenly realm—Young Lord Pouring Wine, Crown Prince Delighting the Gods, General Breaking the Sword, and Princess Committing Suicide. Among them, "Crown Prince Delighting the Gods" referred to the Celestial Music Crown Prince's stunning martial prowess.
Being one of the Four Famous Scenes didn't necessarily mean the official was the most powerful; it was because their story was widely spread and much talked about.
Xie Lian, usually slow to react to external news, was only slightly aware of this due to being part of it. The "Four Calamities" must have become popular much later, and Xie Lian had never heard of it. Since it used the word "calamity," it couldn't be anything good. He asked, "I'm embarrassed to say, I haven't heard of it. May I ask what the Four Calamities are?"
Mu Qing said coolly, "Your Highness has been honing yourself in the mortal world for hundreds of years, yet you're so out of touch with news. It's really curious what you've been doing down there."
Naturally, it was eating, sleeping, performing, and collecting scraps.
Xie Lian smiled, "Being human involves many busy and complex things. It's not as easy as being an official."
Ling Wen said, "The Four Calamities, Your Highness, please remember: 'Black Water Sinking Boat, Blue Lantern Night Walker, White-Clothed Calamity, and Blood Rain Reaching Flower.'
These refer to four notorious troublemakers in the ghost realm that the heavenly and middle realms find very troublesome."
People, when they ascend, become gods; when they descend, become ghosts.
The celestial gods established the heavenly realm as their residence, separating themselves from the mortal world, looking down from above.
The ghost realm, however, hasn't separated from the mortal world.
Monsters and ghosts share the same land with humans, some lurking in the dark, others disguised as humans, mingling among them.
Ling Wen continued, "Black Water Sinking Boat refers to a great water ghost.
Although he's reached the supreme level, he rarely causes trouble and is very low-key, with few people having seen him, so let's not worry about him for now.
"Blue Lantern Night Walker refers to the green ghost Qi Rong, whose taste is consistently low and annoying.
However, he's the only non-supreme among the Four Calamities, so why is he included? Maybe it's because he's been causing trouble for years and is a nuisance, or maybe it's just to make it easier to remember by rounding up to four, so let's not dwell on it.
"White-Clothed Calamity, this one, Your Highness, you should be quite familiar with. He has a name, White No-Phase."
Sitting at the head of the stone bridge, Xie Lian felt a sharp pain spread from his heart to his limbs upon hearing this name, his hand trembling slightly, unconsciously clenching into a fist.
He was indeed familiar.
It's said that when the "Supreme" appears, it can bring disaster and chaos to the world.
And this White No-Phase, the first country he destroyed upon appearing, was the Celestial Music Kingdom.
Xie Lian remained silent.
Ling Wen continued, "However, White No-Phase has been eradicated. Let's not mention him. Even if he were still around, he wouldn't be in the spotlight now.
"Your Highness, the silver butterflies you saw in Yu Jun Mountain are also called Death Butterflies. Their owner is the last of the four, and the one the heavenly realm most wishes to avoid today, 'Blood Rain Reaching Flower,' Hua Cheng."
In the heavenly realm, those who are "famous" are the Martial God Emperor and the Celestial Music Crown Prince. Although these two are completely opposite in meaning, their notoriety is about the same. In the ghost realm, if there's one who can match them in fame, it's Hua Cheng, and no one else.
If you want to know about an official, just walk around and find a temple, look at the statue's clothes and weapons, and you'll get some idea.
To learn more, listen to the myths and legends passed down, and you'll know what they were like as humans and what they've done.
But it's different for monsters and ghosts; their human past and current appearance are almost always a mystery.
The name Hua Cheng is certainly fake, and his appearance is definitely fake. Because in rumors, sometimes he's a capricious and unruly youth, sometimes a gentle and elegant young man, sometimes a venomous and beautiful female ghost.
There's every kind of description.
The only certainty about him is his red clothes, appearing with blood rain and wind, with silver butterflies fluttering around his sleeves.
As for his origin, there are countless versions.
Some say he was a deformed child, born without a right eye, suffering bullying and hating the world; some say he was a young warrior who died for his country, his soul unwilling to rest; others say he was a fool in pain over a lost loved one; and some say he was a monster.
The most bizarre version claims—just claims—that Hua Cheng was actually an ascended official who, after ascending, jumped down himself and became a ghost.
But this is just a not widely spread legend, its truth unknown and not widely believed.
After all, if it were true, it would be false. Because who would give up being a god to become a ghost?
That would be too embarrassing for the heavenly realm. In short, the more rumors there are, the more mysterious it becomes.
The officials are particularly wary of Hua Cheng for many reasons. For instance, his unpredictable nature, sometimes cruel and murderous, sometimes doing strange good deeds. Also, his immense influence in the mortal world, with countless followers.
Yes, people pray to gods for protection, to avoid the harm of monsters and ghosts, giving officials many followers. Yet Hua Cheng, a ghost, has a massive following in the mortal world, almost able to cover the sky with one hand.
This brings us to a famous incident when Hua Cheng first emerged.
He openly challenged thirty-five officials of the heavenly realm. The challenge was to compete in martial arts with the Martial Gods and debate with the Civil Gods.
Among these thirty-five officials, thirty-three found it laughable but were provoked by his challenge and accepted, ready to teach him a lesson.
The first to compete with him were the Martial Gods.
The Martial Gods are the strongest in the heavenly realm, each with many followers and great power, facing a newcomer ghost, they were confident.
But after one battle, they were completely defeated, their divine weapons shattered by Hua Cheng's strange curved blade!
Only then did they learn that Hua Cheng came from Bronze Furnace Mountain.
Bronze Furnace Mountain is a volcano, which isn't important. What's important is that there's a city inside the mountain called Gu City.
Gu City isn't a place where everyone raises gu, the city itself is a large gu poison.
Every hundred years, countless ghosts gather there to fight until only one remains, becoming the gu king.
Although often none remain, if one does emerge, it will surely be a world-shaking demon king. In hundreds of years, only two ghosts have emerged from Gu City, and both have become famous ghost kings known to all.
Hua Cheng is one of them.
The Martial Gods were utterly defeated, and then it was the Civil Gods' turn.
They couldn't win in combat, but surely they could win in debate?
As it turned out, they couldn't. Hua Cheng debated with them, discussing ancient and modern topics, sometimes refined, sometimes vicious, sometimes tough, sometimes insightful, sometimes sophistical. Truly, he was sharp-tongued and eloquent, referencing widely and deceiving with words.
Several Civil Gods were so enraged that they spat blood straight into the sky.
Hua Cheng became famous in one battle.
But if that were all, he wouldn't be considered terrifying.
The terrifying part is that after his overwhelming victory, he demanded the thirty-three officials fulfill their promise.
Before the challenge, both sides agreed: if Hua Cheng lost, he'd offer his ashes. If the officials lost, they'd all jump down from the heavenly realm and live as mortals. If not for his arrogant attitude and decisive stakes, the thirty-three officials, confident in their victory, wouldn't have agreed to the duel.
However, not one official voluntarily fulfilled the promise.
Although breaking a promise was embarrassing, they thought, since all thirty-three officials lost, one person's embarrassment wasn't much, but if so many were embarrassed together, it wasn't embarrassing at all.
They could even laugh at the other side together. So they reached a tacit understanding, pretending it never happened. After all, people forget quickly, and in fifty years, they might not remember.
They calculated this correctly. What they miscalculated was that Hua Cheng wasn't so easy to deal with.
Not fulfilling the promise? Fine, let me help.
So, he burned down all the temples of those thirty-three officials in the mortal world.
This became the nightmare that the heavenly gods still talk about with fear—the Red Ghostfire Burns the Temples of Civil and Martial Deities.
Temples and followers are the main sources of power for officials.
Without temples, where would followers worship? What incense would there be?
Severely weakened, rebuilding temples would take at least a hundred years, and they might not regain their former scale.
For officials, this was more terrifying than failing a tribulation, an utter disaster.
These officials had temples numbering in the thousands, and Hua Cheng burned them all in one night. No one knows how he did it, but he did it.
It was utterly insane.
The officials complained to Emperor Jun Wu, but he was helpless.
The challenge was something the officials agreed to, and the promise was something they accepted.
Hua Cheng was cunning, only destroying temples and not harming people.
It was like he dug a pit and asked if they would jump, and they made the pit bigger and jumped in. What could be done now?
The thirty-three officials originally wanted to defeat this arrogant ghost in front of the world, so they chose the dream of many mortal kings and nobles as the venue for the duel, intending to showcase their divine power to their major followers.
But the kings and nobles saw them being utterly defeated instead.
After waking from this dream, many nobles stopped worshiping heavenly officials and turned to worship ghosts.
These thirty-three officials lost their followers and temples, gradually fading away until a new generation of officials ascended, filling the vacancies.
Since then, many officials in the heavenly realm tremble at the mention of "Hua Cheng," even shivering at the sight of red clothes or silver butterflies.
Some fear provoking him, lest he challenge them and burn their temples; some have their secrets held by him, unable to act; some have to seek his help for certain tasks in the mortal world, asking him to open convenient doors; over time, some officials even admire him in a strange way.
Thus, the heavenly realm truly fears, hates, and respects him.
Among the thirty-five officials, the two Martial Gods who didn't accept the challenge were General Xuan Zhen Mu Qing and General Nan Yang Feng Xin.
The two didn't accept the challenge not because they feared Hua Cheng, but because they didn't take him seriously at the time and saw no need to respond, which turned out to be a lucky mistake. However, even without facing him, Hua Cheng didn't forget them.
During several ghost festivals, they encountered each other from afar and fought a few battles, leaving them with a deep impression of the silver butterflies' madness.
Hearing this, Xie Lian couldn't help but think of the silver butterflies fluttering around him, unable to reconcile them with the terrifying image in the rumors, and thought, "Are those little silver butterflies really that scary? They're quite cute..."