He had a playful look on his face, yet there was an inexplicable calmness as if he knew everything.
Although he had the voice of a young man, it was slightly deeper than that of boys his age, and quite pleasant to listen to.
Xie Lian sat upright on the ox cart, thought for a moment, and said, "Blood Rain Seeks Flower, this scene sounds quite extraordinary. My friend, can you tell me how it came to be?"
To show respect, he didn't add a "little" in front of "friend."
The young man sat casually, resting one arm on his raised knee, adjusted the cuff of his sleeve, and said nonchalantly, "It's nothing special. He once destroyed another ghost's lair, causing a blood rain over the mountains. As he was leaving, he saw a flower by the roadside, battered by the rain, so he tilted his umbrella to shield it."
Xie Lian imagined the scene and felt that amidst the blood and wind, there was an inexplicable elegance.
He recalled the legend of the red-clothed ghostfire burning thirty-three temples and laughed, "Does this Hua Cheng often go around fighting?"
The young man replied, "Not often, it depends on his mood."
Xie Lian asked, "What kind of person was he when he was alive?"
The young man said, "Definitely not a good person."
Xie Lian asked, "What does he look like?"
Hearing this, the young man glanced at him, tilted his head, stood up, sat next to Xie Lian, and asked back, "What do you think he should look like?"
Up close, the young man was strikingly handsome, with a beauty that carried a hint of aggression, like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, dazzling to the extreme, making it hard to look directly at him.
After just a moment of eye contact, Xie Lian found it hard to withstand and turned his head slightly, saying, "Since he's a great ghost king, I imagine he can change forms and has many different appearances."
Seeing him turn his head, the young man raised an eyebrow and said, "Hmm. But sometimes he still uses his true form. We're talking about the real him, of course."
Whether it was an illusion or not, Xie Lian felt the distance between them seemed to have increased, so he turned his face back and said, "Then I feel his real form might be like you, a young man."
The young man curved his lips slightly and asked, "Why?"
Xie Lian said, "No reason. You spoke casually, so I thought casually. Everything's casual."
The young man laughed twice and said, "Maybe. But he's blind in one eye."
He pointed under his right eye and said, "This one."
This wasn't surprising. Xie Lian had heard a bit about it before. In some versions of the legend, Hua Cheng wore a black eyepatch over his right eye to cover the one he lost. Xie Lian asked, "Do you know what happened to his eye?"
The young man said, "Hmm, a lot of people want to figure that out."
Others wanted to know what caused Hua Cheng to lose his right eye, hoping to find his weakness. Xie Lian asked purely out of curiosity.
Before he could respond, the young man said, "He dug it out himself."
Xie Lian was stunned and asked, "Why?"
The young man said, "Went crazy."
...Going so mad as to dig out his own eye, Xie Lian found himself more and more curious about this Blood Rain Seeks Flower, the red-clothed ghost king.
He suspected it wasn't just a simple case of madness, but since it was already said, there might not be more detailed information.
He continued to ask, "Does Hua Cheng have any weaknesses?"
He didn't expect the young man to answer this question, just asked casually. If Hua Cheng's weakness were so easily known, he wouldn't be Hua Cheng.
Surprisingly, the young man answered without hesitation, "His ashes."
If someone could obtain a ghost's ashes, they could control the ghost. If the ghost disobeyed, destroying the ashes would annihilate them completely.
This was common knowledge. However, this knowledge might not mean much when it came to Hua Cheng. Xie Lian laughed and said, "I'm afraid no one can get his ashes. So this weakness is as good as having none."
The young man said, "Not necessarily. There's one situation where a ghost would willingly give their ashes."
Xie Lian asked, "Like when he challenged thirty-three gods and offered them as a wager?"
The young man scoffed, "How could that be?"
Though he didn't say it outright, Xie Lian could tell he meant that Hua Cheng could never lose. He said, "In the ghost world, there's a custom. If a ghost chooses someone, they'll entrust their ashes to that person."
That would essentially be giving their life to another, such a deep affection would be a touching story. Xie Lian, intrigued, said, "So there's such a heartfelt custom in the ghost world."
The young man said, "Yes. But few dare to do it."
Xie Lian thought so too. In the world, not only do demons deceive people, but humans also deceive demons.
There must be much exploitation and betrayal. He said, "If you give your heart only to end up with your bones crushed and ashes scattered, it's truly heartbreaking."
The young man laughed heartily and said, "What does it matter? If it were me, I'd give my ashes away and not care if they wanted to crush them or play with them."
Xie Lian smiled and suddenly realized that after talking for so long, they still didn't know each other's names. He asked, "How should I address you, my friend?"
The young man raised a hand to his brow, shielding himself from the wine-red sunset, squinting as if he didn't like the sunlight. He said, "Me? I'm the third in my family, so everyone calls me San Lang."
He didn't offer his name, so Xie Lian didn't press further and said, "My surname is Xie, and my name is Lian. Are you heading to Pugilistic Village too?"
San Lang leaned back against the haystack, using his hands as a pillow, legs crossed, and said, "I don't know. I'm just wandering."
Hearing something in his words, Xie Lian asked, "What's up?"
San Lang sighed and said, "Had a fight at home, got kicked out. Been wandering for a while, nowhere to go. Today I was so hungry I almost fainted on the street, so I just found a place to lie down."
This young man's clothes, though casual, were of excellent quality.
Combined with his refined speech and seemingly carefree attitude, knowing everything, Xie Lian had long guessed he was a young master from a wealthy family out for a bit of fun.
A pampered young man out on his own for so long must have faced many hardships, something Xie Lian understood well.
Hearing he was hungry, Xie Lian rummaged through his small bag and found a steamed bun, thankful it wasn't hard yet, and offered it to him, "Want some?" The young man nodded, and Xie Lian gave him the bun. San Lang looked at him and asked, "You don't have any more?"
Xie Lian said, "I'm fine, not too hungry."
San Lang pushed the bun back to him and said, "I'm fine too."
Seeing this, Xie Lian took it back, split the bun in half, and handed him one half, saying, "Then you take half, and I'll take half."
Only then did the young man accept it, and they sat side by side, eating the bun. Watching him take a bite, Xie Lian couldn't help but feel as if he was somehow wronging him.
The ox cart trudged slowly along the bumpy mountain road, the sun gradually setting, and the two chatted on the cart.
The more they talked, the more Xie Lian felt this was a peculiar young man. Despite his youth, his demeanor and words carried a sense of confidence and ease, as if nothing in heaven or earth could trouble him, making Xie Lian feel he knew a lot and was mature beyond his years.
Yet sometimes, he showed a youthful side. When Xie Lian mentioned he was the head of Pugilistic Shrine, San Lang said, "Pugilistic Shrine? Sounds like there's a lot of pugilistic to eat. I like it. Who's it dedicated to?"
Faced with this headache-inducing question again, Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, "The Crown Prince of Divine Joy. You probably don't know."
The young man smiled slightly, not saying anything, but before he could respond, the ox cart suddenly shook violently.
Both of them swayed, and Xie Lian, worried the young man might fall, quickly reached out to grab him. Unexpectedly, as soon as his hand touched San Lang, the young man jerked away as if scalded by something hot.
Though his expression barely changed, Xie Lian noticed and wondered if the young man actually disliked him. But they had been chatting happily. However, there was no time to dwell on it. He stood up and asked, "What's going on?"
The old man driving the cart said, "I don't know! Old Huang, why aren't you moving? Come on!"
By now, the sun had set, and darkness was falling, with the ox cart in the forest, shrouded in dimness.
The old yellow ox stood still, stubbornly refusing to move, no matter how the old man urged it, almost burying its head in the ground, mooing incessantly, its tail swinging like a whip. Seeing something was wrong, Xie Lian was about to jump off the cart when the old man pointed ahead and shouted.
Ahead on the mountain road, clusters of green flames flickered eerily, and a group of people in white, holding their heads, slowly approached.
Seeing this, Xie Lian immediately said, "Protect!"
The ruoye ribbon flew from his wrist, circled the ox cart, and formed a floating ring in midair, protecting the three people and the ox. Xie Lian turned back and asked, "What day is it today?"
Before the old man could answer, the young man behind him said, "It's the Ghost Festival."
The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the ghost gate opens. He hadn't checked the calendar before leaving, and today just happened to be the Ghost Festival!
Xie Lian said in a deep voice, "Don't wander off. If you take the wrong path today, you won't be able to come back."