Feeling quite embarrassed, it took Xie Lian two hours to finally sneak a peek at the scroll and get a rough understanding of this Wind Master's background.
In the heavenly realm, the five masters are known by their titles instead of their surnames.
For example, before the Earth Master ascended, his name in the mortal world was Ming Yi.
After ascending, he became known as "Earth Master Yi." Similarly, before the Wind Master ascended, his name was Shi Qingxuan.
After ascending, he became known as "Wind Master Qingxuan."
True to his name, Wind Master Qingxuan has a breezy personality, enjoys making friends, is generous, and doesn't care about small details.
He's very popular in the Heavenly Court, as seen by how he casually spent a hundred thousand merits in the Spirit Communication Array. His brother is a major god who controls the wealth of the mortal world, so it's no wonder he's so generous and carefree.
Indeed, Wind Master Qingxuan's brother is none other than "Water Over Heaven," Water Master Wu Du.
Descending together, the two walked side by side, chatting as they went.
Xie Lian crossed his arms and sincerely said, "The Pei family has two generals who ascended, which is already considered remarkable in the mortal world. But you and your brother both ascending to the Heavenly Court is even more extraordinary."
It's important to know that out of tens of thousands of people, not even one might ascend. Pei Ming and Pei Su ascended hundreds of years apart, and Pei Su isn't even a direct descendant of Pei Ming. He's a descendant from a distant branch of Pei Ming's family.
But Water Master Wu Du and Wind Master Qingxuan are true blood brothers, making their dual ascension even more incredible.
Shi Qingxuan laughed and said, "It's nothing. My brother and I grew up in the same place, studied under the same master, and followed the same path, so naturally, we ascended in the same lifetime."
Xie Lian had learned about this while catching up on the scrolls.
Among the Wind and Water Masters, Shi Wu Du ascended first, and it wasn't long before Shi Qingxuan passed his heavenly trial.
People often worship these two gods together, showing that the brothers have a great relationship. It's likely that Water Master is the reason why Pei Ming won't touch Wind Master, as mentioned by San Lang and Nan Feng. After all, who would dare provoke the brother of Water Over Heaven?
At this point, Xie Lian suddenly remembered something and decided to ask, "Wind Master, on the Divine Martial Hall, I heard General Pei mention that he seems to have a good relationship with your brother. Since you reported General Pei Jr., won't your brother..."
Shi Qingxuan replied, "He won't. My brother has long known that I can't stand Pei Ming."
Xie Lian said, "Knowing is one thing, but doing something is another. Won't this create a rift between Water Master and General Pei?"
Shi Qingxuan said, "A rift would be great. I wish my brother wouldn't hang out with him and get away from the 'Three Tumors' as soon as possible."
Xie Lian was taken aback and asked, "What are the 'Three Tumors'?"
Shi Qingxuan exclaimed, "What! You don't know this either? Okay, I know you don't know anything. Just listen. The 'Three Tumors' is a nickname for a few gods in the Heavenly Court who have a bad reputation but are quite close. They are Ming Guang, Ling Wen, and my brother."
Xie Lian thought, "Surprisingly, it's not Xie Lian, Xie Lian, Xie Lian."
Shi Qingxuan shook his Wind Master fan and continued, "Even if I didn't dislike him, this time, it was indeed General Pei Jr.'s fault. Pei Ming wants to blame the Half Moon national teacher to save General Pei Jr., but we can't let him succeed. Everyone, whether human, god, or ghost, must take responsibility for their actions. Bullying a little girl is nothing to be proud of."
His tone was quite disdainful when he said the last sentence. Xie Lian listened and smiled, "Wind Master, you truly have a chivalrous heart."
Shi Qingxuan laughed, "You're not bad either. I've vaguely heard some rumors about Half Moon Pass but never had the time to look into them.
Plus, my brother scolded me a few times, and with so many things happening, I forgot. When I heard you asking in the Spirit Communication Array, I remembered and went to check it out. Who knew that not only did you ask, but you also went there yourself? I thought, hey, this person is not bad!"
The Wind Master had a very straightforward and interesting personality. Xie Lian could easily understand why he was so well-liked in the Heavenly Court. He never expected that after ascending, he would meet such a god in the Heavenly Court, which made him smile. Who knew that as soon as he turned his head, the white-robed Taoist beside him turned into a white-robed female Taoist.
The change was so sudden that Xie Lian almost slipped and asked, "Wind Master, why did you suddenly change form?"
Shi Qingxuan flicked his long hair and said, "Oh, Crown Prince, to be honest, in this form, my spiritual power is stronger."
It turned out that, as mentioned earlier, the Wind and Water Masters were often worshipped together.
However, this led to a strange situation. Perhaps people felt that having two male gods in the same temple seemed lacking.
A male and female pair seemed more balanced, so eventually, someone did something—they sculpted the Wind Master's statue as a female.
Not only did they change his statue to a female, but they also made up stories, claiming that the Wind and Water Masters were siblings or even a married couple.
Over hundreds of years, these stories spread and evolved into many bizarre tales. The two gods found it amusing and creepy when they checked them out. However, many people believed these tales, and when they mentioned the Wind Master, they often couldn't tell the gender, saying "Goddess bless me." As a result, Shi Qingxuan also got a nickname, "Wind Master Goddess."
Though it was amusing, such ridiculous things weren't uncommon. Take Ling Wen, for example, who had a similar experience.
Ling Wen was a female god, but she never dressed like other goddesses, who were adorned beautifully.
She usually wore black, looking sharp and efficient, working tirelessly in the Ling Wen Hall. Although part of it was due to her personality, there were other reasons. If you asked anyone in the mortal world whether True Lord Ling Wen was male or female, they would confidently say male.
A god of literature must be male, they thought.
Because of this, Ling Wen suffered some setbacks when she first ascended. She was a god of literature, but many people in the mortal world believed that a woman couldn't hold such a position and couldn't ensure literary success, so she must be ineffective. Despite her hard work, her incense offerings were sparse.
Later, some temple attendants got upset and, in a fit, reshaped Ling Wen's statue into a male form, turning Primordial Lord Ling Wen into True Lord Ling Wen and even fabricating a legendary background for her. After this change, the incense offerings returned, and everyone praised Ling Wen for being effective. In reality, the god was still the same, with the same spiritual power, and the stories were all made up, but people bought into it.
From then on, whenever Ling Wen appeared in dreams or manifested, she had to use a male form.
Similarly, people believed that a male and female pair was necessary for balance in the Wind and Water Temple.
It didn't matter if you were a god or ghost; people believed what they wanted to believe.
Even if you were nothing like that, they only saw what they wanted to see. Such things were commonplace for the gods in the Heavenly Court.
As for Shi Qingxuan himself, from Xie Lian's observation, he didn't seem to mind at all.
In fact, he seemed to enjoy it. Not only did he enjoy it, but he was also keen on encouraging others to join in the fun, making Xie Lian suspect the true identity of the black-clad woman who accompanied him last time.
During the two hours they spent descending from the Heavenly Court, Shi Qingxuan kept trying to persuade Xie Lian to transform into a female form, and his reason was quite legitimate: "Women have a heavier yin energy, making it easier to hide in the ghost market."
Xie Lian thought for a moment and politely declined, "I don't have enough spiritual power to transform."
Shi Qingxuan was enthusiastic, "I'll lend you mine. Isn't that why the Emperor sent me?"
Xie Lian replied, "Master, please save it for when we need to fight..."
Shi Qingxuan, unable to persuade him, didn't insist. By now, they had arrived in a desolate area. The night was deep, and crows cawed in the dark forest, creating an eerie atmosphere. Xie Lian observed for a moment and said, "Let's stop here. The yin energy is thick, and there are large graveyards nearby. We'll surely see a few heading out to the market, and we can follow them."
So, the two of them crouched by the graves, waiting for their opportunity.
After a short while, Shi Qingxuan reached into his sleeve and somehow pulled out a jar of wine, asking, "Want some?"
Xie Lian took it, drank a sip that burned his throat, returned the jar, and said, "Thanks."
Shi Qingxuan took two gulps and asked, "You can't drink?"
Xie Lian replied, "I can, but if I drink too much, I go crazy. Better to keep it light. What time is it?"
Shi Qingxuan thought for a moment and said, "It's midnight."
Xie Lian said, "Hmm, they should be coming soon."
Just as he finished speaking, they saw a row of faint lights glowing deep in the forest.
The row of faint lights grew closer, emerging from the forest. The two saw that it was a procession of expressionless women in white. Some were old, some young, some beautiful, some not, all wearing burial clothes and carrying white lanterns, slowly walking forward.
These were the female ghosts heading to the ghost market at night.
Xie Lian whispered, "Let's follow them."
Shi Qingxuan nodded, finished the wine, tossed the jar aside, and the two stood up, casually following behind the ghosts.
They had prepared in advance, removing all traces of spiritual light from their bodies, making them like two wooden figures with no human aura. The women ghosts carried their white lanterns, walking through the dark forest, chatting softly.
One said, "I'm so happy the ghost market is open again. I want to get my face done."
Another asked, "What's wrong with your face? Didn't you just have it done recently?"
The first replied, "It's decaying again. The last person who did it said it would last a year, but it's been less than six months."
Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan followed behind, listening to their conversation without saying a word. When they heard something amusing, they exchanged a twisted smile. After half an hour, the group arrived at a valley.
Deep in the valley, a faint red light glowed, and in the ethereal night, there seemed to be singing. Xie Lian grew more curious about what the legendary ghost market looked like. Just as they entered the valley, the last woman ghost in the group turned around, noticing them, and asked, "Who are you?"
With that question, the pale-faced women all turned to look at them, puzzled, surrounding them. If it were anyone else, they might have been intimidated into submission. Xie Lian wasn't worried about being exposed. These weak female ghosts posed no threat to them. However, with the ghost market so close, it wouldn't be wise to cause a commotion here.
At this moment, one of the women stared at Shi Qingxuan and slowly said, "Sister, your face is well-maintained."
Hearing this, both Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan were taken aback.
They quickly nodded in unison. Xie Lian said, "Not bad, not bad." Shi Qingxuan mimicked him, saying, "Very good, very good."
The women ghosts gathered around, discussing, "Yes, it's not decayed at all." "Sister, where did you get your face done?" "Any tips?" "Can you recommend a place?"
Shi Qingxuan didn't know how to respond, so he kept laughing awkwardly, saying, "Really? I also think my face is quite good, haha, hahaha, hahahahaha..."
How would he know how to maintain a ghost's face? He could only keep laughing to buy time. Just then, the group turned, and Xie Lian's view suddenly opened up, a sea of red light filling his sight.
A bizarre world unfolded before him.
It was a long street.
So long that it seemed endless. Shops and stalls of all kinds lined both sides of the street, colorful banners and large red lanterns hanging at various heights.
The "people" on the street, coming and going, mostly wore masks.
Some were crying, some laughing, some angry.
Some were human, some not. Those without masks could only be described as "strange."
Some had big heads and small bodies, some were as thin and tall as bamboo poles, and some were flat like a pancake, stuck to the ground, grumbling as people stepped over them.
Xie Lian carefully avoided stepping on anything strange.
Passing a snack stall, he saw the vendor using a large bone to stir a pot of soup vigorously.
As he stirred, saliva dripped from his teeth into the soup, which was filled with floating eyeballs. Seeing this, Xie Lian suddenly felt a surge of confidence.
Elsewhere, some bizarre people were performing acrobatics.
A burly man grabbed a small ghost like a chick, opened his mouth, and spewed a blazing fire, causing the little ghost to scream like a pig being slaughtered, struggling incessantly, while the onlookers clapped and cheered. Some even threw money into the air, making it snow with paper money. As the money floated down in front of Xie Lian, he caught one and saw it was ghost money.
Continuing on, he passed a butcher shop. In front of the shop hung a row of emaciated human heads, neatly arranged from small to large, each with a price tag: child meat, youth meat, man meat, woman meat, crispy human bones. The butcher, wearing an apron and holding a cleaver, was a wild boar with long black bristles. Under its knife was a thick human leg, twitching as it was chopped.
It was truly a hellish carnival of demons.
Humans chopping pigs is common, but pigs chopping humans is rare. Xie Lian couldn't help but look a few more times, but the boar noticed him. It immediately said, "What are you looking at? Are you buying or not?"
Xie Lian shook his head, "Not buying."
The boar butcher slammed its cleaver down on the chopping board, sending blood and flesh flying. It gruffly said, "If you're not buying, don't look! Damn it, are you looking for trouble? Get lost!"
Xie Lian left. But after a few steps, he realized something was wrong.
The group of women ghosts and Shi Qingxuan had disappeared without a trace.
Startled, Xie Lian immediately thought of contacting the Wind Master, fearing he had been dragged off by the women ghosts for face maintenance.
However, in the ghost market, the Heavenly Court's communication spells were limited. Unable to reach him, he wandered the street aimlessly, searching.
As he walked, someone pulled him. Already on high alert, he immediately asked, "Who?"
The person who grabbed him was a woman, startled by his reaction. Seeing his face, she giggled flirtatiously, "Oh my, young man, you're quite handsome."
This woman was dressed scantily, with makeup so thick it was frightening. White powder fell from her face as she spoke, and her chest was unnaturally full, as if stuffed with something, making her appearance quite shocking. Xie Lian gently removed her claw-like hand and said, "Miss, let's talk."
The woman was taken aback, then burst into laughter, "Oh my, you called me 'miss'? It's been ages since anyone called me 'miss'! Hahaha!"
The people around found it amusing and laughed along. Xie Lian shook his head, about to speak, when the woman lunged at him again, "Don't go! I like you, young man. Spend a night with me, I won't charge you." She pouted and winked, "I'll pay you, hehe..."
Xie Lian thought it was a sin, gently but firmly breaking free, and said softly, "Miss."
Unexpectedly, the woman grew impatient, "Why call me 'miss'? Who likes being called that? Enough chit-chat, are you coming or not?"
Seemingly to tempt him, she suddenly loosened her already revealing clothing. Caught off guard by her boldness, Xie Lian sighed, looked away, and walked around her. The female ghost blocked his path again, teasing, "Do you like it?"
However, Xie Lian, having spent years in the Royal Extreme Temple, was as disciplined as a monk.
No matter what he saw, he remained calm, his mind automatically reciting the Tao Te Ching, unmoved. The female ghost, failing to entice him, changed her tone, "Even if I pay you, you don't want me. Are you even a man?"
Xie Lian glanced aside, "I am."
The female ghost said, "Then prove it!"
Someone nearby laughed, "You shameless woman, he doesn't want you because you're old and ugly. Why bother?"
Xie Lian remained unfazed, "Actually, no. I have a condition. I'm impotent."
Everyone was stunned, then erupted in laughter, "Hahahahaha..."
This time, the laughter was directed at Xie Lian. It was rare to see a man openly admit such a thing. But Xie Lian never cared about his ability to "sin" and often used this excuse to avoid situations, finding it quite effective. As expected, the female ghost quickly covered herself and stopped pestering, "No wonder you're like this. Pig, why didn't you say so earlier! Ptooey!"
Not far away, the boar butcher slammed its cleaver down again, cursing, "Damn it, you dead b****, how dare you talk like that? What's wrong with pigs?"
The female ghost retorted loudly, "Yeah, what's wrong with pigs? You filthy beast!"
The street was abuzz with shouts of "Lady Ghost Lanchang causing trouble again!" and "Butcher Zhu chopping ghosts!" The two sides were tearing at each other, and Xie Lian finally managed to slip away. He walked a distance, glanced back, and sighed.
Soon, he heard more noise ahead. As he walked, he came upon a large red building.
This building was grand, with red pillars, roof, and walls, covered in luxurious carpets. It rivaled the palaces of the Heavenly Court, lacking solemnity but adding a touch of flamboyance. The entrance was bustling, and inside, it was lively and noisy. It seemed to be a gambling house.
Xie Lian approached and saw words hanging on the pillars. On the left, "Want money, not life," and on the right, "Want to win, not face." Above, a horizontal banner read, "Hahahaha."
"......"
Such crude writing didn't deserve to be called a couplet, and the handwriting was wild and chaotic, as if someone drunkenly scribbled it with a large brush, full of malice. Yet, it had a strange charm that made Xie Lian want to laugh. He shook his head, thinking the Wind Master wouldn't be playing here, and decided to check the beauty shops for ghosts instead.
He should have left, but inexplicably, he turned back and entered.
The gambling hall was packed, filled with laughter and cries. As Xie Lian descended a few steps, he heard a scream. He looked and saw four masked men carrying someone.
The person seemed to be in great pain, struggling and howling as he was carried, leaving a trail of blood. Both his legs had been severed, bleeding profusely, while a small ghost followed, greedily licking the blood clean.
Such a horrific scene, yet no one in the gambling house paid any attention, continuing to shout, cheer, and roll around. But then, most of the players here weren't human, and if they were, they weren't ordinary people.
Xie Lian stepped aside, letting the four men carry the person out, and continued inside. A girl in a smiling mask approached, "Young master, are you here to play?"
Xie Lian smiled slightly, "I didn't bring any money. Can I just watch?"
In his experience, saying this usually got you kicked out. No money, why are you here? But the girl giggled, "No money, no problem. Most people here don't bet with money."
Xie Lian asked, "Really?"
The girl covered her mouth, "Yes. Please follow me."
She gestured for Xie Lian to follow, and he did, observing the surroundings.
The gambling house was lavish but not gaudy, vibrant but not vulgar, a building of considerable taste. The girl led Xie Lian to the back of the hall, where a long table was surrounded by layers of people. Xie Lian couldn't get through, so he stood outside listening. Suddenly, he heard a man say, "I bet my hand!"
With so many onlookers, Xie Lian couldn't see inside, but he heard another voice lazily say, "No need. Not even your life is worth a penny here."
Hearing this voice, Xie Lian's heart skipped a beat.
He silently said, "San Lang."
The voice was indeed that of the young man he remembered, though slightly deeper.
But because of this, the voice was even more pleasant, cutting through the laughter and noise of the gambling house, reaching his ears.
Xie Lian looked up and saw a curtain behind the long table. Behind the curtain, a figure in red lounged in a chair.