Xie Lian was slightly taken aback, as distant memories seemed like dusty images, slightly brushed away but still unclear. He let go of his hand, picked up the flower, and remained silent. Hua Cheng also put down his pen, slowly grinding ink beside him, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"..." Xie Lian smiled and said, "Nothing. It's just that this flower, its fragrance is so refreshing, I've always liked it."

Offering flowers in the palace was not uncommon. However, they usually offered large bouquets of bright red and purple fresh flowers, or handmade fake flowers that never wither. After a pause, Xie Lian said, "Could it be that the 'Blood Rain Seeks Flower' seeks this kind of flower?"

Hua Cheng laughed, "Brother, you truly have foresight."

Amidst laughter, the two finally completed a piece of calligraphy together, still writing those four lines of poetry. Hua Cheng picked it up to admire for a moment, seemingly very satisfied, and said, "Hmm, not bad. Frame it."

Hearing him say "not bad," Xie Lian was already choked. Hearing "frame it," he choked again and said, "You wouldn't want to hang it on the wall, would you?" If his deceased teachers saw a piece of calligraphy with Xie Lian's involvement looking like this, they might be so angry they'd come back to life. Hua Cheng, however, laughed and said, "No. I'll keep it myself, no one else will see it."

At that moment, the two suddenly heard a faint shouting from outside:

"Fire!"

"Elysium Pavilion is on fire!"

Inside the Thousand Lantern Pavilion, it was extremely quiet, but the two of them, with senses far beyond ordinary people, quickly exchanged a glance upon hearing the sound. Xie Lian blurted out, "Elysium Pavilion again?"

The words had just left his mouth when he realized the "again" was a bit ridiculous. Hua Cheng, unhurried, put away the calligraphy and said, "No need to worry, brother, sit here, I'll be right back."

How could Xie Lian sit there at ease and said, "I'll go with you!" He hurriedly followed, puzzled in his heart: why does the Elysium Pavilion catch fire every time he comes? The name of the God of Calamity seemed to be confirmed again.

Although this time it wasn't his fault, he was almost habitually apologetic. The two rushed back to the Elysium Pavilion, where the entire street was filled with thick smoke. Little ghosts and monsters were noisily carrying buckets of water back and forth to put out the fire.

Seeing Hua Cheng and Xie Lian arrive, they all said, "City Lord! You don't need to worry, the fire isn't big, it's already out!"

Hua Cheng showed no expression, but Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and said warmly, "That's great! Thank you all for your hard work."

The little ghosts hadn't expected to receive thanks, let alone a "thank you" from the City Lord's friend, and they were delighted, saying, "Not hard at all! It's nothing!" "It should be!"

Xie Lian then realized that it seemed a bit inappropriate for him to say thank you since he wasn't the owner here. However, since Hua Cheng himself hadn't said it, he thought it wouldn't hurt to say it, and felt a bit ashamed, deciding not to mind it anymore. The two entered the Elysium Pavilion to check the source of the fire, and indeed, it had only burned a small area, and it was an inconspicuous little room in a corner, no wonder it was quickly extinguished.

However, after confirming this, Xie Lian became vigilant and said to Hua Cheng, "The arsonist isn't ignorant and bold enough to be playing a prank, nor do they really want to burn something down. It seems more like they want to divert attention, to draw everyone's eyes over here."

But at this critical moment, what attention could they want to divert?

Suddenly, Xie Lian realized, "That fetal spirit!"

When they left the Elysium Pavilion earlier, they had walked for a long time, and the fetal spirit had been crying and wailing, its cries sharp and piercing, occasionally calling for its mother. But now, that sound had disappeared!

They went to check a side hall outside the Elysium Pavilion. When they left, Hua Cheng had casually placed the jar containing the fetal spirit on a table. The jar was still there, but when Xie Lian picked it up, he felt the weight was wrong, too light. Upon opening it, sure enough, it was empty!

The seal, the thing inside the jar, couldn't have opened it by itself. Xie Lian immediately said, "The fetal spirit has been released by someone."

Hua Cheng, however, showed no sign of panic and said, "It was stolen. That thing passed through the butterfly array, and now it's severely weakened, it can't run far on its own."

Xie Lian said, "Then it's easy to handle. San Lang, do you have any guards monitoring the comings and goings at this Elysium Pavilion? See if you can find any suspicious people."

Hua Cheng said, "No."

"..." Xie Lian blinked and said, "No?"

Hua Cheng said, "Hmm. There never has been."

No wonder last time when he was secretly up to something in the Elysium Pavilion, he didn't see a single guard. Xie Lian had thought maybe they were hidden too well for him to notice, but it turned out there really weren't any, and he was slightly taken aback, saying, "You're so confident about the Elysium Pavilion?"

Hua Cheng said, "Brother, have you noticed the doors in the Elysium Pavilion?"

Thinking for a moment, Xie Lian said, "I haven't noticed. Is there something special about them?"

Hua Cheng said, "Indeed."

He pointed to the door of the side hall and said, "If someone who isn't the owner here, without permission, takes away someone originally inside or something that doesn't belong to them, even if it's just one item, they won't be able to open the door and will be trapped in that room."

Recalling his last visit to the Elysium Pavilion, Xie Lian remembered he seemed to be using dice to open the way, and when he finally left, it was the Wind Master who raised a strong wind to lift the roof, avoiding leaving through the "door."

These were rather violent scenes, and the more Xie Lian thought about it, the more he felt he shouldn't think about it, slightly embarrassed.

After a pause, he asked, "Then if San Lang, you took a magical treasure from me and brought it to the Elysium Pavilion, as the original owner of the treasure, I wouldn't be able to take it away?"

Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course, you wouldn't be able to take it away. Once it's in my hands, it's mine. But brother, don't wrong me, I wouldn't steal your treasure."

Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, "Naturally, I know that, so I said 'if.' Besides... I don't have any treasures worth stealing..."

Hua Cheng stopped joking, smiled, and continued, "So, trying to steal something from me without being discovered is impossible. Therefore, there's no need for guards."

Xie Lian's first reaction was that the person who stole the fetal spirit didn't leave through the door, they used another method. But looking around, the roof of this side hall was intact, the floor was intact, the walls were intact, there were no signs of any breach, and he couldn't help but have an even more bizarre suspicion:

Could it be that the person who stole the fetal spirit didn't leave and is still in this side hall?

Although there was no place to hide in this side hall, there were many methods to hide in plain sight, and perhaps that person was quietly observing their every move nearby.

Xie Lian looked around carefully, watching for any unusual distortions in the air, but whether it was his eyes or his intuition, they both told him there was no third person or ghost here. Perhaps his line of thinking was wrong, and he needed to think in another direction. At this moment, Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Brother, don't worry.

I have a way to find the person who stole the fetal spirit."

He seemed to have a plan. Xie Lian turned to him, thought for a moment, and suddenly had a moment of clarity.

The two waited quietly. After a while, the noise gradually approached, and a large group of demons and ghosts swarmed over, gathering outside the side hall, all saying, "City Lord, what orders do you have for us?"

This crowd was at least a thousand strong, and if the Elysium Pavilion weren't big enough, it might not have been able to hold them all. The one who brought them was the masked man, who said to Hua Cheng, "City Lord, everyone who appeared on this street today should be here. The ghost market is also locked, no one can leave."

Still the voice of the young man from last time, Xie Lian couldn't help but glance at him again. The ghosts said, "City Lord, have you caught the one who set the fire?"

"I heard they also stole something! Either they're tired of living or want to die again!"

"Such boldness. Setting fires and stealing things, daring to provoke the City Lord, will he let it slide?!"

"......"

Although the ghosts weren't talking about him, Xie Lian, having been someone who set fires, secretly rescued people, and was let off by Hua Cheng last time at the Elysium Pavilion, felt like he was being shot with arrows, coughed lightly, and felt increasingly apologetic. He stole a glance at Hua Cheng, only to meet Hua Cheng's ambiguous gaze, and quickly looked away. Then, Hua Cheng said calmly, "The one who stole the fetal spirit, step forward yourself. Don't waste my time."

The ghosts were shocked and said, "Among us?"

"I thought it was an outsider..."

"Who is it, hurry up and step forward!"

After a while, the uproar subsided, but no one stepped forward. Hua Cheng said, "Very well, truly brave. Men to the left, women to the right, line up."

Although the ghosts were puzzled, they didn't dare to disobey Hua Cheng's words and immediately did as he said, splitting into two large groups. The male ghosts crowded on the left, rough and loud; the female ghosts were on the right, almost all of them graceful and charming.

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian exchanged a glance, walked straight to the right, and among the female ghosts, they almost swept over ten with a glance. After a few steps, when passing in front of one female ghost, he paused slightly.

This female ghost wore a long dress, her face covered with a thick layer of white powder, so white it was frightening, almost unrecognizable, but this overly flamboyant makeup seemed somewhat familiar. Xie Lian said, "Lady Lanchang?"

The female ghost was startled, as if she had seen a ghost herself. Indeed, it was the same Lady Ghost Lanchang who had tangled with Xie Lian on the ghost market street last time, quarreled with Butcher Zhu in public, and mocked him for being "impotent," spreading it so that all ghosts knew.

After the initial shock, she put her hands on her hips and raised her head, saying, "What? You said it yourself that you're impotent! I didn't wrong you! Are you going to have the City Lord show me some color to take revenge?"

Although the surrounding female ghosts and demons were a bit nervous, they still giggled at her words. Hua Cheng also came over, and although his expression was unreadable, Lady Ghost Lanchang was still a bit afraid of him, not daring to be too presumptuous. Xie Lian said gently, "Such jokes, say them as you like, it's no problem. However, that fetal spirit has harmed many, it's very bloody, it can't be let loose, please return it."

Even if Lanchang had a thick layer of powder, it was clear her face turned even whiter. She backed away repeatedly, but she was among a group of female ghosts, and after a few steps, she was grabbed by the other female ghosts, preventing any escape, and had to shout, "I don't know what you're talking about! What fetal spirit?"

Xie Lian said, "Please return it."

Lanchang said, "Return what? I don't have it! You say I stole something from the City Lord's place, but everyone knows, you can't take anything from the City Lord's place, whatever you take, you can't get out!"

The ghosts all agreed, saying yes, that's right, everyone knows, and Butcher Zhu was also shouting. Lanchang continued, "The fire at the Elysium Pavilion was just a moment ago, I've been on this street the whole time, I haven't left, so if I stole something, I wouldn't have had time to hide it, right?"

As she spoke, she spread her hands, showing they were empty, and lifted her skirt to show she hadn't hidden anything. Xie Lian, however, said, "Lady, last time I saw you, in the cold wind, you wore very little. Today, the weather is nice, yet you've put on a long dress.

Did you suddenly want to change clothes, or are you hiding something?"

Hearing him mention it, the ghosts realized that usually, Lanchang dressed very scantily, and Xie Lian saying she "wore very little" was already a polite way of putting it, as she was almost bare-chested on the street. Today, however, she wore a long dress, covering her waist and legs completely, indeed strange.

Moreover, when Hua Cheng took Xie Lian to tour the ghost market, and the ghosts made a ruckus offering small dishes, they didn't see the usually most conspicuous Lanchang, who loved to curse on the street and actively spread "it's him who's impotent, not me." There was a slight commotion.

Xie Lian slowly said, "You didn't take something that didn't belong to you, you just took back a part of yourself. That fetal spirit is now in your belly!"

Since the person who stole the fetal spirit didn't leave by other means, nor did they stay in the side hall, then there was only one possibility left: this person left openly through the front door.

If the fetal spirit had been born, then it would be a child, an independent person. However, the fetal spirit was forcibly taken from the mother's body before it was full term, so if its mother put it back into her belly, it would still be considered "her own thing."

No, it should be said that the fetal spirit was a piece of her flesh, a part of her. After all, the bond between mother and child is strong, and in this case, they are one, so the female ghost could naturally leave through all the doors of the Elysium Pavilion without any trouble.

Therefore, the one who stole the fetal spirit must be a female ghost, the birth mother of the fetal spirit. Quickly sealing off the ghost market and checking all the female ghosts who appeared on this street before and after the fire would surely catch her. It seemed Hua Cheng had thought of all this the moment he entered the side hall.

Suddenly, Lanchang screamed and clutched her belly with both hands.