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For the record, Xie Lian did not steal the Ghost City.

First of all, that wouldn’t have been called stealing. Cities were not stolen. Cities were conquered or sieged or destroyed or maybe handed down after some bizarre inheritance case caused by court plotting and some well planned marriages, but not stolen. It was impossible to steal a city and therefore Xie Lian had not stolen the Ghost City.

The reason why he was considered as a lord of the city was very simple: he had married the original lord of the city. Therefore… Could he even claim that the city had been a wedding gift? Probably he could, but did it make him sound too pretentious? A whole city as a wedding gift wasn’t really a normal thing after all. But then again, it would fit Hua Cheng’s style to give his husband a whole city as a gift, that Xie Lian had to admit. 

Oh well, let’s say he did not steal the city. He acquired it as a bonus when he married his husband.

Although… He kind of conquered it.

The thing is that Hua Cheng had founded the Ghost City and he was the strongest ghost around, so therefore there were no questions on to whom the city belonged to. Hua Cheng was, without doubt, the lord of the city. When Xie Lian first showed up, he was met with some doubts and careful looks. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for mortal cultivators or gods to show up in the city where they could, for the right price, get almost anything they dreamed of. Sometimes they did cause troubles, and those troubles often were either dangerous or very annoying to deal with. The citizens did trust for their lord to keep them safe, but it was simply a show of good senses to be careful. Rowdy they were too, and it did take a while for Xie Lian to learn to see past that and accept the city as it was: a chaotic, lively place held together only with few flimsy rules and common knowledge of Hua Cheng not tolerating too much of stupidity.  

Once the ghosts realised that Xie Lian was, in fact, their lord’s special guest their opinion about him changed right away. Suddenly Xie Lian was not somebody to be wary about. Xie Lian was somebody they should respect and treat well, because he was clearly very important and honestly nobody wanted to know how insulted Hua Cheng could become if his special guest was treated wrongly. They still did find out about how dangerous it was to make that mistake when some visitors showed up and mistook Xie Lian as a weak target. It was a wonder Hua Cheng had not demolished the whole city in his anger that day. 

Then the special guest  became a lover and the citizens of the Ghost city increased their respectful behaviour just in case. Although they still had very different and strange views on how to show respect, but Xie Lian had by then learnt to understand the ghosts and didn’t mind at all. In fact, he started to help them. Just as he had wanted to help living people, he also took the ghost citizens' problems as his own and offered advice and support however he could. Soon the respect given to him was not only due to Hua Cheng. It was his own doing. Respect born from kindness, helpfulness and attention. 

Then the marriage happened and a lover became a husband. The ghost city rejoiced and took a chance to celebrate their lords for weeks. It didn’t even matter that the lords themselves only attended part of the celebrations and then disappeared somewhere for months, leaving Yin Yu to deal with all the possible troubles the citizens could cause. It was a very busy time for Yin Yu.

After the party was over, Xie Lian was declared as a lord of the city and given the same respect as Hua Cheng as it was clear that they were equals in their power.

So maybe… Maybe he had conquered the city after all? Peacefully conquered, because he had not replaced Hua Cheng or challenged his authority. He had only… Kind of sneaked in. Or more like let in and allowed freely to take whatever he wanted. 

Xie Lian smiled when he thought about the Ghost City, feeling quite weird about sneaking in there. Usually he used his dice to get straight to the Paradise manor and then walked wherever he wanted in the city, but he couldn’t do that with his current company. No matter how much he wanted to trust his fellow gods, letting them know about how Hua Cheng travelled around was not something he wanted to do. So he kept the dice to himself and tried his best to remember how people normally got into the city. It was almost pitiful. How could he not know how to get to the city he had stolen… Peacefully and accidentally conquered? 

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Shi Qingxuan asked for the fifth time, making Feng Xin groan for annoyance. Even Xie Lian, who was usually very patient, started to feel slightly bothered. It didn’t help that he honestly tried his best and was starting to feel bad about not knowing the way to the city that technically was his. He didn’t even dare to contact Hua Chen and ask. He knew he would be teased if he did that, and god knew… Oh, wait, that was him… He knew how much teasing material his husband already had. 

“Of course”, he said, still smiling patiently, “we will just have to find some ghosts and follow them. Nothing too difficult, hah ha.” Shi Qingxuan seemed to somehow be satisfied with that answer, because she smiled and continued to explain some story she had heard a few days ago. Feng Xin however seemed to be less easy to trick and he kept glaring at Xie Lian, not saying anything but still communicating clearly enough with his looks and attitude. Xie Lian held a sigh, doing his best to ignore his old friend. He had honestly been surprised to see Feng Xin joining them with his own face, but so far all he had done was to glare at Xie Lian. The crown prince kind of could understand the reason for that. They had returned from another, several days long mission just a while ago. That mission had included quite a lot of more and less awkward questions from Mu Qing and Feng Xin and not at all subtle attempts to get information out of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng while wearing their disguises. It had been quite strange, especially when Xie Lian realised that they were mostly interested in San Lang and their marriage while only a few of the questions had anything to do with Xie Lian’s life during the past eight centuries. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but just in case he kept his answers short and simple, refusing to give out any information that would reveal that he had married the ghost king. The connection he had with his old friends was so fragile. He didn’t dare to shake it too much right then. 

He glanced over his shoulder, noticing that Feng Xin looked quickly away. Xie Lian still could see the troubled expression and he hoped that whatever was bothering his old friend wasn’t anything too serious. He was afraid to offer his help right then in fear that it would be strongly refused and make their situation worse. He also had a mission to focus on, so he forced himself to not think about Feng Xin for a while.

He had barely returned to Heaven after the last mission and handed in his report, when he had been called again. He had to admit that the sudden and quick summon had annoyed him quite a lot. Especially because he had been looking forward to returning home. Although Hua Cheng had kept his word and found Xie Lian after he failed to return before half of the day had passed, and spent majority of the time making fun of Mu Qing and Feng Xin, Xie Lian still felt like he owed his husband a good evening. 

Well, at least he was on way home. Very slowly. If only he could remember how normal people got in the Ghost City. It couldn’t be this hard. All kinds of people wandered in all the time and many of them were total idiots. 

“There has been an increasing amount of golden belts being sold in the ghost realm”, Ling Wen had explained the newest mission to Xie Lian, “you will join the Wind master and general Lang Qianqiu in this mission to find out who is behind the golden belt sales.” Xie Lian had nodded, quietly wondering why Heaven sent three accomplished officials to deal with something that would have been a much more suitable duty for Middle Heaven officials. Of course Xie Lian had no idea what others were told about their mission. If he knew, he would have understood the situation much better.

“This mission is of highest security”, Ling Wen had told Shi Qingxuan and Lang Qianqiu in a serious tone that left no space for anything else, “you will follow his highness Xie Lian into the Ghost City and gather information on him. Anything abnormal should be reported with greatest details. And I repeat, do not let anything out. Every single thing you witness has to be reported. You may not tell his highness about your true objective, understood?” They had both nodded, accepting their mission without second questions. After all, they had heard about the speculations and gossip… Debates going around Xie Lian. 

Feng Xin however… Well, he had not been invited to that mission at all. In fact, he and Mu Qing were pretty much the only gods beside Xie Lian that had no idea what was going on and they honestly preferred it that way. They had simply been too busy to avoid Xie Lian and run around wearing their disguises to actually take part in any conversations and gossip… Debate meetings, and neither were they interested in that. After all, they had been loyal to the crown prince once and, despite all, part of that loyalty still lived on. They wouldn’t participate in something as rude as gossiping about Xie Lian. They were still aware of some things, because it was hard to avoid all the mess going on in Heaven, but not about the latest doubts and theories. 

The only reason Feng Xin was following Xie Lian was that he had seen the crown prince leaving for a new mission right away after another one, got suspicious about what was going on, and decided to follow the group. After all, he had once been Xie Lian’s body guard, and something from those times still stuck on him. He couldn’t leave Xie Lian alone when he had such a strong feeling of wrongness. Something was going on and that something could hurt the crown prince.

Too bad he did not suspect Heaven to be the source of that wrongness. In fact, he was sure that the reason for all the troubles would be that strange man Xie Lian had married. There was something very wrong with him and Feng Xin was determined to find out what it was. 

He was still determined about that after hours of walking in a dark forest. 

“Are you sure…”

“Yes, lady Wind master”, Xie Lian sighed and paused when he heard a weird, but somehow familiar sound coming closer through the forest. It took him a moment to realise why the sound was familiar, but when he did his lips turned into a smile, “E’ming!” 

The scimitar flew through the air at high speed, making the two gods behind Xie Lian startle and take a few steps back. Xie Lian, however, held his arms out, ready to capture the scimitar coming to him. E’ming slowed down perfectly so that the collision did not hurt Xie Lian. 

“E’ming, how nice to see you!” Xie Lian said and caressed the long blade, “you should really start to bring your scabbard and belt with you when you come to see me so I can carry you correctly”, the scimitar rattled quietly and Xie Lian knew that his words would be ignored. He shook his head and brought the scimitar closer so he could whisper, “E’ming, could you show us the way to the Ghost City? I think… I might be lost.” E’ming gave him a confused look and then glanced at Xie Lian’s sleeve, where he kept the dice. 

“I know, but we need to arrive the normal way”, Xie Lian explained and E’ming rolled its eye a few times before nodding, “and please… Could you not mention this to San Lang? He will tease me if he finds out…” E’ming did not answer, but Xie Lian trusted on it. He turned around, now in a much better mood after his embarrassing problem had been solved, and gave his fellow gods a confused look.

“How did you get so far?” he asked. Both Shi Qingxuan and Feng Xin had been walking just a few steps behind him, but now they were both quite a distance away and avoiding eye contact.

“Ah hah ha, no reason, just saw… something pretty over there”, Shi Qingxuan said and tugged her fan back under her belt. 

“Do you have to hold that thing?” Feng Xin asked, noticeably less nervous but still refusing to come too close. He and Mu Qing were quite familiar with E’ming. After all, tormenting them had been Hua Cheng’s favourite hobby until he found Xie Lian, which after he found several new favourite hobbies that were all very Xie Lian centred. 

“ E’ming ”, Xie Lian said, adding a good amount of weight on the scimitar’s name, “is a very good scimitar. Not a thing. Of course I will hold it. E’ming came all the way here to see us and it would be rude to do otherwise.” Feng Xin opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it just as fast when the crown prince’s voice awoke memories from long ago. The tune in his voice had been the very same he had used when they were still mortals. The one that Feng Xin knew well meant that it was not possible to argue with Xie Lian. He had already made up his mind and wouldn’t change it no matter what. So, Feng Xin closed his mouth and looked down, letting only his annoyed expression to say what he was thinking. It wasn't a really effective method, because Xie Lian had already turned around and was walking with E’ming guiding him in the right direction. 

“Oh! I think I can sense some ghostly power around here”, the Wind master suddenly said after a while, “so we were walking in the right direction!”

“Of course we were…” Xie Lian muttered and smiled at E’ming, who was very proud of itself. 

“Maybe you two should also change to female forms”, Shi Qingxuan continued, “that is much more suitable when dealing with ghosts, you know, the energy…”

“No”, Feng Xin grunted and Xie Lian shook his head quickly. He didn’t even dare to think what would happen if he showed up in Ghost City as a woman and somebody recognized him. The ghosts did have a tendency to jump into the worst possible assumptions and somebody would for sure run to Hua Cheng to tell him all about it. Xie Lian had had no time to contact his husband yet and tell about the newest mission he had been thrown into. Having him hear about it first through some bizarre theories and assumptions the ghosts made up once they saw him as a woman would be even more embarrassing than admitting that he did not know how to get to the city he had been living in for decades already. 

“Joy killers…”, Shi Qingxuan sighed, “only if my dear Earth master was here, but he had been so busy lately… Ah, about Lang Qianqiu!” 

“Right, so he is going to join us too?” Fen Xin asked and the Wind Master nodded.

“He said he has to do something else first, but he will join us shortly.”

“And he knows how to get to the Ghost City?”

“Hm, yes, he said he knows.” Xie Lian sighed. Even gods who had never been anywhere near the city knew better than him how to get in there. He really was embarrassed of himself. He was lucky that E’ming had come to see him so he did not need to let anybody know about this all. 

It did make him feel a little better when they eventually arrived in the city and Shi Qingxuan disappeared somewhere, being dragged away by a group of female ghosts. At least Xie Lian didn’t get lost in the city . In the normal chaos, the visitors rarely managed to find their way at the first try, but Xie Lian had been wandering around the city enough to know exactly where he was going. Feng Xin however seemed to realise the risks and, after they had lost the Wind Master, he decided to stay very close to Xie Lian and glare at everything like they could be attacked at any moment. Xie Lian wondered for a moment if he should tell his old friend that they would be completely safe. In fact there was no safer place, if Paradise manor was not counted, because Hua Cheng would never let anything bad happen to his beloved in his realm. Of course that didn’t completely erase the possibility of something bad happening to Feng Xin, but Xie Lian was sure that if he just stayed close enough he would be fine. Probably. 

Still, he decided to not mention that. It was for the best that he did not strain their fragile connection with that kind of revelation. Hua Cheng with his youthful, mortal-like appearance earlier had already annoyed both Mu Qing and Feng Xin enough. Xie Lian was honestly surprised that Feng Xin had not already jumped into interrogating him again and demanding him to explain why he had decided to marry his San Lang.  

“You can go home now, E’ming”, he said to the scimitar and let go of it, “we will have to work undercover for a while and… I am really sorry, don’t cry!” Xie Lian hurried to comfort the scimitar, “it is just for a little while! We can cuddle later in the evening. I promise I will be home by then.” E’ming looked sad and betrayed, but did obey Xie Lian who felt really bad. He would have kept the scimitar with him otherwise, but it was too noticeable and he was supposed to look for the golden belts. Or… Well, it looks like he was looking for golden belts. It was already hard to blend in without carrying the literal symbol of the city’s lord. 

“Is it true?” Feng Xie said after a while.

“True what?

“That you defeated Crimson Rain Sought Flower?” Feng Xie asked and Xie Lian thought about that for a moment before just shrugging.

“I guess… In a way? Yeah, I have defeated him a few times, but… hm… it is complicated”, he answered, counting all his wins in sparring sessions and gambling as defeating his husband. So it wasn’t even a lie. Technically. 

“So you have imprisoned him then?”

“Depends”, Xie Lian replied and tried very hard to not think about the night after their latest gambling, when Hua Cheng had felt inspired by Heaven’s theories and made some rather interesting suggestions on how Xie Lian could imprison him, “I would say… He is not locked down, but he is… controlled.” He said the last word very quietly, feeling almost ashamed from both the idea of being literally in control of Hua Cheng and the ideas the ghost had offered him during the night. He really wanted to change the topic. 

“So he will not be a threat to you?”

“Don’t worry about that”, Xie Lian said quickly and looked away, pretending to look at the shops lining the street. 

“Hm”, Feng Xin muttered, but didn’t look like he was going to not worry. He kept staring at Xie Lian, only looking away when ghosts came too close, “do you even know where he is?”

“No”, Xie Lian replied, this time honestly. He had no idea where his husband was right then , but if he had to guess he would say Gambler’s Den. Hua Cheng rarely spent time at Paradise manor if Xie Lian was not there and E’ming wouldn’t be wandering around the city alone if its master was somewhere else. 

“Your husband then?” Feng Xin asked, clearly displeased with the answers he was given, “he disappeared really fast after the last mission.”

“Oh, San Lang went to see our shrine”, Xie Lian lied, “somebody has to see that those prayers and donations are taken care of, right?”

“If you trust him so much with that, why not make him your officer?”

“Ah, he really wouldn’t like that”, Xie Lian said, although he had a feeling that Hua Cheng would agree even with becoming part of Heaven if Xie Lian asked. Xie Lian would never abuse his love and devotion like that.  

“Why?”

“It is complicated”, Xie Lian replied and kept looking for any excuse to get out of the conversation without making it awkward or too suspicious.

“But he is mortal”, Feng Xin noted, “does he cultivate? It doesn’t really look like he is cultivating.”

“How do you know that?” Xie Lian asked in a completely innocent tone, “you have never met San Lang.” That was true. Feng Xin had been using his alter-ego when he had met Xie Lian’s husband and therefore he had never met San Lang. Technically, of course, he had encountered Hua Cheng several times, but Xie Lian just wanted somebody other than himself to be embarrassed for a while. 

“Nan Feng is very detailed with his reports”, Feng Xin finally replied after brief thinking accompanied by a panicking expression, which Xie Lian very politely ignored. 

“It is so nice to hear that you have good subordinates”, the crown prince said with an honest smile, “where is he now? He was also very interested in my husband during that mission we did in Banyue.”

“I… I sent him to detention.”

“Hm, I hope he didn’t do anything too bad”, Xie Lian nodded.

“That is not important. We were talking about you, Dianxia. You know gods should not…”, He stopped talking when he noticed that Xie Lian was staring off to an alley and looking suddenly focused and very serious. He followed the crown prince’s example, but couldn’t really see anything else than darkness and a faint, almost invisible, gloom of green. He didn’t think much of that, but for Xie Lian it seemed to mean something more. He suddenly moved, running forward and calling Ruoye to attack. He was so fast that Feng Xin barely had time to react before Xie Lian had already captured his target. 

It was clearly a ghost of the lower category. While the form was somewhat stabilt, there were some strange features. The ghost was wearing simple clothes that covered most of the body, but Xie Lian wasn’t focused on discovering who exactly he had captured. Ruoye held on to the ghost that soon started to yell and gather attention from the passersby, but still Xie Lian did not react. He moved the ghost’s bag with his foot, frowning when he discovered a lantern with faint green light coming out of it.

“Selling ghost spirits is forbidden in Ghost City”, he declared in a loud tone that would have fit a king, and picked up the lantern. Now the crowd really started to gather and the ghosts whispered to each other, few yelling something now and then. Feng Xin glanced around, noticing that their situation was far from ideal. With so much attention on them it would have been impossible to escape without fighting, and there were too many ghosts to fight. 

“What? Nothing is forbidden here!” the captured ghost claimed, “who you think you are, you little stick, let me go!” The crowd gasped, shocked by the rudeness of this visiting merchant. Nobody talked like that to Xie Lian and got away with it! Quickly the citizens started to organise unofficial bets on the rude ghost’s fate and few started to yell insults to the captured ghost and praises to Xie Lian. Feng Xin was at that point already fully focused on how to solve the situation and he was also busy with frantically yelling at Xie Lian in his mind, so he completely missed the crowd's actions. All he heard was yelling and he thought the ghosts were going to attack at any moment. Still, Xie Lian stood still and calm, if not quite angry at the merchant, and Feng Xin had no idea what was wrong with that damn crown prince!

“Waning Moon Officer! Waning Moon Officer is coming!” somebody yelled and the ghosts quickly retreated to give way to the masked man. Feng Xin paled, sensing that this man was not somebody he should underestimate. He glanced at Xie Lian, hoping with all his heart that the crown prince, whose protection had once been his sworn duty, had developed some senses in the past twenty seconds. He was very disappointed and annoyed to see that even the arrival of the masked officer seemed to have very little effect on that damn prince, what is wrong with you?!

All Xie Lian was doing was to ignore the possible dangers, which honestly was something he did all the time because he had already long ago said goodbye to his sense of self-protection, and picking up the lantern. Ghost spirits, Feng Xin realised, all this ruckus for few ghost spirits?

Even more surprised he was when the Waning Moon Officer stopped right in front of Xie Lian and bowed.

“Officer, show this ghost out. He is banned from the city”, Xie Lian said, holding the lantern tightly and calling Ruoye back. Yin Yu bowed again, accepting the order without questions. The crowd was disappointed by the lack of excitement and started to complain. Not too much, of course, but just some light-hearted complaining in hopes that Xie Lian would change his order if they talked about it enough. 

The merchant ghost who had tried to sell ghost spirits, now realised that he had lost the fight and made a mistake. The crowd was yelling, the infamous and feared Waning Moon Officer was right there, and he was going to be banished from the city by some… cultivator? He didn’t really know who he was facing. That was the biggest mistake. The other mistake was that he let himself make stupid decisions in his panic. 

“You…”, he screamed and leaped forward, reaching to grab the man who had turned his back on him. Feng Xin unsheathed his sword, but he knew he wouldn’t be fast enough. He was standing on the wrong side and the Waning Moon Officer was blocking his way. For a moment he forgot he was not the crown prince’s bodyguard anymore. That he hadn’t held that role for the past eight centuries. For that moment he was pulled back to the time when they were mortals, and he knew he had failed.

A blade bit the dead flesh, ripping the spiritual power holding the ghost’s form like it was nothing but smoke. The hand reaching for Xie Lian fell on the ground before it found its target. The scimitar with a crimson red eye placed itself between the assaulter and Xie Lian, the point of blade steadily directed at the ghost, waiting for an order. 

The crown prince turned around, showing nothing but calmness and annoyance when he looked at the ghost, who was now screaming in pain. He had not even flinched and neither did he react when the crowd, after a brief shocked silence, started to cheer.

“Good job, Chengzhu!” they yelled, “see that? Our Chengzhu got the style! Just one swipe and the whole arm off!” Poor Feng Xin was quickly becoming even more confused and slowly he sheathed his sword, throwing questioning looks at Xie Lian, who seemed to be completely content with just standing there and doing nothing more than looking like he owned the place. Why did he have to act like a proper crown prince right now? Feng Xin had no idea.

But wasn’t Ghost City Hua Cheng’s territory? Feng Xin thought, does that mean that…

“Mercy, mercy!” the now one armed merchant yelled when the Waning Moon Officer started to drag him deeper into the city, “mercy! You said I was banished, why are you taking me…”

“Chengzhu’s orders”, Yin Yu grunted, shutting the ghost up efficiently. Xie Lian might have had mercy to just banish the ghost instead of punishing him more, but Hua Cheng did not know any mercy when it came to those who dared to raise their hand against his beloved. Xie Lian followed them with his gaze for a moment before turning and addressing the crowd.

“Well, everybody, let’s move on!” he called in a friendly tone that only had a slight edge from the mood earlier. Some of the ghosts lingered for a moment just in case anything more would happen, but the majority realised that the show was over and returned to whatever they had been doing. Only when the crowd was gone, E’ming dropped its defensive stance and threw itself in Xie Lian’s arms. 

“E’ming! You didn’t go home!” the crown prince said, faking disappointment that had very little effect because he was smiling, “did you follow us all this time? You are just as stubborn and protective as your…”

“Dianxia”, Feng Xin finally recovered enough to speak, “...what the hell?” Xie Lian startled, and that caused a pinch of regret in Feng Xin. The crown prince had just a moment ago acted all mighty and powerful in front of the whole city of ghosts, but he only startled when he heard the voice of his old friend. Had he really failed his prince that badly?

“Oh, hm…”, Xie Lian struggled, petting E’ming while thinking furiously, “it’s…”

“Complicated?”

“Yeah”, Xie Lian gave him an embarrassed smile, “complicated.”

“So you… stole the city that belonged to Crimson Rain Sought Flower?” Feng Xin asked.

“Nooo… It is not possible to steal cities.”

“You know what I mean.” Xie Lian sighed, nodding while E’ming glared at Feng Xin. 

“I might have… got some authority here”, the crown prince admitted quietly.

“Some? Even that… What is he called? Waning Moon Officer?” Feng Xin asked and continued after Xie Lian nodded, “even that one bows to you.”

“Well, you know, when I defeated Sa… Hua Cheng, they just started to listen to me and I couldn’t just leave them here alone”, Xie Lian argued, “who knows what could have happened!” Feng Xin thought about that for a moment before nodding shortly.

“I guess it makes sense”, he shrugged, “but a god as a ruler of ghosts…”

“Well, isn’t it time to get back to our mission!” Xie Lian said quickly, “we have been here hours and found nothing, but lost the Wind Master. That is very bad statistics for us, hah ha. Let’s go to search for those golden belts before…”

“Golden belts?” Feng Xin, who still had no idea what kind of mission he had joined in, asked confused, “why are we looking for golden belts? Here?”

“That is what Ling Wen told me. They had noticed that there have been quite a lot of golden belts for sale in the Ghost City and we are here to investigate that”, Xie Lian said, sounding confused as well, “you didn’t know?”

“...Slipped out of my mind”, Feng Xin muttered, “golden belts. Of course.” Xie Lian looked at him for a moment longer, confused but also thoughtful when he observed his old friend. 

“I guess we should head to Gambler’s Den”, he finally said, still looking like he was trying to figure out something, “anything happening in the city will sooner or later show up there.” Feng Xin didn’t have any better ideas so he only nodded and followed the crown prince, who had opted to not send E’ming away again and was walking the scimitar in his arms, showing familiarity that clearly told that it was not an uncommon occurrence. 

When they arrived at the Gambler’s Den, Xie Lian made his way straight to the one of smaller halls, only briefly glancing and smiling toward the area separated by curtains before looking like he was scolding himself. Feng Xin was already feeling rather suspicious of the way the crown prince seemed to know exactly where he was going. Surely a place like this was not worth his time and far below his status.

Yet still, the hostess welcomed them warmly and bowed in front of Xie Lian. 

“Dianxia”, she said with pure respect in her voice, “may I ask if you are here to gamble or for other business?”

“Other business”, Xie Lian replied quickly, “is… Uh, Chengzhu…?”

“Chengzhu is present tonight”, the hostess replied and bowed again, “I shall let the challengers know dianxia is not taking bets tonight. May we bring dianxia refreshments?” 

“Thank you”, Xie Lian replied, “just drinks. That should be enough. Oh, and could you let me know if you see any heavenly officials here?”

“As dianxia wishes”, the hostess said and bowed once again before she left them alone. The drinks came fast, delivered by another ghost who only bowed without saying a word. Feng Xin looked at his cup with a clear suspicion, but Xie Lian didn’t hesitate to take a sip. He looked around, quietly observing and trying to see anything that looked strange. Of course Gambler’s Den always looked strange, but he was focused on the kind of strange that was not usual there. 

“Is it really a good idea to let them know there are heavenly officials here?” Feng Xin asked after a while.

“There are often heavenly officials here so it is not that surprising”, Xie Lian replied, “it is for the best that we find the Wind Master and Lang Qianqiu, if he has already arrived, as soon as possible.”

“Hm”, Feng Xin replied, clearly not caring much about the two missing gods, “so… you gamble.”

“Sometimes”, Xie Lian shrugged, “San Lang is better in it. I just do it for fun when we go out together.” Feng Xin’s expression darkened when Xie Lian’s husband was mentioned, but he didn’t say anything about that.

“And you trust in these… ghosts?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Ghosts are vile”, Feng Xin said like it was a fact, “evil. It is our duty to see that ghosts are dispersed.” 

“Well”, Xie Lian sighed after a moment of thinking, “aren’t people vile and evil too?”

“Not all of them”, Feng Xin replied, knowing that he couldn’t claim that there was something good in all people. Despite the beliefs Xie Lian had tried to push on him. 

“It is a myth”, Xie Lian said suddenly and continued to explain himself, “I mean, it is a myth that ghosts are born only from evil. It doesn’t need to be a negative emotion that drives them forward and makes them linger here.”

“But…”

“The hostess, for example”, Xie Lian said, tactically deciding to not use his husband as an example, “she is a menace level ghost. Do you know how she died?”

“I…”

“She was killed after her murderers made her watch them killing every single of her children”, Xie Lian continued without allowing Feng Xin to stop him, keeping his voice calm and neutral, “she became ghosts, killed the murderers and then ran away with the spirits of her children. They hunted her, you know, making the youngest disciplines train with her because they knew she wouldn’t hurt children. She was tortured until she made it here and was granted safety”, Xie Lian glanced at his old friend, “does that make her evil?”

“No…”

“And the ghost of the old guy at the door?” Xie Lian continued again, “he is still here only because he wants to keep watching over his family. It has been four generations since he was alive, but he still cares for them. No blood spilled, is he still evil?”

“Dianxia…”

“They can be dangerous and evil too. Rather… rude and strange as well, but they were all once living creatures”, Xie Lian shrugged, “afterlife is not so different from life. Some of the gods in Heaven have more blood in their hands than ghosts here in the Ghost City.” 

“I guess”, Feng Xin muttered, not willing to continue the discussion on ghosts. He focused on his drink, raising it so he could test if it smelled anything strange, “dianxia, this is alcohol.” He said it almost by instincts, following the old routine they had had since Xie Lian selected absence as his cultivation method. Wherever he went, Feng Xin would taste all the offered drinks and food first to see that there wasn’t anything that could break the crown prince’s cultivation.

“Yeah.” 

Feng Xin froze. That wasn’t the normal reply. The normal reply would have been a thank you, followed by either a polite decline of offered refreshments or a faked sipping in case there were somewhere where declining could be counted too rude. A simple “yeah” was not normal. Especially when Xie Lian still continued to drink.

What is wrong with you?

“You are drinking alcohol”, Feng Xin said, failing to hide the shock from his voice.

“That would be the correct statement”, Xie Lian said, giving him a curious look, “it is good stuff.” He actually did not know what was good alcohol and what was not. He drank so little and so rarely that he had never developed a taste that would tell him difference, but he was sure the staff in Gambler’s Den would never offer him anything but the best. They probably had given Feng Xin the same drink, unless…

“What the hell is this?” Feng Xin grimaced when he took a sip from his glass, “it tastes horrible and burns!”

…Unless Hua Cheng knew they were there. 

“Hm, sorry”, Xie Lian muttered and placed his own glass down. Feng Xin glared at his drink for a moment before pushing it away.

“What about your cultivation?” he asked sharply, “a sip now and then would be okay, but you are taking risks if you keep doing that.”

“Ah”, Xie Lian said, realizing he had never really mentioned the changes in his cultivation, “actually… I am not practicing absence anymore.” It took a while for Feng Xin to say anything. For a moment he only stared at the crown prince, shocked and utterly confused.

“What do you mean?” he finally said so loud it was nearly yelling, “you broke your vows? For what? A drink and gambling? Dianxia, what were you thinking?”

“Um”, Xie Lian muttered, avoiding eye contact, “actually… It was another kind of… absence I wanted to not continue.”

“What?” Feng Xin, “what could be so important that you break the vows you have kept since you were just a young boy?”

“Well, you know I am married so…” Sudden realisation coloured Feng Xin’s face with many emotions that changed in quick order from shock to disappointment and finally anger. 

“Did he force you?” he asked in a dark tone, “he forced you to… break the vows?”

“No, no, absolutely no”, Xie Lian hurried to explain, “I did consent… Actually, it was my idea. San Lang wanted to wait until I had started the new cultivation, but I didn’t want to, so I had to… uh… seduce… Ah…”, he lowered his head until his now red face was hidden behind his sleeve, “San Lang didn’t force me. I broke my vows myself. He only helped.”

“He is a bad influence”, Feng Xin said after a while, delivering his judgment without hesitation, “not worthy for you.”

“He became what he is now because of me, so I would say I have been a bad influence as well”, Xie Lian mumbled, “and I want him.”

“You love him?”

“More than anything”, Xie Lian replied and there was no doubt or hesitation in his voice. Feng Xin looked at him, the earlier anger melting away when he saw how serious the prince was and realised what it all meant.

“He is mortal”, he said in a slightly too empty voice, “Xie Lian…”

“I know”, Xie Lian muttered, looking away. Feng Xin, who thought that the crown prince’s sudden poor mood was the result of being reminded about his husband’s mortality, was lost of words. He did not know how to offer any comfort. He had never been good with that and before he figured it out, the hostess returned and leaned closer to Xie Lian so she could whisper her message to him only.

“Dianxia, there are two heavenly officials causing trouble in the main hall”, she said, “chengzhu wanted you to know that there is no need for dianxia to bother himself with the trash and he will see them out.” She broke her professional, serious expression for a fleeting moment when she had a chance to call gods trash. There were reasons why many ghosts did not like Heaven much and Xie Lian could kind of understand that. 

“Thank you”, Xie Lian said, “I still might have to bother myself with that.”

“As dianxia wishes”, the hostess said and left after a bow. Xie Lian sighed and picked up E’ming, who had been happily just enjoying the possibility of staying close to Xie Lian and chatting with Ruoye. How those two managed to carry a conversation when neither of them had much communicative abilities was a great mystery, but they seemed to get along pretty well after they stopped competing for Xie Lian’s attention. 

“What was that?”

“Seems like our lost fellow heavenly officials have found their way here”, Xie Lian said and sighed, “and ended up in a mess. Let’s go.” Feng Xin nodded, more eager than not to leave his bitter drink and get out of the conversation that had turned into something he was not comfortable enough to talk about. 

When they arrived at the main hall, it was easy to see the results of the trouble. Lang Qianqiu was hanging up in the air, being harassed by ghosts who made some rather rude suggestions on what should be done to the poor man. Shi Qingxuan was not in as bad situation physically but she was clearly stressed and panicking over what she should do. When she saw them two walking closer, she immediately snapped her fan closed and ran to them.

“Xie Lian! Feng Xin!” she called for them, “we have to get him down!”

“Hm, yeah, we should get him down”, Xie Lian said, completely calmly looking up at the floating god, “what did he do?”

“He got angry about a bet”, the Wind Master explained, “something about somebody betting the life of their family member. I have to admit I kind of forgot to pay attention right then. Anyway, he started to act up and then…”, for a moment he looked terrified, “Xie Lian, there is something behind those curtains. Something very powerful and dangerous!”

“Ah, really?” Xie Lian said, half-heartly faking surprise, and shrugged, “well, I should go and talk with them then. I am sure we can solve this situation peacefully.”

“Dianxia!” Feng Xin and Shi Qingxuan both said with more and less shocked tones, but Xie Lian was already making his way to the seating hidden by the red curtains. It seemed like the crowd was too excited about insulting the captured god and trying to get to him, so nobody seemed to pay much attention to Xie Lian. He walked up the stairs, carrying both the scimitar and the lantern filled with ghost spirits, and briefly disappeared behind the curtains.

When he returned, he didn’t carry anything but his lips were curled in a polite smile, the kind people used when they didn’t really want to show their real feelings, and the ghosts gave him way when he walked to the captured god. When he was only a few steps away, the spell holding Lang Qianqiu suddenly disappeared and the angry, yelling man fell on the floor. The Wind Master was quick to sweep in and pick him up before he decided to continue escalating things, and pull him outside with Xie Lian and Feng Xin following after. Surprisingly, nobody attempted to stop them although some ghosts looked very disappointed to see their entertainment leaving like that. However, even that attention was quickly called away when the hostess announced another round of bets. 

“Oh, that was so close!” the Wind Master said, still dragging Lang Qianqiu after her, “hah ha, we almost died. Ha… Ha…”

“We are gods. Some ghosts can’t kill us”, Feng Xin muttered, completely ignoring the fact that he had been panicking quite a lot over some ghosts just a while ago. Xie Lian was being very polite and not pointing that out. 

“I think it is for the best that we call off our mission for now”, he said instead, “could you see that he makes it back to Heaven, lady Wind Master? I am not sure if I can get him out of trouble twice for the same night.”

“Of course, of course”, the Wind Master said, already pulling out her fan. She didn’t even waste time for goodbyes, so stressed she was over the situation that she had even forgotten what was the real object of their mission. Xie Lian waved after her, wondering if she really had to be so dramatic with the way she left. 

“Are we going too?” Feng Xin asked, glancing around like he was expecting more troubles to appear at any moment.

“Sure, I am going to go to my shrine and make some dinner. Do you want…”, Xie Lian said in a very cheerful tone and turned to look at his old friend. Or he would have looked at him, if Feng Xin had not run away the moment dinner was mentioned, “...ah, this works every time. How embarrassing. At least San Lang appreciates my efforts.” 

He shrugged and turned away, and walked back to Gambler’s Den. This time he didn’t need to pretend anything so he was free to approach the red curtains without hesitation. With a smile went straight to Hua Cheng and sat down on his lap.

“Welcome home, gege”, the ghost said, resting his arms around Xie Lian’s waist and giving him a chaste kiss for greeting, “did gege have fun with his heavenly mission?”

“No”, Xie Lian sighed.

“I have to say, I was quite worried that gege might not find the way in at all”, Hua Cheng continued with a light tone, smirking when Xie Lian leaned away and glared at him.

“How did you…”, he suddenly glanced at the scimitar laying on the other seat, “E’ming! I trusted you!” The scimitar startled so badly it fell off the chair, lying motionless on the floor and looking up to Xie Lian with a tear forming on the crimson coloured eye. Xie Lian immediately regretted his tone and got up to pick up E’ming, “Oh, E’ming, I didn’t mean that! I am sure it was all San Lang’s fault. You have been so brave and good today!”

Hua Cheng looked down on his now empty lap, slowly lowered the arms that had held his beloved, and sighed deeply, “I never thought I would regret tearing that eye out.” There wasn’t real heat behind his words and mostly it sounded like he was whining, so Xie Lian did not take him too seriously. Still, he did return to Hua Cheng and let the ghost feed him pieces of fruits and sweets.

“Heaven is so cruel to my beloved god”, Hua Cheng said, “they sent him to missions one after another. My god needs his rest and the company of his loving husband.”

“Mhm”, Xie Lian mumbled and agreed with a nod, mouth too full of food. It took him a moment to swallow everything so that he could speak properly, “you were with us on that first mission.”

“But it took days! And those two idiots were bothersome”, the ghost king complained, “all the silly questions and even sillier attempts to test me.”

“They only wanted to know if San Lang is a good husband”, Xie Lian said, chuckling when he recalled how Feng Xin and Mu Qing had used the majority of their mission to try to figure out why Xie Lian had married Hua Cheng, “I also believe that the teasing San Lang did was not really helping to change their opinion on him. Where did you even find all those brooms?” 

“Ah, but they started it”, Hua Gheng argued, “gege, you saw it. They started it!”

“Hm, I am not sure if I can say that”, Xie Lian said and shook his head, patting his husband’s chest, “let’s just be happy that they did not figure out your true identity. I still haven’t decided how I should introduce the truth to them, so for now it is for the best that they believe I married a mortal man.” 

“Those idiots wouldn’t figure out anything even if it hit them”, Hua Cheng snorted and offered Xie Lian a drink before picking up another piece of sweet to feed him. 

“What was this… expedition to the Ghost City about?” Hua Cheng continued after a moment, “I wasn’t aware of any heavenly troubles making their way here, although… He Xuan has been away from Heaven for a while and hasn't reported anything… Lazy bastard.”

“I was told that there has been an increasing amount of golden belts for sale here, and that has to be inspected”, Xie Lian said between bites.

“What a silly lie”, Hua Cheng snorted, “are they even trying? Only a total idiot would believe that.”

“That is what I thought”, Xie Lian said and smiled briefly before he frowned and tilted his head, thinking for a moment, “unfortunately I did not manage to find out the truth. Feng Xin probably knew nothing, although I have no idea why he followed me here at all. Other two went missing so quickly I had no chance to see what they would do.”

“Could it be that they want to find out how gege defeated the feared Crimson Rain Sought Flower?” Hua Cheng asked with a smirk, “gege will have to be careful to not reveal his tricks. The trash up there is not worthy enough for that knowledge.”

“Hm, maybe…”, Xie Lian muttered, but still looked unsure. He took one more bite of the offered food and then slid down from Hua Cheng’s lap, picking up the lantern left on the table, “let’s go! I want to set these poor ones free before it is time for the rest.”

The night was peaceful and calm when the god and the ghost made their way to the lake far enough from any towns or farms. Xie Lian made sure to prepare everything with the utmost respect and carefulness, completing the right rituals with an ease brought by experience. Hua Cheng did not try to help him, knowing well that this task was important to the crown prince and he preferred to carry it out alone. So the ghost king stood in guard, making sure that nothing would interrupt his god. He smiled when he watched Xie Lian, who treated the ghost spirits with respect despite not knowing who they had been or what they could become if they lingered in the world and grew stronger. His kindness was deep enough to help even the lowest ones, and Hua Cheng felt warmth in his heart when he once again had the honour to witness it. 

When the last of the ghost spirits had floated away, Xie Lian sat down on the soft grass and sighed. Hua Cheng joined him, smiling softly when the prince leaned against him.

“Nobody was stubborn enough to stay this time”, Xie Lian noted with a hint of amusement in his voice, “you were such a cute ghost spirit, my San Lang.”

“Cute? Gege, I am a supreme. I am feared in all three realms”, Hua Cheng said and kissed the prince’s hair, “that useless form not worthy of…”

“You were cute”, Xie Lian argued in a light-hearted tone, “I was happy to have your company…” He fell quiet and Hua Cheng waited, knowing well what happened next when Xie Lian started to dwell in memories from that part of his life. It didn’t take for a long for his soft expression to gain more sorrowful and regretful traits, and the hand resting on Hua Cheng’s tight went into fist, holding on the cloth covering his leg. 

“Wu Ming…”, the crown prince said, the name slipping between his lips like a sight, “I am sorry… Wu Ming.” Hua Cheng wrapped his arms around Xie Lian, pulling him on his lap and tugging his head under his chin. A perfect safe place with all the comfort he could offer.

“It has been a while since I last offered flowers to my beloved”, the ghost king said softly, quietly like the most dearest whisper, “we should go again soon.”

In Heaven the gossip… The Debate club turned into a Crisis Control Team, was not happy with the results from the secret mission to the Ghost City. Not only had the two officials caused ruckus and gotten attention directed to them, they had not been able to gather any solid proof to support any theories that were discussed in Heaven about Xie Lian. There had been some hope for Feng Xin to share his thoughts, but when asked, he had rather rudely cussed out everyone and went away. It seemed like something was really bothering him, but Heaven couldn’t make any assumptions out of that alone either. 

So all Heaven could do right then was to make another plan and prepare for the worst case scenario.