His expression was one of ridicule, but there was an inexplicable omniscient calmness about him. Although he had the voice of a young man, his voice was slightly deeper than that of a boy his age, and it was very pleasant to listen to. Xie Lian sat upright and still on the ox cart. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Blood Rain Exploring Flowers, this scene sounds very extraordinary. This friend, can you tell me how it came to be?"
Out of respect, he did not add the word "little" in front of "friend". The young man sat casually with one arm resting on his raised knee. He adjusted the cuffs of his arrow sleeves and said casually, "No big deal. However, there was one time when he destroyed another ghost's lair, and it rained blood all over the mountain. When he was leaving, he saw a flower by the side of the road, which was badly hit by the blood rain, so he tilted his umbrella and blocked it. "
Xie Lian imagined that scene and felt that amidst the bloody rain and foul wind, there was an indescribable sense of elegance. He then recalled the legend of the ghost in red who burned down the thirty-three temples. He laughed and asked, "Does this Hua Cheng often go around fighting?"
The young man replied, "Not often. It depends on my mood."
Xie Lian asked, "What kind of person was he when he was alive?"
The young man said, "He's definitely not a good person."
Xie Lian asked, "What does he look like?"
When he asked this question, the young man looked up at him, tilted his head, and stood up. He walked to Xie Lian's side and sat down next to him. He asked, "What do you think he should look like?"
At such a close distance, they felt this young man was even more shockingly handsome. Moreover, it was a handsome that faintly carried an intent to attack. It was like an unsheathed sword that was dazzling to the extreme, and it actually caused others to not dare look directly at him. After staring at him for only a moment, Xie Lian found it a bit hard to keep up. Slightly tilting his head, he said, "Since it's a Great Ghost King, its form must be ever-changing, having many different appearances."
Seeing him turn around, the youth raised an eyebrow and said, "Yes. However, sometimes he would still use his true colors. Of course, we're talking about the main body. "
Xie Lian didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the distance between the two of them seemed to be a little too far. So he turned his face back and said, "Then I feel that his original self might be a youth like you."
The young man's lips curled up when he heard this, "Why?"
Xie Lian replied, "No reason. You can say whatever you want, and I'll think about it. Just do whatever you want. "
The young man laughed and said, "Who knows? But he's blind in one eye. "
He pointed at his right eye and said, "This one."
This statement was not strange at all. Xie Lian had heard about it before. In some versions of the legend, Hua Cheng wore a black blindfold over his right eye, covering the eye that he had lost. Xie Lian said, "Then do you know what's going on with that eye of his?"
The young man said, "Yes, many people want to know the answer to this question."
Others wanted to know what caused Hua Cheng to lose his right eye, but in fact, they wanted to know what Hua Cheng's weakness was. Xie Lian asked this purely because he wanted to know. Before he could reply, the youngster said, "He dug it himself."
Xie Lian was startled and asked, "Why?"
The young man said, "Crazy."
When he went crazy, he even dug out his own eyes. Xie Lian was getting more and more curious about this red-robed ghost king. He didn't think that it was as simple as going crazy, but since he had already said so, there shouldn't be any more details. He continued to ask, "Then what is Hua Cheng's weakness?"
He didn't expect the young man to answer this question, so he just casually asked. If Hua Cheng's weakness could be so easily known, then he wouldn't be Hua Cheng. Unexpectedly, the young man answered without hesitation, "Ashes."
If you could obtain the ashes of a ghost, then you could control the ghost. If the ghost didn't listen to the command and destroyed the ashes, then the ghost's body and soul would be destroyed. This was common sense. However, this common sense didn't have much meaning when applied to Hua Cheng. Xie Lian smiled and said, "I'm afraid no one can obtain his ashes. Therefore, this weakness is equivalent to having no weakness. "
The young man said, "Not necessarily. There is a situation where the ghost will voluntarily give away the ashes. "
Xie Lian said, "Like when he challenged the Thirty-Three Heavenly Officials, he would hand it over as a bet?"
The young man sneered, "How could that be?"
Although he didn't say everything, Xie Lian could still understand what he meant. How could Hua Cheng lose? He said, "There is a custom in the Ghost Realm. If a ghost chooses a person, then they will entrust their ashes to that person. "
That was the same as handing over one's life to another person. With such deep affection, what kind of touching story would it be? Xie Lian said with interest, "So the Ghost Realm actually has such a passionate custom."
The young man said, "There is. But not many people dare to do it. "
Xie Lian expected this to be the case. In this world, not only were there demons who deceived people's hearts, there were also humans who deceived demons. There would definitely be a lot of exploitation and betrayal. He said, "If you give your all with infatuation, but in the end, your bones are broken and your ashes scattered, it would truly be heartbreaking."
The young man laughed and said, "What's there to be afraid of? If it were me, I would give away my ashes. Who cares if he wants to break my bones and scatter my ashes? "
Xie Lian smiled. He suddenly remembered that the two of them had talked for so long, yet they still didn't know each other's names. He said, "Friend, how should I address you?"
The young man raised his hand to cover his eyebrows, blocking the wine-red afterglow of the setting sun. He squinted his eyes as if he didn't like sunlight. He said, "Me? I'm the third child in my family, so everyone calls me San Lang. "
He didn't take the initiative to say his name, so Xie Lian didn't ask anymore. He said, "My surname is Xie, and my name is a single character, Lian. You're walking in this direction, are you also heading to Pu Qi Village? "
San Lang leaned back against the haystack. Using his hands as a pillow, he crossed his legs and said, "I don't know. I'm just randomly walking around. "
Hearing that there seemed to be some inside information in his words, Xie Lian asked, "What's wrong?"
San Lang sighed and unhurriedly said, "My family quarreled, so I was chased out. I walked for a long time, but I had nowhere to go. Today, I was so hungry that I almost fainted on the streets, so I casually found a place to lie down. "
Although this young man's clothes seemed casual, the material was excellent. In addition, his way of talking was extraordinary, and he seemed to be very idle every day, looking at this and that. He seemed to know everything. Xie Lian had long guessed that he was the young master of some rich family who had run out to play. For a pampered young man to walk alone for so long, his road must have been full of hardships. Xie Lian deeply understood this point. Hearing him say that he was hungry, Xie Lian rummaged through the small bag he carried with him, only to find a steamed bun. In his heart, he rejoiced that it hadn't hardened yet. He asked the young man, "Do you want to eat?" The young man nodded, and Xie Lian gave him the steamed bun. San Lang looked at him and asked, "You don't have any?"
Xie Lian said, "I'm okay, not too hungry."
San Lang pushed the steamed bun back to him and said, "I'm okay too."
Seeing this, Xie Lian took the steamed bun back, broke it, and divided it into two halves. He then handed one half to the young man and said, "Then you can have half, and I'll have half."
Only then did the young man take the steamed bun and sit side by side with him, eating the steamed bun together. Seeing the young man sit beside him and take a bite of the steamed bun, Xie Lian felt as if he had wronged him somewhere.
The ox cart slowly dragged along the undulating mountain road. As the sun gradually set in the west, the two of them sat in the cart and chatted. The more they chatted, the more Xie Lian felt that this young man was truly a strange young man. Although he was young, his gestures and words carried a disdainful attitude, calm and unruffled. It was as if there was nothing in the heavens or the earth that he didn't know, nor was there anything that could stump him. This made Xie Lian feel that the young man knew a lot and was mature despite his youth. Sometimes, he would also reveal the interesting side of a young man. Xie Lian said that he was the monastery master of Pu Qi Monastery, so the young man said, "Pu Qi Monastery? It sounds like there's a lot of Pu Qi Monastery to eat. I like it. Who is it for? "
Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, "Xian Le's Crown Prince, Crown Prince. You probably don't know. "
The young man faintly smiled, but before he could say anything, the body of the ox cart suddenly shook.
The two of them also swayed a few times. Worried that the young man would fall, Xie Lian suddenly reached out to grab him. Who knew that the moment his hand touched San Lang, the young man would suddenly shake off his hand as if he had been burned by a scalding hot object.
Although the expression on the young man's face had only changed slightly, Xie Lian was still able to perceive it. He thought to himself, could it be that this young man actually hated him? But it was clear that they had been chatting quite happily along the way. However, at this time, he didn't have the mind to think too much about it. He stood up and asked, "What's going on?"
The old grandpa driving the ox cart said, "I don't know what's going on either! Old Yellow, why aren't you moving? Move! "
At this time, the sun had already set, and dusk had descended. The ox cart was in the middle of the mountain forest, so it was dark all around. That old yellow ox stopped in its original spot, stubbornly refusing to move. No matter how the old grandpa urged it, it was useless. It wished it could bury its head into the ground, mooing continuously, and its tail was as handsome as a whip. Xie Lian saw that the situation wasn't right and was about to jump off the cart. Suddenly, the old grandpa pointed ahead and shouted.
In front of the mountain road, he saw many clusters of green flames faintly burning in the east and west. A group of people dressed in white were holding onto their heads as they slowly walked towards them.
Seeing this, Xie Lian immediately said, "Protect!"
Ruo Xie broke free from his wrist and flew around the ox cart. In midair, she formed a floating circle, protecting the three people and the animal. Xie Lian turned his head and asked, "What day is today?"
Before the old grandpa could reply, the young man behind him answered, "Zhongyuan."
In the middle of the seventh month, the gates of hell opened. When he went out, he didn't look at the date. Today actually happened to be the Zhongyuan Festival!