The author has something to say: I will update around 24 tonight. I will be home late, so please don’t update too early.

Xie Lian stared at the young man in red and said, “You…”

He wanted to say something, but now there were countless eyes looking at him, and Hua Cheng's attitude was very ambiguous, as if he knew him, but also as if he didn't know him. Xie Lian didn't know if he couldn't show his acquaintance with him in the ghost market, or if it was intentional, so he didn't say much, and only said, "Thank you."

Lang Qianqiu said, "Why thank him? He opened this place and he had bad intentions from the beginning."

“…” Xie Lian whispered, “Your Highness, stop talking and leave now.”

If he stayed any longer, he didn’t know what Lang Qianqiu would say. Besides, he had other things to attend to, so Xie Lian couldn’t stay any longer. He looked at Hua Cheng several times, and pushed Lang Qianqiu out. At this time, Hua Cheng said from behind him, “Wait a minute.”

Hearing this, Xie Lian stopped again and turned around. A voice from among the ghosts said, "City Lord, you can't just let them go like this!"

"This man is suspicious and extremely powerful. I'm afraid he has a complicated background. In my opinion, we should keep him and interrogate him."

"Yes, we can't tell. Who sent these spies here to cause trouble on our territory?"

This last sentence was heartbreaking. It was indeed from the heavens, but the original intention was not to cause trouble, but to investigate the situation. Xie Lian was not sure whether Hua Cheng had seen the glimmer of inspiration that Lang Qianqiu had revealed in a moment of desperation, nor was he completely sure that he would let them go if he saw it, so his heart was slightly hanging. But he heard Hua Cheng say leisurely: "Aren't you going to leave the bet?"

Xie Lian was slightly startled and asked, “Bet?”

Lang Qianqiu stopped in front of him and asked vigilantly: "Are you thinking of going back on your word again?"

Xie Lian thought, “San Lang won’t go back on his word once he’s promised someone something. Maybe he has some other intentions?” So he stepped out from behind Lang Qianqiu and said, “But, didn’t I win the bet we made just now?”

Hua Cheng said: "Brother did beat me just now, that's true. But don't forget that you lost before."

Xie Lian was stunned for a moment, then said, “But you said it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t count.”

Although it sounds quite shameless that losing a bet doesn’t count, only winning a bet counts, Xie Lian still shamelessly asked. Hua Cheng said, “Of course the bets you made with me don’t count if you lose. I’m talking about the first bet you made down there.”

Xie Lian then remembered that Hua Cheng was talking about the time when he tried to compare numbers and rolled two sixes.

Lang Qianqiu said in a deep voice: "I said he had bad intentions and didn't intend to let us go so easily. I won't be locked up again this time."

He sounded like he was ready for another round, and was eager to try. Xie Lian quickly pulled him back and said, “Don’t be nervous, there’s no need to fight again.”

Over there, Hua Cheng tilted his head and said, "How is it? Brother, do you recognize me?"

If you are willing to accept the loss, what else can you do except admit it? So, Xie Lian nodded and said, "I admit it."

Hua Cheng spread his left hand and said, "Then, give me the agreed bet."

...The agreed bet?

After hesitating for a moment, Xie Lian reached his right hand into his left sleeve, fumbled around, and pulled out half a steamed bun. He glanced at it with a bit of trepidation, then gritted his teeth and handed it over, saying, “Is this what you’re talking about?”

To be honest, when he took out the half bun, Xie Lian felt that his face, which had not collapsed for eight hundred years, suddenly began to tremble and could not hold up.

The ghosts in the hall had long since stopped talking and just watched in silence. It was the first time the city lord had gone out to gamble with someone, and the agreed bet was an unfinished steamed bun. That was fine, maybe the city lord was just joking. But the city lord actually went to someone to ask for the half steamed bun in all seriousness. Nothing to say, really nothing to say. Some ghosts even couldn't help but have a bold idea: Either there was a shocking secret hidden in this half steamed bun, or this person was really the city lord's brother!

Hua Cheng took it with a smile, raised it up and took a look at it, then shook it in his hand and said, "I got the bet."

Seeing that he really accepted it, Xie Lian didn’t know what to say. After a long while, he said, “That… is cold. It seems to be a little hard.”

Hua Cheng said: "It's okay. I don't mind."

Xie Lian had no room to respond after he answered like this. He had already said everything he could say, so he turned around and walked out. The ghosts in the gambling house made way for him just now, because they all saw him as a warrior because he was the first to step forward. This time, they made way for him, but they all looked at him with awe and curiosity. Xie Lian walked a few steps and heard the ghosts behind him say, "City Lord, City Lord, where are you going next?"

Hua Cheng replied lazily: "I'm happy today, let's go to Ji Le Fang."

Hearing this, the hall was filled with cheers, as if it was a festival. Xie Lian couldn’t help but look back, and saw Hua Cheng also turned around, holding the half steamed bun in his hand, tossing it, lowering his head and taking a bite, and then looking over here again.

Seeing this scene, Xie Lian paused for a moment. For some reason, he felt that he could not stay in this place any longer. He quickened his pace and ran out quickly, dragging Lang Qianqiu with him.

The two of them left the gambling house and ran for a long distance, almost knocking over various vendors' stalls on the way. They finally reached a slightly quieter alley, and Shi Qingxuan immediately appeared and joined them. Shi Qingxuan waved his folding fan wildly, making his hair fly, and said, "It was a close call, my god, I was so scared that my face turned pale just now."

Perhaps because he rushed too hastily, Xie Lian's heart was pounding. Lang Qianqiu said, "Yes, Master Feng, I think your face is still very pale."

Shi Qingxuan touched his face and smiled, "Really? Hahahaha, I'm not scared, I was born with this... cough! Cough, Qianqiu, you are a martial god who rules a region, how can you be so impulsive? This is in the territory of the ghost world. What if you are caught and your identity is exposed? It will be said that a priest from the heaven disguised himself and sneaked into the ghost market with strange behavior to destroy the peace of the three realms. How can we explain to the emperor?"

Lang Qianqiu bowed his head and admitted his fault, "I'm sorry, I was impulsive just now." He looked up again and said, "But those gamblers are too cruel. If that man opens the cup, the result will be bad regardless of winning or losing. Either his daughter will be unlucky, or his colleagues will suffer. I was angry for a moment and broke the cup."

Shi Qingxuan said: "Then why don't you just rush out by yourself?"

Lang Qianqiu was stunned for a moment, and said, "Then Master Feng, what should we do? If I don't rush out, no one else will."

He asked seriously. Shi Qingxuan was a little troubled and lifted his temple with his fan, saying, "This..."

Xie Lian smiled slightly and said, “Forget it.”

Lang Qianqiu looked up at him. Xie Lian continued, “I think that even if His Highness Taihua is caught, he will not tell the other party his identity no matter how much he is tortured. However, in order to prevent the other party from finding any clues from the words, His Highness should be careful in the future and not get caught.”

Lang Qianqiu nodded and said, "Okay! I understand."

Shi Qingxuan said: "No more talking. Oh, by the way, Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

When he called out “Your Highness the Crown Prince,” Xie Lian and Lang Qianqiu both turned to look at him. Shi Qingxuan said, “Oh, I meant the older one.”

“…”

Xie Lian rubbed his brows in frustration, thinking, “Old… Okay, I am a little older, but not much older. Why do you always talk about me as if I were an old man?”

Shi Qingxuan said, "Your Highness, have you two met before in the Shenwu Palace? If not, let me introduce you to each other. This is His Highness Lang Qianqiu, the Crown Prince of Yong'an, the God of War in the East. This is His Highness Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of Xianle, a priest who is highly trusted by the Emperor."

Xie Lian knew what the next word he was stuck on was without him having to say it, but he forced himself to change his words halfway through, not even caring about the grammatical flaws. Lang Qianqiu listened, looked at Xie Lian, and asked curiously, "Are you the Crown Prince who ascended three times?"

It seems that Lang Qianqiu really slept through the entire time in the Shenwu Palace, and he didn't even remember who he was. If someone else had said this in front of Xie Lian, it would have been a mockery. However, since these words came from Lang Qianqiu's mouth, Xie Lian completely believed that this kid really just thought it was strange to have ascended to heaven three times. He smiled and said, "Yes, that's me."

Lang Qianqiu said, "Thank you so much for what you did just now! Otherwise..." He remembered something and quickly lowered his head to collect his belt and tied it tightly, with a lingering fear on his face. He obviously didn't think too much about the relationship between Xianle Kingdom and Yong'an Kingdom. Shi Qingxuan also felt that this introduction was enough, and said to Xie Lian, "Your Highness, doesn't this Xueyu Tanhua know you? Why did he pretend to be unfamiliar with you just now?"

Lang Qianqiu tied his belt and said, "Is that really the Blood Rain Scholar? Is that me?"

Before Xie Lian could say anything, he heard Shi Qingxuan say, “How could it be the real one? Hua Cheng must have changed his skin more than a hundred times. No one knows what his real body looks like. The last time I went to Ban Yue Pass and saw him, he seemed to be similar to this. It must be a fake skin. Fake, fake.”

Xie Lian, however, always remembered what Hua Cheng said to him in the Puqi Temple: "Next time we meet, I will come to see you in my original form." He thought to himself, "It's true."

But of course he didn't say this. Seeing that everyone else was sure that it was a fake skin, only he knew that it was the real face of Xueyu Tanhua, as if he knew a great little secret. Then he thought again: "Sanlang's appearance is not much different from before, he seems to be a little bigger and taller. So, when he first met me, he was actually using his real face." Inexplicably, he felt a little happy.

Over there, Shi Qingxuan said again: "Everyone says Hua Cheng has a weird temper, and it seems that he really is. He is clearly trying to let you go, but he is pretending not to know you. I don't know what he is up to. Is he trying to make us let down our guard?"

Hearing this, Xie Lian coughed several times. As expected, everyone could see that Hua Cheng had let the money go in the gambling house just now. No wonder, it was better to say that he had opened the floodgates than to say that he had let the money go. Only Lang Qianqiu couldn't see it, and frowned, "Did he let the money go? Why?"

The other two patted his shoulders and tacitly chose not to explain to him, leaving Lang Qianqiu standing there alone, wondering why Huacheng let Xie Lian go, and whether it was because they knew each other. The two turned around and walked away, and Xie Lian said, "Now our whereabouts have been exposed, what should we do next? Change skins and try again? I don't recommend changing skins, it's useless. His Highness Taihua hit out with such a palm, and the Ghost City should strengthen its vigilance next time."

Shi Qingxuan said: "To be honest, I thought it would be exposed, but I didn't think it would be exposed so soon."

Xie Lian sighed, “I understand, I understand.”

Shi Qingxuan said: "If it's exposed, then let it be exposed. Since it's exposed, why don't you just go out in the open."

Xie Lian had a vague idea of ​​what "open and aboveboard" meant. As expected, Shi Qingxuan continued, "If you still want to cover up your lie, you can only go to Hua Cheng openly and tell him that you came here specially to see him. He knows that you are a priest from the heavens, right? If he knows, it would make sense that you brought a few brothers from the heavens with you."