Xie Lian said: “I…”

Before he finished speaking, he felt Hua Cheng exert a little force, and a sharp pain suddenly crept up on him, and he couldn't help but shrink.

Although Hua Cheng's movements were extremely restrained, and this little pain was nothing to him, for some reason, he seemed unable to hide the pain in front of Hua Cheng. Perhaps it was because Hua Cheng had said something to him first, which made him want to hold it back so much that he failed. Noticing Xie Lian's retreat, Hua Cheng immediately gripped his ankle and whispered, "It's okay. It will be fine soon. Don't be afraid."

Xie Lian shook his head. Hua Cheng's movements were even more gentle and quick. When he raised his hand again, he had already taken out a small needle and said, "It's fine. It's fine."

Xie Lian looked closely and saw that the needle tip was flashing with a malicious light. Hua Cheng slightly closed his five fingers and crushed it into a wisp of black gas, which dissipated into the air. Seeing this, Xie Lian temporarily put aside his uneasiness and said with concentration: "Such a heavy grudge. Ordinary fetal spirits do not have such strong magic power."

Hua Cheng stood up and said, "Yes. So, it must not be a normal passing of the fetal spirit."

At this time, a masked man came in with his head bowed, holding a pottery jar in both hands and handed it to Hua Cheng. Xie Lian subconsciously observed whether the man was wearing a cursed shackle on his wrist, but this time his sleeves were tightly tied. Hua Cheng took it, held the pottery jar in one hand and took a look, then turned around and handed it to Xie Lian who was sitting on the black jade couch. Before Xie Lian could get close to it, he heard a muffled cry of a child coming from inside, and it seemed that something was ramming wildly inside, causing the pottery jar to shake slightly, almost unable to stand, and became even more alert.

He took the pottery jar, slightly lifted a corner of the seal, took a look inside, and a chill instantly ran up his spine.

There was a pile of something like a tyre inside, with arms and legs growing out but weak, and the head was hidden in the darkness. It looked like a bunch of deformed internal organs.

This is its true form!

Xie Lian immediately resealed the jar and said, “I see.”

He had heard that some people would find pregnant women who were not yet full-term, cut out the babies in their wombs alive, and make them into little ghosts to perform some magic, driving them to harm others, protect themselves, or protect the house and bring good fortune. It seemed that this fetal spirit was the product of that kind of evil magic, and his mother was very likely a believer of Xie Lian, otherwise she would not have placed Xie Lian's amulet in the clothes of her unborn child.

After a moment of silence, Xie Lian said, “You captured this fetal spirit. Sanlang, do you mind if I take it to investigate? I have encountered it once before in Yujun Mountain. This is the second time it has appeared in front of me. I don’t know if it is a coincidence or if there is some connection.”

Hua Cheng said: "If you want to take it, just take it. Even if I don't show up, you can catch it by yourself."

Xie Lian smiled and said, “That being said, it’s much easier for San Lang to catch it than it is for me.”

He just said it casually, but Hua Cheng said, "Really? If I hadn't gone there, how would you have caught it? Eat it up and swallow the sword as well?"

“…”

He really got it right.

There was no sign of displeasure on Hua Cheng's face, but Xie Lian inexplicably felt that he was a little angry.

His intuition told him that if he gave the wrong answer, Hua Cheng would be even angrier. Just as he was wondering how to respond, he suddenly felt his stomach tighten. He couldn't help but say, "...I'm a little hungry."

“…”

Xie Lian, who had just realized what was going on, was too embarrassed to look at Hua Cheng’s expression, so he could only honestly explain, “I’m really hungry this time…”

After a while, Hua Cheng finally burst out laughing.

With this smile, the haze in front of Xie Lian seemed to dissipate, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Hua Cheng half smiled and half sighed, nodded, and said, "Okay."

Originally, Hua Cheng wanted to keep him at Ji Le Fang to host a banquet, but when Xie Lian heard the word "banquet", he knew it would have to be a grand affair, so he took the initiative to suggest going out for a walk and getting something to eat, and Hua Cheng agreed.

It was very warm in the Paradise House, and their wet clothes dried up soon after they entered. But Xie Lian's female clothes were very eye-catching, so he borrowed a set of clothes from Hua Cheng and changed into a clean white dress. After that, the two of them went out and walked a long way, but they could still hear the cry of the fetal spirit, calling "mother" again and again, which showed its tenacity. However, the ghost market was originally full of ghosts howling, so it was not surprising that the cry was drowned out by it.

The main street of the ghost market was still bustling with stalls selling special snacks on both sides. Although the ghosts were still the same ghosts, their attitudes were very different from the last time Xie Lian came here. Hua Cheng walked side by side with him. The fantastic-looking bosses all greeted them with smiles, vying to greet the two of them, almost bowing and nodding, which made Xie Lian inexplicably think of a word: "the fox borrows the power of the tiger to bully others."

In addition to the salutes to Hua Cheng, there were also thousands of eyes casting even more scorching gazes at Xie Lian, as if they were examining and guessing who could walk side by side with the Lord of the Ghost Market. This made him doubt whether he had made a wrong decision. Being in the midst of the rolling muddy current of demons and ghosts, in front of the attention of everyone, Hua Cheng was used to it and asked him, "What would you like to eat?"

Finally, they saw a stall that didn’t sell anything too weird. Xie Lian wanted to make a quick decision, so he said, “Let’s go with this one.”

Hua Cheng said, "This one won't work."

Xie Lian asked curiously, “Why?”

Hua Cheng said nothing, motioning him to look inside the stall. Xie Lian looked over and saw that the stall owner was rubbing his hands excitedly when he saw them stop by, as if he was waiting for their arrival, and he was wiping the tables, chairs and benches nervously. However, the thing he used to wipe the tables, chairs and benches was his tongue.

“…”

Although the pots and pans licked by the broad and long tongue were covered with crystal water droplets, reflecting the luster of new ones, Xie Lian still decisively gave up this store and left quickly. After walking a few steps, he saw a chicken soup restaurant decorated very cleanly and freshly. The sign in front of the door read "Home-raised old chicken, slow-cooked old soup. Freshly made and sold, guaranteed to be clean." He stopped and said, "Ah, there is chicken soup, why not have a bowl?"

Hua Cheng added: "This one won't work either."

Xie Lian understood and asked, “Is there something wrong with the plate or the chicken?”

Hua Cheng took him into the store, pulled aside a curtain, and motioned for Xie Lian to look. Xie Lian curiously poked his head in to look, and was immediately speechless. There was a big pot at the back of the kitchen, with a big fire burning under the pot, and steam rising from the pot. In the pot, a man with a big red cockscomb on his head was happily bathing in boiling water. There were also many buckets next to the big pot, filled with salt, pepper, herbs and other seasonings. A customer in the front hall shouted, "Boss, make it a little salty! It's too bland!"

The man took a bath, rubbed a handful of seasoning on himself, and wiped his back vigorously with a towel to make it more flavorful. Finally, he let out a long and loud cry: "Oh oh oh!"

Xie Lian lowered the curtain and exited silently.

After walking around for a long time, the two finally found a restaurant that advertised "authentic human cuisine." Although Xie Lian felt that the "authentic" was questionable, for example, as far as he knew, chefs in the human world would not use the meat of large, difficult-to-hunt monsters to make skewers, but relatively speaking, this restaurant was the most normal.

As soon as the two sat down, the ghosts who had been following them for a long time gathered around and offered snacks to them. The pig butcher carried a white human leg on his shoulder and clapped it loudly, saying in a rough voice: "City Lord! Do you want fresh thigh meat? It just arrived!"

The ghosts cursed, "Go away! Would the city lord's friend eat that? Do you think you are a green ghost? Maybe you can still eat it if we chop off your thighs!"

"Don't make me sick by the strong smell of blood!"

The pig actually raised one of its trotters and said, "If the city lord and his friends think highly of me, this leg is nothing. Just chop it off! I tell you, my leg meat is definitely very strong!"

Xie Lian couldn't help laughing and lowered his head to drink his porridge. Hua Cheng ignored them, and the ghosts rushed to Xie Lian with a passion, saying:

"The local specialty snack is brain juice! It's carefully selected top-quality demon brains, each of which has been cultivated for more than fifty years! Smell this mellow fragrance!"

"This duck blood is very good. Take a look. I just cut it from my own body. Want to try it?"

"The fruits in our house are genuine fresh fruits grown on graves. We won't pick them unless they grow on the dead. We are honest to everyone..."

There were so many snacks that Xie Lian was overwhelmed and kept thanking them. He didn’t want to turn down such a surging enthusiasm, but some of the special snacks were really hard to look at. In his haste, he saw Hua Cheng holding his chin with one hand and looking at him with a smile. Xie Lian looked left and right, coughed lightly, and whispered: "... Sanlang..."

Hua Cheng then said, "Brother, don't pay attention to them. They are just acting crazy."

The ghost immediately said: "The city lord must not say that! We are not going to go crazy just because anyone comes. If the city lord is our grandfather, then the city lord's brother is nothing. He is our great uncle..."

"Yeah, of course I'm going to go crazy when Dabogong comes!"

Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, thinking that this was all nonsense. Hua Cheng also shouted, "Stop talking nonsense. Shut up!" The ghosts said quickly, "Yes! City Lord, you are right. Shut up. It's not Dabogong!"

Unexpectedly, at this moment, some of the female ghosts who had been giggling could no longer hold back and said quickly, "Hey! You... aren't you the Taoist brother who told Lan Chang that he was impotent last time?"

“…”

Xie Lian didn’t even spit out a mouthful of porridge on the spot.

The ghosts seemed to have discovered some shocking secret and exclaimed, "Oh my god! It's true!"

"It's him, it's him, it's him! Lan Chang has told everyone about it!"

Many smart ghosts tried to cover the mouths of the shouting ghosts, but Huacheng must have heard it. Xie Lian looked up, only to see Huacheng raised an eyebrow and looked at him meaningfully, as if he was wondering what the word "impotence" meant when associated with him. That was an excuse Xie Lian made up last time when he was haunted by a female ghost. At that time, he was laughed at by a group of ghosts, but he was able to deal with it calmly. Now that it was brought to Huacheng's attention, he couldn't bear it anymore. He was so embarrassed that he wished he could choke himself to death with a mouthful of porridge. He said, "I..."

Hua Cheng seemed to be patiently waiting for him to continue. But how could he explain this? Was he going to seriously argue that he was not impotent?

Xie Lian could only say, “…I’m full.”

He was indeed full, and after saying that, he stood up and hurried out of the stall. The ghosts behind him were holding a bunch of carefully prepared special snacks and howling: "My lord! Do you want to eat more?"

Hua Cheng also chased after him, and when he had time to turn around, he said again: "Get lost!"

The ghosts quickly rolled away again. Xie Lian walked around aimlessly for a while, and when he saw that no ghosts were following him, he slowed down his pace and waited for Hua Cheng. After a while, Hua Cheng came forward with his hands behind his back and said seriously, "I didn't know my brother had such a hidden illness."

Xie Lian immediately said, “No!”

He said helplessly: "...Sanlang."

Hua Cheng nodded and said, "Okay. San Lang understands. I won't say it again."

He seemed to be very obedient, but it was obviously fake. Xie Lian said, “You are so insincere.”

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "I swear, you won't find anyone more sincere than me anywhere in the world."

Hearing this familiar conversation, Xie Lian also smiled.

After a moment, he asked seriously: "Sanlang, do you know where Qiandeng Temple is?"