Xie Lian was slightly stunned. The long-lost memory was like a dusty picture. He brushed off the dust, but it was still unclear. He loosened his hand, picked up the flower, and concentrated without saying a word. Hua Cheng also put down his pen, slowly ground ink, and said, "What's wrong?"

"..." Xie Lian smiled, "Nothing. It's just that this kind of flower has a refreshing fragrance. I have always liked it."

Offering flowers in palaces and temples is not uncommon. However, they usually offer large bouquets of bright red flowers, or hand-tied artificial flowers that never wither. After a pause, Xie Lian asked, "Could it be that the 'Blood Rain Searching for Flowers' is looking for this kind of flowers?"

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Brother is truly as good as a god."

Amidst the laughter, the two finally finished a piece of calligraphy together, which was still the same four lines of poetry. Hua Cheng picked it up and admired it for a moment, seeming very satisfied, and said, "Well, not bad. Frame it."

Xie Lian choked when he heard him say "not bad". When he heard "mount it", Xie Lian choked again and said, "You don't want to hang it on the wall, do you?" If his deceased teachers saw a calligraphy piece that Xie Lian participated in looking like this, they would probably be so angry that they would resurrect. Hua Cheng smiled and said, "No. I will keep it for myself and won't show it to anyone."

At this moment, the two suddenly heard a faint cry outside:

"There's a fire!"

"There's a fire!"

"There's a fire in Paradise!"

The Thousand Lanterns Temple was extremely quiet, but the two of them had five senses that were beyond ordinary people. After hearing the voice, they quickly glanced at each other, and Xie Lian blurted out, "Is it the Paradise again?"

After the words were out, he realized that the word "again" was a little funny. Hua Cheng was not in a hurry, he put away the letter and said, "Don't worry, brother, sit here, I will be back soon."

How could Xie Lian sit here peacefully? He said, “I’ll go with you!” He hurriedly followed, wondering: Why is it that every time he comes, there is always a fire in Ji Le Fang? His name as the God of Plague has been proven true. Although this time it is not his fault, he almost feels guilty out of habit. The two rushed back to Ji Le Fang. The whole street was filled with smoke. The ghosts and monsters were noisily running back and forth with buckets of water to put out the fire. When they saw Hua Cheng and Xie Lian coming, they all said, “City Lord! Don’t worry, the fire is not big and it’s out!”

Hua Cheng didn't say much, but Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and said in a gentle voice, "That's great! Thank you all for your hard work."

The little ghosts had never expected to be thanked, let alone by the city lord's friend. They were delighted when they heard it, and said, "It's not hard! It's no big deal!" "Of course!"

Xie Lian then realized that it was a bit inappropriate for him to say that he had worked hard, because he was not the owner of this place. However, since Hua Cheng himself did not say anything, it would not hurt for him to say something, so he secretly felt ashamed and no longer cared. The two entered the Paradise House and looked at the fire. As expected, it was only a small area burned, and it was an inconspicuous hut in the corner. No wonder it was put out quickly.

However, after confirming this, Xie Lian became alert and said to Hua Cheng: "The arsonist is neither ignorant and bold enough to play a prank, nor does he really want to burn anything. It seems more like he wants to divert attention and attract everyone's attention."

But, at this critical juncture, what is the attempt to divert attention?

Suddenly, Xie Lian reacted: "That fetal spirit!"

When they came out of the Paradise before, they had walked for a long time, and the fetal spirit was still crying, the cry was piercing and sharp, and it called for its mother from time to time. But now, the sound disappeared!

They went to a side hall outside the Paradise Hall to check. When the two came out, Hua Cheng casually put the pottery jar containing the fetal spirit on a table. The pottery jar was still there, but when Xie Lian went up to pick it up, he felt that the weight was wrong, too light. When he opened it again, as expected, there was nothing inside!

The seal meant that the things trapped inside the jar could not open by themselves. Xie Lian immediately said, "The fetal spirit was released."

Hua Cheng, however, showed no sign of panic, and said, "It was stolen. It passed through the butterfly formation and its vitality is seriously damaged. It can't run far on its own."

Xie Lian said, “That’s easy. Sanlang, does your Ji Le Fang have guards to monitor the people coming in and out? See if you can find any suspicious people.”

Hua Cheng said, "No."

“…” Xie Lian blinked and said, “No?”

Hua Cheng said: "Yeah. Never."

No wonder he didn’t even have a guard to see him when he was doing something in Ji Le Fang last time. Xie Lian wondered if he didn’t see him because the ambush was too deep, but he didn’t expect that he really didn’t see him. He was slightly stunned and asked, “Are you so confident in Ji Le Fang?”

Hua Cheng said: "Brother, have you ever noticed the door in Ji Le Fang?"

After thinking for a while, Xie Lian said, “I’ve never noticed it before. Is there something special about it?”

Hua Cheng said: "Not bad."

He pointed to the door of this side hall and said, "If someone who is not the owner of this room takes away the people who were originally inside without permission, or something that does not belong to him, even if there is only one thing, he will not be able to open the door and will be trapped in that room."

Xie Lian recalled the last time he came to Ji Le Fang. He seemed to have been using dice to clear the way. When he left, the wind master created a strong wind and lifted the roof, which prevented him from leaving through the "door". These were some relatively violent scenes. The more Xie Lian thought about them, the more he felt that he couldn't think about them. He was slightly embarrassed. After a pause, he asked again: "What if Sanlang stole a magic weapon from me and brought it to Ji Le Fang? As the original owner of the magic weapon, can't I take it away?"

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course I can't take it away. Once I get it, it's mine. But, brother, don't wrongly accuse me, I won't steal your magic weapon."

Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, “Of course, I know that, that’s why I said it was just a hypothesis. Besides… I don’t have any magic weapon that can be snatched away by others…”

Hua Cheng stopped joking, smiled, and continued: "So, it is impossible to steal from me without being discovered. Of course, there is no need for guards."

Xie Lian's first reaction was that the person who stole the fetal spirit did not leave through the door, but used other methods. But when he looked around, he saw that the roof of the side hall was fine, the ground was fine, and the walls were fine. There was no sign of being broken at all. He couldn't help but come up with a more bizarre guess:

Could it be that the person who stole the fetus has not left and is still in this side hall?

Although there was no place to hide in this side hall, there were many ways to hide in the sky and on the ground. Maybe that person was near them at this moment, quietly observing their every move. Xie Lian looked around, paying attention to whether the air was abnormally distorted somewhere. However, both his eyes and his intuition told him that there was no third person or ghost here. Perhaps his thinking was wrong, and he should think in a different direction. At this time, Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Brother, don't worry. I have my own way to find the person who stole the fetal spirit."

He actually had it all planned out. Xie Lian turned to him, thought for a moment, and suddenly it dawned on him.

The two of them waited quietly. After a while, the noisy sound gradually approached, and a large group of demons and ghosts rushed over, gathering outside the side hall, and all said: "City Lord, what do you want us to do?"

There were at least a thousand of them. If it weren't for the fact that the house and yard of Ji Le Fang were big enough, they probably wouldn't be able to fit in. The masked man who brought them here said to Hua Cheng, "City Lord, everyone who appeared on this street today should be here. The ghost market has been locked, and no one can get out."

It was still the same young man’s voice from last time, and Xie Lian couldn’t help but look at him again. The ghosts asked, “City Lord, have you caught who set the fire?”

"I heard he stole something! Either he's tired of living or he wants to die again!"

"How daring! He set fire and stole things. How dare the city lord let him go?!"

“…”

Although the ghosts were not talking about him, Xie Lian, who had burned down a house and secretly robbed people in Ji Le Fang last time, and was let go by Hua Cheng, felt like he was shot with countless arrows. He coughed lightly, and felt more and more guilty. He stole a glance at Hua Cheng, and happened to see Hua Cheng also glanced at him meaningfully, and quickly looked away. Then, he heard Hua Cheng say in a calm voice: "The person who stole the fetal spirit should stand up. Don't waste my time."

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

“I thought it was from outside…”

"Whoever it is, please stand up!"

After a while, the uproar had subsided, but no one stood up. Hua Cheng said, "Very good, you are indeed brave. Men on the left, women on the right, line up separately."

Although the ghosts were surprised, they did not dare to disobey Hua Cheng's words. They immediately did as he said and quickly divided into two large groups. The male ghosts crowded on the left, speaking in rough voices; the female ghosts were all on the right, almost all of them were slender and charming. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian looked at each other, walked straight to the right, and took a quick look at the female ghosts, almost scanning ten at a glance. After a few steps, when he passed in front of a female ghost, he paused slightly. The female ghost was wearing a long skirt and had a thick layer of makeup on her face. It was so white that it was almost impossible to see her original appearance, but the overly gorgeous and exaggerated makeup looked a little familiar. Xie Lian said, "Miss Lan Chang?"

The ghost girl was stunned, as if she had just seen a ghost. Sure enough, it was Lan Chang, the ghost girl who had harassed Xie Lian in the ghost market last time, had a quarrel with the pig butcher in the street, and mocked him for being "impotent" and spread the news to all the ghosts.

After being surprised, she put her hands on her hips, raised her head and said, "Why? You said you were impotent! I didn't wrong you! Do you want the city lord to teach me a lesson in revenge?"

Although the surrounding female ghosts and demons were a little nervous, they still chuckled when they heard her say that. Hua Cheng also came over. Although he couldn’t see his expression, the female ghost Lan Chang was still a little afraid of him, so she didn’t dare to act too rashly. Xie Lian said in a gentle voice, “It’s okay for the girl to say anything she wants about such a joke. However, that fetal spirit has harmed countless people and is very bloody. We can’t let it go. Please return it first.”

Even though Lan Chang was wearing a thick layer of powder, it was obvious that her face had turned even paler. She stepped back again and again, but she was surrounded by a group of female ghosts. She was grabbed by the female ghosts before she could take a few steps back, which prevented her from escaping. She could only shout, "I don't know what you are talking about! What fetal spirit?"

Xie Lian said, “Please come back.”

Lan Chang said, "What can I return? I didn't! You said I stole something from the city lord's house, but everyone knows that you can't take things from the city lord's house. If you take anything, you can't leave!"

The ghosts all said, "Yes, that's right, they all know it." The pig butcher also shouted. Lan Chang said, "The fire in Ji Le Fang happened just a while ago. I have been on this street the whole time and have never left. If I stole something, I must not have had time to hide it, right?" As she spoke, she spread her hands to show that she had nothing in her hands, and pulled up her skirt to show that she had nothing hidden. Xie Lian said, "Miss, the last time I saw you, it was freezing cold and you were wearing very little. Today is a sunny day, why are you wearing a long skirt? Did you suddenly want to change your clothes, or are you trying to hide something?"

After hearing him mention it, the ghosts realized that Lan Chang usually wore revealing clothes. Xie Lian's description of her "wearing very little" was already a very polite statement. She almost exposed her breasts on the street. But today she was wearing a long skirt, which completely covered her waist and legs. It was really strange. Moreover, when Hua Cheng took Xie Lian to visit the ghost market before, the ghosts made a fuss and sent side dishes, but they did not see Lan Chang, who used to love to curse in the street and actively promote "It's his impotence, not me", and they were slightly agitated. Xie Lian said slowly: "You didn't take anything that didn't belong to you, you just took a part of yourself. The fetal spirit is now in your belly!"

Since the person who stole the fetus did not leave by other means, nor did he stay in the side hall, there is only one possibility left: this person left through the main gate in a fair and honest manner.

If the fetus had been born, then it would be a child, an independent person. However, the fetus was forcibly cut out of the mother's body before it was full-term, so if its mother put it back into her stomach, it would still be considered her "own thing". No, it should be said that the fetus is simply a piece of her flesh, a part of her. After all, the blood of mother and child is thicker than water, in this case, they are one body, and the female ghost can of course walk out of all the doors of the Paradise House safely and openly.

Therefore, the one who stole the fetus must be a female ghost, the biological mother of the fetus. Quickly seal off the ghost market and find all the female ghosts who appeared on this street before and after the fire, and you will definitely catch them. I think Hua Cheng thought of all these the moment he entered the side hall.

Suddenly, Lan Chang screamed and covered her stomach with both hands.