Huacheng is sick.

Although it was just a minor illness, it was amazing that the King of Ghosts could also get sick.

So, when Xie Lian returned to Qiandeng Temple and went to check Hua Cheng's calligraphy practice as usual, he was very worried when he saw Hua Cheng's slightly red face.

After pushing Hua Cheng onto the altar—yes, they rolled around on this spacious altar all day, and there was no statue of the deity on it anyway—Xie Lian reached out a hand and felt his cheek and forehead, becoming more and more worried: “It’s so hot.”

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "It's natural that I feel hot when I see my brother. It will get even hotter if my brother touches me again."

Xie Lian was stunned at first, then he quickly tried to pretend that his face was red because he was angry, and said, “You are so dishonest even though you are sick.”

Hua Cheng said innocently: "Did I say anything? I'm very honest. Brother, don't worry, it's just a small matter, no problem." @Infinite good articles, all in Jinjiang Literature City

But Xie Lian could tell that his voice was deeper and hoarser than usual, and there was a hint of fatigue between his brows. He said, “Then you should have a good rest. I will be here with you for the next few days until you are better.”

After saying this, he took the brush, ink, paper and inkstone for practicing calligraphy to the altar. Hua Cheng patted his side and said, "Brother, won't you come up to the stage to accompany me?"

How can you come down from the stage? Forget about resting for the next few days. Xie Lian said politely, “No, I, Sanlang, have been overworked.”

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "No, if it was my brother, why would Sanlang be afraid of the hard work?"

Xie Lian stopped messing around with him and concentrated on writing his calligraphy. Hua Cheng turned over, resting his chin on one hand, staring at his face.

No matter how many times, Xie Lian would blush at his gaze and said uncomfortably, “…Sanlang, look at the calligraphy, not me.”

Hua Cheng sighed, "Brother, to be honest, I get a headache whenever I see this thing, but since it's written by you, I can't bear to look at it. Maybe this disease of mine is caused by looking at too many calligraphy works."

Xie Lian said, “How can there be such a disease?”

Hua Cheng said with a grin, "Why not look at my brother? He is much better looking than the copybook. Maybe if he looks at me a few more times, I will be fine."

@Unlimited good articles, all in Jinjiang Literature City

Xie Lian felt helpless and amused. He put down his pen, shook his head and said, “Why are you talking nonsense more and more now… You are so unruly. Okay, I got it. I will listen to you and stop reading posts. So what should I do?”

Hua Cheng said: "Actually, you don't have to do anything. Just stay with me like this, and I'll be fine in no time."

Xie Lian touched his forehead again. Although this man had a handsome face, he acted like a spoiled child now, which reminded him of a child with a rosy face curled up in a warm quilt in winter. He felt very fond of him. After thinking for a while, he said, "Well, it just so happens that I received something today."

He rummaged in his sleeves and pulled out something, saying, "This is an old book that someone didn't want and I got it today. I was just about to read it. Let me read you a story."

In his hand was a very old booklet, tattered and with yellowed pages, and carrying a strange scent of books and ink, which must have been read countless times.

Hua Cheng said, "I don't want to listen."

Xie Lian asked curiously, “Why?”

Hua Cheng said lazily: "Anyway, they are all stories about other priests. I know exactly what happened to their trivial matters. What's so good about them? Do I need to trouble my brother to read them to me?"

That's right. After all, Hua Cheng is a man who knows the dark history of many powerful people in the Three Realms. Hua Cheng said: "Brother, if you really want to read, why not read something else. For example, your own story."

Xie Lian smiled and said, “Is there anyone who knows more about my affairs than you?”

Hua Cheng said: "Tell me more, I want to hear it. No matter how much I hear, it won't be enough."

Xie Lian knew he was serious, and he carefully combed the hair on his cheek. He glanced at it again inadvertently, and suddenly said in surprise: "Sanlang, it seems that you and I are really written here."

"Is it?"

Xie Lian flipped through the book again and said, “Really? There are many red-robed ghost kings and tattered immortals written about here. These are you and me, right?”

Hua Cheng also became interested and asked, "Oh? What did you write?"

Xie Lian was also very curious about how the common people would make up stories about him and Hua Cheng, so he opened the story collection and read it to Hua Cheng: “A long, long time ago, there was a big ghost king who loved to wear red clothes. Although the big ghost king was extremely powerful and owned several mountains of gold and silver, he was very unhappy. This was because he was very lonely and missed his wife very much…”

“…”

Xie Lian burst out laughing, and couldn’t continue reading anymore, so he said, “The Lonely Ghost King is staying in an empty nest…hahahaha…hahahahaha…”

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows and said, "You're not wrong. My brother was not around at that time, and I was very lonely."

Xie Lian’s face flushed and he continued reading.

A long time ago, there was a big ghost king who loved to wear red clothes. Although the big ghost king was very powerful and had a lot of gold and silver and endless money, he was very unhappy because he was very lonely and missed his wife very much.

But he waited for hundreds of years and still didn't see his beloved, so he went to ask an old fortune teller, "Where is my wife?"

The old immortal told him: "You and the person you are waiting for will meet again on a mountain. Your wife will come to marry you in her wedding dress and in a sedan chair."

The ghost king was determined to find his wife, so he went to the mountain and waited patiently.

And far, far away, there is a tattered immortal.

The Rags Immortal collects rags, so he is the poorest among the priests, even poorer than many mortals.

Although he was very poor, he was very kind. One day, the immortal saw a girl crying on the roadside on his way back from collecting rags, so he asked, "Girl, what makes you so sad?"

The girl cried and said, "I am getting married, but on the day of the wedding we have to cross a mountain. There lives a ghost bridegroom on the mountain who specializes in snatching brides passing by. Only a few have been rescued. I will be snatched away and killed!"

The Tattered Immortal felt very sympathetic and was determined to rid the people of the evil, so he decided to marry the girl on her behalf and kill the monster.

The rag-and-bone fairy has two good friends, one is irritable and the other is stingy, so they are the irritable fairy and the stingy fairy. They beat each other and told him: "The ghost bridegroom is a big ghost king, with a bad temper and cunning, and he hates the gods the most. If you try to catch him, you will definitely be eaten!"

But the immortal insisted on going, so they made a sedan chair for him. On the wedding day, the immortal wore a beautiful wedding dress borrowed from the Wind Master, pretended to be a bride, sat in the sedan chair, and was carried up the mountain by two friends who had been fighting each other all the way.

In the dark night, a strong wind blew. When the sedan chair was carried to the mountain, no one was left. The immortal waited and waited, and finally the groom came to pick him up.

When he lifted the veil, the immortal was surprised to find that the Great Ghost King was actually an extremely handsome young man.

What surprised him even more was that the young groom was very polite, well-educated, gentle and considerate. He did not shed his human skin to reveal his true face with green face and fangs, nor did he force him to do anything bad. He was not like the terrifying ghost king in the legend at all.

The mountain was very big. The Great Ghost King took the immortal to his cave and said to him, "From now on, I am your husband and you are my beloved wife. This whole mountain is mine and yours. You can look around as you like. But remember, there are two houses in the back mountain. Don't go there."

The immortal asked, "Why?"

The ghost king bridegroom replied: "That is my secret, you don't need to know it. However, even if you want to go, you can't, because there are barriers in front of the two houses, and you need something from me to pass through the barrier."

The immortal continued to ask: "What is it?"

The ghost king replied: "In one room there is dirty trash, which can only be opened with something that I can touch and there are a lot of. In another room there is a powerful magic weapon, which can only be opened with something that I can't touch but is very hot."

Of course, the immortal did not listen to him. Although he pretended to be very obedient in front of the big ghost king, as soon as the big ghost king left, he flew over the eaves and walls and quietly went to the back mountain. Sure enough, he heard terrifying howling and cries for help coming from the house where the dirty waste was hidden.

The immortal suspected that the missing brides were imprisoned here, so he decided to steal something from the Big Ghost King to open the mysterious house.

But what to steal?

The ghost king had long black hair, which sometimes hung loose and sometimes tied up crookedly. The first solution the immortal came up with was to steal a few strands of his hair every day, and then asked, "Excuse me, can we live in the same room?"

His groom said politely: "Of course. We are husband and wife."

In this way, they lived in the same room. Although they slept in the same bed, the immortal did not let the groom take off his clothes, and the big ghost king also politely did not touch him.

However, the immortal soon discovered that his groom's hair did not fall out at all. No matter when he combed his hair in the morning or went to bed at night, there was not a single hair on the pillow, bed, floor or comb!

This was a headache. The immortal took a sword and wanted to secretly cut a strand of hair from the ghost king while he was sleeping. But the ghost king was very alert and opened his eyes as soon as he approached. The immortal was caught by him, but he was very calm. In order to prevent the ghost king from suspecting him, he immediately cut off a strand of his hair and gave it to him.

The Big Ghost King was very happy after receiving it.

Soon, the clever immortal thought of another way. He said to the Great Ghost King: "Excuse me, can I kiss you?"

His groom said happily: "Of course. We are husband and wife."

So, the immortal took the initiative to hug the ghost bridegroom and kissed him hard for a long time. Finally, he tasted a little bit of the ghost bridegroom, then quickly closed his mouth and ran to the back mountain.

But when he got there, he realized that this still didn't work. He wanted a lot of things, but he didn't get enough. He still couldn't get in. He could only stick his head into the house, but his body couldn't get in no matter what.

The Tattered Immortal was a little frustrated. He had thought it would be easy to steal something from the Ghost King, but he had not expected it to be so difficult.

He thought of his good friend, the Wind Master, so he went to visit the Feng Shui Temple and asked, "How else can I get something that I can touch and in large quantities from the Great Ghost King?"

The Wind Master said, "Hey! That's too easy. Just put on a female appearance and spend the wedding night with him!"

The tattered immortal shook his head quickly. The immortal method he practiced had a rule that once a woman's virginity was lost, her magical power would be greatly reduced. How could this method work?

At this time, the navy master came back and just heard what the queen said. He shouted angrily: "How can you say such a shameless thing!"

When the water master got angry, he would hit people to death with money, so the rag-and-bone fairy ran away. As he ran, he thought of his other two good friends, the irritable fairy and the stingy fairy, and went to ask them what to do.

The Angry Immortal and the Stingy Immortal were fighting each other again, and while they were fighting each other, they told him an incredible news: because too many people had been captured, the priests were about to attack the mountain and capture the big ghost king!

The immortal was surprised and worried, because after many days of getting along with him, he now felt that the young ghost king would not do such a bad thing. Maybe there was some misunderstanding, maybe the brides were not imprisoned in the back mountain, but something else.

However, because the rag-and-bone immortal was very poor, he had no status and no one listened to him. The immortal was very anxious. If he didn't find out the truth, the great ghost king might be besieged by the priests.

There was no other choice, so the immortal had to run back and ask the Great Ghost King: "Excuse me, can you spend your wedding night with me?"

His groom smiled and said, "Oh, of course. We are husband and wife."

So, the Tattered Immortal and the Big Ghost King had their wedding night.

On the way, the immortal was afraid that the ghost king would not leave many important things for him, so he hugged him tightly and shouted: "Can you give me all? Can you give me more?"

His groom said gently and considerately, "If you want."

The immortal replied: "I want..."

Thus, the clever immortal got what he had been looking for. There were many, many things that could be found on the Great Ghost King.

The next day, the immortal came to the house where the dirty waste was hidden, bringing with him the things he had begged from the Great Ghost King all night. This time, he finally got in.

As soon as he opened the house, the immortal found many dishevelled corpses inside, some of which had turned into bones!

These corpses were all dressed in wedding clothes, and they were probably the missing brides. The immortal was shocked and sad when his hopes were dashed. He turned around and suddenly found a person standing behind him—the Great Ghost King had been standing there without him noticing!

The immortal was shocked. He remembered that the Angry Immortal and the Stingy Immortal had told him that the Great Ghost King was very cunning and hated immortals. Now that he had no magical power, could it be that the Great Ghost King had actually seen through his identity a long time ago and had just been lying to him?

The immortal was angry and sad, so he ran away, faster and faster. But he didn't get out. It turned out that he ran too fast, and the thing that the ghost king gave him fell down and was stopped by the barrier in front of the house.

The big ghost king chased after him, hugged the immortal, and finally explained the whole story.

It turned out that the big ghost king did not capture people to eat, he was just waiting here for his destined person. One day, a wedding procession accidentally bumped into him while he was walking in the mountains. The groom in the procession was so scared that he ran away, leaving the crying bride sitting there.

The ghost king did not want to cause trouble. The bride said she did not want to marry that kind of man, so she did not go back and left alone. Later, the same thing happened several times. The ghost king simply waited here and tested the newlyweds. If the groom dared to stand up to protect his bride in front of the demons and ghosts, he would not make it difficult and let them go back. If a vicious groom pushed his bride into the mouth of the demons to buy time to escape, he would be caught and locked in this room.

Because these people have evil intentions, they often kill each other and eventually turn into a pile of bones. What the immortals see are their corpses. Some of their brides go home, some flee to faraway places with their lovers, wander around the world, or settle down.

The Great Ghost King said: "I have waited for you for hundreds of years, brother, and finally I have seen you."

The two men cleared up their misunderstanding and hugged each other. In order to leave the house, the Great Ghost King gave the immortal many more of his things. Unexpectedly, suddenly, there was a rumbling sound in the sky. It turned out that the priests had been afraid of the Great Ghost King for a long time, and they seized this opportunity and finally started to attack him!

The tattered immortal rushed out and beat the priests violently, but the whole mountain was collapsed by the priests, and the big ghost king was pressed under the mountain.

The mountain was too high, and the immortal was afraid of crushing the ghost king, so he tried his best to hold it up with his shoulders. At this moment, he suddenly remembered that there was a mysterious house that had not been opened. There was a powerful magic weapon hidden in this house, which could definitely overturn the mountain, so he rushed into the cave. Once he entered, he was surprised to find that the ghost king was standing there intact, and even stronger!

The two of them broke out of the mountain and together drove away the troublesome priests. Finally, they sat side by side on the top of the mountain and watched the clouds and stars left behind by the priests as they fled.

The immortal asked, "Didn't you say that a room that hides dirty trash requires a lot of things that you can touch to open it, but a room that hides magic treasures requires something that you can't touch but is very hot to open it?"

The Ghost King smiled and said, "Yes. Didn't my brother get that thing a long time ago?"

The immortal knew that thing was the Ghost King's passionate love for him.

So, the Tattered Immortal and the Big Ghost King went to the bridal chamber happily together again, and they never separated again.

“…”

“…”

After finishing the story, Xie Lian was still confused. He asked, “What is this all about? Isn’t this story too exaggerated? No, no, no, this…”

What the hell is this? Can this be called a story?

Hua Cheng had already fallen on the couch laughing. Xie Lian was puzzled: "This is totally wrong! What is the prototype of this story? The incident with Junshan? That thing is not like that... It's completely twisted, right? Moreover, is it really okay to tell this kind of story to children? It's not appropriate. Who wrote this??? And what about these characters who look familiar but seem a little bit off..."

A closer look revealed that although the stories in this booklet seemed innocent at first glance, as if they were bedtime readings for children, they were actually quite extreme, which was more difficult to read than simply being hot and exciting. However, when he read to the end, he felt strangely moved, and Xie Lian began to wonder if there was something wrong with him.

Hua Cheng said: "Hmm? It's not completely distorted. At least a few points are correct. For example, I did call brother 'brother', for example, it was indeed me who went to pick up brother's sedan chair in Yujunshan, and for example, on the wedding night, brother did..."

Xie Lian thought he had become thick-skinned enough over the years, but he still blushed in front of Hua Cheng. He said, “How could you know something like this?… And, and other than that, nothing else is right…”

Although he knew that many fabricated folk tales were far from the originals, and that it was not surprising that they would become anything after countless processing, he was still shocked beyond words when he saw it with his own eyes. There were several times when he was too embarrassed to read on, but Hua Cheng forced him to continue reading to him. He really wanted to hit him, but he couldn't do it. Hua Cheng still looked unsurprised, saying: "It must be that someone who knew about it missed a little bit, and then someone else made up a story, made up a few things, and made up a lot of speculations."

Xie Lian threw the story collection aside and said, “Don’t read this kind of messy idle book. Have a good rest.”

Hua Cheng clapped his hands and asked, "Well written, very talented. I feel refreshed after listening to this story. Please read another one."

Reject flatly: "No."

"Brother, I have a headache."

"this……"

"elder brother."

"……All right."

Huacheng also had a rare illness. Xie Lian usually obeyed him and responded to his requests, so how could he resist at this time?

No matter how ashamed she was, she had to hold it back, picked up the yellow booklet again, lay down next to Hua Cheng, let him hold her waist, and read it with gritted teeth.

"A long time ago, there was a handsome young prince who practiced in the mountains. One night, he met a mysterious guest..."