Forbidden Read!
Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Redder Clothes than Maple Leaves, Snow White Skin

***

Of course, it was something that Xie Lian would never say out loud. However, it was no wonder that the expressions of Nan Feng and Fu Yao changed when they heard him mention the silver butterfly. It could be assumed that they also suffered at the hands of the owner of the silver butterfly with their two Generals.

A Heavenly Official asked, "Your Highness Crown Prince, you met Hua Cheng. He, he, he... What did he do to you?"

Tone like that, it sounded more like he was asking, "Have you lost an arm or lost a leg?"

Xie Lian said, "He didn't do anything, just..."

When he spoke at that point, he was completely at a loss for his words. Xie Lian started to think in her head, "Just what? Unlike him he could say, 'he just robbed my sign, and then held my hand and guided me along the way'."

After a moment of silence, he could only say, "He just destroyed the puzzling array belonging to the female ghost Xuan Ji who was on Mount Yu Jun, and then brought me in."

Most of the Heavenly Officials began to think of his words, either muttering to themselves or remaining silent. Only after a moment did a Heavenly Official ask, "Everyone, what do you think?"

Just by listening to their voices, Xie Lian could already imagine all the Heavenly Officials repeatedly shaking their heads.

"No opinion, I really have no opinion!"

"I don't know what he wants to do, it's kind of horrible."

"As usual, no one could understand what Hua Cheng wanted to do..."

Although Xie Lian had just been told of Hua Cheng's reputation as a Demon King, yet towards this person, Xie Lian did not really think that she was scary. If she really had to say something, she thought this time, it could even be considered that Hua Cheng had helped her. In short, the first prayer for the blessing he received after he ascended and returned to Heaven should be considered finished for this matter.

It had long been agreed that all the rewards obtained from the case of Mount Yu Jun would be considered to belong to Xie Lian. Regardless of how much time passed before the official finally remembered to redeem his vow due to the death of his daughter, he kept his promise with a broken heart, even though he ended up paying less. However, after collecting from here and there and since they reduced it by a little, eight million, eight hundred and eighty thousand merit was more or less considered to have paid off.

Without debt, Xie Lian's body felt light and free, her heart had now felt as clear as the boundless sky scene. In high spirits, he was completely free from worry and very happy. Xie Lian decided to become a god properly, and it would be best if she could at least make a little friend with the other Heavenly Officials.

Although it was usually the spiritual communication array in Heaven in a peaceful state, when in a busy state, the cries of the heavenly officials incorporated within it could last for days. Moreover, when the moods of the Heavenly Officials were in a good state, and perhaps when they saw something interesting, they would talk about it within the spiritual communication array. When that time comes, they will laugh a little for a moment.

Although Xie Lian did not know the voice of anyone who joined there, she still quietly listened to everyone speak. However, he could not continue to remain silent forever. So, after she listened to their conversation for a while, she sometimes seemed to say something warmly, such as:

"It was really very interesting."

"I read a very beautiful short poem, let me share it with everyone."

"There's a very effective little secret to dealing with low back and leg pain, let me share it with everyone."

However, it was a pity, whenever he said something he had chosen carefully and was quite beneficial to both body and mind, the spiritual communication array would become silent. After a while, Ling Wen really could not bear it anymore and finally told her personally, "Your Majesty, something you said in the spiritual communication array is all very well, however, it is, I'm afraid even a Heavenly Official that some of them are a hundred years older than you won't talk about such things."

Xie Lian started to feel a little depressed. In reality, he was definitely not the oldest. However, when he was with the other Heavenly Officials, why was he arguably such an old man who could not keep up with the topic of young people?

He may have stayed far away from Heaven too long. Also, it has always been stupid and uninformed, and has never been so concerned about things coming from the outside world.

Since he can't fix it, then it's better to forget about it. Xie Lian gave up on the matter, and as a result, she felt a little better.

However, he still had one problem left: even until now, no one in the human world had built a new temple for him. No, there might be, but clearly, Heaven did not find a single one as they searched and thus there was no record of it.

It must be remembered that even a local earth god had some kind of temple. But even to this day, Xie Lian, someone who had earnestly ascended to become a Heavenly Official and had even done so three times, had, there was no temple and no worshipper who would burn incense for him. Really very awkward.

Although, it was just another Heavenly Official who felt awkward for him. Xie Lian herself still thought that everything was fine. Besides, one day, he got carried away to joke around and was suddenly inspired, "If no one wants to give me an offering, then it's okay if I make an offering for myself, isn't it?"

All Heavenly Officials did not know how to respond to it.

Who had heard of the Heavenly Officials making offerings to themselves?!

Being so miserable to this degree as a god, what kind of feeling was still left?!

As for Xie Lian, she had long gotten used to the awkward silence every time she spoke. He thought that comforting himself and making himself laugh could also be considered as something interesting. So, after making a decision, he once again jumped down into the human world.

This time, when he landed, his location was in a small mountain village called Pu Qi Village[1].

[1] Pu Qi means water chestnut in Chinese.

Although it is said that this place is a mountain village, in fact, it is just a small hillside. Xie Lian saw that this place had a very good view, with green hills, clear waters, and rice fields that reached the horizon.

In his heart, he thought, "This time, I actually landed in a good place."

Xie Lian looked around again and saw a broken and rickety hut on the hill. When he asked people about the hut, all the villagers said, "The broken hut has been abandoned and has no owner. Sometimes there are travelers who go there to spend the night. You can stay there if you want."

Isn't that exactly what Xie Lian wanted? He immediately walked towards the hut.

Only after walking closer did Xie Lian realize that although the small hut looked quite dilapidated from afar, it actually looked even more dilapidated up close. Two of the four pillars in the corner of the hut were already weathered and rotting. As soon as the wind blew, the entire hut would begin to emit a creaking sound, making one feel doubtful every time whether the pillar would fall.

However, this kind of 'damage' was still at a level acceptable to Xie Lian. After entering the hut and looking around, he started cleaning up the items inside there.

When the villagers saw this, they were all very shocked. Someone's really gonna live in that shack? So, they all gathered there and watched her who looked busy.

Contrary to what one might expect, the villagers here were very enthusiastic. Not only did they give him a broom, after seeing his dirty appearance after cleaning the place, they also gave him some freshly picked water chestnut. The skin has been peeled so that each of the water chestnuts is white and soft, sweet and juicy.

Xie Lian crouched down in front of her broken hut and finished eating the water chestnut. He put his palm together as a sign of his gratitude. Just then, he decided in his heart to call this place the Pu Qi Temple.

There was a small table inside the Pu Qi Temple. After cleaning it twice, the table can be used as an offering table. As Xie Lian continued to preoccupy herself, the villagers surrounding her realized that this young man really wanted to make a place to build a small temple.

They all felt that it was even more unusual and strange, so they one by one came to ask, "This temple, for whom are you offering?"

Xie Lian coughed softly before saying, "Ah, this temple is for Crown Prince Xian Le."

Everyone was irritated, "Who is that?"

Xie Lian said, "I don't know either. I thought he was a Crown Prince."

"Oh, what's he doing?"

"He may be someone who guarantees peace." And collect rubbish on the side of the road.

Everyone started earnestly asking, "Then this Crown Prince's Highness, will he be able to give wealth and prosperity?!"

Xie Lian thought in her heart, not owing money alone was good enough. Then, he said in a warm voice, "It's regrettable, but it doesn't seem possible."

"Or maybe you can make an offering to Ling Wen ZhenJun! Who knows, maybe someone from our village will become Zhuangyuan[2]!"

[2] Highest scorer in the royal exam.

A woman timidly and fearfully said, "That is you..."

Xie Lian maintained her smile and said, "That?"

"General Ju Yang[3]."

[3] The Chinese character he uses here is a version of 'Excellent masculinity'.

"...."

If he really opened the Ju Yang Temple, he was afraid that Feng Xin would immediately shoot an arrow from Heaven to destroy it!

After clearing the Pu Qi Temple, there were still some less like incense burners, qiantong (something that was usually in the temple) and various other objects. However, Xie Lian had completely forgotten the most important thing.― Divine statues. He brought his bamboo hat and walked out the door, oh right, the door was not there either.

After thinking for a while, Xie Lian decided that this hut clearly needed to be rebuilt. So, he wrote a sign and put it in front of the door. It reads: "This temple is dilapidated. Please donate for the renovation of this temple to collect the merit reward."

After leaving the hut and walking for seven or eight li[4], he arrived at a town. For what reason did he go to town? Well, naturally to go around and look for food to eat. So he took his old job again.

[4] Chinese unit distance, about 0.5 km.

In legends and folklore, it is said that immortal beings no longer need to eat. In fact, it's very hard to say. Even though those with great power could actually absorb the spiritual power they needed from the sunlight, rain, and dew. But the problem is―even though they can do it, if it's not necessary, who wants to do it? Why would they want to do something like that?

But some Heavenly Officials require the five bowels to be always clean and pure because they practice the path of Buddhism. Indeed, those people could not stand the oily fish and meat of the human world. If they were littered with something like that, it would be just like humans eating mud or poisonous raw insects, so they would start vomiting and diarrhea. So the problem is, not that they don't eat, they just eat something that was born in a clean and pure place, things that promise longevity. Such as immortal fruits and spiritual beasts that would increase the efficacy of spiritual power.

However, such a matter did not apply to Xie Lian. With the curse he had on him, he was no different from a human, and thus he could eat everything. And since he was an experienced veteran of a hundred battles, no matter what he ate, he would not die. Whether it was steamed bread that had been lying around for a month, or pastries that had been overgrown with some green mushrooms, he would definitely be fine after eating all of that. Since he had such a heaven-defying body, he was completely fine during the period when he was collecting trash. Instead: opening a temple means losing money, collecting garbage means making money, so collecting trash is really better than ascending to heaven.

He looked as graceful as a Chinese jade with the aura of an immortal living being, so he had the advantage when collecting trash. It didn't take long before Xie Lian finished collecting it as much as one big bag.

On his way back to the temple, he saw an old cow pulling a cart with straw on it piled up as high as the sky. Xie Lian remembered that she seemed to have seen the wagon in Puji Village before, so they seemed to be going through the same path. He asked if he could ride home, and the wagon owner raised his chin, indicating he could ride on the wagon.

So, Xie Lian sat on the wagon with a large bag of trash. It was only after he ascended that Xie Lian realized that behind the tall haystack, there was already someone lying there.

The upper part of this person's body was hidden by a haystack. The knee of his left leg was bent and propped up his right leg, and it seemed like he was using his arm as a pillow to rest. He looked very relaxed and satisfied. This person's complacency was actually the only thing that made Xie Lian somewhat envious. The pair of black boots looked tight, fitted to his slender, straight legs, and looked quite comfortable to look at.

Xie Lian recalled what she saw behind the veil that night on Mount Yu Jun and could not help but look at the boots once more. After he made sure that there were no silver chains hanging on the boots made of either animal fur what it was, he thought, "He must be the Young Master of a family who ran away to play, right?"

The wagon was slowly swaying on the road. Still carrying a bamboo hat on his back, Xie Lian picked up the scroll and prepared to read. In the past, he had never been so attentive to all the news circulating in the outside world. However, due to the many awkward silences he had caused, he decided that maybe he should learn.

After the ox carts wobbled for some time, they passed through the forest. Xie Lian raised her head to look around to the four directions, only to see the surging green fields, and the beautiful maple foliage that resembled fire, presents an interesting view between the cracks of the mountains in the wilderness. Such a scene was extremely intoxicating, penetrating one's heart with its cold and fresh atmosphere. Xie Lian could not help but stare blankly into the distance.

When he was young and still cultivating within the Huang Ji Temple, the Huang Ji Temple was built on a mountain. The mountainous terrain there was covered by maple forest, looking as brilliant as gold and as strong as fire. This situation and scene made it difficult for Xie Lian not to remember her past. He gazed into the distance for a while before he lowered his head to look back at the scroll.

After he opened the scroll, when he first looked, he saw a line of words that read:

Crown Prince Xian Le, who ascended three times. Martial god, the demon that caused the plague, the trash god.

"..."

Xie Lian said, "Alright, if you think about it carefully, regarding martial gods and trash gods, there really isn't much difference between the two. All gods are the same, all living things are the same."

At that moment, a light laughter rang out from behind him as a voice said, "Is that true?"

The teenager spoke in a lazy tone, "People always like to say that all gods are the same, all living beings are the same. But if that were true, all the various gods and immortal beings would not exist."

The voice came from behind the haystack on the wagon. Xie Lian turned to look and realized that the teenager was still lying there listlessly. He didn't seem to want to get up, so he probably just said that sentence without thinking too much about it. So, Xie Lian replied with a smile, "What you say also makes sense."

He turned around and continued to look at the scroll, which said:

Many people believe that as a demon carrying a plague, any object that has a handwriting or painting of Crown Prince Xian Le has the ability to curse someone. If you attach it to someone's back or maybe the main entrance of someone's family, it will cause misfortune to the family or the person.

"..."

This kind of explanation makes it difficult for people to tell whether they are talking about gods or ghosts.

Xie Lian shook her head, and did not have the heart to continue seeing the explanation pertaining to herself. He decided that it would be better if he first found out about all the heavenly officials currently in Heaven. This way, he could avoid his ignorance of who they were, something that was a bit disrespectful. He remembered how the villagers had just mentioned about the Water Master and thus, he had started looking around for an explanation of the Water Master on the scroll. He turned the page to a sentence that said:

Water Master Wu Du. Mastering water and wealth. Hence, within the shops and merchant houses, they would all have Water Master statues to ensure their wealth and prosperity.

Xie Lian felt somewhat confused. "Since he is the god of water, then why does he also hold sway over wealth and prosperity?"

At that moment, the teenager who was lying behind the haystack spoke again, "When the merchant entourage sent out his wares, they had to first transport them through the waterway. So, every time before they set off, they would go to the Water Master temple and burn the tall incense candles. They will pray that their journey will be smooth, and promise to do this and that once they return. Since it had been so long ago, the Water Master had also begun to gradually wield power over wealth and prosperity."

The teenager actually detailed what made Xie Lian confused. Xie Lian turned around and said, "So like that? Attractively. Perhaps, this Water Master is an extremely powerful Heavenly Official."

The teenager sneered and said, "Yes, Water that Represses the Sky."

His tone of voice made it seem like he did not care much about this Heavenly Official. Nor does it look like he's saying anything good. Xie Lian asked, "What is 'water that oppresses the heavens'?"

The teenager casually said, "When a ship passes through a great river, whether the ship will move or be silent, all depends on one word from it. If one did not make offerings to him, their ship would simply capsize, greatly oppressing. That was why he was given the nickname, which was precisely the 'Water that Oppressed the Heavens'. Having more or less the same idea as Ju Yang, the General of 'Excellent Masculinity' and the General of 'Mopping the Floor'."

To a famous Heavenly Official with an extraordinary title, they all usually had several nicknames in the mortal and heavenly realms. Similar to Xie Lian the Laughing Ingredients of the Three Realms, the Famous Weird, the Unfortunate Carrier, the Wild Dog, uhuk uhuk, and so on. Normally, wearing a nickname to summon a Heavenly Official was something extremely disrespectful. For example, if someone dared to call Mu Qing General 'Floor Sweeper' in front of his face, Mu Qing would definitely become extremely angry. Xie Lian noted that she could not use the nickname before saying, "Friends, you are very young, but it turns out that there are many things you know."

The teenager said, "I don't know much. Just unemployed. When I have free time, I'll check it out, that's all."

In the human world, people can find many treatises on mythology wherever they are, all telling stories about gods and ghosts. The stories contain great things about good and bad, to small things that are trivial. Some of them are false stories, and some are the truth. So, even though this teenager knew a lot, it could not be considered too strange. Xie Lian put down the scroll and said, "Then, friend, you know a lot about the gods. But, do you also know about ghosts?"

The teenager asked, "Which ghost?"

Xie Lian said, "Blood Rain Reaches Flowers, Hua Cheng."

When he heard it, the teenager chuckled twice before he finally sat down. As he turned around, Xie Lian's gaze suddenly flashed.

He saw that this teenager was around sixteen or seventeen years old. Her clothes were redder than maple leaves, and her skin was as white as snow. His pair of eyes shone like stars, containing a smile as he glanced at him suspiciously. The teenager was extremely handsome; however, his expression contained a hint of an indescribable wildness. His black hair was tied loosely, and even tied slightly askew. Looks very casual, like he's doing whatever he wants.

The two of them were currently passing through the fiery and colorful maple forest. The maple leaves danced as they fell, one by one, and even a leaf fell onto the teenager's shoulders. The teenager lightly blew on it, making its leaves fall off, and only then did he raise his head to stare at Xie Lian. With a smile that did not look like a smile, he said, "What do you want to know? Don't hesitate to ask."

Seriate...