Me and the devil

九

Mu Qing noticed that Xiao-Ying had shrunk back into the crowd, and frowned. "Why is she here?"

While his tone wasn't angry, it didn't sound nice either. When Xiao-Ying heard him, she lowered her head. Xie Lian explained, "She came to check in on us, she was worried."

Mu Qing questioned the men, "Did you all come up here with her?"

The crowd was a little confused at first, but soon, they replied.

"I don't remember."

"No idea."

"No... When we came up, She wasn't here right?!"

"I didn't see her, either way."

"Me neither."

Xiao-Ying lifted her chin, and said. "That's because I was following secretly."

Xiao-Pengtou immediately jumped on the opportunity. "Why were you following us secretly? HMMMM???? Are you guilty of something? Are you the ghost groom in disguise? Well?! Spit it out!"

After being accused so rudely, Xiao-Ying balked. "No! I'm Xiao-Ying, I promise! I'm real!" She turned to Xie Lian. "Mister, we just saw each other, I helped you put on some rouge, I did your hair and gave you a whole makeover..."

The whole crowd suddenly turned to Xie Lian.

"..."

Xie Lian didn't know what to say to that. "..."

Whispers broke out around the crowd. Xie Lian could vaguely make out the words. "What a strange hobby," "What...?" "Unbelievable... the kids these days..." Xie Lian cleared his throat.

Xie Lian looked around for help, and only then did he notice the way Feng Xin and Mu Qing were staring at him. They very rigidly took a step back, then another.

Xie Lian stared at them. "...Is there anything you two want to say?"

They quickly shook their heads no. Maybe they were remembering something... Some bite marks perhaps..? A hint that Xie Lian was married..? Anyways, they wouldn't help him.

The silver butterfly in his hair twitched.

"Gege? Do you want me to go over there?" His husband's voice echoed in his head.

"No, but feel free to scare them later. Take it as revenge for not helping me right now." he replied.

"Gladly." He could practically see the evil grin his husband probably was wearing at this moment.

He was snapped back into reality when Mu Qing turned to Feng Xin. "Is there anything you want to say to him?"

Feng Xin immediately shook his head. "Absolutely nothing."

"...Why won't you guys say something?" Xie Lian said miserably.

Just then, some men from the crowd suddenly spoke: "Wait a minute, isn't this a temple of Ming Guang?"

"There's a temple of Ming Guang on Mount Yujun? Cool, I've never seen it before, what about the rest of you guys?"

Sounds of agreement and awe were his response.

The crowd looked over in wonder. Xie Lian, however, suddenly said. "Oh, right. The temple."

Feng Xin could tell that something was off. "What is it?"

Xie Lian replied. "The north is General Ming Guang's territory. It's not like his worship isn't popular,so how come there is only one in the entire Mount Yujun area? Instead, they have a temple dedicated to General Nan Yang."