𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒔 | 𝑻𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒊 𝑭𝒖

VI.

After he had calmed down they had sat the god on a nearby rock. Yung Chao looked at the floor, shaky hands playing with his sleeve. ''Are you alright?'' Xie Lian asked softly, but didn't get any reply. He sighted and turned back to the others, ''it's not safe to stay here. We should go.'' Nan Feng helped Yung Chao to get up, supporting his back while walking back to the temple.

''I'm sorry for all the trouble,'' apologized Miss Ying who was crouching before the three gods and the young boy beside her. Yung Chao stood behind the other two, back facing the group. ''Are you injured?'' His Highness asked. ''Thanks to you, nothing serious,'' he nodded and faced the bandaged boy, ''could you tell me anything about the corpses hanging in the woods?'' The boy hid behind Ying's back, scared. ''I don't know, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with the boy.'' ''Miss Ying, where is the boy from?'' ''He used to live on Mount Yujun. When starved, he would get out to steal food. One time, I caught him stealing in my home. He looked miserable with the wounds on his face.''

Yung Chao looked over his shoulder at the boy with an angry and judgmental look. The bandages on his face were bloody and dirty, he could only imagine what it looked underneath. They made eye contact with the boy. He gave him a displeased look and turned away again. The cold feeling inside him was gone and he only sensed a normal child, but he could never shake off the cold and heavy feeling when he first saw him, the screams and horrible sounds and the foggy images before his eyes. He gulped, replaying the moment again. Xie Lian's voice brings him back to the current moment.

"Miss Ying, I have a question, is there any other Ming Guang temple around?'' ''Well, there used to be, but somehow they all caught fire. People thought that Ming Guang was not powerful enough to protect the place. So, they replaced him with General Nan Yang.'' ''Miss Ying, please stay put,'' Xie Lian said and turned to the god beside him, ''Nan Feng, lend me some mana,'' yellow glow surrounded their hands and Yung Chao finally turned to them, ''for what?'' ''I'll explain later. Let's get back to Ming Guang Temple now.'' The three started to walk away when one of the Xiao men started to plead, ''you can't leave. It's dangerous here. How can we handle it if something happens?'' The men surrounded the poor Nan Feng who quickly got irritated with them and punched them down. He followed Xie Lian and Yung Chao into the temple. ''Why shall we get back, your highness?'' the martial god of the South asked. ''To subdue the 18 dead brides.'' ''Isn't it 17?'' Nan Feng asked. ''It was 17. Now it's 18. One of them is the ghost groom.'' Xie Lian turns to Yung Chao with a worried look, ''are you sure you don't want to go back to heaven? After what happened.'' ''I'm fine now. I don't know what it was but it wasn't something...very terrible. I'm here to help and that's what I will do. I will not leave you two.'' He said with a firm tone, clearly meaning he wasn't going anywhere. He gave both of them a look and walked up the stairs into the temple. Xie Lian and Nan Feng shared a worried look before following right behind.

''Oh? I didn't see that before,'' the god of beauty whispers with an amused smile. When he entered through the temple doors a little statue against a dark wall caught his eyes. The figure was carefully crafted with hundreds of details from the embroidery on the sleeves to the accessories in his hair. The god was surrounded by many dried up white lilies. In one hand he was holding a golden sword and in the other a pink peony which represents love and beauty in China. It was truly a work of art but nothing triumphs the statues and painting in his own temples of course. He frowned seeing the ugly claw marks on it, it was as if a bear had tried to scratch his face off. He wanted to touch it, run a finger over his own features but it was too dusty and broken. He feared it would fall over the moment he put a leaf on its head.

Xie Lian and Nan Feng came beside him, curious about what the god was looking at. Xie Lian let out a surprised gasp while Nan Feng just rolled his eyes and groaned, already knowing why the statue is in Pei Ming's temple. ''Yung Chao, why is your statue in General Ming Guang's temple?'' the prince asked, not taking his eyes off of the beautiful figure who looked like he was dancing with lilies. ''You don't know?'' Yung Chao asked surprised, ''I'm married to General Ming Guang.''
There was silence after that. Xie Lian's eyes widened and his heart skipped a few beats.

'Yung Chao is married?'

Nan Feng growled at that, ''General Qi Yin, stop playing around! You're gonna give His Highness a heart attack!'' Yung Chao couldn't hold his laugh back anymore and he bursted ''Your Highness! You should see your face right now, it's hilarious!'' He wiped a few tears from his eyes. Xie Lian looked at him with confusion and sadness, not understanding what's going on. When the god had calmed down and collected himself again he turned back to them. ''I'm not married to him, heavens no! Never. It's just a rumor made by mortals to add to their stupid plays and stories. But try to tell them that, at least my temples and devotees are pure of this lie. I have no idea where this even came from, but it's hilarious and entertaining. I'm not married to anyone,'' he looked like he wanted to say something else but stopped himself. ''Nevermind that. We should go check out the brides,'' he said with a bright smile like a young maiden's who just received a love letter from her lover. He skipped quickly past them to go see the brides.

Nan Feng leaned towards him with a disappointed whisper, ''he already has someone. Thank the heavens it's not Pei Ming,'' Xie Lian's heart once again dropped. He didn't understand what it was but he felt strange hearing that. ''Who?'' he asked carefully. Nan Feng just gave him an irritated frown and walked away to where Yung Chao had gone. 'Was Nan Feng...jealous? Sad or angry?' Xie Lian thought. He wondered who it was. It wasn't really a surprise to him, Yung Chao is an extremely gorgeous man, any woman and maiden would gladly marry him and spend the rest of her life in his arms. Even back in Xianle, Yung Chao was very popular among the young men and women. He put the thoughts into the back of his mind, wanting to deal with them later.

He walked to where the two gods were crouching down. The brides were gone, only red veils left behind. Yung Chao took one of the veils and looked at the prince, ''Your highness, I'm still confused. How come there is one extra?'' ''We've asked the villagers to identify each other and confirmed that there were no strangers. Nan Feng and Fu Yao have also searched the neighborhood and found no trail of the ghost groom. If the bandaged boy is not the ghost groom, then where has he gone?'' ''Could it be...'' Nan Feng realized. ''Yeah, instead of leaving, it has probably been hiding here. What I was chasing after was just the black fog. When I got in I blended in with the brides and thus didn't get caught. Likewise, it could also hide among the brides in the attempt to deceive us. But still, why is there one Ming Guang temple here, blocked off by the magical formation? Why set the temples on fire? It's usually out of hatred. And the Ming Guang and Qi Yin statues are lifelike. Did you see the claw marks on Yung Chao's statue? Definitely because of the same stories of them being married. Besides, the brides passing by were forbidden to smile. Doesn't it sound like someone's jealous of the bride's happiness? Even more jealous of General Qi Yin? If we connect the dots we could draw the conclusion. Jealousy, possessiveness, hatred...'' Yung Chao also realized at that moment, his whole body going cold, ''you're right. It's not a groom, it's a bride.''