Me and the devil

十七

"Golden Flower Sought Butterfly?" Xie Lian asked.

"Indeed he's just as feared as Crimson Rain Sought Flower." Ling Wen responded.

Xie Lian inquired. "Do they have any relation with each other? Their names seem to match."

Ling Wen answered. "They do. They seem to know each other well, although no one is sure about their relationship exactly."

Xie Lian lifted a brow. "And why is that?"

"Golden Flower Sought Butterfly is always seen wearing a mask, no one knows his real face, his voice, his height, his spiritual powers, generally anything about him we just don't know. We believe his mask is enchanted to hide anything and everything from view. He appears differently to other people. We don't actually know if 'he' is a he at all." Ling Wen said.

"Wait, wait." Xie Lian waved his arms. "How can we not see anything about him at all?"

"His mask appears to make those who see him project their own interpretation of his character onto him."

"Interesting." Xie Lian said, as he secretly died of laughter inside. "So what do we know of him? Do we have any information at all?"

Ling Wen replied, "He's almost always seen with Crimson Rain Sought Flower, he's amazingly talented in martial arts, every heavenly official we've sent to him describe his movements as graceful, vicious, and unparalleled. We don't actually know if he's a ghost or not, but judging by his place at Crimson Rain Sought Flower's side, he must be a calamity-level ghost." Xie Lian nodded as Ling Wen continued. "He's defeated every heavenly official we've sent his way, he doesn't seem to bother the heavens, but we believe he is plotting something with Crimson Rain Sought Flower, however we don't know any specific details as of now."

The butterfly in his hair twitched in annoyance at the reminder of the heavenly officials that had been sent to hunt Xie Lian down. Xie Lian quietly chuckled at his husband's possessiveness.

Ling Wen continued, "We also know that he managed to garner a significant mortal and ghostly following when he defeated General Pei Ming before the entirety of the Gambler's Den. Between him and Crimson Rain Sough Flower they could influence this world's fate."

"Interesting, so if I should ever encounter him, what should I do?" Xie Lian inquired.

"Run." Ling Wen answered without hesitation. "Run as swiftly as you possibly can, do not engage in combat. The first god we sent his way was General Pei Ming, as you now know. And Ol' Pei is not a weak person by any means. Hopefully if you've done nothing to provoke him, he'll leave you alone."

Xie Lian hadn't realized he was so feared in the heavens. "Understood."

"Does Your Highness understand what the Four Great Calamities are? This is why it's such a big deal that you met Hua Cheng on Mount Yujun."

"I understand." replied Xie Lian.

"Speaking of Y-your Highness, d-d-d-did Hua Cheng do anything t-to you?" An official asked. He spoke as if Xie Lian should be missing an arm or a leg.

"He didn't really do anything, just..." Xie Lian wasn't sure how to continue.

Just what? He couldn't say that Hua Cheng had hijacked his sedan, held his hand, kissed him, and had casually strolled with him through the woods?"

After a moment of silence, Xie Lian decided what to say. "He broke General Xuan Ji's enchantment array on Mount Yujun and led me to General Pei's old temple."

The heavenly officials were shocked into silence. After a while, one of them spoke. "What do you all think of this?"

From that voice alone, Xie Lian could imagine how the various heavenly officials looked shocked or scared.