Me and the devil

十九

In honor of my first fanfic's - this one! - 1 year anniversary... I'm posting 3 chapters today! 

Enjoy!

~

The fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Zhongyuan festival, the biggest festival for the Ghost Realm. On that day, the gates to the underworld were thrown open, and all manner of spirits, ghosts, monsters and demons came out in droves to celebrate in the Mortal Realm. Mortals had long since learned to avoid them at all costs, especially on a night like this. Xie Lian smiled, remembering the joyful celebrations of the citizens of Ghost City. Clamoring around him and Hua Cheng they would shout incoherently, Xie Lian could only manage to catch snippets of what they said.

"Grand-uncle! Try this soup! I bathed in it myself!"

"Chengzhu! These cuts of meat are the freshest on the market!"

"Grand-uncle! Why don't you take a look at my collection of rare artifacts?"

"Grand-uncle! I have child-bearing pills of the highest quality!"

At the last statement Hua Cheng's eye had flashed red, knowing Xie Lian's obvious discomfort with such items. "Scram."

Instantly, the ghosts disappeared.

He was brought back to the present when a screech, not unlike the sound of a chicken being butchered alive, rang out.

"Oh no! Oh no! Ghosts are being murdered!"

The scream startled all the ghosts in the vicinity.

"Where? Where?! Where are they murdering ghosts?!"

The ghost that had released the earlier screech answered, "I found a whole bunch of shattered ghost fires over there! I'm scared out of my wits! They were all crushed so brutally! What hostility!"

"All shattered? Then we can't save them! Who would do something so vile?"

"Who did it? No... Could it be... We've been infiltrated by cultivators!"

"On Zhongyuan? They know tonight is our night!"

"Ah! Now that you mention it, we were just blocked from passing a certain stretch of the road. Could that have been..."

"Where? Where?"

"Right there!"

"Oh no!" Xie Lian cried out mentally, quickly he conjured his mask and hid his face from view. The next second, a mob of voracious beings surrounded the ox cart, their expressions were savage.

"Those ghost fires were our friends!"

"How could you?!"

They couldn't hide any longer. Xie Lian recalled Ruoye, knowing that the ghosts would leave them alone once Hua Cheng scared them off. He worried for the poor ox driver, passed out in the back of the ox cart.

Hua Cheng straightened his back. A murderous glint in his eyes.

The ghosts paled.

"H-Hua Ch-chengzhu... G-grand-uncle..."

"We apologize for any offense! We thought you were cultivators infiltrating our group!"

"Please, spare us!"

"..." In all honesty, Xie Lian felt a little bad for them.

"We didn't destroy your friends."

"Of course not, of course not, we would never presume that Chengzhu would do such a thing!"

"Never!"

Hua Cheng tsk-ed. "Leave us."

The ghosts dispersed.

Xie Lian was glad that Hua Cheng had clarified that they hadn't crushed the ghost fires. Despite his standoff-ish attitude, he knew Hua Cheng cared for his citizens.

The remaining journey to Puqi shrine passed without a hitch.

When they arrived at Puqi shrine, Hua Cheng jumped off of the cart, extending a hand to help Xie Lian down. The two were about to leave when Xie Lian remembered that the old driver was still sound asleep in the back of the cart. He reached over the sides of the cart and woke the old man, advising him to keep tonight a secret. Having seen his "powers" the old man didn't speak a word of disagreement and hurriedly dragged his Old Huang home.

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng held hands as they walked back to Puqi shrine.

"What would you like to eat, San Lang?" Xie Lian asked as they walked.

"Whatever Gege feels like making sounds delicious."

"San Lang..."

Hua Cheng laughed, "Alright, alright. How do noodles sound?"

Xie Lian's grin was wide. "Noodles sound great!"

They spent the remainder of the evening together, cooking, eating, bathing and now they were preparing to go to bed.

~

"San Lang."

"Yes gege?"

"Why is there only one sleeping mat?"

"..."

~

They chatted until Xie Lian's eyes began to droop.

"Rest, gege, I'll be here when you wake up." Hua Cheng said as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind Xie Lian's ear.

"You rest too, San Lang." Xie Lian mumbled, already half asleep.

"Alright, gege." Xie Lian snuggled closer to Hua Cheng's chest. Broad arms encircled his back and kept him close.

"Love you, San Lang."

"Love you too, gege."

~

The next morning, Xie Lian wakes up to find Hua Cheng playing with a strand of his hair.

"Good morning." Hua Cheng's voice is slightly deeper than normal.

"Good morning, San Lang." Xie Lian smiled, and sat up. Hua Cheng followed suit.

Last night, Hua Cheng had his hair in a ponytail. Now - probably because of the jerky ox ride - the ponytail was crooked and disheveled.

"Want some help with that?" Xie Lian asked, pointing at his own hair.

San Lang hummed, nodding. He turned his back to Xie Lian to allow him easier access. Xie Lian let down his inky black hair and started to brush it. Soon, Xie Lian got distracted by how soft and silky Hua Cheng's hair was, running his fingers through the strands over and over again.

Hua Cheng laughed. "Gege, are you really trying to tie my hair? Or are you thinking of doing something different..."

With his hair down, Hua Cheng was still breathtakingly handsome, he was in his 'San Lang' form, which Xie Lian had lovingly nicknamed. "How can someone possibly be so beautiful?" Xie Lian wondered. Outwardly, he grinned.

"All right, all right" Xie Lian said and started to carefully put Hua Cheng's hair into a ponytail. Since they had met (and got married), Hua Cheng had let Xie Lian play with his hair countless times, so Xie Lian had much practice and had improved considerably from the crooked ponytail that used to be all he could manage.

When he was done, Hua Cheng pulled him into a sweet kiss, "Thank you, gege." Xie Lian smiled and he was about to lean in for another kiss when the sound of footsteps and shouts was heard.

"Daozhang!!!"

Bewildered, Xie Lian ran out of the door, Hua Cheng followed him, albeit at a slower place, holding the door so Xie Lian wouldn't have to. Outside a massive throng of people had surrounded Puqi shrine.