Sitting back in the hay as the cart was being pulled by an ox, Honger had been talking to Xie Lian about "Hua Cheng." I was a little offended when it looked like my brother thought that I wasn't capable of causing more problems than Hua Cheng.
"How much do you know of Hua Cheng's past? Or better yet, how did he become the ghost king?" I asked with a lazy side tilt of my head. Brother looked to me for a split second before turning back to Hong-er with a curious look in his eyes.
"There are a few stories, but for starters, his name is unknown," Honger said, and Xie Lian was intrigued. This is going to vary well. "But there's no one to whom he's told his real name. He may have been a cripple when he was human, made fun of because of his different coloured eyes, or because he was born with only his left eye. The second story is that he was a young soldier who died and still harbours regrets. The third is that his love died before him and became a lovelorn ghost. But the last story is that he was, in fact, a former god who ascended long ago before choosing to return to earth as a ghost. One thing is certain: he was born near Mount Tonglu."
The two of them kept talking, and Honger was flirtingup a storm with my brother, and I was happy to see it. We continued the road back to the shrine. Brother split his pork bun with Honger. We began to get close to our destination. Or we were until we were stopped with a violent shake on the cart. Honger almost fell backwards out of the cart. I felt something hold me at my waist. I looked down, but I only saw the outline of someone holding me. I looked up just as Xie Lian had grabbed Honger by his hand to stop him from falling off. I turned to look ahead of the cart. Glowing orbs were coming our way.
"It's a ghost festival!" I shouted, and thankfully, none of the ghosts thought anything of my shout since a lot of the time, ghosts are shouting at one another for whatever reason. "Brother! We need the guard incantation!"
"Mm!" my brother hummed in response before lifting his arm to the sky, using Ruye for the incantation before calling out. "Guard!"
Ruye flew out from his sleeve and swirled around us, making us invisible to the ghosts coming our way. The old man was panicking over ghosts coming closer.
"Sir, you have to stay quiet." I tried to calm him, but it didn't exactly do much. "The ghosts won't notice us if they don't hear us."
"I can't; I'm so scared! I don't know what to do." He spoke with a shaking tone.
"Hold still, brother, assistance, please."
"Right." Xie Lian said before tapping the man's pressure points using two fingers, rendering the man unconscious.