Chapter 38: Ghost King Part 3

Chaosheng poked his head outside the cave and got a mouthful of sand. Night had fallen, the world shrouded in darkness, the sandstorm still raging.

Wu Yingzong found an oil lamp in the cave, its fuel nearly depleted. Hulü Guang added fire oil, and as the light brightened, everyone felt better.

Xiao Kun silently listened to the full account, then looked toward Hulü Guang.

“The Heart Lamp rejected me,” Xiao Kun said, “yet it chose you.”

Hulü Guang still looked bewildered. He sat cross-legged, wiping the Broken Knife he had picked up along the road, and said, “What exactly is that thing?”

Xiao Kun felt his mind buzzing, unable to focus. He was afraid—utterly ignorant of the War Dead Corpse Ghost Clan. His Master had never mentioned them, even though he himself was one of them.

He feared that after Xiang Xian was captured by them, he too would be transformed into a Corpse Ghost—that body full of vitality beginning to rot, losing all sensation, becoming a walking corpse.

“Why you?” Xiao Kun faced Hulü Guang, on the verge of collapse.

He and Xiang Xian had paid so much, only for an unrelated mortal to obtain the Heart Lamp? Why had it rejected him? Not only rejected—in that burst of white light, he had felt the Heart Lamp’s incineration. That heartfire had regarded him as a filthy, evil Monster, mercilessly igniting him, as if determined to eradicate him completely.

The sensation was excruciating, leaving Xiao Kun’s mood in agony.

“I-I… I don’t know.” Hulü Guang observed Xiao Kun’s expression, guessing he might have caused trouble, and said, “Can it be taken out? How do I extract it and give it back to you?”

Xiao Kun didn’t answer. The Heart Lamp resided in a person’s soul. From the earliest written records, all Exorcists knew it only chose the purest of hearts to host it. Throughout history, those who obtained the Heart Lamp were Shenzhou’s undisputed Guardians, most becoming Grand Demon-Exorcists.

Xiao Kun knew his responsibilities well; no matter what, he had to find it.

Yet they had suffered a crushing defeat at Kizil, paying the price of Xiang Xian hanging by a thread in enemy hands, only for Hulü Guang to get the Heart Lamp?

Xiao Kun took a deep breath. Chaosheng returned and said, “Are you okay?”

Hulü Guang said to Chaosheng, “I just thought that thing was important and couldn’t let the enemy take it, so I tried to stop them… How do I give it back to Lord Xiao?”

Chaosheng didn’t answer, merely looking intently at Xiao Kun.

Xiao Kun ultimately maintained his composure and poise. “Forget it. We’ll figure it out slowly later. Saving Xiang Xian is the priority.”

He gradually sorted his thoughts. The Heart Lamp with Hulü Guang was better than in enemy hands. Mr. Ying and another unidentified Demon Person had appeared in the valley—perhaps the Mr. Liu that Zheng Yong had mentioned.

“We caught that Zheng Yong,” Chaosheng handed over the Demon-Suppressing Banner. “He’s inside.”

“Mm.” Xiao Kun didn’t release Zheng Yong, merely sitting quietly in thought.

Wu Yingzong and Hulü Guang both remained silent. Only Chaosheng could console him now.

“Big Brother, you and your dad—it’s been many years since you last saw each other, right?” Chaosheng asked.

“I haven’t seen him since the day I was born.” Xiao Kun gradually calmed. He knew what Chaosheng meant and said earnestly, “I’m much better now. Come, let’s all go see him together.”

The sandstorm still raged. In the room where Jing Pian Ge stayed, there was a crude bedding mat, a water jar, and a rusty Tang Dao. A campfire flickered inside.

“They’re all my comrades-in-arms.” Upon entering, Xiao Kun didn’t address Jing Pian Ge as father, nor was there any tearful or excited reunion after many years. He simply introduced his companions. “This is Chaosheng, Wu Yingzong, and Hulü Guang, whom we met after arriving in the Western Regions.”

“The new Heart Lamp Master has appeared,” Jing Pian Ge said. “There might still be a turnaround. I know your only thought now is to rescue Xiang Xian, but the enemies are no pushovers. Zhen Nu, you must stay calm—don’t act impulsively.”

After removing his face-wrapping scarf, Jing Pian Ge sat cross-legged, facing Xiao Kun like a mirror image of himself—equally youthful in appearance, a quality transcending life and death, perhaps due to being a War Dead Corpse Ghost with near-eternal life.

Xiao Kun and Jing Pian Ge’s eyes both bloomed with blue light—he read all of his birth father’s thoughts. The father’s mind fully opened to his son: on a rainy night with fine drizzle flying, he had arrived in Shangjing, met Xiao Kun’s mother by chance under the eaves while waiting, how they fell in love, stayed together, and finally had to part…

A thunderous boom echoed in his mind as Xiao Kun detached from Jing Pian Ge’s memories.

Jing Pian Ge said, “I knew you’d come one day, but I never imagined it’d be under these circumstances, my son.”

Xiao Kun silently took out his Birth Paper and placed it before Jing Pian Ge.

“You’ve carried it with you all these years.” Jing Pian Ge said. “How is your mother?”

“She’s already dead,” Xiao Kun gazed at his Birth Paper and replied. “She died when I was five.”

Jing Pian Ge said, “The living are but travelers, the dead return home. Heaven and Earth as Transient Inn, Shared Sorrow of Eternal Dust.”

Xiao Kun’s eyes reddened. He thought of his mother, but at this moment, he worried more about Xiang Xian.

His life had always been one of losses: losing his father and mother, his mentor, the nation and Exorcism Division he served, even the mission entrusted to him by the Yelu Family. Family, friends—all had left him, like a cursed ill-omened person. He feared bringing misfortune to Xiang Xian, for he had been lonely too long. Since his mother’s death, he had never truly been happy.