Благословение Небожителей. Том 6 (ЛП) - Мосян Тунсю

“What the fuck…? What’s that smell?!”

“Who’s cooking shit?!”

“Not just shit—shit that smells like pot bottoms!”7

“What?! This is a hidden, treasured royal recipe—” Xie Lian began to argue back.

The foreman approached with his hand covering his nose, his face green, and he exclaimed as he jumped in anger, “Bullshit! What hidden, treasured recipe? Who’s royalty—you?! Get the hell outta here! That’s disgusting!”

“All right, fine, I’ll go,” Xie Lian agreed. “But will you please give me my pay first—”

“You dare to even mention pay?!” the foreman exclaimed angrily. “Why don’t you tell me this—ever since you came, how much have I lost in damages?! Huh?! When it rains, lightning strikes—aimed right for you! Houses have caught on fire three times—and collapsed three times too! You’re like a God of Misfortune! And you dare ask me for pay?! Get outta here! Come back again and I’ll beat you up!”

“Hey, that doesn’t work,” Xie Lian said. “You just said all those things were coming especially for me, so that means nothing happens to anyone else. I think you just want to get out of paying your bill—”

Before he could finish, the foreman and all the other laborers couldn’t take the smell wafting out of the pot anymore. They all fled the area, leaving Xie Lian in the dust.

“Wait!” Xie Lian called out.

He glanced around and saw that all the brawlers had also been chased away by the stench. Xie Lian was speechless.

“If you weren’t going to eat it, why make me cook such a large pot? Don’t waste it just because you’ve got money,” he mumbled to himself.

Shaking his head, Xie Lian contemplated for a moment, then ladled out two large bowls of rice. He offered one at the Temple of Ju Yang and the other at the Temple of Xuan Zhen. Feeling that he’d made the best use of everything, he clapped his hands together, completely satisfied.

He went back outside to pack up his stuff. He rolled up the straw mat on the ground very seriously and tied it to his sword before strapping both to his back. The white silk band wrapped around his wrist nuzzled him furtively, and Xie Lian patted it before righting the bamboo hat on his head.

“Fine. Don’t pay. I’ll go busking.”

He still had his specialty trick, after all: shattering boulders on his chest!

As he walked, Xie Lian suddenly noticed a tiny red flower on the side of the road, which looked absolutely precious. He crouched to gently touch its petals, feeling quite cheerful.

“I hope we shall meet again,” he said to it.

Even after he had disappeared into the distance, the tiny red flower still danced in the wind.

Characters

The identity of certain characters may be a spoiler; use this guide with caution on your first read of the novel.

Note on the given name translations: Chinese characters may have many different readings. Each reading here is just one out of several possible readings presented for your reference and should not be considered a definitive translation.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Xie Lian

谢怜 “THANK/WILT,” “SYMPATHY/LOVE”

Heavenly Title: Xianle, “Heaven’s Delight” (仙乐)

Four Famous Tales Title: The Prince Who Pleased God

Once the crown prince of the Kingdom of Xianle and the darling of the heavens, now a very unlucky twice-fallen god who ekes out a meager living collecting scraps. As his bad luck tends to affect those around him for the worse, Xie Lian has spent his last eight hundred years wandering in solitude. Still, he’s accepted his lonely lot in life, or at least seems to have a sense of humor about it. Even for the perpetually unlucky, there’s always potential for a chance encounter that can turn eight hundred years of unhappiness around.

Xie Lian has seen and done many things over his very long life and originally ascended as a martial god. While it was his scrap-collecting that saw him ascend for the third time, Xie Lian’s feats of physicality are hardly anything to scoff at…though he’d sooner use them as part of a busking performance than to win a fight.

His title Xianle is a multi-layered nickname. “Xianle” is Xie Lian’s official heavenly title and also the name of his kingdom. “Xianle” itself can translate to “Heaven’s Delight,” which ties into Xie Lian’s “Four Famous Tales” moniker, “The Prince Who Pleased God.” Jun Wu referring to Xie Lian as “Xianle” sounds professional and businesslike on the surface (as Jun Wu generally refers to gods by their heavenly titles only), but it deliberately and not-so-subtly comes across as an affectionate term of endearment.

Hua Cheng

花城 “FLOWER,” “CITY”

Four Calamities Title: Crimson Rain Sought Flower

The fearsome king of ghosts and terror of the heavens. Dressed in his signature red, he controls vicious swarms of silver butterflies and wields the cursed scimitar known as Eming. His power and wealth are unmatched in the Three Realms, and for this he has as many worshippers as he does enemies (with considerable crossover between categories). He rules over the dazzling and otherworldly Ghost City in the Ghost Realm and is known to drop in to spectate at its infamous Gambler’s Den when he’s in a good mood.

In spite of all this, when it comes to Xie Lian, the Ghost King shows a much kinder and more respectful side of himself. He does not hesitate for a moment to sleep on a single straw mat in Xie Lian’s humble home, nor to get his hands dirty doing household chores at Puqi Shrine. That being said, it’s impossible to deny that as he and Xie Lian grow closer, Hua Cheng seems to be growing more and more mischievous… From the very start, his secret identity as San Lang seemed to be no secret at all to Xie Lian, but Xie Lian still calls him by this name at Hua Cheng’s request.

Honghong-er

红红儿 “RED,” “RED,” FRIENDLY DIMINUTIVE

A young street urchin who Xie Lian saved from certain death long ago, when Xie Lian was a prince in Xianle. Honghong-er is tiny, emaciated, and hardly looks like the ten-year-old child that he is, nor does he act like it. He is constantly on guard and quick to attack, though he strangely seems to become tame—and quite bashful—when Xie Lian is around. He bears immense shame regarding his supposedly ugly appearance and refuses to remove the bandages he wears to cover half his face.

Honghong-er’s life has been one of immense suffering and hardship, and he clings to every one of Xie Lian’s fleeting acts of kindness toward him as if he has never experienced anything like it before.

The name “Honghong-er” is clearly a nickname—it can be roughly translated to “Little Red.”

Wuming

無名 “NAMELESS"

A nameless ghost in an ever-smiling mask. He seems to have been following Xie Lian since the bygone days of Xianle, though Xie Lian was unaware of his fealty at the time. He is staggeringly powerful and absolutely loyal to Xie Lian’s command.

Wuming has lingered as a ghost for the sake of the one he loves. He seeks to avenge the suffering his beloved endured at the hands of humanity and protect them from further harm—even though they likely don’t even know his name. Whoever his beloved might be, they are truly fortunate to garner such devotion.

Young Soldier

A nameless young soldier in the Xianle army. He keeps half of his face hidden beneath bandages at all times and seems determined to stick by Xie Lian’s side in battle to protect him, even if it takes him to the most dangerous parts of the battlefield. His remarkable skill with the sword caught Xie Lian’s attention and made the god-prince remember him fondly even during the difficult times leading up to Xianle’s fall.