Xie Lian [¤Gege=]》.

CHILDHOOD;

Xie Lian was born as the only son to the King and Queen of the prosperous Xianle Kingdom. As a kid, he liked going on swings, reading unpopular books, drawing, as well as building and knocking over golden toy block houses. The prince wanted nothing and was beloved throughout the kingdom. While he was a bit strange, not caring for politics or money, he was strong in his belief that he would be able to help the common people. He studied cultivation from a young age at the renowned Royal Holy Pavilion while his bodyguard and friend, Feng Xin, was at his side. It was there that he met one of his future generals, Mu Qing. Mu Qing worked as a servant at the temple, and only with Xie Lian's recommendation was he given the chance to study cultivation. During his time as the crown prince of Xianle, Xie Lian was at the forefront of the parade playing the part of a warrior in a performance for the crowd. Celebrating the heavens and as a symbol of the kingdom's prosperity, the festival and Xie Lian's performance was highly regarded as an icon of the kingdom. However, it was cut short as Xie Lian abandoned his performance halfway through to save a child who fell off the palace walls, later revealed to be Hua Cheng as a child.

First Ascension;

"When people said you were a god, then you were a god. If they said you were a shit, then you were a shit. Whatever the people said you were, that was what you became. It had always been like this."

Fall of XianLe;

With his country at the brink of war, against the word of Jun Wu, Xie Lian descended to the Human Realm to assist the people. However, it is against the rules of Heaven to descend to the human realm without express permission, lest tragedy befalls the humans. No matter how hard the prince tried, everything he did to help only seemed to make matters worse. In the end, fires and a plague called the Human Face Disease spread across the nation, and the rebel armies lay siege to the Imperial City. Although he had meant only to help his people, he had unintentionally been the one to lead the nation to its end. "Because the Kingdom of Xianle was destined to fall. Since you raised your hand and messed up this game of chess, then, there will for sure be another hand that returns all the messed up pieces back in place." The mentioned plague was caused by a being called White No-Face. Xie Lian didn't know what he wanted, but White No-Face continued to pyschologically torment Xie Lian throughout and even after the fall of the nation. It is later revealed that Xie Lian is the reason behind the creation of White No-Face. After the unfortunate fall of the Xianle nation, Xie Lian felt the blow from both the humans and the gods. Where he was once widely worshiped with thousands of shrines, he was now seen as the "Demon God" who had destroyed the nation. From the Heavens, he received the punishment of banishment, along with the destruction of his cultivation. He was forced back to the Human Realm with a Cursed Shackle now adorning his neck in form of a collar.

Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival was a banquet held by the heavenly realm every year for heavenly officials to celebrate and watch the people of the mortal realm as entertainment. Additionally, there was also an annual, very anticipated event called "The Battle of the Lanterns" which acted as a grand finale for the banquet. A "Blessing Lantern" was a lantern that was hard to obtain and be offered and therefore held a lot of meaning. What the gods battled over was how many Blessing Lanterns they would receive from their devotees from their main temples. Although many gods tried to brush it off by saying that it was just a game, many of them still held a strong sense of competitiveness. It is said that the gods only aimed for second place as the first place was always given to Jun Wu. Back during the Palace of Xianle's peak of prominence, the number of lanterns received was grand and would stand far away from the others, nearing Jun Wu's number of lanterns. However, surprisingly, Xie Lian had won The Battle of the Lanterns with 3,000 lanterns being offered, despite himself having no worshippers. These lanterns were indeed offered by Hua Cheng himself.

Ghost Bridegroom [1]

Due to the damages caused by his ascension, Ling Wen explains that Xie Lian has to pay a debt of eight million, eight hundred and eighty thousand merits. Shortly after, he visits the communication array of the Upper Court, where he meets Feng Xin and Mu Qing again. Feng Xin's palace had been destroyed by the ascension, while Mu Qing was almost hit by the bell, making for an awkward reunion. Afterwards, Ling Wen gives him aid by giving Xie Lian a mission in the north. Xie Lian goes to Yu Jun Mountain for the assignment and settles inside a tea shop. He sees a silver butterfly that he gets shortly distracted by before he meets the Middle Court officials Nan Feng and Fu Yao that have also the arrived at the tea shop. Both claim to have come willingly to accompany him on the mission. Xie Lian explains that in the past century, seventeen brides had gone missing, and that a being called the "ghost bridegroom" is responsible for it. Before getting on the case, the three of them search for shelter in one of Nan Yang's temples, where they shortly meet a girl called Xiao-Ying.

Continuation of the 'Ghost Bridegroom.' [2]

Later on, he disguises himself as the bride to take the bait. That night he sits in a sedan guarded by Nan Feng, Fu Yao and some military officials.Xie Lian hears a child singing, then his sedan gets attacked by wolves and base slaves. He defends himself with Ruoye, Xie Lian then tells everyone to leave the scene in order the ghost bridegroom can take him. He waits for a bit, suddenly a hand pulls up the curtain and extends the other one towards him. Xie Lian takes his hand hesitantly, the young man leads him to a Ming Guang temple while he holds an umbrella above them to be shielded from the pouring blood rain. Xie Lian was about to apprehend him with Ruoye but the young man shatters into many silver butterflies. Xie Lian goes inside the Ming Guang temple, which is Pei Ming’s, and finds the 17 missing brides. A black fog enters the temple, Xie Lian assumes it’s the ghost bridegroom and attacks them, but they flee outside. He chases it but finds Nan Feng, Fu Yao, a youngster’s gang and Xiao-Ying. Xie Lian thinks the ghost has blended with the crowd.

Continuation of the 'Ghost Bridegroom.' [3]

The group of people enter inside the temple to sell the missing brides, the leader gropes one of the deceased women and Xiao-Ying tries to stop him. The youngster knocks her down, and suddenly a stone hits the leader. He figures out it’s the bandaged child from outside the window. Xiao-Ying explains to Xie Lian that the child can’t be the ghost bridegroom and when the people tried to build Ming Guang temples they got burned down quickly. Thus they settled on Nan Yang temples. Xie Lian realizes the ghost is hiding among the dead brides because there are now 18. Suddenly, the deceased women attack them. Xie Lian draws a protection circle with Ruoye for the mortals and stays in the temple to fend them off. Nan Feng goes to the forest to retrieve the dead brides. Xie Lian contacts Ling Wen if Pei Ming had any possessive lover who was disabled. She answers that it's Xuan Ji before getting cut off. Xuan Ji appears before Xie Lian on her knees, furious Pei Ming hasn’t showed up yet. Xie Lian successfully apprehends Xuan Ji, though Xiao-Pengtou and Xiao-Ying lose their life during the battle. General Pei Jr. arrives shortly after and arrests Xuan Ji.

Appearance;

A handsome young, slender Chinese man who looks around 17 years old with dark, kind eyes. He has long black hair, that he keeps up in a half ponytail, and is usually seen with a simple bamboo hat. He wears simple, flowing white robes with bandages wrapped around his arms, and sometimes also around his neck.

Age;

Immortal Age: 800 years old