Lantern Night; Penny for a Wandering Soul

**Lantern Night; Penny for a Wandering Soul** (花灯夜一钱买孤魂, *Huādēng Yèyī Qián Mǎi Gū Hún*) is the 181st chapter of the *Heaven Official's Blessing* novel.

## Summary

The fourth book takes place after the fall of Xianle, depicting Xie Lian's first banishment.

Xie Lian spends his days, after being banished, to obtain money alongside Mu Qing and Feng Xin. Being immortal and fortunate for such a long time, it was his first time to have concerns about hunger. Xie Lian covers his face and hides his parents in a secluded house, due to the fact they are being hunted down by Yong'an soldiers.

One day, while working with the other two, he finds out the citizens made a kneeling statue of him as an insult. Passersby kicked, spat and slapped on it to rub off their misfortune. Furious at the actions, the Xie Lian and Feng Xin get into a brawl with those people. Mu Qing tries to stop them, but gets pulled into the fight as well. The uproar causes the three to get kicked out and not get payment.

This event triggered Mu Qing to tell Xie Lian that he wants to leave his side for two reasons. The first being that he has his own mother to be taken care of and the second being that he wants to get out of the current dilemma. Xie Lian allows him to leave, but is still shocked to the core.

He lingers by the riverside after ordering Feng Xin to get a carriage for his parents to leave he city tonight, the reason being of swarming soldiers desperately looking for them.

Looking at the lanterns streaming down in the river, Xie Lian is reminded that today is the Lantern Festival.

Seeing children going near a suspicious vendor with an evil aura, he observes the scene closely. The creepy man is trying to sell the youths lanterns trapped with phosphorescence of the dead. Not being able to see this, Xie Lian tells the kids not to buy them or the souls trapped in it will cling onto them for the rest of their lives. The vendor cusses at him for chasing away his customers.

After questioning the elderly a bit, he finds out those souls were picked up from the battlefield, meaning they were soldiers who died in war between Yong'an and Xianle. After bargaining with a few pennies, Xie Lian buys over 10 lanterns even though he has no experience on negotiation.

He returns to the riverside to release the deceased soldiers to join the afterlife. He thought he had finished his deed until a small voice calls out to him. He turns back sharply and sees a soul was still here, even though he released all of them. He thought he had missed a step, thus the soldier is still here.

After asking the spirit, the former soldier reveals that he stayed to protect his beloved, not because of his mistake. Being moved by his determination, Xie Lian apologizes to him for losing the battle and for separating him from his lover.

Strangely, the former soldier doesn't hold any grudge against him and says that to die in battle for Xie Lian is his greatest honor. Xie Lian however advises the soul to forget him. He adds that all of his worshippers and even his friend have left him. Being near him won’t do any good, instead it would bring bad luck.

The spirit defies and declares he will never forget him, saying that he’s his most loyal follower. However, Xie Lian doesn’t believe his words, as he didn’t with himself.

## Characters

 **In order of appearance:**

* Xie Lian
* Feng Xin
* Mu Qing
* Queen of Xianle
* Tiny ghost spirit