Original subtitles

You know about Gods. Then what about Ghosts?

Which ghost?

Crimson Rain Sought Flower: Hua Cheng.

Heaven Official's Blessing

Episode Five

What do you want to know? Ask away.

Crimson Rain Sought Flower - what a grand title. Where did it come from?

It's nothing really.

There was once when he wrecked the lair of a ghost.

On his way out, he saw a flower, half-drowned in the blood rain falling all around.

So he helped cover it up with an umbrella.

Does this Hua Cheng like to go around and get into fights?

Well, not all the time. It really depends on his mood.

What was he like when he was alive?

He definitely wasn't a good person.

What does he look like, then?

How do you think... he should look?

He is a Ghost King. He is probably very good at disguising himself and changing the way he looks.

He might have many appearances.

Mn. But he still greets people with his true form occasionally.

Then, I think his true form might be that of a young boy, like you.

Why is that?

Well, if you're freely commenting, then I'll freely speculate.

You never know.

But, he is missing an eye... This one.

How did that happen?

Good question. A lot of people want to know the answer.

How did Hua Cheng lose his right eye?

Maybe its his Achilles' heel.

Only, the truth is, he went mad one day and plucked it out himself.

Then, does this Hua Cheng have no weakness?

Bone Ashes.

If someone were to get their hands on a ghost's bone ashes, then the ghost is theirs to command as they please.

If you were to destroy the ashes, the ghost would lose its spiritual form and be destroyed.

I don't think anyone will ever find Hua Cheng's bone ashes.

I wouldn't be so sure.

There is one situation where a ghost would willingly bring out their bone ashes.

Like when he challenged the 33 heavenly officials and offered them as betting stakes?

How can that be?

It is customary in the ghost realm that if a ghost falls for someone,

the ghost will give their bone ashes to that person.

To think that there is such a sentimental custom in the ghost realm...

There is, but not many ghosts have the bravery to do it.

If they gave their hearts away in earnest sincerity, only for their ashes to be scattered and destroyed, it would certainly be a tragedy.

What is there to be afraid of?

If it were up to me, once I have given my bone ashes away, who cares if they destroy them or scatter them for fun?

After such a long conversation, I still don't know your name, friend.

My surname is Xie, and my first name is just a single character, Lian.

For me, I'm the third child of my family. You can call me San-lang*.

*T/N: Hua Cheng telling Xie Lian to call him San-lang is like saying 'call me Third-son/Mr. Third of the family' but can also have a romantic connotation because it's an interaction between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian.

If you're traveling in this direction, you must be headed to Puji Village.

I'm just wandering around.

I had an argument at home and got kicked out.

I was really hungry, so I just found a random place to take a break.

Here. You want some?

What about you?

I'm fine. I'm not that hungry.

I'm fine, too.

We can split it then.

What about you? What do you do?

I built Puji Shrine. It just opened.

Puji Shrine, I like that.

There must be a lot of water chestnuts* to eat there.

*T/N: Puji (菩荠) can also mean a type of water chestnut.

If you come by to burn incense, I will give you some for free.

That's great! Who do you worship?

The Crown Prince of Xian Le. But, you might not know about him–

I–

What happened?

I don't know.

Old Huang? Come on! Go! Go!

Th–Those are ghosts!

Guard!

What day is it today?

The Ghost Festival.

When they get near us, do not make a sound.

Sorry, I don't think I'd be able to hold it in.

What do we do, Daozhang*?

*T/N: Daozhang (道长) is a title given to anyone who practises Dao.

There's no other way. Sorry about this.

T/N: Character on top of their clothes "Prisoner"

What happened?

That's weird. We can't get past here.

We really can't go over there! How ghostly.

What do you mean ghostly? We're the ghosts here.

We can get past here.

Wow, gege*. To think that you were a person of great abilities.

*T/N: Gege (哥哥) is an affectionate term for elder brother or brotherly figure.

I'm not that special. I only know a few tricks.

Are you all right?

I'm not okay. I'm scared.

Don't be scared. As long as you're behind me, nothing can hurt you.

This is...

Someone killed a ghost!! So many ghost fires were put out!!

What was the thing that blocked us earlier?! No way!

Was there a monk or Daoist priest nearby?!

Where?!

Sit tight!

Freeze!

There's someone there!

It's a Daoist priest! Catch them!

Daozhang-gege, what are you doing?

The Ghost Festival is a special time of year when the mortal realm and the ghost realm intersect and mix together.

If a mortal walks into a ghost's territory, it is extremely difficult to get back out.

With the Heavenly Official's blessing, no paths are bound.

Two roads diverge into the sky. The first road goes left, the second road goes right.

Whichever road holds fortune, that road we shall take.

GREAT MISFORTUNE

GREAT MISFORTUNE

GREAT MISFORTUNE

GREAT MISFORTUNE

GREAT MISFORTUNE

Where did he go? Freeze!

Let me try.

Don't push yourself...

GREAT FORTUNE

You're really lucky.

So it seems. Which way do we go?

There's no time.

They both landed favourably. We can go either way.

Found them!

We chose the wrong path after all.

It wasn't our intention to intrude on your territory.

We ask that you overlook this mistake and let us go.

Let you go? You're the one who put out the ghost fires, aren't you?

You have the wrong person. I am but a simple garbage collector.

You're clearly a Daoist priest!

Who else other than Daoist priests would know how to kill ghosts?!

Daost priests aren't the only people who kill ghosts.

Then who else could it be? A ghost?

That certainly is possible.

You're bluffing!

Today will be the day you–!

The day I what?

Everyone?

What happened?

You're so cool, Daozhang-gege.

You even scared off all those ghosts and ghouls.

I didn't think I was so intimidating...

GREAT FORTUNE

Fright without danger. This truly is the route shown by the favourable divination (of the rods).

Friend.

Hm?

Have you had your fortune told before?

I haven't.

Then, do you want me to tell your fortune?

Sure. How are you going to tell it?

May I read your palm?

Most ghosts are able to shape a physical body and disguise themselves as humans.

But their palm lines are always off in some way.

What do you think?

You seem to have a very good fate.

How so?

Your character is that of great perseverance and determination.

Even through great adversity, you are able to remain true to your heart.

This young man doesn't have a single sign of spiritual power in his body and his palm lines are clear and natural.

You may often find fortune in the darkness of tribulation and great success in hardships.

This fate will follow for a long time.

Friend, your future is paved with the flowers of prosperity, perfect and complete.

If he really is a ghost, only something more powerful than a Wrath can disguise themselves so flawlessly.

But why would a Ghost King come to place like this?

Um, anything else?

What other fates do you want to hear about?

Marriage.

You don't seem like the type who would worry about that.

You seem like you'd be very popular with the ladies.

Why do you think that?

You are young, handsome, from a good family, open-minded and you seem to be knowledgeable.

San-lang... You're fishing for compliments, aren't you?

Daozhang-gege, thank you for telling my fortune.

And thank you for your kind words. Until we meet again.

San-lang, where are you going to sleep tonight?

I don't know. The streets, probably.

If you don't mind, would you like to come to my shrine?

May I?

Of course!

Only, my place is a bit shabby. You might not find it very comfortable.

San-lang.

Then, let's go.

Wait.

Oh my god! Ghosts!

Daozhang, you're the one who saved me.

Don't tell anyone about what happened tonight, please.

This shrine is on the verge of collapse. We are in need of kind strangers.

Please donate to fund renovation and to fund your blessings in the future.

See? It's like this.

That's why I said before, you might not find it very comfortable.

It's a fine place.

Oh yeah, is there a bed here?

If you don't mind, we can try squeezing into the same bed tonight.

Sure.

Gege.

Don't you think this shrine is missing something?

Other than worshippers, I shouldn't be missing anything.

What about an image?

Tomorrow, I'll draw one and hang it up.

I can draw, too. I'll help you.

I appreciate the thought.

But, I don't think you'd know what the Crown Prince of Xian Le looks like.

Of course I do.

On the carriage before, weren't we just talking about His Highness?

Do you actually know of him?

I do.

Then, regarding this Crown Prince of Xian Le, what are your opinions of him?

I think...

Jun Wu probably really hates him.

Why would you think that?

Why else would he banish him twice?

Those are the reasonings of a child.

There are many things in this world that cannot be explained by simplistic ideas such as good and evil.

After all, one should be punished for their mistakes.

The Emperor* was only doing his rightful duty.

T/N: Referring to Jun Wu

This is...

Let's sleep now.

San-lang?

San-lang, did you sleep well?

Pretty well.

Did you paint that painting in the shrine?

It's wonderful.

As long as I can be of use to you, gege.

Your ponytail went crooked when you were sleeping. Let me re-tie it for you.

No matter how good a ghost is at disguises, their hair will never be flawless.

How odd. His hair is completely ordinary.

Gege, are you really tying my hair for me? Or are you trying to do something else?

Okay, okay, I'm done.

I just remembered, I have to go do something else.

Why does it feel like somehow it's tied more crookedly than before...?

Gege, what are you doing?

I just switched out the curtain at the door. I'm going to put up some talismans.

What's this?

Oh, these are ward talismans. They keep ghosts and ghouls from getting in.

Since there's no door, we can use these to ward them off for now.

I'm leaving for a bit.

Did he... get blocked out by the talismans?

San-lang?

I'm going to make something.

If you want to draw up talismans, wouldn't to be better to draw them on the door?

Gege, didn't you want to do renovations? I'll help you out.

Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?

You're the one who took me in. I must do something in return.

I never expected that you could do practically everything.

I learned it during my childhood.

Your parents must have been strict.

This is...

I got these during my childhood, too.

San-lang, you draw really well.

Did someone in your family teach you?

No one taught me. I just draw for fun.

Then, how did you learn to draw even the Crown Prince of Xian Le?

You said yourself that I can do anything. Then, of course I can do this.

That makes sense.

Doesn't it?

Where's the god?

God!

It's true. I saw it with my own eyes.

Yesterday, a god here brought fortune to adversity, utilised his great power and repelled the ghosts and ghouls before him.

The god is here! God! God!

Great God of Wealth, bless me with victory in all my bets!

Great God of Love, bless me with a wife!

Great God of Fertility, bless me with a child!

My dear villagers, please don't ask for blessings of wealth here.

You have no idea what kind of consequences you will incite.

And we don't give blessings of marriage here.

And we certainly don't give blessings of fertility.

Look at how handsome this god is.

He must be blessed with boundless power.

I told him not to tell anyone...

They sure are burning a lot of incense. You've got a lot of worshippers now.

Usually, no one would come for months.

Isn't it a good thing that you have more worshippers now?

It is good... Only, no one noticed me before.

Now that there are so many people all of a sudden, I'm not that used to it.

Some of your luck probably rubbed off on me.

It was thanks to you again, San-lang. Thank you.

If my luck can be of use to you, you can take it all.

Hm? What did you say?

Nothing.

God!

God!

God!

I don't know where this person came from, but he looks like he's on the verge of death.

Help him, god.

Yes, god, please.

Daozhang!

Daozhang! Daozhang!