Who Paints the Eyebrows of the Devoted Lovers - Thoughts of Cold in a Hot Land, Poetry Still Wild After Wine

Ever since that youth had fought his way in and out of an army of thousands, slaying commanders and seizing banners as casually as strolling through a quiet courtyard, every Zhuyou ghost spirit who had heard of or witnessed his feats had submitted wholeheartedly. From then on, all of Zhuyou Ghostside took pride in their Ghost King having met so enlightened a lord during his wandering days of hardship.

The great battle had broken out just as they were saying their farewells. Xing Yan had charged in and out several times, and though he had scarcely felt it then, afterward he was rather drained. He and Qiong Rong therefore stayed a few more days in the Zhuyou Ghost Domain to recuperate. During those days, recalling Qiong Rong's reckless act of plunging alone behind enemy lines, Xing Yan spoke to her with a severity he rarely showed, scolding her until her eyes brimmed with tears. Afterward, he took her wandering through the Zhuyou Ghost Domain, seeking secluded sights and scenic wonders to while away their dull days of recovery.

Strolling so leisurely through the Ghost Sea Spirit Domain beneath the Dark Canopy, the two discovered several novel places. It turned out that even this eerily gloomy Ghostside had its share of tranquil scenery. Some two hundred li northeast of the Ninefold Nether Capital, for instance, stood a forest white as snow, filled with towering bones. Multicolored flowers bloomed upon branches of pale gray and white bone jade, faint soul-shadows hovering within them as though new ghosts were taking shape. Among the trees, shadowy ghost birds with trailing plumage hopped about, their cries like flutes-truly sounds unlike any in the mortal world.

Of all these sights in Ghostside, the most peaceful and serene, upon careful reckoning, had to be the River of