TGCF Extras

TGCF Extra - Chapter 249 - 252

I got lazy so I just decided to put it all in one chapter

[TGCF Extra - Chapter 249]
The Curious Incident of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince's Memory Having Wandered Away 4 - I meet you again.
The directions that the person in the ghost mask had given were not complicated: just head a few li[1] southwards, on a certain mountain in a certain lair[2]. Xie Lian was also confident that a regular person would not be able to match him, as he was now, in speed, and that he would arrive at the location faster than San-lang's underling.

Indeed, after an hour, he had fought and killed his way to the place, a frenzied battle the moment he entered the mountain, with the cries and howls of the spirits and beasts on the mountain.[3] Finally, he found that certain mountain with that certain lair.
Even though the monster appeared to of some influence, with three hundred to four hundred strong lackeys guarding the entrance for him, to Xie Lian, this was no different from just having three or four strong lackeys guarding the entrance. At first, he had been worried that the enemy would be extremely strong, and did not act rashly, but after patiently staking out the vicinity of the lair for a while, listening to the lackeys' idle chatter, he discovered that the monster had gone through more than enough these past few days.
"...... That's right, that's right, shan-zhu[4] only managed to escape from a stinky cultivator with difficulty. They[5] were frightened half to death, and came back with injuries. The moment they returned, they gave up their original lair in a great panic[6], and fled here."
"I see! I've been wondering why they'd suddenly summon all of us away - so, it's because they're
afraid that the cultivator will be back for revenge!"
"There's no reason for them to be afraid. That cultivator was bitten a few times by shan-zhu. Even if he wakes up now, he'd definitely be all in a muddle, unable to even find where the northern direction is."
"How can they not be afraid? Shan-zhu is a few centuries old and a famous monster,and yet, I heard that this cultivator had emerged suddenly out of nowhere, and with two strikes beaten them until their nose had gone crooked and their eyes crossed. If not for the fact that the cultivator seemed to have some injury on his body, giving shan-zhu an opening to land a few bites, I'm afraid shan-zhu would not have been able to return."
"Goddamn, how can a wild cultivator be so powerful!"
Having listened up to here, Xie Lian felt that it was more or less enough. He walked out casually, and greeted them warmly, "Hello."
The crowd of little monster lackeys were greatly startled, and leapt up, crying, "Who's there!" "Where did this pretty boy[7] come from?"
Xie Lian gave a small smile, and without sparing any time to explain, directly slaughtered his way into the lair. Just casually reaching out to grab, and he'd catch a few tens of them; and just casually flinging them aside, he'd flung them a few tens of zhang[8]. Even without magic, he still managed to give the crowd of lackeys such a fright, that their shrill cries filled the air without pause: "What's up
with this pretty boy!!! He looks so genteel! Why is he so rough and violent!!!"
And so, in this manner similar to plucking wild grass, Xie Lian stepped into the lair unimpeded. He had been prepared to do great battle with a great monster, but who knew that upon entering the lair, what he saw was a creature who had taken on human form, and who was rolling around on the ground, hugging his stomach and moaning and wailing.
At first, Xie Lian thought that it[9] was just putting up a pretence, but taking another look, it did not appear to be the case. Its stomach was greatly bloated, as though it had swallowed something incredibly fearsome, and so, Xie Lian crouched down and said, "What's wrong with you?"

Perhaps that monster was in so much pain that it was delirious, for upon seeing Xie Lian, it let out a great cry, "You came at the right time! You! I'm not eating anymore! I don't dare eat anymore! Never again will I dare! Let me return the thing I swallowed back to you! I can't digest it, I can't digest it ah!"
Xie Lian said, "Are you mistaking me for someone else? You haven't swallowed anything of mine, so what are you returning to me?"
But that monster continued to roll on the ground in great pain, and could hardly be bothered to reply. Feeling at a loss, Xie Lian proceeded with drawing a talisman first, deciding to capture it first before clarifying things with it. But curiously enough, the moment he slapped on that talisman, that monster unexpectedly turned into a large and roly-poly budaoweng[10], with a stomach that was much larger and rounder than other budaoweng, incredibly comical. Xie Lian found it both hilarious and starting. He examined the talisman he had drawn, wondering how it could have turned into this. Did he draw
a couple of strokes wrongly?
But this was not much of a huge problem either. This battle was simply easy to the extreme, and when Xie Lian emerged from the mountain depths, the day had brightened. He kept the budaoweng in his sleeve, and hurried back towards the city.
Now that he had done something for that San-lang, Xie Lian's felt happy, and had already begun to think about how he would present the captured monster to San-lang. He secretly warned himself, that if San-lang gave a surprised expression, he should still maintain a reserved front, and not reveal any of his delight. Having been out roaming and sprinting all night, Xie Lian's legs were sore, and so, he sat at a stall along the way, and got a free bowl of tea to drink.
As he drank, he suddenly heard someone from behind him, rush towards him and yell, "Xie Lian!"
Immediately, Xie Lian put down the tea bowl.
Who was this person, to be so greatly daring as to directly call out his name in the middle of the main street? Even amongst the royal household, few would be so disrespectful; didn't everyone address him as taizi dianxia with great deference and reverence?
Turning his head to look, that person was unexpectedly a commoner. He was carrying a large wooden box, and strode forward with great steps, yelling, "Wait! Wait up! You forgot Xie Lian! Bring him along too!"
So he wasn't calling out to him, but someone who had the same name as him! But Xie Lian found this even more curious. Even though he did not really care about taboos on avoiding names and such like, but to think that someone would dare to have the exact same name as him, that was
surprising!
But he immediately realised, the "Xie Lian" which that person spoke of was not a human.
A man was sitting near Xie Lian. The person who was carrying the box walked up and sat beside this man. He patted the wooden box, and said, "I've brought Xie Lian along. Remember to bring him to that person whom your family serves today! Don't dismiss the superstition. if you don't display the two of them together, there would be a lot of bad luck!"
"Yes, yes. Naturally, I know it......"