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Chapter Text

“You idiot!” Yin Yu yelled, needing to let it out even though Yizhen wouldn’t be able to hear him. “What were you thinking, jumping in like that?”

He had woken up to the exact moment Yizhen decided to do something recklessly stupid. Through the gaps, Yin Yu saw rock walls, like they were in a cave. There was something different about the energy in this place too, closer to that of the ghost realm than the other two that they were familiar with.

“You’re always like this, never stopping to think about the consequences, you–”

Yin Yu trailed off, letting out a shaky breath as his frustration tapered off. While Yizhen was brash in his actions, there was generally a reason behind them. And this time, he knew that it was for Yin Yu’s sake. No matter how impossible the odds or how insurmountable the obstacles, Yizhen refused to give up on bringing Yin Yu back. He would continue to throw himself into dangerous situation if only for the barest glimmer of a chance.

“I never asked you to do this for me…” Yin Yu said, but it sounded petty to his own ears. 

Even in a time like this, he couldn’t say the right things. At the end of the day, that was what Yin Yu was. Not the god he had aspired to be; just an average man, flawed and jealous of his betters. He was not good, not pure; he could never live up to the Yin Yu that existed in Yizhen’s mind.

But Yizhen, stubborn as he was, refused to see it. By all rights, he should hate Yin Yu more than anyone in all the realms. But he didn’t, and that made Yin Yu want to scream.

Yizhen had proved that he would do anything for Yin Yu, over and over again. Even forgive Yin Yu for things he hadn’t forgiven himself for.

“...It’s better for you to just forget me…”

Above Yizhen, the gates of hell slid shut with a resounding thud, enveloping him in darkness. Instantly, he felt his power diminish, like Ling Wen had warned might happen. Still, Yizhen may be trapped in an unknown place with a fraction of his normal power but he couldn’t make himself regret the choice to jump in. This was their best bet for helping Shixiong.

Yizhen looked around, taking in the place where he had ended up. He was far from alone in the dark space. Aside from the ghosts who had wandered in earlier, drawn by the pull of the gates, he could sense other more powerful ghosts as well. They were probably been lying in wait to devour new ghosts to increase their power, taking advantage of the easy pickings during the early moments of disorientation.

Yizhen frowned when he noticed a large ghost hassling a group of ghost fires. The ghost had the head of a lizard, tongue flicking out as if the ghost fires were insects. It was obviously playing with his food, and Yizhen didn’t like bullies.

Leaping in, Yizhen punched the lizard ghost solidly in its stomach. It retched, spitting out a few ghost fires it had swallowed.

“Why you–!” The lizard ghost turned to glare at him, incensed. 

Yizhen sent it flying with a fist colliding with force with its fleshy lower jaw. It hit the rocky wall and didn’t get up.

A prickle at the back of his neck made Yizhen spin to dodge the large fangs aimed at his neck from behind. A large ogre head loomed above him, undulating on the body of a snake. The gnarled mouth opened to cackle eerily. "What are you doing here, little god? I thought I could eat some ghosts to gain power, but here is an even better prize. What are a thousand low-level ghosts compared to a god?”

With Yizhen’s spiritual energy diminished by the natural properties of this realm, the ogre clearly thought of Yizhen as an easy target. But Yizhen had always relied mostly on his fists and little on spiritual tools. Beating up enemies was something familiar that Quan Yizhen knew.

Cracking his knuckles, he jumped into the fray.

Yizhen looked around. “Anyone else?” he questioned. 

The remaining ghosts immediately cowered away, quickly shaking their heads and then scattering. Yizhen shrugged, stretching out his limbs. He had only just gotten warmed up.

Leaving the ogre snake in a knotted pile behind him, Yizhen headed deeper into the cavern. Or tunnel may be a more accurate descriptor, the dark space running far into the distance. Yizhen walked, tracing a hand along the rough stone walls. It was cold to the touch, not unusual for a place that saw no sun for most of the year, if at all.

A short while later, he realized that he was being followed. He stopped, looking back in confusion. The ghost fires who he had rescued were tailing after him, casting a dim light over the cave walls. One detached from the group to float up to him.

“Gege, thank you!”

The ghost fire’s voice was clearer than was usual for a ghost of that stage. Oftentime, ghost fires couldn’t be heard at all, even to gods. There was something different about the hell realm, some quality that lent ghosts power. Someone of a more scholarly bent would have been fascinated by this phenomenon, but Quan Yizhen was not one of them.

Emboldened by the first one, the rest swarmed him.

“Gege, you’re really strong!”

“Are you really a god?”

“Gege, I want to learn how to fight!”

“Are you staying here now?”

“Do you know about cursed shackles?” Yizhen interrupted them to ask.

The ghost fires flickered in bemusement.

“Cursed shackles?” “What’s that?” “Sounds scary.” “Is it edible?” “Sorry, Gege, we don’t know.”

It had been a stretch anyway.

Yizhen ignored the ghost fires’ chatter and headed deeper into the caves. His tail of floating lights followed him resolutely.

Without anything else he was able to do, Yin Yu settled back to watch and observe.

He had been feeling stronger since they had arrived in this realm, which was the only bright side to this eternal darkness. This was the longest he had spent without a lapse in consciousness, and he didn’t feel like exhaustion would drag him down again at a moment’s notice. Perhaps it had to do with the nature of the cursed shackle, or perhaps it was Yin Yu was more than halfway to a ghost by this point. 

From his limited field of vision, Yin Yu watched Yizhen’s new fans with wry amusement. Yizhen had always been popular with children, maybe because he was like a overgrown child himself. As they went deeper into the caves, the ghost fires continued to orbit around Yizhen like green-ish blue fireflies. The golden child, surrounded by light even in this place of eternal darkness. 

"Gege, I’m tired, can I go in your lantern?" A few of the weaker ghost fires were flagging, their spark dimming as they struggled to keep up. 

"No. You'll disturb Shixiong," Yizhen returned flatly.

Yin Yu watched as the ghost fires’ light brightened as their interest was piqued. They flitted towards the lantern, curious.

"Gege's Shixiong! Gege's Shixiong is inside?" 

"We promise we won’t be a bother! Pleaaaassseeee?"

"No." 

But Yin Yu noticed that Yizhen slowed down his pace to let them catch up. 

The ghost fires didn’t let off their chatter, now rotating around the lantern.

“Hello, Shixiong-gege!”

“Is Shixiong-gege a ghost fire too?” 

“Why is Shixiong-gege staying in a lamp?”

While Yin Yu, as one of the older ones, had been tasked to take care of the younger disciples during the Sect days, he never really had the patience for it. He sighed. “...Noisy.”

Yizhen jerked to an abrupt stop. 

“Ah, sorry, Shixiong-gege!” “We’ll be quiet!”

Hmm? The way they had responded, it was as if…

Yin Yu’s entire vision was suddenly filled with Yizhen as the brunette lifted the lantern to peer inside as if he could see Yin Yu.

“Yizhen, what did I say about personal space…” Yin Yu scolded reflexively.

“...Shixiong…” Yizhen's voice shook. 

Yizhen was crying .

The realization had Yin Yu feeling off-kilter. It tied his tongue, unable to find the words to convey to Yizhen now that he could do so.

“Shixiong, you’re okay…”

Yin Yu could only guess what it must be like for Yizhen, receiving this first indication that Yin Yu was conscious at all after two year-long silence.

Yin Yu had never been anything special. Even as a god, he had been unremarkable. Average. It was the bitter truth that Yin Yu had no choice but to accept. But Yizhen had always seen him differently. He saw something in Yin Yu that Yin Yu didn’t see in himself. Something good, something precious.

“Shixiong, what should I do? 

Yizhen had always turned to him for advice, like a sunflower following the sun. In the past, it had both grounded him with purpose and threatened to bury Yin Yu under the pressure. This time, Yin Yu had no real answer for him.

But Yizhen surprised him again, the younger man shaking his head resolutely. “I can’t always rely on Shixiong. It’s my turn now.” Yizhen rubbed his eyes roughly, a determined expression returning to his face. “I’ll bring you back, Shixiong. I promise.”

Despite having long given up on miracles, Yin Yu believed him.

Caves led to more caves, rooms hewn into the rock. Some were empty, but others held dangerous-looking implements fallen into disrepair. Crumbling cliffs with spikes at the base, rocks with knives embedded in them, a charred kiln that was large enough to swallow a hundred men. 

“Gege, what are these?” the ghost fires chirped. 

“Don’t touch them,” Yin Yu warned quickly, and the ghost fires obediently flitted away.

Yizhen froze guiltily a hairsbreadth from poking at a fanged broadsword lodged into the wall. 

Yin Yu huffed, fondly exasperated.

There seemed to be no rhyme nor reason to the features of the caves. They would enter a room that was swelteringly hot, and the next one freezing cold. Some were enormous with domed ceilings, others with barely any ground to stand out and sheer drops to a dark abyss. Ghosts milled around, watching Yizhen and his ghost fire tail warily from the distance. More than one tried to eat him like the first group had, and encountered a result very much like they had. 

Yizhen grumbled as he left behind another collapsed form. These guys offered no challenge at all. It was getting boring .

“Woo! That’s our Laoda^[1]!” a chorus of voices cheered.

Yizhen turned back to stare at the ghosts, unimpressed. The ghost fires weren’t the only ones who were following Yizhen. His second ragtag group of tag-alongs included the ogre head snake from the entrance, along with some other ghosts that Yizhen had beaten up along the way. These ghosts had for some reason decided that he was their leader after he beat them up. It was strange, but not too different from the loyalty given to him by his mortal followers, even after beating them up. The only difference was that these guys were dead. The little ghost fires were initially wary, but had by now grown used to their presence. They were more of a minor annoyance that anything else.

However, after an indeterminate time just wandering around aimlessly, Yizhen was ready to try something different.

“Hey, you guys.”

They perked up.

“Laoda, just give us the word!”

“Any way we can help!”

Yizhen considered it. He remembered Ling Wen talking about how hell officials may be the only people who knew about cursed shackles. That was the reason why he was here.

“Bring me to the boss of this place.”

The ghosts cheered, immediately assuming that he wanted to take over the whole realm.

“Laoda!”

“As expected of our Laoda, he’ll be the lord of hell!”

“Laoda, we’ll support you all the way!” 

“We know you can do it!”

Yizhen crossed his arms impatiently. 

“On it, Laoda!”

The ghosts brought Yizhen to a city in the depths of the realm. Unlike the gates of hell which had just been an opening in the rock, the gates that stood at its entrance were ornately carved with depictions of dragons.

Youdu. This was what the faded sign over the city gate proclaimed. The Dark Capital. The capital city of hell, a direct counterpart to the Heavenly Capital. Two huge stone statues stood by the gates, modeled in the style of warring deities with fierce scowls. Sprawling city streets could be glimpsed through the half-open doors.

Yizhen almost reached the threshold before the gates slammed close. 

“WHO GOES THERE?”

One of the statues moved, loomed menacingly over them.

With frightened eeps, the ghost fires darted closer to Quan Yizhen, nestling into his hair. A few squeezed into the lamp.

As none of them had actual physical forms, it wasn’t exactly cramped, but it still felt strange. 

“Sorry, Shixiong-gege!”

Yin Yu huffed. “It’s okay.”

“Thank you, Shixiong-gege!”

“Shixiong-gege is kind!”

It was difficult to be mad at such innocent souls. Even if they seem to have taken ‘Shixiong’ to be his name. 

The ghost fires squeaked as the lantern shook. The sights outside the lantern moved at dizzying speeds as Yizhen fought. Yin Yu was again reminded of how skilled Yizhen was. Even now, down to a fraction of his usual strength, he moved at speeds that would have been dizzying had Yin Yu not also been highly-trained as well.

Yizhen pouted when the stone ghost went down faster than he would have liked. As large as the ghost was, he was still no match for Yizhen’s fists. He eyed the other statue hopefully, but it remained motionless.

Oh well.

Yizhen stepped past the gates into the city, looking around. The ghost fires wafted out of their hiding spots now that the danger had passed, flitting around curiously. His other tag-alongs posturised as they followed him, strutting as if they owned the place. 

The first impression was that it was large. With its elaborate palaces carved into the stone, it could probably house as many officials as the Heavenly Capital did. But not a single soul came out to greet him, when in the Heavenly Capital a commotion like the one he had caused would have drawn at least the gossipmongers. The streets lay cold and quiet as he walked through the city.

Despite that, he could feel eyes on him. They watched from the windows of the buildings, gauging his intent, perhaps intimidated by the easy way he had taken down their stone guardian.

It didn’t matter to Yizhen. 

He casted another look around, then made a beeline for the largest, tallest building. He didn’t know much about documents, but Jun Wu’s palace had always held the most important things, so if there was anything of interest, it had to be in the leader’s palace, right?

As they approached the steps leading upwards to the palace, a blade came out of nowhere, slicing towards Yizhen’s neck. Yizhen somersaulted out of the way, landing nimbly on his feet on the stone pavement to take stock of his enemy.

The wielder wore a soldier’s uniform, traditional chainmail plates layered over a simple tunic and trousers. An interesting feature was the bamboo-like structure that enveloped his neck and sides of his head, or perhaps it was in fact part of his body, rather than an accessory. The supple way the bamboo bent as the swordsman whipped his head around suggested so. The sword he wielded also bent like bamboo, looking deceptively soft. But the edge was sharp, as Yizhen experienced firsthand, as the tip twirled around to bite a shallow cut into his cheek.

Yizhen grinned. Things were finally getting interesting. The swordsman seemed like he would be a worthwhile opponent. 

However, too soon, the fight was interrupted.

“Stand down,” a feminine voice said. There was an airy, echoing quality to the voice, as if spoken through a hollow tube.

The swordsman disengaged from Yizhen and reappeared next to the newcomer’s side, crouched down on one knee. Yizhen pouted. It had been shaping up into a good fight.

“Princess Yanzhu!” The assembled ghosts called out in greeting, catching Yizhen’s interest. So this was their leader?

The ghost coming out of the main palace was of a different caliber. Not that she was physically stronger, necessarily, but she held an aura of command. Like the swordsman, her neck resembled a bamboo stalk, long and elegant. Her face was pale against the green of the bamboo, and her hair was coiled into twin buns around what appeared to be bamboo shoots. She wore the heavy silken robes of a noblewoman, the long hem rustling along the stone steps in front of the palace.

"You want to fight too?" Yizhen called out. 

The swordsman at her side tensed, drawing out his sword an inch from the scabbard. Yizhen perked up in anticipation, eager to resume their fight. But to Yizhen’s disappointment, the sword was resheathed at a wave of the woman's hand. 

She smiled, enigmatic. 

"Welcome to Youdu, Qiying-dianxia."