Chapter Text
Shang Bu Huan sat in a restaurant, drinking wine as he waited for Lie Mo Xian to arrive. It had been a few years since he'd last seen him, and they were overdue for a reunion. Lie had been the one to hunt Shang down, sending a letter by pigeon complaining that he was sick of being cooped up on sacred ground with nothing to do, so they'd arranged to meet up in a town in the province where Shang had been traveling most recently.
As the hour of their appointment drew near, Shang started to worry that his friend would get lost. He peered out at the street below through the open window next to his table on the second floor, scanning the crowd for Lie Mo Xian’s human form.
“Excuse me, is this seat empty?” a low but feminine voice asked.
Shang turned his head, ready to reject the person who was trying to flirt with him, only to find a woman with Lie Mo Xian's fiery hair and blue eyes standing next to him.
“Ling Ya!” he choked out.
“Ugh, I told you to call me Xiao Lie, Bu Huan-gege!” The female Lie Mo Xian plopped herself down across from Shang, placing her chin in her hands with elbows on the table.
“Right, sorry. More importantly, why are you in this form, Ling—Xiao Lie?”
“‘Cause it's fun! And I wanted to surprise you since it's been a while.”
“You surprised me, all right,” Shang muttered. He took a swig of his alcohol.
“Well, what do you think? How's my figure?” Lie Mo Xian leaned forward. The motion emphasized the curves of her ample bosom, which threatened to spill out of the v-shaped neckline of two layers of clothing—a black sleeveless vest over a red shirt.
“I'm not ogling the body of the person who raised me,” Shang said through gritted teeth.
“Sorry, I was just kidding.” Sitting back, Lie Mo Xian played with one of the locks framing her face. Instead of the short cut she sported in her masculine form, she had long hair that was swept up into a high ponytail and secured by a phoenix-shaped headpiece. Her nails were painted alternating red and black.
“Are you going to go around like this a lot in the future? I thought you preferred a man's form.”
“Eh, what's gender to a magical pipa? Do I have to play by the rules of humans just because I look like one?”
Lie had a point. Suddenly, a distant memory of a conversation about being a man and not a man returned to Shang. “Sorry, I didn't mean to lecture you or tell you how to live your life. Even if you were a regular human, you should be able to do what makes you happy.”
Lie grinned. “That's my Bu Huan, always open-minded and compassionate. You were definitely raised right.”
“You're the one who raised me, mind you.”
“Exactly, and don't you forget it!”
Shang called for the server to bring all the local specialties on the menu. Between the time spent at Duan Jian Shrine and the many years sequestered in the Void Junction, Lie Mo Xian hadn't had the chance to get out much and try the delicious foods of the human realm. It was the least Shang could do to treat his former guardian to a sumptuous meal.
After lunch, they wandered the streets of the town's market sector. Shang had visited countless such markets in his many years of traveling, but just when he thought he'd seen it all, he would come across something novel.
Although Lie Mo Xian was the one who raised Shang, Shang felt more like the parent now watching Lie run around the market looking at whatever caught her eye.
Shang decided to buy some food in the meantime. He found a shaobing vendor among the food stalls and had just finished paying for two servings of the flatbread when he heard Lie call out to him.
“Bu Huan-gege, come look!”
Shooting the vendor a quick thanks, Shang jogged over to where Lie was standing in front of a display rack at a stall selling paintings.
“What is it?”
“Look at this painting, Bu Huan-gege! It's you!”
Shang looked, expecting to see something like one of the wanted posters of him that had been circulated by the Xuan Gui Zong years ago. Instead, he found a full-body figure painting of an adolescent boy with worn robes and a jade pendant on a string around his neck, brandishing his sword with a stubborn set to his mouth and a hint of sadness in his fierce gaze. It was unmistakably Shang’s younger self, back when he had gone by the name Ren Shao You. The painting was titled “The Young Wandering Swordman” and inscribed with a poem:
Swift as a leaping rabbit,
The young swordsman joins battle—
His heart heavy with secrets,
Yet brimming with righteousness.
There was no signature.
“Hey, manager!” Shang called.
The man minding the stall came forth. “How may I help you, sir?”
“Do you know who painted this?” He gestured at the painting.
“Ah, that one. A very nice figure painting, if I do say so myself. The realism of the boy’s features breaks with tradition, yet the dynamism and expressiveness have an unmistakable appeal. Yes, I know the artist, but they would like to remain anonymous. I believe they came here from Xi You, shortly after the travel routes across the former Wasteland of Spirits opened up. That's all I can tell you, sorry.”
“That's fine, thank you.” He needed no further confirmation of the artist’s identity.
“Do you wish to buy the painting, sir?”
“Uh…” It felt strange to leave the painting for someone else to take, but considering he was constantly on the move without a permanent home to hang things up, Shang wasn't sure he had much use for paintings in general, let alone one of himself.
“I'll take it!” Lie piped up from beside him.
“I'll pack it up for you, then, miss.” The shop manager began taking the silk scroll down from its place on the display rack so he could roll it up and place it in a box for storage and transport.
In response to Shang’s questioning look, Lie said, “I'll give it to Lang. He’s gonna love it!”
It would be Lang Wu Yao’s first time seeing what his son looked like when he was young. He and the others could describe it to Tian Ming, too.
Shang handed over the money without complaint. Thankfully he still had enough in his purse after paying for their meal.
Once they had walked some distance from the shop, Lie demanded an explanation for the painting's existence.
Shang knew he was long overdue for this conversation. He rubbed his nose awkwardly. “Do you remember the time the diary was blank for over two weeks?”
“Like hell I do. It was a lot more recent for me than for you. Are ya finally going to explain yourself?”
“Yeah, though it's a bit of a long story…”
Once they found a place to sit and eat, Shang began recounting the tale between bites of shaobing.
When Shang finished filling Lie in, she crossed her arms. “You're telling me your first crush was on the Eightfold Web of Mirages, Hua Wu Zong?”
Shang had not described it as a crush, but he didn't dispute the label. “I was young and inexperienced back then.”
“Between him and that pipe bastard, I gotta say, you have awful taste, Bu Huan-gege. That's two thieves.”
“Next time we pass a temple to the Rabbit God, I'll ask him to send me a law-abiding, gods-fearing type, then,” Shang retorted. “Besides, it's not like I haven't spent plenty of time on the wrong side of the law myself. The Sword-Plundering Nemesis became just as infamous as the Eightfold Web of Mirages in Xi You. You would know—you were there for part of that time.”
“That's different! You were doing it for the greater good! Those other two thieves were doing it for the love of the game.”
“Whatever. I didn't meet up with you so you could judge my taste.”
“Yeah, yeah, I'll hop off your neck. So are you gonna try looking for Hua Wu Zong? He must live nearby.”
“It sounds like he wants to be left alone, so probably not.” Frankly, he wasn't sure he could face him. Even with this many years between himself and that time, it was still hard not to cringe at his younger self’s behavior.
“Do you think he kept the gift you gave him? I feel like it was wasted on him. Knowing him, he prolly thought it was too cheap and threw it away.”
“Eh, who knows? People can surprise you, you know. The fact that he's retired from the Order of the Divine Swarm and no longer going around doing bad deeds is proof enough of that.”
“True, true.” Lie Mo Xian darted off again to look at more stuff, leaving Shang slightly envious of her youthful vitality that would never wane with time. His joints weren't what they used to be. Maybe he needed to start stretching more regularly using the techniques Hua Wu Zong had taught him all those years ago.
After escaping the demon realm into Dong Li with Ba Wang Yu, Hua Wu Zong had gathered together some items from his personal belongings to pawn them off for money that would go toward covering their living expenses. While he was sorting through the items, Ba Wang Yu watched, curious as to what exactly he carried on himself at all times. As she learned, he had all kinds of weapons, tools, and accessories hidden in his robes. That wasn't surprising for someone of his background and personality. What did surprise her was the carved rabbit he produced from one of his many pockets. Unlike everything else in his collection, the figurine wasn't made of precious materials, only wood without even a layer of lacquer coating to protect it. The craftsmanship was crude—it looked like it had been carved by an amateur.
When she asked about it, Hua Wu Zong replied, “Oh, that? I won't be pawning that one. It's not worth much money, and it was a gift from my first and only student.”
“You had a student?” It was hard to imagine Hua Wu Zong having the patience to teach someone.
“Yes. I'll tell you about it some other time.”
“Please do.” Her mouth quirked into a smirk. “To think you've kept this gift this long…you really are a soft-hearted person, aren't you, Hua Wu Zong?”
“Shut up.” Despite this, he didn't protest when she took his hand and pressed a kiss into his palm.
Later, once they had settled into the small cottage where they made their new home, he told her about the boy who had seen through him and his fear that he'd driven away the only person who would ever accept him for who he was.
“Lucky for you, your fears were wrong. Maybe you should go make offerings to the Rabbit God after all,” Ba Wang Yu teased.
Hua Wu Zong raised a brow. “Even though you're not a man, and I'm not fully a man?”
“Well, I'm not fully a woman either.”
She didn't have to explain because he understood, better than anyone else.
“Hmm. I suppose it couldn't hurt.”
