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“Gege, we have a problem.”
“We just solved a problem, how can we have another?” Really, Xie Lian was sick of being the Heavenly Emperor!
“Well, that is the nature of the job,” Hua Cheng said lightly. “There are millions of problems in the world and only one Heavenly Emperor after all.”
“Well, what is it then?” He didn’t mean to get short with his friend, but it came out rude anyway. Hua Cheng didn’t seem to care.
He replied, “Well, the god of sex has made a scene with the god of agriculture again, that accountant that was supposed to ascend today has disappeared, and Lian Qianqiu has challenged your cousin to another duel. They’re making a mess of the underworld.”
Xie Lian pinched the bridge of his nose. Hua Cheng was still standing there, looking at him attentively, which meant he wasn’t done. Xie Lian prompted, “And…?”
“Well, the sun god’s shidi is at it again.”
“Ah, Yizhen.” It was an acknowledgement and groan all wrapped in one. “I don’t have time to deal with him right now.” Xie Lian didn’t like to complain, but surely this is too much work for one immortal!
Hua Cheng shifted from foot to foot where he stood before Xie Lian’s throne. “Again, I humbly bring a proposal of marriage—”
“San Lang, San Lang!” Xie Lian waved his hands, “I know you think it’s your duty to help me as the Lord of the Dead, but I already impose on you too much! Send Lian Qianqiu after that accountant. Two birds! I’ll…talk to Pei Ming. He was the one who started it, right?”
“Always,” Hua Cheng’s smile seemed a little forced, but Xie Lian figured it was the mention of Pei Ming. “Would you like me to deal with the Quan Yizhen?”
“Send Yin Yu after him. He’s the only one Quan Yizhen listens to.”
“Hmm. As you wish.”
Hua Cheng bowed and left the hall swiftly, red and black robes trailing after him. Xie Lian sighed after him. He didn’t have a sterling reputation among the other gods, but Hua Cheng had been so kind to Xie Lian. It made him want to agree every time he proposed they marry and share Xie Lian’s work load. With another sigh, Xie Lian stood, rolled his shoulders, and went in search of the god of sex.
Quan Yizhen was sitting in the sky glaring. All humans wanted was nice weather, consistent seasons, and good harvests! He was sick of listening to the same prayers over and over and over! So he was ignoring them again. He’d glare his light down on the earth wherever he damn well pleased! And right now what pleased him was focusing the full force of his glare at one specific farm on the east side of the earth. That particular farmer had been consistent about addressing his prayers to Yin Yu, so he was the only one on earth who deserved sunlight.
“Xiao Shidi.”
Quan Yizhen whipped around. “Shixiong!” Yin Yu looked just as radiant as always, dark hair warm from the glow just beneath his skin. He always dressed the same as his underlings, blue robes for the sky, gold belt for the sun, but in his hair was a spectacular gold crown, showing that he had ultimate power over celestial bodies. Quan Yizhen’s hands twitched. He used to be able to embrace his shixiong whenever he wanted to, but that was before Yin Yu ascended. It had been hard for Quan Yizhen, but eventually he’d learned that it was inappropriate for a god’s underlings to be so sticky. It didn’t make sense, shouldn’t the underlings follow their god? Always be with them? Quan Yizhen wanted to always be with Yin Yu.
“You’re scorching his fields again. Why do you hate farmer Zhao so much?”
“I don’t hate him.”
“Then stop burning his crops!”
“No one else needs light right now,” Quan Yizhen said petulantly. He refocused his efforts on farmer Zhao’s land.
Yin Yu sighed, the dark circles under his eyes made Quan Yizhen want to run his thumb over the skin. “You’re using too much energy. Yizhen, you know to follow orders, so why don’t you? I gave you this job to save time, not create more work.”
Quan Yizhen stopped immediately. “You’re tired?”
“Worry less about me and more about all the people waiting for dawn. You’ve spent too long here, Yizhen. Do I have to get Jian Yu to help again? Can’t you listen to your Shixiong?”
“No! Yes! Don’t bring Jian Yu!” Quan Yizhen didn’t like Jian Yu. He was in charge of the stars, and he lorded it over Quan Yizhen, like having a bunch of little lights was better than having one big one. Hmph. “I’ll listen.” He calmed himself down and pulled his rays away from Farmer Zhao’s burnt land.
“Good…that’s—” Yin Yu closed his eyes, looking very pained for a moment. “Then I’ll leave you to it.”
“Wait!” Quan Yizhen didn’t want his Shixiong to go so soon! They so rarely spent time together now, and maybe Quan Yizhen had acted up to get Yin Yu’s attention. Maybe Quan Yizhen was sick of tending the daylight by himself. It was a fortunate thing that he reached out to grab Yin Yu by the wrist because Yin Yu was suddenly falling. It wasn’t the controlled descent gods’ used to visit mortals on earth, but a full free fall that threatened to pull Quan Yizhen down with him. Quan Yizhen hauled Yin Yu into his arms, thankful he was strong enough to keep them suspended. “Shixiong? Shixiong?”
Yin Yu wasn’t responding. His usual glow had vanished, leaving his skin paper-thin, almost translucent. Quan Yizhen shook him. “Shixiong?!”
“This has never happened before,” Xie Lian muttered. He was pacing outside of Yin Yu’s bedroom door. Quan Yizhen was sitting next to the door, chewing on the end of his ponytail. Xie Lian had never seen Yin Yu look so dull. The sun god and his servants usually glowed, full of energy and light; to see Yin Yu looking just like the rest of the gods while Quan Yizhen and Jian Yu still glowed…To see Yin Yu passed out rather than nervously shuffling from palace to palace making nice with everyone else or reading through paperwork no one else cared to do…it made Xie Lian very upset. Xie Lian was the god of life and rebirth, so he and the sun god naturally had a close relationship. Jian Yu and Xie Lian were pacing side-by-side.
“Do we even know what happened?” Jian Yu said, then to Quan Yizhen. “You’re sure he was fine?”
“He looked fine, and then he didn’t, and then he fell,” Quan Yizhen said with a shrug.
“God, I don’t know why I bother with you,” Jian Yu mumbled. “You’re the least observant god in heaven, of course this happened under your watch.”
“Jian Yu,” Xie Lian chided. Quan Yizhen chewed on his hair a little faster.
“What? If it had been anyone else, they’d be able to tell us more than that! Surely he missed something! Gods don’t just fall out of the heavens over nothing!”
Hua Cheng stepped out of the room just then, expression dower.
“Well?” Jian Yu demanded.
“How is he?”
Quan Yizhen scrambled to stand. “Is Shixiong awake?”
“He’s awake, but—”
Quan Yizhen shoved Hua Cheng out of the way and busted through Yin Yu’s bedroom door.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian steadied Hua Cheng, “He’s alright?”
“Ah, well—”
There was a sudden crash from inside Yin Yu’s room and someone was shouting.
“Get out! Get the hell out! This is all your fault! I never want to see you again!” Another crash. With an exasperated look, Jian Yu went into the room.
“Shixiong?”
“What don’t you understand? I hate you! Get out!”
A few moments later, Jian Yu emerged with Quan Yizhen struggling to get back into the room. “He said to leave him alone!”
“Shixiong, why are you so mad? What’s wrong?!”
Hua Cheng shut the door and put himself firmly between it and Quan Yizhen. “Yin Yu is very obviously not interested in speaking to you right now. Stay out of his room.”
“Why? Why can’t I talk to him?”
“He doesn’t want to see you!” Jian Yu shook him a little. “How dumb are you?!”
“Were you able to figure out what’s wrong with him?” Xie Lian asked.
“Yes. He’s burnt himself out.”
“…” The other three all stared at Hua Cheng in confusion.
“Is that…possible?”
“It must be because that’s what’s happened. Someone has usurped him,” he looked at Jian Yu and Quan Yizhen, “and he’s burnt himself out trying to pick up the slack.”
Xie Lian looked Jian Yu and Quan Yizhen over as well. This was truly unheard of. Gods were supposed to last millennia. Infrequently, they’d lose enough followers to fade into non-existence, but Yin Yu was the sun; he was indispensable!
“You!” Jian Yu shook Quan Yizhen again, hard enough to make Quan Yizhen’s hair fly about them. “You did this! No wonder he’s so angry with you!”
“Will Shixiong get better?” Quan Yizhen didn’t seem to care that Jian Yu was trying to reprimand him.
“I don’t think so. There’s nothing left in him. He’s burnt out.”
“Then…is he still a god?” Xie Lian asked. Jian Yu gaped at him and Quan Yizhen’s brows knit. They all looked at Hua Cheng.
“If he is, he’s a dead god. He’s empty, much like my people.”
“A dead god…” Xie Lian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I can take him to my kingdom, if you’d like. I don’t think the other gods will take kindly to him being up here.”
“No!” Quan Yizhen finally started struggling in Jian Yu’s arms.
“Will you quit it?!” Jian Yu shook him again.
Xie Lian thought for a moment. Hua Cheng was right. Gods were just humans, really, with a little more power. And people liked those like them; that was why there was war and altruism. As it was, the gods barely tolerated Hua Cheng. He was the god of death and the dead, and he existed on the border between godhood and non-existence; it made the other gods nervous. If Yin Yu was now the same…and knowing how Yin Yu often took things to heart…Xie Lian nodded. “Yes, I think that might be best for now.”
“I’ll go make arrangements. I’ll need a few days to get He Xuan to clean up his messes.”
“Take your time. I’m sure Jian Yu and I can look after him until then.”
“What about me? I can stay with him!” Quan Yizhen said.
“Dense! So dense! I’m sorry your highness, I’ll take him back to his room.” Jian Yu pulled Quan Yizhen along with him and disappeared down the hall.
“This is truly unheard of,” Xie Lian said again. He looked up at Hua Cheng. “Are gods really fragile enough to burn out of existence like that?”
“It appears so. I’ll take my leave, Gege.” He bowed, then headed out.
There was no answer when Xie Lian knocked on Yin Yu’s door. He peeked inside, and found Yin Yu in bed, passed out, so he went in and quietly knelt next to the frame. The more he thought about it, the more Yin Yu’s situation made sense. Being the sun god was hard. There were so many things to coordinate between seasons and rain and wind and crops and stars. Xie Lian had almost been thankful when Yin Yu asked to delegate the stars to Jian Yu; just looking at Yin Yu had made Xie Lian exhausted. And it had helped for a few decades. But Yin Yu had this problem. If asked, he’d eagerly take on any duty. Xie Lian had been grateful to have such a hard-working, collaborative god, but after the fifth or sixth “It’s no problem,” the other gods took his help for granted. The wind and river siblings in particular tended to pass work on to Yin Yu. So then Yin Yu had delegated the sun itself to Quan Yizhen, taking on an administrative role. Xie Lian shook his head. Hadn’t he been the one to approve Yin Yu’s request to give some of his work to Yizhen? Ah, he should have noticed sooner. Of course the mortal world would begin to worship Quan Yizhen! He was the one moving the sun each day!
He gently patted Yin Yu’s face and attempted to channel some energy into his meridians. It was like trying to climb a tree to catch a fish, except there wasn’t even a fish to catch! The power flowed into Yin Yu’s body and dissipated almost immediately. It was pointless and frustrating, and silently Xie Lian mourned the loss. He went to sit at the low table in the middle of the room, but paused at the bedside table where Yin Yu’s golden crown sat. Yin Yu…probably wouldn’t want to see it anymore. Xie Lian tucked it into his sleeve, then sat at the low table. He rested his elbows on the surface, buried his face in his hands, and fell asleep as he tried to think of a third path.
He woke up when the door opened. He only needed to glance towards the door to know it was Quan Yizhen. He never bothered dimming his glow the way Yin Yu and Jian Yu did in heaven. It was like Quan Yizhen had so much energy he just didn’t know what to do with it other than let it seep out of his skin. Surely that would make Yin Yu even angrier when he woke up.
“Shixiong!” Quan Yizhen whisipered loudly.
Xie Lian sighed. “Quan Yizhen, you should not be here. Go back to your rooms.
“Your Highness? But Shixiong…”
“He’s still resting.”
“I don’t want him to go to the underworld.”
“It’s only until we figure out what to do next.”
“If he goes to the underworld he won’t come back.”
“He might. San Lang visits all the time. He Xuan too, when he feels like it.”
“Shixiong won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
Quan Yizhen shrugged. Maybe Xie Lian should give Quan Yizhen more credit. He was simple, sure, but he seemed to understand Yin Yu’s nature even if he didn’t understand the thoughts behind that nature.
“He said he hated me. What do you think he meant?”
Then again, perhaps Quan Yizhen was truly dense. Xie Lian sighed again. “Quan Yizhen, Yin Yu has just lost his very purpose. It’s natural to want to lash out in the face of such loss.”
“But why did he say that?”
Xie Lian stood and handed Quan Yizhen the sun god’s crown. “Because you are the sun god now. He is upset; things will be different now, won’t they? He doesn’t want that and there’s nothing he can do to stop it.”
Quan Yizhen looked at the crown in his hand, and with furrowed brows, said, “I’m not the sun god. Shixiong is. I’m his shidi. I work for him. He’s the sun god.”
“Except no mortal recognizes him as such. Go down to earth, Yizhen. Go to any Sun temple and ask who they send prayers to.”
“Well, I get all the prayers,” Quan Yizhen said. “But Shixiong is the one who sorts through them and tells me which ones to answer.”
Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! The order! The order was wrong! The prayers should go to the administrator first! Otherwise wasn’t Yin Yu just a secretary? Oh, he’d hate that!
“Shouldn’t that tell you who the god is? Why would you receive the prayers if Yin Yu was the sun god?”
“…I don’t want to be the sun god.”
“I’m not sure any of us get a choice.” Because Xie Lian would not have picked Quan Yizhen for the job either! “Rest easy. We will think up a plan. I’m sure we can sort this all out and find a way to make everyone happy.”
Quan Yizhen didn’t acknowledge Xie Lian’s reassurance; instead, he went to Yin Yu’s bedside and knelt. He placed the crown back on Yin Yu’s bedside table, then rested his chin on the wooden bed and poked Yin Yu’s cold hand. Shouldn’t he go to hold that hand? It was so painfully obvious that Quan Yizhen was in love with his shixiong, but he never showed it in the conventional ways. When most men would say sweet words, Quan Yizhen insisted he and Yin Yu spar. When most men would give favors or tokens, Quan Yizhen demand them, making up any excuse to wheedle gifts out of Yin Yu’s ever-giving hands.
He poked Yin Yu’s hand again, and it struck Xie Lian as a little tragic. “I hope he wakes up soon.” Quan Yizhen yawned and closed his eyes. At least he fell asleep at his beloved’s bedside like he was supposed to! Xie Lian let him sleep a little longer, then gathered him up and took him back to his own rooms.
When Yin Yu woke up, he didn’t have the luxury of not remembering what had happened. His body was too cold to forget, his limbs too weak. He wanted to go right back to sleep. He wished he hadn’t woken up.
All that effort wasted, huh? All that time and energy just to fail? Ha. He should have known better. He wanted so badly to be mad at Quan Yizhen. He was mad at Quan YIzhen. He was so mad. But he couldn’t be satisfied with it because at the end of the day, hadn’t he been the one behind his own downfall? He was the one who’d let Quan Yizhen roll the sun through the sky, after all! He grit his teeth to hold in a sob.
He was in his rooms, staring up at the soft gold ceiling. A golden sky! Ha! Mocking him! Just like all the other gods were surely doing now! Of all the ways for Yin Yu to stand out, it just had to be for failure, huh?
“You’re awake,” Xie Lian said from over by Yin Yu’s table. There were plates of food before him, definitely Jian Yu’s doing. “You’ve been out for a few days. How do you feel?”
Yin Yu couldn’t choke back this next sob.
“Ah—sorry, that was probably the wrong question to ask.”
Yin Yu wanted to scream at him! He wanted to yell and throw a fit! He was cold! He felt dull! He felt pitch black inside!
“Are you hungry?”
“…No.”
“Hua Cheng has prepared a place for you in the underworld, until we get the rest of this figured out.”
What was there to figure out? Yin Yu knew there wasn’t any way to fix this; he was done. He didn’t have anything left to give. He didn’t want to have anything left to give. The underworld sounded…nice. He couldn’t stay in heaven anyway! He chuckled wetly to himself. Why was Xie Lian still there?
“We will find a way to fix this,” Xie Lian reassured. Yin Yu nodded. If it made the Heavenly Emperor feel better, he’d go along with it, at least until he got to the underworld. “Do you…Do you want to say good bye to Jian Yu or Quan—”
Yin Yu glanced at the side table where Quan Yizhen had left the sun god’s crown. His jaw clenched. “I’d like to leave as soon as possible.”
Xie Lian lowered his head. “Of course. I’ll let San Lang know you’re ready for him then.”
Quan Yizhen didn’t cry when he went into the room and found it empty. He set the food Jian Yu had prepared on the table next to the other untouched dishes, took the sun god’s crown from the table, climbed into his Shixiong’s cold bed, and slept.
Hua Cheng was back again, much earlier than Xie Lian had expected. He brought news of Xie Lian’s cousin and a new sword for Xie Lian’s collection. He made small talk, but Xie Lian could tell there was something bothering him.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian said laying his hand over Hua Cheng’s. “What troubles you?”
Hua Cheng stared at their hands. He chuckled quietly, then replied, “Gege sees right through me. It’s the sun.”
“Quan Yizhen?”
“Hm. Have you spoken to him recently? Heard from him?”
“No. What’s wrong?” Xie Lian might have been the Heavenly Emperor, but he didn’t have time to check on every god every day! He had other duties to keep up with! Like breathing new life into cleansed souls and deciding the fate of every human on earth! His confusion must have shown because Hua Cheng backtracked right away.
“It’s not that I expected you to know, just that Quan Yizhen is in charge of a lot now. And the mortals are beginning to worry.”
“The mortals? Why are they worried?”
“You’ll understand better if you listen to a few prayers.”
Xie Lian opened up the general prayer stream.
“We haven’t had sunlight in so long. We can’t even tell how long because the sun no longer marks the days! Please! Lord Qi Ying, we need light!”
“Our crops are burning! It’s still early in summer! Lord Qi Ying, what have we done to earn your wrath?!”
“Our paddies are dry!”
“Our fields are flooded!”
“Where is the sun?”
“Why is it so hot?”
“Does Lord Qi Ying hate us?!”
Xie Lian tuned out of the general prayer stream. “They’re all…”
“I think Quan Yizhen has been dumping the prayers he doesn’t like in the general stream.”
“He can’t do that.” As soon as he’d said it, he realized how stupid it was. Quan Yizhen didn’t care much for can and can’t, only will and will not. He sighed. “I’ll talk to him. Perhaps he’s just overwhelmed.”
“You’re overwhelmed. Let me do this favor for you?”
Ah, Hua Cheng was too kind. Xie Lian wanted to pat his head and stroke his hair. Ah! Ah haha! He couldn’t do that!
“Gege, are you alright? You’ve gone red.” He had that stupid attractive smile on, and Xie Lian slapped a face over his own face.
“Fine, fine! I’m just so embarrassed to not have noticed! Haha! And I am humbled to accept your help, if you don’t mind the trouble?” Shamefully, he just wanted to keep Hua Cheng in heaven for a little longer…
“Wonderful. I’ll head back to the underworld then.” He got up and brushed off his robes, as if his clothes ever looked anything but perfect.
“Ah…”
“I’ll see you soon, Gege.” He took Xie Lian’s hand in his, then placed a soft kiss on the back of it. The coolness of his lips left Xie Lian’s stomach in knots and his flushed face even redder.
“Soon! Soon soon soon!” Xie Lian flapped the hand about and laughed nervously as Hua Cheng left the pavilion. He tripped over his own boot on the last step, but Xie Lian pretended not to notice.
Xie Lian made sure to tune into the general prayer stream for a few hours over the next few days. Would everything go back to normal? Why did Hua Cheng have to go back to the underworld? Ah, he hadn’t heard a thing!
Until one night, a small voice echoed in his head.
“Thank you for bringing the sun out at night.”
Then another.
“It’s beautiful! There is no heat, but it gives me hope for tomorrow.”
“This new sun brought the tides to our parched lands! Thank you!”
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I’ll write a poem to immortalize this new sun!”
“It’s not a sun, but it’s not a star either…What should we call it?”
“The moon,” Xie Lian answered directly. There were other realities that had these kinds of satellites, and they were called moons. He made sure to plant the word into each devotee’s mind like a farmer planting rice. The poets he visited loved the word, turned it into different characters, immediately began romanticizing it and giving it multitudes of associations. Scholars began hypothesizing about the meaning of its sudden appearance. Was it always in the sky? Would it battle the sun for its place? What was it made of? Xie Lian had similar questions. The spirits of the wayward dead sent up praises and gratitude. Many had been in overexposed areas, too afraid of burning up in the sun to make their journey west to the underworld. The moon now served as their silent guide. The common folk simply watched from their homes as the moon rose, shone, then set.
Xie Lian was on his way to the underworld, on his way to ask Hua Cheng what on earth he had done to create a celestial body, when Quan Yizhen accosted him.
“Your Highness! Did you see?! Did you see Shixiong last night!”
“Huh-wha—?”
“Shixiong!” Quan Yizhen was ecstatic! Xie Lian had never seen him this happy before! “He was in the sky last night! I recognized him right away! Didn’t you?”
“Yin Yu? Last night?” Oh, so that’s what Hua Cheng had done. “Yin Yu is the moon?”
Quan Yizhen nodded. His hair, flew about them even though he’d pinned it up in the sun god’s crown. “He’s the moon! He’s back!”
“Ah, Quan YIzhen, he can’t be back. I will have to talk to Hua Cheng, but I believe he still belongs to the underworld.”
Quan Yizhen’s expression fell a bit, but he steeled himself right after. “It doesn’t matter. He’s up there with me.” His handsome, determined face told Xie Lian all he needed to know.
“Hmm,” was all he could say without laughing. Hua Cheng really was too smart for his own good.
All prayers related to the sun disappeared within the span of a few weeks. Quan Yizhen followed the prescribed path from one end of the sky to the other religiously, marking each day in exact time; Yin Yu came out at night to follow that path as well, giving less heat and light than Quan Yizhen, but no less comfort.
“I’ll catch him,” was all Quan Yizhen had to say when questioned about his new routine. Jian Yu looked like he wanted to scream at that.
“What about your prayers?! Huh?”
“His Highness is taking care of them.”
Hua Cheng had scolded Xie Lian when he found out, but Quan Yizhen was truly useless at sorting through them! He’d get caught up in the first one or two and ignore the rest, even if the first one or two were unimportant. It was really for the best that Xie Lian take over prayers for the sun.
“You can’t make His Highness clean up after you like that! What if—” He glanced nervously at Xie Lian and clenched his jaw. It didn’t matter. Xie Lian already knew what he was going to say. What if what happened to Yin Yu happened to Xie Lian? It worried Xie Lian too, but he didn’t feel any worse for taking on those prayers.
“Yin Yu is fading again!” Quan Yizhen said as he barged into Xie Lian’s office.
“What?!” Xie Lian dropped his brush. “How?”
“I don’t know!” Xie Lian had never seen Quan Yizhen so upset! Well, no, he had, but not since the first time Yin Yu had faded. “There was less moon last night! Like part of it had been chipped off!”
Sure enough, when Xie Lian looked into the sky that night, the moon looked lopsided. He heard Quan Yizhen yell from somewhere in the Heavenly City, “It’s worse tonight!”
Xie Lian summoned Hua Cheng two days later, when the moon was only three-fourths of its full self. “Why is the moon disappearing? The people are getting restless, as is Quan Yizhen.”
“Yin Yu is fragile and cannot produce energy the same way Quan Yizhen can. In fact, Yin Yu’s glow is only a reflection of Quan Yizhen’s. He can only keep it up for so long”
“But is he alright?”
“He’s fine, just tired. I warned him about doing too much right away, but he insisted.”
“Ah, thank goodness. Though, you never told me how you got him into the sky.”
“It’s not that interesting,” Hua Cheng dismissed. “I just threw him up there, and there he stayed. I think this suits him better anyway.”
“Hm.”
“Shixiong is gone!” Quan Yizhen lamented. The moon had not appeared last night, and like Quan Yizhen, the mortals were concerned. Xie Lian had done his best to comfort them with small bursts of peace, but Quan Yizhen was another case.
“Perhaps he realized that you’ve pushed all your responsibilities off on His Highness to chase him across the sky each day,” Jian Yu spat at him.
“No!” but Quan Yizhen looked to Xie Lian for reassurance.
And Xie Lian would have reassured him had Hua Cheng not spoken first. “Hmm. Perhaps that’s it. He’s very secretive.”
“Tell him I’ll do it! But he has to come back!”
“Sure,” Hua Cheng shrugged. “But if you slack, he might disappear again.”
“I won’t!”
Hua Cheng really was too smart for his own good! Maybe it wasn’t kind, but Xie Lian was still grateful!
“But I’m really useless at that kind of thing…”
Jian Yu crossed his arms and huffed. “I’ll help you. But only so Yin Yu comes back.” He glared at Hua Cheng.
Yin Yu came back slower than he had disappeared, but he did come back.
Jian Yu and Quan Yihen worked together better than Xie Lian had expected, but he supposed that, when united towards a common goal, and especially when that goal involved Yin Yu, their differences were irrelevant.
Things went on this way for many years. Yin Yu settled into a cycle that kept Quan Yizhen on his toes, disappearing once every twenty-or-so days; personally, Xie Lian thought this was cruelly shrewd of Yin Yu, as it separated days into months and helped He Xuan regulate his tides in addition to scaring Quan Yizhen into doing his job.
Unfortunately, Quan Yizhen’s enthusiasm did have its limits. After a decade he became depressed.
“I’ll never catch him, will I?”
What was Xie Lian supposed to say to that?! Each day, he chased Yin Yu around the world, always just out of reach, and each month, Yin Yu disappeared completely, no matter how well Quan Yizhen did his job. Xie Lian could understand his despair.
“I’m sure you’ll catch him eventually. Didn’t you say he’s slower during the winter?”
“Hm…”
Xie Lian had thought that would be enough to spur the ever energetic Quan Yizhen back into action, but a few days later, Hua Cheng visited him.
“You’re terrible at small talk,” Xie Lian smiled. Hua Cheng paused mid-sentence to grin sheepishly.
“Quan Yizhen has negelected his duties again.”
“Again? And so soon?”
“Hm. Jian Yu is currently pulling overtime to keep the sun in the sky. He informed me that Quan Yizhen has locked himself in Yin Yu’s old room and refuses to come out. Yin Yu is worried.”
“…Why doesn’t he tell Quan Yizhen so? It’s been a long enough time, why won’t he let Quan Yizhen catch up to him?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Quan Yizhen has realized that if this goes on, he and Yin Yu will never meet. I think he’s finally gotten tired of chasing.”
“Isn’t he the one running from Yin Yu?”
“…No?”
“Yin Yu seems to think so.”
“Why would Quan Yizhen run from him? Doesn’t he know how much Yizhen loves him?”
“Not even a little. Yin Yu thinks Yizhen hates him.”
It didn’t make sense until Xie Lian thought about how they’d parted. Yin Yu had exploded then left without a word. That would have ruined his relationship with most people, sure; but Quan Yizhen wasn’t most people. Xie Lian supposed the fact that he was stealing Quan Yizhen’s excess energy wouldn’t make Yin Yu very confident either. “So they’re…chasing each other? And each thinks…”
“The other is running. Ah, this is troublesome, isn’t it?” Hua Cheng smiled sharply.
“…Then how are they ever going to resolve this?”
“Don’t worry over it, Gege. I’ll handle it.”
“I feel like I let you handle most things these days,” Xie Lian said sheepishly. The more duties he handed off to Hua Cheng, the more often he was in heaven…
“I don’t mind. Anything I can do for Gege, I’m more than willing to do. Besides, what else would I be doing? Listening to He Xuan and Qi Rong complain? I’d rather be here.”
Xie Lian smiled into his tea cup, hoping Hua Cheng couldn’t see how happy that made him.
Hua Cheng stood and fiddled with the red bead tied into his hair. “Make sure Quan Yizhen is doing his duties seven days from now. I’ll make the arrangements, and hopefully they’ll be able to work their feelings out.”
Quan Yizhen didn’t want to be out. He wanted to be back in Shixiong’s bed. He’d spent the last few months there on and off, and even thought it hadn’t smelled like Yin Yu for years, it made Quan Yizhen feel safe. That was where he and Yin Yu had eaten, played chess, talked about their shared past. That’s where he wanted to be. But Jian Yu and the Heavenly Emperor had all but dragged him out of bed, half dressed and hair wild.
“The people are suffering,” Xie Lian said.
Jian Yu added, “I can’t keep covering for you! I’m running myself ragged!”
So Quan Yizhen was rolling the sun across the sky with little energy. He got about two thirds of the way done when he noticed something strange.
There was someone else in the sky. Jian Yu shouldn’t be out right now. And it was too tall to be Jian Yu. The only other person it could have been was Xie Lian, but it was too tall to be him too. And it looked like the person was drawing closer.
Xie Lian’s voice rang in his head. “Quan Yizhen, you must not abandon your duties. If you speed up or break your path this won’t work.”
“That’s Shixiong, isn’t it?” Quan Yizhen’s stomach rose into his throat. He wanted to race across the sky to Yin Yu! He could! He could abandon his duties that very moment!
But Xie Lian’s voice stopped him again. “Quan Yizhen! Listen very closely. You must perform your duties. One step out of line and Yin Yu’s path will not cross yours, do you understand?”
“Even if I run towards him?”
“Especially if you run towards him! You must keep the sun on its current path. If you don’t, you definitely will not meet!”
Quan Yizhen didn’t know what to do. His body desperately wanted to fling itself towards Yin Yu! He wanted to see him right that very moment! But…Yin Yu was much closer now than he’d been before Xie Lian had spoken. Quan Yizhen could…he could wait. He bit his lip and guided the sun toward the center of the sky. A warm sense of calm replaced the giddiness, rising over him like dawn. It was such a wonderful feeling. He could just make out Yin Yu’s features now. He looked pale, but not the way he had just before he fled the heavens. That had been a sickly pale; this looked much better, like if ivory could glow. Quan Yizhen thought about it some more, trying to think up a better way to describe it, but gentle dawn inside him made it hard to think straight. He wondered if he looked alright. He hadn’t brushed his hair in a few days. Ah, Yin Yu would definitely chastise him for not putting it up, for not wearing the sun god’s crown. He began to run his fingers through the mess, but it probably didn’t help.
They were close now. Quan Yizhen’s hands shook as he guided the sun and shone its light down on the appropriate section of earth. He distantly heard the mortal’s prayers in the background, but he was focused on Yin Yu’s clothing, black with white under robes, a silver crown with a strange white gem set at its center. He looked as well-kept as he always had, except Quan Yizhen didn’t like the heavy bags under his eyes.
“Shixiong!” he called out.
Yin Yu jumped, apparently not realizing they were close enough to speak.
“Yizhen…I’m sorry!” Yin Yu shouted. “I’m sorry!”
“Why are you sorry?” Quan Yizhen shouted back. “You’re not sleeping!”
“What? No, listen! I’m sorry for what I said before I left heaven! I’m sorry for avoiding you! I’m just—”
They were close enough that their outstretched hands just missed the other’s. Yin Yu reached out again and their fingertips brushed. Quan Yizhen felt like all the energy in the sun had been poured into him! He felt like he could power the stars and handle all the prayers too! He could do anything! His shixiong was reaching out for him! His shixiong had touched him!
“Yizhen, I—” Yin Yu’s face scrunched up and his breath stuttered. “I’m so sorry!” They clasped each other’s hands.
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“Because I’m really really sorry! I don’t know what else to say!”
Quan Yizhen didn’t know what Yin Yu was apologizing for, but they could grab at each other’s forearms now, then elbows, Quan Yizhen felt his way up his shixiong’s shoulders.
“I was so lonely without you,” Quan Yizhen said.
Yin Yu touched his messy hair. “You haven’t been taking care of yourself. Look, it’s all tangled.”
“I was so lonely,” Quan Yizhen said again, just in case Yin Yu hadn’t heard him.
“I’m sorry—”
“So don’t leave like that again.” He held Yin Yu’s face in his hands. “Why are you crying?”
“You should hate me, shouldn’t you? I put you through so much. It was all my fault to begin with.”
Quan Yizhen watched the tears drip down his face, not sure what to do. “It’s fine as long as I get to see you now. I could never hate you. I love you too much.”
Yin Yu hiccupped and stared at him for a silent second. “You…love me?”
“Of course. I’ve always loved you.”
Yin Yu started crying harder. “But how can you—” They were right up against one another now, and Quan Yizhen couldn’t stop staring at Yin Yu’s lips.
“I want to kiss you,” was all the warning he gave before he leaned in and pressed their lips together. Yin Yu startled, but didn’t pull away. It was nice, Quan Yizhen thought, to be able to do something only couples did with Yin Yu. When he pulled away, Yin Yu looked at him with big dark eyes.
“You…love me.”
Quan Yizhen nodded once. Yin Yu’s eyebrows drew together as he went through a parade of expressions Quan Yizhen could not name, then, with his hands still in Quan Yizhen’s hair, he pulled Quan Yizhen in for another kiss, this one deeper and longer than the first. At that very moment, the prayers in Quan Yizhen’s head went quiet. He felt so warm, like nothing in the world could put out the fire in him. He wanted to be in Yin Yu’s arms like this forever, pressing their tongues together and sharing breath. Eventually, Yin Yu pulled away, but it was slow, like he regretted it. Quan Yizhen’s hands were clutching his robes and had skewed them so a little bit of Yin Yu’s collarbone was showing. He stared at the pale skin there.
Suddenly, the prayers in his head came rushing back in, ranging from fearful to excited to amazed. Ah, when had it gotten so dark?
“S-sorry,” Yin Yu said awkwardly. “I stole some of your energy. I. Um.”
“Steal some more?” Quan Yizhen said earnestly. Who cared if the world was dark? Yin Yu had kissed him! Quan Yizhen would gladly leave the world dark to keep kissing Yin Yu! “I’ll give it to you!” He kissed Yin Yu again, then again, and again, only pulling back for short moments to look at him.
“Calm down, calm down!” Yin Yu laughed, still a little teary-eyed, but he gave Quan Yizhen another peck on the lips. “Xiao Shidi,” he sighed. He ran his hand through the knotted curls tumbling down Quan Yizhen’s back. “We can’t stay like this.”
Quan Yizhen grit his teeth. “I know.” He could feel Xie Lian trying to get through to him in the communication array.
“Then…let me give you something?” Yin Yu let go to bring his hands up to his own head and pulled the pin from his crown. It disturbed the neat bun Yin Yu had always kept, and his hair flopped out of shape, then unrolled down his back. It made Quan Yizhen’s stomach clench. With practiced hands, Yin Yu pulled Quan Yizhen’s hair into a pony tail, then fastened the crown at its base.
Yin Yu’s cheeks flushed blue and he pulled his hands away.
Oh. Yin Yu really was quite handsome, wasn’t he? It wasn’t the same kind of handsome as Xie Lian or Hua Cheng, but it was… quiet. It was Yin Yu. Quan Yizhen had to kiss him again. When they parted he said, “Let me give you something too.” Quan Yizhen cursed himself for not bringing the the sun god’s crown, but then something told him that Yin Yu might not take that well. “I don’t have anything.”
Yin Yu covered his face with his hand. “That’s fine. You’ve given me enough. Just. Let me look at you a little longer?”
Quan Yizhen blinked. How little he asked! If Yin Yu told him to beat Jian Yu to a pulp and bring him the stars, Quan Yizhen would have gladly done it. Maybe that wasn’t the best example.
If Yin Yu asked him to go away and never come back. Well. He’d do it. If this meeting was enough for Yin Yu, then Quan Yizhen would try and be okay with that. It hurt just to think about, but he’d do it.
Yin Yu stuttered, “You’ll have to catch me again if you want to meet.”
“But you caught me.”
“W-Well, then it’s your turn to chase then!”
“I’m always chasing you!”
Yin Yu blushed bluer. “W-Well—”
“But I’ll keep chasing if that’s what you want!”
“Yizhen!” Yin Yu covered his face again. Why did he keep doing that? “It’s embarrassing for you to say it like that.”
“You like being chased?”
“I-I like that it’s you.”
“What did you call it?” Xie Lian asked Hua Cheng. “An eclipse?”
“Hmm. It’s not perfect, but I think it helps them. Yin Yu gets a decent amount of energy and they get to see one another on a somewhat regular basis.”
“Quan Yizhen looks forward to the next one. He’s shown everyone Yin Yu’s crown.”
“Hm.” Hua Cheng looked a little put off.
“What?”
“That crown was an underworld treasure.”
Xie Lian laughed outright. “So Yin Yu regifted it?”
Hua Cheng sighed. “By the way, he found that accountant. The one that was supposed to ascend but disappeared? She should be ready to begin working tomorrow, but she’s still pretty pissed that we found her.” He had that dangerous smile on his face, smug about something he probably would not tell Xie Lian unless Xie Lian bribed him with soft looks and hair braiding.
“Marry me.”
Hua Cheng looked at him, then did a double take. Seriously, he said, “Gege, should I wave this off? Should I pretend not to hear you?”
“N-No, I—”
“Should I internally bemoan my own inadequacy? Play up every flaw until I am convinced I’d do you more harm than good?”
“You’re making fun of me now, aren’t you?”
Hua Cheng smiled. “Perhaps. I’ve been trying to marry you for almost eight hundred years, and it turns out all I had to do was find you a lackey? I should have done this centuries ago.”
Xie Lian’s cheeks went hot. “You’re incorrigible.”
“Are you rescinding your offer?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. Then I accept.”
“Good.”