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It was dusk, the twilight on the sky showing its familiar warm colors that slowly became bluer as sunlight left the scene. Today has been a lazy day, Gu Zi taking a break from his training to go to the small village a little far from the house and Qi Rong spending his time gardening, Lang QianQiu had nothing to do the whole day. It was rare as a Martial God, but once in a century he had the opportunity to just be. He practiced a bit, meditated another bit and did some chores that Qi Rong didn't felt like doing today. It was a pretty slow but calm day, so Lang QianQiu was basically just wandering around.
He liked, most of the time, staying in this little house in the mortal realm. They found it a while ago, after Lang QianQiu gave Qi Rong some liberties to be outside his palace in company of Lang QianQiu. Now, the little house had all the spells and seals needed to avoid Qi Rong from leaving the house without Lang QianQiu, but it was also a comfortable and warm place that Lang QianQiu started to love a bit. Qi Rong seemed to love the place, with already a garden of his liking set and a kitchen that he used everyday, he couldn't miss that much the luxury in Tai Hua's Palace when in this cozy house.
(But Qi Rong loved the luxury regardless. The big bed in his room at the palace, the gilded halls and the enormous rooms. Probably the easiest way to make Qi Rong smile is through luxurious gifts, but it didn't quietly last more than a few seconds. Happiness as shallow as the luxurious gifts, never enough in a way. Effective, regardless.)
Before dusk, Gu Zi has came back from the village. He bought some food, mainly for Qi Rong to eat as the gluttonous ghost he was and sweets that the young boy liked. With a brief greeting towards Lang QianQiu, the teenager left the food in the kitchen and went directly to his dad. Now, with the sun almost gone and the night setting in, Lang QianQiu decided to go out and be with the pair of son and father. He was feeling almost a bit lonely being inside the house when he could be with them.
Qi Rong was lying on the grass, Gu Zi's head resting on Qi Rong's chest, obviously asleep. Gu Zi was now 15 years old, wider and taller than his dad now, but still sleeping as if he was 5 years old, resting his whole body on his father's own as if it was the most comfortable bed ever. Lang QianQiu found it weird sometimes, he couldn't relate to that because his father, as the king he was, couldn't do that after Lang QianQiu became old enough to write his own name. Qi Rong didn't mind, even if at first he could scold Gu Zi for his clinginess, he will hug the teenager and let him sleep as he please.
His beloved tiger, the damn traitor, was letting Qi Rong's head rest on him. The animal has been liking Qi Rong since the beginning, maybe because Qi Rong adored the idea of being somehow co-owner of a tiger since the beginning, even when Lang QianQiu never accepted such a thing. His tiger, who has been with him since he became a god, was his and only his. Careless about it, his tiger doted Qi Rong more than Lang QianQiu. It was definitely unfair, but the sight of Qi Rong resting with a big, fluffy tiger was, at least, a little endearing.
(Qi Rong is unfairly endearing sometimes, and Lang QianQiu was mostly used to such disgusting fact.)
It was obvious that Qi Rong wasn't sleeping right now. His soft expression and peaceful breathing was unlike him when he's actually sleeping. A messy sleeper, that's the most accurate way to describe Qi Rong at his sleep, because he snores loudly, has his mouth open, his limbs are all over the place and his hair usually nicely combed is a rathole everytime he sleeps. There was nothing pretty about Qi Rong's sleeping, except probably for his naturally pretty face. Lang QianQiu has learned how Qi Rong really was when relaxed. Messy.
(But it was better than the sight of Qi Rong having a nightmare. Hugging himself, curling up as if he was trying to make himself as small as he could, with his face hidden against his legs in a fetal position. His breathing was thin and impossible to hear. So quiet and still, that Gu Zi believed at first that his dad was dead. A horrid irony because Qi Rong was in fact dead, but somehow Qi Rong never felt so... Dead in itself. It was just one time that Lang QianQiu and Gu Zi found Qi Rong in such state, but Lang QianQiu still found himself thinking about it when night was cold and Qi Rong was sleeping alone at the next room.)
Lang QianQiu approached to them, letting himself fall on the grass and rest his head on his tiger just as Qi Rong, even when it got him a growl from the (traitorous) animal. Qi Rong felt cold at his side, but probably Gu Zi felt him warm, things that he couldn't understand how were possible. He remembers that, back then when Qi Rong was a little flame, he felt the lantern ghostly cold, but Gu Zi would describe it as warm, perhaps it was Qi Rong's doing or just simply that Gu Zi was too biased. Regardless of the reason, Gu Zi still slept hugging his father as if he was a stuffed animal with that welcoming warm that beats any other.
"You should prepare that dinner," Lang QianQiu says in a quiet voice, looking at Qi Rong. His placid profile was such an unusual thing to see, his already beautiful features looked dream-like in this way. The face of a young noble man, the kind of face onces expect from a prince. The sharp but elegant eyebrows arched a little. "You know, raw food is there waiting for you," he said as quietly.
Qi Rong hums, caring too little about Lang QianQiu's words. Lang QianQiu just sighs, not really worried about the dinner. The night starts finally, the orange sky now in a deep blue. The stars weren't as bright yet, but it probably looked beautiful, though Lang QianQiu wasn't looking at it.
(It has became a thing that Lang QianQiu looked carelessly at Qi Rong, tracing his face and figure without noticing. At first Qi Rong would pick at him, teasing him about his newfound liking for looking at Qi Rong, but the time past and the ghost started to get use to it. Lang QianQiu still hasn't found a reason to why he does it, but has neither found a reason to stop.)
"Lao Huan wants Gu Zi to marry Xiao Mei," Qi Rong says, his hands playing with the teenager's hair. It was random thing to say, but Lang QianQiu understood immediately.
Gu Zi was old enough to marry a girl his age, and Huan MeiMei was a not so pretty but fairly clever girl in the village near to them that had been interested in Gu Zi for a while. For the villagers Gu Zi was the disciple of "Qiu-daozhang" and son of the widow "Zhi BaoCui", not a boy with riches on his name, but a boy well mannered and handsome. Lang QianQiu should have expected this to come soon, but it took him a little by surprise even when he didn't show it. After all, you never feel ready when the child the you have raised finally starts his adulthood.
On the other side, Qi Rong was in silence, expressionless.
"What do you think about it?" He says, waiting for some reaction so dramatic that just could suit Qi Rong. There were things to arrange and plans to do if Gu Zi really was marrying the girl, but Qi Rong's opinion was critical if it'll happen. Gu Zi was still too attached to his dad and his opinion was always like the heaven's rules for Gu Zi.
The ghost sighs, a sour expression on his face. "I like her, Gu Zi likes her a lot and she will be a good daughter-in-law," Qi Rong comments in a frustrated voice.
"But?" He asks, sure that there was a problem. Surely Xiao Mei couldn't be the only girl that was safe from Qi Rong scrutiny and criticism.
Qi Rong open his eyes, his emerald gaze on Lang QianQiu. He seemed a little tired, but mostly frustrated. Lang QianQiu smiles, which makes Qi Rong frown in a funny way. That seems to make fade away his tiredness.
"Gu Zi rejected the idea," Qi Rong muttered, an indecipherable look on his eyes now. "He told Lao Huan that he could never marry her because he couldn't stay with her," he explains in an unusually calmed way, even when in his eyes were uneasy.
Of course, Lang QianQiu thought. Gu Zi wanted to ascend, so he obviously couldn't be with a mortal. A sad thing, but Lang QianQiu understood that. Qi Rong looked pissed at him, probably knowing exactly what Lang QianQiu was thinking. The god blinked, confused. The ghost just sigh.
"He told me that he doesn't want to leave me," he whispers, his usually strident voice now quiet. "Neither you or I could stay here, nor can we become mortals, so Gu Zi can't stay. That's what he said and I don't know what to tell him."
Qi Rong looks at him, silently asking for an answer. Lang QianQiu was hoping for an answer too. For him, it seemed easy, Gu Zi could stay here and both Qi Rong and Lang QianQiu would come to visit, it wasn't like they would never come. If Gu Zi ascended, that was a messier matter, but one not related to Qi Rong.
"It's not like he won't see you again," he says confused and Qi Rong growls frustrated.
"He won't keep cultivating if he marries someone, because they will age and he won't, but if he stops cultivating he will age, die and surely reincarnate, and I won't. You and I won't," he says, sounding as if he was scolding a dim child.
Ah.
Then, Gu Zi was focused on the centuries to come, the inevitable loss that an immortal will experience any time they love a mortal. Ascending wasn't the important part, it was the possible loss of a beloved wife or the sorrow of dying before a loved one that you know couldn't handle it. Lang QianQiu never thought that Gu Zi wanted to ascend just to be immortal like his father, supposing that children would always be attracted to the idea of being a god. He never thought about the reasons, just accepted Gu Zi's petition because he couldn't say no even if he wanted.
Lang QianQiu felt equally as frustrated as Qi Rong now. Should they encourage Gu Zi to be a mortal and live peacefully or let him become a god to be with them? How to know which one will make him happier? How to know if there would be no regrets at the end? Gu Zi was too young, but the possibility of ascending will fade away if he becomes too old to cultivate as he needed to. Even if Gu Zi became a ghost after dying, wasn't it making him deal with his wife's and possible children's death anyways but also making his father suffer the waiting to see if he would really become a ghost? It seemed ridiculous from that perspective.
(It is unsettling how is Qi Rong the one leading him to think about this matter. Not so long ago Qi Rong would selfishly keep this information in secret, pleased to know Gu Zi preferred him over anyone else, and completely unbothered by Lang QianQiu's opinion in the matter. How horrifying, how incomprehensible. How can someone change so much? How can someone grow so much? Somehow Qi Rong was the biggest dickhead Lang QianQiu has found, but somehow Qi Rong can still change enough to be selfless when Gu Zi needed him.
How horrifying, how incomprehensible. Qi Rong was asking for his opinion, for the right answer just for his child sake. How unsettling. Change was unsettling, messy and terrifying, but it seems that anyone who wants can change enough. Somehow, Lang QianQiu has changed just as much, and how annoying was that.)
Lang QianQiu sighs. He was happier when the day was lazy. Qi Rong just looks at him, waiting.
"Regardless of what he decides, or what we decide..." He whispers, knowing that Qi Rong couldn't find anything soothing on those first words, "I won't leave you. And we won't leave him." He assures, smiling a little this time to see Qi Rong smile too.
Qi Rong doesn't smile, but he seems to be less lost on his mind. It was better.
(Why was Lang QianQiu trying to make Qi Rong feel better? The bastard doesn't deserve the kindness, neither he deserves to have a saying in Gu Zi's future. But Lang QianQiu has accepted that Gu Zi was happier when his father was treated as such, and Lang QianQiu was happier too when Qi Rong wasn't a little sad thing. Things change, and smiling at Qi Rong has became another thing that he does carelessly.)
"That's not an answer, you dimwitted bastard, and who wants you close?" He complains, with his mouth in a no-pout as he would probably say, eyes gleaming in a more confident way.
Lang QianQiu smile gets wider, and Qi Rong somehow looks nervous, almost flustered. Gu Zi huffs in his sleeping, probably his refined senses telling him that they were fighting again.
"It's the best answer anyone could give now," he lies and he huffs. "And I don't want you close either, but who would make sure that you don't eat anyone? That's my job as your jailer, so, get used to me because this will be a long eternity, asshole."
Then, Qi Rong smile in that deranged but endearing way just he could. The worries seem to fade once more. It's simply a lazy day, no matter the changes and the future to come. Nobody has to leave just yet.