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Waking up on lumpy ground under tree branches that barely served as shade for the sun was not what Hua Cheng expected. He was usually able to open his eyes and start his day as soon as he woke up yet, strangely enough, he felt drowsy.
The most alarming thing by far, though, had to be the fact that he was breathing. He never defaulted to breathing. After a few centuries of death, he had gotten into the habit of only breathing when speaking.
Despite all the strange happenings, he didn’t feel any killing aura coming from anywhere around him. While this should relieve him, it made finding out what the issue was a lot harder.
When he stood up, he noticed he was wearing dingy white robes. The edges were a little more dark and frayed and there were some noticeable stitches, suggesting they were well worn. Hua Cheng didn’t remember owning any worn-out white robes, nor did he remember wearing any at any point in his life.
He did know of someone who wore white robes, but that was far from possible. There was another person who wore white robes, but that was far from desirable.
Something tightened at his wrist and he immediately grabbed it, expecting a snake. Clenched in his hand was a long piece of white fabric, much whiter than the robes. Alright, so he was hallucinating His Highness once again, no big deal. It was strange that he was imagining himself as him instead of near him but maybe his madness was finally taking its toll.
As His Highness, he didn’t feel much spiritual energy, but that had to be thanks to the shackles. Distantly, he thought that hallucinations shouldn't limit the amount of spiritual energy he feels, nor should they cause him to be dependent on breathing, but perhaps it was a really good bout of madness.
With not much else to do and no desire to sit around, Hua Cheng picked up the sack sitting next to him, dusted off his robes, and set off. The white fabric curled around his neck, squeezing gently, almost as if communicating with him.
He followed the barely visible trail, most likely rarely traveled on. Thankfully, the forest was heavy with large trees that shaded him from the sun. He also happened to be by a river that cooled the area nicely. It must be his luck.
Of course, right after he thought this, he somehow managed to trip over a tree root and land on his face.
Hua Cheng didn't feel any pain from this, but he was a bit lost as to how he managed to trip. He can't remember the last time he was clumsy enough to trip. It was whatever, though. Hua Cheng stood up, dusted himself off, kicked that damn root, and began walking again.
By the time he got to the town, he had tripped two more times, got his robes caught on low plants, and stepped in poop. It appeared his luck had capped off for the day with trees and the river.
"Hello, young man! Are you interested in fresh fruit?" An old man asked, shoving a basket of pears in Hua Cheng's face.
"We also have oranges and apples!" An old lady called from a stand.
The sign boasted rather fair prices and Hua Cheng was hungry….
"I'll take two of each," He said, fishing for money.
He grabbed the coins in his pocket and counted enough for fruits with some to spare.
The fruits, if eaten in small amounts, could last a few days. Hua Cheng could deal with some hunger, he supposed.
By now, he was very aware that he was not hallucinating. Too many things were too real to just be something his mind made up. The only thing that could possibly make some sense was that he had somehow entered His Highness’s body and taken over his mind.
That seemed much more forward than he wanted to be when he first reunited with His Highness, but hopefully, he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. Hua Cheng couldn’t really feel Xie Lian’s presence, though, which was a bit worrying. Maybe instead of sharing a vessel, they switched.
His Highness being forced into Hua Cheng’s body in Paradise Manor was the last thing either of them wanted. Well, Hua Cheng assumed Xie Lian wouldn’t want that. If he found out that he was inside the body of some violent ghost, he would despise Hua Cheng.
It wasn’t like he would’ve liked him anyway, though.
All that aside, Hua Cheng did have to find a way to fix all of this. With his current lack of spiritual energy and luck, it seemed all he had was His Highness’s pain tolerance and martial strength, which honestly weren’t the worst tools to be left with. The man was the most powerful martial god and, if he didn’t have the shackles, would definitely be a match for the emperor.
As he tried to think of what he could possibly do, he realized there really wasn’t much he could do. He was far from Ghost City and didn’t have any sort of way to quickly transport there, nor did he have the contacts to get him there. He didn’t have a single clue what could have caused such a thing to happen unless Xie Lian had been cursed, though he wasn’t sure how that could have happened.
If he could find some cultivators, he could try to borrow some spiritual energy and use that to contact Yin Yu or, if he truly needed it, He Xuan. He could even try to make a distance-shortening array or, if given enough energy, do a soul-shifting spell.
Xie Lian definitely had a friendly appearance and, if need be, Hua Cheng could just use his strength to force someone into giving away their spiritual energy. Either way, he needed to find a cultivator.
If there were any ghosts loose, there would definitely be some deployed to solve the issue. With that in mind, he decided to ask about it. If anything, he could just walk to another town until he found someone. It couldn’t be that difficult.
As the sun began to set, Hua Cheng had made close to no progress.
The town he had been in when he started was totally peaceful, not a single inconvenience. He had hitched a ride on the back of a wagon and made conversation with the driver, who had said that, if he was willing to travel a day or two, there was a town that had a string of murders near a lake.
That seemed promising enough, so he decided he would look into it. Of course, His Highness's body required food, water, and rest. If he didn’t settle down now, not only would he hate himself for overworking Xie Lian’s body, but the white fabric would have squeezed his wrist into bruising. The thing was persistent about Xie Lian resting, which Hua Cheng was happy with. He was glad His Highness had something that cared about him as he deserved.
He ate the rest of one of the oranges he bought, took some water from a well, and found a nice spot under the trees to rest. Hua Cheng truly hoped that, through some miraculous luck, he would be back in his body, now with the location of Xie Lian pinned down.
Xie Lian woke up on a soft mattress, something he hadn’t felt in centuries. He also woke up without sight in one eye, which wasn’t as worrying as it should have been. There was a noticeable change in his stature, too, he noticed when he got out of bed.
Of course, this was all a result of not being in his own body.
He had never experienced involuntary soul-shifting, or perhaps this was a swap. Maybe he picked up a cursed object and it was now taking effect.
Either way, he did have to return to his own body, whatever state it may be in. Considering the fact that he didn’t feel or hear any other presence, it was safe to assume that whoever owned his body was currently in Xie Lian’s.
Xie Lian was worried but, really, there wasn’t much damage they could do to him. He couldn’t die or anything, it would be more of an inconvenience if they lost scraps he planned on pawning, cooking utensils, or his sewing needs and thread. The worst they could do was lose Ruoye, but the spirit was, well, a spirit. It would follow him, at least Xie Lian hoped so.
Whoever’s body this was, they were rich, that much was obvious. The soft sleepwear and large bed was one giveaway, along with the huge bedroom and various trinkets laying around, some of which being antique swords and daggers that piqued his interest.
“It would be rude to cause too much trouble while I’m here, I should probably try my best to stay under the radar,” Xie Lian spoke aloud out of habit, expecting Ruoye to move around in reply.
He had no one to bounce thoughts off to, but he supposed it wouldn’t be horrible if he came clean about his situation should he run into anyone that seemed trustworthy. Considering the amount of money this guy had, he had to have some easy resources to fix this. Plus, Xie Lian could feel the sheer amount of spiritual energy swirling around in him. It would all be fine.
As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted with a man wearing a mask, hand held up to knock.
“Ah, Hua Chengzhu,” He greeted, “I was coming to inform you of a possible lead that had just come in.”
“I’m really sorry, but I’m not who you think I am,” Xie Lian said, bowing apologetically.
Instantly, the man was on guard.
“I promise I don’t mean any harm!” Xie Lian held his hands up, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. “I just woke up in someone else’s body and I don’t want to cause any issues for them.”
“Who are you?” The masked man asked.
“I’m only a traveling cultivator who collects scraps, I promise I have no bad intentions!”
“You must know that, without your name, it would be hard to prove anything,” The man said, though it didn’t come off as rude.
There was really no need for Xie Lian to lie about his identity. It wasn’t like many people would recognize his name, nor would it cause any threat to anyone he knew in the past. Plus, knowing his name might help to come up with a solution in the long run.
“My family name is Xie and my given name is Lian,” He said.
For a second, there was no reply. Despite the mask, Xie Lian could feel shock in the air. Perhaps he had been wrong.
“Sorry, your name is Xie Lian?”
Xie Lian nodded and, instead of dwelling upon what had to be recognition, he returned the question, “And what is your name?”
“I’m only a servant, His Highness need not worry about my identity.”
This servant was definitely hiding something, but Xie Lian doubted it had anything to do with him. It wasn’t like he was going to be here much longer, anyway.
“You don’t need to use that title with me, I’m hardly royalty at the moment,” Xie Lian said.
The last moments he was addressed like that, it was all done with a mocking tone only to remind him of his failures. If this man knew who he was, there was a good chance he knew what Xie Lian did to Xian Le, even if he seemed respectful at the moment.
“I think it’s best if I do,” He replied.
Xie Lian let the matter end at the vague response.
“So, what do you suggest I do?”
“How about I make you some tea and we can talk? I’m sure I can help if I have more information.”
Even though he wanted to explore the mansion he was in, he followed the masked servant, mostly in fear of getting lost and/or accidentally making himself look untrustworthy. It was better to play everything safe for everyone involved.
“So, where was His Highness right before all this?” The servant asked as he handed Xie Lian a cup of yellow tea.
“Between towns, just outside of Xianning,” Xie Lian replied, lips on the rim of his cup.
“Were you in any proper housing?”
“No, I was just camping under some trees. It was getting dark, so I decided to rest.”
Xie Lian wanted to continue to explain his trip, what he found, what he ate, how he made it, and every little mundane detail in between. It had been a long time since someone asked him to talk about himself, and it had been an equally long time since he could answer honestly.
When he was Fang Xin, Lang Qianqiu’s teacher, he was asked many, many questions about his life. He would deflect and use the distraction to teach him about always being aware when fighting or whatever he had preached about then.
As Hua Xie, there was little less interest in him from Banyue, but still some questions. This time, he only told vague half truths and walked around each one due to the complexity of the answer.
In both situations, he ended up basically dead and left to start a new life. Now, he was with someone who somehow knew who he was, remained anonymous, and wanted to know more about him. Granted, he wanted to know more about him so that he would eventually go away but still.
“Your body probably moved from there, but not by too much,” The servant said, more to himself than to Xie Lian.
“The one who’s in my body now, will they be okay?”
Surprisingly, the servant almost laughed, but quickly covered it up by clearing his throat.
“Hua Chengzhu will be fine, His Highness need not worry.”
As they continued their discussion, Xie Lian was keenly aware of the fact that the servant was stalling, as well as collecting information. Even though he initially doubted whether or not going on tangents would be relevant, the man allowed for Xie Lian to indulge in the conversation and seemingly encouraged him to go on. At some points relating to time, location, and traveling habits, he would dig deeper.
While Xie Lian didn’t sense any killing intent from him, he still would laugh it off and say he didn’t remember and cut stories short. Most information being given were anecdotes that had no real material, yet they were still being listened to by a watchful ear belonging to someone who seemed to be mentally noting almost everything that was said.
To be fair, Xie Lian reasoned, he was someone who went down as the crowned prince who destroyed his kingdom. It wasn’t his place to be suspicious of someone who didn’t want to immediately aid such a person.
Then again, shouldn’t this servant want his master back? He seemed to have quality robes and was allowed to help himself to the resources in the mansion. Maybe this master that Xie Lian was inhabiting was so cruel that his servant would rather listen to some boring old banished god.
“Ah, it’s getting late,” The servant announced as he stood up.
“Already?” Xie Lian frowned. “I’m sorry for talking so much, we didn’t even come to a solution yet.”
“It’s alright, Your Highness, I think I can come up with something soon.”
Xie Lian nodded, though he didn’t really believe that anything would be happening. As the servant cleaned the tea cups up, he noticed familiar markings on the man’s wrist. Almost as soon as he saw them, however, the sleeves of his robes fell back down and he was walking away with the cups and tea pot.
Xie Lian felt around his neck, where he was only met with cool skin. This body had no curse shackles, nor did it have bandages and fabric there to shield anything from the world. Curse shackles only decorated the most foolish and the smallest percentage of people, it was hardly possible that the servant had one.
On the off chance that he did, though….
“Excuse me!” Xie Lian quickly stood up, stumbling a bit from the odd weight and height of the body he was in.
Either he couldn’t be heard or he was being ignored, and the answer depended on whether or not Xie Lian’s eyes deceived him.
He was considering following where he thought the servant disappeared to. Before he could weigh the cons, he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He quickly spun on his heel and widened his stance, ready to attack or defend the threat.
In front of him was the masked servant who only raised his hands up in surrender, though it seemed to be more of a jest in reference to Xie Lian’s similar behavior earlier.
“Sorry, you startled me!” Xie Lian said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t have much of a presence.”
After realizing that such words could only be taken the wrong way, he rushed to say, “That really isn’t a bad thing! It’s good when fighting, you really could have caught me off guard if you wanted to fight me.”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness, I’ve heard that before.”
Xie Lian didn’t know if he should feel bad or laugh at the dry tone, so he opted to just change the topic.
“By the way, I saw that you-”
“I’ve prepared a guest room for His Highness but, if preferred, you can stay in Hua Chengzhu’s room,” The servant cut him off as if Xie Lian hadn’t been saying anything at all, just softly informing him. “Hua Chengzhu wouldn’t mind.”
Xie Lian blinked for a moment. At this point, it was clear that this servant did have a curse shackle, there couldn’t be any other reason to ignore and divert from any possible mentions of it. Putting himself in the other man’s shoes, he decided he would drop the topic for tonight.
“Thank you, I’ll sleep in the guest room,” He said.
The servant nodded and led him to the room.
Xie Lian went to sleep with more questions than when he woke up.
Hua Cheng was both relieved and disappointed to be back in his own body when he woke up.
Not a single thing about his appearance was different. If it weren’t for the fact that he was in a guest room, he would’ve called the entire experience he just had a strange dream.
He got out of bed and changed his clothes to his usual crimson robes and silver accessories before swiftly leaving the room in search of Yin Yu, who was conveniently in the hall already.
“Your Highness?”
“So it really was him here?” Hua Cheng asked.
“Hua Chengzhu, you’re back,” Yin Yu bowed. “Yes, Xie Lian was here. I assumed you two switched bodies but I did collect information on his whereabouts and such just in case.”
Hua Cheng nodded. He felt no negative impacts of the switch on his body. In fact, he was much happier than he had been in centuries. He knew exactly where his god was and the state he was in.
He dismissed Yin Yu and went to his room, ready to throw his dice down and reunite with his god.
Xie Lian woke up on ground that was much comfier than where he was earlier under a tree that better shaded him than the one he was under earlier. This helped prove his theory that someone had been occupying his body.
After a quick check, he noticed he was less a few coins but had a few good quality fruits that could probably last him a few days. His body felt the same and he didn’t notice and new tears in his robes. His straw hat remained on his person and Ruoye was thankfully still present.
He could continue to look into what happened. If he really set his mind to it, he was sure he could find the thing that caused the body swap, the person he had temporarily taken the body of, and maybe even find out why the masked former Heavenly Official had been banished.
But, he tried to be logical.
There weren’t any negative affects, at least none that he could easily find, and whatever happened was short-term. Looking into it could lead to more problems than he wanted to deal with.
Xie Lian was immortal, though, and he really couldn’t think of the worst that could happen that he hadn’t already gone through yet. He had never figured out the location of where he was, nor did he catch the name of the servant, but he was in some city ruled by someone with the name Hua.
He didn’t have too much of an interest in the person he swapped bodies with, though he probably should have. Thinking back, he hadn’t even looked in a mirror, how stupid!
Xie Lian did remember that it was a ghost that he swapped bodies with, and a powerful one at that.
With this in mind, he decided he should start his journey. He could figure it out when he got more information.
Hua Cheng appeared right where he had left Xie Lian’s body, only just catching the a final view of the man before he turned and was out of sight.
Catching himself before he yelled or made too much noise moving, Hua Cheng tried to speedwalk as calmly as possible. It was no big deal, His Highness couldn’t get that far ahead of him.
Nerves and excitement settled in his stomach. Now that he was so close, the fears that haunted him for centuries became even stronger. Who was to say that His Highness would even like him? He had to know that he was a monster, at this point. If he didn’t, there was still the chance that he would hate Hua Cheng, maybe even find him annoying.
His hesitance didn’t last long, though, because he was suddenly facing Xie Lian, crown prince of Xian Le, the Flower Crown Martial God, and the light of Hua Cheng’s life and afterlife.
Xie Lian didn’t say anything for a moment and only looked at his face, as if scanning for something, then at his clothes. Then, he smiled, and Hua Cheng felt emotions he didn’t know he was capable of.
“Sorry if I’m mistaken, but are you the one who I swapped bodies with?”
Hua Cheng smiled and said, “Gege’s not mistaken, I believe we did switch bodies.”
“I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused,” He said, ducking his head.
“Gege couldn’t be farther from an inconvenience,” Hua Cheng assured. “There wasn’t much else I was doing, anyways.”
There wasn’t much else he was doing, other than searching for the man who was now in front of him, but that would definitely come off wrong.
Xie Lian didn’t look too sure of that but still continued smiling. Hua Cheng would have to settle for smaller victories at this point, he supposed.
“What’s your name, by the way?”
“I’m the third son in my family, so you can call me San Lang,” Hua Cheng replied.
Xie Lian nodded and said, “Nice to formally meet you, San Lang! I’m Xie Lian.”
With Xie Lian in front of him, Hua Cheng didn’t really care so much to find out what caused the body swap anymore.