Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Meetings
A youth was practising sword forms in the clearing surrounded by bamboo trees. The green leaves fluttered and silently fell being cut apart in utmost accuracy with the lightning fast speed of the youth's sword. The last sunlight of afternoon reflected on
the edge of his sword as he danced around, making a beautiful scene in the backdrop of green slender bamboo shoots, for the viewers.
"Your highness" the sword stilled. "Your majesty was again urging you to take a consort" "and what did you say Feng xin?" The youth had a light, calm voice as he asked his friend. "Are you sure your highness, this is the path you want to follow? You are the only successor of Xian le." "That's not my path, Feng xin. I want to save people."
I want to save people
*
The city streets were bustling with excitement and so was the halls of Paradise manor. The whole city eagerly prepared for the night of the ghost festival. For the residents of the city it was the day when they could visit their families or the mortal world without any worries. Ghosts would receive paper money and other worldly items from their still living family members. New and old ghosts would cross the barrier between the two realms. For this night the evil would prevail over the mortal realm. So, of course it was a great occasion to celebrate.
However this day of celebration might also bring headache to a few as the right hand of the ghost city master, Yin yu.
Yin yu worked day and night without rest to maintain the order. This year it was especially headache inducing as the lord of the manor was in his own realm of imagination and that landed extra duties on Yin yu's shoulders, as if there were already not enough to worry about on his platter.
Upon entering the room, he gave a respectful bow to the tall man, dressed in red and black sprawled over the ornate throne, eyes a little unfocused as if deep in his thoughts. "I have found out the exact location of his highness, Chengzhu. He is headed towards a small town near Mount Yu Jun, to handle a case for Jun Wu."
Immediately the man's eyes or should be said one eye snapped back at Yin yu. A little unease wormed into his mind as the whole attention of the man bore down on him. "He has reached, I assume?" "No, on the way, there was a little misfortune...his highness was hit by a...cloud" Yin yu wondered how that's even possible, anyway "so he is on his way." "Good job! You can go now."
Yin yu sighed a little. As he turned, the voice drawled again "I'll be gone for a while. You'll have to manage in my stead." Yin yu let out a longer sigh this time. "Yes Chengzhu!"
*
Sitting in the bridal sedan, Xie lian contemplated the recent changes in his life for a moment. After hundreds of years of living,it was hard for anything to surprise him. However this third ascension had come as a mild surprise to him.
He wondered for a moment why heaven refused to let him go. It's not like he had anything significant to offer as a God. He felt his old life as a scrap collector was far better than godhood.
The sedan chair tilted slightly, jostling Xie lian again, courtesy to the disgruntled gentlemen carrying his sedan. A sigh escaped his lips as he came back to the present situation at hand and the whole debacle of him dressing up as a bride to lure the ghost bridegroom out.
"Young lady, marrying at such an elderly age, are you so happy that you keep sighing?" Fu yao spoke just beside his curtain. Well, at least somebody was somewhat enjoying the situation it seems. " It's not that. I just realised there is something missing in this bridal sedan." Xie lian said smoothly. "What is it ?" Nan feng asked curiously. "Two maids, to accompany the bride."
For a moment everyone went silent and then the two little gods spluttered in indignation. "Just imagine your family is too impoverished to buy maids" - Fu yao said coldly, anger evident in his voice.
Xie lian allowed himself a little smile. These two companions of his were really not that bad.
*
Xie lian sat inside the bridal sedan alone as the unnatural silence settled outside. The wolves has been beaten before and the last few remaining base slaves were also cleared away by Ruoye. However this time it seemed even the forest had become silent.
Any sound of crickets or of any other small animals, even sounds of leaves or rustling of trees were completely absent.
Suddenly two light laughs sounded from outside. It sounded like the voice of a young man or teenager. Xie lian silently waited, Ruoye wound tightly around his wrist, waiting to attack at the slightest killing intent.
However surprisingly no blast of killing intent or any attack was met by Xie Lian. Instead the curtain fluttered slightly before a hand of assistance was presented to him. Xie lian observed the hand through the gap of his veil.
The hand was large, larger than his own, with well formed lean fingers and strong joints. The white skin of the wrist revealed before his eyes.
Whoever was outside, waited for his response with his hand extending into the sedan, open and waiting to be accepted.
Xie lia hesitated for a second and then put his own hand into it as he climbed out of the sedan.
The hand around his tightened in a gentle but firm grip. Despite the cold of the person's skin, Xie lian felt like the grip was absurdly warm.
*
For a second, Hua Cheng was stunned and then amused.
As soon as he reached Mount Yu Jun and found out about the group led by the strange daozhong merching up the hill, in the forest to find the low level ghost, he had hurried.
After he came out from Mount Tonglu and found his god's trail was lost, he had felt completely lost, as if somebody had cut his most precious tether anchoring him to the earth. In this immense whole world Hua Cheng was alone again and lost without his god.
After dianxia saved his life Hua Cheng was moved. Since his childhood , it was the first kind smile, first gentle touch, first flicker of warmth he had received, since his mother died. He didn't even have many memories of his mother, only a gentle hand combing through his hair, lulling him to sleep, a warm hug that when surrounded him, he felt loved.
However, since he gained his consciousness, he was on the streets, abused, abandoned and alone. The hardships and isolation, the abuse that his crimson eye gained him often, the burn of hunger had very soon snuffed out all the feelings of warmth and love in his heart. He felt the lowest of the low, the vermin of the earth. All that had remained was bitterness. Until he had laid his eyes on dianxia.
Since then Hua Cheng had made him the heart of his existence. Even if someday, somehow his ashes got destroyed and his pathetic ghostly existence was erased, he swore he would come back if his dianxia needed him. Hua Cheng would become anything, his dianxia needed, his devotee, his believer who worshipped him from afar, even his sword or his crutch, anything, if his dianxia allowed him to, wanted him to.
When he came out of Mount Tonglu , he had felt unmoored but then he had slowly reigned in his desperation and focused on accumulating power and kept searching for his dianxia. He had vowed, he would become strong enough to burn down the heaven that bestowed somnusch suffering in his god, in the guise of blessing or if needed, he would be strong enough to burn down all the three realms. Nobody or maybe only Yin yu, since he came to ghost city, was witness to his desperate days of searching whenever his butterflies could find any news of his highness, his thousands of paintings , sculptures and what not inspired by his dianxia, trying to immortalise his beauty in his heart.
When he heard the news of his ascension, first he was elated. Then he was sad. After eight hundred years, he had heard of his dianxia, he could see him again.
His dead heart was elated with this thought. On the other hand his dianxia had to return to the same traitorous heaven, to the same scums who paraded around calling themselves gods , nose high in pride. When in reality they didn't have one of the millionth parts of his virtue, of his god! And they had the gall to laugh at his dianxia. His heart ached. If he had found his dianxia first!
All the days after that he had waited impatiently for his highness to leave heaven, convincing himself repeatedly why he couldn't just storm into heaven. Hai dianxia wouldn't appreciate being the centre of attention in such a manner.
On the way to Mount Yu Jun, he was anxious and restless. After so many years he was going to see his god. He felt as if it was a dream. Was he really lucky enough that finally the accumulated luck of his, of hundreds of years, bore him the sweetest fruit, the only wish of his was fulfilled. He was scared that maybe in the next moment, his hopes would scatter like his butterflies.
Now as he stared at the simple crimson bridal sedan, he was a little amused. Even in his wildest of imaginations , he had not imagined their first meeting would be like this. He felt a sudden wistfulness flutter in his chest that he quickly squashed as he moved towards the sedan. He had a job to do.