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It was clear, as soon as the room stopped spinning, that the world around them was not theirs.
Being eight hundred and some years old, Xie Lian had witnessed many technological leaps in his lifetime, but he had never seen items such as the ones before him, nor such outrageous clothing. He could guess, from the clusters of inebriated people at octagonal tables throughout the room, that this was a gambling hall. Some held cards, others tossed dice. He didn’t sense anything threatening, but one should never trust a sudden portal. He had been cut off from the spiritual communication array. Best to be on guard.
Instinctually, Xie Lian extended an arm to shield San Lang from whatever they might encounter.
“Stay behind me,” he said quietly.
Close to his ear, San Lang chuckled. “Whatever gege likes.”
Their arrival had not gone unnoticed. As heads turned in their directions, Xie Lian put on his least threatening smile and walked with caution toward an open table in the corner. He insisted that San Lang take the chair with his back to the wall and positioned himself in the other, turned to watch the crowd.
In contrast to Xie Lian, who was damp with worry beneath his arms, San Lang looked perfectly at ease. He had crossed his long legs and sent one of the wraith butterflies to scout.
“Where do you think we are?” Xie Lian asked.
“Initially I thought it was a brothel because of the clothing, but it seems like a simple gamblers’ den. Ah, gege, maybe you should face me. Some of these outfits . . .”
Xie Lian waved off his concern. It was nothing he hadn’t seen before, and he couldn’t afford to be modest just now. Besides, this provocative way of dressing seemed to be the norm here. He had no desire to insult another culture. One croupier in particular seemed to take an interest in them. He was waving to someone across the room and motioned in their direction. At least they wouldn’t have to wait long to learn what this was all about.
Presently, a beautiful man with long, pink hair and an impressive black cape glided over to their table. On seeing his partly bared chest and pants that fit like a second skin, leaving very little to the imagination, Xie Lian politely averted his eyes.
“Excuse me, dear customers,” said the man. “We have prepared a private room especially for you, if you’ll follow me?”
Xie Lian was confident that whatever awaited them, he possessed the strength to fight it. He might not be able to communicate with the other gods right now, but his spiritual energy surged as he nodded and stood to follow. The surroundings continued to shock him. Some type of green fabric covered the gambling tables. Brass lanterns swung above their heads and glowed without, it seemed, the use of fire.
San Lang, in step behind him, put a hand to Xie Lian’s lower back. “Gege?” he said through his private array.
“Huh?” Xie Lian. “How are you able to speak to me this way? I can’t connect to the other gods.”
“We must be in another realm. Since we’re here together, we’re still able to connect with each other.”
“What could be powerful enough to summon us to another realm?”
Before San Lang could answer, the man guiding them motioned to an alcove beyond a brocade curtain that he swept aside with a pale hand. There was no one waiting in the room beyond, which contained a comfortable space with a pair of sofas and a cart of glitzy bottles that held, Xie Lian presumed, alcohol. He entered the alcove and sat facing the door. San Lang remained standing.
Xie Lian expected the man who had escorted them to excuse himself and go to fetch their mysterious host, so he was surprised when the man entered the room as well and fell onto the opposite sofa. With a sigh, he extended a slender arm along the back of it.
“I imagine you’re confused,” he said.
“Did you bring us here?” asked Xie Lian.
The man shook his head. “I’m afraid it was the doing of my old master. Many decades ago he created a series of portals to other realms, but lately the magic has gone haywire. They’ve started opening up all over the place! The Grand Sorcerer is working to fix them, but he’s new to this, and Huey didn’t leave instructions. My name is Aster.”
His smile revealed a predator’s fangs. San Lang, likely having seen them, laid a steady hand on Xie Lian’s shoulder.
“What is he?” Xie Lian asked San Lang privately.
“I’m not sure. I can smell blood.”
Xie Lian nonchalantly sniffed the air. “Ah, you’re right,” he said, fighting off the dusty memory of his soldiers dying on battlefields. “It smells human. Do you think he’s consuming it?”
“With those fangs, it’s almost a certainty.” San Lang cleared his throat and said out loud, “What is this place?”
“This is one of my casinos,” Aster said. “You’re lucky that you ended up here and not in the fountain! It’s frozen over this time of year.”
“And the broader location?” Xie Lian prompted.
“Klein Continent. Where are you from?”
When Xie Lian told him, Aster shook his head.
“I’ve never heard of it. Most of the portals have reopened after a few hours, but this one is finicky. The last person it sent through was stuck here for more than a week. I’d recommend that you wait close by in case it opens suddenly, but of course, if you’d like to stay somewhere more comfortable, I can recommend a good hotel.”
The prospect of exploring an entirely new world was intriguing, but if the portal only opened sporadically, for San Lang’s sake, Xie Lian supposed it was best that they remain in the casino and leave as soon as possible. After all, who knew how long they might be stuck here otherwise? Then again, if they did some exploring, maybe they could discover another way home.
“I can see what gege is thinking,” San Lang said in their private array. “If you’d like to explore, I’ll accompany you. It isn’t as though we have any pressing business.”
Covering his mouth, Xie Lian lightly cleared his throat. “My name is Xie Lian,” he told Aster. “This is Hua Cheng.”
The hand on Xie Lian’s shoulder tightened. Aster seemed to understand the action and, with a laugh, cast his red eyes away.
“You don’t need to be concerned. I’m spoken for, and I only drink from him.”
“Ah!” Xie Lian brightened, noting a large reddish stone set into a ring on Aster’s hand.
A flurry of questions sprung into his head like a flock of San Lang’s butterflies, beginning with the sort of person that would let another feed on his blood, but was it polite to ask about such things?
“It might seem strange,” he said, “but I would appreciate the opportunity to see more of the continent. Where would you suggest we start?”
Xie Lian could appreciate that not everyone was safely able to accept a stranger’s invitation to stay at his home, for one could never been too careful when traveling, but there were advantages to being a god.
“What a beautiful palace!” he exclaimed on stepping into the opulent front doors to Aster’s home. From the bright corners to the soaring ceiling, every part was immaculate and shining.
“My husband is the one with the palace,” Aster said, his pale eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks at the mention. He continued talking as he guided them through the hallway toward a sitting room. “I hate to admit that it’s grander than my mansion. If you don’t mind the heat, you should travel to Solaria while you’re here. You can speak with him about it over dinner. He’s with the King at the moment, but he should be back soon.”
King? “Ah,” Xie Lian said as he and San Lang took a seat on a plush velvet couch. “Your husband, he is . . .?”
“That’s right, you aren’t from Klein,” Aster said, settling into an adjacent carved chair. “Solaria is a desert kingdom in the Fire Territory, and Dante is the Sun Lord there. Oh, but don’t let his status intimidate you. He’s not concerned with formality.”
From the corner of his eye, Xie Lian saw San Lang bite back a laugh.
“And you operate casinos, Lord Aster?” asked Xie Lian, repeating the title a graying man in a suit had used to address him when they’d arrived.
“Just Aster is fine. I’m a businessman, mostly trade. The casinos are merely a side business. What type of work are you in?”
“I collect scraps,” said Xie Lian. Not a lie, not exactly. He had spent the better part of centuries doing it, and old habits were hard to break.
“Scraps you say? Is there a lot of money in that?”
“Very little, I’m afraid.”
“Ah,” Aster said and thrust out his bottom lip. His gaze shifted to San Lang. “Do you also collect scraps?”
“I operate a gamblers’ den,” said San Lang.
Aster’s eyes widened. “Do you! Would you mind telling me about some of the games? The young master only knows a few, and I’ve already introduced them to my patrons. Something new would give me an edge on my competition. What do you permit them to wager?”
“The usual things,” San Lang said casually and ticked them off on his fingers. “Personal belongings, money, spiritual energy, vital organs. Occasionally a life.”
“Really!” Aster exclaimed.
“Do not give him ideas,” said a new voice. A young man with chest-length red hair and an imposing aura strode from the doorway to Aster’s side. His gold-trimmed cape and jeweled staff whispered of wealth. Without a care, he tossed the cape aside and took a seat.
“Welcome home, darling~,” Aster said with absurd sweetness, fluttering his eyes. “We have new guests courtesy of the casino portal. This is Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.”
“Hello!” said Xie Lian. “You must be the Sun Lord. Aster was kind enough to invite us to visit while we’re here.”
He kept his smile in place as he studied their newest member. While Dante did not possess as much spiritual energy as Aster, he had plenty himself. The white markings on his skin pulsed with it.
“Do you both cultivate?” Xie Lian asked.
“I have a gardener for that,” Aster said.
“Ah, I meant spiritual cultivation?”
“One of the clan members is a priest, but neither of us regularly visits a temple.”
“I don’t think they understand,” Xia Lian said privately to San Lang. “If they don’t cultivate, how are they so powerful?”
“They may use another term for it,” San Lang replied. “Or it could come to them naturally.” Xie Lian quietly considered this and changed his question.
“You mentioned a sorcerer?”
“An impostor,” Dante muttered.
Aster laid a pale hand over one of Dante’s and smiled in Xie Lian’s direction. “The young master is new to magic. It isn’t his fault; they don’t have it where he’s from. He’s doing his best but it’s taken him a while to learn to control his essence, and the portals require so much of it.”
Essence! That must be the term for it here. Xie Lian politely cleared his throat. “Ah, forgive me if this is rude, but if more essence is what you need, perhaps we can help? We both posses quite a lot of it. I’m something of a sorcerer myself.”
San Lang’s voice rang in his head: “Gege, why are you volunteering to help them?”
“Maybe we were sent here for a reason. You and I aren’t harmed by this place, but imagine a mortal forced through . . .”
“That’s kind of you,” Aster said, “but the level of power required is quite a lot more than most people possess. Neither of us is able to do much at all.”
Xie Lian accepted the refusal with grace, but Aster continued.
“Of course, there’s no harm in trying. The nearest portal is in the library. I’ll show you there after lunch.”
Once they had stuffed themselves with the extravagant meal that Aster’s chef had prepared, the four relocated to the library, an immense two-story room at the other end of the ground level. From floor to ceiling it was stacked with shelf upon shelf of bound books on every subject that Xie Lian could imagine: science, philosophy, legends, intimacy. He quickly reshelved that volume and cleared his throat.
“What an impressive collection!” he said, fanning his reddened cheeks. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this many books in one place.”
“Please read any that you like,” Aster said. He motioned to a place on the floor beneath a carved table and chairs. “This was the first one that reopened. It’s active every few days.”
Xie Lian knelt down to examine the portal. Even though it wasn’t visible, he could sense the energy leaking from it.
“Gege, be careful,” San Lang said, kneeling beside him. “We have no idea where this leads.”
“Do you feel that?” Xie Lian asked.
San Lang pursed his lips and said a moment later, “A teleportation array?” He laid his hand on the floor and a figure appeared around it: a series of nested circles and strange markings that Xie Lian could not read, drawn as if with light on the wide stone tiles. While the circles should have been rotating smoothly and at the same speed, they whirled in both directions and the markings strobed. Even at a bit of a distance from the array, Xie Lian could feel energy spilling from it.
“There’s a concealment barrier,” he said, patting the space around it with both hands. “It seems to be fluctuating. That may be why the portals are opening and closing on their own.” He laid his hand beside San Lang’s and poured some spiritual energy into the array. After a moment, the figure stabilized. The circles rotated to the right in a smooth, even motion, and the energy leak ceased.
He tapped it once and the circles stopped spinning as the portal opened. Xie Lian leaned close to it and tried to connect to the other gods.
Silence.
“This one doesn’t lead to our world,” he said. He tapped the portal again to close it and stood, brushing dust from his robes.
“You are not an impostor,” Dante said, sounding impressed. Xie Lian gave a modest smile and waved off the praise.
“Ah, it’s nothing. A bit of magic I picked up here and there.”
Aster was watching him through widened eyes. He took a step nearer, another, and raised a hand toward Xie Lian’s face. Something red flashed in his peripheral vision. Xie Lian caught San Lang’s wrist before he could intervene and squeezed his hand. He thought he recognized the searching look in Aster’s eyes, as though he was earnestly looking for someone he’d lost.
“Aster?” Dante said. “Is something wrong?”
Before he could touch Xie Lian’s skin, Aster dropped his hand and stepped back to Dante’s side. “I thought . . . maybe . . .” he began, but whatever it was on his mind, he shook off the thought. “Is it fixed?” he asked. “The portal.”
“It should be, at least for a number of years—longer with proper maintenance,” said Xie Lian. “I didn’t think to try reopening the one that brought us here. I feel a little foolish.”
“I suppose you’ll want to return home immediately,” Aster said.
Xie Lian couldn’t pretend not to be relieved that he and San Lang were not stranded in another realm. A part of him did want to get home right away, but if he could prevent misfortune by sparing a little time here, he was happy to do it. He knew better than anyone what it was to feel helpless, after all.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “Now that we know we can get back any time we like, perhaps we could assist with the other arrays? I can teach your Grand Sorcerer how to repair them.”
“You are the one deserving of that title,” muttered Dante. In Xie Lian’s private array, San Lang agreed.
“Hahaha,” laughed Xie Lian. “You’re too kind, but as I told Aster earlier, I merely collect scraps.”
After three weeks of traveling across Klein Continent lending a bit of spiritual energy here and there, and a relaxing stay at Dante’s palace in Solaria along with the Grand Sorcerer himself—just a boy from the look of him, though Xie Lian knew as well as anyone that looks could be deceiving—Xie Lian and San Lang returned to the casino where they had first appeared.
“I wonder if we’ll ever see each other again,” mused Aster, who had assumed a smaller form a head shorter than Dante, which he made up for with knee-high heeled boots. Xie Lian had been delighted when he’d first seen it and nearly slipped about San Lang’s various disguises.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to activate the array from the other side,” said Xie Lian.
Aster peered up at Dante. “I suppose it would be a problem if the Sun Lord of Solaria were stranded in another realm. And if I, easily the most important person in Kleinster, were unable to get back, the kingdom would definitely suffer!” He twisted his pink lips into a pout, but to Xie Lian and San Lang he said cheerfully, “Thank you for your help, and for teaching the young master a few new games! I’m going to put my competition out of business.”
San Lang gave him a rare, genuine smile.
“If you do come through, find me at Paradise Manor in Ghost City. If I’m not there, give your name.”
“Paradise Manor!” Aster exclaimed. “I may borrow that.”
San Lang laid a pair of dice in Aster’s palm and bid goodbye to Dante. Xie Lian slipped his arm through San Lang’s and touched the casino wall. The array activated, rotating around his fingertips. They stepped through the portal. Before it closed, Xie Lian looked back to see Aster and Dante standing arm in arm. Dante raised a hand in farewell.
Like a bow string pulled taut, the space around them quivered. Xie Lian and San Lang were thrust back into Qianding Temple.
Xie Lian picked himself up off of the floor. “Ah, San Lang,” he said, offering a hand to help him up. “Are you alright? The array wasn’t as steady as I’d hoped.”
“I can’t sense it from this side,” San Lang said, placing his hands on the temple wall and feeling around. “To get an array past me, what kind of person was that original sorcerer?”
“I doubt we’ll ever know.” Xie Lian leaned against the altar. “Thank you for humoring my request to travel. I’m sure there are many places you’d rather go, but I really had a very nice time!”
“If gege is happy, that’s all that matters.”
“You can choose where we visit next. Anywhere you like.”
“The location doesn’t matter as long as you’re with me.”
“If I insist?”
“In that case, I choose here.”
“Here?” Xie Lian said. “This temple?”
“What better place than the temple I built for you? Lie on the altar, dianxia, and allow me to pay tribute.”
“That—that isn’t how it works!” cried Xie Lian even as his back met with the altar’s cool stone and a certain ghost king settled between his legs. “San Lang. San Lang!”