Chapter Text
“This is ridiculous.”
That was all Hua Cheng thought about the situation as he watched Feng Xin try and fail to act like a regular human being in front of a young woman who worked a vegetable stand at a small market. He watched from the sidelines as the archer looked increasingly jittery and nervous as time went on.
“Gege, he’s going to lose it soon,” he muttered quietly. “He looks as if he’s about to combust.”
“He’s doing better than last time. Have some faith in him, San Lang,” the prince next to him urged.
“You know the only one I have faith in is you.”
Xie Lian waved that off with a small huffed laugh. “Yes, yes. Well then, at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we won’t have to step in this time.”
But then the bodyguard’s unmistakable awkward shout and a desperate glance towards them proved Hua Cheng was right. Xie Lian stepped forward to take over the transaction, leaving Hua Cheng to cross his arms and shoot a look of contempt at Feng Xin.
“Shut it, Brat,” the man huffed when the prince took his place. “She touched my arm. You saw that, right? That she touched my arm?”
“I saw a grown man about to cry because a woman was talking to him, like usual,” he recounted. Yes, he’d seen the arm thing, but who cared? He should’ve bet money on how fast Feng Xin would call for backup.
“His Highness is good at interacting with people. He should really be handling it from the start; we’d be on our way faster.”
“You dare assign him something so trivial?”
“Ideally no, but…” the man glanced warily over to where the prince was politely smiling and engaging in light conversation with the woman.
Feng Xin was borderline useless when it came to having to speak one on one with women. Hua Cheng couldn’t figure out why he was so scared, even if women did fawn over him. They fawned over Xie Lian more, and he wasn’t afraid at all!
“You need to get over that fear. They’re not going to attack you, and if they did, you can deflect without hurting them,” Hua Cheng pointed out. “You should at least try so gege doesn’t have to step in.”
Feng Xin bristled. “And you should try to be less intimidating. I know damn well you have the ability to look at people without contempt. You’ve already grown like a fucking bamboo shoot towering over everyone. Maybe try being more friendly and you won’t intimidate townspeople anymore.”
“I don’t mind intimidating them. I get the best deals if I do anyways,” he pointed out. Two years of growing almost nonstop ended with him looking like a proper adult soldier, even if he was half a year away from being called one.
He utilized his height and expressions to make sure people knew he wasn’t one to be messed with, and flashed an even more unpleasant glare if someone dared even look the wrong way at the prince. It was then that his red eye finally became useful for something.
Unfortunately, Xie Lian had agreed with Feng Xin that the boy was scaring the people at the markets far too much and instead tasked him to ask for information on the State Preceptors and do his self-assigned attendant duties instead.
Now, while the prince got their order filled, Hua Cheng and Feng Xin continued to wait and took note of anyone around the marketplace who looked like they might have information on the men they were looking for. So far, even after two years, there was no solid information given.
There had been a few wild goose chases that led to other cultivators, and even a few that ended up as intentional misleads, but nothing that had been linked to Mei Nianqing and his fellow State Preceptors.
It was frustrating to have travelled so long without any answers, and thanks to Xie Lian’s banishment, there was no contact or information from the gods other than a brief talk with Yushi Huang, the Rain Master, when they dropped off her spiritual device.
She didn’t have any information save for the foreseeable weather changes in Yong’an, agreeing to briefly take over for the prince– likely as pity for his unfair banishment–until the natural rain was more steady.
At least she was better than that traitor, Mu Qing! Hua Cheng was bitter that the man was still in heaven with no word sent to Xie Lian or Feng Xin. What kind of former deputy was he? What kind of friend?
Screw Jun Wu and his dumb heavenly rules! Xie Lian mattered far more.
Hua Cheng was soon pulled out of his mental grumbling when the prince returned to where they stood at the side of a small market, goods in his arms. It wasn’t all that much, only some fresh produce and rice; they tried to be frugal with their money and only bought foods they couldn’t easily acquire themselves.
It had taken a long time for Xie Lian to adjust and understand the value of his gold coins, but now, he was more like a rational noble spending money rather than a child with an unlimited allowance.
As for the rest of their meals, Feng Xin’s accuracy with his bow had proven extremely useful. However, since they’d been catching wild animals to eat, he always seemed to have an opinion on if it ‘looked right’ when Hua Cheng cooked it.
It was fine, though! He even dared to say it was even almost delicious now! He’d figured it out rather quickly with observation and the help of a scroll a kind woman had given to them out of worry.
“Alright, San Lang, let’s go store these,” Xie Lian instructed, pushing the haul into his arms. “What meat do you think they’d go good with?”
“Whichever one we manage to get, I can make it work to your tastes,” he answered before sending a small glare at the bodyguard. “As long as there’s no meddling or snide comments to distract me.”
“No promises,” Feng Xin returned.
The boy shook his head. “Come near the pot and I’ll mess with your clothes in ways you wouldn’t be able to detect until it’s too late. It would get more women’s attention, too.”
The man clearly saw through him. “You don’t know fuck-all about clothing or what women like.”
“I know more than you!”
“Bullshit!”
“Let’s go back to the carriage,” the prince intruded on their small argument. “Feng Xin, I know it’s hard to resist poking and meddling, but San Lang has proven he’s good at cooking, even with unfamiliar ingredients.”
The man grumbled. “We have a scroll. If I had that much time to practice and get it right, I’d be better too.”
“Well, do you want to risk it? Technique isn’t everything. San Lang’s food tastes better than what we could make, and we only really need one cook.”
“… Fine.”
They made their way back to their transport. It wasn’t the same one they’d left Xianle in; that one had a large cabin and was loaded to the brim with swords and treasures, painted a clearly luxurious design with vivid colours and soft curtains.
After travelling for a long time and dealing with several coveting eyes, they decided to whittle it down to only a couple of swords, necessities, and a bit of entertainment packed into a modest carriage that didn’t catch as many bandits’ eyes as the royal one.
Xie Lian had hesitated and clearly almost teared up when they sent over half their brought treasures back to Xianle with a paid merchant on his way there. Seeing that, Hua Cheng had wanted to take a second carriage just to hold everything, but had been shut down by his companions and common reasoning.
“Gege, we should start asking around about the State Preceptors,” he brought up once depositing their new supplies in a special basket. “We got too distracted at the inn last night.”
“Those beds were very comfortable,” Xie Lian nodded, his face turning nostalgically blissful before snapping back to a more serious expression. “You’re right, though. Let’s get to work.”
With that, they split up with the agreement to meet back at the inn at sundown. They planned on leaving immediately in the morning so they’d done their shopping ahead of time, but they were still there on business. However futile it seemed at this point.
Xie Lian reasoned that since the State Preceptors were high level cultivators, they probably hadn’t even needed to stop in towns. Perhaps they’d stopped at homes along the way as they needed and did fortune telling in exchange for shelter if they got tired of the elements? Mei Nianqing was very talented with it, not that Hua Cheng liked to remember and admit.
But wouldn’t that explanation make their search so far meaningless? They’d been exploring the south, stopping in every town, doing out-of-the-way favours as a cultivator and his friends, and avoiding skirmishes and wars for two years.
The south was too big! It was a huge shock that Mu Qing had been given reign over it! As if that man could handle dealing with several people and constant prayers at his shabby temples.
Both Hua Cheng and Feng Xin grimaced at the first temple statue they saw had been developed and prayed at. Hua Cheng because he didn’t care about any temple that wasn’t for His Highness, and Feng Xin because he found the statue crudely made.
It was almost funny how upset Feng Xin got over it, but when Xie Lian had teared up and agreed it wasn’t the same, but close enough, the boy wanted to burn down the statue and describe to someone how to make a good one. It couldn’t possibly be that hard, right?
Shortly after that experience, they began seeing the statues along the way as more refined and beautiful. Still not completely capturing Mu Qing’s likeness, but it seemed to satisfy his friends enough for Hua Cheng to accept as he stood by while the others prayed.
The only god he wanted to involve himself with, to pray to, to carve or draw or describe, was His Highness. Even if he somehow never ascended again, he was still the only god to Hua Cheng who refused to show any form of worship anyone else.
Mu Qing probably would’ve spat blood on hearing his prayers anyways.
But now, after a long and fruitless journey, they were finally starting their search in the southwest. They’d looked through the southeast rather thoroughly for a few years and there was nowhere notable left to check.
The prince’s current theory was that perhaps the State Preceptors went straight south first along the main connecting road and then went west to follow whatever they were looking for to confirm their suspicions towards the masked ghost, who had yet to pop back up since they’d left Xianle.
At first, Xie Lian worried that leaving hadn’t actually made the ghost leave too. That perhaps he was being too conceited to think that it was him being haunted and not his kingdom.
However, with a few messages back and forth with the queen, it didn’t sound like anything suspicious had happened there either.
Things sounded like they had been looking up in Xianle. Thanks to the weather and the Rain Master’s minor involvement, Yong’an was finally beginning to return to being functional. The survivors had been able to grow and harvest their first good crops the previous fall, and those who’d moved along to a further city weren’t causing any trouble.
The kingdom had also rebuilt their relationships with those traitorous surrounding countries. After those backstabbers had heard they’d been helping a supreme ghost and enemy of heaven puppet the near-downfall, their pathetic kings backpedaled hard.
So altogether, Xianle was back on track on being beautiful and powerful and...Well, Hua Cheng honestly didn’t really give a damn. The only part of his home country left that he’d ever truly cared for was on the road with him.
After doing their rounds of casual questioning with no good results, they met up at the inn with dejection weighing more and more in their bones. Worry that their trip would end up without any good results had set in quite a while ago, and every new town was another disappointment despite the plans to keep looking and the knowledge that the land was vast.
Xie Lian had started getting extremely concerned about six months into their journey. Consistent communications with the Mount Taicang temples said they hadn’t heard anything about the State Preceptors either, and they could only wonder what happened to ‘just a few months maximum’.
Hua Cheng did worry about his prince rather often. Xie Lian had mostly healed from his cousin’s betrayal, and the hurt over his city’s conflictions about him – which were still a bit of an issue, but not a loud one since the prince in question was gone – but the guilt from killing Qi Rong still weighed down sometimes, as well as the sacrifices of the war.
Xie Lian ultimately still felt he’d failed, even though Hua Cheng and Feng Xin saw it completely different; had he not been there to help, it probably would have been the end of Xianle.
They supposed there probably would have been less deaths if Lang Ying took over, but only a few, along with a completely unknown and potentially unstable future for the rest of the kingdom.
However, the prince continued to disagree and take all the blame whenever they tried to reassure him. Leaving Xianle was for the country’s safety from the ghost, but also a personal banishment to atone for what he still felt guilty over.
They got a single room for the night. Thanks to their time spent travelling, they didn’t worry as much about personal space and were able to either cram onto a bed or have someone sleep on the floor.
It was a luxury compared to camping on the road. The simplest of tents was enough to shield them from nature’s forces, but sometimes they weren’t able to beat the rain and ended up sleeping in the carriage instead.
That in particular was a guilty pleasure of Hua Cheng’s - since it was rather small, the three of them ended up pressed together with Xie Lian in the middle, since the soldier’s instinctive habit of lashing out in his sleep on whoever touched him was only circumvented by His Highness.
Feng Xin had once learned the hard way.
And in the morning at the inn, Hua Cheng helped his prince get ready for the day, steady and resolved on the outside as he melted on the inside as he did every day since he’d been able to pick up attendant duties.
Xie Lian had long forgone his expensive brightly-coloured clothing, settling for his simple gold-underlaid silk cultivator robes that he could mostly manage himself, but Hua Cheng also made sure to fix his sash and ties when they needed it.
He mostly focused on his prince’s hair, making sure it was combed and tidy, put up in whatever style the man wanted. He’d practiced on his own hair so much that it was easy by now to style Xie Lian’s in a few different ways.
Xie Lian normally preferred a half-bun with a ribbon, but on occasion requested a ponytail with simple hair ornament, or a low braid, which Hua Cheng had done in small amounts on himself until he was seen with one hanging from just behind his ear more often than not.
He would’ve loved to finish his own little braid off with the coral earring that had fallen from His Highness’s god-pleasing martial warrior costume, a reminder of the day that changed his life…
But he didn’t want to be asked questions about it. Or worse, for the prince to decide he was a thief and send him away, even though he’d simply caught the earring as it had slipped off. The boy hadn’t been able to give it back initially and had used it as a motivating token to keep him alive.
Instead, the coral pearl stayed in a small bag with a few other mementos he kept that the others didn’t go through, and in his hair was instead a thin red ribbon to feel like he was matching slightly with the white silk he was currently using to finish tying up the prince’s hair.
They then went to their carriage and left the town with no answers yet again.
It was getting frustrating; those State Preceptors didn’t necessarily stand out all that much, but their behaviour sure did. Hua Cheng was surprised no one they’d asked had come across a haughty group with a holier-than-thou demeanor.
“Fuck. I’d say another dead end, but there haven’t been any leads in the first place,” Feng Xin cursed, huffing and crossing his arms.
Hua Cheng, who’d taken the reigns for the first stretch, nodded along. “I’m starting to wonder if they even came south.”
“Jun Wu said the last prayer he heard from them was in the south,” Xie Lian reminded them. “It’s the best we’ve got.”
The boy frowned. “What if he was mistaken? He’s got a lot of temples, gege, and he’d said it had been a while.”
Honestly, he wondered if the emperor was lying; he wouldn’t put it past someone slimy enough to put a shackle on a god for helping his people. However, he dared not voice something so potentially distressing to the already stressed prince.
Powerful as Jun Wu was, Hua Cheng had never been impressed with him, and the reasons to hate him only grew, now including potentially sending them on a meaningless search for two years.
“I… Suppose that could have happened,” Xie Lian murmured. “Well, either way, we’re going to be branching out. That’s why we’ve come to the south we-”
He was cut off when a loud smack rang out and nearby tree shook suddenly and terribly, as if something heavy crashed into it. Hua Cheng didn’t slow the horses, but they still watched the area in confusion as they passed by. He hummed, wondering if a wild boar ran into it or something.
Actually, with that potential…
“Hey asshole, make yourself useful and go see if it’s dinner-worthy,” the boy nodded towards it, laughing inwardly as the archer went from annoyed to furious. It was always too funny to rile him up.
“Fuck off,” he growled, though he grabbed and prepped his bow anyways. As he did that, they slowed the carriage down so he could jump off, and then stopped once pulled off more to the side. It was probably a good time for a short break anyways.
Feng Xin approached that tree carefully, darting to its side of the road blindingly fast and then hiding behind trunks as he stealthily moved closer and closer. He readied his shot as he got to the last few trees and stepped out, prepared to shoot, when they heard an inhuman-yet-human sounding shriek.
Out from the treeline ran a ghost!
It was quite large but warped, clearly low ranked with an uneven amount of many eyes, solid clumps of patchy hair, and no noticeable power other than somehow thudding into a tree hard enough to shake it. Seeing Feng Xin’s aim following it, it cowered in the middle of the road.
“I just can’t get away from you lousy humans!” it wailed, covering its head. “Every time a wave comes, a human comes! Just end me already! I can’t stand being beaten half to dissipation anymore!”
The archer glanced over at the carriage, and they could see his befuddled expression even from that distance as he lowered his bow.
Hua Cheng sighed and manoeuvred the carriage to turn around and get closer since there was no way they’d abandon their items in the middle of the road; it was possible that some bandits might’ve actually been clever enough to use a ghost as bait.
“Why are you out here?” Xie Lian asked once they got closer. “It’s daylight. How unusual.”
“Daylight, moonlight, doesn’t matter if I’ve got a long journey filled with endless suffering,” he groaned, looking up at the sky half-covered with the treetops and wincing. In the dappled sunlight, he looked rather transparent.
Hua Cheng hadn’t heard much about ghosts being willing to endure the sun since it was generally a weakness, especially for those with little power. “Where are you traveling?”
“North, of course! I can’t stand its call any longer. I might as well just go,” he huffed as he attempted to block out the rays. “What, are you cultivators? Maybe you can just kill me already. I don’t wanna disappear yet, but this is unbear-AAAH!”
He suddenly crumbled to the ground with his hands clutching his warped head, howling in pain while the dirt beneath him seemed to shake and shift as if there was a small quake.
The three humans looked at each other, silently debating if they should kill him out of mercy. However, what he’d said was rather curious, and Xie Lian held his hand out, blocking the ghost from any potential attacks to show his decision to hold off for now.
A few minutes later, whatever was happening stopped, and the ghost trembled on shaky legs as he brought himself to stand again. “It’s getting worse.”
The prince was the one to inquire. “What exactly is happening?”
All of his eyes formed into a glare. “Hell if I know! A few months ago, just bam! All ghosts around were hit by more pain than most of us ever experienced in life! There’s rumours from seers that the power to ease the pain is promised up north so we’re all goin’.”
Well, that sounded rather dangerous and unpleasant for the world. Hua Cheng could hardly imagine what kind of power was promised to ghosts. Whatever it was couldn’t be good for the human realm. Having the white-clothed supreme was already too much, even if he hadn’t shown his face in two years…
Dread overtook him as his mind connected potential dots. “Gege, the supreme. He might go north, too.”
“If he’s still gravely wounded… Even if he isn’t, that sounds like the perfect place to get more power if he hasn’t succumbed to this pain yet,” the prince agreed, his tone grave. “We may have to put the search for the State Preceptors on hold.”
“Isn’t this exactly the type of thing that gods are supposed to take care of?” Feng Xin pointed out cautiously. “We’re all just human right now. Do you think we stand a chance against thousands, maybe even millions of ghosts while we’re mortal?”
Xie Lian nodded again. “If we pray and it’s about ghosts, they should help. We can ask a few to join us in hunting that supreme. Jun Wu wants him gone, too, so I’m sure he’s keeping an ear out for me relating to this.”
Hua Cheng’s heart sank. “Gege, are you sure you want to rely on the chance they’ll descend to help?”
“No, but that creature hasn’t shown up during our travels like I thought he would. He might still be weak and recovering,” Xie Lian pointed out. “It could be the best chance, and I don’t want to let it slip through our fingers. I want to be there to confirm it myself, or else I’ll never be able to guarantee Xianle’s safety.”
After all this, of course the prince still cared deeply about his country, even willing to face a supreme possibly about to gain a lot of mysterious power while hardly holding any spiritual energy.
“Well, it’s not like we’re completely defenseless,” Hua Cheng reluctantly pointed out.
He’d been training hard and building up his own spiritual power. The prince had revealed after a year that he’d known about it the whole time, as the copied scrolls had been carelessly left open a couple of times while his attention was grabbed away.
Thanks to that, he’d been further guided on how to channel and use that spiritual power, especially with his sword. It had been an interesting feeling to use it on some of the bandits, like there was another extension of himself able to cut through anything without as much resistance. It was far too easy to slice with it, and he made sure to not use it while sparring until he was more controlled.
Xie Lian had also been teaching him small varieties of magic seals and spells that would work with his accumulated energy levels. They had been intriguing to test out, and with the guidance of the experienced cultivator who’d done so well with it as to ascend, it only took a couple of months before he was regularly performing those spells and assisting in making charms and talismans.
“You’re right, San Lang. You’ve improved a lot; I don’t think there are many ghosts that can stand up to you, unless they’re supremes at their peak or particularly powerful wraths,” the prince confirmed with him. “Even then, they’re rare and I am perfectly capable of keeping up with them with just my sword. Three of us with two using spiritual powers might even be overkill.”
“We can survive,” Hua Cheng finally agreed with a firm nod.
If his prince was so confident and determined, who was he to argue? Besides, he wasn’t about to leave Xie Lian’s side, especially if the man was ever directly in danger. The loyal soldier was all too ready to take any deadly blow for him.
Feng Xin sighed. “It won’t be pleasant, but there’s no way I’d sit this out.”
The boy turned to the malformed spirit and gave his most intimidating look, which by now was really saying something. “Ghost. Where is this event happening? You must know something other than ‘north’ if there are seers involved.”
“Some sort of mountain,” he replied quickly, almost cowering at the glare. “That’s all I’ve heard. I just follow the pull.”
“You feel drawn to it?”
“Yes! And it’s agonizing! It makes me feel like I’m going mad!”
Hua Cheng and Feng Xin exchanged a look. As much as they knew they couldn’t trust a ghost, and that it would probably be better to just disperse it, it was their best chance at finding it directly instead of wandering another two years and giving the white-clothed creature the chance to claim whatever power was foretold.
Xie Lian glanced at them questioningly, and they all nodded before he spoke. “Come with us and lead the way. We can get you there faster.”
“Fine! As long as I get to put a stop to this pain!” he groaned, holding his head that was likely still aching.
He was allowed up front between Hua Cheng and Feng Xin, so they could keep their eyes on him, and he could direct where the pull was coming from.
The ghost turned out to be quite cynical and rather annoying, but even though the boy clutched his saber with a tighter grip at times and felt the spiritual power build up inside him as he displayed restraint with his blade, there was thankfully nothing that spurred him over the edge to disperse it.
Days and then weeks went by as they rerouted, following the path from the far southwest back along one of the main roads they’d taken several times.
They saw many other ghosts and nefarious beings along the way that had been called to the north as well. Xie Lian was confused on why he hadn’t known about such an event and voiced his displeasure. Surely the State Preceptors didn’t keep such an important thing from him?
According to the ghost, this was the first time anyone clinging to the afterlife had ever experienced it, and they concluded that it had to be either a once every few millennia thing or brand new.
They traveled until they reached a certain crossroad, and the carriage was brought to a stop even when the ghost urged them to take the one going north. The one that would lead them straight back to where they started their long journey.
Xianle.
They would have to go through it if they continued along the ghost’s path.
Hua Cheng’s heart ached when he swung around to look at the prince, who hung his head and sighed. He hated to even have to ask, the clash of priorities once again falling on the man. “Gege, what should we do?”
“Go around,” he muttered. “We can’t go through it. I can’t bring more devastation.”
“What a stupid thing to say!” the ghost scoffed. “The fastest way is through. Besides, how could one man bring devastation? What, do you think the world revolves around you or something?”
The boy pulled out his saber and held it in front of the shocked ghost’s neck. “Say that again. I dare you.”
“N-no thanks!”
“Feng Xin, go around.”
The man clicked his tongue. “Stop doing that. I don’t take orders from you.” But he still turned the horses around to find a path to the long way around. The ghost looked as if he wanted to complain more, but Hua Cheng kept the saber close to his throat.
Even if there was a large detour, it would still be quite a bit faster than walking. The ghost should be grateful. He was already blessed enough to encounter His Highness, let alone be allowed to ride with him despite being lowly dead scum.
There was another three weeks added to their travel time to fully go around and get back on the main road that went north. But after a certain point, the ghost started getting antsy, different than when he normally had the overwhelming waves of pain.
“Over that way,” he pointed off-road, his many eyes deeming dazed yet focused on something far beyond what they could detect.
Only with squinting and focusing very hard could they see the start of multiple peaks. Within it likely laid the promise of power! The living people couldn’t feel anything, but the ghost got more and more restless, fidgeting to the point of it being tempting to just tie him to a horse or something.
The off-road route was rather bumpy, and they began to face a large amount of trees that started to condense more and more, almost impossible to bring the carriage through. At a particularly difficult stretch, they decided to take a small break and discuss what to do.
“It seems it would be best if we part with the carriage,” Xie Lian was the one to reluctantly say. “It doesn’t seem like many people come around here, but I hope it will be here when we get back.”
“What about the horses? Who knows how long we’ll have to be?” Feng Xin pointed out. “We can’t just leave or release them.”
They were horses born and raised in the palace stables who probably wouldn’t make it on their own!
“How about we find a small town or settlement and ask them to watch our things?” Hua Cheng suggested. “There has to be one around since there was a main road until we started taking this shortcut. We can go back to it and try to find somewhere.”
“Well, that’s your own problem,” the ghost announced, hopping from the stilled carriage. “I can go the rest of the way and you know where it is now. If we see each other again it’s kill or be killed, so don’t expect me to be nice.”
Hua Cheng’s eyes narrowed but he let the ghost go. What an ungrateful bastard! Hitching a ride for months with a god and then just waving them off like they weren’t a threat at all. Like he hadn’t begged them several times to kill him, knowing full-well they could.
Whatever. It was good riddance. He was far past sick of the ghost anyways.
The three turned the carriage around and searched a couple of days for any sign of a town, finally coming across one at a more southern point of the range. A few specks of farmhouses in the scattered clearings of trees along the road, and then a couple more condensed residential houses, though some could almost be called shacks.
The townspeople who were out on the main road that went right through their settlement looked at them strangely as they entered. It was a very small town, enough to instead be called a village. Hua Cheng concluded that they probably didn’t see all that many visitors since it was so out of the way.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed the majority were staring at him and wanted to sigh. Of course. It was his damn red eye. Everywhere he went, it stuck out, but he didn’t want to scare anyone here since they were hoping to get some help. Or rather, a service, since they were going to be paying for it.
Xie Lian opened one of the curtains in the carriage and gave his kindest people-pleasing smile. “Excuse us, could you please point us to wherever your town leader is?”
“I’m right here,” a stern-looking woman called, making her way over with an arm full of things from the small market. “Who are you fancy fellows? I see at least one of you looks to be wearing Xianle armor, and you other two…”
Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped her items. Xie Lian’s smile turned strained, and Hua Cheng began to feel on edge. Would they chase them out since they were obviously from Xianle?
“You’re His Highness the Crown Prince of Xianle, aren’t ya?” she finally asked, scraping her jaw off the ground.
“Ah… Technically, yes,” Xie Lian confirmed. It wasn’t like he could hide or deny his identity. Not when there were statues and portraits of him everywhere in his country, though the majority weren’t all that accurate.
“No kidding! Wow. What an honour! Please, follow me to my home,” she beckoned.
It was a bit awkward trailing the carriage after a person’s walking pace, but they soon reached one of the bigger houses they’d seen in this village. They dismounted when she offered them to go inside, and looked around as she deposited her purchases in her kitchen.
The home was rather small but well-made, definitely more luxurious than the borderline shacks strewn around town. Rather fitting for the village leader. However, it wasn’t decorated all that much outside of some furs along the floor and small trinkets on a few visible surfaces.
Hua Cheng spotted a small statue of Xie Lian tucked across the side of the room, alongside a couple of other statues he didn’t care about at all. It was one of the more accurate ones, likely from the royal capital of Xianle.
No wonder she’d recognized him!
He relaxed a little bit, knowing he was in a place that still seemed to worship or at least respect his god. There really weren’t a lot outside of the more friendly countries who worshipped him when he’d ascended, and in those countries, they had let him go pretty quickly once the word spread he’d been cast out of heaven.
The village leader wrapped up her errand and soon joined them at her table with a tray of tea and cups.
“So. What brings you here, Your Highness?” she asked, the stern look from before having melted into a polite smile with sparkling eyes.
Hua Cheng felt his tension come back and fought the downward pull of his lips. The way she was leaning in and her extra politeness was not only because she was in front of royalty; she was clearly enjoying His Highness’s beauty. Not that it was anything to be denied as Xie Lian was the most beautiful in the world.
Still, that sparkling look of awe in her eyes made the boy’s stomach churn, and it took everything to keep his arms in place rather than wrapping protectively around the man. This was far from the first time they went through this. It never got easier.
“We are about to go into the mountain range up north to deal with several ghosts, but our horses and carriage won’t fit through the forest, let alone what must be beyond,” Xie Lian began to explain. “I was hoping to find a town that would watch over our horses and items. We aren’t sure how long we will be away, but we can pay you in advance.”
The woman shook her head and waved her hand. “Keeping your things safe isn’t an issue since not many pass through here, let alone stop. However, instead of payment, I’d like to make a request.”
“Oh?”
Her face became glum and serious. “Three months ago, twelve members of our village went missing. They were supposed to be going north to hunt, since there are quite a few larger creatures close to the mountains and it’s not exactly under any kingdom’s jurisdiction. They should have returned a few weeks ago but are still missing, and I worry about whatever ghosts you mentioned.”
“You would like us to find them?” Hua Cheng guessed.
“Exactly.”
“It seems like quite a large area,” Feng Xin muttered, glancing out the window in the direction of the mountains.
“It won’t hurt to keep an eye out. We can at least do our best, and if we come up short, we will pay you for the service,” Xie Lian decided, his firm tone implying no room for argument.
The woman nodded. “That’s reasonable. It would take years to search every nook and cranny. Either way, you will likely have more success than any of us. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
“Your horses will be well-kept here. No one in this village would even think to touch any of the items belonging to royalty, but I will keep them safe in my own home if that’s alright with you.”
“Perfectly fine,” Xie Lian conceded. Who would dare try to rob the village leader?
“Great. Please rest here for the night and take what you need in the morning to be on your way. I pray Your Highness will remember this kindness in the future and our village will be held in high regards of your kingdom.”
The prince nodded, donning a small polite smile. Hua Cheng wanted to huff. Of course people liked to be nice to advance their own standings, but that was the way the world worked. It probably wouldn’t be helpful at all for any of them to mention he wasn’t currently associated with Xianle politics.
This village was small enough to slip under the radar, and Xianle was big enough to not need or want anymore land, especially after the fiasco with Yong’an; how would expanding when they were still rather poor help anything?
They unloaded their items at the leader’s direction and stored them in an available closet with a lock. It was apparently the village treasury, though they were assured none of their items would be included in the count.
Afterwards, they shared a meal and set up for the night. Likely their last night in a long time that would be indoors. Hua Cheng was glad they’d gotten used to camping over the past two years, and that he’d been practicing barriers and warding talismans.
They would surely need it in a land infested with ghosts.
The next morning, they woke and gathered their necessary items split into two packs. Though Xie Lian wanted to carry one, the other two wouldn’t let him. It was still difficult for Feng Xin to treat him like he was a regular person who could do the hard labour, and Hua Cheng would never allow his beloved to carry any sort of burden if he could help it.
As they set out with the limited resources and hopes of the villagers on their backs, the boy suddenly felt a shiver run through him with the feeling of being watched and turned just slightly to try to find the source. He was used to being stared at by now, but there was something like bloodlust in the air directed straight at him.
To his annoyance, no one in the crowd stood out, and he wondered if perhaps there were just dangerous creatures up ahead. Either way, he was ready to take anything on. No longer was he the scrawny yet dangerous boy in the Xianle battlefields.
No, now he was a full grown man with a few years of practice and training from the very best. He’d grown even more deadly with his saber, gaining sharper senses and a quicker reaction time. Now, he was even on par with Feng Xin when they fought seriously.
And that made him the perfect soldier for His Highness to use however he wanted.