Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Xie Lian couldn't understand what urged him to do it. Truly, he had been happy enough just to watch the little red flower sway merrily in the wind. He knew he should’ve just departed, left to go busking and earn himself some coin for a meal and shelter…

But something about that red flower really stuck with him, so much so that he looked around, found an abandoned slightly chipped clay pot by the side of the road, and went back to pick it up, roots and soil included. 

By the time he even thought to question his actions, he had already walked most of the way to a different town, flower pot safely cradled in his arms. It was too late by then, so Xie Lian just sighed and resolved to take good care of his new friend. After all, how hard could it be to keep a small flower alive?

…

With his newly dispersed luck?

It turned out to be harder than what he’d imagined!

Initially, Xie Lian hadn’t noticed it that much, attributing the events going on around him to simple coincidence or his own clumsiness- though he had never really been that clumsy before.

The first time Xie Lian had built himself a small shelter to avoid braving the elements at night, only to have it crash down on him not even an hour later, he attributed that to his own poor skills. He’d been a prince and then a god for far longer than he’d been a wanderer, so it would make sense that he’d fall short, right?

But then it happened a second time, and then a third, and then a fourth, a fifth… And so on.

By the thirteenth time his improvised tent simply refused to stay up and shield him from the rain, Xie Lian had begun to think something was off. He had even asked a hunter from one of the villages he’d passed through to teach him how to make or find shelter in the wild, and the woman had been a very good and patient teacher. 

No, Xie Lian’s technique was good enough, but somehow he always ended up picking sticks that looked fine but were rotted on the inside or had termites feasting on them. It wouldn’t be long before they gave in under the weight of the entire structure.

And if it wasn’t the sticks, then the cloth he used for the tent had unseen tears in it or the rope he tied was too weak to properly stay knotted. Xie Lian had even considered using his odd spiritual tool instead of rope one time but quickly changed his mind. 

It seemed a bit too cruel even for the silk band.

When it was not his attempts to keep himself out of rain or the cold- don’t even ask about the amount of times he’d nearly set himself or the surrounding area ablaze when trying to rest by a lit fire- then it occurred when he was just walking down the road.

There would be a twig in the wrong place at the wrong time, a patch of leaves covering a tree root or a hole in the ground, a strip of slippery mud, a tree branch-this time simply on its own… or merely the flat ground. Whichever one, Xie Lian would trip and could consider himself lucky if that was all that happened. He had quickly grown used to sprained ankles, bruises all over his body from tumbling down hills, cuts and bleeding from somehow falling into the single thornbush in the area and so on.

It all paired “wonderfully” with his new-found ability to get lost even on the straightest of paths and end up in the worst possible places. If nothing else though, he was at least prepared to deal with bandits, thieves, mercenaries, random ghosts, fearsome monsters, or any other kind of “friendly” creature he managed to stumble across. 

Even with his hands tied or his limbs broken, they were never any match for the martial god- banished as he was, and sometimes, defeating them or capturing the human ill-doers and turning them in would earn him a meal, shelter for the night, some coin, or if he was really having a great rare day, all three of them.

Still, the misfortune continued. If a village or a family took him in as thanks for Xie Lian helping them get rid of threats, it would only be so long before one of their animals died or they found their harvest lacking. The fruits they picked would be sour or full of worms, their grain shrivelled up.

And though the animals were already old and the harvest hadn’t even been that plentiful to begin with, humans were very superstitious creatures after all. What made it worse was when someone recognised him as the Crown Prince of Xianle. It was rare, considering most of the world had abandoned and forgotten him, but when it happened, it always ended up with Xie Lian getting chased out of town, outraged cries of  “Jinx!” or “God of Misfortune!” at his heels. 

If it weren’t him at the centre of all of this, Xie Lian might’ve even found it comical. Not that he would ever delight in another’s pain- bad luck like his was simply too ridiculous! One had to laugh, lest they start lamenting it.

Yet somehow the flower was rarely, if ever affected by it. 

When his doomed attempts at shelter would fail, they never crashed down directly upon it, or if they did- it was at most some cloth covering it like a veil.

When he slipped down hills and ended up taking a tumble or two, the clay pot with the flower would somehow get safely stuck in the roots of some tree or just rolled down as gently as possible, little to no scratches to show for it.

If the clay pot ended up broken- and it had at least three times during the first week Xie Lian was taking care of it- the flower would still remain in almost pristine condition.

It truly baffled Xie Lian but part of him was also strangely grateful for it. If the little flower could withstand his bad luck, then it could keep him company for longer. 

Sometimes, when he came across a patch of land rich in spiritual energy, Xie Lian would channel some of it into the flower. Sure, he could’ve used it to heal any of the countless wounds on his body but by that point he barely felt pain anymore so he didn’t see a point. Besides, these areas were highly sought after by cultivators, even gods. It wouldn’t do him any favour to take too much power, making himself a target. The flower simply required less to ensure it prospered, so the choice was simple.

And perhaps Xie Lian really wanted to keep it alive- wanted to prove to himself he was still able to take care of something so seemingly fragile.

Three months passed like that, the god slowly adjusting to his new life with a flower and a sentient silk band at his side. Considering his poor luck, he was reluctant to get too close to any mortals, even if he was slowly learning how to better work around it.

More often than not, he only exchanged the necessary amount of words with the people he came in contact with, choosing instead to share his thoughts with his two silent companions. It was during one of those times, on a particularly cold winter night, that Xie Lian ended up giving them names.

“I truly felt for that ghost- I did! But he wanted to curse his fiance because she’d kept her lover even after their families arranged their marriage. It’s unfortunate that she didn’t love him back, but there’s nothing more to be done about that. I even tried to convince him to peacefully move on.” 

Xie Lian sighed, huddling closer to the flower pot. Ever since the first chills of winter made their way through the land, Xie Lian had taken it upon himself to spare no effort in keeping his little red flower warm. He would shield it from the harsh winds when they travelled and curl his body around the clay pot at night. Whenever he was fortunate enough to sleep at an inn or in someone’s house, he’d keep it closest to the hearth. 

“In the end, I had to disperse him.” He said, still dejected by the conclusion of his efforts. “I suppose that, be it mortals, gods or ghosts, we all fall victim to our sorrows.”

Absent-mindedly, his fingers gently skimmed across the soft petals of the flower. It was a gesture Xie Lian had started doing lately whenever he felt saddened by things. Then again, simply looking at the vibrant crimson red of the flower was enough to cheer him up most days. The little fellow had braved a lot by his side, all the while maintaining its vibrancy. This gave Xie Lian a little kernel of hope.

“We’ve been travelling companions for a while now. I should probably give you a name.”

He spoke up as soon as the idea popped in his head, the events of that day already forgotten. He was oddly excited by the premise of naming his "friend". He considered the flower for a few moments.

Xiao Hua- no, that was a bit too blatant.

Hmmm.

Hong’er maybe? Something tugged at the back of Xie Lian’s consciousness, a memory trying to make its way to the forefront like the first bloom of spring breaking through the snow. In the end it stopped just short of making it, but Xie Lian still turned down the name- it was basically no different from the first one he’d thought up!

Still, it made him think of red- an auspicious colour- the colour of weddings and blessed charms…

“Yunqi- Xiao Yunqi!” Xie Lian exclaimed delightedly. It was a fitting name for a being that had somehow survived even his lingering great misfortune- to some degree, he thought of the flower as his own little lucky charm.

The silk band chose that moment to make its presence known, slithering out of Xie Lian’s sleeve and fluttering around his face. At first Xie Lian was confused, then he instantly panicked and grabbed it when he saw it move to strike the flower. It wriggled around Xie Lian’s closed fist, as if trying to tell him something, yet Xie Lian only continued to look at it while trying to calm himself down.

Eventually it seemed to deflate, going limp in his hand. Xie Lian thought about its behaviour for a few moments before realisation struck him.

In these past months, whenever he started rambling, he’d usually do so while holding the flower and looking at it. The silk band was more often than not content to just act like bandages covering his wrist, but whenever Xie Lian talked to the flower it usually came out as well, doing this or that to try and grab his attention… Almost like a child jealous of their sibling for receiving their parent’s regard.

Xie Lian suddenly felt like chuckling.

“Do you also want a name?” He asked instead. 

In an instant the limp strip of silk came alive again, doing its best interpretation of an enthusiastic nod.

“Alright then… From now on, you shall be Ruoye.” If he was being honest with himself, the name had floated around in Xie Lian’s mind for a while. He’d simply not given it to the silk even though he considered it a spiritual tool because fully acknowledging it as such would also mean acknowledging the way that it came to be, and that… That was still too hard for Xie Lian to think about.

But the silk had no fault in it and it was even quite protective and attached to its master. For that, Xie Lian would take good care of it in return.

It was halfway into spring when Xie Lian had a nasty run-in with three heavenly officials.

Right after his banishment, they’d come to watch him in droves, disguised as humans. As the months passed and the novelty wore off, most of them lost interest and returned to their business. Not these three though. 

Nine times out of ten, if Xie Lian detected a divine presence in the crowd, one of them was there without fail- sometimes while not even bothering to wear a disguise! It was as if they wanted Xie Lian to recognise them. Unfortunately for them, Xie Lian had done an amazing job of locking most of his memories between the first sign of a drought in Yong’An and the Heavenly Emperor defeating Bai Wuxiang in the deepest recesses of his mind. He very much wanted them to stay there too.

He truly had no idea who they were, which made it all the more awkward when they continued to “whisper” behind his back, loud enough to reach the banished god’s ears. Xie Lian always did his best to pretend like they didn’t exist.

But then, his luck struck again, getting him kicked out of the inn he’d spent a few days recovering from illness at when their roof caved in.

As he was making his way down the road, half-heartedly dragging his feet towards the path leading outside of the small town, three figures stepped towards him from the crowd wearing unpleasant smiles on their faces.

They stopped in front of Xie Lian, blocking his way forward. You won’t ignore us this time their posture seemed to say. Xie Lian sighed.

“I know you’ve been watching me for a while, but I really can’t recall who you are. If we knew each other back in Heaven, I must apologise and ask that you forget about this old banished god.” He said with as much politeness as he could muster, his lingering fever making him rather testy. 

The smiles on their faces froze for a moment, anger flashing in their eyes. One of them stepped forward.

“Your Highness-” the official spat the title with sarcasm. “Now that you have been banished a second time, perhaps you’ve learned your lesson about robbing mortals?”

Oh.

They were among that group of gods. If anything, Xie Lian was more upset that they insisted on reminding him of those days than he was bothered by their words. He was just about to circle around them and continue on his way when, once again, his luck picked the worst moment to mess with him and he happened to slip on a patch of mud that had yet to properly dry.

Down he went, dropping Xiao Yunqi in the process, and landing on his bottom. The flower pot, displaying its usual immunity to Xie Lian’s misfortune, gently rolled until it stopped at the feet of the three officials.

At least I didn’t sprain anything this time. Xie Lian thought as he was about to get up and retrieve his little companion.

“What is this? Have you taken to gardening?” The official on the left spoke, leaning down to pick up the pot before Xie Lian could.

Xie Lian was about to ask for Xiao Yunqi back when the one who seemed to love flaunting Xie Lian’s past mistakes in his face piped up once again.

“Ah but this is quite a beautiful flower. I can even feel some spiritual energy coming from it. It would be a shame were it to be left in your careless-”

The official did not get to finish his sentence. In just one quick moment, Xie Lian had lunged for the group, securely taking back the flower pot and knocking them down and out in three consecutive kicks.

These officials who seemed to have too much time on their hands had forgotten one thing- Xie Lian had only ever been second to Jun Wu. Even when there were thirty-three of them and he had no spiritual powers, Xie Lian had only needed one branch to hold them back.

He didn’t know what these three had hoped to achieve on their own and he didn’t really care either. Carefully, he lifted Xiao Yunqi to check if anything had happened to it but the flower was ever so resilient.

Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile a little. Stepping past the prone bodies of the heavenly officials he continued on his way.

From that day on though, he would carefully avoid anything with a divine aura. After all, he had nothing more to do with the Heavens.

During summer, life took on a gentler rhythm.

Work in the fields was plentiful, food was abundant and the warm weather made it so that a night spent out in the wild was generally pleasant- if one could ignore the bugs that is. Unfortunately for Xie Lian he often ended up getting bitten. Still, that was a small inconvenience and a major improvement over the harsh winter he’d had to endure and the rainy spring that caused him to fall ill almost every other week. Things were starting to look up... Somewhat! 

Xie Lian had made a routine for himself. Whenever he first arrived in a village or small town, he would seek out the people in charge, usually the village chief or a wealthy family, asking if there was any work they needed extra hands for. Though he stayed away from things like cooking- far too many times it was that which had gotten him chased away- or mending, Xie Lian was willing to do pretty much anything else. He was even learning how to better perform activities he had never imagined himself doing back when he was a prince, like agriculture or construction. Hunting he’d been trained in, but it was always a nice experience to find out new techniques from people who had less resources than nobility to rely on when catching game.

He had the easiest time when the work required him to use his fighting prowess, slowly building himself a reputation as a wandering cultivator with each town or household he helped. But those kinds of jobs were rare and few in-between.

When none of that was available, Xie Lian would either busk or collect scraps, keeping the trinkets until he came across a big city market to sell or exchange them.

He didn’t stay much in one place, usually no longer than three or four days, so even if it had been only nine or so months since his second banishment, the god and his little companions had already travelled far and wide.

Xie Lian still fed Xiao Yunqi with drops of spiritual energy whenever he could borrow some from the abundant places he came across. By then, he no longer feared that the flower might wither overnight, but it had become a habit for him. It was a harmless thing anyways, so he saw no reason to stop it. Perhaps in a century or so, I’ll have cultivated a talking flower he mused occasionally.

But it wasn’t always easy to keep the flower safe, even with Xiao Yunqi’s immunity to Xie Lian’s bad luck.

After some children had tried to pluck the "pretty little red flower" while Xie Lian was busking and not paying attention, he only dared to leave Xiao Yunqi in Ruoye’s care whenever he needed to go somewhere he couldn’t bring the pot with him. The silk band hadn’t been too happy about it at the beginning, even going as far as to sneak back into Xie Lian’s sleeve leaving Xiao Yunqi behind, but Xie Lian’s resolve would not budge. After getting sternly scolded, Ruoye yielded and would always keep the flower pot hung somewhere high on a tree branch, where it was safe and out of sight.

Whenever it did, Xie Lian would gently pat it and praise it for its efforts. It was that which seemed to end any animosity the silk band might’ve had left for the red flower.

Time went on like that until it was autumn once again. In the year since his second banishment Xie Lian wouldn’t say that things had gotten better- his luck continued to be staggeringly awful causing him more hardship than most could endure- but he had learned to live with it. If nothing else had come out of it, then at the very least his reflexes had gotten even better than before!

After all, he needed them to, in order to avoid tripping and falling over everything…

It was autumn when Xie Lian saw the masked ghost again.

At first, crossing the mountains to get to the border with the Rain Master's territory had seemed like the obvious choice. It would be much quicker than taking the roads going around and also the perfect opportunity to sight-see. In those forests, the world had come alive in a burst of colours- reds, yellows and fading greens, all swaying gently in the wind.

His kingdom might’ve fallen, yet Xianle’s love for beauty still lived on in Xie Lian, so the decision had been an easy one to make.

But Xie Lian had overestimated his recent streak of not-abysmal-just-regular-bad luck. When Xie Lian had heard desperate cries for help coming from the forest, he rushed towards them without thinking twice. By then, Ruoye was already used to tying itself around Xiao Yunqi and then securing the pot on Xie Lian’s back like a rucksack whenever the god needed to fight something on the road.

In his haste to save whoever was calling out to him, Xie Lian had failed to notice that no matter how quickly he moved, he never got closer to the source of the cries. By the time he realised his mistake, it was already too late. He had been led deep into the forest, in the territory of an ancient yao beast.

Unfortunately for the yao, Xie Lian was no easy prey.

The ensuing fight lasted for a few hours, during which Xie Lian took special care not to jostle the flower on his back too much. But even while playing it safe, the yao still ended up meeting its end by Xie Lian’s sword. When it was all over, Xie Lian leaned on a tree trunk, breathing heavily. He had not been harmed past a few surface level scrapes. All in all, the detour was of little hindrance to him… Except for the fact that it was already night and Xie Lian had no idea where he was! He sighed, sheathing his blade and urging Ruoye to hand Xiao Yunqi back to him. Though he knew what he would find, he still checked carefully to see if the red flower was unharmed.

Xie Lian spent a few moments in the clearing where he’d slain the beast to consider his options. Seeking his way back to the main path in a dark forest when the moon was barely shining in the sky was simply something he’d learned rather quickly not to attempt. Since this was a beast’s territory though, he reckoned there must be some form of shelter nearby that he could use- a cave or perhaps a burrow. 

After one hour of wandering around almost blindly, Xie Lian managed to find the cave the yao must’ve made its lair in, better yet, he even found a small pond inside of it coming from an underground spring. It was bursting with spiritual energy- no wonder the yao had been so strong.

This time, when he set Xiao Yunqi down in front of him, taking a meditative stance, Xie Lian felt no need to leave any energy behind. He fed it all to the flower- it would’ve been wasted otherwise, seeing as the beast’s lair was in such a remote location.

Pleased with himself, Xie Lian rolled out his straw mat, placed Xiao Yunqi near where he’d lay his head and quickly fell asleep, tired after such an eventful day. Exhaustion was something Xie Lian had slowly come to appreciate since his kingdom had fallen apart. While it certainly made it harder to carry on during the day, it also spared him from most nightmares in his sleep.

That night though, Xie Lian had a rare good dream. In it, he was once again a child playing in the royal gardens- only that this time, every single flower that should’ve been there had been replaced by small white blooms. Xie Lian didn’t understand why looking at them made his heart ache so sweetly, but he reveled in the feeling.

Neither could he watch how, in the waking world, that little red flower he’d carried around for almost a year now had started glowing.

It only shone brighter and brighter, rousing Ruoye from the god’s sleeve, but not Xie Lian from his sleep.

If it had, Xie Lian would’ve been able to witness it reshape itself into the form of a young man, dressed all in black and wearing a smiling mask on his face.

Xie Lian came to slowly, feeling much more rested than he had in a very long time. He couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face- there had even been a nice dream last night! He opened his eyes, sitting up with the words to share with his companions already on his lips. And then he saw it- him.

He was no longer alone in the cave.

A familiar figure was kneeling in front of him, hands obediently resting on his knees. Any words Xie Lian might’ve had dried in his throat as the smile bled from his face to be replaced by pure shock.

In front of him sat none other than Wuming.

Xie Lian had dreamed of him before, the moment that the ghost took that cursed sword replaying over and over again in his nightmares. He’d screamed, kicked, begged and apologised but it could never change the outcome. Wuming, his last believer, would always end up dispersed and if it was a particularly bad nightmare, the ghost would sneer, screaming mockingly at him that he regretted choosing to follow such a cruel farce for a god.

The sight in front of him was too peaceful to be a dream of Wuming, yet it also felt too good to be the waking world.

Xie Lian was frozen on the spot, afraid that if he moved or said anything, Wuming would be gone again. He really, really could not bear that a second time. 

They were stuck in a stale-mate it seemed. If only Xie Lian could see Wuming’s face behind that mask, then he might have an easier time convincing himself that the ghost was real. The fact that he could feel the wrath's ghostly aura brought some level of comfort and hope to Xie Lian, but not enough for him to make a move. He wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he was gaping like a fish as his eyes scanned the other’s form.

The soldier’s clothes were plain and black, just as Xie Lian remembered them, though the sabre Wuming had kept at his hip was nowhere to be seen. The smiling mask also remained unchanged, if looking a bit worse for the wear. The only irregularity Xie Lian could spot were the bandages across Wuming’s chest.

Wait a second… Bandages?  

That wasn’t right. Xie Lian lifted his right arm to check, confirming his suspicions.

“Ruoye?” He weakly called out to the strip of silk.

That seemed to make Ruoye perk up and wiggle slightly, though it did not unwind itself from Wuming’s person.

“Your Highness.” The voice that called out to him was nothing like his nightmares. It held reverence and respect for that title that no longer felt like it belonged to Xie Lian. It also sounded the slightest bit sheepish.

“Wuming.” Xie Lian dared to speak the name. Nothing happened- the ghost still remained in front of him. His heartbeat began to quicken.

Realising that his god was struggling to find his words, Wuming continued to calmly explain.

“When I returned to this form, Your Highness’ spiritual tool was alert. It recognised my presence and wrapped itself around me. At first I thought that Ruoye was trying to bind me after mistaking me for an ill intended ghost, but then it simply stayed like this.”

Xie Lian managed a small nod of acknowledgement, eyes drifting back to the strip of silk. Then, by force of habit they moved to Xiao Yunqi- except the pot no longer held a flower in it. 

“The flower- I had a flower… Where is it?” Xie Lian asked because it was far easier to focus on that than the person he had wronged so gravely.

“It’s here, Your Highness.”

“Here?” Confused, he looked around. There was nothing- no one- else in the cave but him and Wuming.

Unless... His head snapped back to the ghost.

“You mean to say…”

“En.” The ghost nodded. “After that day, I was too weak to return in a different form.”

“Then all this time-” Xie Lian really wished he had the ability to get more than a few stunted words out, but in that moment his throat was impossibly tight and he could feel his eyes stinging.

“Your Highness has been taking care of me.” Wuming finished.

It was the underlying warmth in his voice that became Xie Lian’s undoing. Had he been less on edge, he might’ve been able to say something among the lines of “I’m so happy I could do this one small thing in return.” with a smile on his face, but as he was, the god broke down.

“I’m so sorry!” He cried out, sobs wracking his body and would’ve kowtowed if it wasn’t for a panicked ghost grabbing his elbows, effectively stopping him half-way.

“Your Highness, don’t!”

But Xie Lian’s mind, in its tumultuous state, was stubbornly set and adequately muddled. He shook himself out of Wuming’s grasp and threw himself forward, embracing the ghost tightly. He radiated the cold of the dead but his form was solid like someone still present. The realisation only served to make Xie Lian want to wail.

Wuming’s entire body went stiff, arms hovering around Xie Lian’s back. When his god started sobbing harder, he instantly hugged back however.

“I’m sorry.”

“I was so cruel.”

“I should’ve been kinder to you.”

“It should’ve never been you who took that curse.”

Regrets poured out of Xie Lian like a waterfall as he clung tight to Wuming’s neck. A hand started running down his back in slow, soothing motions. It took a while for Xie Lian to stop crying but by the end of it he was no longer apologising or lamenting Wuming’s fate.

“I’m so glad I found you.”

“Thank you for keeping me company and cheering me up.”

“Thank you for coming back.”

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you…”

Much later, the god had completely gone quiet. His grip on the ghost had also relaxed, yet he still didn’t let go. Neither had Wuming stopped the soothing motion of his hand.

Xie Lian could’ve fallen asleep then and there, entirely drained after his outburst. Yes, he thought in a daze, it would be rather nice to fall asleep in Wuming’s arms. In Wuming’s arms…In Wuming’s…!

Gaining clarity of mind once again was a mortifying experience. In an instant, he was fully awake, alert and ashamed, drawing back and crawling off Wuming’s lap at inhumanly fast speeds. He would’ve clumsily fallen on his ass if not for the ghost steadying him.

Aaaaahhhh, just let me disappear! Now! But unfortunately for Xie Lian, no god was listening.

“Is Your Highness feeling better?” Wuming asked, entirely neutral and patient.

“Ah, Wuming I’m-”

“Please don’t apologise anymore. Your Highness has done enough of that for a lifetime.” He cut Xie Lian off, just the slightest bit strained this time.

“I’m-” Xie Lian caught himself, chuckling wryly “I’m glad you’re back Wuming.” He said eventually, sounding much more like his usual self.

“It was all thanks to Your Highness' care that I was able to return so quickly. I must thank you.” When Wuming was about to bow, Xie Lian quickly stopped him.

“No. If I shouldn’t, then neither should you.” Xie Lian said with finality. He never wanted to see anyone, let alone Wuming of all people, bowing to him again. “Besides, I’m no longer a god, or a prince for that matter.”

“Your Highness will always be Your Highness.” The ghost echoed his words from a year ago, just as unwavering as he’d spoken them back then. 

Despite himself, the statement sent a fuzzy kind of warmth through Xie Lian’s body. Even if he didn’t deserve such high regard anymore, it still felt good to receive it and he did not wish to spit in Wuming’s face by rejecting it. 

“He really wasn’t lying when he said you are my last believer.” He couldn’t help but let some of his bewildered admiration bleed into his words.

Wuming inclined his head in a questioning gesture and Xie Lian took a deep breath to steady himself.

“After you… disappeared, White-no-Face came to me. He laughed at me and told me I had just gotten my last believer dispersed. He said that, in life, you had been a soldier under my command, and in death, you followed me as a ghost fire until you became a wrath after witnessing… that night.”

“That monster was truthful indeed, Your Highness.” Xie Lian missed the way Wuming had also tensed up, too focused on trying to keep himself together while speaking of those events again.

“But I don’t understand one thing.” He continued.

“Hm?”

“He also said your soul had been consumed to its last pieces. How are you even here then?”

It should be impossible, he knew, but Xie Lian would be grateful for this miracle for the rest of eternity.

“I still have a beloved in this world. I wish to stay behind and protect them.”

Another set of words echoed, this time from a resilient ghost fire. 

“Ah.” Xie Lian felt an inexplicable ache in his heart at the reminder of that. It only intensified when he realised what this had to imply. “You must want to go to them, now that you’re finally whole again.” 

And Xie Lian knew that he had no right to feel dejected about Wuming leaving. It was already a mystery in itself how the ghost still seemed to remain devoted to him and he knew he should be thankful for that. It was far more than he deserved at the end of the day.

He wondered if he would be able to send Wuming off with a smile. He had to at least try-

“I want to stay by Your Highness’ side.” Wuming spoke after a while.

Xie Lian was stunned into silence. He wanted to ask why but then he remembered…

“If you force your soul to remain, you won’t be able to rest in peace.”

“I’m willing to never rest in peace.”

“If your beloved knew you couldn’t rest in peace because of them, they might feel troubled and guilty.”

“Then I just won’t let them know why I haven’t left.”

“If you meet too often, they'll find out sooner or later.”

“Then I won’t let them know I’m protecting them either.”

Xie Lian could curse his past self. Back then, he’d simply wanted to help a soul move on, but it turned out that he’d spoken very carelessly after all. Wuming had already died for him twice- if Xie Lian’s words ended up keeping him from the one person he loved, it would be too much for the god to bear.

He was about to say as much, tell Wuming that he’d been wrong and only spoken out of the depths of his sadness and despair back then, when the ghost spoke up again.

“If Your Highness allows it, of course.” He sounded uncertain, as if he was expecting to be denied sent away.

But Wuming had it all wrong. It was Xie Lian, banished bearer of two cursed shackles with luck so poor it belonged in a fairytale and mere scrap collector who should be asking if Wuming wanted him around.

“But I am not-” a god anymore. Xie Lian stopped, already anticipating what answer he’d get if he finished that sentence. “I cannot offer you anything anymore.” He said instead.

“Just being allowed to serve you is enough for me.”

I don’t want servants anymore, I just want you to find your happiness. But Xie Lian knew that they’d likely only end up talking in circles if he said that. And if a selfish part of him was secretly very glad at the idea of having someone by his side again, that was between Xie Lian and his own conscience. 

Still he had to ask.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Yes.” The reply was instant, not a single shred of doubt to be heard in Wuming's voice.

“Then I have a different offer for you. Let neither of us serve the other, instead let’s simply travel the land together.”

Let us be friends Xie Lian wished he could say, but he didn’t dare. Not yet at least.

Wuming’s shoulders finally seemed to relax and though Xie Lian couldn’t see his face, he thought the ghost might be smiling.

“I would very much like that, Your Highness.”

Xie Lian wanted to urge him to stop using that title, but then he thought better of it. Wuming seemed as stubborn, if not more than him once his mind was set on something. All in due time he told himself before smiling at the one in front of him.

“Good.”

And then, he finally remembered-

“Ruoye, get off of Wuming already!”

By the time they stepped out of the cave, it was already noon. Xie Lian tried to ignore the embarrassment he felt upon realising he’d wept like a child for an entire morning.

“Wuming, how much do you remember from the past year?” He grasped onto the first topic he could think of, though it was also something he’d genuinely wanted to discuss with the other.

Wuming turned towards him, just in time to reach out a hand to help Xie Lian step over a raised tree root. Xie Lian was about to politely decline before he remembered all the times he’d recently tripped on flat solid ground and quickly decided to just spare himself the possible sprain and embarassment for a change.

“The answer to that is not so straightforward, Your Highness.” Wuming started as they slowly made their way back to the forest path. “Initially, I remember clinging to my desire to stay in this world, but beyond that I was floating in and out of consciousness and couldn’t tell how much time had passed or where I was.”

“The first sense that returned to me was touch. I felt it when Your Highness handled the flower pot or brushed your fingers across the petals.”

Xie Lian wondered what it must be like to linger in such a state, at least until another realisation came mind-Oh no.

“Did you also feel all of the times I dropped you?” Xie Lian asked before he could think better of it.

The ghost was quiet for a long time.

“It wasn’t that many times, Your Highness.”

“Wuming…” Xie Lian groaned. He felt like Wuming was trying very hard to hold in his amusement. Once again Wuming stopped to help him cross a small creek before he spoke again.

“The second sense that returned to me was hearing. It was easier to keep track of things after that, thanks to Your Highness speaking to me. This happened around the end of winter.”

“So you’ve had to listen to all of my ramblings since then.” Xie Lian said, slightly embarrassed again.

“I found it quite interesting. I was hoping Your Highness could finish the story of the noble whose mistress showed up at the banquet with his wife in tow.”

Right. Sometimes, when his days had been too depressing to speak a word of, Xie Lian had preferred to regale his two companions with silly tales from the days of his princehood. Never had he thought that they would be actively listened to. But it was such a small and simple request to finish that story, one he would gladly fulfil for the one next to him.

“I will tell you the rest later tonight.” He promised and he was willing to wager that Wuming's mask hid a pleased face behind it. Wuming just nodded before continuing.

“Your Highness truly helped this one recover much faster by channelling spiritual power into my form. With each drop, I was able to remain conscious longer and I could feel my reserves building up.” He said, the warmth in his voice mending something in Xie Lian's chest.

Xie Lian wanted to brush it off as a silly whim of his, but then his mind went back to yesterday's events.

“Last night when I used that yao’s entire pond’s worth of energy on you-”

“It was enough for me to return to this state.” Wuming nodded again. 

Xie Lian gazed at him with awe. So there was one thing he had done right, one small way in which he’d been able to help his last believer. He felt happy, and was about to say as much, but Wuming spoke again before he could, frustration dripping from every word.

“Unfortunately, I will still need some time to recover the power I had before. I apologise, Your Highness, I had hoped to return to you in a better state.” 

Xie Lian was stunned to silence for a moment, stopping in the middle of the clearing they were crossing. Noticing his companion had ceased walking, Wuming paused his steps too. The next thing he knew, Xie Lian was grabbing him by the shoulders frantically.

“Wuming, you-!” He paused, taking a deep breath and trying to get his complicated emotions under control. “That you are here is already a miracle. It doesn’t matter to me how strong you are- the state of you doesn’t matter, you do. If tomorrow you turned back into a flower, I’d gladly carry you with me and take care of you for another century if I had to!” 

After that outburst, the pair fell silent, Xie Lian becoming more mortified and red in the face by the second and Wuming- well, it was really hard to say with the mask but his body language told of someone too stunned to speak. 

The longer the silence stretched on, the harder it became for Xie Lian to face his companion. He let go of Wuming’s shoulders and was about to step away from the ghost’s personal space when Wuming finally reacted.

He grabbed one of Xie Lian’s hands, squeezing it hard. Xie Lian had the feeling that Wuming might’ve wanted to kneel in front of him, but had chosen this gesture instead knowing that Xie Lian wouldn’t like the other.

“Your Highness is too kind.” He said hoarsely. 

Xie Lian was about to argue, but Wuming seemed to regain his bearings and let go of his hand, taking a step back. It made Xie Lian feel oddly bereft, cutting off his train of thought.

“If I may ask Your Highness two questions.” 

Xie Lian nodded, and they started walking again.

“What made you take me with you? And why did you feed me spiritual energy?”

Not what Xie Lian was expecting, but at least it was easy enough to answer.

“I wouldn’t say I had a particular reason for taking you with me. I suppose I wanted to hold onto the cheerful feeling I got every time I looked at that vibrant red colour. And as for why I fed you spiritual energy-” Xie Lian scratched his cheek sheepishly. “I just wanted to make sure you’d be able to survive my bad luck.”

Wuming hummed thoughtfully.

“I never thought it would be you.” Xie Lian couldn’t help but add, still in disbelief that he could be so fortunate despite everything else.

“And if it wasn’t me?” 

Xie Lian thought about it for a moment.

“Then I suppose I hoped I could cultivate a talking flower in the next fifty to a hundred years.”

When Wuming chuckled, Xie Lian could feel his chest fill with warmth.

By the time the two of them made it back to the main road, it was already night. Xie Lian had feared that they’d get lost but Wuming seemed to have excellent orientation skills. He even insisted on gathering some wild berries for Xie Lian to eat.

Now, they stood in the middle of that path looking one way or the other.

“Where should we go from here, Your Highness?” Wuming eventually asked.

“I was headed towards Rain Master's territory. Have you ever been there Wuming?” Xie Lian asked before he could think better of it, just to realise a moment later that he truly only knew very little about who Wuming had been during his life beyond being a soldier under his command. Xie Lian wasn’t even sure if it was his place to pry.

“I never travelled outside of Xianle.”

“Ah. Is there anywhere you’d like to go then?”

Wuming seemed to consider it for a moment.

“I don’t know. I never thought I’d leave the capital city.” He said the words matter-of-factly, completely detached from them yet Xie Lian’s heart ached a little at that confession. 

Well, at least there was another thing he could do for Wuming.

“Then let’s go everywhere! We should see how long it takes us to cross the world back and forth.” He piped up, with perhaps just a bit too much enthusiasm.

“It will probably be decades, Your Highness.” Wuming had a thoughtful air about him as he answered.

“Ah.” Right . Wuming still had a beloved. Even if he wanted to stay with Xie Lian at the moment, there was no telling how long that would last, and when Wuming would need to return to the one he actually cherished. ”Is that too long for you Wuming?” All his prior excitement had deflated like a paper lantern with its flame extinguished.

“No, it’s just that, won’t the world have changed by the time we’ve crossed it, Your Highness? Wouldn’t that mean we’d have to return to those places every now and then?” There was mirth colouring the ghost’s voice, and just the littlest bit of nervousness- as if he wasn’t sure if his words would be taken well.

But, for the first time since his first banishment, Xie Lian laughed with unabashed delight.

“Then let’s do that as well when the time comes!”

In the following months, Xie Lian would come to a simple and rather obvious conclusion- everything was simply better with Wuming by his side.

Their tents never fell apart on them even though Xie Lian was still the one to build them… With materials gathered by Wuming- they both agreed it would be safer like that.

He still tripped on solid ground sometimes- less often now- but there was someone to catch and steady him, so much so, that Xie Lian had grown used to being touched gently once again.

Somehow, Xie Lian's horrendous luck had stopped getting them kicked out of every town they stayed in for more than a few days. Even the events going on around him had become less extreme and ridiculous. The first time they had come across a human settlement, Xie Lian had worried, both about his luck and the smiling mask- Wuming had said he was hideous and would rather keep it on the one time Xie Lian asked him about it- but Wuming assured him that it would all turn out fine. Only later on did Xie Lian figure out that Wuming had put a simple spell on it that showed other people an unassuming, forgettable face whenever they looked at him.

It was also far more pleasant now that Xie Lian had an actual conversation partner to talk to, not just two objects that he unloaded his thoughts upon- though Ruoye was sentient. Wuming hadn’t said anything about his human life, but Xie Lian could more or less intuit from the questions he asked that he hadn’t been born into wealth or had much access to education. He was clearly intelligent and very sharp though, assimilating and using what he’d learned at a pace that would make any court instructor proud.

So of course Xie Lian had to offer to teach Wuming more. Martial arts, cultivation, history and the arts- Xie Lian would share any part of his royal education with Wuming if the other wanted that. Wuming was only hesitant for a moment before accepting his offer.

That was how they found themselves sparring, practising the bases of cultivation or picking out random subjects to discuss during whatever free time they had. As anticipated, Wuming was an excellent student who turned out to possess a great amount of greed for knowledge and skill. When Xie Lian had curiously asked him one time what drove him to be so motivated in his learning, he simply said.

“My beloved is a noble, gracious someone. As I am now, I can only strive to catch up to them.”

The answer should’ve been heartwarming- and it really was for the most part- but Xie Lian still felt a pang in his heart. He chalked it up to the fact that every time Wuming mentioned his beloved- rarely, if ever- Xie Lian would be reminded that in the future, there would come a day when this amazing person at his side would leave. Though Xie Lian sincerely wished only for the best for Wuming, the thought made him very sad nonetheless.

As Wuming spent more and more time by his side, Xie Lian was slowly beginning to realise that the ghost had a more playful, irreverent side to him. It was hard to grasp at first, especially with the mask hiding any facial expression he might have, but it showed itself in the subtle changes of Wuming’s tone of voice, the way he sometimes liked to pretend that he simply wasn’t able to grasp how a sword form or spell worked until he had Xie Lian laughing from the ridiculous words he spouted at the god’s explanations or how he’d occasionally become a contrarian during their discussions just because.

Xie Lian delighted heavily in this side of his companion. It also made him feel closer to Wuming- not as a god and his believer, but rather as two friends.

Still, there was one thing Xie Lian found he was genuinely unable to teach Wuming- calligraphy. The first time he’d asked Wuming to show him his handwriting, Wuming was hesitant before defeatedly agreeing at Xie Lian’s insistence that “It can’t be that bad!”.

Upon seeing the results Xie Lian felt like, sometimes, he’d be better off sewing his mouth shut.

“How?” He’d let slip once the ghost showed him a few characters, before he could even think how rude that would come off as. But of course Wuming would never take offence at his god's words.

“I was self-taught, Your Highness.” The words felt like the final nail in Xie Lian's metaphorical coffin.

No matter how many lessons they had after that day, or what methods Xie Lian tried, Wuming’s calligraphy never seemed to improve. On the other hand, Xie Lian came to learn that Wuming was quite an artist. 

There would always be doodles of flowers or small critters at the corners of the work sheets Xie Lian made for him and he had even found a portrait or two of himself on the back of some. 

When he tried to compliment him about them, Wuming became oddly avoidant, taking the sketches from Xie Lian’s hands as respectfully as one could without making it seem like he was yanking them back. 

It confused the god for a moment, until he realised that Wuming must be feeling embarrassed and started chuckling.

Even Ruoye seemed to love the ghost. Occasionally Xie Lian would wonder where his spiritual tool had disappeared off to, only to see it wrapped around Wuming’s chest. When the pair found themselves in a dangerous situation, the silk would be just as protective, if not more, of Wuming.

Xie Lian chalked that up to Ruoye still thinking he had a flower to take care of. It all seemed innocent until one day, when Xie Lian had gone to collect their reward from a contractor who’d wanted some swamp monsters gone. He'd left Wuming and Ruoye, who’d once again wrapped himself around the ghost, to wait for him at the edge of town.

He came back to see Wuming patiently waiting for him, no silk bandage in sight. Xie Lian curiously sought out his spiritual tool but it wasn't until he looked down at the ground that he found it. Ruoye was lying limp in the dirt somehow looking the perfect picture of dejection. When Xie Lian asked what happened, he ended up wishing he’d spared himself the knowledge instead.

“Ruoye tried to hang me up in a tree, Your Highness. I wouldn’t let it.”

Xie Lian would really need to have another conversation with Ruoye!

Another thing that changed was that Xie Lian rarely, if ever, had to walk around with poorly bandaged wounds or broken bones- Wuming insisted on taking care of them all.

It had been an intense point of debate for the first three months of their travels. Xie Lian would stubbornly refuse that Wuming expend any spiritual energy on him, worried that he would overly exert himself in his efforts and lose his form. 

It lasted until one day, when Wuming had been too slow to stop Xie Lian from taking his first proper tumble in a while, earning himself a cracked rib or two and plenty of bruises to spare. Seeing the state of him, Wuming hadn’t even asked before he grabbed Xie Lian’s wrist and transferred a not insignificant amount of spiritual energy to him.

Xie Lian had been too stupefied to say anything and by the time he was able to work his slack jaw again,Wuming had already let go of his wrist and presented Xie Lian with his upturned palms.

At first Xie Lian was very confused but then it hit him. Wuming was showing him that, even after he’d given Xie Lian so much, he was still able to maintain a flawless human form- palm prints and all. He was sure that if he were to check his hair too, he’d find countless fine strands of it.

After that day Xie Lian no longer protested when Wuming wanted to heal him.

So yes, everything was better with Wuming at his side.

But most important of all- Xie Lian had his last believer with him and, for a banished god of misfortune, that was as good as having the world in the palm of his hands.

Their peaceful days would be cut short by the end of next spring, as Wuming was clearly going through something.

At first he’d tried to hide it, but the more Xie Lian caught him in a daze in the middle of their activities, the more suspicious he’d become. He allowed the ghost to brush him off with excuses like “It’s nothing important, Your Highness.” and “I just have a few things on my mind.” because he wanted to respect his privacy but when Wuming had started becoming much more aggressive during sparring, Xie Lian could no longer overlook it. Wuming had tried to play it off as getting too much into the heat of the moment the first two times it happened but by the third, Xie Lian demanded an answer.

They had been training in hand to hand combat that day, when Xie Lian could see the signs of the mysterious affliction start to manifest. Wuming’s entire stance went from perfectly balanced to slightly off as his movements grew erratic and less precise than usual. Eventually he began desperately and seriously lunging for Xie Lian’s throat as the god kept evading him. In that moment it became clear to Xie Lian that something was deeply wrong.

Wuming would never truly try to hurt him if he was fully in control- that he knew and trusted more than anything.

So Xie Lian baited him into another lunge, side-stepping at the last possible moment and catching Wuming’s hand in an iron grip. He had Wuming pinned under his weight on the ground in the next second.

But if Xie Lian thought that that would be it, he was wrong. Wuming started to thrash like an animal on its last leg, fighting for its life- he even growled . The god hated himself for what he had to do next, but still he reached for the ghost’s head and slammed it into the dirt once, trying to apply only the necessary amount of force to give Wuming a shock.

“Wuming, snap out of it!” He cried out, already feeling his eyes start to sting.

Luckily for him, it worked- the reaction was instantaneous. He heard a sharp inhale, before the body beneath him went deathly still. A moment later, a different kind of tremble overtook the ghost.

Xie Lian quickly freed his arm and got off of him.

“Your Highness, f-forgive me.” He sounded so utterly devastated and empty that Xie Lian’s heart broke on the spot. Driven purely by the immediate need to console him, Xie Lian reached for Wuming, pulling the upper half of his body into his arms into an awkward hug.

Wuming folded his legs under him, all the while trying to pull away but Xie Lian refused to let him. He cradled the ghost’s head in the crook of his neck and started to run his other hand up and down Wuming’s back.

“There’s nothing to forgive.” He spoke as gently as he could in his own ruffled state. It wasn’t convincing enough.

“Your Highness…” Wuming lamented.

“Nothing.”

“But I tried to hurt you.” He argued, and Xie Lian hated the dejected shame radiating off his words.

“No. You would never do that. You died to save me from my own foolishness. You could never hurt me.” This time, Xie Lian’s voice held unwavering faith. Come what may, he trusted Wuming above anyone else.

Wuming’s body was tense for another moment until he finally allowed himself to fully slump into Xie Lian’s arms, still shaking.

Xie Lian continued to hold and soothe him, mumbling low “It’s over now.”s and “It’s going to be okay.”s. Eventually, when the shaking stopped and the body in his arms fully relaxed, he disentangled them, reaching to cup Wuming’s face and holding it so that Wuming would be looking him in the eye.

At the very least Xie Lian hoped he would- he could only gaze back at two upturned crescent slits that showed nothing of the one beneath them.

“This wasn't your fault Wuming. I know that you were not in control of yourself. Do you understand?”

Wuming hesitated for a while, long enough that Xie Lian was about to speak again.

"I understand." 

Though he did not sound fully convinced, Xie Lian knew that it was already hard for him to say even that much. He let go of Wuming's face, allowing the other to properly sit in front of him.

"Good. But now I want you to tell me what's been going on these past three days." Xie Lian couldn't help but let some of the maddening worry he felt bleed into his voice. "When I touched you earlier it was as if I had put my hands on a feverish person."

Wuming looked like the perfect picture of a scolded child, kneeling in front of Xie Lian, hands obediently resting on his thighs, head slightly leaning forward. He cleared his throat once before explaining.

"As Your Highness has noticed, three days ago was the first time I heard a voice call out to me."

"Initially I thought I might've gotten cursed somehow so I went out at night to search the hills we'd just passed through for anything suspicious. I only found other ghosts instead."

Xie Lian wasn't too happy to hear that Wuming had snuck off without him realising, but he kept quiet.

"Usually, my being a wrath is enough to dissuade most riff raff from attacking but there was something different about this group of low level spirits. They all came for me, no matter how little aggression I showed or how thoroughly I suppressed my aura. I dispersed most of them and left only one alive. After she became clear headed once more, she proceeded to apologise profusely. When I asked her why they attacked, she said that it was the voice in their head urging them to go to it and kill everything in their path."

Wuming went quiet again for a moment.

"Your Highness, I am hearing the same voices." The words sounded like a shameful confession. It tugged at Xie Lian's heart to see the usually calm and collected Wuming like that.

"Would you be able to follow this call back to its source?"

The question only made the ghost more tense for whatever reason.

"Yes Your Highness."

"Good. Let us depart for it as quickly as possible then." Xie Lian sat up, dusting himself off. It took a moment for him to notice that Wuming was still rooted to the ground.

"I beg your pardon?" Eventually he too pulled himself to his feet as well.

"Let's go Wuming. It sounds like we need to make haste" Xie Lian urged again.

“Your Highness, we don’t know where this would be leading us and we have no idea what’s going on with me. It could turn out to be extremely dangerous!”

Xie Lian was suddenly reminded of a wall of ghost fires led by a very determined spirit trying to stop him from seeking his own demise. But that was a different situation from the one at hand.

Even if this leads to my own demise again, it will be worth it if I can help you even a little. Xie Lian knew he couldn’t say that however.

“Wuming you refused to leave my side when I was at my lowest. Whatever this is, wherever we may end up, I won’t leave you either.”

Wuming was dumbstruck for a moment.

“But today I-” 

Xie Lian refused to let Wuming wallow in guilt. He had a theory he wanted to confirm either way.

“Give me your wrist.”

Wuming complied almost instantly. Xie Lian touched his fingers to the cooling skin, focusing on the other's meridians. 

Ah, so that’s how it is.

“Your energy is turbulent, but barely so after you’ve exhausted it earlier. That's likely the cause for the sudden aggression. It’s hard even for skilled cultivators to notice when these changes happen, and by the time they’re in full swing, it’s often too late for the person to do something about it on their own. It's not too different from qi deviation and you need someone to help you circulate the energy back and forth.”

Xie Lian reached to take Wuming’s hands into his.

“So you see Wuming, I have to come with you and make sure you don’t lose yourself again.” He allowed himself to smile at the ghost.

It was a few moments before Wuming finally sighed, a hint of fondness to it.

“I really can’t win against Your Highness, can I?”

Xie Lian’s smile widened and he squeezed the hands in his grasp.

“Not when it comes to this, no.”

Wuming was quiet for a bit.

“May I ask for a favour then?”

Xie Lian was surprised- Wuming rarely asked for anything strictly personal.

“Of course.”

Wuming drew back one of his hands, reaching into his robes. Once fully out, he held the object up to Xie Lian’s face. It was a crystal ring dangling on a silver chain.

“Would Your Highness please take care of this old thing?”

The ring was mesmerising in the way it caught and reflected the light. Xie Lian wanted to ask if it was something that belonged to the ghost back when he was alive. In the end he didn’t, deciding not to pry too much. If Wuming wanted to tell him one day, he would.

“I’ll gladly do it.”

Wuming didn’t say anything more, he just let go of Xie Lian’s other hand and moved behind the god to link the chain around his neck.

“Thank you.” He whispered softly once it was done.

They travelled fast, only stopping at Wuming’s insistence that Xie Lian needed to rest or eat. With Wuming already this much on edge, Xie Lian didn’t even try to protest. It was highly important to preserve Wuming’s peace of mind between the sessions of circulation they did every two days.

Eventually, they left the populated areas behind, cities completely disappearing from their path, as towns grew smaller and smaller, until they all became deserted and long-forgotten remnants where only ghosts dwelled.

Speaking of ghosts, their numbers only increased as they drew closer and closer to the place that called out to Wuming. By the time they reached a mountain range that resembled an enormous circular enclosure, they must’ve passed thousands of spirits by.

Not all were peaceful, in fact, most of them tried to attack, but Wuming decided that it wasn’t worth fighting them over rushing to their destination. With him and Xie Lian going at full speed, none of these weaker ghosts could even catch up to them.

To properly enter the mountain range, they had to pass through a forest first. It was in those woods where Wuming finally allowed himself to give into the call of the voice.

“Your Highness, I wouldn’t be able to explain how, but I know that if I disperse these ghosts, I will get stronger.”

A theory had already begun to form in Xie Lian’s mind, but it was an outlandish thing, not to mention it was too early to say anything. So he just nodded at Wuming instead.

“Go ahead. I will only step forward if the situation gets too dire.”

To say that the following three weeks were filled only with mindless slaughter would be an understatement. Part of Xie Lian lamented the brutal departure of all those spirits, but if there was one thing he’d very quickly understood about this hellish place they found themselves in, it was that there only existed one rule: Kill or be killed.

So Xie Lian watched with a heavy heart and continued to train Wuming whenever they had a few moments to themselves. At the same time part of him was mesmerised by his companion.

When Wuming fought, he could be wild and unrestrained, savagely cutting down through countless hordes of foes, or precise and deadly, against stronger enemies that required more careful handling. He was quick as lightning, pulling no punches, and with every ghost that fell to him, he only seemed to be getting better.

Sometimes, he would use the same silver scimitar that Xie Lian had come to learn he’d manifested back in Lang’er Bay- a true testament to the depth of his spiritual reserves- and others, he would just extend sharp claws that shredded through everything in his path.

He was merciless, meticulous, or just downright mad in his massacring. By all means it should’ve terrified Xie Lian- Wuming seemed to think that too seeing as he’d always insist on taking a few minutes to calm down, make himself presentable, and rid himself of any gore before he returned by his god’s side to watch over his sleep.

But there was one thing Wuming failed to understand- Xie Lian had always had a fascination towards dangerous things. As a prince, he’d loved collecting and learning every single weapon he could get his hands on and as a cultivator, he’d never hesitated to challenge even the most ancient beasts of legend. There was so much unique beauty in danger.

So no, he was not afraid of Wuming. How could he be when this was the same ghost who’d left him flowers when everyone else forgot him? The same ghost who still treated Xie Lian so gently, even after all he’d suffered because of him.

Dear silly ghost of mine.

What would later come to be known as the incident that all of Heaven collectively tried to forget about, started off with a cave full of stranded humans in a place teeming with savage ghosts.

It was Xie Lian who’d heard the cries, barely a month into their time at the mountain range. He waited for Wuming to finish dispatching of a few wayward ghosts that had overestimated their abilities before they went to check the situation together.

They were both sincerely stunned to see the group of thirty villagers, looking mostly in one piece. The pair would come to find out from the man who stepped forward as their leader that they were from a small village near the outskirts of the mountain range, and that some of the ghosts who’d been travelling towards it decided to bring them along as food. Unfortunately, these thirty were just half of all the people that had initially been taken.

Both god and ghost reacted in disgust and Xie Lian quickly decided on a plan. He left Wuming behind with Ruoye to protect the humans while he went around to scout for a way out- they were still barely through the forest thanks to the sheer number of ghosts that had come.

Wuming wanted to protest at first, but Xie Lian assured him that he would avoid any fights and only look for a path out.

Xie Lian couldn’t have known that it would only take an incense time for pandemonium to manifest itself.

With uncharacteristically good luck that he didn’t dare question, Xie Lian managed to find a valley that looked like it led outside of the range quick enough, but as he rushed back, he began to realise that something was severely amiss.

He could feel it- evil qi so thick that it made him want to vomit. But Xie Lian pushed through the nausea, doubling his speed as a desperate thought kept repeating in his mind.

Please be okay Wuming. Please be okay Wuming. Please be okay-

Xie Lian didn’t care anymore. He pulled out his sword, cutting through the massive horde of ghosts that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. None could stand in his way, not when he had someone he wished to protect to get to.

By the time he’d fought his way back to the front of the cave, he finally saw the source of that disgusting qi. Wuming was engaged in battle with something that looked like a giant.

“Who allowed you to try and pilfer my food, you little masked freak!” It shouted.

It was an ugly thing, clearly guilty of gluttony with its well-rounded physique. Its mouth was opened in a snarl, blood continuously dripping from its jaw, running down old stains that covered the front of its robes all the way to its shoes. Whoever and whatever this person had been in life, in death they’d become unrecognisable and highly twisted. They were also powerful, so much so that Wuming was fully on the defensive for once.

It didn’t help the situation either that beyond this hungry giant there were endless waves of ghosts, seemingly at its command, going for the cave entrance. Xie Lian could see Ruoye doing its best to work with Wuming and stop any of them from getting inside. He doubled his efforts, fighting with all he had, not an ounce of consideration for the remnants of the dead.

But when Wuming was sent flying into the side of the mountain by a blow he didn’t manage to dodge, allowing for Ruoye to get swarmed and overwhelmed, Xie Lian knew he wouldn’t make it in time. The humans were as good as dead if neither of them managed to get to them.

Wuming seemed to grasp that as well. He freed himself from the man-shaped crater the impact had caused him to make and took a moment to look around.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Xie Lian watched Wuming reach up a hand and take off that mask for the first time since he had first laid eyes on him.

The thought that sprung to Xie Lian’s mind was rather silly.

Who lied to you?! Who told you you were hideous with a face like that?!

Because Wuming was truly beautiful- porcelain skin, high cheekbones, a full mouth upturned at the corners and sharp eyes- the left onyx black, the right crimson red. 

Those mesmerising eyes instantly found Xie Lian’s in all the chaos. They pinned him to the spot with their soulful gaze- so much emotion was contained in Wuming's gaze that Xie Lian couldn’t even begin to grasp it. He immediately understood one thing though. Wuming was about to do something objectively reckless and possibly life-threatening. It was all written in the sad smile on his face that just seemed to spell-

“Forgive me, Your Highness.”

Xie Lian wished he could yell at him, truly, that he could only forgive someone who survived, so Wuming should stop reaching with that clawed hand towards his red eye right this second!

Yet Xie Lian knew that it was already too late. Time reverted back to its normal speed and he helplessly watched Wuming pull out his own eye, screaming in agony as he did.

Those screams, and this scenario, so cursedly reminiscent of another horrible day, cleaved Xie Lian’s heart right in two. But there was no respite for him to nurse his feelings. With Wuming’s screams came a torrent of fresh evil qi- one so unbearably suffocating that Xie Lian instantly knew something truly fearsome was about to be born. All the other ghosts, giant glutton included, stopped moving, all of the sudden frozen in terror.

Xie Lian raised his hands in front of him in an effort to shield himself from the gust of wind originating from where Wuming stood at the eye of the storm. The world went dark and eerily quiet for a moment.

That’s when Xie Lian heard it- Wuming’s voice calling out in cold authority.

“Kill them all.”

And so, whatever had been borne out of his sacrifice heeded his command. Xie Lian felt that overpowering aura move around him, but he was still shielding his face so he couldn’t look.

By the time he finally lowered his arms less than a minute later, every ghost in the area had been decimated and cut down into small pieces. Every ghost but one.

“Wuming!” Xie Lian only had one thought in his mind. The people in the cave, Ruoye- he would make sure that they were fine but before he could even gain the capacity to do that he had to- he needed to-

It would seem that Wuming was of a similar mind.

“Your Highness!”

They met half-way between the forest path and the cave’s entrance, and Xie Lian’s hands frantically started to check all over the ghost’s body.

“A-are you okay? Did you get injured anywhere? A-anywhere else other than your eye… Speaking of that, why would you do something so reckless and painful Wuming?! I was about to lose my-” As he readied himself for a proper lecture, Xie Lian finally looked up, the movements of his hands pausing once he determined Wuming was mostly uninjured, only to find himself staring into the gently smiling face of his last believer.

It cut off any train of thought Xie Lian might’ve had.

If Wuming had been beautiful from afar, he was downright ethereal from up close. Even with half of his face covered in gore, blood still dripping from those fresh wounds, Xie Lian knew that there would never be a face he found dearer than this one.

“I’m sorry to have made Your Highness worry.” He said, sounding and looking as unapologetic as one could be.

The audacity of this- this…!

But before Xie Lian could finish his thought and start scolding the ghost in earnest, he saw flashes of gold appear around the two of them. So did Wuming, his eye leaving Xie Lian’s face to confusedly glance at them.

The light grew brighter and brighter, the getting air charged with a kind of power Xie Lian knew all too well.

One moment Wuming was there in front of him- the next, he had ascended to the heavens.

Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

In the end he did both, starting out with laughter so deranged that Ruoye left its post at the entrance of the cave to gently wrap around his chest. It didn't really help, though deep down Xie Lian appreciated the gesture.

Everything about this day was simply too much!

Xie Lian laughed so hard that he felt tears start to stream from his eyes.

Really! It was like someone was playing jokes on him!

Get this- he somehow managed to find and nurture the tarnished soul of his last believer, helping him return to the world- a solid start.

Then, with Wuming back to his original form, they spent some lovely months together travelling in each other's company- all good until that point.

But somehow- perhaps because Xie Lian's rotten luck would always find a way to come around and torment him- the god still ended up in a situation where he helplessly had to watch as the last person in the world who cared about him injured himself grievously, howling out in pain as he did.

What a lovely display of divine irony!

And yet, it didn't even end there...No, if Xie Lian thought after the dust settled that he might be able to have Wuming at his side for longer, then his ascension quickly crushed that dream.

It was such a selfishly bitter thought to have- Xie Lian knew. Few were worthy of ascension and fewer still actually reached it. That Wuming, a ghost of all creatures, someone deemed inadequate by the heavenly rules, had achieved such a feat was nothing short of amazing. Wuming was nothing short of amazing.

Xie Lian should be proud of him- and he was! He really was! If being a god was what finally gave him the confidence to seek out his beloved, then Xie Lian would be the first one to build him a temple and send prayers. 

But beneath all of that lay an ugly truth- Xie Lian was afraid.

Afraid that Wuming would forget about Xie Lian with time.

Afraid to go back to a long existence without anyone by his side but Ruoye. 

Afraid that he'd never see Wuming again…

His laughter faded, and even his tears seemed to dry out almost instantly, leaving him feeling very empty.

What right did Xie Lian have to be afraid? In his joy at being reunited with Wuming and spending time with him, Xie Lian had forgotten that he was meant to be atoning. His banishment was not supposed to be this great adventure partaken in at someone else's side-

“Daozhang? Are we safe now?” The leader of the humans stepped out of the cave reluctantly.

Ah. This was not the time, nor the place for Xie Lian to wallow in his misery. He should be helping these humans leave this hellish place. He decided he would take them through the valley, advising them to seek out a new village further from the mountain range.

And after that, perhaps he’d send a prayer up to-

Before he could fully finish that thought, the sky thundered. Was there a storm coming? Xie Lian looked up but saw no particularly angry clouds. He was confused for a moment, until something dropped with great impact, hitting the ground right in front of him.

The shockwave would’ve sent him falling on his ass if not for the familiar hand that quickly grabbed at him to steady him.

“Your Highness, are you alright?” Wuming asked, displaying the usual level of concern he showed whenever Xie Lian tripped. He said nothing of what had just happened.

Xie Lian could only stare back at him in shock.

Had he just…

Wuming frowned, eye scanning Xie Lian’s face, until he noticed the tear streaks on his cheeks.

“Your Highness what happened? Was I too late? Did the ghosts manage to injure-”

“You ascended.” Xie Lian breathed weakly, effectively cutting off Wuming’s increasingly urgent inquiries.

Wuming blinked, confused for a moment, then he schooled his face back into a calm mien.

“Just a temporary setback, Your Highness, don’t mind it.” He said casually.

The words might as well have been plates shattered onto Xie Lian’s head for how much they disoriented him. Set-back? An ascension was a set-back?! A set-back to what exactly?!

“You refused godhood?” Xie Lian was having a hard time stringing coherent speech together, much like that morning when he woke up to see Wuming next to him.

“En.” 

“Why?”

Xie Lian could see a fire light up in that onyx eye, as Wuming spoke with absolute conviction.

“I have no desire to throw my lot in with the trash that shunned Your Highness. I will forge my own path.” 

In Xie Lian’s mind there was just an utter mess of emotions, none of which seemed to want to be identified at that moment. He wanted to question Wuming further but he couldn’t even begin to make sense of what he might want to ask.

Xie Lian looked into Wuming’s eye for a long time, yet his gaze never wavered. Eventually, Xie Lian understood that he simply had to accept the other’s conviction- anything less would be dishonouring such sentiments.

“I see.” He couldn’t help but be a bit awed.

Reaching up, he carefully cupped the bloodied side of Wuming’s face, mindful of his lacerations.

“We should clean this and find you some bandages.” 

Wuming went deathly still, his eye suddenly wide and panicked. He would’ve drawn back but Xie Lian was quicker. Xie Lian caught the other side of his face, effectively holding the ghost in place.

“Don’t hide your face anymore, not if you’re doing it because you think you're hideous.”

“But I am.” Such a clipped vulnerable voice from someone who’d just spat in the face of heaven a few moments ago and such certainty in those cruel false words.

Xie Lian felt rage bubble up in his chest. Wuming must’ve been repeatedly shunned, and maybe even beaten because of his looks, to have ended up with a deeply ingrained belief like that. Was it his red eye? Did some superstitious folk think him cursed because of the rare colour?

What a bunch of fools! They didn’t know anything about beauty and they most certainly didn’t know anything about curses! Trying very hard to keep it in, Xie Lian spoke gently.

“Whoever told you that was either very silly or very blind. With a face like yours, young maidens will be vying for your attention the moment we leave this place.” He took a deep breath. “And I’m sure your beloved will find you handsome as well.”

Wuming’s eye studied Xie Lian’s face for a while. Xie Lian knew that he was looking for a lie borne out of pity. When he didn’t find it, Wuming was clearly at a loss for what to do or say.

“Your Highness thinks so?”

Xie Lian pushed through the heat he felt rising on his cheeks and nodded.

“I know so.”

Just when Wuming was about to speak again, someone coughed in the background.

“Daozhang, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation with your companion but we should really get out of here before more ghosts come.”

It was like someone had dunked cold water on Xie Lian’s head. He yelped, letting go of Wuming and jumped back. He turned towards the man at the cave opening.

“Yes, of course! I found a valley to the north- no, west- north-west! We can accompany you there and after that you should be able to leave this place safely. But don’t return to your old village, try to look for a place at a safer distance from here. Oh, and do you have any bandages with you?”

“We’ll see what supplies we can afford to leave with you if the two of you plan to stay here daozhang.” The man replied, showing no reaction to Xie Lian’s flustered rambling.

“Good! Thank you so much! I’ll ehm- I’ll go scout the path ahead for any possible danger!” He turned to Wuming whose face was now unreadable. “Stay here with them and get that wound looked after.” Then without waiting for any response from either ghost or human, he started down the road.

But Xie Lian didn’t make it three steps before he felt gentle hands fall on his shoulders to stop him in his tracks.

“Your Highness is going the opposite way.” Wuming said, not unkindly.

Later, once they’d escorted the villagers out, Xie Lian and Wuming decided to return to that cave and spend the night there since the area had already been cleared out. They would also take a look at whatever the humans were able to part with- Wuming had been growing worried about their ever dwindling food rations so Xie Lian hoped there would be something in there to assuage that.

As they walked through the forest, their path lit by a hand torch Wuming had summoned, a thought occurred to Xie Lian. He turned his head to the ghost at his side. Though Wuming’s right eye was covered in bandages, the rest of his face was free of any mask. Xie Lian took in Wuming's profile- he’d purposefully positioned himself on the other's left- thankful that his words had seemed to reach his companion.

Feeling Xie Lian's gaze on him, Wuming looked back.

“Is there something you’d like to ask Your Highness?”

Xie Lian supposed his face easily gave him away most of the time, yet he couldn’t help but feel a bit reluctant with this particular question.

“What happened to the thing borne from your right eye Wuming?” There was no other way but bluntness for such inquiries. “Back then I felt its powerful aura as it dispersed of all those ghosts but it never showed up again.”

Wuming paused in his steps, reaching for the silver blade at his waist. When he presented it to Xie Lian, he could see that it no longer took the shape of a sabre- it had turned into a scimitar. 

Xie Lian mindlessly reached out a hand, wanting to get a better feel of the weapon when, at its hilt, a crimson eye opened to greet him. Not expecting that, Xie Lian jerked back a bit, but he quickly recovered, touching the blade before Wuming could draw it back.

“Hello there!” He said excitedly. He could feel barely restrained power rolling off of the scimitar.

The eye seemed to crinkle up in joy upon recognising who was talking to it. The blade shook slightly.

“Wuming, what an amazing weapon you’ve acquired!” Xie Lian looked up, only to find a complicated expression on his companion's face. It was somewhere between confusion, disgust and pensiveness.

“It’s certainly no regular blade, Your Highness. I will require some time to glean its full abilities.” He said, half of his focus trained on that red eye.

“It’s connected to your consciousness, isn’t it?”

“En.”

“That’s great!” Xie Lian nearly shrieked in delight, startling both weapon and owner. A pair of eyes fixated on him.

“Most cultivators train for decades to even attempt such a connection with their blades- nevermind the fact that sentient weapons are already rare to come across! But this scimitar carries part of you and therefore it will never have its connection to you shattered, nor will others be able to wield it without your permission. Ah, I think we should spar just once before going to sleep tonight.”

Xie Lian only realised he’d been gushing when he took in Wuming’s helpless smile.

“I think both of us have had enough excitement for today, Your Highness.” 

And wasn’t that an understatement. Still, Xie Lian couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. Seeing him deflate urged Wuming to add.

“We should probably spend a few days testing out the limits of this weapon before we continue the hunt for ghosts though.”

Xie Lian didn’t even care that he was behaving like a child getting placated by an adult- he immediately piped right back up.

“Then let’s do it like that, Wuming!”

The blade chose that moment to wrench itself out of its master's hand and fly into Xie Lian’s. Xie Lian caught it, looking back at Wuming in confusion only to see that he was eyeing his new weapon with murderous rage.

“It seems to like you, Your Highness.” Still, his tone was as gentle as ever when he spoke to Xie Lian. “It also seems like I need to teach it some manners.” 

Wuming took his weapon back, giving it a smack before hanging it at his waist once more. The scimitar shook one final time as if to cry out at the perceived injustice but ultimately settled down. Xie Lian was a bit stunned to watch this display, far more used to the reverent treatment most cultivators showed to their blades.

“Have you thought of a name for it?” He asked eventually, as he and Wuming resumed their walk.

Wuming was quiet for a while, and Xie Lian was almost sure that he wouldn’t be getting an answer when-

“E’ming.” 

Xie Lian thought it a bit ironic yet also fitting that both their spiritual tools would carry such unfortunate names.

“E’ming it is then.”

The years passed them by almost in a daze.

In the first year they spent at the mountain range, they mainly stuck to the forest area, culling down the enormous number of weaker ghosts. That is to say, Wuming took to slaughtering them while Xie Lian sat back and watched or was safely tucked away somewhere.

His mastery over E’ming had grown and developed quickly with each horde taken out. More often than not, Wuming barely had to lift a finger- he would simply unsheathe his scimitar, letting it kill to its heart's content. 

E’ming turned out to be quite the fearsome and bloodthirsty weapon, earning itself and Wuming a reputation among the other ghosts. Beware of the one-eyed ghost and his demonic blade they'd whisper among themselves, yet some still thought they were above that warning. But no matter how many of them joined together and made up plans to ambush Wuming, they would always end up mincemeat before they could even get close enough to properly attack.

To Xie Lian though, E’ming felt more like a puppy that got excited every time it saw him. That, on the other hand, earned it plenty of smacking from a disgruntled Wuming. When Xie Lian had tried suggesting that Wuming be kinder to his blade, the ghost respectfully but firmly turned down the idea.

“Your Highness, while that may work on others, this piece of scrap metal I've created will turn into a spoiled brat if not handled firmly.”

What could Xie Lian have said to that? After all, no one understood a blade better than its master, especially one like E’ming.

And so things continued in that rhythm- slaughter, spar and train, sleep- for months and months until Xie Lian fell ill from the cold rain that had swept through the forest for more than a week. 

It was the first time he'd had Wuming stubbornly oppose him in full. 

The issue- Xie Lian could barely stand from his fever, yet he refused to let Wuming go out on his own, worried that he might encounter something that could overpower him again. Deep down, Xie Lian knew he was being ridiculous, yet he could not push his feelings of anxiety away. He would get very upset every time Wuming so much as tried to go out and bring back water for him.

As such the two found themselves at a stalemate, at least until Wuming grabbed Xie Lian's left hand on the second day of his illness and spelled a red thread around his middle finger. It was a direct mirror to the one on Wuming's right hand.

“This thread will stretch endlessly and connect the ones tied by it without fail. It will only disappear if one of us is either killed or dispersed.” He explained to a confused Xie Lian. 

Only after that, did Xie Lian allow Wuming out of his sight. It wasn't easy at first, but whenever Xie Lian felt his mind become addled with grim baseless thoughts, he would look at his hand and gently brush his fingers on the affinity knot. That Wuming only stayed away for no longer than strictly necessary also helped.

During their second year there, the pair had made it to the vast plains that made up most of the enclosed plateau in the mountain range. They also finally got to see the volcano at the middle of it all.

“That's where the voice is calling me to, Your Highness.” Wuming had said when they lay eyes on it for the first time. 

There wasn't much to recall from that year, or the third and fourth for that matter, beyond an endless stream of more mindless slaughter.

If Xie Lian had thought that the forest was teeming with ghosts, he would come to find that those had been just the ones too weak and fearful to step further into the fray. Since the mountains would not allow any of them to leave, their fate had been sealed though.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration for Xie Lian to say that the number of ghosts who had entered this hellish arena was in the hundreds of thousands.

But Wuming had fought them tirelessly and without complaint every single time.

No, what truly weighed on Wuming's mind was keeping his god safe and healthy. If Xie Lian had had access to his spiritual powers, it wouldn't be an issue, but shackled as he was, his body functioned like a normal human’s. He could ignore some of the restrictions, and he was definitely far stronger, but it would catch up to him eventually- hunger, dehydration and lack of sleep.

Within such a barren and cursed place, there was not a lot of food to be found and even clean water was a precious resource.

The only solution was for Wuming to regularly transfer spiritual energy to Xie Lian, in order to keep his body in a good state.

Xie Lian had quickly given up any sort of protest, knowing how much it upset Wuming when there was so much as a scratch on him. It was the epitome of irony that Xie Lian would be living a much better life here in the middle of ghost carnage, than he had during the fall of Xianle and in his first year of banishment- well if one could ignore said carnage. He didn't lack for company or excitement and he was already used to sleeping in the oddest of places. 

All in all Xie Lian would say it wasn't that bad.

Only halfway into their fifth year did the mindless massacre finally cease, allowing for a more relaxed pace to their lives.

Xie Lian estimated that there were still somewhere in the thousands or tens of thousands of ghosts remaining, however, the plateau was large enough to accommodate them each having their own small territory.

As such, various groups had formed, gangs looking to take out one another and grow their power. To say that it had turned into a kind of land war with politics added to the mix wouldn't be an overstatement.

Unfortunately for these gangs, Wuming and Xie Lian simply did not care about who owned what part of the land or who was strong and needed to have their favour curried. They simply took down anyone standing in their way.

“Watch out for the black and white pair, their arrival means your doom” they'd end up saying eventually, though in all fairness, Xie Lian was there simply to watch and give Wuming pointers on his form.

Ah, but he was so proud of his friend! Wuming had come very far in all these years, both in terms of strength and martial prowess. He was assimilating his lessons so fast that Xie Lian was worried there wouldn't be much else he could teach him soon.

It was at the beginning of the sixth year, after Wuming had taken down one of the biggest gangs in the area nearing the foot of the volcano that Xie Lian finally decided to share his theory about what was going on with the ghost. By then, Xie Lian was almost certain of his conclusion.

They had just made camp for the night.

“Wuming I think I know why the ghosts are all gathered here.” Xie Lian stared into the crackling fire. 

“Tell me, Your Highness.” Wuming looked up from where he was skinning the first rabbit they’d come across in months.

“It’s to attempt the birth of a new calamity.”

Wuming did not seem very surprised- he’d probably had his own suspicions.

“And I also believe that-” Xie Lian took a deep breath, trying to ignore the shivers he still got whenever he thought of him. ”Bai Wuxiang likely came from this place too.”

It was a heavy realisation to digest for both the god and the ghost. Wuming set aside his handiwork, wiping his hands on a piece of cloth and came to sit next to him. Xie Lian turned to meet his eye.

“Shall we try to stop it then?” He asked. Xie Lian had considered that too, countless times, however-

“I don’t think it can be stopped. One way or another, a powerful ghost will reach that volcano. If my guess is correct, they must enter it in order to complete the final step of the process. We can’t say what happens if no one enters the volcano and nothing is entirely certain but-”

Xie Lian paused and steeled himself for what he was about to say- for the burden that he was about to place on Wuming. He unwaveringly looked him in the eye.

“It has to be you.”

Said eye went wide for a moment before Wuming regained his composure.

“Why?” He asked neutrally.

“If someone is to wield that kind of power, I only trust you not to cause pointless suffering and abuse it.”

Of all the possible reactions, Xie Lian didn’t expect the soft laughter that came.

“What have I done to earn so much faith from Your Highness?” Wuming asked both amused and the slightest bit incredulous.

If that was how he wanted to play it…

“I could ask Wuming the same. What have I ever done to earn his wholehearted faith?” Xie lian countered, brow raised.

“You can be quite sly at times, Your Highness.” Perhaps the words would be upsetting, if not for the admiration on the Wuming's face and the mischief in his eye.

Xie Lian smiled before turning serious once more.

“But are you sure you want this Wuming? If we fail…”

Wuming cut him off.

“Your Highness, I’m glad you said something first, but I was going to offer myself either way.”

“Why?” Xie Lian asked, though he already had a hunch.

“Because there is someone I must catch up to.”

And even though the answer sent that by-now-familiar pang through Xie Lian’s chest, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Yet you still ask why I have faith in you when you only want power like that to protect someone.”

Wuming smiled for a moment, before his face became grave.

“Your Highness, you say you trust me not to abuse that kind of power but I would not hesitate to crush the world if that’s what it took to achieve my goal.”

Xie Lian knew that he meant it- Wuming never jested with such things- yet for some reason, he doubted that scenario would ever come into play. He also knew a final attempt to dissuade him when he was presented with one.

“Then let’s hope it never gets to that Wuming. But for now, let’s make sure that no one else gets to try their hand at being a calamity.”

By the end of the seventh year, only truly vicious ghosts remained, wraths that had amassed their own considerable amount of power. Anyone too weak or not cunning enough had been picked off to the last. As such, an odd kind of stalemate had come into place. The strong rarely fought each other directly, oftentimes relying on subterfuge to try and kill their opponents. No one wanted to risk it, so late into the game, especially when the end had finally come in sight.

Wuming was different- to him, it was merely a headache trying to find these “fearful rats” as he called them, all the while fending off their petty tricks. Still, he was rather pleased that they all avoided him like the plague. 

It meant that they recognised him as the strongest.

But, when one too many of these hairbrained schemes had started targeting his god, Wuming had had enough. He insisted that Xie Lian no longer accompany him and stay behind in their lair hidden beneath the volcano.

Not long after they set their sights on ensuring Wuming entered the volcano, the pair ended up discovering the ruins of a city, buried under a thick layer of volcanic ash. Neither of them could recognise the script that was used in old temples and public buildings, long forgotten and almost erased, but they did manage to decipher at least one thing.

There used to be a kingdom in this area, going by the name of Wuyong.

Unfortunately, they had far more urgent matters to deal with, so they didn’t spend enough time looking around the ruins to figure out more than some basic details about the history of Wuyong. Mapping the ruins out did lead to them finding a system of complex interconnected caves under the volcano though.

Wuming put up wards and just like that, they had a lair in a place none of the other ghosts seemed to have found out about.

At first, Xie Lian had fervently opposed the idea of staying behind, but Wuming argued that, even if Xie Lian could defend himself, it still had to be him to kill the ghosts, and if they got separated again, he feared what might happen to Xie Lian at the hands of those scheming bastards. He had also insisted that it was his fight to win, and that Xie Lian had already done more than enough to help him.

When Xie Lian still seemed hesitant to agree, Wuming changed tactics.

“Does Your Highness still find me lacking? Is that why he thinks he still needs to watch over this incompetent one?” He’d asked dejectedly. Even E’ming who’d been busy playing around with Ruoye seemed to slump, eye wobbling in a tearful kind of way.

By the time Xie Lian realised just what kind of trap had been set for him, he’d already agreed and even started comforting Wuming who was barely holding back the urge to grin smugly. Needless to say, Xie Lian had made Wuming find another cave in the labyrinth to sleep in that night. The other didn’t even try to argue, accepting his fate with a smile.

But deep down, Xie Lian couldn’t help but be very happy that there was someone who cared this much about his safety. And if he were to be honest with himself, he’d also been so adamant to go with Wuming because he’d been afraid of the moment that the ghost no longer needed him around.

Still, how could he stay feeling like that, when the first thing Wuming did after returning from scouting or fighting was to come to Xie Lian and tell him about every single thing he’d seen or done, asking for his thoughts.

Sometimes, he looked so much like a child vying for approval that Xie Lian’s heart couldn’t help but swell with fondness.

It took nine and a half years for Xie Lian to finally learn the true identity of his last believer. 

After reuniting with Wuming, Xie Lian’s nightmares had started to lessen to the point where he barely had them anymore. Even when he did, Wuming was always there to talk to him. Not about his dreams- Xie Lian had never wanted to- but about anything and everything else. 

So when Xie Lian had a particularly bad nightmare, about Wuming being dispersed to top it all off, he was not happy in the least when he woke up alone in the small cave that served as their sleeping place. He called out to the ghost but received no answer. Immediately, he checked the red string on his finger, breathing a huge sigh of relief when he saw it still there. 

Xie Lian knew that Wuming might’ve gone out trying to hunt down another one of the now tens of remaining ghosts, but he couldn’t find it in himself to keep his promise of staying behind at that moment. He needed to see that his friend was alright with his own two eyes.

So he followed the string, walking through the twisted pathways of the cave system for quite a while until he found him.

In a large room, lit by spiritual lamps, Wuming had his back turned to him. So caught in his own world, the ghost didn’t notice that Xie Lian had walked inside his little workshop. Neither had Xie Lian said anything, stunned to silence and gawking by the murals he could see painted on the cave walls.

The first he looked at was the one Wuming was currently working on. It wasn’t even halfway done, but enough detail had been added to it for Xie Lian to recognise a scene he'd rather erase from his memory forever- Beizi Hill and the land of the tender. There were only the barest contours shaping Xie Lian’s figure as he helplessly lay pinned to stone by his own sword, while a blood-red, distorted figure fought off an amorphous blob- likely the yet to be drawn monsters.

Next, he turned his eyes to a battlefield. An army was gearing up to fight in a war, as a little white figure floated in the sky overhead. It wielded a longsword in one hand looking imposing. There was another small blood-red figure among the dense battalion below. Its head was raised to watch the one in the sky.

Another mural showed a dilapidated shrine. The divine statue on the altar glowed faintly in white. In its right hand it held a sword, while with its left, it was offering a red umbrella to a small figure, once again coloured in the shade of blood. The small figure was offering the stature a little white flower that it carefully held in return.

Lastly, Xie Lian saw a depiction of what he was sure could be none other than the Shangyuan Festival. He saw himself as a pure white figure, reaching towards the sky to catch a small blob of red.

When Xie Lian turned to the ghost again, he found Wuming frozen on the spot, red dripping from his right hand. It smelled too metallic to be paint.

His eye was wide in shock- even fear. His lips were moving around barely formed words, yet no sound would come out.

Xie Lian himself wasn’t in a much better state, as his mind had begun to piece together the identity of the one in front of him, bringing back plenty of other memories not immortalised on those walls.

“I won’t!”

“I won‘t forget!”

“I will never forget you!”

“Hong’er.” He eventually called out- not a question, but finally, recognition.

The name was like a physical blow to the ghost. He recoiled back as if struck, but then stepped forward reaching out for Xie Lian, only to stop himself once he realised his hands were covered in blood.

“Your Highness, I can explain-” The ghost who had struck fear into every single other spirit in that place was now fumbling his words, like a child caught in a lie, waiting to be punished- waiting to be struck.

But Xie Lian had no such thoughts. He closed the distance between, coming to a stop right in front of Wuming. His hands reached up to cup the ghost’s face, as he looked at him trying to search for traces of the soldier who’d bravely defended him, or the child who’d clung to him so desperately after being blamed for something outside of his control.

His voice was barely a rasp when Xie Lian finally spoke.

“That day, when the curse went to you and you screamed out in pain… For just one moment, I thought it sounded familiar, but it was such a ridiculous thought that I cast it aside.”

Xie Lian swallowed, gently brushing his thumb beneath Wuming’s remaining eye.

“Now I remember. There was a child who screamed out like that as he'd cried in my arms.”

When tears started dripping down Xie Lian’s cheeks, it finally seemed to snap Wuming out of his stunned state. He frantically reached for his god, forgetting all about his stained hands.

“Your Highness please don’t cry for my sake, it’s all in the past-”

But before he could finish, Xie Lian was already reaching to embrace him, hands circling his neck, forcing him to slightly bend down.

“Oh Hong’er, I’m so sorry I was not able to do more for you back then!” 

Wuming remained stiff for a moment longer, but then finally regained his senses.

“No!” He shouted, startling Xie Lian into drawing back from the hug. Both seemed surprised by his sudden outburst, but Wuming quickly began to explain himself.

“What I mean to say is that, for a child like me, your kindness meant everything, Your Highness. It was more than enough. It saved me.” He said, desperately clinging onto Xie Lian’s shoulders.

“If you don’t know how to live on anymore, then live for me! If you don’t know the meaning of your life, then make me that meaning, and use me as your reason to live.”

The current Xie Lian, banished god who hadn’t been able to save his people and only led them to ruin, would never dare to even think such words…

“You really took those arrogant words to heart…”

But if they had truly ended up saving a person…

Xie Lian could see Wuming’s face twist as he readied himself to rebuke his words.

“I’m so glad that you did.” He smiled teary-eyed, before diving back to hug Wuming again.

Then perhaps that young, naive princeling hadn’t been entirely foolish.

It took Wuming a few seconds, but he returned it.

Much later, after the two of them calmed down somewhat and Xie Lian explained why he’d been looking for Wuming, the pair found themselves lying face to face on the straw pellet that served as their bed. 

Xie Lian hadn’t been able to stop staring at the ghost. There were countless things he wanted to ask- about his childhood, about what he’d done after leaving Mount Taicang that day, how he’d become a soldier- and so many others. But at the same time, he didn’t wish to pry or bring back ugly memories. The little he knew already told him that Hong’er’s life had been a very harsh one. So Xie Lian kept staring instead, awed and humbled by the one in front of him.

“Hong’er-” He eventually started, only to be cut off.

“Your Highness, I’d much rather you kept calling me Wuming.”

Xie Lian thought he could understand why, but it still made him somewhat sad.

“Have you ever considered another name for yourself? I will call you whatever you wish me to, but this name I have given to you is ultimately a cruel one. You deserve more than that.” The god was somewhat embarrassed that it had taken him nearly a decade to broach this topic, but as always, Wuming didn’t look the slightest bit upset with him.

“I will think about it, Your Highness.”

They fell silent once again. Xie Lian knew he should really sleep- could feel just how exhausted his body was- yet for some reason he was perfectly content to lie awake next to Wuming. As his mind drifted, he found one question he couldn’t help but ask.

“Wuming, back when you were still a soldier, I told Mu Qing to promote you after… that event at Beizi Hill. How come I never saw you again?”

Wuming's mouthed curled with poorly hidden distaste. 

“Your Highness’ servant saw it fit to kick me out instead. I could only join a different battalion after that.”

“Ah.” Perhaps Xie Lian should’ve refrained from any questions after all. “I’m sorry.”

But Wuming smiled, a glint of mischief in his eye.

“It’s alright Your Highness, after all, I’ve been your one and only student for years now.”

He looked so smug about it that Xie Lian couldn’t help but laugh.

In the end, it was ten years after madness had overtaken every ghost in the land that one of them would finally enter the volcano.

Having finally dispersed all other wraths on the mountain, Xie Lian and Wuming stood side by side at the mouth of the volcano, looking down into it in silence.

“Your Highness.” Eventually Wuming spoke.

“Hm?”

“Once I enter, I will have to break out of there in less than forty nine days, otherwise my energy will be consumed by the mountain and I will be turned to ashes.” 

Xie Lian didn’t question how Wuming knew that. During their time here, Wuming had said that the voice was less present, yet it still spoke to him every now and then. It rarely gave any useful information beyond urging him to kill everything around him, but now that there was only one candidate left, it must’ve been feeling generous.

“I see.” Xie Lian tried not to let the anxiety he was feeling show.

They had gotten this far- it would be ridiculous to turn back now, but… As much as he trusted him with his own life, Wuming was too precious to lose. Xie Lian had had to talk himself down from stopping Wuming from entering the volcano way too many times in the past few days.

He was even tempted to suggest he take Wuming’s place, even though he was not a ghost himself, but he knew that Wuming would never agree.

Well, he could still try to convince him…

A hand grabbed his, snapping him out of his spiralling thoughts. He turned towards Wuming.

The other was looking at him as if he knew what kind of dilemma Xie Lian had almost gotten himself stuck in, a tentative smile on his lips. He bent down so that his face was at level with Xie Lian’s.

“Before I go in, would Your Highness give this believer his blessing?”

Xie Lian was only surprised for a moment- after all, he hadn’t really been a god in the past eleven years or so- before he softly chuckled.

“Of course.” Lifting himself on his toes, Xie Lian cupped Wuming’s face and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

He only had the spiritual energy that Wuming insisted he leave him with so that Xie Lian could sustain himself while he waited for the ghost- he didn’t place any of that into the kiss. But he did put his best wishes and earnest hope behind it. 

“Now make sure to return in one piece.” Xie Lian let go and took a step back, clasping his hands behind his back to hide the slight tremors in them. It took everything inside him to just stand still as he watched Wuming slowly step forward.

He turned to Xie Lian one last time.

“I will always come back to Your Highness” Wuming grinned broadly, before letting himself fall backwards. 

The mouth of the volcano closed after him almost instantly.

After Wuming had gone in, Xie Lian moved back down to the foot of the mountain. As much as he wished to wait for Wuming right where he’d left him, they had also discussed the not unlikely possibility that the volcano could erupt when Wuming finished his trial.

As he walked through the deserted ruins of Wuyong, Xie Lian couldn’t help but laugh at himself a little. He had gotten so used to almost always having his friend with him that he kept turning right every other few minutes, wishing to share a thought that had come to mind, only to find no one there. 

“I’m hopeless.” He sighed, watching Ruoye wiggle out of his sleeve. The strip of silk slithered up to his face, brushing its end against Xie Lian’s cheek. The action made him chuckle. If Xie Lian missed Wuming already, then he was sure that Ruoye felt the same about E’ming.

“I know you’re also worried about them, but we have to believe that they'll be fine.” 

Xie Lian wasn’t entirely sure whose sake he was speaking those words for.

Eventually, he found himself a large ginkgo tree that had either somehow survived destruction or sprouted from the ashes some hundreds of years ago. It was a beautiful sight among all the ruin and dereliction. Xie Lian chose it as his spot to settle down and enter a meditative state- it would be the best way to preserve as much energy as possible seeing as they hadn’t been able to find any more wild edible plants or small game before Wuming had gone in.

Xie Lian wasn’t afraid of hunger or starvation though- he’d experienced plenty of that during his first year of banishment. He was however afraid of what he would do if forty nine days passed and nothing happened. Still, he knew he’d lose his mind if he indulged those thoughts so he tried his best to focus on other things.

He let his mind drift, thinking back to all the lovely little moments he’d collected with his friend.

The first time Wuming had built up the courage to show Xie Lian one of the portraits he’d painted of the god, trying very hard to act casual about it. Xie Lian still kept it safely tucked in his travel bag.

All of the silly ways Wuming had tried to skip on calligraphy practice- though Xie Lian had never understood why he himself insisted so much on them when they yielded little to no results. 

“There is still work to be done in the village, I forgot we had a lesson and already agreed to help.”

“I’ve misplaced the calligraphy brush, forgive me Your Highness.”

“My wrist really hurts Your Highness.”

The countless amount of times he’d had to talk Ruoye out of turning Wuming into a mummy, though Wuming had graciously borne all the odd ways in which the strip of silk showed affection.

How Wuming would fuss like a mother hen over the smallest of scratches, even though Xie Lian insisted he couldn’t really feel any pain.

Their dance lessons under the mountain, where Xie Lian had decided that, since they had more leisure time without so many ghosts around, he would teach Wuming some court dances. It had ended up becoming a rare but entertaining pastime whenever they found a moment for it.

And so many others…

Like that, Xie Lian’s mind had found peace, and he would continue to hold his meditative state for another two weeks.

It was the tremors that snapped him back to the waking world. At first, Xie Lian was confused, slowly rising to his feet as he looked around him. The area was still as empty as he remembered it but when the tremors began to rise in intensity, turning into a full-blown earthquake, it finally clicked for him.

The volcano was about to erupt!

Xie Lian leaned on the ginkgo tree for support as he waited out what quickly became a very strong quake, his mind going a mile a minute. 

Surely this meant that Wuming had made it right?

How many days had he even been meditating for? 

How could he be so careless as to lose count!

But his body still held a decent amount of spiritual energy so it couldn’t have been that long-

A loud BOOM reverberated through the air just then, forcing Xie Lian to cover his ears. The volcano shot out a column of ash so tall that it covered the sun, casting the entire plateau area into an odd penumbral light. For a moment, Xie Lian thought he could understand how that ancient kingdom had fallen.

What a mighty and frightening volcano.

But what should he do now? Should he climb up to the peak and look for Wuming? Could he even do that when the eruption was actively still going on? Was Wuming even okay in the midst of such a natural disaster…

Before Xie Lian could lose himself to his increasingly overwrought thoughts, a light flashed at the corner of his eye. When he turned to it, he saw a butterfly of all things. Yet this was no normal insect- its body was entirely silver, glowing with an otherworldly light. The critter gently flew around Xie Lian’s head, making the god turn with it, until it landed on his nose.

Xie Lian went cross eyed for a moment, trying to get a closer look at it, then let out a soft chuckle. That made the butterfly flap its wings and fly off. He was almost about to chase it before he remembered he had other, far more urgent matters to deal with.

But as he was about to set out looking for Wuming, a swarm of butterflies- just like the one he’d seen a moment ago- manifested itself a few metres away from where Xie Lian stood. They slowly melded together, taking the form of a person.

This man was tall, dressed in fine red robes and had long, wild-looking black hair flowing all the way down his back. His right eye was covered by a leather eye-patch, his neck adorned by silver necklaces with butterfly motifs and his wrists encased in beautifully engraved silver vambraces. He even had silver chains hanging from his black leather boots.

In one word- he was ethereal- like a character from a fairy tale, like someone who belonged in a legend, yet Xie Lian would recognise his Wuming anywhere. Though his face was more mature, his features a lot shaper and more defined, one look into that dark eye was enough for him.

One moment, Xie Lian was standing next to the tree, openly gawking at the newcomer, the next he was rushing forward into arms already open to catch him.

“Wuming, you’re back!”

If before he merely had to stand on his toes to hook his chin onto Wuming’s shoulder, now his head barely reached the height where an unbeating heart lay in the ghost’s chest. Xie Lian inhaled deeply, taking in a pleasant scent of ash and wildflowers. He heard a chuckle from above.

“Of course, after all I promised Your Highness I would return in one piece.” The voice that spoke was much deeper, no longer that of a youth, but that of a fully grown man. It sent pleasant shivers down Xie Lian’s back.

He disentangled himself from their hug, looking up at Wuming’s face. He was about to speak when Wuming frowned, hands coming up to cup Xie Lian’s face.

“Why is Your Highness’ face so gaunt. Did I take too long to break out of that place?”

Oh. Was the only thought Xie Lian could manage. As a youth, Wuming had been very handsome, the perfect picture of a beautiful young man even with a missing eye, but in this fully grown form he was simply incomparable. Add that to the way he was looking at Xie Lian with such single minded focus and the god could feel his legs go weak. There were also all kinds of other feelings making his heart beat very fast, but Xie Lian couldn’t grasp or define any of them.

“N-no, I just lost track of time meditating and forgot to replenish myself.” He was glad that the heat on his cheeks could be interpreted as embarrassment.

The corner of Wuming’s mouth curled up into a subtle smile.

“I see.” Was all that he said.

What do you see? Please tell me, it’s likely not what you think it is! Xie Lian felt wronged for some reason, but how was he supposed to say that?! Before either of them could speak, another set of tremors shook the ground. The volcano was getting ready to spew out even more ash.

“We should finally get out of this place, Your Highness. Please hold onto me a moment longer.” 

“Alright.” What else could Xie Lian do but comply. He circled his arms around Wuming’s waist once again. The next thing he knew, the world around them warped, glowing silver bright, before the light subsided again and they found themselves on a dirt road, the erupting volcano just slightly visible in the distance.

To take them so far away, without even having to draw an array or utter a spell- what great power! And Wuming did not even look the slightest bit worked up!

“That was amazing Wuming!” 

Xie Lian excitedly looked up at his companion, only to see he was already watching him.

“Hua Cheng.”

“Huh?”

“Your Highness asked me to think of a name for myself.”

Xie Lian’s confused expression turned into a bright smile upon hearing that.

“It suits you.” He said sincerely.

Hua Cheng smiled back at him, then, the tiniest sliver of uncertainty flashed in his eye before he spoke again.

“But gege should call this one San Lang.”

Gege, huh?

Xie Lian found that he actually liked the term of endearment quite a bit. And he had wanted to get Hua Cheng to stop using his title since ten years ago.

“Very well San Lang.” He nodded and all traces of that prior doubt disappeared from Hua Cheng's face.

He took a step back, offering Xie Lian his hand in a show of courtesy that was both sincere and mischevous.

“Now that that’s decided, gege should allow me to get him a proper meal for the first time in a decade.”

Xie Lian would be lying if he said he didn’t miss eating proper food. It also clicked for him in that moment that they were finally free of the gruesome ordeal of the past decade. They could go anywhere and do anything they wanted. 

“We’ll go wherever you want San Lang.” He smiled softly, basking in the warmth the thought of their future posibilities brought.

Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? Would gege like to accompany me to the Ghost Realm then?”

And what else could Xie Lian say but-

“Sure!”