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The moon shines brightly over the little shack behind Paradise Manor, where the lights of Ghost City do not reach. It’s a quiet night, considering how things have been the past year. With Hua Cheng gone, and Yin Yu also nowhere to be found, Ghost City had been chaotic, and only recently had things gone back to normal.
Well, almost.
Yin Yu enjoys the silence of this place, with no shouting, no gambling, and nobody demanding things of him that he cannot fulfill. Only him, the wind in the leaves, and the clear night sky. And while he enjoys this silence, it is unsettling now. He would usually focus on his heartbeat, and take deep breaths in a steady rhythm to keep himself calm. Now, there is no heartbeat. No breath to take, because he is no longer alive.
It had been a weird sensation to open his eyes from this sort of coma he was in, in his room, safe and sound. Things had seemed so normal, until he noticed the lack of heartbeat. The cold of his skin.
“You seem troubled.”
Hua Cheng’s voice cuts through the silence like his scimitar through flesh and bone. Turning around, he moves to stand up, though, the older ghost’s gesture makes him sit back down on the bench. Hua Cheng sits beside him.
“I did not expect to return, after…”
“Mhm, it’s surprising. I didn’t expect it as well, mostly because your soul was severely damaged.”
“How did… How did you bring me back?”
It’s a question that has troubled him ever since he woke up and found himself dead. He knew his soul was damaged. He had felt it when it got locked in his cursed shackle, and it had tortured him for the entire time he was trapped.
“A variation of a soul-shifting spell. Pouring spiritual energy in a soul-containing vessel, collecting the soul-shards and reconnecting them with their body, followed by strict care for said body. It took three weeks for you to finally settle. Heh, I wondered if I should’ve let you go.”
“It could’ve been easier for you. The process sounds tiring.”
“Yin Yu, please. You’re talking to a supreme Ghost King, feared by many. As if something like this could tire me out.”, Hua Cheng laughs, and somehow, it brings peace to Yin Yu’s tense muscles.
“But I do have to ask, you’re not unhappy to be here, are you?”
“You know the answer to that question.”
“I want to hear it anyway.”
A sigh, and Yin Yu shakes his head. What childish behavior.
“I am not unhappy. Would I be, I’d simply dissipate, or scatter my ashes.”
“Good. Make sure you get some rest. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how things will go from here.”
Hua Cheng gets up and leaves. A few minutes later, Yin Yu does too, retreating for the night. Tomorrow will be busy enough.
Yin Yu’s night remains restless. A nightmare haunts him, makes him toss and turn. He wakes up drenched in his own sweat, and so the first thing he does after waking up is go take a shower, to soothe his tense muscles and his nerves.
Dressed only in inner robes, he emerges from his bathroom, almost running into Hua Cheng, admiring a sword hanging on his wall.
“Chengzhu! I didn’t see you there.”, Yin Yu apologizes with a bow and heads over to his wardrobe to fetch a pair of clean, fresh robes.
“Oh, don’t worry. This is your sword, is it?”
“...Yes. I used it when I was still a martial god.”
“May I inquire… Why do you keep it?”
“It was given to me by my Shifu. It holds sentimental value.”
“Mhh…. I see. You should use it some time again.”
Hua Cheng turns to look at Yin Yu, just when the latter had finished dressing and tying his hair into a loose ponytail. His lips are drawn up in an ominous smile, although Yin Yu knows there is no harm behind it. Mostly some teasing, if anything.
“Follow me. I would like to discuss how things go from here.”
“Are you asking me to leave?”
“Please, no, Yin Yu. If you leave or not is - as it always has been - your choice entirely. You are neither my prisoner, nor my possession. If you want to leave, leave. If you want to stay, stay.”
Yin Yu swallows around the lump in his throat, and he nods, as he then follows after Hua Cheng into Paradise Manor. They enter the main hall, and Hua Cheng sits down on his oversized divan. Yin Yu stands before him in polite distance.
“I will ignore for now that there is not yet a decision wether you stay or not, and will focus on your current state. You died, and you returned. The cursed shackle is no more, which means, you have full control over your spiritual energy now.”
“I’ve noticed. It is an unfamiliar feeling, I admit.”
Hua Cheng eyes him up and down, hums and then nods. Whatever is going through his head, Yin Yu cannot tell. He never could, although he was able to differentiate between various moods at least. And right now, all he could see was a thoughtful, pensive expression.
“You’ll get used to it again. But what is more important…”
Hua Cheng procures a little sachet, tightly closed and sealed. He throws it over to Yin Yu, who catches it with ease.
“You need to find a safe place for your ashes. I am not keeping them for you, and I do not wish to know where they are.”
“I will take care of that, Chengzhu. Before… I have a question.”
“Ask ahead.”
“You explained to me how you brought me back. However, I… I was wondering how badly my soul was damaged, and if you think it took irreversible damage.”
“It sure did. Your soul was shattered to pieces, and I cannot guarantee I found all of them within the cursed shackle. What I can guarantee, is that you won’t notice much of the damage in the future. Now, that you settle in back into your body, you might. Is something troubling you?”
“No, just a nightmare. It’s not important.”, Yin Yu answers, shaking his head. He looks at the other ghost, and then, without any hesitation, he bows again, hand to his heart.
“This lowly one would like to stay in your service, Hua Chengzhu. I have found my home here, and a reason to continue.”
Hua Cheng hums, and looks at him for a moment. The determination is ever-present in his subordinate. With a gentle movement of his hand, he gestures Yin Yu to stand upright again.
“Very well. You may return to your work as the Waning Moon Officer. But first, you will rest some more. In two weeks, you can return to work. If you’d like, Gege wanted you to visit him, you can stay some time there, to heal further.”
A smile forms on Yin Yu’s features, and he nods. The sachet with his ashes still in his hand, he bows again to bid farewell for now.
“Thank you, Hua Chengzhu.”