Chapter Text
A few years had already passed since Jun Wu's defeat and the emperor's throne became vacant. Without a designated head, things had been quite a bit more chaotic. Despite that the Heavenly Capital was rebuilt rather quickly and regained a sense of order after a while.
A few years since Jian Lan took Cuo Cuo and left Feng Xin behind. And even though he had given up on chasing after her, the rumors about them didn’t cease for quite a while and only became worse with time.
While Feng Xin tried to just ignore them, Mu Qing had found he had developed a sort of aversion to people so much as mentioning this oh so tragic love story. Every one of those rumors just pissed him off and it was beyond him why it even bothered him so much. It was just gossip and shouldn’t concern him.
And yet it did. If only for the fact that Feng Xin’s passiveness about it annoyed him for some inexplicable reason. His relationship with Feng Xin had become rather… complicated after the incident at Tonglu Mountain. Better, but also not. They still argued, though what used to often end in a satisfying fist fight now more often ended with the unnerving feeling that there were words left unsaid.
It frustrated Mu Qing endlessly and put a different strain on their relationship that wasn’t there before.
But other than such personal and rather redundant matters, the Heavenly Capital was experiencing a peaceful time. Much needed and appreciated after the whole ordeal they all went through before.
That was, until urgent prayers reached the two martial gods of the south.
~*~
"I don't see why you have to get yourself involved in this. It was me who received prayers about this incident. It's my territory. Stay out of this and let me handle it myself," Feng Xin said matter of factly, arms crossed in front of his chest as if to finalize the topic.
Mu Qing was casually leaning against one of the pillars inside the newly built great martial hall, his designated meeting place with Ling Wen, where he waited to receive whatever results her research brought on his upcoming mission. It had been her who decided the time and place and Mu Qing had not been thrilled to see Feng Xin entering mere minutes after him for the exact same reason.
The objective of this mission in and of itself had seemed like nothing out of the ordinary at first. Some malicious ghost causing trouble in a village, that appeared to be the gist of it. But as the prayers about the matter piled up at an alarming rate, it turned out to be significantly more complicated than what he had first assumed. Thus Mu Qing had found the best cause of action being to contact Ling Wen and get her to issue an investigation, so that he wouldn’t dive into this unprepared.
He kept his eyes completely focussed as he slid his fingers along the flat of his saber’s blade. It was a needless check-up he only did in favor of not sparing Feng Xin a single glance. But although there was nothing wrong with Zhan Madao, Mu Qing didn’t feel satisfied at all. However, it had little to do with the saber.
"We both received prayers about this," he countered with a roll of his eyes and sheathed his weapon, finally turning towards Feng Xin with a look bordering between annoyance and boredom on his face. "It's my business as well, whether you like it or not. I don’t plan on leaving it all to you, so just deal with it.”
Feng Xin let out a humorless snort. "What, are you trying to say I can’t handle this mission by myself?"
Mu Qing’s expression turned mischievous then. "I was going to say it’d be dealt with faster with the both of us. But if that’s how you want to interpret it, be my guest.”
It wasn’t like Mu Qing was eager to go with Feng Xin of all people, but they had already successfully fulfilled countless missions in the past and it remained irrefutable that they fought well together. The fact that they knew each others’ fighting styles like the backs of their hands after centuries of having the displeasure of knowing each other surely helped with that.
That this was partly caused by their constant fights was of no significance.
Feng Xin scowled. “Fine, tag along if you really must. But will you leave this bitchy attitude of yours at home? You’ve been so fucking moody recently. I don’t need you nagging at me the entire time we're there.”
Bastard.
Mu Qing’s lips morphed into a dangerous sneer, a vein popping on his forehead. He pushed off the pillar to step right in front of Feng Xin and stared him down with cold eyes. “Maybe I wouldn’t have such an ‘attitude’ if you didn’t constantly get on my nerves," he snarled. “If you’re so against doing this with me, please, I’m not forcing you to. You can get lost in the mortal realm for all I care!"
Feng Xin's eyebrow twitched and from this close up, Mu Qing could watch as his expression underwent a couple changes before finally setting on a forced calm. He let out a deep sigh and scratched the back of his head.
“Look, I’m not saying I don’t want you to be part of this mission. Just that there’s no point in the both of us getting involved in such a small matter. Don’t get so worked up over it.”
Mu Qing clicked his tongue, ready to snap something back at him. Though he didn’t get to it.
"AHEM…"
Two heads whipped towards the entrance of the great martial hall, where a smiling but exhausted looking Ling Wen stood, scrolls in her arms, waiting to be noticed. By the looks of it, it wasn't the first time she had tried to grab their attention.
"Generals," she greeted politely, inclining her head.
With a huff, Mu Qing took a step away from Feng Xin, straightening his posture and the two of them returned the gesture.
“I’m glad to see you as… lively as ever,” Ling Wen commented as she approached the pair. Two guards tailed along behind her. Still a prisoner, she wasn’t given the freedom to move around alone. But as no one else was fit to take up her duties, eventually she was at least freed from her confinement to the point where she was able to resume her previous tasks, albeit under strict supervision.
Despite him not looking at Feng Xin directly, Mu Qing didn't miss the way he eyed the civil goddess with a rather unwarranted amount of wariness. It took a lot of restraint for him not to roll his eyes. He would probably never understand Feng Xin's unreasonable fear of women.
If Ling Wen noticed, she chose to ignore it.
“I happened to overhear your dispute and I have to say, I recommend you two go together," she began. "We did our utmost to find out what we could about this case, but strangely we weren’t able to exactly determine just what kind of creature will await you there. Since the situation is rather unclear, it would be better for the both of you to take a look."
She took one of the scrolls in hand and opened it, revealing a map of the southern regions.
"Anyway, we found the location of the source," she pointed at a spot on the map, "It's quite central between your territories, which explains the both of you receiving prayers. It's a forested area with a village near its border that has been known for their fertile lands, but recently they found their waters to be polluted, resulting in significant damage to their harvest as well as a number of casualties."
"Wait, if that's the case, wouldn't it make more sense to inform the Lord Rain Master of this? That's her area of expertise," Feng Xin interjected.
"In theory, yes. But that's not all. The water flows through the forest into the village," Ling Wen moved her finger along a stream marked on the map and tapped the village twice, "Some farmers decided to search for the cause of the water pollution and went to investigate. They went missing for several days until only one of them returned, albeit not alive. His corpse was found floating in the stream. It caused quite an uproar."
"So, then they thought it must be a malicious ghost or the likes of it that killed the farmers and polluted the waters and went to us martial gods instead," Mu Qing mused, crossing one arm over his chest and resting his chin on his other hand, brows furrowed in thought.
The outline of the case was quite clear, the lack of information on the creature responsible however was rather uncharacteristically for the officials of the Ling Wen tower.
"What stopped you from investigating the forest?" Feng Xin asked as if he had read Mu Qing's thoughts. "If the location is so obvious, it can't be that the culprit simply hid from your eyes."
"There is a peculiar dense mist that prevented us from gathering more information about the creature, it was simply too risky. It can block communication arrays and easily confuse your senses," she explained. "I believe with the high level of your spiritual energy you should be able to break through it."
Ling Wen rolled the map up again and replaced it in her arms, her face solemn as she looked at the two martial gods.
"It’s apparent the farmer didn't die a simple death, his corpse was mutilated and covered in malicious energy. It is said that it used to be a place used for executions. We can't be too sure, of course, but there is a high chance that whatever is lurking in the forest could be very dangerous even for you. General Nan Yang, General Xuan Zhen, please both of you be careful.”
~*~