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It was a normal day up in the heavenly capital, and Feng Xin was walking to his place after spending the day over at Mu Qing’s. Of course, no one knew and no one had to know about Feng Xin considering hanging out at his biggest enemy up in the heavens normal. That was confidential information. Honestly, they spent a lot more time together than most people would expect, despite their constant bickering. Maybe it was because they both found comfort in eachother, they were the only familiar faces left from their childhood, or maybe because they were secretly boyfriends. Both are equally believable.
The birds were singing beautifully (wait a minute, why are there birds in heaven?) and the sun was shining strongly at Feng Xin’s face. Gods having immunity to sunburns really was quite useful. Just as he was about to pass the main square, the ground started shaking, whilst a gold beam appeared up from the skies and down onto the surface of the golden floor of the heavenly capital. “Great.” Feng Xin thought. “Another god, just great.”
It’s not like new gods ascending really affected him much, but he was already struggling to remember the names of all the already ascended gods, he really didn’t need the list to grow. Though, this time, the shakes were far more violent than usual, almost scarily so. People quickly started to pour into the square to see what the cause of such a ruckus could be. Well, surprise, new god ascending! Not at all like that happened about once every 50 years. Which really wasn’t a lot, considering the ages of most gods, Feng Xin included. But even he had to admit, this was obviously not any regular ascent, probably the strongest one Feng Xin had ever witnessed, and that’s saying something!
“What a disturbance!”
“There hasn’t been a fuss like this over an ascension since the crown prince of Xianle ascended!”
“Dont mention him!!”
By this point, the square was flooded with people which wasn’t really making the strong ground tremors any better. A bell a few hundred meters away started shaking a bit more than any normal bell probably should be, causing even more panic. And then it fell down- out of Feng Xin’s line of sight. This poor guy who’s ascending is gonna be in an absurd amount of debt already on his first day, Feng Xin almost felt a bit sympathetic.
Soon, after 20 seconds or so, the golden beam finally disappeared and people would finally be able to tell who the person ascending is. At this point, even Feng Xin was quite interested, and he took a step closer so he could see who it was. Nothing could prepare him for the shock of seeing him again.
As soon as Feng Xin got a look at the guy’s face, his breath hitched. A face he was far too used to, despite the hundreds of years it had been since he saw it last. He wore simple attire - too simple. His hair was slightly longer, and half of it was put up in a messy bun. What was he doing here? How? Why? Honestly, Feng Xin would be lying if he said he hadn’t started believing that he was dead by now. it had been more than 800 years! Who could blame him? At first when Feng Xin ascended, he had been certain that Xie Lian would find his way back to the heavens in no time, but after a hundred years or so, he started accepting the fact that the loss of Xianle was too much for him to recover from. Yet there he was, slowly opening his eyes after being engulfed in the strong light from the beam. The akward smile he had when he realised what had happened did nothing but confirm the fact that this actually was the one and only Xie Lian. At this point, Feng Xin felt like he might faint. What was he doing here? How had he survived for 800 years alone? Was he even alone? Surely he was, after the reputation he earned when Xianle fell, there was no way anyone would want to help or even less want to be friends with him. Why had Feng Xin not found him when he looked? Soon after Feng Xin himself ascended, he started searching for Xie Lian, despite all that had happened. He had no idea why, but he had felt the need to find him, and help him, even if last time he tried had resulted in straight up being told to leave. All it lead to was far too many burnt down temples and a lot of cursing.
As general Nan Yang stood there, staring in a mixture of shock and horror at his former master, he noticed something. On His Highness’s arm. There was a bandage. What had happened? In normal circumstances, perhaps a white bandaid on someone’s arm wouldn’t be so horrifying, but this was Xie Lian they were talking about. There is no way he would just accidentally hurt his arm without some truly horrific fight taking place. Yes, he might not be a god anymore and had no supernatural powers, but there was a reason why Xie Lian had been known as one of the most powerful gods. Truly, Xie Lian was sickeningly powerful in battle, and Feng Xin knew it better than anyone. So who had he been fighting? How had he been hurt? There were so many questions, Feng Xin felt like his brain was going to explode any moment. Did Mu Qing know that Xie Lian had ascended? He must have felt the ground shaking, but did he know who had ascended?
Before registering what he’s doing, he finds himself running back the way he came, back to Mu Qing’s palace. He passes the fallen down bell on the way, and notices Mu Qing standing there, speaking to Ling Wen while looking massively pissed off. Meanwhile the clock is lying on the ground, neatly cut in half.
“The fuck are you doing here?” Feng Xin demanded while walking towards them.
“Wow, aren’t you a ray of sunshine today?” He answered, clearly already annoyed.
“Shut up.”
“Last time I checked, you were the one that questioned me.”
“Maybe so, yet-“
“The bell fell right on top of general Xuan Zhen, yet instead of simply avoiding it, he deemed it to be a fun idea to slice it in half instead.” Ling Wen interrupts, clearly far more used to the two’s bickering than she wishes to be. “But I’d say we’re just about finished. The debt for the broken bell will be placed on the newly ascended.”
Feng Xin can’t help feeling sorry for Xie Lian. Everyone hating him must already give him a lot to deal with, the last thing he needs is some extra debt.
He quietly mutters out Mu Qing’s private spiritual communication array password and tells him to meet him back at My Qing’s place. They then go their own ways, Feng Xin taking a bit of detour to get to Mu Qing - he’d rather not raise suspicion by walking back to the general’s palace together with him.
After one or two incense time, he finds himself outside of Mu Qings palace. He sneakily looks around to make sure nobody is paying attention to him before walking in, without knocking of course.
“Hey, why are you back here again?” Mu Qing immediately asked as he heard the door close behind Feng Xin.
“Did you ever find out who ascended?” Feng Xin questions, walking towards the living room, where he finds his boyfriend lying lazily on the couch.
“No, I was on my way to see what the fuss was about right when that stupid bell fell on top of me. Then you told me to meet here, so I never got the chance to find out.”
“Well it’s- fuck- It’s Xie Lian.”
“Sorry? I think I misheard.”
“You didn’t.”
“Are you serious?” Mu Qing blurted, his eyes shooting up in disbelief. Clearly, he seemed to be just as confused and shocked as Feng Xin was - and still is.
“…”
“WHAT? How is that possible? I- how is he even alive? What has he been stuck doing for the past 800 years? Is he ok?- Like mentally? I mean-?
Yup. Definitely as horrified as Feng Xin was.
“First things first, you what the fuck has he been doing up until now? Why didn’t I find him when I looked?” Feng Xin wondered aloud. Sure, he may not be the strongest nor the most patient of gods, but he’s still a god. He should be able to find a single person he had known all his life, right?
“Is he a ghost?” Mu Qing questions, worryingly seriously.
“What?- No!! Definitely not! He still ascended! And he’s still Xie Lian! Honestly I’m shocked we were thinking he died, do any of us know anyone stronger than him?” Feng Xin exclaims.
“Well, that was when he still had his spiritual powers.”
“Are you underestimating His Highness, you ass?” Feng Xin immediately replies. It was a long time ago he was put in a situation where he would defend Xie Lian, it should have felt weird, but somehow it didn’t. Perhaps you really don’t forget that kind of stuff after all.
“Alright I’ll shut up. Seriously. We need to find a way to get closer to Xie Lian. Somehow. I need to know more. What has he even been doing all these years? Why did it take him a whole 800 years for him to ascend?” Sometimes Mu Qing actually can be mature, huh? Weird. It doesn’t fit him.
“Right.”
“…”
“…”
“I’ve got an idea.”