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Chapter Text

Finally reaching the Upper Courts of the Heavens and finding His Highness was one of the most shocking moments of Feng Xin’s existence. He had been working hard to gain power and prestige the last few years, pausing now and again to take the time to scour the land for the Royal Family he had left behind that one horrible day. Truthfully, the god had felt guilty and concerned as soon as the anger and upset had begun to fade. His Highness’ behavior had been highly erratic and unlike him, the crowned Prince was even hallucinating; the man knew he shouldn’t have left them like that, even if he had been told to.

But by the time he had returned, a mere day later, there was no sign of the three Xian Le citizens. The home they had been in was cleaned out, everything they had been stocking up on wiped away without a trace. It was almost as though no one had ever been there. Adding to that, the people around had said they hadn’t seen any of them in days. Could they have snuck out at night to avoid detection? It seemed as though there recently had been a large festival, with loud fanfare and scenes to distract the majority of people.

Still, something seemed off. Most worryingly had been the cracks crawling across one of the walls, originating a bit over five chi off the floor with blood stains surrounding what must be the impact site.

His Highness was a bit over five chi.

From that day, Feng Xin made sure to always keep an eye and ear out for His Highness and Their Majesties. As he gained followers and officials, he kept a policy of making certain they were each aware he was searching for the fallen god and his family. He had yet to hear even a hint about them, though given what he was now seeing with his own eyes, there was a very good reason for that.

His Highness wasn’t in the mortal realm because he had ascended again! How the archer had never heard of this, he wasn’t quite sure, but he could say he was relieved to see the other man again. The Prince looked much better than he had when they had last parted, he was no longer dirty and disheveled, his face no longer pale and stricken with panic, fear, and rage borne from hardship and despair. It was as though someone had picked him up and reset his clock, turning the disheveled fallen spirit back into the clean, prim, smiling royal flower martial god he had been before.

To make matters even greater, His Highness now stood as the Emperor, Jun Wu’s, beloved right-hand. From the mumbling around him--another newly raised god questioned the Prince’s identity and received a reply from his companion--it seemed the Emperor still favored him greatly despite everything that had happened. Some even said he saw His Highness as a son!

When he got the chance, Feng Xin would have to talk to His Highness privately. His personal array password was surely the same as before, the thought of it still as funny as it was the first time the Prince had shared it with his attendants. Mu Qing, that bastard, should be somewhere around here too. How he had never gotten the chance to tell Feng Xin the Prince was here despite knowing how hard the man was searching for him was infuriating! If he had known His Highness had ascended once more, he would have just spoken to the flower martial god directly instead of wasting all that time and worrying over nothing! His Highness wasn’t the type to refuse to talk to a Middle Court official just because they weren’t from the Upper Court. Even if Feng Xin had ended up leaving on not-so-great terms, he could have apologized earlier and caught up with his retainer.

Typical of Mu Qing, he probably wanted to keep things bad between His Highness and Feng Xin. He was always looking for an excuse to take a shot at either of them, accusing both of them of blatantly false claims and slights as though he were some poor victim. As if His Highness had ever been anything but kind to him! That last incident not-withstanding.

After settling into his new palace, Feng Xin wandered out onto the heavenly streets, seeing if he may perhaps run into His Highness by chance. There was nothing wrong with speaking in the private array, and he would if it came down to it, but a part of him felt as though a face-to-face element would be vital for this discussion.

As luck would have it, it wasn’t His Highness Feng Xin happened to run into but instead the person he wanted to avoid. Mu Qing. Given how they were both gods of the south, maybe he should have expected to run into the other god quickly. Not that he had wanted to.

“Looks like you finally made it up here,” the other commented, pausing in the middle of the road to look his former comrade up and down.

Narrowing his eyes at the man’s wording, Feng Xin crossed his arms, “Do you have a problem with that? It’s not like I ascended that much later than you,” then tightened his grip on his forearms, “More importantly--how could you not tell me His Highness was here! I’ve been searching for Their Majesties and His Highness for weeks!” tone accusatory, as it always was when it came to dealing with this person.

His dark look was met with a scowl, the other martial god crossed his own arms and rolled his eyes with a scuff, “I had assumed you had heard about it, or at least one of your officials. Everyone was talking about it when he first came back,” expression softening into something unreadable for a moment.

“Well, I didn’t!” the archer spat out, moving to walk past, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go speak to His Highness,” brushing his shoulder against the other’s gruffly.

A hand grabbed at his arm, stopping the other man in his tracks, “Wait,” Mu Qing said, eyes shifting around the streets for any of the other gods, “...We need to talk about something. Let’s go back to my palace, no one should be there now,” a light frown painting his features.

Annoyed now, Feng Xin tried to shake the affronting hand off, “Why would I do that? I said I was going to talk to His Highness, why are you trying to stop me? What could we possibly have to talk about?” unable to think of a single viable topic the other could so desperately need to privately discuss with him. Their last encounter had been far from friendly, not that many of the interactions between the two had ever been particularly amicable in the first place.

Leaning in, the saber-wielder hissed under his breath, “It’s about His Highness. Now follow me and shut up. Something isn’t right,” giving the area another look for anyone possibly listening in.

Confusion mixed with anger, Feng Xin ripped his arm out of the other’s hold, “...I don’t know what you mean, but if it has to do with His Highness, fine. You better not be lying or trying to cause problems between His Highness and I again,” remembering the last conversation the three had had in the mortal realm, if it could be called a conversation.

“I never did that, you two were the ones--!” the man cut himself off with a forced huff, “No, never mind that right now. Let’s go. There’s something weird going on here. His Highness has been acting strangely,” beginning to walk towards his own palace, the building positioned a few blocks off from where Feng Xin’s was. Understandable, given the fact the regions they controlled were almost overlapping.

Rushing to catch up, the newer Southern god spoke with slight annoyance, “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but His Highness had been acting strange for a long time after you left us. In fact, he looks a lot better now! Are you sure you aren’t just misunderstanding something,” the sentence more of a statement than a question.

Dark eyes turned to give him a side-look, the man refuting, “Do you think I don’t know that? This is different. The way he interacts with Jun Wu,” he paused for a moment, yet again glancing around the empty street before continuing quieter, “It’s not normal. Something’s wrong, I don’t like it,” turning to the path his palace stood at the end of.

Now both confused and concerned, Feng Xin followed after his fellow ex-attendant, not wanting to miss anything the other had to say. While he still wasn’t sure what was going on, it seemed like there was some element he hadn’t been able to notice before. Come to think of it, it was a bit odd how His Highness hadn’t done much other than give him a friendly nod and a smile back at the main hall. It almost seemed as though he never strayed too far from Jun Wu’s side, always within arm’s reach of the man.

Within his main hall, Jun Wu sat upon his throne and smiled, lacing his fingers together. Xie Lian offered him a smile in return at his side, almost a perfect mirror of his own. It was perfect. Just as he had always wanted, just as he had been planning for years now. Things had been progressing smoothly ever since he had managed to force Xianle down as the Human Face Disease was released. It was unfortunate that the little pest of a ghost had needed to be snuffed out, he truly had been amused by it, but at the least he had broken down his favorite Prince with that stunt. The ghost’s annihilation had only done more to push the fallen, now once again ascended, god into his hands.

Xie Lian had been beside himself with grief and self-loathing; the foolish little Prince having had no one help him when he had tried to give the people of Yong’an one last chance to show their kindness and humanity. It was a hard lesson, but one he had needed to learn. His continued reluctance to release the disease had been aggravating, if not entirely expected, but it had been a simple thing to force him with words and agony.

The poor little Prince had been so heart-broken, looking beaten down and aggrieved. Once the only person who had refused to leave his side had dispersed, Jun Wu had swooped in--as White No Face of course--holding him close and once again reassuring him. He would never leave him. Never judge him. The two of them were the only ones who could understand each other, the only ones who were there for each other. He had told him of Wuyong, of a similar foolish Prince who had fallen in much the same way he had.

Xianle had been quite surprised to find out he was Jun Wu. It had frankly been a bit adorable how shocked he was. After that, it was a simple matter to convince the disgraced boy to join his side. He had already released the plague after all, and while it may not have gone on to destroy the country, it had resulted in cutting the little Prince’s final tether to humanity and naivety. From there he had dissolved into a fit of rage and tears, finally, finally collapsing into Jun Wu’s arms.

It had been beautiful.

It had been perfect.

It had been awe-inspiring.

It had been everything Jun Wu had been hoping for and more.

And now, now, he could continue to mentor his little god. Xianle would be his successor, his second-coming, his very own son. This was his chance to finally have someone he could trust and adore, someone who knew what it was like and sympathized with him. Of course, having those former attendants here was a bit troubling. He wasn’t quite sure how Xianle was going to react if either tried speaking to him; it could go either way, really. In the end, it didn’t matter much. No matter what either of them said, they had both left his little Prince alone with no one but himself and a long-gone ghost for company.

Even if those two somehow found everything out and tried to oppose them, it would be simple to dispose of them. A beautiful parallel to his slaughtering of his own traitorous attendants. Another thing they could mark as a similarity between them! Xianle would surely be ecstatic. He had seen Feng Xin’s look at his right-hand, as though expecting his Prince to leave the Emperor’s side to speak with him. As if Xianle would ever leave Jun Wu’s side again. He wouldn’t for those unworthy common people, and he certainly wouldn’t for those who had abandoned and betrayed him.

After all, to his successor, what was anyone else when compared to Jun Wu?

Chapter Text

The trip to Mu Qing’s palace was an easy one. Feng Xin had already been nearby his own abode when the other man had run into him, with their palaces so close it would take less than an incense stick of time for them to make it there. Having had more time in the Heavenly Realm, the saber-wielder was more familiar with the different areas of the upper realm. As a junior official, attendants tended to stick to their master’s palace aside from occasionally running errands. If one of them would know where to have a conversation without any fear of eavesdroppers, it would be the first Southern martial god.

Evidently his own palace was the place he trusted most.

After they had sat down at one of the small tables in a sit room and the juniors were sent off with orders not to disturb them, the pair took a moment to study each other. Mu Qing looked well, better than he had the last time they had met. That wasn’t exactly a surprise, though. Sitting here in this palace across from his former fellow servant, waiting to discuss whatever was going on with the Prince they had both left behind, the memory of their last meeting rushed up to the forefront of Feng Xin’s mind.

A sudden anger buzzed through the archer at the recollection, remembering what had happened back then always made him feel angry and ashamed, and being ashamed just made him feel more angry. Not at Xie Lian or Their Majesties, it was impossible for him to feel harsh feelings towards them after he had left them, but he had no trouble turning those emotions towards the man across from him and himself.

Still. He needed the information. If something were going on with His Highness here, as the last one who had abandoned the man, the one who had been tasked with protecting Xian Le’s royal heir, as the Prince’s friend--it was Feng Xin’s duty to try and fix anything that may be wrong. It was the least he could do.

First to break the silence, the former guard crossed his arms and leaned back a bit, “Well? Are you going to explain anything?” impatient for any details on the goings-on of His Highness since he had last seen him. Especially if something were off with the Prince.

With a frown, the other Southern god replied, “I was thinking about how to start,” irritation coating his sharp words. Taking a moment to let out a breathe, he continued, “Like I said earlier, something isn’t right with His Highness,” subconsciously mimicking the other’s appearance and crossing his own arms.

“What do you mean ‘isn’t right’? I already told you that I saw him and he looked fine to me--better than fine even!” their conversation mirroring the shorter interaction they had previously had outside on the streets.

Irritated, the saber-wielder threw back, “Maybe if you’d listen to me you’d know! Do you really think he’s fine? He never changes his facial expression from that smile, he always stays by the Emperor’s side when he’s not off on missions, he won’t speak more than a sentence to anyone other than Jun Wu, his palace doesn’t allow for visitors, he has no worshipers or merits, no one even knew he had ascended again until he suddenly appeared one day by Jun Wu’s side!” letting out all of the pent-up worries and observations he had made through the short period of time between their ascensions to the higher court.

That seemed to have caught the defiant god’s attention. Relaxing his posture, he gave a curious look, “No one knew when he ascended? How is that possible? There are always signs in the Heavens when a god ascends, His Highness was even renowned for causing the biggest tremors the first time,” catching on to how strange such a thing was. It didn’t make sense. Feng Xin had no trouble imagining Xie Lian ascending a second time, the Prince’s martial skills truly were unparalleled, good enough to have one ascend at least three times on their own merit, but to not have caused any fanfare with his arrival? Impossible.

Seeing he now had the archer’s attention, Mu Qing nodded seriously, “No one. No one I’ve spoken to can explain it, even the head literature god was confused. I’ve tried asking His Highness himself, but like I said,” he gave a bitter look towards the table, “he won’t say more than a few sentences, forget giving any information. At most he’ll just give pleasantries and then make an excuse to leave,” remembering the numerous times he had tried to speak to the Prince. He had been angry at first, thinking the other had finally decided he was unworthy of conversation, but after a while he realized it wasn’t just him. Xie Lian didn’t truly talk to anyone anymore.

Feng Xin seemed to think for a moment, remembering the sharp shift in personality the Prince had had around the time he had left. Could it have had something to do with that? Perhaps whatever had happened had made His Highness snap out of it and feel guilty? It seemed plausible…

In that case, he needed to talk to the Prince even more desperately than before. If Xie Lian was purposefully isolating himself out of self-reproach for his previous actions, Feng Xin would be more than willing to tell the man he had already long forgiven him.

Meeting Mu Qing’s eyes, the archer moved to explain, “I mentioned this before, but His Highness started acting strange some point after you left. He was stressed out and on edge with trying to get money to help Their Majesties, but after he disappeared for two months and came back it was like he was a different person. He kept saying he didn’t care about anything anymore and was a lot more aggressive, he probably snapped out of it and feels bad about it so he’s punishing himself like this,” outlining his own hypothesis on why the Prince may possibly be behaving he currently was.

“Two months?” eyes boring holes into Feng Xin as he repeated the words to himself, Mu Qing narrowed his gaze. Looking as though the other were the biggest fool in all the realms, he questioned, “And you never thought to ask him where he was during that time?”

Looking back now, that had definitely been an oversight on the archer’s part. At the time he had been so frantic with worry and anger at the Prince’s disappearance that he hadn’t had the mind to even begin to ask questions like where he had been or what had happened. It was obvious something had, Xie Lian’s drastic change in behavior wouldn’t have suddenly appeared out of thin air. They were all in a tough situation, it was true, but the fallen god had still managed to keep, at the very least, a vague sense of self, despite the obvious fraying at the edges of his sanity. Something during those two months must have pushed him over the edge.

What it was, he couldn’t say.

Unable to defend himself, the Southern martial god could only reply, “At the time I didn’t think of it...His Highness was missing, Their Majesties were beside themselves with worry, and I had--” cutting himself off midway, “...You weren’t there, don’t lecture me,” the rebuttal lacking the fire it usually would have.

With a searching look, the other man watched his companion for a moment, arms crossed. Lips pursued into a frown, he queried, “...Did it ever occur to you he might not have been going insane? White no Face had abilities we probably never even saw. It’s not impossible he really was there, making it so only His Highness could see him. In fact, he could have been purposefully isolating him, trying to get Xie Lian to chase after him on his own so he could corner him,” remembering back to how the calamity had interacted with the Prince during the war. There had always been something odd there, a strange undertone to the ghost’s actions.

Immediately leaping at the idea, Feng Xin refuted, “How could that be! There were times we were standing in the same room and His Highness would say he saw him! What sort of power could that thing have to make it so only His Highness could see him?!” not wanting to even entertain the idea that such a thing could be true. If Xie Lian hadn’t been lying, if the Prince truly were being played with by the most dangerous ghost under the Heavens and had gone to meet him alone, how could the former guard, the man in charge of protecting His Highness, ever forgive himself?

“Something had to have happened. People don’t just change like that without a trigger,” Mu Qing argued, “Anything could have happened during those two months, we have no idea. Even if nothing did, clearly something did after we both left! And I would bet that someone here knows what it was,” drawing the conversation back to the flower crown martial god’s current strange behavior.

There was nothing Feng Xin could say against that. Listening to the other Southern martial god’s earlier descriptions of Xie Lian’s odd behaviors paired with his own observations of the man during their brief meeting, it was clear something had changed in that short period of time the Prince had been left alone. What it was, he had no idea. But…

Two pairs of eyes met, one shocked, the other serious, “Are you...are you implying the Emperor had something to do with all this?!”

“I’m not saying he did. I’m saying he knows what happened and isn’t saying anything. If His Highness is by his side at every moment, how would Jun Wu possibly not notice something wrong with him? Everyone says Jun Wu sees Xie Lian as his son, it would be strange if he didn’t know,” scowling a bit at the reminder of the rumor.

Now frowning himself, the archer replied, “Should we request an audience with him and ask then?” never one to enjoy talking about others behind their backs. Especially others like the Emperor of the gods.

It took a moment for Mu Qing to reply, the man lightly shaking his head, “No. Let’s investigate on our own. We’ll leave that for a last resort,” it was always possible the Emperor would know and still not tell them if Xie Lian didn’t want them to know. The two had a strange relationship, it was hard to say what went on between them outside rumors and gossip. Besides, even if they did ask, the Prince would be standing right there listening to them.

Agreeing on something for once, the two martial gods made a deal to research as much into what had happened as they could. Feng Xin would use his resources in the mortal realm to search for any clues while Mu Qing would see if he could find any records on the flower martial god’s second ascension.

What seemed a hill to climb, turned out to be an insurmountable mountain.

It was next to impossible to find anything out in the mortal realm, much less in the Heavens. No matter how either Mu Qing for Feng Xin would try to talk to their former companion, it was impossible to ever get the chance to speak to him alone. Most of the time the flower martial god stood at the Emperor’s side, and ever-present guard. He would smile at anyone who looked at him, but for some reason he would never speak unless Jun Wu directed him to.

There was something foreboding about that.

When the Prince wasn’t with their superior, he would disappear for periods of time without a trace. No one seemed to know where he went, when Feng Xin had tried to subtly question Jun Wu on the matter, the other man would just smile and say he was on a private mission. What sort of mission it could be remained unexplained, the leader of the gods never made any move to share any sort of detail on the matter.

At some point a literary official had risen through the ranks to become an important figure in running the Heavens--for weeks whispers and gossip slithered through the streets, wondering how a woman could possibly have come to that position. Neither of them could say they cared. What mattered was that she, Ling Wen as she was called, knew everything that was happening in the Heavenly Realm.

For centuries now, filled with frustration and the agony of being so close yet unable to do anything, Mu Qing and Feng Xin had been working in vain to find out even a hint of what was happening to their former charge. As martial gods they had duties to attend to, the amount of prayers always managed to take a chunk out of any day, not to mention mission assignments, and having to try and keep up good relations with the other gods.

As the years went on, more and more missions seemed to be popping up, the Southern gods often partnered together due to their perceived closeness. It was irritating, to say the least.

With the new organizational head though, the men found they now had a chance. If they managed to get into the literary god’s good graces, perhaps she would be able to tell them anything she might know. Ling Wen herself was quite close to Jun Wu; if Xie Lian could be called his right hand, she might be called his left.

There was one problem with that though. Or, well, two.

Mu Qing did not get along with any other gods. That’s not to say he couldn’t be civil, most of the time he was and he managed to keep up amicable acquaintanceship because of it, but he certainly couldn’t become close enough to another god to request information. Much less when it appeared to be information their Emperor wanted to keep close at hand.

For his part, Feng Xin could not find it in himself to be able to have long enough one-on-one conversations with the female god to begin to cultivate any sort of friendship. He had certainly tried, convinced himself it was his duty to do it for his Prince, to get to the bottom of this and find out what exactly was going on--it was just, when he spent too long talking to a woman, he would become more and more uncomfortable until he couldn’t stand it anymore and had to flee.

His failure weighed on him as though it were a mountain sat upon his shoulders.

Almost five hundred years had passed with no progress. Xie Lian would still smile when they saw him, still seemed at the very least alive and uninjured, but they were just as clueless now as they had been when they first ascended. It was a torture all its own

More and more negativity piled up in the back of each of their minds, filling up the dams in their hearts until it finally exploded one day. Any god of the Heavenly Realm could tell you it was not unusual to see the two Southern martial gods fighting at any given moment, in fact, it was so common some gods would even purposefully stop to watch if they happened to catch the pair running into each other on the street in hopes of a show.

Those fights, though, were nothing compared to the explosion on this day. Something seemed to snap at the moment the two found each other’s gazes one summer afternoon; Feng Xin returning from another failed attempt at speaking with the flower crowned martial god while Mu Qing had just returned from a trip to the mortal realm. Their own failures mixed with the clear indication of the other’s was enough to cause a chain reaction.

One moment the pair were standing a few paces away from each other, the next they were rolling around on the stone streets, kicking and punching viciously with teeth bared. Feng Xin pulled back his fist, clenching it tightly, “You don’t really care, you never did! Not then, and not now! You’re not even trying, are you?!” spitting out hateful words with pure bitterness, barely even paying attention to what he was saying as he then punched forward across the other man’s face.

Mu Qing kicked out in retaliation, kneeing the archer in the stomach with grit teeth, “Shut up! How many times do I have to tell you before you get it through your thick head?! You have no right to say anything to me,” the two continuing their tussle in the middle of the road.

Realizing this fight appeared to be more ruthless than theirs usually were, the nearby gods forsook their usual hobby and scurried around the tumbling pair. The fight would certainly have continued on for hours until the two managed to tire out if not for a middle court god rushing forward towards the Emperor’s usual residence with urgency in his steps.

It just so happened that Feng Xin and Mu Qing were fighting on the very road leading towards that same building.

“That...That mysterious white-clothed calamity has appeared once more…!” the young man gasped out as he ran, sharing the news with all in the realm to hear.

Everyone seemed to freeze in place at those words, some with looks of shock, others surprise, and even more with confusion. The exclamation even managed to catch the attention of the brawling pair, the two pausing in their fight to give their attention to the person who had run over.

As the individual continued down the path towards his destination, likely to tell the Emperor of this news, Feng Xin and Mu Qing exchanged a quick glance. There was only one white-clothed calamity they knew of, but wasn’t it said Jun Wu had defeated him once and for all centuries ago? Could he be back?

From nearby where the two now stood in thought, one of the attendants to a northern martial god spoke in a loud whisper to his companion, “‘A mysterious white-clothed calamity’? Do you know what he was talking about?” speaking to the woman standing beside him.

Feng Xin realized he had seen her in Ling Wen’s palace before and listened in closer, knowing if anyone were to know about this, it would be someone from there, “I suppose you haven’t heard about him then. We don’t have much information on him, but I’ve heard he’s apparently a successor to the previous infamous White No Face. He hasn’t done much aside from appearing here and there after he first emerged around five-hundred years ago, so he’s only called the mysterious white-clothed calamity for now,” she explained patiently, seeming to have no trouble sharing the information.

A successor…?

Once again sharing a look, the two Southern martial gods didn’t need to speak in their private communication array to come to a consensus. If this new calamity had a connection to the ghost that had razed Xian Le and terrorized Xie Lian, they would have to look into it. Given how the Prince had behaved as though he were seeing the supreme near the end of their time together, it wouldn’t be too shocking if this new calamity knew something. Especially if he had first popped up around the same time the flower martial god had once again risen to the Heavens behaving in such a strange way.

Fight all but forgotten, the pair wiped away blood and dusted themselves off, each walking back off towards their own respective palace. Feng Xin resolved to see what he could find out in the mortal realm; Mu Qing made his way towards the palace of Ling Wen to question the literary god on what she knew about this bizarre ghost. The pent up anger and frustration all but vanished in an instant, replaced with newfound resolve and determination.

They finally had their first lead after five hundred years, there was no way they were letting this pass them by.

“Xianle, it seems your traitorous attendants have been investigating things they shouldn’t be,” Jun Wu spoke calmly from where he sat in the flower martial god’s palace, watching the younger man across from him for any sign of a reaction. The two had been sitting across from each other having their usual tea time, the rose tea the prince had prepared today was steeped quite well. It was amazing what one could improve on and learn when given enough incentive and proper guidance.

For his part, the shorter man continued to stare into the cup of tea he had been watching all afternoon, gaze never flickering from the slowly dissipating steam. It was a shame really, how he always would leave the drink to grow cold before reaching out to pick it up. Always lost in his thoughts, the silly child. At least he knew to look up when the Emperor spoke, brown eyes meeting deep black before quickly returning back down again.

Hands remaining pliant on his side of the table, the prince spoke quietly, “Are they? I can’t imagine why,” his tone kept carefully neutral.

How cute.

With a sigh and a sad smile, the leader of the gods took a sip of his cup and continued nonchalantly, “Neither can I. Xianle, you and I both know the truth. You don’t have to worry, I know you wouldn’t do anything to help them. You already know they abandoned you before, there’s no reason to think they’re trying to help you now,” then paused, “You can’t trust those who have betrayed you or you’ll just get hurt again,” he sighed, one hand reaching out to lightly rest atop one of the other’s.

Xie Lian didn’t respond, his gaze remaining on the cold cup of tea. The contents remained unchanged.

After a moment of silence, Jun Wu spoke again, “You do know I just want what’s best for you, don’t you? I also had my attendants betray me, I know how painful it is. I don’t want you to go through that again. I don’t want to see you get hurt; we’ve been hurt enough already. That’s why we only have each other now,” gently patting the hand underneath his own.

The former Crowned Prince of Xianle remained quiet, dull eyes unreadable.

A sudden ugly feeling welled up within the White Clothed Calamity. With frantic anger, he suddenly dug his nails into the soft skin of the younger’s hand, a smile never leaving, “Xianle...you do know that, don’t you? Answer me clearly,” his voice crisp and clear as his nails drew blood. He had thought the defiance and childish naivety had already been beaten down, but it seemed like a spark remained. How unfortunate.

“...I know,” the shorter replied tonelessly, the murky contents of his tea cup remaining his point of focus. Jun Wu wanted to grit his teeth at the lack of respect, but held himself back. Even if his young protégé was better than he had been before their apprenticeship had begun, the boy was still a child compared to him. It wasn’t unusual for people his age to have some defiance. No need to worry, it would be rectified with more time. They had, after all, only been together for so long now, it would take more time for his child to learn better. Thank goodness they had an eternity to work on it.

Without removing his painful grip, the Emperor questioned, “Is there something particularly interesting about your tea, Xianle? You can’t seem to take your eyes off of it every day when we meet like this. Would you prefer a different blend? It’s quite rude not to look at your elders when you’re speaking with them,” pressing down a bit harder.

Brown eyes moved up once more to meet inky darkness. After a moment, he replied, “No, I was just lost in my thoughts. I apologize,” quickly moving his gaze down to his lap this time.

Releasing his grip, the elder man smiled and gently patted the other’s hand as he had earlier, pleased, “There’s nothing wrong with getting distracted now and again, but you seem to always be lost in your thoughts. Perhaps I should give you some more work to keep your mind off of things. How is your current project going?” lightly tracing patterns around the healing holes on the back of the flower martial god’s hand. Every day he was reminded of the fact that he had made a stupendous decision to bestow his successor with accelerated healing abilities and a stronger durability than the other gods.

“...It’s going like you--” the boy began, only to cut himself as the hand lightly tracing the back of his once again clenched down back into the half-healed wounds, ripping them open once more. Getting the hint, he looked up to meet the elder’s eyes and repeated, “...Everything is going as you said it would,” a tinge of something hidden within his words.

Poor Xianle. Still so foolish.

Once more releasing his grip, the taller smiled, “Good, very good. You see, Xianle, you need a chance to make yourself known. A big moment that will make it so none of them will ever forget your name ever again,” soothingly petting the reopened wounds.

Xie Lian didn’t respond, pointedly not looking at his healing hand, “What do you suggest?” and Jun Wu knew if his little protégé still had a fire within him, that sentence would have been spoken with disdain and sarcasm. Look at all the progress they had made in a few short centuries!

Knowing his next sentence would inevitably elicit a response, even if the Prince didn’t outwardly show it, the man explained, “I’ve heard the Kingdom of Yong’an is searching for a royal tutor to help the Crowned Prince. A certain ghost has been trying to start something there, an attempt will be made on the Prince’s life. Go down and save him, get the position, and do what you should,” he spoke lightly, “What better stage could there be than Yong’an? Perhaps you may find your own protégé in him, or you could even finish what you started those years ago,” holding back a sigh at the slight tensed movement Xie Lian made at the reminder.

They really would need to work on this, he should be over these trivial things by now.

“I understand, I’ll leave immediately,” the boy replied, pulling his hand away only after Jun Wu had removed his own from atop it. It was always necessary for the Emperor to supply the other power before he left, the two collars the silly child had requested be put on him leaving him powerless and unlucky. Bad luck was manageable enough, but he would need power to be able to complete his assignments. Thankfully, Jun Wu had more than enough power to spare, always giving the younger just enough that he would be able to do what he needed to.

Hand moving back to hold his teacup, the leader of the gods smiled at the younger as the flower-crowned martial god bowed and turned to leave, back turned towards him as he began to walk away.

Taking a sip of the now-cold tea, the man spoke lightly, “Ah, and, Xianle? Don’t worry. I’ll leave your two traitors alone for now. I did promise you I wouldn't touch them if you behaved yourself,” relishing in the minute falter in the shorter boy’s step before he continued to walk outside as though nothing had happened.

It was hard not to smile at that.

Really, Xianle was such a silly, foolish child.

Chapter Text

Not once in the past three-hundred and fifty years has Hua Cheng forgotten his reason to live. Every moment since that horrid day in Yong’an he had thought of his Prince, his god, while doing everything and anything he could to amass power to aid in his search for the man. It had been a fairly simple thing to put himself back together after that thing, the White-Clothed Calamity, had scattered him.

Hua Cheng had had the foresight at the time to hide his ashes somewhere the other ghost would never find them, a lucky move on his part as it enabled him to quickly reform himself. A spirit remained outside the cycle of reincarnation if they had something tethering them here, the stronger the obsession, the stronger their hold to the mortal realm. As someone who had never stopped thinking of the Crowned Prince of Xianle, even as he was ripped to pieces, his reformation had only taken a few months.

Wu Ming, as he had been at the time, had only the power his anger and desperation had granted him that one unforgettable night in the temple. He was stronger than a ghost fire, but nothing in comparison to White No Face.

The moment he had gotten his awareness back, the former soldier had immediately begun his search for Xie Lian. Even a single moment of his god left alone with the evil incarnation that had plagued their fallen kingdom was a moment too long--and while he had awoken once more nearby the area they had last been in together, he had found himself utterly alone.

White No Face had been gone, but so too was the Prince.

Every single possible horror that could have befallen his beloved god flashed through Hua Cheng’s mind at that moment, the boy searching the area desperately for any sign of where the two might have gone. He hadn’t known at the time just how much time had passed, unable to perceive the passing of time while he was dissipated.

Desperate, he had ended up at Mount Tong’lu, following an instinct he could not explain. It was clearly something all ghosts experienced, if the other spirits making their way towards the kiln had anything to say about it. While he wanted to find Xie Lian as quickly as possible, a part of the boy knew he would need to become stronger if he wanted to properly protect the other man. He had already been too weak to save him before, and while it had ended up granting him power to get revenge on those disgusting selfish humans, he had still been too weak in the face of a calamity.

Before he could show himself in front of his god again, he needed to become strong enough to protect him. The Prince’s cries as Wu Ming was torn apart still rang in his ears.

Ascending had been an unexpected annoyance. As if Hua Cheng would ever want to be up there with those bastards--murderers and self-centered narcissists pretending they cared for the common people, acting as if they were better than humans when they were just as selfish and greedy.

There was only one god he would ever worship, and they had cast him aside.

So he had jumped back down without a second thought. He had no interest in the Heavenly Realm unless his god was there, disgusted at the very thought of being in the same area as those who had betrayed and harmed His Highness. No, he wouldn’t become one of them. Would never want to be one of them.

He would, however, go back for revenge.

If those fools who had dared to attack his god thought they would never get their comeuppance, they had another thing coming. After spending a decade in the kiln, dutifully creating a magnificent statue of the Prince to match the thousands he had left in a nearby cave, he returned once more to challenge them. It was a simple thing to take the arrogant deities down, almost embarrassingly so. The literature gods had no chance to counter his points, the martial ones easily swept away within a mere swing of his loathsome scimitar.

It was disappointing the two traitors had refused his invitation to battle, but at the least he had managed to completely destroy the thirty-three officials who had humiliated his god. Burning their temples in a single night had been an invigorating experience, the added bonus of their believers becoming his own had only sweetened the experience. The kiln had given him more than enough power to gain a strong position in the world of ghosts, and the new power from these believers had only bolstered his strength.

Becoming a Ghost King was a simple thing when one was infinitely more powerful than every other in the realm. There were a few highlights to his career as a calamity, building up his Ghost City for the day he could finally bring his god back, the magnificent temple he had built to worship the other, and the day he had gotten his moniker came to mind. Qi Rong had already been someone he hated, listening to the pathetic wannabe slander His Highness had turned that hatred into despisal.

The fact the “Night Touring Green Lantern” had taken to trying to copy his blood rain was laughable. As if the initial blood rain hadn’t been from the other ghost’s own subordinates having been slaughtered by Hua Cheng after he heard what the worm had to say about the cousin he had once put on a pedestal.

Truly, everyone but he had ended up betraying His Highness.

As the calamity had continued to amass power with his growing believers, the city he governed and its residents grew. Where he had once been a peasant child, abused and spat on by the world, he now stood a powerful, rich, revered Ghost King. No one would dare to say an insult in his presence, instead groveling at his feet for mercy. The humans who had once disgusted at the sight of him now worshiped statues of him, praying for luck he had unwittingly woken up with.

With his growing subordinates and influence, the Ghost King had done everything he could to search for any sign of his missing god. Every resident of his ghost city was familiar with the Flower Martial G*d of Xian Le, knowing to report any hint of the missing deity to their King. Hua Cheng himself would go out to search areas His Highness might be in, first looking around Yong’an, then following any leads he came across.

Unfortunately, he had found none. The White Clothed Calamity had supposedly been taken down by the Emperor of the gods, Jun Wu, but something about the man had always made the ghost suspicious. Perhaps it was the way he had banished His Highness without a second thought, foregoing his supposed “favoritism” to allow the Prince to suffer and wallow in anguish. Perhaps it was the fact he had only stepped in to defeat the scourge of the Earth after Xian Le had already been destroyed and Xie Lian had lost everything.

A part of Hua Cheng wanted to keep an eye on the Emperor, to see if he had somehow had a hand in everything that had come to pass. Unfortunately, it was proven impossible to get a Heavenly Official to act as an informant for the searching calamity. They all feared him after what he had done right after his emergence from the kiln, but their fear for him was greatly overshadowed by their respect for their leader. Even attempts at blackmailing had failed, the ones he had managed to dig up dirt on, a task much easier than one might assume, refusing as soon as they learned who he wanted them to spy on.

Apparently people still thought of Jun Wu as stronger than him. Whether that was true or not, Hua Cheng couldn’t say anymore. If it came down to it, even the Ghost King wasn’t certain he would be able to take down the King of the gods unscathed.

Which was why it was impossible for him to resist jumping at the opportunity the new calamity, Black Water Sinks Ships, presented to him one day to infiltrate the Heavenly Realm.

Hua Cheng had been in Paradise Manor, once again looking over reports he could scarcely give a second thought to. As he read over them, he went over the recent tips submitted in the back of his mind, unable to stop a scowl from appearing when he recalled the only things he had managed to find recently were sightings of that piece of trash Southern god sniffing around the mortal realm. Whatever the man was searching for, it was obvious nothing had appeared for the past three centuries he had been looking. Seemed he wasn’t incompetent only when it came to serving His Highness, but in every aspect of his life. Unsurprising, really.

The day he had learnt those two attendants had ascended to the upper realm, he had spent the rest of the entire evening planning out different ways to torture them if they were to ever meet face-to-face. And he knew they would. Even now whenever he had the misfortune of meeting them during his searching he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from attacking the ungrateful bastards without a second thought. As if they dared to show their faces before him after everything they had done, just as selfish and greedy as the other gods. Perhaps it made sense they had risen up so quickly then.

“Crimson Rain,” a voice called out, drawing the man away from his gradually darkening thoughts. Looking up from the scroll he had been pretending to read, the Ghost King threw out an unamused “What” into their shared communication array.

He Xuan was something of a pet project of Hua Cheng’s. He had initially been someone the older calamity hadn’t given a second glance, only catching his attention when he had first come to request aid in his quest for revenge against those who had ruined his life and hurt those he cared for after being brought before the King for not having enough money to pay for the food he had eaten at one of the city’s restaurants.

The familiarity of the situation had piqued the Ghost King’s interest, and upon listening to the other’s story, had ended up earning his support. The former scholar had told him of his plan to become a calamity and get revenge on the gods who had stolen his fate, detailing his scheme to take the place of the next person meant to ascend to get close to the younger brother and one who had been the reason his fate had been taken from him.

It was a simple thing to agree to give the other man a loan. Hua Cheng had amassed more money than he could ever hope to have a use for, lending it out to the man to pay for his meal with the promise He Xuan would keep an eye on the Emperor and search for any signs of the missing flower martial god. This initial credit would only continue to grow each time the other appeared in Ghost City, managing to eat double his weight in food while having an empty wallet.

When they had found the new Earth Master, it had been easy to kidnap the man and lock him away in the dungeons of Paradise Manor while He Xuan took his place. As far as anyone knew, the current “Ming Yi” was the true one, none had ever even suspected an imposter.

“I just saw your missing fallen god here in the Upper Court,” the deep voice of Black Water Sinks Ships replied.

For a moment, Hua Cheng couldn’t formulate a response, too shocked to even open his mouth. It wasn’t surprising to him that His Highness could ascend once again, if any were worthy of ascending more than once it was most certainly the Prince of Xianle, but not once in these hundreds of years had the Ghost King ever seen a temple dedicated to the god outside of his own.

If the Flower Crown Martial G*d had ascended again, would no one in the mortal realm be worshiping him? Hua Cheng had traveled extensively in his searches, had come across innumerable heavenly officials, and questioned countless people on his missing god with no result. How could his god have been in the Heavenly Realm without him knowing?

Organizing his jumbled up thoughts, the calamity spoke, “How long has he been there? How is he? Tell me everything you know. Now,” a command, not a request.

He Xuan had clearly expected this sort of reaction, more than familiar with the taller man’s personality, “There’s not much. I asked the idiot about it and he couldn’t tell me too much either. Apparently he’s always either by the Emperor’s side or away on solo missions, he won’t talk to anyone, and visitors aren’t allowed into his palace,” then paused before continuing on, “There are rumors those two martial gods you hate have been snooping around him ever since they ascended, so he must have been here since at least then,” sharing all he knew. Hopefully this information was valuable enough to wipe away some of his debt, the amount was already more than he could ever hope to pay off even as an immortal calamity.

“So those pieces of trash at least feel guilty,” Hua Cheng commented lightly, then immediately disregarded that part of the report. He couldn’t care less what those fools were doing, what he cared about was everything else the other ghost had just shared with him.

If his god had been up there since those two traitors had reached the upper court, it meant he must have ascended not too long after Wu Ming had been dissipated in Yong’an. Given that it had been so long, it was even more strange there wasn’t a single temple dedicated to him in the mortal realm. G*ds needed temples and believers to survive and remain strong, without any they would fade away into nothingness. His Highness would never fade with Hua Cheng remaining his faithful believer for all of eternity, but he couldn’t have possibly been completing solo missions for hundreds of years with the power of only a ghost, even if that ghost were the most revered Ghost King.

So how?

Not to mention the fact the Prince apparently was always either alone or with Jun Wu, a fact that settled like a stone in Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s mind. There was too much that was suspicious about the supposed Emperor of the gods for Hua Cheng to feel relieved that His Highness was in the Heavens by the other god’s side. Xie Lian was not the type of person to refuse to speak with others or keep his palace door closed, even at his lowest moments the Prince had been kind, refusing to release the scourge upon Yong’an if even a single person stopped to help him.

Something was wrong.

Hua Cheng wanted to immediately burst into the Heavens and find His Highness for himself, to see his god’s condition with his own eyes, but he couldn’t. If Jun Wu was keeping the flower crowned martial god by his side every moment, that meant the calamity would have to fight the Emperor. While the ghost would gladly give his life for his Prince a thousand times over, he would rather be tortured for eight hundred years than to have a repeat of what had occurred that night in Yong’an.

To sacrifice himself for His Highness was his greatest honor, but for His Highness it was his darkest nightmare. If Jun Wu truly were doing something to the Prince and Hua Cheng fell at his hand, who would then be able to save Xie Lian from the man’s clutches? For hundreds of years now Hua Cheng had been gathering power and prestige to protect his god, he couldn’t throw it away suddenly and fail at the one thing he couldn’t bear to.

No, he would have to wait. No matter how painful it was, no matter how much he wished he could rush in and spirit away with the one person he cared for in this world, he couldn’t. The risk was too great, the possible consequences for His Highness more than he was willing to contend with. For now he would remain in the mortal realm, continue to search for the Prince in those moments he was sent alone on solo missions to the mortal realm, find out anything he could about the Heavenly Emperor, and amass more power until he knew he would be able to fight Jun Wu and win without using too much power if it came down to it.

Returning to his conversation in the communication array, the man continued, “...Continue to watch him, and Jun Wu too. Tell me anything you notice or hear about, even if it seems like nothing to you,” another command.

With the affirmation and a promise to share anything he heard about the Water Tyrant, Hua Cheng idly rolled the red bead braided into his hair, staring unseeingly down at the long-forgotten scrolls. Memories of warm hands holding him, a kind voice from a handsome smiling face filled his mind, the moment he had first come into contact with his Prince a memory he would forever cherish. How many times had the elder man saved him? Shown him more care and kindness than anyone ever had, even now in his hundred years of life?

Now it was his turn to save his god.

It wouldn’t be for another one-hundred and fifty years of desperate searching and holding himself back from storming up to the Heavens that Hua Cheng would get his first real wisp of his god’s presence. Five-hundred years of waiting had led up to this moment, the instant the Ghost King learned about the massacre of the Yong’an royal family he knew the Crowned Prince he had once stood alongside of, the two of them hoping to assassinate the first King of Yong’an at the time so many years ago, was involved somehow. The whispers and rumors around his city of that disgusting so-called cousin of the Prince being involved had at first muted his hopes, but upon hearing of the mysterious evil Guoshi they were quickly ignited.

Upon arriving in Yong’an to investigate the murders, Hua Cheng donned a female form and visited various brothels and bars, listening to anyone willing to share the latest big news. He had first asked after the mysterious Guoshi, learning his name to be Fang Xin. It was said the teacher was an aloof man, a strong cultivator and scholar who had saved the Yong’an Prince from kidnappers and been appointed head priest and instructor to His Highness by the King and Queen.

The young Prince had been star-struck by his teacher, looking up to him, hanging onto his every word no matter how frigid a reception his adoration received. Even though he remained cold, the Guoshi never once was cruel to the Prince, allowing him to hang off of him constantly. To put it simply, their relationship had been more or less good.

None of these descriptors fit the man Hua Cheng had known as a child, but they could possibly fit the changed man the martial god had become. Xie Lian had been cold and distant towards Wu Ming, the kindness and warmth he possessed buried under the pain and trauma he had experienced at the hands of the ones he had thrown everything away to save; that compassionate benign natural disposition hidden, but not completely gone.

It was for this reason that the calamity continued to gather information, the possibility of this Fang Xin being the Prince of Xian Le plausible enough that he couldn’t just turn around and go back to Paradise Manor.

When he learnt the Guoshi had always worn a white-gold mask, he knew for certain it must be His Highness. Who else would wear such a mask but his god? The same man who, at the moment of their first meeting, had been wearing such a mask? While Hua Cheng technically couldn’t be certain that Fang Xin was Xie Lian with this fact alone, something within him was sure of it.

Sitting at a table in one of the most popular teahouses in the city, the calamity leaned back in his chair and listened in as the room buzzed with conversation. He knew about the Guoshi by now, but what of the massacre itself? What exactly had happened in the palace that night?

“I heard the Prince himself saw Fang Xin Guoshi kill the King!” a man nearby exclaimed, his companion listening with rapt attention. From what Hua Cheng had gathered of their earlier talks, the person with the speaker had been away traveling during the incident and was just now learning the details of the killings. Convenient, but it saved the Ghost King the effort of shifting forms and pretending to be exactly that.

Another voice piped up, this time from the table next to the one the two men sat at, “Indeed, our poor Prince had to watch the man he had looked up to kill his father on his very own birthday, it’s no wonder he punished him as he did! I say stabbing the man in the heart and burying him in a three-layer coffin wasn’t torture enough for what he did to our Prince and the Royal Family, he should have been brought to the dungeons and tortured for a decade at the least. To think, not only his family, but His Highness’ dear friend happened to pass away of an illness that very same day,” shaking his head at the pity of it all.

It took everything in Hua Cheng not to immediately kill everyone in the teahouse at those words.

His god had been stabbed again, worse yet buried alive in a three-layer coffin for something he couldn’t have done. If His Highness had been unable to kill the first King of Yong’an, how could he have possibly killed the entire Royal Family aside the Prince if given a choice? No, wait, perhaps that was it. Perhaps he had had no choice. Could it be that Jun Wu had ordered him to do so?

There was too much unknown about the Emperor of the gods to say, but Hua Cheng was certain the flower crowned martial god would not suddenly one day decide to slaughter an entire family, he hadn’t even been able to bring himself to get revenge on Yong’an when he was at his lowest point. While people could change with time and experiences they had, the Ghost King felt certain his Prince would never take away the family of the Yong’an Prince without good reason. It was inconceivable.

No, Hua Cheng couldn’t allow His Highness to continue to take the blame for this. He would have to investigate to find out the truth, it was suspicious he had not once heard mention of Night Touring Green Lantern despite Qi Rong’s known presence here. Something was off.

But first, he had to go find his god and dig him out from the grave he had been trapped under. Standing up, he left behind his untouched tea and casually walked out, making sure to “accidentally” bump into the man who had suggested His Highness deserved torture. Spilling hot tea on the man wasn’t nearly enough repayment, but it was the most he could do now.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” the fool scowled, trying to pull his robes up away from his chest to minimize the damage.

With a sharp smile, the calamity gave a fake apology, “My apologies, I didn’t notice you there,” lips quirking up into a smirk at the other’s aggrieved expression before sweeping out of the building. He didn’t have time for this, he needed to god find his Prince immediately. It had already been months since the massacre, who was to say how long His Highness had been down there?

Walking along the path towards where others helpfully directed him, apparently the spot had become something of a popular site to ogle and stamp on the ground above which the hated Guoshi was buried. If he hadn’t been willing to destroy Yong’an as Wu Ming, Hua Cheng was more than prepared right now. Not a single one of them deserved to even have the blessing to look upon His Highness as they once had, never mind the things they were doing now.

But he had to control himself.

Finally approaching the area, the Ghost King picked up his pace, almost running towards the clearing as soon as it came into his sight. He was so close to His Highness, moments away from finally being able to save and protect him, to serve him once more as he had dreamt of!

Before he could take the final few steps, an invisible wall stopped him in his place.

Surprised, the calamity raised a hand and placed it on the unseen barrier, channeling his resentful energy in an attempt to shatter it so he could continue towards his god. Had the Yong’an Prince put one up? Why would he? Could it be he, in his ignorance, thought the Guoshi might return after death to seek vengeance and put up a barrier to keep ghosts from coming or going?

No, that couldn’t be. As the block remained in place, Hua Cheng grit his teeth, his eyes narrowing with frustration and anger. It was impossible for the human Prince to have been able to erect a strong enough magical spell that could keep Crimson Rain Sought Flower out. No human alive could, much less one who was still just a teen. But who would put a barrier up here, and of them who was strong enough to do so?

It didn’t take long to figure it out. Only one being could possibly have the motivation and the power to do it.

Glaring at the inconspicuous wall, Hua Cheng let out a low growl within his heart.

There could be no one else but Jun Wu involved in this.

Standing before the unmarked grave, Jun Wu can’t help but to let out a half-amused half-exasperate huff of air. Really, Xianle. How was his little Prince always getting into these messes every single time he let him come down to the mortal realm? He had even tried to take off the luck-dispersing shackle on the other’s ankle but the silly boy had refused, as he always did.

There were only a handful of things Xianle was willing to fight him on now, so he had let it go. If he didn’t know how often the other martial god ended up getting egregiously injured, he would have offered to take off the shackle around his neck for the trip, but it truly was better safe than sorry even with the added healing capabilities he had given his protégé. While it would certainly help the younger to have his powers to use freely, the risk of his soul being able to leave his body if he did die was too great for Jun Wu to feel he should take it off.

This current situation was a good example, in fact.

Crouching down close to the ground, the Emperor called out, “Xianle, I’m going to dig you out now. I think you’ve had enough time to think about what you’ve done wrong,” pulling out the shovel he had borrowed from their resident spy.

That was another thing he would need to monitor for now, it really was difficult to guess what that calamity behind the imposter was planning supporting a revenge plot the Ghost King had no connection to. He had a ghost of an idea, and if it were as he thought, it would play into his future plans very nicely. Already he was certain that neither of the two younger ghosts were aware he had found their ploy out immediately. Xianle, of course, was none the wiser.

As expected, he received no response to his call. It wasn’t too surprising, his subordinate likely had trouble hearing him under all of that Earth, not to mention the wooden three-layered coffin he had been nailed into. It was a terrible punishment, Jun Wu felt bad for leaving the boy there for a century or so, but every parent had to teach their child a lesson somehow. All in all, a hundred years really wasn’t too long a time for a god. He had even put up a barrier to keep resentful spirits from attempting to hurt the young man. Initially, the Emperor had been planning to leave the Prince down there for another few decades or so as the mission had not gone as he had instructed Xianle to do in the least, but there had been some parts to it that had exceeded his expectations.

Besides, he had seen how those two martial gods had been getting more and more restless the longer his right-hand side remained empty. It really was so much more difficult to properly raise a child with others sticking their noses into things.

Once he hit wood, the leader of the gods cleared away the dirt and easily lifted the coffin up onto the surface once more. He had specifically chosen to come dig the other up during the night, his poor little Prince would likely find it difficult to deal with the sudden light after not seeing any for a century.

It was a simple thing for a martial god to force open a nailed coffin, even one with multiple layers. Xie Lian laid within it, he himself nailed down into the coffin with his own sword through the heart. The boy had no reaction to the opening of his tomb, nor to Jun Wu doing his best to gently pull the blade from his chest. Luckily the other's accelerated healing almost immediately closed up the wound once the obstruction keeping it open was removed, leaving behind a dark-clothed silent god looking up at his superior.

With a warm smile, the Emperor patted at the younger boy’s face, calling out, “Xianle. Xianle, I’m sorry I left you in there for so long, but you know you had to be punished somehow, hm? Why don’t we go back now and talk about what happened,” his tone soft and caring.

The shorter martial god made no move to agree or disagree, quietly allowing the other man to help him sit up after he had spent so long laying down. Even with advanced healing powers, it was inevitable Xie Lian would need some time to get used to being able to move his body and interact with things in the light again.

Keeping this in mind, Jun Wu gently helped the other up, having the boy lean against his side. The black robes the former Guoshi had been wearing were now ripped and tattered with age, the color fading to a dull grey from lack of light for so long. Thankfully, as the most powerful god in the Heavens, it was a simple matter for the Emperor to teleport them immediately back up to the flower crown martial god’s palace.

Already knowing no one went into the palace except for himself and Xianle, the leader of the gods brought his protégé to the other’s room and placed the boy under the covers in the large bed he had gifted him. For once Jun Wu was unbothered by his apprentice’s lack of a reaction, it was inevitable that the younger god would need some time to be able to respond to things again, and he was nothing if not a patient man.

After he had placed the injured deity down, the Emperor moved to cover up the windows with cloth to lower the light intensity of the room, not wanting to let them hurt his young successor’s eyes. Having accomplished that task, he soon moved to sit on the side of the bed, watching Xie Lian’s face with a tender smile. Lightly placing his hand upon the other’s leg hidden beneath the covers, he spoke as softly as possible, “Now Xianle, I know you need to recover, but I thought we could go over things now and get it all out of the way so you can rest in peace,” petting the sheets in a soothing manner.

Xie Lian remained silent, gaze fixed blankly ahead.

“You did very well, even if things didn’t go as they were meant to, you managed to at least still accomplish something of merit,” smile turning almost proud for a moment, “It’s unfortunate you weren’t the one who actually killed the royal family, but you did make up for it by leaving your flower petals and making a name for yourself. Do you know what they’re calling you now?” he asked, the question more rhetorical than genuine. Of course the younger god wouldn’t know, he had been trapped underground since the night his new name began to spread.

Despite this, Jun Wu still gave the other a quiet moment to respond before continuing, “They’re calling you Blood-Stained White Flower, fitting, isn’t it?” amusement lacing the taller man’s tone as he continued to pet the sheets. If his guess was correct, it was even more fitting than Xianle would ever know. The thought threatened to break chuckles out from him, but as always, Jun Wu remained a master of composure when acting as the Emperor.

Stopping his hand, the man went on, “Ah, but, it’s a shame you didn’t listen to me about the young Prince. But then again, perhaps it really is too early to be expecting you to take on a disciple of your own, you are still just starting out, we’ll find more opportunities for you,” resuming his previous motions as he made up an excuse for the other’s failure. They had been working on this for only five-hundred years, it truly was too early to expect his protégé to pick up a successor when Jun Wu himself had taken over one-thousand.

For another inordinate amount of time, somewhere between a half a shichen and a full one, the pair sat in silence until the Emperor knew he had to leave. It was nice to sit with Xianle, even quietly in the dark, but he unfortunately had work to do and his assistant was clearly unable to help him at the moment. That was alright, his little Prince could take a break for a few days to recover before they resumed their usual routine.

“I’m going to go back to work on some things, but if you need anything just let me know in our private array,” the man smiled, giving one last pat to that covered leg before standing up again. As he went to walk out the door, Jun Wu suddenly paused, looking back with a bigger smile, “Oh, and Xianle? Good work on killing An Le. I know it must have felt like you were betraying your ancestors, but you were just finishing what needed to be done. If they sincerely cared for you, they would understand. It's as I told you before, I’m the only one who will truly support you. We’re both the only ones left from our family lines, we have to help each other,” sounding pleased at the idea of another similarity between them.

Not expecting a response, the Emperor gave a motion of farewell and excited the palace, making his way back to the main hall where a pile of scrolls were undoubtedly waiting for him again. He really truly couldn’t wait until he had his little Prince back by his side to help out, it was so much harder to get things done now without the other god by his side for those hundred years. It was a good decision to dig him out early, Jun Wu had missed him.

In a dark empty room, Xie Lian remained silent.

Chapter Text

Jun Wu was more than pleased when Xie Lian decided to come out of his palace and rejoin him in the Great Hall. It may have taken a bit of persuasion on his part, after a few days he realized the boy was having another one of his rebellious moments again, but as always, the young Prince had no choice but to obey him in the end.

While it was somewhat endearing the younger god kept that stubborn streak even now, it was tiring after a while. He really thought they had managed to overcome these little setbacks after their last conversation over tea, but it seemed as though the punishment had brought back that stubborn streak. Ah well, he had heard young people tended to lash-out sometimes after being chastised so it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Besides, he had the perfect way to make it up to the little Prince. It was no secret to the Emperor that his protégée found it challenging to remain up in the Heavens. The boy still had it in his head he deserved to be wandering the mortal realm, a whimsy Jun Wu indulged when he would assign the other tasks to complete as a part of his training. Although Xie Lian never said anything, it was clear from his body language that the younger man preferred to be off on assignments rather than staying at the other martial god’s side in the Great Hall.

It was understandable really, most young people liked to travel around the world to see and experience new things. For someone like the Prince, it must be incredibly boring to have to sit and smile all day. While that was its own form of training, there was nothing wrong with taking a break now and again to go down to the mortal realm for a short trip.

Xianle’s last foray into the mortal realm had been a less than ideal one for the boy. That’s not to say there hadn’t been great gains from it--that was indisputable--but he clearly hadn’t enjoyed his punishment. Perhaps Jun Wu had left him down there a bit too long.

Well, it was alright. He would make it up to him with this.

Once they were alone, the other gods easily shuffling out with a simple smile from the Emperor, the man turned to his successor with a smile, “Xianle, I’ve heard something you might be interested in,” pleased to find the younger martial god had immediately turned at the sound of his voice. Still not looking him in the eyes, but that was alright. They had time.

As expected, the Prince remained silent, watching and waiting for the response he knew he would get whether or not he bothered to speak. Jun Wu smiled at this and continued, “There’s a war going on on the border of Yong’an and Ban Yue in the Northern deserts. Don’t you think that’s the next perfect stage for you? You already know what you need to do, why don’t you go down for a bit. I can hold down the fort here on my own for a bit longer,” the invitation spoken with a strange almost placating tone.

Xie Lian stood frozen for a moment, looking as though he were doing his best to keep control of himself before giving a curt nod and swiftly walking off to jump down to the mortal realm. Usually the Emperor would have made a remark about the younger boy’s silence, but it was obvious the child was trying not to spit vitriol at him. It showed how well their lessons had been working, who was he, as the other’s teacher, to get upset about it?

Sitting back in his throne, the man smiled as he looked out across the familiar pathways, remembering all the times he had walked through the Heavenly Realms, each step paved with the fruits of his labor.

Everything was exactly as he had always wanted.

Hua Cheng had put all of his side projects on hold, focusing the entirety of his energy on investigating what was going with His Highness and the Heavenly Emperor. Ever since he had first seen the leader of the gods, the ghost had felt a strong aversion to the man. There was something off about Jun Wu, not to mention the grudge he held against how the other had treated the Prince. This grudge only grew further with the new knowledge that something was going on with Xie Lian at the elder man’s behest.

What exactly the other’s plan was was something Crimson Rain Sought Flower couldn’t discern at the moment. Thinking His Highness was still wandering the Earth, the Ghost King had put all of his effort into searching the mortal realm, redoubling his efforts once He Xuan had reported to him that His Highness had ascended once more but often went off alone on missions.

It was no secret to any citizen of Xian Le that Jun Wu had had a pointed interest in the Prince. At the time it had been seen as a blessing, something to celebrate the good fortune of their kingdom’s beloved treasure finding favor with the Emperor of the gods. Now, hundreds of years later, Hua Cheng knew better.

Why the man was so invested in Xie Lian and what he planned to do with him were two important things the supreme needed to figure out. Black Water continued to monitor the situation for him in the Heavens, though there was only so much that could be observed when the Prince spent every moment by the Emperor’s side. Still, he at least got updates on the two idiots who were still fumbling around out in the open. How they thought they could get away with investigating when Jun Wu watched their every move was beyond him.

Speaking of those fools, Hua Cheng had an idea. He Xuan had told him recently that His Highness had gone off on another secret mission, there were no details he could find on his own or use Shi Qingxuan to figure out. That wasn’t entirely unexpected, knowing the Emperor of the corrupt deities, it would be more surprising if Jun Wu had let anything slip to the ignorant gods that he didn’t purposefully want them to know.

If those two behaved as He Xuan had told him they did, then chances were they would be looking into where Xie Lian had gone off to. Usually the calamity would do the same, sending off his butterflies to scatter around the Central Plains in search of the Prince at the first moment he could, but perhaps this was a chance to do something different.

While Crimson Rain didn’t like either of the Southern martial gods, he couldn’t deny adding their palaces of attendants and position in the Heavenly Realm might prove useful. With that in mind, the man raised two fingers to the side of his head, contacting his informant.

“He Xuan. I need you to do something for me.”

The younger ghost king was less inclined to complain than usual once Hua Cheng’s plan had been laid out in full. With perfunctory reluctance, the so-called “earth god” had been “captured” by a few butterflies the red-cloaked man had sent out during a staged trip to the mortal realm purposefully made without Shi Qingxuan’s presence. It was doubtful Jun Wu hadn’t expected the plot to be a mere performance, but the Emperor had still sent out “Ming Yi” to the area within his jurisdiction that Crimson Rain Sought Flower had made an appearance in. While the former scholar had shown some annoyance at having to go out of his way for the plot, he seemed more than content now to sit and try and eat out Paradise Manor’s kitchen.

Not that the taller man had been expecting anything different. Of course, every extra expense would be added onto the other’s debt. At this rate, it would be a few millennia before He Xuan ever even had a hope of paying off his account.

All the better for Hua Cheng, really. It made it so much easier to get the ghost to do what he needed him to.

With a god now seemingly kidnapped, the King of Ghost City took the chance to “accidentally” let the original Ming Yi out from the dungeon he had been kept in. The man hadn’t truly done anything evil to deserve his imprisonment nor was he around when His Highness had fallen, it was just so He Xuan could take his place with none the wiser, so the supreme had treated him in a more neutral matter than he would have the usual prisoners. Still, as expected, the real earth god had immediately run out to the nearby forests and sent off a distress flare.

As easy as it was to let the man out, it was just as simple to recapture him. Hua Cheng truly didn’t care what happened to the other and left his fate up to He Xuan, allowing the other supreme to take the god to wherever he went off in his free time while they waited for the inevitable reinforcements to be sent from Heaven.

Even if Jun Wu knew what was going on, it would be impossible for him to ignore the obvious distress signal. With how showy the gods were, even their calls for help were so eye-catching it wouldn’t be surprising if half of the Heavenly Realm had bore witness to the brilliant pillar of fire that had flown up through the atmosphere.

Now, they had nothing to do but wait and gamble on the chance the Emperor would send one or both of the Southern generals to investigate. Fiddling with a pair of dice in his hands, Hua Cheng couldn’t stop the smirk from blooming across his face.

If there were one thing he knew would be on his side, it was luck.

Which was how he now had the two idiots standing in front of him, Yin Yu standing close by to help keep an eye on them for any sudden movements. Each was restrained by ropes, having been caught by the citizens of Ghost City almost immediately. If they had been going for subtlety, fighting loudly in the middle of the marketplace had been one of the most foolish things they could have done. Not that Hua Cheng hadn’t expected that of them.

Amused the supreme watched as the martial gods seemed to be scanning the main hall, as though searching for any hidden trap or possible escape route. The manor certainly had both, though the Ghost King had no plans to allow either of them to take a single step out of this room until he had finished the conversation he wanted to have and forced them to comply with his demands. It was sure to be a therapeutic discussion for all of them.

“Crimson Rain,” Mu Qing spat out, glaring holes into the nonplussed pale face staring back at them from where the ghost sat casually upon a red and black chair. It was always entertaining to see how quickly the god would get angry at the sight of the supreme. The three had often run into each other in the mortal realm, with how Hua Cheng always made a point to antagonize each of them, the Xuan Zhen General somehow always seemed even more angry at the sight of them than last time whenever they met.

Trying to move around and dislodged the ropes tying them together, Feng Xin added, “What did you do with the earth god? What are you plotting?” accusations clear in his voice. Whatever nefarious plot they thought he was taking part in was probably nothing nearly to the level of what their Emperor was doing to the Prince they had abandoned. Their ignorance almost made the supreme want to beat them up again, but the goal here was to have them work for him, not have them storm off in anger like usual.

The Ghost King moved back in his seat, scanning the two with disdainful eyes. The form he wore now was almost identical to his true appearance, the lack of a missing eye aside. Call it his show of good faith towards them.

Absentmindedly, the calamity rolled the red bead braided into his hair, staring silently at the pair for another few moments before speaking up, “Don’t worry, the earth god you all know is fine. In fact, I’d say you two should be more worried about yourselves,” unable to keep the taunt from his voice. It was difficult not to lash out at the Southern martial gods, he had been hoping to take them down when he first came to challenge the Heavens in revenge, the need for vengeance only growing stronger with each year they remained high and lofty deities.

With narrowed eyes, Feng Xin growled, “What the fuck do you mean by that? Was this all just a ploy to capture us?!” redoubling his efforts to loosen the ties binding the gods in place.

Out of nowhere, Mu Qing suddenly exclaimed, “You...why do you have that!” that aggressive voice of one of Hua Cheng’s most hated martial gods’ , pointing towards the red bead the man had just been fiddling with. The single memento from the most important moment of his life, never too far away at any given moment.

Turning a glare to the man, the ghost narrowed his eyes before smirking coldly, “What does it matter to you? If you’re asking for it, don’t bother. I would never give trash like you anything of mine,” gently grasping the bead in his hand, leaving it to rest safely in his palm, away from prying eyes. Neither of them deserved to look upon the one thing that had remained of his past with His Highness.

Mu Qing clenched his fist, Feng Xin just as furious next to him, “Do you think we don’t recognize that earring? How did you get it?! What have you done to His Highness?!” the archer accused, having finally caught on to who the bead had originally belonged to. Could it be that Xie Lian’s first disappearance had something to do with the supreme before them?

Without deigning to look the gods in the face, the supreme turned to the side and opened his fist once more, examining the bead within, “I received it a long time ago. I haven’t done anything to His Highness,” here his voice tightened, “I would never do anything to hurt His Highness, unlike you two who abandoned him,” frigid gaze turning to them now with his own accusations. Standing up, he released the bead once more, allowing his braid to go freely, “I’m the one who stayed by His Highness’ side the entire time. When White No Face tortured and tormented him, I was the only one who remained with him while you two ran off. You have no right to think you can demand anything from me, especially when it comes to him,” spitting out the title of his most hated enemy. If there was anyone he hated more than Mu Qing, it was the original White-Clothed Calamity who had hurt his beloved so.

“What? What are you talking about?!” the less-hated of the two exclaimed, recoiling backwards at what the ghost had said.

Turning his head sharply, the Xuan Zhen General cut-in, “Wait. What do you know? And what do you mean you were by his side?” giving his companion a silent look, recalling their theories on what had happened back in Xian Le those centuries ago.

Once more lounging in his seat, Hua Cheng watched them for a moment before he replied, “I’ll tell you if you agree to do what I say and help to save His Highness from Jun Wu,” leaving no room for argument.

This time both Southern gods froze in shock, two pairs of eyes staring at him as though unable to believe what they had just heard. Feng Xin was the first to reply, leaning forward as he did, “Save him from the Emperor? What are you saying?!”

Mu Qing, who had been suspicious of their leader from early on, interjected, “How could you know about what’s been going on in the Heavenly Realm? With how infamous you are, your butterflies would have been noticed immediately,” Crimson Rain Sought Flower was the most feared ghost among the gods, if even a hint of him had shown up in their realm, they would have known about it.

Not interested in prolonging this part of the conversation, the calamity crossed his arms, “If you agree, I’ll tell you anything you want to know. I know you two idiots have been trying to look into it on your own. With how you stupidly do it in front of the Emperor, you have a higher chance of being killed by him than actually accomplishing anything of note. You owe His Highness for what you did, you have no idea what he went through back then,” clenching his fists at the memory, “If you disagree, I have no problem striking you worthless fools down like I planned to six-hundred years ago if you hadn’t run away like you did,” jeering at them.

For a moment it looked as though Feng Xin wanted to argue back, face twisted in rage at the insults being thrown at the pair. On the other side, Mu Qing seemed uncharacteristically silent, thinking to himself. The archer was just about to speak when his companion spoke up, voice surprisingly level, “Fine. We’ll work with you, but you have to tell us everything you know,” dark eyes meeting equally determined.

With a smirk, the calamity replied, “Seems like even you can use your brain now and again. Tell me everything you know first, after that I’ll tell you what I know, and then finally what I want you two to do for me.”

It seemed as though no matter who they asked or where they searched, neither Mu Qing nor Feng Xin were able to find out anything substantial on either Xie Lian’s century long disappearance nor the current “White-Clothed Calamity” aside from what Hua Cheng had relayed to them of his trip to Yong’an. Most of what they heard about the supreme was hearsay, nicknames or rumored events that the ghost had supposedly been in the middle of. On the Prince’s absence, there was even less.

Whether no one truly knew anything or everyone was keeping quiet, neither could say for certain. Mu Qing had never trusted the other gods, but even Feng Xin had become more and more cynical as the centuries went on with little to no help from a single one of them. It was infuriating, being so close yet so far from the flower-crowned martial god. Even now, Ling Wen refused to tell them anything, claiming it was a secret mission from the Emperor when they had asked where their former charge had disappeared to over the entire century he had vanished without a trace.

Any attempts at sneaking into the man’s palace were easily rebuffed, Xie Lian rarely went there in the first place and whenever he was there, Jun Wu somehow was always by his side. If they wanted to speak to him without the Emperor knowing, the other’s personal building was proven to be off-limits.

But if not there, then where?

It seemed as though no matter where they looked or when they tried, the Prince always had their leader at his side. The sight only furthered to drive home the greater uneasiness that had sprouted within each of them at Hua Cheng’s claims, their faith in the higher-up crumbling down bit by bit the more they saw.

What sort of private mission could His Highness have been sent on for over one-hundred years without a word to any of them? Although he already knew it was futile, Feng Xin had tried more than once to try and contact the other with the private array password he still remembered. Yet, no matter how many times he called out, he never once received a reply.

Scouring the mortal realm had been just as fruitless, no hide nor hair of the Xian Le royalty anywhere they looked. While each of them were reluctant to take Crimson Rain’s words at face value, his accusations were seeming more and more plausible as they thought back on those years of searching.

When Xie Lian first reappeared by the Emperor’s side, both men felt a breath they hadn’t realized they were holding release. After going missing for so long, His Highness had finally returned. They had both tried to make eye contact with him when he had first appeared during a meeting in the main hall, but he had avoided their gazes. It was a strange turn in behavior; where the other martial god had at one point at the very least tried to keep up appearing by smiling at them or nodding, he now refused to even give them a second glance.

It was disconcerting.

Interestingly, he seemed to interact the same way with Jun Wu, appearing for all intents and purposes as though there were only something wrong with the relationship between the three of them. If either of the two had had any interactions with the Prince, this could possibly be explained. Of course, neither had even been able to say a word to him in nearly six-hundred years now. Clearly something had happened in regards to them on Xie Lian’s side, they just had no idea what it was.

This new dynamic seemed to push Mu Qing farther towards the edge than it did Feng Xin, perhaps because he had been up in the Heavens witnessing this charade for longer, perhaps his own sense of guilt, or maybe even his constant mix of anger and worry had overflowed, spurring him on into action.

It was after returning from another mission that he hit his limit. The report he had presented to Jun Wu had been inconsequential, it could have easily been given to Ling Wen, but the saber-wielder had purposefully opted to tell the Emperor in person in hopes of catching Xie Lian’s attention. Throughout the entirety of his time alone in the mortal realm, the Southern martial god had been unable to keep his mind from repeatedly playing back all the incidents with His Highness in the past few weeks he had returned from out of nowhere.

In the past, he had thought of the Prince as fake and judged the man’s every action as a self-indulgent ploy at looking good. Every day he could feel his anger and cynicism growing, unable to believe a member of the royal family who had never known hardship could possibly emphasize with their subjects. It had been difficult to balance his true feelings with his role as an attendant, especially when he spent every moment by the other’s side. He had both loved and hated Xie Lian back then, part of him believing and hoping he could befriend the seemingly kind yet arrogant boy while the other half spat and judged every interaction between them.

And yet now he found, somehow, being completely ignored was even worse.

A determination to talk to the Prince filled him, to stop this stupid passive-aggressive cruelty and force the other to just look at him for a moment. He had stormed up to the Great Hall with a fervor, each step sure and steady as he entered to give his report to the Emperor.

As soon as he made his way inside, Mu Qing’s eyes scanned the room for any sign of Xie Lian, confusion filling him at the apparent absence of the martial god. Without anything else he could do, he turned his gaze to Jun Wu, trying to keep the obvious question from his features. He had already been suspicious of the Emperor, Hua Cheng’s words only furthered that seed of doubt in his heart.

Wanting to quickly get out of there to ask around about the Prince, he gave a quick report he hadn’t truly needed to and excused himself. Jun Wu seemed to be in a good mood, letting him go without much aside from light artificial praise and a farewell. If he hadn’t already walked into the Emperor’s line of sight before realizing the flower-crowned martial god wasn’t there, the younger man would have immediately turned around and left.

It was easy to find his partner in this quest to solve whatever was going on with Xie Lian. Feng Xin tended to keep to his own palace nowadays when he wasn’t off searching for Blood-stained White Flower in the mortal realm. Given how much time they each had spent at the other’s main base throughout the centuries, Mu Qing didn’t bother to announce his presence, walking in towards the office he knew the archer to be in.

Already used to their superior’s fellow Southern martial god’s presence, the young attendants made no move to stop him, some even offering up their god’s location or offering to bring them tea. Not that General Xuan Zhen was listening, he was too preoccupied with the new inklings of a frantic worry blossoming within him.

“Where is he?” he questioned, throwing open the doors to the room without any sort of greeting or pleasantry. They had known each other long enough that those things seemed perfunctory.

Similarly, there was no need for Mu Qing to clarify who the “he” in his query was. Looking up from the paperwork he had been scanning over, Feng Xin gave a frown, not even bothering to show a half-hearted scowl, “I don’t know, he disappeared again a few days after you left and, as always,” frustration clear in his tone of voice, “conveniently no one seems to know where he’s gone,” moving his gaze down to glare at the papers on his desk. He didn’t believe for one moment that Ling Wen was ignorant to the Prince’s whereabouts, she just refused to tell him for some reason.

With his own frown, the other man replied, “A few days after I left? That was months ago,” this particular mission having taken longer than usual as he had needed to visit various regions in the South repeatedly. Even as a god with distance shortening arrays, the constant traveling back-and-forth was tedious.

“I know,” Feng Xin replied, keeping his gaze down, frown only deepening. The two sat in silence for a few beats, neither knowing what to say in the moment. Last time His Highness had disappeared for a little over a hundred years, how long would he vanish this time? While he had gone off on “missions” a few times throughout the past few centuries, he had never been gone for as long as he had that time, much less gone off once again so soon after.

From experience, both knew it would be fruitless to try and find the man. Somehow, someway, Xie Lian always managed to keep himself hidden in the mortal realm no matter how intensely they looked. Still, that didn’t mean they had no leads they could follow up on.

Laying the paper he had been holding back down flat, the archer spoke up, “...Let’s go down to the mortal realm, I heard the other gods gossiping that Blood-Stained White Flower was last seen in Ban Yue,” his tone resolute. With His Highness missing and the mysterious white-clothed calamity the only lead they had managed to find on their own, not to grudgingly mention Hua Cheng’s own agreement the ghost likely had a connection to the Prince’s current situation, it was worth it to look into the claims.

This caught the saber-wielder’s attention, the general looking back up from his musings, “In Ban Yue? What was he doing there?” brows furrowed in confusion. The citizens of Ban Yue didn’t believe in the same gods as those of the Central Plains, it was unusual for a god or calamity alike to appear there. The exception being, of course, the current border war taking place that everyone in the Heavens seemed content to turn a blind eye to.

Gaze lost in recollection of what he had overheard, the other Southern martial god relayed, “Apparently during a recent clash, Blood-Stained White Flower appeared out of nowhere. He didn’t do anything other than cover the battlefield in white flowers, but everyone seems to take it as his declaration of war on Jun Wu for ignoring the prayers of the Yong’an citizens there,” though whether he was truly ignoring those pleas for help or not was unknown. With how popular a god the Emperor was, it wasn’t inconceivable he had been too busy contending with those prayers of the more local people to have even taken notice of those so far up North.

Mu Qing remained silent for a moment, stewing over whether the rumor was credible enough to bother investigating or not. After thinking about it for less than half the time it took to brew a cup of tea, he crossed his arms, “Might as well look into it. It’s not like we have any other leads,” frowning at the thought. Turning his eyes to Feng Xin, he continued, “It’s far from our domain, so we’ll probably have a limited amount of power we can use. Don’t waste any on anything stupid.”

Immediately incensed, the archer spat back, “Why are you worrying about me? I’m not the one who used up all of their spiritual power on light sources we didn’t need last time we went out West,” furrowing his brow in anger.

Unable to take a shot at himself, the other quickly replied, “If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to lure the beast out! Next time I’ll be sure to let you go in by yourself to deal with it,” sarcasm lacing every word.

Gritting his teeth, Feng Xin slammed his hands down on the desk and stood up, “Let’s just fucking go. There’s no point in wasting all this time while His Highness needs our help,” the words always enough to bring the pair back on track.

“Fine. I’ll meet you down there,” refusing to look at his fellow martial god, Mu Qing immediately turned and left before things continued to escalate and they became too distracted to actually do what they needed to do. As he walked out, the attendants all bowed to him, wishing him well. With a half-distracted nod of acknowledgement, the man made his way back out onto the streets of the Heavenly realm, thinking on what he might need to prepare for their venture into the Northern deserts.

Hopefully they could actually find something this time.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing would have continued to just miss the calamity they had been desperately searching for if they hadn’t decided to return to the Heavens after finding absolutely nothing useful in Ban Yue. There had been no sign of the ghost that had appeared aside from a handful of witness testimonies, even the white flowers the supreme had left behind already disappeared off with the wind. With disappointment weighing the pair down, they had already begun to spit insults at each other when they realized it.

Blood-Stained White Flower was a mysterious calamity, appearing randomly in unexpected areas every few decades or centuries before disappearing without a word. No one had ever spoken to him, few even knew very much about him aside the rumors of his appearances and the nickname they had bestowed upon him. If it weren’t for one one small simple thing, the gods would have been content to ignore him with a bit of trepidation at the ambiguity of it all. Unfortunately, this Ghost King had a certain habit that put him before even Crimson Rain Sought Flower in the eyes of the gods.

Few had ever witnessed it, but it was said that the white-clothed calamity would appear in the Heavens now and then to challenge the Emperor.

The battles were usually fought away from prying eyes, White Flower preferring to face the most famous god without an audience, keeping to his reputation as a more inconspicuous supreme. It was by pure chance the pair had happened to see it, watching as Jun Wu dodged and parried blows, looking more as though he were amusedly having a casual spar with his student rather than contending with a powerful calamity.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing had arrived back in the streets of the Heavenly Realm, too caught up in their bickering to notice the distinct lack of other heavenly officials around. It had been hundreds of years and neither had found anything out about His Highness on their own, not to mention now Hua Cheng, the bastard, had forced both of them to work with him for some unknown reason! Why the calamity would be interested in the Prince was a mystery, but neither liked the thought of it. It was clear Crimson Rain knew something they didn’t, and that only caused their tempers to rise even more.

Insults weren’t uncommon between them, especially with how difficult the past centuries had been on their senses of guilt. Each of the two felt the pull of their own perceived sins, wanting to help out their former Prince but wholly unable to do anything but watch as the human shell of the glorious swordsman they once knew seemed to appear and disappear without a word, never straying far from a man who was appearing more and more suspicious as they days and years went by.

It was just as Feng Xin was rearing to throw a punch, frustration growing too high to be contained in verbal form, when the duo noticed it.

Both had paused as they heard the sound of another fight nearby, two pairs of eyes watching in shock as a white and red-clothed figure lunged at a taller man, easily identified as the Emperor. Neither made any movement, completely frozen in their fighting stances, unable to look away from the battle before them. This was finally their chance to talk to the calamity and see what he knew! It was what they had been waiting for!

Of course, they couldn’t just go and get in the middle of the fight. There was no chance either of them could hold up in the middle of a battle between the Emperor and a supreme that had fought their leader to a draw on more than one occasion. With no other choice, they could only sit and watch, waiting for a chance to follow the other when he inevitably left the battle at a stand-still.

As the pair looked on, both thought now might be the time to analyze the ghost’s fighting ability in the event he turned on them when they approached him. Perhaps unsurprisingly the white-clothed figure was a stupendous fighter, drawing a palpable interest in his novel abilities from anyone who may watch him. Feng Xin and Mu Qing were no exceptions to this.

That interest quickly turned to shock.

Then dread.

Then denial.

Then anger.

Then fear.

Fight long forgotten, the two gods stood up as the fighting pair vanished further down the road, eyes glued to where they had left. A heavy silence covered the area, the men each unwilling to break the silence, to be the one to say what they had both realized immediately. It was unthinkable, it was impossible. There was simply no way something like that could have happened, and if it had, never to him. It didn’t even make sense! There was no explanation for it, it was so improbable it felt ridiculous. Ludicrous.

But they both knew. They knew whose sword style that was. They knew who stood that tall, who always dressed in white, who fought so fluidly with such power, who was so familiar in every movement, who Jun Wu would look at as though he were dealing with a difficult child.

How could it be anyone but His Highness, crowned Prince of Xian Le, the Flower-Crowned Martial G*d they had stood by since childhood, Xie Lian?

Chapter Text

Blood-Stained White Flower was His Highness.

The revelation was earth shattering.

Most gods knew better than to approach Blood-Stained White Flower willingly. Of the three current Supremes and four true Calamities, he was comparable to the most dangerous, Crimson Rain Sought Flower. While the dreaded Hua Cheng had humiliated thirty-three heavenly officials and burned down their temples, Blood Stained White Flower had only ever attacked one god. The head of the gods, Jun Wu, was his most hated enemy. For reasons beyond anyone but the two men themselves, Blood Stained White Flower, often called Bai Yuan by those who spoke of him given he had never stated a name for himself, seemed hell-bent on striking down the powerful Emperor.

If the calamity were of the weaker sort, it would be nothing but a pathetic show for the other gods in the upper court to witness now and again. But it wasn’t. While he had never won, Bai Yuan always managed to end the battles with wounds on both himself and the leader of the gods, his skills improved every time he came for a rematch. For his part, Jun Wu seemed strangely pleased by this, waving away concerns others had about it. As long as White Flower only attacked him, there should be no issue, should there?

Still, if the spirit were strong enough to hold his own against their head of power, the other gods did their best to avoid him. White Flower was a strange Ghost King, to be certain. He kept more quiet than the other two, only popping up now and again for a few moments. Once, he had stood in the remnants of a massacre in the royal palace of Yong’an, disappearing with only a single white flower in his place. Whether he had caused the deaths were truly unknown, but everyone was more than happy to pin them on him. Who else but a Ghost King could do such a thing, after all?

He had also been seen on a battlefield between Ban Yue and Yong’an decades later; some say he decimated both armies, staining the ground with blood, while others said he had been disguised as a general with a black sword, bursting into white flowers that covered the bloody ground he had been trampled into. Either way, the battle ended with only a layer of red and white as far as the eye could see, no trace of the man to be found within moments after the release of the plants.

No one knew what Blood-Stained White Flower truly looked like, the man always kept his face hidden, despite the fact he could have used a skin to change his appearance easily. He wore all white, composed of various robes covering him from where his neck met his head and down to his boots, atop his head sat a weimao, the hat made of bleached white woven straw. A long white veil kept his entire face hidden, the airy cloth reaching down to his waist, somehow managing to obscure his every feature while maintaining the light material usually used for such accessories. Most notably, though, was the vivid pure red that stained his otherwise completely white outfit. The red seemed to almost flow down from the neckline of his clothing, coating the majority of the center of the chest-area of the robes, dripping down off the edges. An outfit befitting his moniker.

This feared, mysterious figure was Xie Lian.

No matter how Feng Xin tried to wrap his mind around the idea, it felt as though he could never move on from that one single sentence. They had thought the Calamity had some sort of connection to His Highness, but never had either thought the ghost was the man himself. How had this happened? How could a god become a ghost, much less a Calamity, and then still remain a god in the Heavenly Realm with none the wiser? What was going on? The vague words Hua Cheng had told them, of His Highness suffering in ways they could never imagine, could only serve to make one worry even further.

It felt as though every new bit of information they learnt only did more to engulf the pair in even more confusion and uncertainty.

Suddenly snapping his head up, the archer turned his gaze towards the direction that the pair of fighting gods (?) had vanished and moved to walk in that direction. Before he could get very far, he found himself blocked by an all-too familiar person, the other looking at him with a familiar sense of frustration.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Mu Qing asked, not allowing the other man to take even a single step further than he already had.

Aggravated, the martial god replied, “Where do you think I’m going? Obviously I’m going to go follow His Highness and find out what the fuck is going on!” anger causing the volume of his voice to raise higher than it probably should. Thankfully, there were no other officials in sight.

The look of frustration quickly turned to one of disdain, the Xuan Zhen General shooting back, “What, you think you can just go over to where His Highness and Jun Wu are fighting and somehow get answers? We need to find him when he’s by himself in the Mortal Realm. He probably is down there as White Flower whenever he disappears from the Heavenly Realm,” there was no chance either of them would be able to take on the Emperor, even if they worked together. Whatever was going on here was beyond anything they had imagined, they couldn’t just go bursting in demanding explanations.

Feng Xin wanted to explode back, but knew there was a degree to logic in Mu Qing’s rebuttal. The pair had been working together for so long now trying to unravel this seemingly impossible to understand situation, it would be strange if they hadn’t come to understand each other a bit more over time.

Shoulders slumping, the archer turned his gaze down to the side and conceded, “You have a point. But we haven’t been able to find him for so long even when we didn’t know he was the Crowned Prince, how are we going to do it this time?” not once in their centuries of searching had either man successfully made contact with Blood-Stained White Flower.

With a frown, the other Southern god crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, “We’ll have to tell that guy about what we found out. After that we’ll just keep looking like we did before,” he didn’t necessarily want to work with Hua Cheng, but the Ghost King had a much more extensive network in the human world than either of them could ever hope to attain.

Unfortunately, neither had a means to contact the man.

Hua Cheng was a notoriously difficult person to find. You didn’t find Crimson Rain Sought Flower, he found you. While the two could have made their way to Paradise Manor in hopes the Ghost King were in, it was difficult to find the chance to sneak down without any of the other gods knowing, much less Jun Wu. There had been a few times one or the other had managed to make it into Ghost City, but each and every time they found that the Calamity was off searching in his own time.

It was getting ridiculous how impossible it was for the two sides to meet, Feng Xin almost wished they had managed to get the other man to leave a silver butterfly with them, or at least shared the password to the private array he had revealed he shared with He Xuan. That had been a surprise as well, to learn the Earth Master was secretly a Calamity spying in the Heavenly Realm. Things would be much easier if they could manage to interact with Black Water in any way, but the spy seemed to spend every moment of every single day with the Wind Master. Unfortunately, Shi Qingxuan had a habit of gossiping; neither felt comfortable talking about their secretive mission in his earshot.

On top of all that, Jun Wu seemed to have decided they needed to do even more busywork than before. Compared to how he had acted previously, the Emperor now preferred to put them to work helping out on missions with other gods rather than the solo ones he had assigned them en masse before, making it even more difficult to try and contact Hua Cheng.

Years passed with frustrations only growing stronger. The tension between the Southern martial gods was strong; it would be a wonder if even the strongest blade in Jun Wu’s collection would have a chance of making a mark on it. Fights between the pair became prevalent once more, causing more and more scenes in front of the other gods than ever before. It went without saying Xie Lian remained distant, if not completely absent.

Things continued on until the Emperor called for them one day, assigning the pair to work together on a mission involving disappearing brides on the edge of a mountain.

Initially the two had been wary. Even a fool would have been able to tell Jun Wu had been purposefully keeping them from working on assignments together, pushing them towards other gods for years now. It made one wonder why, all of a sudden, the man they suspected of being in cahoots with the most nefarious Calamity in history, would suddenly change his tune.

The case on Mount Yujun was surprisingly fairly standard, all things considered. Brides had been disappearing from their procession for hundreds of years, the case only catching the eyes of Heavens due to the prayers and donations of a wealthy man whose daughter had fallen victim to the supposed “Ghost Groom”.

Mu Qing had been skeptical that the Ghost Groom was even a Groom at all. The villagers seemed dead set on the idea, but the saber-wielder had posited that the Ghost Groom might be something more of a vengeful Ghost Bride. Feng Xin hadn’t been sure of it himself, for once choosing to remain quiet and not start a fight over the details. In the end, it didn’t matter. They just needed to get this incident cleanly swept up and then they could take the chance to use the extra time to try and contact Crimson Rain again.

Their plan to go along with the fake bridal procession had proven fruitful, in the sense that the living corpses and wolves they had fought off proved their worth to the annoying boy cajoling the other humans into the entire farce. While he didn’t like women, Feng Xin wasn’t cruel. After they had driven the other humans away, the two Southern martial gods had stayed to continue to fight off the evil beings trying to attack the admittedly ugly girl that had been forced into the role of bride bait. Alone the corpses and wolves wouldn’t be difficult to handle, but their sheer number forced the two to fight for what felt like an eternity.

The strange childish giggling and whispering didn’t help. Neither did the fact it seemed only Feng Xin could hear it.

It was, begrudgingly, a relief to see Crimson Rain of all people suddenly appear in his true form from the forest and drive the evil beings away. Being soaked in his blood rain had been less so.

Dirty and frustrated, the pair had followed the haughty looking man along with the girl, Hua Cheng waiting as they dropped her off by the temple that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Mu Qing had been the first to notice the strange presence within the temple, and with their combined efforts, it had ultimately been less of a challenge to subdue the ghost that it might have been otherwise. It turned out the Xuan Zhen General had been correct; the Ghost Groom was a Ghost Bride. A Ghost Bride who, upon realizing they were heavenly officials, demanded to see her “beloved Pei”.

It wasn’t too much of a struggle to figure out which Pei she meant, the fact the temple they were outside of was one dedicated to the man not-withstanding.

Similarly, it wasn’t difficult to guess at what the situation was given the man’s pertinent reputation.

By the time the other humans had arrived, Feng Xin had already called Ling Wen to send Pei Xiu down to deal with this. There was no way the archer was going to let them saddle him with dealing with a crazed female spirit, he didn’t need Mu Qing to say anything to know he felt the same. This was something the Pei’s had caused, they could be the ones to deal with it.

When the screaming woman was taken away and the girl sent back off on her own, strangely going further into the woods rather than taking the path back with the other humans, the pair immediately went back to where they knew Crimson Rain was waiting for them.

The Calamity stood with a smirk at their appearance, both still stained red with blood. Even now, knowing that bastard Qi Rong had been the one to do it and not the man before them, the two couldn’t help but feel aggrieved looking at that self-satisfied expression.

“Well, well, it seems you two pieces of trash can clean up the messes your heavenly coworkers cause without making an even bigger mess. I should applaud you,” the condescending tone just as ear-grating as it had been the last time the three spoke.

Gritting his teeth, Feng Xin shot back, “Where have you been? We’ve been trying to get in contact with you for decades,” the words more of a demand for an answer than an inquiry.

Expression shifting into something more neutral, the taller man replied, “I’ve been searching for His Highness and running the Ghost Realm. Where have you two been?” a slight frown marring his admittedly handsome features.

“We checked in Paradise Manor a few times when we could get away, but you were never around. Your spy was never available, and you never even told us your array password,” Mu Qing crossed his arms, firing back with a frown of his own.

For once, Hua Cheng had to admit there was little he could respond to that with. Conceding the point, he spoke, “...I’ll figure something out. More importantly, what did you want to tell me?” choosing to rather focus on what might be a lead with finding the Prince.

Standing up straight, all remnants of the previous argument forgotten, Feng Xin relayed, “Blood-Stained White Flower is His Highness.”

After a moment of silence, Crimson Rain replied, “...That’s it? I already knew that. Why don’t you find some real new information before trying to contact me,” derision oozing from each word.

“You already knew?! You never said anything about that!” the archer exclaimed, Mu Qing just as indignant. They had spent all this time on absolutely nothing?!

Gaze looking far off into somewhere neither could see, Hua Cheng replied, “I wasn’t certain. I was planning to investigate it further, but it seems like you two already did that,” eyes quickly refocusing on the two paired with a new smirk.

Mu Qing narrowed his stare at the expression, but explained further, “We saw him fighting Jun Wu in the Heavenly Realm. He hid his face, but it was easy to tell who it was from how he fought and held himself,” thinking back to that fantastical scene they had borne witness to. It was still difficult to believe it was true.

The Calamity frowned once more at those words, looking pensive, “Fighting Jun Wu…” looking off to the side in thought. Before either martial god could comment, he regained his posture and spoke, “I’ll try and get in contact with him. You two keep watching Jun Wu’s movements,” leaving no room for discussion.

Indignant, Feng Xin yelled back, “You can’t just order us around like that! Besides, why should we leave finding His Highness to you? We’ve been searching for him this entire time too,” enraged at the idea of leaving the search for their Prince to the most feared Calamity in the Heavens.

“And how successful have you two been in all these years?” the reply quickly ripped through the brewing argument, “Besides, I live down here and have the freedom to move wherever and whenever I want, you two wouldn’t be able to cover nearly a speck of sand of the land I’ve searched,” the haughtiness back in full-force once again.

Feng Xin had wanted to argue back that Hua Cheng hadn’t found anything in the intermittent years either, but the second part of his rebuttal was impossible to refute. They really did have barely any time to search for His Highness, especially in recent years. Crossing his arms, he bitterly replied, “Fine. Give us some way to contact you,” not wanting a repeat of the past situation. The amount of time that would have been saved if they could have just immediately spoken to Crimson Rain was more than he wanted to even think about right now.

With an amused face, Hua Cheng, opened his mouth, “If you want it so badly. It’s--”

Back in the Heavenly Realm now, Feng Xin couldn’t help but to wonder over the voice that he had heard, desperately trying to forget the password that had been shared with them. It was odd that neither Crimson Rain nor Mu Qing had been able to hear it, which led credence to the theory it was intended specifically for him to hear. But why?

As far as the archer was aware, he had never had any particular ties to any children or babies. He had never been married either, nor, he was certain of this, did he look anything like a blushing bride.

Xuan Ji hadn't seemed to know what he was talking about when he had asked her either, so it seemed to have been some sort of separate entity. Perhaps it was a spirit he had fought in the past, vying for revenge?

Well, it wasn’t any matter at the moment. Putting the mystery to the back of his mind for the time, Nan Yang Zhen Jun looked to the man across from him. The pair were once again seated in his palace, trying to plot their next course of action after this most recent meeting with their unfortunate ally.

The junior officials usually attending the palace had already been sent away to provide the pair privacy for their conversation, though neither had spoken yet. It had been difficult trying and failing to find out anything substantial in the last few centuries, the new knowledge that His Highness was somehow also a calamity was a strong blow.

“...Let’s go back to Ban Yue to investigate again,” Mu Qing broke the silence, one hand grasping harshly at the side of the table.

Confused, Feng Xin questioned, “Ban Yue? Why do you want to go back there? We didn’t find anything when we looked last time,” finding the idea ludicrous. The most they had managed to get were a few witness testimonies from local people living on the borders, and of that just that they had suddenly seen a field of white flowers and a white-dressed figure that quickly vanished.

Frowning down at the table, the other Southern martial god replied, “I feel like we’re missing something...it doesn’t make sense that His Highness would just suddenly appear out of nowhere like that. He must have been masquerading as a normal human for some reason before suddenly revealing himself,” as one verily familiar with Xie Lian’s known skills, suddenly appearing and disappearing at will was not one of them Mu Qing could say he was familiar with.

With a matching frown, the archer replied, “It’s already been so many years, would there still be people who knew anymore?” doubt coloring every word. Feng Xin wanted to figure out what was going on with His Highness just as much, if not more than, Mu Qing did, but he also didn’t want to waste time they could spend investigating other leads.

“Crimson Rain is already looking around other areas, we might as well search there just in case,” was the offered reply, the Nan Yan Zhen General having already made up his mind to go, “I’m going. If you want to just stay here and keep trying to talk to His Highness, be my guest,” standing up with a scoff.

Never one to take provocation sitting down, the other god replied, “No, I’m coming with you. If you go by yourself, who knows how many people you’ll scare off with your personality,” all things considered, it was a genuine point to be made.

Which was how the two found themselves sitting within a small cave within the Gobi Desert, staring at the small stone monument they had stumbled upon earlier. The trip had been an enlightening one to be certain, with the truth about what had happened with the younger General Pei and the Ban Yue Imperial Preceptor coming to light amid a battle with vengeful ghosts, poisonous scorpions, and mortal merchants who could do nothing but get in the way. The entire thing had been such a mess, from accidentally stumbling upon the tradesmen after getting caught up in a sandstorm, to having some of them tag along on their trip to the country, to being captured by ghost soldiers while searching for clues and thrown into a pit, until finally Mu Qing had managed to put together the clues from Ke Mo’s words and those of the girl he had initially been hoping to arrest with a comment from Feng Xin.

It helped that Pei Xiu hadn’t tried very hard to change the appearance of his clone.

While neither man cared much about the drama between the three people they had become trapped with, the information the Ban Yue girl and Pei Xiu had shared was surprising enough. Initially when the merchants and the Southern martial gods had been trapped in this same cave waiting out the sandstorm, Pei Xiu, who had been acting as a guide at the time, had told them about the General Hua that had been memorialized on the stone tablet.

The story had sounded familiar, eerily so. Both former attendants couldn’t help but exchange a look as the military official in the legend was described, his descent from grace mirroring that of His Highness too perfectly to be a coincidence. There were very few people in this world with that sort of personality, after all.

When the Imperial Preceptor had mentioned her connection to General Hua while talking with Pei Xiu, the two martial gods had taken the chance to pounce on the lead. If either had any doubts about the identity of this “General Hua”, they were immediately dispelled when she told them one particular moment involving the man.

“He always said his dream was to save the common people,” the girl had spoken in a soft voice, surprising given her reputation, “That if you had to get dragged down through the mud to save others, it would be worth it in the end,” her gaze caught up in memories, as though they were playing before her very eyes.

A dream to save the common people.

Who else would have such a dream; could have such a dream, but Xie Lian?

From there, the story continued to unfold. The Prince truly had been masquerading as a soldier in the Yong’an military, eventually making his way up to General after successes here and there. Given how proficient a fighter the man was, this wasn’t surprising. His fall in the ranks was equally so. To be demoted after refusing to follow orders and trying to save civilians instead…

At that moment, Feng Xin felt a weight he hadn’t been aware of lifting from his heart.

To know His Highness still cared for the common people, that he was still the same friendly naively chivalrous person was a relief unlike any other he had experienced before. For hundreds of years there had been no chance to get in personal contact with Xie Lian, no way to know what had happened to him or if he had changed as a result. Even if these events had happened years ago now, compared to how long the Prince had been on his own dealing with whatever it was he was in the middle of, that was no time at all.

The chance that His Highness still remained, at his core, a benign altruistic person was more important to the archer than he had thought. Feng Xin had always been a loyal supporter of the Prince, not just because it was his duty, but because he genuinely loved and cared for his childhood friend. He wouldn’t have faulted the other martial god if he had changed; it was impossible that Crimson Rain hadn’t censored certain details, especially given how His Highness was now acting as the new White-Clothed Calamity, but he hadn’t.

It seemed that no matter what, Xie Lian was still Xie Lian.

But that begot the question--what had His Highness been doing down here, and why had he disguised himself as a regular human for so long only to then later show his form as a Calamity? Why not as a god? What was the purpose of all of this?

Gazing at the stone monument, Feng Xin continued to let his mind turn over the new information this trip had given them, wondering if this now meant he had to concede to Mu Qing that he had been right to check back here again. For his part, Mu Qing had already turned back towards the entrance, his own thoughts turning to other details his companion seemed to be glossing over.

After a moment of thinking, his customary small frown ever-present, the General spoke up, breaking the silence, “We should go back. We still have to send this guy to be judged, not to mention the banquet is soon,” gesturing towards the tied up Pei Xiu quietly sitting on the side of the cave.

Their current criminal charge had been silent ever since they had agreed to leave the Ban Yue girl alone given her unwitting involvement in the situation. All three of them knew if she were arrested, Pei Ming would do anything to try and shift the blame onto her shoulders. It was obvious from the younger Pei’s face he would want anything other than that.

With a nod, Feng Xin left his thoughts fade back into the corner of his mind, following behind as Mu Qing led their prisoner outside of the cave for their trip back to the Heavenly Realm.

Perhaps, if they were lucky, the upcoming event would give them a chance to talk to His Highness.

The banquet was a difficult thing to give any attention to even under normal circumstances. It was an event used more to flaunt one’s status and laugh at others; something Mu Qing would have avoided in any other circumstance. Unfortunately, attendance was compulsory for the gods. Not that that was the main reason he and Feng Xin had made a point to arrive as early as possible this time.

Both were still reeling from the new information they had uncovered, unsure of what to think of it. With what Crimson Rain had told them mixed with the stories they had uncovered in Ban Yue, it felt now more than ever that they had only a few puzzle pieces that made up the big picture of the mystery of what had been happening with His Highness for the past number of centuries.

While the pair had teamed up with Hua Cheng for a number of years now, they had frustratingly little success in their attempts and uncovering the truth. Seeing Blood-Stained White Flower those years ago had managed to reinvigorate the Southern gods in their quest, scouring the mortal realm for His Highness whenever he disappeared from court. Initially their Ghost King contact had been the one pulling his weight on that end, but with how often Xie Lian tended to suddenly vanish without a trace, it seemed more useful for them to also search whenever a mission sent them down.

Interestingly, Jun Wu had been sending them down on longer and longer missions more and more frequently.

By this point, there was no doubt in Mu Qing’s mind that the so-called Emperor had something to do with this entire mess. While Hua Cheng’s words had initially made the Xuan Zhen General bristle at the thought of their leader and the god he had grown up with revering as the greatest in the heavens being evil, the idea quickly became more and more settled within his mind. Hadn’t Mu Qing always thought of Xie Lian as two-faced and insincere? How was it so much easier for him to believe his--his Prince was that way, yet so difficult to conceive the Emperor of being so?

When he realized this, the Southern martial god’s entire thought process had changed. He didn’t particularly like or dislike Jun Wu, the man was their Emperor but he had rarely interacted with him. Before he had always seen the elder as a strong god to be revered and obeyed, but now as a god himself much closer in distance and status to the man, he began to observe.

In hindsight, it was obvious. Jun Wu may act wise and benevolent with others, but once you knew where to look, the signs were clear. Mu Qing and Feng Xin were always sent off on missions to the mortal realm for long stretches of time whenever Xie Lian returned from his own missions, but were kept up in the Heavenly Realm for various administrative duties by Ling Wen. Ling Wen who was, coincidentally, the Emperor’s left-hand.

Mu Qing had been suspicious of Jun Wu from the very beginning, but he hadn’t dared to assume things could be as willfully malicious as he now did.

Even now at this banquet, once he paid attention and didn’t focus on trying to make connections with the other gods or squabble with Feng Xin, it was obvious Jun Wu was isolating Xie Lian from everyone else. The Emperor sat in the most distinguished seat a bit away from the rest of the gods, of course it went without saying His Highness was the only one sitting by his right side.

As the events passed by, various plays from the mortal realm, the cup being passed, the lanterns counted--

Watching the two gods, it was obvious neither were particularly interested in participating.

Jun Wu watched on with muted interest, looking for all the world as though he were a parent half-paying attention to their children playing around in the fields. Xie Lian kept his head down, gaze plastered to the small table placed in front of him with a small bowl of cherries sat upon it. The Prince seemed to have his full attention taken by those fruits, yet never made a move to take one the entire evening.

The cup never ventured down that way when that particular game was played, the unspoken rule of not bothering the Emperor with possible embarrassment keeping the pair out of the running. When it came to counting the lanterns, neither Jun Wu nor His Highness were even considered as part of the running. It made sense in a way, if the most popular god participated it was unlikely anyone else would ever have a chance at winning; as for Xie Lian, he was a surprisingly unpopular god, there was little probability he would get even a single lantern.

Strange. His Highness had been a god for so long and worked as Jun Wu’s most trusted subordinate, yet in the mortal realm he had been all but forgotten. It would have made sense to a degree if things were still as they had been right after the fall of Xian Le, but after so many centuries to still have little to no believers and continue on as a god…

It was surprising the Prince hadn’t faded away.

As far as anyone knew, Xie Lian hadn’t been granted any cursed shackle tying his existence to this world, so there had to be at least some believers keeping him alive. Who those believers were, Mu Qing couldn’t say. He had never come across any human who had even heard of the Flower-Crowned Martial G*d, much less worshipped him.

An idea suddenly took form within the man’s mind, growing stronger as he stared at the high-collared white robes His Highness had taken to wearing after his second ascension. It was an odd choice for someone who tended to prefer looser Daoist robes, but until now Mu Qing had chalked it up to wanting to make a change in outfit with his new chance in the Heavens. Thinking back on it, Blood Stained White Flower, who was irrevocably His Highness, had a similar outfit, albeit stained red with blood. Coming from the neck.

Suddenly, it felt almost impossible to sit and watch the two silent men.

Unable to bear even looking at his former charge and the man who was undoubtedly doing something to him, Mu Qing nudged at his companion seated beside him. At the annoyed look he received, the man rolled his eyes and subtly inclined his head towards the seated pair.

Feng Xin seemed to watch the two for a moment, a frown slowly forming at the isolated and subdued scene they made. As impulsive as ever when it came to His Highness, he moved to stand up, stopping only as his fellow Southern god reached out to grab his arm, “What do you think you’re doing?” the other hissed, using his strength to keep the martial god from standing up fully.

“What does it look like? After everything we’ve learned, I won’t just leave His Highness with him!” was shot back under his breath, the archer struggling to break from the grip holding him in place.

Narrowing his eyes, the Xuan Zhen General berated, “You think you can just go over there and fight the Emperor? He won’t even let anyone visit His Highness’ palace, much less speak to him alone. Jun Wu is more powerful than the both of us put together, don’t be an idiot,” using a bit more power to successfully shove the other into his seat once more.

Once again seated with none the wiser--thankfully the other gods were too enraptured by the play going on on stage--Feng Xin scoffed, “Are you saying we should just keep leaving him with him then?! With so many gods here, Jun Wu wouldn’t do anything too flashy and make himself look bad. Now’s the best chance we’re going to have in a while,” no matter how strong the Emperor was, he would still want to keep up a good reputation among the majority of the gods. If he went out and did anything too severe just because Feng Xin wanted to speak with Xie Lian in private, it would undoubtedly make the others question the reason why.

While he didn’t completely agree, Mu Qing knew the banquet really was one of the best environments they could have to try and speak privately with the Prince. Meeting the archer’s gaze, he explained his own plan, “It’s better to wait and try to get His Highness alone. Do you have anyone you know that would be able to pull Jun Wu aside for some reason to give us a chance to talk to him?” it was a known fact that between the two of them, Feng Xin was more friendly with the other gods.

Unfortunately, even Nan Yang Zhen Jun had no contacts who were close enough to the Emperor to be able to get his attention for long enough. If anyone would be able to, it would be either Xie Lian, who they were trying to get away from him in the first place, or Ling Wen, who had proven herself unhelpful numerous times in the past.

As the pair thought over what to do, Shi Wudu happened to approach Jun Wu, his high ranking in the lantern counting fresh on his heels. With a respectful bow, he spoke, “Jun Wu, I was wondering if I could speak with you about a few things regarding my upcoming Heavenly tribulation,” an event that many of the gods had eagerly been looking forward to.

Heavenly tribulations were neither common nor uncommon among the gods. It was normal for the higher ranked gods to undergo at least one or two tribulation, with a few having even more than that. This time, the Water Master would be having his next tribulation; it had been the talk of the upper court for a while now, ever since the first signs of its impending advent had appeared. The Water Master’s younger brother was extremely popular among the gods, many were considering going along with him to watch the tribulation and make a day of it.

Could this be their chance?

Jun Wu stared for a moment before smiling, giving a nod, “Certainly, Xianle, why don’t you go take care of what I asked you for? Since you have an opportunity now, it’s a good time to take it,” advising gently, as though he were the Prince’s father.

Avoiding eye contact with Shi Wudu, Xie Lian gave a nod and stood up, making his way down towards where the other gods were seated.

Mu Qing and Feng Xin both stood up, intending to go over when Ling Wen suddenly appeared in front of them with a number of scrolls. Completely blocking their way, she spoke, “I’ve been looking for you two. Neither of you have sent in your reports from your last mission, if you could get them to me by the end of the evening, I’ll be able to work out and assign you the merits you’ve accrued,” a hint of annoyance coating her tone. Evidently she had been trying to corner the two of them for a while now, often missing them by chance whenever they would take their free time to continue in their investigations.

Hidden from their sight, Xie Lian walked over towards a certain god.

“Wind Master?” the unfamiliar gentle tone of voice drew the excited young god out from the conversation he had been in the middle of. The banquet was always a fun experience to have, a little friendly competition had never hurt anyone and they got to eat some nice food while at it!

Turning around to face whoever had called out to him, the man paused upon realizing just who it was that had spoken to him. Shi Qingxuan was very popular among the Heavenly Realm, a friend to many, beloved by all. It wasn’t unusual for anyone to suddenly strike up a conversation with him at any given moment, but not once had he ever managed to successfully exchange more than a few cursory greetings with this person!

As friendly as ever, the wind god smiled and gave the approaching god a wave, “Your Highness! I never expected you to come look for me--not that that’s a bad thing! I’m glad you did! Did you need something in particular?” absentmindedly waving his fan. Although he was an amicable person and didn’t have any issues with Xie Lian, it was unrealistic to believe the other would suddenly one day decide to speak to him for no particular reason.

Everyone knew His Highness only spoke to Jun Wu.

With a somewhat sheepish look, the other replied, “Ah, well…” gaze flickering down towards the tiles of the floor that spanned across the ground of every major walkway and main building within the Heavens before looking back up, “...I was wondering if you would be willing to watch the Water Master’s upcoming tribulation with me? I was planning to go watch it myself to see how it goes, but I thought it might be better to go with you and listen to anything you might have to add to your brother’s performance,” a small smile on his face as he spoke.

Now that made sense, see? The two people within the Heavenly Realm who did the most work were Ling Wen and Xie Lian, it made sense that the Emperor would send his right-hand man down to observe a heavenly tribulation. This wouldn’t be the first time, and likely wouldn’t be the last, so Shi Qingxuan found it a reasonable enough explanation. Maybe he could even put in a good word for his brother to Jun Wu!

Besides, he had never been one to shy away from making friends.

“I’d be happy to go with you, Your Highness! Just let me know when,” he cheered, agreeing easily. Perhaps this was also his chance to finally get to know the elusive Prince. No one in the Heavens seemed to know him very well aside from Jun Wu and the two Southern martial gods who fought at every corner. It must be lonely always being swamped with work--Ling Wen looked miserable enough, supposedly Xie Lian had been in the position for even longer!

Xie Lian gave a nod and a bow in return, “I’ll be sure to let you know. Thank you, Wind Master,” the same smile never leaving his face as he quickly turned and retreated. His steps did not falter for even a moment.

Thinking it a bit odd, though ultimately chalking it up to the awkwardness of someone who had been without friends for centuries, Shi Qingxuan turned back to the conversation he had been in the middle of with a the same vigor he had before the flower-crowned martial god had drawn his attention away.

Watching the scene in front of him, Jun Wu couldn’t help but smile.