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Chapter Text

A white clad man held a black sword, pointing it up to high heavens. A dark cloud of resentful spirits twirled above his and the confused yong'an villagers' heads. The spirits swarmed around him, and the man absorbed them all.

And a man with a white smiling mask yelled desperately, struggled to move closer, to stop the man, but he was held back by the intensity of the spirits surrounding him. 

“Your highness please stop!!”  The man yelled, tears streaming down his face. 
Then the black cloud disappeared. The barrier holding the masked youth also disappeared. 
And the man who had just absorbed a battlefield worth of resentful souls, stood tall for a second, as if unaffected. Then he swayed and fell.
The youth ran towards him to catch him. The man was not breathing. 

nonononoNONNO.

“Your highness?” He called out with barely concealed panic and terror. But there was no answer from him. 

“Dianxia please no you…. you can’t….” He called desperately, checking for his pulse. 

Silence.

He felt numb. He couldn’t think understand anything. This was not… this should’ve never…. He failed. He failed again. He had promised himself that he would protect his highness till his last breath. He hugged his highness’s body close to him, pressing his ear against his chest. His body was growing cold quick. Like it had never been warm. He was…..he was hugging his highness’s dead body. This thought gutted him. He couldn’t breath. He couldn’t….his vision was going blurry. Maybe he was dying.  ‘Good’ he thought to himself. If died he could join his highness.

“Tch. I tried so hard to teach him but he still wouldn’t listen. After all those precious lessons too! He had so much potential. Shame now he has gone and gotten himself killed.”

This broke the soldier out of his panic. 

Rage filled every faucet of his being as he recalled who was responsible for it all. He roared. He charged.

Bái Wúxiàng laughed and effortlessly dodged his sloppy and emotionally charged attack. He turned and lunged at him again with his bare hands aimed at his throat. 

“Quite the loyal dog aren’t you? What a servant the prince had. But in the end you couldn’t even protect him.”

 Bái Wúxiàng had hit a nerve. 

The soldier was burning, seething with rage. Bái Wúxiàng was right. He couldn’t even take revenge on behalf of his highness. He was weak and outmatched. He needed a weapon.

There were many ways one could craft a spiritual weapon. Every method included a grave sacrifice. And what better thing to sacrifice, than the curse bestowed upon him which made misfortune always snap at his heels.

The soldier’s hands reached to his eye. His cursed, ugly, red eye.  Sharp fingernails dug into his eye and he yelled. Pain shot through his eye into his head. Bright light surrounded him and he squeezed his other eye shut. 

When the light subsided, the soldier was holding a new, sharp, silver scimitar. On the hilt lay an eye as red as the one he had just torn out, and it blinked like a new born child seeing the world for the first time. 

The soldier now charged at the ghost, this time armed with a deadly blade. The calamity’s eye crinkled in amusement, like an indulgent elder watching their child throw a tantrum.

However, before the soldier could put his new blade to good use, he was again surrounded by a bright light. This light stung his eyes and made him dizzy. He fell to his knees and covered his eyes.

When the sensation stopped, he tentatively opened his eyes. 
His surrounding had completely changed. From a small village near lang’er bay  to a seemingly rich but a little too bright city. Richly dressed individuals crowded around him, whispering. 
A well dressed man stood directly in front of him, accompanied by a woman with hair tied in a bun and a clipboard in her hand. 

“Congratulations on your ascention. Welcome to heaven. Can we get your name?”

Chapter Text

Hua cheng sat in a simple tea shop, reading a scroll put together by Ling wen.

He was sent to deal with a pesky situation in place of the heavenly emperor Jun wu, who was busy at the moment. Hua cheng absolutely hated every second of this, but he couldn’t very well reject the order of the heavenly emperor.

Light wind blew, ruffling Hua cheng’s dark hair. And two highly unwelcome generals took seat in front of him, as natural as if they had pre-planned this meet.

Hua cheng glared at them, his disgust and displeasure wholly apparent. “Leave.” Hua cheng growled.

Mu qing rolled his eyes. “The heavenly emperor sent us. It is his order. So as much as I would love to take your suggestion, we can’t.”

“I don’t care what orders u got. Leave.”  Hua cheng placed his hand on e-ming, the threat apparent.

“Heavenly official Hua cheng,” Ling wen voice was heard through the spiritual communication array, interrupting the quickly escalating situation.

Hua cheng pressed two fingers to his temple. “Ling wen why the fuck are the two idiot generals here? I thought I was dealing with the situation alone?”

“We have received intelligence that this mission might involve a quite powerful ghost. So Jun wu deployed them as well.”

“Bullshit. How powerful is the ghost that it would require three gods to suppress it?” Hua cheng gritted out.

“The heavenly emperor Jun wu thought it was better to be safe than sorry.” Which was another way of her saying not my problem. And with that she closed the array.

Hua cheng gritted his teeth. As much he didn’t want to be around the traitors, Jun wu’s orders were not to be taken lightly.

“So” Hua cheng said with forced, really really forced, civility, “you would’ve atleast read the scroll, right?” Both looked at each other and shook their heads.

Sigh.

This was going to be one long mission.

Outside in the cool summer breeze, a lone white flower danced.

In his 800 years of living, Hua cheng has had many brilliant (terrible) plans, but this…..this took the cake.

Here he was, sitting in a bridal sedan, dressed like a bride. They had seen a faux wedding procession trying to head up the mountain to capture the ghost groom. This of course sparked his brilliant mind of the same plan, except someone had to sit in the sedan to act as bait.

The idea of making Mu qing or Feng xin be the bride was tempting, but Hua cheng was not going to put in the herculean effort it would take to convince either of them.

So in the end, the only option left was himself. He didn’t think much of it then, he had no shame to lose by parading as a bride. People already gossiped about the god who challenged and destroyed thirty-three gods, so what’s another story?

But sitting here, in the sedan, his thoughts inevitable turned to marriage. And marriage, love, made him think of only one person. Hua cheng bled. With guilt, with desire, with bone deep sorrow that clung to him like dust.With the knowledge that, he would never experience this, marrying his beloved, having someone to come home to, to love, to worship, to protect.

And it was all his fault. He was worthless. His dianxia had helped him, been there for him so many times, and the one time he needed him, Hua cheng had failed.

“New bride, new bride, new bride in the red bridal sedan…..” a haunting yet childish voice broke hua cheng out of his self loathing spiral.

“Brimming tears, past the hill, smile not under the bridal veil….” Anything said after that was unrecognizable, as the voice itself dissolved into giggles.

“Did you hear that?” Hua cheng asked the generals. “Hear what?” Feng xin replied. “The…oh nevermind.” Hua cheng instinctively reached for his scimitar, belatedly realising it had been left behind. Bridal robes had no place for weapons afterall.

Hua cheng though about the verses sung by the mysterious voice. ‘Smile not under the bridal veil huh… Is this a warning?’ He thought.

“You know,” Hua cheng said cautiously, “I haven’t stopped smiling since I sat in this sedan.”

Both threw confused looks at the sedan. Mu qing opened his mouth to say something when suddenly a harsh wind blew, blowing out all their torches. Wolves howled in the distance. All the guards guarding the sedan drew their swords in alarm.

Hua cheng straightened up. “Mu qing are there supposed to be wolves in this area?”

“No.” Mu qing drew his own weapon as well.

And the wolves charged. The sedan jostled violently, being hastily put down.

“I hope you two can atleast handle this by yourselves.” Hua cheng said drily. He peeked out the sedan to take stock on the situation. It was useless. He couldn’t see much anyway, because of the damn veil.

Suddenly an unearthly roar was heard.

“Fuck.” Feng xin cursed.  Before Hua cheng could ask what the fuck was going on outside, Mu qing readily provided an answer. “It’s binu.”

Hua cheng muttered, “Of-fucking-course.”

Binu were low level evil. Walking corpses that died easily and possessed no threat to anyone even slightly stronger or faster than the common person, let alone fully fledged gods. The problem arose with their numbers. Binu rarely came alone. There were always hundreds, if not thousands of them together. Any person regardless of their strength can be overwhelmed by them. And a horde of binu was always followed by a stronger, more malicious being. Which in this case may very well be the ghost groom.

“Feng xin, Mu qing, leave with the others. I’ll handle it.” Hua cheng stated. Feng xin cut down a trio of binu as he yelled, “Are you fucking crazy or what?”

Hua cheng almost rolled his eyes. “We wanted to draw out the ghost groom, and we’ve achieved that. Now leave.”

Both generals looked at each other and nodded. Then both turned around and fled, leaving the bridal sedan vulnerable and alone.

Hua cheng reached into his sleeve to retrieve a few talismans, and deal with the remaining binu. However, before he could, the inhumane voice of them stopped and steady thumps of bodies falling over was heard.

With his limited vision, Hua cheng could see a white, shining snake like creature quickly moving and breaking their necks. Seeing this, Hua cheng relaxed in his sedan, and waited for the groom. He did wonder as to what the creature was and why it was helping him but that can be investigated later. The important task now was to get to the ghost bridegroom. He did not have to wait long. A hand was extended to him gracefully through the curtains.

He took a minute to examine the hand extended to him. The hand seemed gentle, but was covered in callous. ‘Definitely a practised swordsman then.’ Hua cheng noted. On his wrist rested a thin and delicate golden bracelet, with little flowers on it. The flowers looked familiar, but he did not dwell on it. Instead he took the person’s hand.

The person helped him out of the carriage. Hua cheng could not see very well because of the veil but he quickly realised the person next to him was not the ghost he was looking for afterall.

His aura felt quite different and he did not give off even an ounce of killing intent. He simply took his hand and guided him down a path.

All Hua cheng could make out of his appearance was that he was quite shorted than Hua cheng, his robes white with red flowers on it, and that he was wearing a mask covering his upper face.

The person(?) guided him with such gentleness and care that he really felt like he was a bride being lead home by her groom, sending another pang through his heart.

The leaves beneath them crunched softly, disturbing the otherwise peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.  Small white flower grew wherever the person stepped, withering as soon as he stepped away. 

Hua cheng could hear a sort of pittering noise that signified rain. Before it could reach him however, an umbrella was open over his head, protecting him, making sure not even a drop was spilt on his elaborate robes. The rain went as soon as it came, and the umbrella was put away just as swiftly. They walked in silence, nether of them speaking a word. Hua cheng would like to say he was talking this time to analyse this stranger, but the truth was he was simply entranced by him and this atmosphere.  He followed his role of a docile shy bride a little too happily.

Soon they came upto an array, probably set up the real ghost groom.  The person didn’t seem to react to it at all, and Hua cheng followed his lead, curious as to what he would do. When they were within a few footsteps distance away from the array, the earlier white, snakelike creature darted out from God knows where and smashed it up.

Hua cheng was amazed at the casual display of power. The destruction of this array revealed the existence of an old and abandoned temple, probably belonging to general  Ming Guang, the principle deity of the region.

They walked hand in hand upto a clearing in the forest, where the person let go of his hand. Hua cheng tapered down his disappointment over the loss of his touch, confused on why a stranger would make him feel that. He turned to the stranger hoping to get some answers.

But before he could, he smiled at him, and Hua cheng stopped breathing at the beauty and strange familiarity of the smile. Then he exploded into a burst of white petals, disappearing in thin air.

Hua cheng was left with nothing but a face full of petals and a burning curiosity about the man.

It was the dead of night. Silence has spread across the land, in mourning for the bloodshed that had taken place nearby. Only the sounds of dogs and wolves was heard as they munched on the countless bodies littering the remains of xianle.

Xie lian sat by the banks of a river. He, Mu qing and Feng xin had just returned from the heavens after being banished.

Immediately after returning he had taken his parents and fled, knowing that yong’an would soon come after them. The king and queen, unused to walking long distances, had tired quickly. So here they were taking a quick break. Mu qing was scouting around for any food, Feng xin was guarding his parents and he…. Well. He was supposed to be refilling their water bottles.

But here he sat looking at the heavens. Wondering. How could he have gone so wrong. All he wanted was to help people. He wondered, not for the first time, if he had just made things worse. Xie lian could not bear seeing his parents, once the king and queen of a mighty nation, reduced to criminals hunted by the entire kingdom. Xianle, his kingdom, his home, reduced to a pile of rocks and bodies. And him. Once a beloved prince, the flower crowned martial god, the crown prince who pleased the gods, and now the ever spited god of misfortune.

He spotted someone out the corner of his eye.  He quickly drew his sword. Xie lian had grown jumpy after his encounters with white no-face. He quietly moved to where he had seen the motion.

“Your highness?” a surprised and confused voice came from that direction.

Xie lian made his way through the bushes and saw that the person was a soldier, a boy barely 19. He was wearing the standard xianle armour and one of his eyes was covered with bandages. He was also quite injured. A pang of guilt went through him.

“Your highness-“ he attempted to stand. “Don’t-” xie lian said in alarm. He sat down beside him “Don’t move. You’ll aggravate your injuries.”

The soldier on hearing his command settled. He looked to him with a mix of happiness, wonder and sorrow.

Xie lian took a minute to think about what is to be done now. He already doesn’t have enough supplies. His family is on the run. There is no way he can care for the soldier. But Xie lian couldn’t bare to leave him behind either. He had already failed the soldier once. He couldn’t fail again.

He had made a decision. He scooped the soldier into his arms. The soldier startled. “Your highness wha-?”

“Shh. I’m going to take you back to where I’m staying. There I can help with your injuries as best as I can, alright? Then you are free to go wherever you please. Now stay still.” The soldier stayed silent, his face flaming red. Thankfully it was a little too dark for Xie lian to notice. After a few minutes, Xie lian remembered, “Oh by the way, what shall I call you?”

The soldier hesitated for a minute. Then in a low voice he replied, “This lowly one does not have a name, but I was the third in my family. So...I would be honored if you could call me san lang.”

Xie lian smiled. “San lang it is then!”

Chapter Text

Hua cheng, other than being the elemental master of fire, was also called the god of luck. He did not feel very lucky right now.

He and the two generals had just managed to clear up the entire ‘ghost groom who was actually a bride’ mess.

 Hua cheng despised getting involved in heaven's problems. The main cause of the entire shit show, fucking Pei Ming hadn’t even fucking showed up to deal with his mess.

Hua cheng could not wait to leave. He pulled out a singular petal from his sleeve. These were the same petals that the unknown person had burst into. This petal was his only lead into finding out more about that person. With the petals and the impressive strength, Hua cheng had mostly figured out who that was.

The ghost king, Moonlit flowers wither. No one knew who he was, or what his name was, but he inspired fear in every official’s hearts. Mainly because no one knew what his deal was. He was powerful, almost as powerful as Jun wu, yet he was contend to stay in ghost city.  Among ghostly denizens, he was also called the Guide. Any lost ghosts could go to him and ask for help. Every lost soul always had a place at ghost city. Even some desperate humans sought him out. Which is why he was worshipped by the dead as well as the living.

Hua cheng hadn’t originally cared about this ghost king. He and the ghost king had no connection to each other, and he couldn’t care less about heaven’s problems.

But now he had sought him himself. The Guide had shown himself for the first time in decades.

Hua cheng decided to take this as a sign.  Jun wu had mostly been useless  in his investigation of Bai wuxiang, and he was not getting anywhere in his own investigation.  Maybe the Guide had some guidance for him, even if he wasn’t a ghost.

Hua cheng was going to look for him.

(Also… That person had felt strangely familiar to him, but he suppressed that curiosity. His only purpose here, for existence was to make sure his highness’s tormentor suffers the worst pain possible and to take revenge on behalf of him. There was no need to entertain such pointless thoughts.)

“There’s that done with,” Feng xin stretched. “We need to get back to heaven and report this.”

“Okay then you two have fun.” Hua cheng turned and started to walk away. “You’re not coming?” Mu qing asked.

Hua cheng snorted. “I have better things to do than to talk a bunch of useless gods.” And so he walked away. Hua cheng hated the heavens, only visited when absolutely important. Staying there always made him feel piercing guilt. He did not deserve this. He did not deserve the ascension, the opulent palaces, the thousands of believers. Only one person truly deserved all of this.

So he stayed away. He wandered the lands, staying in his temples and fulfilling random prayers. Hua cheng could not give a fuck about anyone, but Xie lian loved helping people. He was the only god who truly wanted to help people. And so, to honour his wishes, Hua cheng helped the common people.

He walked aimlessly for a while, still in bridal robes which were torn and filthy. He noticed a cart coming. Quickly he shifted his forms to that of a young boy of a well off family, his preferred disguise.

He talked with the cart driver for a few minutes who agreed to drop him off at the nearest village. 

Hua cheng groaned with relief as he sat down. He stretched to remove the kinks in the body.

Suddenly a voice very near to him asked, “Long day?”

Hua cheng turned to look at the person. It was a young man, barely 20-25 years old. He was clad in white cultivator robes. His face was kind, if a little unassuming. He had a dazzling smile on his face. His long brown hair was tied in a simple braid.

“Daozhang. Apologies I didn’t see you there.” Hua cheng greeted politely. The youth laughed lightly, his face alit. “No need to be so formal , young master. I was simply wondering what might you be doing so far away from anything alone.”

“Oh I uhh ran away.” Hua cheng made up a lie on the spot. “Oh?” He asked amused. Hua cheng decided that this man looked too happy to be talking to him. Most people didn’t really enjoy his company all that much.

“Why, may I ask?” He questioned.

Fuck. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. He wracked his head for a good excuse.

“Ohh daozhang its all because of my parents. They were forcibly arranging my marriage with a girl I did not want to marry. So I ran away.” Hua cheng said with all the emotions of a wronged 19 year old, filled with passion.

The cultivator looked away for a bit.

(Author’s note:- Xie lian turned cuz he is def struggling to keep his laughter in check after that excuse)

Hua cheng though a detected a bit a laughter in his expression but when he turned back the man’s face was the perfect picture of empathy. “That is quite the sad tale. Do you have a beloved who you wanted to marry instead?”

Hua cheng stilled. This wound was rubbed raw after yesterday’s events and was now bring prodded again. He didn’t answer.

The man’s cheer vanished and was replaced with something Hua cheng couldn’t quite place but felt vaguely like guilt.

For some reason, Hua cheng did not like that. He wanted to make the man happy, wanted him to laugh. So he pushed aside his feelings and attempted to rekindle the conversation.  “Daozhang we’ve chatted for a while but I’ve failed to introduce myself. This one is called Hua..” Hua cheng in his eagerness to move the conversation forward had forgotten that he should probably not use his own name. “…xie.”

What. The. Fuck.

‘What the fuck is wrong with me.’ Hua cheng agonized. Before he could take back his words the daozhang answered. “Hua xie.. that’s…that’s a nice name.”  He looked a little red in his face for some reason.

Then shaking his face slightly as if shaking off a stupor, he continued, “ My name is Bai hua.”

Hmm Bai Hua.. it suited him but did not quite roll of the tongue….

“Gege?.. I mean can I call you gege?” Hua cheng asked. Then added a bit flirtily, “You did say to not be so formal.”

The tips of Bai hua’s ears turned red. “Uhh…umm sure sure. That’s.. fine.”

“Gege can call me something informal too.”  Hua cheng said cheekily.

Bai hua hesitated.  “………Hua-di?” he asked uncertainty.

Hua cheng smiled.

“So gege are you going to puqi village too?” 

“En. I’ve been staying there in a shrine to the heavenly official Hua cheng.  It’s a little dilapidated but I’ve been helping with the renovations.” Bai hua said.

Hua cheng kind of wanted to know what Bai hua thought of him. “Hua cheng? Gege, remind me who he is?”

His eyes lit up. “Hua cheng, the elemental master of fire, and the god of luck. He is a shapeshifter so no one knows how he looks like. He is mostly depicted as having a black eyepatch and red clothes. His spiritual weapon is a scimitar called e-ming. He is always called the heavenly official Hua cheng, as he was a commoner in life and never had a title. He is also called the god who depises the heavens.” Bai hua spoke with a teaching air.

Hua cheng wanted more than the surface level info. So he asked “God who despises the heavens? That’s an interesting title. How did he get it?”

“They say that not long after he ascended, he tried jumping down from the heavens.  He was later persuaded to not give up his ascension, but he still refused to stay in heaven. He is said to wander the earth, travelling and answering prayers.”

Hua cheng mock-gasped. “He seems quite audacious gege.”

Bai hua laughed. “Well some people might certainly say so.”

Hua cheng quirked his eyebrows. “Some people? Does gege have opposing opinions?”

“Well…People may call it audacious but I admire it. To refuse something that is defined the highest milestone for any human, to have such strong beliefs and will that cannot be shaken even in the face of heaven is the most admirable characterstic of them all.” Bai hua answered looking up into the sky.

Hua cheng’s heartbeat skipped a beat. Bai hua’s sincere adoration made something warm grow in his chest. He knew he didn’t deserve it, but it made him want to live upto the praise rather than deny it.

Hua cheng suddenly thought of something.  “Gege knows a lot about gods. Do you know anything about ghosts?”

Bai hua laughed. “Ghosts? Hua-di why do you want to know about ghosts?”

“Just curious.” Hua cheng needed to have a better idea of who he was dealing with. He didn’t want to ask any of the heavenly riff-raff, and Bai hua seemed to be quite knowledgeable.  Who knows he might get lucky and get reliable info.

“Well what ghost do you want to know about?”

“The calamity, Moonlit flowers wither.”

Bai hua’s eyes twinkled in mirth. “Moonlit flowers wither. He is a confusing one. No one knows his name, or who he is, or why he is here. He is a ghost of immense power, comparable to that of Jun wu, but he hasn’t done anything malicious as of yet. He’s worshipped by many. He is also said to be quite helpful, helping resentful souls fulfil their last wishes. He is said to appear in the guise of a lone daoist priest, helping anyone who needs it.”

“Lone daoist priest? So like you?” Hua cheng asked teasingly.

He laughed. The slant rays of sun lit up Bai hua’s hair like a halo. Hua cheng thought he looked like an angel.

“So gege, do you know how he got his title?” Hua cheng asked.

“There is this very old legend about him. Back when he was alive, he had a lover. This lover always used to present him with a kind of white flower. These flowers only bloomed at night. His lover went and collected them every night. But then tragedy struck. His lover was killed one night, and never returned. He waited and waited. After a few hours, he went to look for him. And there he found his lover’s dead body, holding the now withered flowers. In his grief, he killed himself, clutching the flowers. And now, everywhere he goes, small white flowers show up, but wither as soon as he steps away.” Bai hua said.  “But it is just a story. I wouldn’t take that as the truth.  In my opinion, they just noticed the withered white flowers following the calamity and made up this story.” He huffed and leaned back.

“There is some amount of truth in every story.” Hua cheng pointed out. Bai hua’s eyes softened slightly as he looked at him “Hmm that’s true. I suppose there must be grains of truth hidden in here somewhere.”

They rode in silence for a bit. Then Hua cheng asked suddenly, “The way you talk about the god Hua cheng, are you his believer, gege?”

 Bai hua looked at him, a soft look in his eyes “I am his most devoted believer.”

Before he could react to the statement, the cart came to a crashing halt. Hua cheng almost tumbled out of the cart but Bai hua caught him before he could fall off.

Hua cheng, red-faced and still thinking about their former conversation flinched. Bai hua quickly withdrew his hand. He immediately missed the touch.

“Are you alright Hua-di?” He asked in a concerned tone.

Hua cheng nodded. Blood was pounding in his ears and he found himself unable to utter any words. Those…words. Hua cheng was dropped into a almost 800 year old memory.

“Why?! Why do you still stay by my side? Have I not given you enough grief? Have I not given everyone enough grief? I’m not a god. I’m not a prince. I’m not a good son, or friend.”  Xie lian sobbed.

San lang’s heart broke, seeing his highness, his beloved in this state. He wanted to wring Feng xin and Mu qing’s neck. He wanted to shake some sense into the former king and queen. How did they not understand the pain they would cause their son by doing something like this?

Even though he felt undeserving of his dianxia’s touch, he wrapped him in a tight hug.  Xie lian buried his face in his neck. “Dianxia. I have never believed in you, stayed with you, for the mere reason that you are a god or a prince. For me the one basking in infinite glory is you, the one fallen from grace is you. What matters is you and not the state of you. Your highness, come what may, I will never leave you. I am, forever, your most devoted believer.”

“What’s wrong? Why have we stopped?” Bai hua’s voice pulled him out of the memory. He shook his head slightly to get rid of the memory and focus.

The bulls driving the cart refused to move, ignoring the driver’s commands. They seemed to be scared stiff.

Something clicked in Hua cheng’s mind. “Gege, remind me what today is?”

He saw Bai hua’s eyes widen in understanding. He slapped his hand over his face and muttered "It's zhongyuan."

Chapter Text

Of all days it had to be zhonyang today.

He noticed a couple of lanterns floating down towards them from the end of the road. When they got closer Hua cheng realized that they were a couple of headless ghosts. They were wearing prisoner’s uniforms, probably executed.

Discreetly, he summoned a few of his butterflies and created a barricade between them and the ghosts. He moved closer to Bai hua and said,” Gege we should stay very silent. Maybe they won’t notice us if we do.” Bai hua nodded, seeming really relaxed for a mortal surrounded by ghosts. The same could not be said for the cart driver, who was shaking violently and looked one small noise away from shrieking and running away. Before Hua cheng could do anything, Bai hua took the iniative. “My apologies.” and with that he sent him to sleep.

Both stayed still as the lead ghost bumped into the barrier. “Huh? What’s this? A barrier? Why can’t I pass through?” He exclaimed, poking the barrier.  

“ Are you delusional? Why would there be a barrier here? Shift let me see.” Another ghost pushed its way ahead. And prompted bounced away as he collided with the barrier.

“Waaaah there’s really something here. Let’s go around.” The ghost sat up and picked up his head that had rolled away.

The ghosts shuffled away in unanimous agreement. They left the same direction they had came, lights fading as they walked off. Hua cheng let out a breath. Dealing with these ghosts would not have been a pain but he didn’t want to give away his identity so soon. For the first time in a while, he was genuinely enjoying the company of someone.

Hua cheng took over the reins and started driving away. He let the barrier fade away. Bai hua soon joined him there, commenting, “Hua-di is quite talented. That barrier was really good.”

Hua cheng turned away, unused to praise. “It’s nothing much, gege. Just some paltry tricks my teacher taught me to ward off ghosts. I’m sure you’re capable of much more awe aspiring tricks.”

Bai hua laughs. “ You flatter me, Hua-di. I’m nothing special.”

That, was the biggest lie Hua cheng had heard today.

Before he could voice that however, a shrill voice yelled , “There!! I told you there were some stupid cultivators messing with us. Let’s go teach them a lesson, brothers!" That was a ghost from the group that they had come across earlier. “There are sisters here too asshole!” came a yell but it was completely ignored.

All of them moved to obstruct the way of the cart. Hua cheng glared at them annoyed at their persistence.

 “You! How dare you fools obstruct OUR path? Huh? You looking for trouble?? That too during zhonyang!! You looking to disperse us huh??” The ghost at the forefront spoke, obviously riled up. Energized by that ghost, the one behind it also spoke, “Hah! You punkass cultivators think every place is your playground.”

Hus cheng sighed. He was not good at peace making, or negotiating. But he had to try. He stood up, making a placating motion with his hand. “Listen.  We are not looking to disperse you, nor do we want trouble. All we want is to pass through this road. You go your way, we’ll go ours. Alright?”

“Hah, as if we’ll believe that.” Hua cheng’s glare intensified, internally debating summoning e-ming and just getting the job over with.

“You’re just terrified of our might. You probably came in here, all smug about catching ghosts and here you are. You saw my might and realised you can’t beat me. I’ll crush your bones, I’ll….” Suddenly he stopped speaking, seemingly terrified. He and the other ghosts had their sight fixed on something just over Hua cheng’s shoulder. He turned to see what had gotten them so scared. The only thing he saw was Bai hua sitting nonchalantly, playing with the end of his braid.

“We…we’ll just leave. S….s…sorry..” And with that the ghost group ran off.

That was….interesting. 

 “Why did they suddenly run off like that.” he asked perplexed. He sat down and took the reins of the cart again. Bai hua shrugged. “Maybe they found Hua-di intimidating.  Or maybe they thought you looked familiar to some person they fear?”

Hua cheng hummed. That could be plausible. Maybe they somehow made the connections and thought he looked familiar to the descriptions of the fire master. ‘Or…’ he glanced at Bai hua ‘Maybe they saw someone else familiar.’ Before he could act on his hunch however Bai hua broke the silence.

“So uhh Hua-di, you said you ran away from your house right? Where are you going to stay tonight?”

In all this excitement Hua cheng had quite forgotten about his lodging situation. Gods didn’t really need to sleep, but having a warm place to rest during the night always helped.

“Well…if gege doesn’t mind, might this one stay with him at shrine for a while? I’ll help with the chores and any other tasks that need be done.” Hua cheng asked.

 Hua cheng could say that all this was to simply explore the newfound hunch about the latter’s identity, but that was only half the reason. The other half was simply because Hua cheng enjoyed his company immensely, for reasons unknown, and did not want to leave his side.

He laughed. “Of course you can stay. No chores necessary.”

“Gege is most gracious.” He said teasingly. Bai hua gave an endearing eye roll. “…….Gege, want me to do a palm reading?”

Bai hua gave a startled laugh. “Now? Why the sudden whim?”

“Ohh just thought, since I’m going to live with gege, might as well start earning my keep. So? How about it, gege? I promise I know what I’m doing.”

In truth, Hua cheng did not know what he was doing. He only wanted to examine the man’s hands more closely. Or rather his palm lines.

A normal human being would have a normal amount of lines on their hands. But if it were someone in a human disguise, they would obviously not spend a lot of time crafting intricate palm lines. Nor would most ghosts have enough power to create such an elaborate disguise.

Bai hua laughed. “Hua-di…” he shook his head in mirth while extending one of his hands.

 Hua cheng beamed and carefully took his hand. The feeling of Bai hua’s  warm hand in his made his heart to do weird flips in his chest. His entire arm tingled, making him think back on when he touched him earlier. Bai hua’s words ‘I am his most devoted believer.’ rang in his ear but he refused to dwell on it. He’d rather not open the can of worms of emotions he had on that statement.

“So? How’s my fortune looking?” Bai hua asked teasingly. He shook himself out of his thoughts.  “Patience, gege.” He smiled.

‘Hmm.. The lines look…normal. Maybe I’m being a bit too paranoid.’ Hua cheng thought.

“Gege has really good fortune! You will find success in whatever you shall set out to accomplish.” Hua cheng said.

“Is that so? That’s good to hear.” Bai hua said with a twinkle in his eyes. The man always looked like he knew more than what was apparent. Surprisingly Hua cheng didn’t immediately resent him for that.

“What about….”he coughed, a slight red coating his cheeks. “….romantic prospects?” he asked. He shifted slightly closer, a movement gone wholly unnoticed by Hua cheng. He looked directly in Hua cheng’s eyes, a smile playing on his lips. Hua cheng could not move, frozen by the depth in those blue eyes. And for a second, he swore he saw a different pair of eyes, brown and warm and filled with affection, looking right at him.

Hua cheng blinked. The eyes were back to blue. Hua cheng turned quickly to avoid staring, though he was probably too late for that anyway.

“Gege need not even ask that question  Even without looking at your palm lines I’m sure you have to fight off suitors.” Hua cheng looked straight ahead this time, hoping the darkness hid his red face.

“Oh so Hua-di thinks I’m handsome?” He grinned.

Hus cheng turned redder. He whined,”Gegeeee…”

Bai hua laughed heartily.  “Alright, alright I’ll stop.” He tried to stifle his laughs.

Hua cheng really did not know why he was reacting like this. There was just something about Bai hua that made him instinctively trust him and be open with. Had he bewitched him? If Feng xin and Mu qing saw him in this state they wouldn’t even believe that this was the same Hua cheng.

Puqi came around faster than any of them expected. Hua cheng was unloading the little luggage he and Bai hua had with them while Bai hua woke the cart driver.

Puqi shrine was….a mess to put it politely. It was quite dilapidated, the roof had holes in several places and there was no proper door. There was no statue of the god, only a empty offering table.

“Gege doesn’t mind sharing the sleeping mat right? There is only one sleeping mat so…” he questioned.

“If….if Hua-di doesn’t mind then I have no issues.” If he looked a little red in the face while saying that then  Hua cheng didn’t comment on it.

They both settled onto the mat. Hua cheng fashioned his outer robe into a makeshift pillow and laid on it.

Bai hua calmly unfastened his outer robe, stripping down to his inner robe. He drapped his outer robe over Hua cheng. “It can get quite cold in the night here.” He said as a way of explanation, red face turned away.

Hua cheng’s heart warmed at the genuine and tender care. When was the last time someone cared about him like this?

“Thank you.” He said in a quiet voice. He wasn’t sure whether a reply was given to him or not, as he fell asleep immediately, exhaustion hitting him like a bag of rocks.

He drifted off , unaware of the world. Xie lian smiled as he looked at him, moonbeam dancing over his skin, face set in a peaceful expression, covered with his own robe.

He caressed Hua cheng’s hair with a barely there touch, unbelievable tender.

“I’m finally home now, San lang. I’m sorry for making you wait.”

Chapter Text

Hua cheng awoke from possibly the best sleep he’s had in a while. The sun had risen, casting a pleasant light in the broken down shrine. As Hua cheng came to awareness, he noticed he was still clutching Bai Hua’s robe tightly, never once letting it go through the night. His face reddened, and he peeked his eyes open.

Bai Hua was not lying beside him, already up and awake. He stretched and walked out, and saw Bai Hua chopping some wood.

Bai Hua’s appearance was deceptive, he was much stronger than he looked. He chopped the wood with ease, showing minimal strain.  His head was covered with the bamboo hat he had been carrying earlier. He was wearing only his inner robes, yet little rivulets of sweat made their way from his temple to his neck. His eyes were sharp, focused on the task at hand.  Hua cheng swallowed heavily at the sight.

Bai Hua finally noticed his presence. “Ah Hua-di you’re awake!” He smiled cheerily.

 “Gege is very hard at work this early in the morning. What are you up to?”

“Oh you know the door needs replacing, we can’t have a curtain as a door. So I’m making one.”

“Oh? How can this one help gege?” Hua cheng asked. “Oh don’t worry about it Hua-di. I’m quite set.” Bai hua said.  “There must be something gege. After all this grateful one does have to pay off his debt.” Hua cheng said teasingly.

Bai hua shook his head amusedly. “There is no debt to repay hua-di. Your company is enough repayment.” a glint of amusement entered his eyes. “In fact, I should be in your debt. After all Hua-di was the one who protected me yesterday.”

If Hua cheng's suspicions were correct, his gege didn’t really need his help at all. But Hua cheng was not gonna call him out right now. There was tiny niggling fear of ruining whatever they had right now by asking the wrong questions. Hua cheng would rather continue to play-act like he was just a runaway master meeting a friendly cultivator.

“Oh! Hua-di must be hungry right? How about I make some breakfast for us, as a token of gratitude?”  Bai hua continued, a playfulness smile on his lips.

Hua cheng smiles. He was starting to feel a little hungry. “That sounds divine, gege. I’ll help you get the ingredients ready.”

“Thank you Sa..….Hua-di.” Bai Hua cleared his throat awkwardly. Without uttering another word, he walked into the shrine.

Hua cheng wondered whose name had Bai Hua almost called out before correcting himself. He was curious, but it didn’t seem like Bai Hua was interested in divulging details. So he let it be.

Before they could even start preparing for the ingredient however a racket burst through the front gate.

A large groups of villagers burst in lead by the cart driver from the previous day. All of them carrying different offerings.

“These daozhang are really powerful. They saved my life from highly dangerous ghost yesterday. Just imagine how powerful the god they follow is!! I owe my life to them and their god.” The cart driver said animatedly.

Hua cheng could feel a light headache coming on. He distinctively remembers telling the cart driver to not say anything about yesterday’s happenings. And also wasn’t he unconscious for the majority of the ride?

“Daozhang!” He exclaimed on seeing Bai Hua and Hua Cheng. “Daozhang we have come to pay our respects to your god and ask for his blessings and protection.”

Hua cheng was annoyed at the villagers for interrupting them. He had half a mind to tell them to scram but before he could Bai hua appeared by his side, sprouting a small and stately smile. “Of course please come in.” 

And come in they did. The small, dilapidated shrine now filled to brim with believers. The room was filled with the aroma of incense sticks, and one by one everyone knotowed and prayed to the god. Bai hua stood off in a corner quietly observing them and instructing wherever necessary.

The sudden influx of prayers caught Hua cheng off guard. Hua cheng had centuries to adjust to the feeling of being prayed to. He still hadn’t. Every time someone prayed, it felt wrong. It grated on his nerves, the sheer wrongness of this. He should not be the one prayed to. He couldn’t protect his beloved, his reason for existence, so how could he help them?  He fucked up so bad that not only was he dead, but his soul was destroyed. He still saw that wretched black sword every time he closed his eyes. And the white masked monster who led him to the path. If not for the fact that Bai wuxiang was still at large, Hua cheng would’ve simply destroyed his own soul as well. Why was it worth living, when the one you’re living for is dead? But no. Bai wuxiang deserved the worst possible fate in the world. He was going to make him suffer, make him regret. Then, would he follow his highness's fate.

A gentle touch on his left cheek startled him out of the spiral. Bai hua stood close to him, his piercing silver eyes looking into his. There was no one else in the shrine anymore.

“Are you alright?” he asked. His voice was so soft, so caring, so full of genuine concern for him. His eyes looked intently at him, compassionate and sweet. He looked at him, as if ready to take on any burden of his.

His demeanour, his expression, his kindness, was so so familiar. Hua cheng saw double, the image of the cultivator overlapping with the image of the prince.

He opened his mouth, and Hua cheng almost expected the address of ‘San lang’ to leave his mouth. “Hua-di,” He spoke and the image shattered. There was no Xie lian, and only Bai hua stood in front of him, face etched in concern.

Hua cheng took a few steps back and mustered up a feeble smile. “I’m fine, gege.”

He could tell Bai hua didn’t seem believe him so he said it again, “Truly, gege. This one was just lost in his thoughts for a bit.”

Bai hua still didn’t believe him but conceded. “Alright.”

Hua cheng looked around. All the worshippers had left, but the shrine didn’t seem any less emptier. Offerings had piled up, fresh fruits and vegetables offer flowed from the small offerings tables. Essence clogged the air inside the shrine, making it almost difficult to breath.

And on the small tea table in the centre of the room stood a plate filled with meat buns, still warm and tempting.

“The wife of the cart driver gave it to us, as a sign of gratitude for protecting us. I tried to refuse, but she was very persistent.” Bai hua scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, and Hua cheng couldn’t help but think about how adorable he looked.

“I guess we don’t need to make breakfast then….what a shame. I was looking forward to gege’s cooking.”

Bai hua’s face reddened slightly. “I’m…. not as good in cooking as you may be expecting. I’m afraid you may be disappointed.”

Hua cheng smiled. “Gege could never disappoint me.”

Bai hua blushed harder, and mumbled “insincere” at him.

Hua cheng grinned and replied, “This Hua-di always sincere with you, gege!” Bai hua opted to stuff a baozi in his mouth instead of saying anything else. 

They had their breakfast in peace after that, talking about anything and everything. They ran a few errands around the shrine, fixing holes and making it more liveable. It was so….domestic. Hua cheng was surprised to realize he liked it.

Of course Hua cheng’s suspicions over the cultivator’s actual identity had not yet abated. Bai hua was no god, neither did he seem to be a mortal. It left only one option.

“Gege, do you need help brushing your hair?”  Crafting human disguise as a ghost is difficult. Especially the hair. It requires a lot of energy and meticulous effort to achieve it, and even then it may not be perfect. Some ghost’s “hair” might just be a black clump with no separate strands. Some may opt to go bald altogether.

Bai hua took a look at his braid with twigs and leaves and gave a slightly embarrassed sigh.

“That would be great, Hua-di.”

Hua cheng set about taking the hair out of the braid and combing it properly. He carefully observed his hair. They quite long, reaching below his waist and so so soft. Nothing about his hair gave any indication that that he was anything other than human. If Bai hua was indeed a ghost, he was no ordinary one. He tied his hair up in a half up, half down style. Hua cheng now knew exactly who he was.

 “Daozhang daozhang!”…..and the villagers were back to ruin their peace. Hua cheng shot an annoyed look at the newly made door. Bai hua stepped out. Hua cheng followed. “What happened?”

“Daozhang! This man is injured. Please help him!”  The villagers were carrying an unconscious man. Suddenly the man woke up, startling everyone including Hua cheng.

“Banyue!” the man gasped out, grabbing the front of Bai hua’s robes. “There’s something bad happening there. Please help me!”

Hua cheng and Bai hua exchanged a look. “Let’s talk inside.”

Long fallen kingdom. A curse to kill half of all people passing through. An exceptionally well made clone which just happened to stumble upon the very shrine the fire master happened to be inhabiting.

Hua cheng had to say, banyue pass was starting to look really shady from where he was standing. 

Hua cheng discreetly entered the spiritual communication array. Normally Hua cheng would not even consider asking any other gods for help but something felt off about this.

There was quite a bit of uproar in the array today, even more so than usual. Hua cheng could not be bothered to care what about.

“Does anyone know what’s going on at banyue pass?”

Silence.

No one spoke a word.

Then someone yelled , “The windmaster dropped more credits!”

Immediately the ruckus restarted, Hua cheng’s question ignored as if it were never spoken.

Well that’s what he gets for expecting anything out of these useless gods. Immediately after disconnecting from the array Ling wen calls for him in his private array.

“Heavenly official Hua cheng. I heard you ask about banyue pass.”

“ Yes. Do you know anything?”

“Yes. But I would suggest you stay away from it. What happened at banyue is none of your business.”

Hua cheng smirked. Oh yes definitely interesting. He disconnected the array and turned to Bai hua.

“Gege I have to leave for a few days. I..”

“…to the banyue pass, correct? I’ll come with you.”

Hua cheng shook his head. “Gege doesn’t have to.”

Bai hua smiled. “But I want to. Beside  travelling with a companion is much more enjoyable.”

Hua cheng smiled warmly. “Then many thanks to gege for accompany this one.”

Suddenly a loud knocking sounded on the door. Hua cheng was starting to get really irritated by the villagers.

Turns out, it was not the villagers. It was worse.

So so much worse.

Hope, San lang had learnt, was a dangerous thing. It was merciless and deadly, bringing you up just to throw you down when you least expect it. It had been three days since his ascension, three days since lang’er bay, and three days he had lain unconscious in a corner of heaven, recovering. As soon as he had woken up, he ran to the decension gates. He was stopped but did not go down easily. 3 martial gods lay in the infirmary.  And 3 more trailed him, as he was led to the palace of heavenly might, the heavenly emperor Jun wu’s palace.

A middle court official named Ling wen had taken the lead and was guiding them to the palace.  She told him that she could not tell him what had happened after his ascension. But she did mention that the heavenly emperor himself had descended to take care of the situation.

Hope was ignited at this. It was not as if San lang really trusted the heavenly emperor, but he was the strongest person out there and was quite fond of Xie lian. So if he descended then maybe dianxia was …..okay.

Hua cheng went inside alone, the middle court official and the other gods staying out. Barely a few minutes in, his face etched with despair, disbelief and anger. He ran straight out and jumped. No one had a chance to react.

Jun wu calmly walked out. “Did he jump down?” Ling wen nodded.

Jun wu sighed.  “Foolish child.” And then he too descended.

Hua cheng’s head was ringing. This couldn’t be happening.  Jun wu’s words echoed through his head.

“Resentment is a powerful force. For xianle to have absorbed it all, while exiled, was quite the feat indeed. But it came at a huge cost to him. He protected you, he protected the village, but the resentment was too strong. It not only killed him, but also tore his soul apart. His soul was dissipated. He is…in every way possible, dead.”

He crashed into the earth, unable to stick the landing. He sat there on his knees in dirt, hyperventilating. He grabbed a fistful of his hair, trying to forget the words.

‘Maybe, just maybe Jun wu was wrong. Maybe his highness is still around. Jun wu wasn’t all-knowing.’ He picked himself up from the dirt and ran towards the village where everything had happened. He reached quickly considering he wasn't that far from it.

Using his newly acquired spiritual powers, he searched everywhere and anywhere. But, he was newly ascended, and had his limits.  He exhausted himself sooner than he wished. San lang wanted to yell in frustration but succumbed to his feelings and fell to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

Suddenly he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. “Searching is fruitless. I searched for him everywhere. You might not like the sound of it but you must believe me. He is no more. You should come back to the heavens.” Jun wu said, his tone containing a hint of compassion.

“No.” he gritted his teeth. Never. He won’t go to the place that treated his highness that way, not among the flimsy gods who wouldn’t know true godhood even if hit them in the face. Who kicked out his god simply for wanting to help his people.

“Bai wuxiang is still at large.” That caught San lang’s attention. He turned to look at Jun wu.

“Don’t you want to get revenge? Don’t you want to hunt down the being that did this to your prince? However, you can’t defeat him. You know that. So come back with me. Become a someone strong enough to avenge xianle.”