"The Little Things"

How it came to be

The large office of the head of the Xingdu Bureau felt very claustrophobic to Zhao Yunlan. Perhaps it was due to the dark wooden panels which tiled the walls making the whole room dark. Or perhaps, it was the presence of the man itself that, even after many years, made his son feel like a misbehaved teenager. Zhao Yunlan bit his fingernail staring at the old man.

"Stop doing that. You're not a small child any more." Zhao Xinchi scolded him. "You are here for a reason, I believe? Or did you just come for tea?"

Zhao Yunlan had the whole thing practised inside his head. The problem was, each scenario required his father to go along the lines pre-created inside his own mind. And that wasn't going to happen.

"Are you going to make this hard for me?" Yunlan finally asked. "Or are you ready to explain just how much were you hiding from me? Shennong Bo? You have known about him for ages. Did you know all this would happen?"

"What if I have? What if he gave me a promise that...." Xinchi's face contorted, and he turned away, a thing he had never done before. "How else would I have let you..."

Oh.

Zhao Yunlan looked at his father, speechless. The grey-haired man sat back at his desk and produced another incense cone. "Make it fast. I have a lot of work to do here."

"Wait," Yunlan grabbed his father's hand. "Does it have to be you? I mean, if it's tiring, I'll take it to SID and make one of my people the temporary host. I would love to see Old Chu finally paying his respect to me."

"There is no need for pretence," Zhao Xinchi swatted his hand away and lit the incense. "I'm used to it anyway." He closed his eyes and sighed. After a moment, those eyes opened again, but there was a different expression in them. Shennong bo rose up and bowed.

"Mighty Kunlun wishes to speak with me again. I am honoured."

"Told you I'm not... sit back down." Zhao waved his hand.

"I wouldn't dare in the presence of..."

"Damn it, just sit down. You've got some serious explaining to give." Yunlan waited as the man slowly seated himself, looking at the detective coyly all the way down to the chair. Ordering a god currently inhabiting his father's body felt oddly satisfying. "The portal that took us to the heart of the mountain was your doing." He said carefully and smirked, seeing the surprised reaction.

"Kun... Chief Zhao is wise. Indeed, I created it."

"So tell me, was it you who brought Shen Wei and me back?"

"No, it was a misfortunate accident, I'm afraid."

Zhao blinked, not sure he understood correctly. "A what now?"

"After your heroic demise, this humble servant was tasked with collecting the souls of the mighty Ghost Slayer, his brother and yours. I was supposed to hasten the reincarnation process granting you a faster re-birth. Therefore I took a vial of the Water of Oblivion. After catching the souls of the brothers, I began the act. I chose Mount Kunlun as the perfect place, believing that the powers residing there would help. Lord Ghost Slayer's soul was very tranquil as he already came to terms with his fate. His brother's soul, however, was full of resentment and sheer power. I believe that after I separated it from the scum that contaminated it, the soul began to shine with its natural pureness. Somehow it awakened the ancient tree, and before I could even react, made a deal."

"What kind of a deal?" Asked Zhao, feeling sick.

"A soul for a soul, I believe. One goes back to the living, whereas the other feeds to tree its energy."