TIAN DI【天地】

ch.9: old acquaintances

! tw: mention of murder, abuse !

p.o.v. xianliang

Xuxu and I quietly hid inside a bush and watched the men rush forwards with their horses. ,,Who are these guys..?'', he asked confused and thought hard. ,,These gowns..they look very similar to the Ying Clan's ones.'', I thought out loud, stood up and brushed the dirt off of my clothes. ,,You still remember the Ying Clan?'' Xuxu stood up and looked at me with widened eyes and a shocked look on his face. ,,Still...?'' ,,Uhm..I..just assumed you're around my age, I apologize...''

,,But you're right. I've lived around the time Emperor Ying ruled over this country...'' Suddenly his facial expression dropped and he sat down on the ground again. I knelt down and grabbed his hand in concern. ,,Is everything okay?''

,,Didn't Emperor Ying already die years ago..?'' I could tell he was frightened by something. ,,Probably...But why are still some of his servants and soldiers alive?'' ,,Maybe he had children that adopted his views and opinions and now proceed his dreams and plans.''

,,Who would even have children with this monster?'' ,,Wait a second...Hanyu, he never died.'' ,,Huh?'' ,,There were some rumors a while ago, which I didn't believe in back then. It all makes sense now...'' ,,For heaven's sake, what rumors?''

,,Emperor Ying took advantage of his knowledge about ascension rituals..He fooled the heaven and manipulated the ritual, so he can ascend without ever having been a cultivator..One of the Qin Clan's elders once was a servant in the Ying Clan and told us all about it. Of course he had no proof for anything, so no one really believed him.'', Xuxu explained, looking like he's also processing these thoughts.

Emperor Ying appearing on my mind once again after so many years reminded me of all the horrifying things he did to my Wenyan..I want to throw up, how can this monster still be alive? And how the fuck is he an immortal?

! TW: mention of murder !

,,This creature is putting so much shame on heaven...How can he fool the immortals like that?!'', I was slowly getting seriously mad. ,,Ah..Hanyu, you should calm down...I didn't want to make you angry..'' ,,No, I'm really glad you told me about this. All this just made me remember how much I hate him.'' ,,Why exactly do you hate him?'' ,,He rotted out my whole clan, got my family murdered..and also abused him...'' ,,Oh my-'', Xuxu was about to say something, but suddenly took a few steps forward and threw up.

! End of TW !

,,Xu...xu..? What's wrong, have you eaten something bad?'', I asked concerned and handed him some water. He wiped over his mouth with a tissue and drank the water. ,,Thank you..'' ,,Are you okay?'' How many times have I already asked him this question by now? He's acting so odd, even though I don't know him well I still noticed that.

,,I just don't feel so well...'', he said without much strength and sighed. ,,If you want to be my friend, you should tell me what's bothering you..I can help you. I want to help you.'' ,,I remembered some things that happened in my past...traumatizing things, disgusting things...'' ,,You don't have to say it out loud if it makes you feel so unwell..'' ,,That's kind of you..'' ,,Are you able to walk?'' Slowly he stood up, but lost balance shortly after. I offered him my hand, which he grabbed and I pulled him up.

,,I'll hold you, okay?'' He nodded and we linked arms. Finally we continued our way back to Jiangsu.

A pretty long while later in the evening we finally passed through the gates of the Qin Clan. I was still supporting the weakened Xuxu by putting my arm around his shoulders and carried him all the way into his room where he fell on his bed exhausted.

,,I wasn't aware of the emotional weight this still puts on me..after all these years."

,,Sorry I'm not much of a help.."

,,You already helped me so much by carrying me all the way here, staying with me and caring about me so much. I really appreciate it, Hanyu." A fond smile was forming on his face.

,,Thank...you...?" I didn't really know what to say, since I wasn't used to him being so nice to me. Not that he's been usually rude or something, but he kept his distance.

,,You're the one I should thank."

,,You're too kind..."

,,Ah..okay, enough affection... We should think of what to do about the Ying Clan's return..", he suddenly changed the topic with a worrying look on his face.

,,I could ask an elder from heaven.. He knows a lot about them."

,,Actually I think involving the immortals isn't that good of an idea...This would raise too much attention."

,,Who are we supposed to ask then?"

,,Yusheng?"

,,Isn't he a bit too young? He was born over one hundred years later."

,,Ah, Hanyu, seriously...I don't know what to do..."

,,Just leave this to me then." I thought of a way how to get more information and stood up from his bed.

He sat up and was seemingly confused.,,What are you going to do..?"

,,You..just stay here and rest. I'll take care of everything."

Suddenly he grabbed my hand when I was about to go to the door to go outside.

,,I thought we won't lie to each other anymore..."

,,I'm not lying to you, I'm just not telling you about things that could put you into danger."

At first he was so distant, now he's so affectionate all of a sudden. Xuhuan-jun, once again, who the hell are you?

,,But doing things involved with the Ying Clan all by yourself is dangerous too!", he continued trying to convince me to stay here.

,,I was the most successful cultivator in my former clan's history, I got this."

I pushed his arm away and finally left. From inside I heard him complaining and insulting himself. The times of always thinking of others are over now. In the end it'll bring both Xuxu and me safety, even though I still don't know what Emperor Ying did to him.