Third Sun

Chapter 1

"Huaisang, what the fuck?"

"Da-ge, can you try that again? I'm not sure whether you're about to cry after seeing me again or you blame me for—all these."

Nie Mingjue embraced him so tight that almost squeezed the life out of his younger brother. Almost. He couldn't help but note that Huaisang felt sturdier, if not taller, compared to his previous body.

"Oof." Huaisang tapped out, though not without gripping Nie Mingjue just as tight. "Okay, that actually hurt."

"That's for making me worry, you brat," Nie Mingjue growled. He swatted the back of Huaisang's head, much to his indignation at having his hairpiece and hair rumpled. I spent a huge part of the morning fixing this blasted hair, thank you very much, da-ge. "You did this!" He accused. "You—How in the world did this happen?"

Huaisang sounded petulant when he replied, "Well, it started when you got yourself killed and left me alone so I plan my revenge. Oh, I succeeded, mind. It was just..." He hesitated, glancing away. "I wasn't satisfied, da-ge."

"So you rewrote the world? The reality?"

"Hey, that wasn't what I intended!" Huaisang rubbed his face, sighing. "I was supposed to travel back in time. You know, to avoid some things that led to your demise." He swallowed. "You shouldn't even remember your death. Gods, this is so fucked up. How are you even still functioning with that memory?"

"It's not that bad," Nie Mingjue said, letting out his own sigh. "They manifest as nightmares most of the time. Sometimes they're mild. Sometimes they're not." His sudden pause was telling, and Huaisang knew he wasn't meant to know that. Nie Mingjue shook his head resolutely. "Fine. You meant to go back. Huaisang, what were you even thinking, dabbling in that sort of magic?!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I even failed at this!" Huaisang snapped. "I'm sorry that I couldn't let go of the fact that you might never reincarnate, that you'll be forever stuck in death with your killer. I could perform a thousand rites in my lifetime to make sure you'll find peace, but when I die, what then? You'll be a fierce corpse locked away until the end of time? Da-ge, I won't hesitate to sell my soul if it means that you'll move on properly in the afterlife!"

"Don't say that!" Nie Mingjue roared. "Don't—You could have been killed! You could have had the same fate as I had! Do you think that would make me at peace?"

Huaisang turned away in anguish. "Then you do realize that this is infinitely better than anything, da-ge."

Nie Mingjue considered him for a moment, from the red and black robes that he wore, the ornate, silver-wrought guan woven into the long dark hair that lacked the Nie braids, and the sharp edges of his red eyes that Nie Mingjue knew his brother previously didn't possess.

The lump in his throat grew. "How can it be better with you as Wen Ruohan's son?"

"Da-ge," Huaisang began, reaching for Nie Mingjue's sleeve. His fingers trailed at the cloth in wonder and knew that he wouldn't be able to wear the same colors, not in this world and reality. "Da-ge, I know that this is not an ideal situation, but we can take this as an opportunity instead."

"Huaisang, I don't care. You have to stay away from that man. Come back to Qinghe with me and I'll keep you safe from him."

"And spark a different kind of conflict? Da-ge, that's declaring you kidnapped the Chief Cultivator's third son and couldn't care less about the repercussions because you don't plan to return me at all. I've thought of that, you know, making Wen Huaisang disappear and start a new life in Qinghe as a nobody, except, for some unknown reason, Wen Ruohan does treat me differently compared to his two arrogant sons falling over themselves to get that scrap of attention."