Everything after the battle in the Heavenly Realm had changed, the layout of the heavenly realm seemed to have been reformed, mostly because it had been reformed. Even the officials were acting differently. The ghost realm was more or less the same, rumors of Hua Chengzhu and their Great Uncle were spreading through all the realms and you could imagine the shock on Heaven's eye's face when it reached him. The only thing that really stayed the same was Mu Qing. He was Feng Xin's constant in all of this.
He never liked change, when Xianle fell and they were reduced to the slums he didn't like it. When he left Xie Lian and started traveling by himself, he didn't like it. Now that his palace had moved locations and all three realms were changing greatly he didn't like it. Ghosts and Gods were becoming friendlier with one another which was fine but led to mistrust. Mortals were becoming more aware of gods and ghosts around them which made it a pain to go on missions, if he was asked if he preferred the past Heavenly Realm or the Present he wouldn't be able to give a straight answer. Obviously, without Jun Wu everything was better but the balance would be hard to replace.
Some thought he was strange for this but Xie Lian and Mu Qing understood his reasoning. Even though he and Mu Qing wouldn't be able to pose as Nan Feng and Fu Yao anymore they still visited and checked in on Xie Lian as much as they could. Hua Cheng might have still been annoyed over their past mistakes but as long as they were making up for it he would keep E-ming tucked away in his robes.
Mu Qing and Feng Xin both felt the same about the changes in everyone although Mu Qing had started embracing things. It took a while for them to accept Hua Cheng and Xie Lian's relationship but eventually, they came to terms with it which Xie Lian was overjoyed by, they didn't like the new layout at first because of the arrangement of palaces, normally Xie Lian would separate the two of them to keep them from fighting but this time Xie Lian's palace was in the middle of theirs... across the road. If Feng Xin was to have looked out his window at that time and seen Mu Qing looking back a fight would've immediately broken out.
Things had changed since though after Mu Qing almost fell to his death in a pool of scorching hot lava and Feng Xin had saved his life they had started hanging out. They first became civil with each other, then acquaintances, then friends, and then... something more. They wouldn't openly say they were dating but their relationship wasn't a secret.
Mu Qing and Feng Xin had just checked in on Xie Lian for the month, finding free time to do so as well at the same time was really hard considering they were both upper-court officials. They walked out of Puqi Shrine side by side, Xie Lian mostly lived at paradise manor but the ghosts in Ghost City would be outraged if two heavenly officials who weren't Hua Chengzhu's plus one stepped into their backyard.
They sat down in a nearby shop and ordered some tea while happily chatting.
After 10 minutes which felt like an hour, Feng Xin finally spoke up about something that killed him every morning, noon, and night. "Hey Qing... Do you ever wish things stayed the same as they were... before we defeated Jun Wu..." Most people after hearing this would have slapped and lectured him on what a horrible person Jun Wu is and how things were better but that wasn't Mu Qing. "Honestly yea... but if you really think about it you'll see the bright side." He offered out a hand to pat Feng Xin's own in support. "Since when were you the type to be looking on the bright and positive side?" Feng Xin scoffed.
"Since I started actually thinking logically. It might seem like the new Heavenly Realm is disorganized and a mess right now but that's because it is exactly that. New and Messy. The realm we were in with Bai Wuxiang... the heavenly emperor... whoever it really was, had been developed over a millennium probably. We've only just started out and no one really knows what we're doing." He hadn't really thought about it like this before, he had to admit 'logical' Mu Qing was really smart.
"Give it another century and things will be more orderly and even if it takes a while maybe after 5 centuries or another millennium we will be better than the previous heavenly realm. The point is we lack years but the corruption is gone and things are fairer around the Heavenly Realm when you really think about it everything is better." He softly smiled. "Who the hell is this and what did they do with Mu Qing?" Feng Xin laughed before pinching Mu Qing's cheek. A couple walking past them scoffed. "This realm doesn't have space for you cut sleeves. If you want to do such things go in your way into the Ghost Realm." An older woman said while clutching onto her husband's arm, was she... scared of them?
After they had trotted off while eyeing the happy officials behind them Mu Qing continued. "I never said the mortal realm was equally as perfect though." They exchanged a few laughs over tea before heading back to the heavenly realm.
Feng Xin had to admit, walking beside Mu Qing to their palaces which were now conveniently close to each other and greeting other officials who he knew weren't corrupt who walked on the roads beside them... it felt good. Even Blackwater and Shi Qingxuan weren't entirely enemies anymore, as if they were to start with though... being neutral was all it could be described as. Shi Wudu turned into a rather large and annoying ghost fire which was tucked into a cozy lamp carried around with Shi Qingxuan almost everywhere and while they fought Shi Qingxuan was happier with it that way.
Xie Lian didn't come back to the capital as much now that things had calmed down, they didn't require as many missions and most of the things they did were answering prayers... also most of the times he tried to leave he would receive a prayer from a certain needy ghost king to stay behind.
Even though after their talk Feng Xin felt more comfortable with the fact that the Heavenly Realm was changing and it would be for the better he couldn't help but realize. He always thought Mu Qing was his one constant in all of the changes but really Mu Qing changed in his own mature way. The one thing that didn't change, actually this time. Was their constant bickering.
After exchanging their happy moving conversation they bickered the entire way home over many different things. It was a love-hate relationship, to say the least.
