Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 17

When they teleported back to PuQi Shrine, feeling much more refreshed and wearing squeaky clean robes – Xie Lian donned the red outer robe again – it was already evening.

They didn't eat back at Paradise Manor, but there was a mantou on the offering plate, which was a delightful surprise. It wasn't much, but it would suffice. Xie Lian broke the rice bun in two and gave half of it to Hua Cheng, nibbling on the other half left in his hand. He wondered who, from the village, might have left the steamed bun there, but shrugged it off in the end.

For someone who expected to have an average of nothing, it was already pleasant enough.

«I was thinking... we'll probably stay here for a little longer, and then go back to Ghost City», he spoke up, once finished with his half of the mantou. He wasn't going to leave PuQi Shrine permanently, in fact he had the intention of alternating between Paradise Manor and the shrine, but it was going to be a temporary arrangement. As soon as his situation was settled, with merits and believers and all those issues a heavenly official had to deal with, he would leave PuQi Shrine for good (maybe he'd still come back every once in a while, admittedly) and go back to Paradise Manor as his permanent home.

He felt just a little sorry for leaving his palace prey to dust and dereliction, but going back to the Heavenly Court was far from his plans.

For the moment, he just wanted to enjoy some more time at the shrine, maybe befriend more villagers, and then go back home.

«Honestly, I miss sleeping in a bed».

The playful tone didn't fly over Xie Lian's head and the god laughed, shaking his head. The two stared at each other, grinning, when a small knocking noise broke the amused silence of the shrine. They looked to where the sound came from, and soon enough discovered the source of it was a small, black clay pot rolling on the ground.

It was the same pot Ban Yue was tucked it, placed next to the altar. Somehow, it had tipped itself over and rolled to the door. Seeing it started hitting the wood by rolling to it repeatedly, Xie Lian chuckled at it but hurriedly opened the door, still worried the pot might break. The little clay pot rolled itself to the grass field outside, almost giving Xie Lian a heart attack when it jumped down the low stairs of the patio.

Xie Lian followed behind it and saw that, once the pot made it to the grass, it stood itself up. Even if it was only an object with no visible expression, it gave the sense that it was gazing at the night sky. Couldn't blame it. Thousands of stars shimmered, stark white glimmers on an inky background, and the moon was simply beautiful. Not full, only a fraction of what it could be, but a wonder to gaze upon.

Hua Cheng also emerged from the shrine, coming up behind his husband to hug him, and Xie Lian called out to the pot: «Ban Yue, are you awake?».

Good thing that she was deeply asleep until then. Xie Lian flushed completely red at the thought that she might have heard – or worse, seen – what he and Hua Cheng did not too far from her pot. Hearing the ghost laugh in his ear, Xie Lian stepped on his foot with his own.

A moment later, the sulky voice of the young girl came from the pot, addressing him as General Hua. Xie Lian didn't correct her, and merely disentangled himself from Hua Cheng's hug to sit down next to the pot: «Have you come out to stargaze? You don't want to come out?».

Looking at the – admittedly tender – scene in front of him, Hua Cheng leaned against a tree next to them: «She only just left the BanYue ruins», he said, glancing straight at the clay pot. «Probably best if she stays in there for a while longer».

A ghost could become severely weakened, in case of suddenly leaving a place where it had been confined for a long period of time. In Ban Yue's case, she was powerful enough to withstand such a shock, but still needed some time to adapt to the new situation. With ghosts weaker than Wrath, the ability to be resilient was far less common.