Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 62

Surprised by the cleverness of that statement, Xie Lian gave his friend a look and smiled, lowering his eyes to the perfectly polished table: «I regret my second ascension», he confessed, voice cracking a bit. It was the second time that he admitted that to someone that wasn't his husband. «I only ascended because WuMing sacrificed himself for me. I wouldn't have been able to defeat Bai WuXiang if he didn't. San Lang is still here with me, but... I saw him die like that nonetheless. And it was my fault, because I became a Calamity, because I accepted when he wanted to follow me. I took two cursed shackles to honor him, there wasn't a need for more than one when Jun Wu banished me again».

He took the second one as a constant reminder of what he caused, of who he killed. Ghosts could feel pain even in death, they weren't immune to it. Xie Lian still felt guilty to that day.

«I had no valid reason to be banished», he continued, tapping his fingers on the table. «I ascended because of something great, so who would ever want to kick me out? The only way down for me was to fight».

Just a confirmation – mostly unneeded – of Feng Xin's clever guess on what happened. It still earned him a couple of shocked gasps and a barely audible curse coming from the foul mouthed god.

Mu Qing, listening to that, frowned: «But why accept the third? You're living a good life with Crimson Rain. Your ascension only brought you troubles, why did you allow it? Why are you still here?».

So many things happened in the time frame of Xie Lian's third ascension. He had to solve difficult missions, he had been – unsuccessfully and amusingly – framed by the mother of Feng Xin's son, and he even went through hell and back because he had been call to help in that damned temple.

None of those things would have happened if he refused his third ascension and fought his way back down again.

But Xie Lian only laughed weakly at that.

«I've lived through worse troubles that these, Mu Qing», the Crown Prince replied, half amused and half melancholic. «It's true, ascending made them occur more often, but... to be honest, I needed it. I missed the thrill of being in action, and I'm only now realizing it. I could have spared myself some things, sure, but I also don't regret accepting to come back to the heavens».

Staying in the shadows would have kept him away from living through the hundred swords again, because Feng Xin and Mu Qing wouldn't have called him for help, but it would have also kept him away from many positive things.

First of all, the recovered friendship with them.

He also used his third ascension to fix some mistakes of the past, and he would keep using it to do as such. He managed to make a dent in the hypocrisy littering the Heavenly Court, something he couldn't have done without ascending again.

And most importantly, he reminded everyone that the line between good and evil was never fully defined. Or at least he tried to.

«There are many good things in this world», Xie Lian flashed a more genuine smile. «It's good to fight for them, if we have the power to do so».

That said, Xie Lian made to get up, but Mu Qing's hand was quick to grab his wrist and keep him there. He shot the god an interrogative glance: «Mh?».

«Xie Lian...», Mu Qing bit the inside of his mouth, a bit nervous. «T-thank you. For telling us».

The Crown Prince was left a bit stumped for a second, but then softened his features, eyes crinkling at the corners when he smiled again: «You're important to me. Both of you», he said, gently freeing himself from Mu Qing's hand to hold it in his own. «We've lived in misunderstandings for long enough. Let's take our time to rebuild a friendship together».