"It's Modu...or what is left of it," Xin Hulei says, his gaze oddly vacant.
Yao Shen pulls Xin Hulei against him, pulling him into the bed so the two of them can cuddle. He wraps his arms around Xin Hulei's back, and rubs his back up and down.
"It's not a coincidence, is it?" Yao Shen asks, already knowing the answer.
After some time, Xin Hulei huffs. "No, he's hiding out there," Xin Hulei says, his warm breath tickles Yao Shen's exposed throat. "Maybe you shouldn't go."
Yao Shen sinks his fingers into Xin Hulei's thick hair, feeling the cool slide of the strands against his fingertips with a sigh. "And when does this end? He won't stop at Gao Wu. He'll keep trying to make the mortal realm continuously more hostile to me until I have no choice but hide out in Youdu."
"I won't let any more people die because of this game of cat and mouse," Yao Shen says, with finality.
Si Wang is a pit of resentment, and like a wound allowed to fester, the only thing to do now is hack at the rotting flesh.
He has had hundreds of years to ruminate over the brother who first chose the common people over him, then a stranger, and finally the souls of the dead.
If Si Wang was a character Yao Shen had to play, he'd break down his personality into two major traits: abandonment issues, and megalomania.
He thinks he should have been the centre of his brother's universe, because the Crown Prince was the centre of his universe. He chased him all the way down to the Underworld, hoping that a life of immortality would finally get him what he wanted.
But the Crown Prince chose Xin Hulei.
As Yao Shen did, as perhaps all the other reincarnations who came before him did -- although he has no way of knowing.
"How do we reach Modu?" Yao Shen asks, after a long beat of silence passes between the two of them.
Xin Hulei sighs, and then buries his face in Yao Shen's neck. "I can take us there, in a flash, just as I do up here. I'm still a demon king, of a broken city but..,"
Yao Shen resumes petting his hair, gentling him with his touch. "Are there any other's left? Beside you?"
"No. I'm all that's left. I inherited his powers the moment Xie Huan died without an heir."
"And the other two?"
"They made no such arrangements."
Right. Yao Shen supposes it doesn't matter anymore.
"Can Modu be rebuilt?"
Yao Shen lets out a strangled, bitter, chuckle. "For what purpose? What's a city without its people? Without its history? Just a collection of buildings and streets. Maybe it's possible to rebuild it, but it would be soulless." His hand goes still over Yao Shen's chest. "No. Modu is no more."
Now the demons are scattered through the human realm, and Youdu. Refugees with no land to return to. The Underworld is comprised of a single surviving city in the middle of immense wastes. Yao Shen is determined that there should be room for everyone.
He doesn't know when he'll want to fully take the mantle of ghost king, but he'll do his best that to crush any power struggles among the ghost kings as soon as they arise -- by any means necessary.
Xin Hulei looks up into his eyes from his position below Yao Shen's chin. His eyes are fixed on Yao Shen's resolute gaze, on the grim line of his usually full lips.
He smiles a little to himself. "What's got you looking so indignant?"
"Righteous indignation."
Xin Hulei snorts, and bites Yao Shen's jawline, nibbling delicately. "It's good look on you. Is it going to make you do morally questionable things?"
"Perhaps."
---
The next day on day set everyone is fluttering in barely suppressed excitement over the news of Bi Jialu's arrest.
The gossip trickled down from the hotel staff who saw her in police custody, and is now making the rounds through the cast and crew.
Of course, that doesn't mean that there are no more suspicions around Yao Shen or Xin Hulei -- in fact, almost everyone seems convinced that Bi Jialu is just a convenient scapegoat.
Which, Yao Shen has to admit, makes perfect sense.
Maybe that was Si Wang's intention all along. Even if his plan failed, and Bi Jialu's actions ended up being exposed, the thick stench of reasonable doubt would still cling around Yao Shen like a bad omen.
Of course, there's still the question of how Si Wang got in touch with the family's of the murderers in the first place.
It's Tan Liansi who sheds some light on that, while they eat lunch in her trailer.
"So, I got in touch with the 'Hell on Earth' network," she says, looking straight at Xin Hulei. She was probably acting on Xin Hulei's instructions, not that Yao Shen has been informed about it. "Along with what they found out about the acquisition of HuaHua, they managed to narrow down the aggressive parties to one man: Li Mingyu. While he's in contact with the relatives of the other murderers, calling in favours when convenient, he seems to be the one taking charge of the whole thing."
"He's probably the one Si Wang is in contact with then," Yao Shen says, musing out loud. Of course, that doesn't explain how he's doing it from the Underworld, even less from Modu.
It's then that he remembers the little ghoul, which he thought he saw on the plane back to Hengdian, and never thought about again.
He turns to Xin Hulei. "Ghouls...can they come and go as they please?"
Xin Hulei nods. "Yes, they're errand runners for the Underworld. Their powers are extremely limited, and they aren't very strong but.."
Yao Shen finishes that thought for him, "...but they're ideal to carry messages between the realms."
Slowly, Xin Hulei nods.
It's not surprising, in fact, that's how Yao Shen himself was first contacted by the ghost kings...the problem here is that, it's impossible to know where the ghoul is going. Unlike emails, or phone calls, he can't be traced to a physical location.
Which just hammers home what Yao Shen told Xin Hulei yesterday: "This will only end when we get rid of Si Wang, for good. There's no point in going after the humans now, Si Wang will just find an alternative."
Tan Liansi blows a loud raspberry, slumping boneless against the trailer's plastic wall with a sigh. "Ok, but, no damage control, no nothing? They won't stop at this."
"No need, this ends today," Yao Shen says, getting up from the rickety bench.
She rubs the back of her head. "I suppose, I suppose...I could go with you? You'll probably need all the help you can get."
Her dismissive words hide her genuine worry. She looks off to the side, but Yao Shen can still see the knot of concern between her eyebrows.
"Up to you," he tells Xin Hulei.
He and Tan Liansi have developed a tentative friendship, perhaps even a genuine camaraderie over the months they spent looking over Xin Hulei and Jincan and Heimao, but he knows that most of her loyalty and concern is directed at Xin Hulei.
She is his sister in everything but name.
After some time of deliberation, Xin Hulei acquiesces with a stiff nod. "Don't do anything foolish, and be careful."
Yao Shen doubts she'll pay much attention to that advice. Xin Hulei notices the look in his eyes, and tells him: "I mean you, too."
For Xin Hulei, he will try.
---
After they're done with filming for the day, they meet up in Yao Shen's hotel room.
Yao Shen looks out at the balcony and its inviting hot tub. He wonders when he and Xin Hulei will finally have some time for themselves.
Xin Hulei follows the direction of his gaze, and chuckles lightly. "Soon."
Tan Liansi is momentarily confused by the silent conversation happening around her, but eventually catches sight of the hot tub too. "Ugh, gross," she chides with a theatrical groan.
They cross the portal Yao Shen opens and enter Youdu together, just outside the gates leading up to the Wuji pavilion.
Tan Liansi looks around, taking in the sights. "I still can't believe," she shakes her head, "never mind, let's just go."
Xin Hulei closes both his hands around their shoulders and whisks them out of Youdu, and several li away.
---
Yao Shen opens his eyes as the flames subside, and the first thing he feels is the freezing wind. All around them is sand, black and shimmering with crystal fragments, as if the night sky has fallen from the firmament and dropped all its stars like a string of beads.
"Why didn't you take us closer to city?" Yao Shen asks, wrapping his arms around himself to keep away the cold, his gaze drifting out at the arid desolation all around them.
"I did, we should be seeing Modu's north gate here," Xin Hulei says, his voice not revealing any emotion.
"The sand swallowed what was left of the city," Tan Liansi says, her tone revealing plenty.