A week later, the married couple fell into a routine.
Waking up early in the morning, thanks to Yin Yu now being able to supervise way more efficiently – the absence of his cursed shackle worked wonders – Xie Lian and Hua Cheng took back the habit of laying lazily in bed for a while, playing with each other's hair, exchanging sweet kisses, or simply talking softly in the hazy red filling up the room. After Xie Lian's third ascension they had fallen out of it, even if they had nothing really important to do for the day. It was such a shame that the god insisted on picking up their morning private time back from where they had left it.
The time of an incense stick later, they would either take a bath first – if they didn't soak in comfortably hot water in the evening – or go straight to GuZi's room to wake up the kid and keep him company for the day.
Hua Cheng wasn't always able to stay, his supervision still heavily needed in his Gambler's Den, but Xie Lian soon grew attached to that brave child. He took him on a trip around Paradise Manor, careful to introduce him to the various ghosts working in the mansion, and watched with mirth in his eyes how GuZi fell more and more in love with the peculiarities of the ghost realm.
He still didn't belong in that dead world, being such a young kid, but at least he was having fun. Even Hua Cheng started growing rather fond of him – more than before – so when Xie Lian offered to stay in the Gambler's Den in his husband's place, the ghost happily accepted to be GuZi's playmate.
Their routine ended with all four of them – Xie Lian, Hua Cheng, GuZi, and Yin Yu – having dinner together in the main dining hall of the residence. After eating, GuZi often just went back into his room or kept to Yin Yu's side, pestering him with many questions every day. One time, Yin Yu even suggested bringing him back to PuQi Shrine, maybe to stay with Shi QingXuan and He Xuan for a couple of days, and Xie Lian accepted. It was nice for the kid to breathe in some fresh air in the mortal realm, and it wouldn't do him harm to meet the other Ghost King.
Surprisingly, GuZi had a wonderful time even with someone as terrifying as He Xuan, and that handful of days gave Xie Lian a precious occasion to think some things over.
Things that came back to him one evening, almost a full month after Qi Rong entered the Kiln.
Xie Lian was laying on the divan, Hua Cheng resting over him like a ghostly blanket, when he sighed. Visibly confused, if not a tad concerned, his husband raised his head to look at him, so the prince simply smiled: «I was thinking we could go back to Mount Tong'lu», he told him, gently stroking his sharp cheek with one hand, thumb caressing over the bone shaping his face. «I'm quite curious about those murals. The story of that Crown Prince is... endearing».
Plus, there was something drawing him back to that place, and to that story. The knowledge of his Guoshi being aware of the existence of WuYong didn't help soothe Xie Lian's thirst for answers. In fact, it only worsened it, making his throat parched and his tongue dry, lips begging to drink from that particular piece of the past.
It could be a mistake, he could discover the knowledge he sought would hurt him, or scare him, but... it was better than ignorance.
The Crown Prince lived in ignorance for far too long, before starting to mingle again with the business of the bigger world of ghosts and gods. The bliss of unawareness had long lost its charm, understanding and comprehension being far more alluring than the void of unknown facts.
No one would dare get close to Mount Tong'lu, while a Ghost King was about to be born. Ghosts and monsters knew the risks of standing too close to an unstable furnace like the Kiln was, even those who were just born in the undead life. They would surely be unbothered, in their search for information. Xie Lian made sure to point that out, to Hua Cheng.
«I understand if you don't want to come, I don't want to force you», he also added, fiddling with the tiny braid on the side of his husband's face. The red thread looped between strands of hair was a stark contrast against the pure black of those beautiful locks, and the coral red earring at the end only made Xie Lian curse his lips in a smile.
Too many signs of Hua Cheng's love for him, everywhere he looked. Even his name and his city were tokens of his affection and loyalty.
«If gege wants to go, I don't see why we shouldn't», the ghost pushed himself forward to leave a fluttering kiss on his beloved's lips, and then to the tip of his nose. «Ghost City is back to normal, we can leave without needing to worry».
He knew Xie Lian would feel guilty, after all, if they left and some problems exploded because a ghost or two took advantage of their absence. Yin Yu could only do so much; while he had power in the city, he wasn't a ruler of the place. His authority was important but not absolute. A pesky ghost could find a loophole in the system and exploit it.
However, they had finished cleaning the city of the most problematic outsiders days prior, so such a problem wasn't an issue. Any other could be solved by Yin Yu, and Ghost City was still closed off to many strangers, so there was no risk of Hua Cheng having to emergency teleport back there to intervene in this or that scuffle.
Leaving for Mount Tong'lu was definitely doable.
And so, after informing Yin Yu of their plans – to what the former official responded with a loud sigh – and after leaving GuZi in Shi QingXuan's care, they clicked a pair of dice and left.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Perplexed, He Xuan stared at the child sitting at the table of PuQi Shrine with an undecipherable expression twisting his features. It wasn't the first time for Shi QingXuan to take care of him, of course, but being left alone with that small human was. Of all the things he should have found appalling, though, He Xuan was mostly confused as to why he wasn't afraid of him.
The ghost didn't even bother changing his appearance in favor of a less frightening one. His sickly white skin, piercing gold eyes and deep black sclera would have chased away many sane mortals, scared of the Calamity as black and terrifying as his water, but not that kid. Apparently, that kid was so comfortable around him that he even sat down and started nonchalantly reading a book, as if there was no ship-sinking ghost a few steps away from him.
It was baffling.
But then again, He Xuan started to think, that kid had been in the company of Qi Rong for a long time. The Green Ghost was such a crass and unmannered person that it explained why GuZi could stay so calm when faced with Black Water. At least, he was surrounded by comfortable silence rather than shrill screams and profanities.
Though, at that point, maybe profanities yelled at the top of one's lungs were more normal to the child than anything else.
Still, he couldn't understand.
«Aren't you bored?», He Xuan finally broke the silence, his voice as deep as the ocean's abyss filling up the quiet room. «That book is not made for kids».
The scholarly pride inside of him made the ghost glad that such a young soul seemed to be interested in a book that spoke of history, but he couldn't remember more than well how boring such topics seemed to him, back in his childhood. While an avid reader and learner, He Xuan wasn't that different from all the other kids his age, back when he was still a child. History, for a young mind, was a boring topic.
Shocked to hear the ghost talk, GuZi stopped reading and looked at him: «What do you mean, gege?».
He Xuan almost sputtered at the nickname, but luckily kept his composure in its place. Right. That kid had the annoying habit of calling everyone he saw "gege" even if it was inappropriate. At least he didn't come up with something ridiculous like "ghost-gege" yet, seeing he had a knack for calling Xie Lian "scrap-gege". That would have been too much for He Xuan to handle.
He was used to deal with ghosts and adult fishermen, not children!
«I mean – he finally replied, after digesting the outrage – that kids like you shouldn't be reading history books like that». Sure, there were books about that topic that were made for children or students, but the one GuZi was reading was far from those. He Xuan himself read it completion, and he could confirm it was far too difficult for a kid to understand. And GuZi didn't even come from some well-educated family, he was the son of a commoner.
As awful as it was to say it, the common folk was ways away from the education given to those born into wealth and/or royalty.
«But I want to learn about dad's kingdom. He's always sad when I ask him».
...
The ghost didn't know how to reply to that, and he didn't.
Instead, He Xuan got up from his seat in the corner and sat down next to GuZi, who was squinting back at the pages of the book. The volume was far more difficult than a child like him could understand, so a little bit of help was certainly needed.
Picking up his old scholarly habit, He Xuan picked the book from the kid's hands and flipped through the pages until he found the section that talked about the Kingdom of XianLe. The book was old enough to still have it, fortunately; many newer ones didn't talk all that much about kingdoms that fell over eight hundred years prior to the present day, they simply added some lines of text and called it a day.
That one, however, had an entire chapter all dedicated to XianLe, which He Xuan slowly and carefully read out loud for GuZi to listen.
He tried to keep out some of the most gruesome details, and didn't linger too much on the Human Face Disease that toppled the kingdom. Even if the child was well-aware of how terrible the human and the ghost world could be, there was no need to scare him with that. The Human Face Disease was terrifying enough to make a ghost like He Xuan feel uneasy, and he had never encountered it.
He knew that plague was one of the only fears Hua Cheng had, in spite of his reputation of fearless and fearsome Ghost King. If it was enough to scare him, He Xuan wasn't surely going to underestimate how horrifying it had to be, back then.
At first He Xuan thought he was scared of the disease because of Bai WuXiang, but he quickly realized that, despite the fear and disgust the ghost caused him for reasons he both knew and didn't know, Hua Cheng was terrified of the disease itself. One particular day he had literally seen heart-wrenching terror in his eye, back in time a handful of centuries.
Some ghost working for Hua Cheng at the time, as far as He Xuan could remember, had faced the wrath of an irritated Ghost King to agitatedly inform him that some kind of being – he couldn't understand if ghost or human – was seen in Ghost City with his head and arms covered in human faces, and was scaring everyone away from their shops.
He Xuan would never forget how quickly the anger in Hua Cheng's single eye shifted to an indescribable horror, how his hands started to shake so bad the rings on his fingers rattled against the armrests of the throne he was sitting on.
It only lasted a handful of seconds, but it stayed in Black Water's mind for an eternity.
Because of how powerful Hua Cheng became, his accomplice kept forgetting that he was only a teenager when the Human Face Disease struck the kingdom he lived in.
It left a visible mark on his spirit.
For as much as He Xuan despised Qi Rong to an extent, he had to be the same.
After two full hours of history lessons, which He Xuan thoroughly enjoyed, the ghost closed the book and put it away: «QingXuan is coming back soon», he said, smoothing down his robes that had wrinkled from sitting down on a stool for too long. «We should—GuZi, go in the back».
Halfway through his sentence, He Xuan's eyes darted to the window, a sudden heavenly trace filling up the space around the shrine. It wasn't Shi QingXuan, obviously, and the kid had to realize it from the urgency in the ghost's voice. Without asking any questions, he ran to the back room and sat down well away from the door, where He Xuan couldn't see him.
As for the ghost, he immediately shifted appearance, hoping that the protection put up by Xie Lian all around the place had been enough to conceal his ghostly spiritual presence.
It had been a long while since the last time he wore the fake skin of Ming Yi, but it was still without faults in its design. The difficult part would be explaining to that damn Lang QianQiu why he suddenly showed back up after disappearing.
He could easily ignore him, but unfortunately the orange candlelight glow wasn't exactly something He Xuan would have ever thought of hiding, while staying at that place. While he could fake an empty shrine by simply not showing up at the door, he couldn't do it if an unwelcome guest had seen someone was inside thanks to something as normal as a lit candle.
Having GuZi deal with the heavenly official wouldn't be a good idea either, because Lang QianQiu was fully aware of the identity of that kid. The last thing He Xuan wanted was for that goddamn martial god to sweep the child away in the name of justice, righteousness, or whatever bullshit was out there.
There was a perk, though. Lang QianQiu couldn't cross the boundaries of the protection blessing Xie Lian put around the shrine. While he could roam the village, as the protection around it had been considerably lessened during the last days, there was absolutely no way for him to step even in the courtyard.
He Xuan saw him look at the archway and try anyway, only to be rejected by a spark of golden spiritual energy.
At least he didn't take out his sword and started hacking away at blessed air. He Xuan wouldn't put it past him.
With a sigh, the ghost opened the door and walked down the steps of the patio, his robes no longer long and flowing like water but tight fitting and decorated by many belts and buckles. He didn't know if Ming Yi was the practical, lonely person he brought to life, but it helped with his acting. Half what he wasn't, and half what he was.
«Tai Hua», he called, in a voice that bore just a slightly higher pitch to it. «Your presence here is unexpected».
Startled, Lang QianQiu turned his head to look in the direction of the voice and was stunned for a good minute.
Standing in front of him, clad in his usual black and sparse silver, was the heavenly official that no one could understand why had gone suddenly missing. There was a bizarre spark in his eyes, the color seemingly more vividly golden than normal, but the place all around was buzzing with tremendous spiritual energy. It could be the reason, heavenly light was more powerful than it seemed.
«What the hell are you doing here?», he finally found his voice back, dumbfounded. Asking how it was possible for him to be in the shrine was useless, Lang QianQiu wasn't that stupid. Ming Yi was a close friend of Xie Lian, it was obvious he could be allowed. But what in the world...
«I had some issues to solve», He Xuan simply replied, crossing his arms. «Commoners in severe need of help praying for me».
Turned out, Xie Lian's suggestion of just... acting out the reason of his absence really was the best course of action. In truth, the ghost almost wanted to fake Ming Yi's death in Mount Tong'lu and go back to his Nether Water Manor as a Ghost King with no heavenly obligations, but the thought of leaving Shi QingXuan alone to deal with the gossip of the heavens left a sour taste in his mouth.
Maybe another time.
«And you came here instead of reporting to the Emperor? Ming Yi, have you gone rogue?».
An expected response.
He Xuan rolled his eyes: «What do I have to report? I'm the Earth Master, do you think people call for me to slaughter armies of monsters?». Sometimes, dealing with martial gods was as easy as presenting them with plain facts. «I haven't participated in the defense against the gathering of ghosts because I was busy helping my believers, there's literally nothing useful I could say to the Emperor. I came here after Mount Tong'lu had already accepted a new ghost».
Well, at least that was true.
Something to back up his claim, absolutely useful.
Fine, he could understand that. Martial gods and masters like Ming Yi were quite different in habits and procedures, when it came to their followers, so there was no objection to be made. However, from the window, Lang QianQiu clearly made out the silhouette of a child, and there weren't many doubts on who that kid was.
The ghost simmering in the Kiln was Qi Rong, after all. Unless Xie Lian wanted that child to die in Mount Tong'lu, he definitely brought him away from that place. And what better house for him to live in than the highly protected shrine of a god?
«Are you taking care of the kid?».
«Why? You have objections?».
Taken aback by the sudden harshness, Lang QianQiu actually staggered, almost wanting to step away from the Earth Master's imposing figure.
He never noticed how tall and intimidating that official was.
«Aren't you worried for the kid's wellbeing? To stay with a ghost like Qi Rong...».
He Xuan scoffed: «Your personal grievances don't affect what relationships other people have. GuZi sees Qi Rong as his father, and he is treated as a son, not as prey. Leave your judgment out of other people's business».
And oh, the ghost truly knew what he was talking about. Wasn't that the reason why he ended up dead at the bottom of the sea? An outsider stepping into his life to make a judgment no one ever asked for?
«Tell me, Tai Hua», he took a step forward, staring at the god. «What are you planning to do, after Qi Rong leaves the Kiln? Are you going after him? Will you try to scatter his ashes?».
Scatter his ashes...
It was tempting, the martial god had to admit it.
However, listening to what Xie Lian had to say and now learning in first person that Qi Rong had willingly became a foster father for a child that wasn't trying to run away from him, his intentions shifted. It had been so long, after all, so many years had passed since the damned Gilded Banquet that took away all he had.
More importantly, though, Lang QianQiu actually thought of the way Xie Lian called out the heavens for their hypocrisy.
Who was really at fault, between him and Qi Rong? Who was at fault, between XianLe and Yong'An?
There was no clear line. They all had their faults, and they all had their praises. Both kingdoms had been wronged by one another, in the past. Calling one out for wanting revenge without blaming the other was nothing but plain hypocrisy.
Qi Rong planned a coup and spilled blood, but Lang QianQiu's father didn't hesitate a second before blaming even the innocents of those who remained of XianLe.
Who was at fault and who was right?
«I will not rob that kid of his father», Lang QianQiu said, his tone strong and his voice unwavering. «But he cannot live all his days with a ghost. It's harmful, he's only a human».
And a youngling, to top it off. It was dangerous for children to be so close to ghosts, without other kinds of interactions with living people.
«Why do you care? Heavenly officials don't normally think about something as insignificant as a single mortal life».
«Some lives are significant».
But that wasn't the reason.
No, in reality, Lang QianQiu felt a bit guilty. It was his fault Qi Rong's soul inhabited the body of a mortal man, coincidentally being the father of that kid. He was the one responsible for that situation, in a way. He still thought his anger back then was justified, but now there was a deeper understanding of what his actions entailed.
As if heavenly officials like Lang QianQiu really cared about that.
«GuZi is happier with Qi Rong than he was with his biological father. Don't bother yourself with the emotional explanation», He Xuan beat him on time, knowing full well what kind of speech he was about to listen to.
Spoiled Crown Princes could be incredibly predictable.
«He still needs to interact with living beings, away from ghosts. Hua Cheng is a problem as well». Xie Lian might be one, too.
At that, He Xuan almost snickered. It was entirely too amusing, listening to Lang QianQiu talk. Not that he was wrong, of course, but would he even be able to convince Xie Lian or Hua Cheng with his words? His bet was on a categorical no.
Hua Cheng still hated him to the bone for what he did to his beloved god, and Xie Lian... well, he probably despised him under all those layers of good manners and old affections. He Xuan knew that if he was nailed inside of three coffins with a blunt wooden dowel, he would definitely have at least some degree of dislike for the perpetrator.
«Good luck talking to His Highness about this. In fact – He Xuan realized halfway through his sentence – you might have to convince Qi Rong as well. He's only days away from emerging, now».
That said, without sparing another word or glance, He Xuan turned his back on Lang QianQiu and walked away from him, back up the steps and inside the shrine. Before closing the door behind himself, however, he heard the god talk to him again.
«Have you seen Lord Wind Master?».
He Xuan gritted his teeth so hard the sound might have been obvious to the keen ears of the martial god still staring at his back. He didn't not expect Lang QianQiu, of all people, to ask him about Shi QingXuan.
«What about him?», the ghost replied, without turning around. «He's busy taking care of his problems, we've only been talking via communication array».
A scoff came to his lips, and he added: «What, are you suspicious? Why don't you squint your eyes at me too, while you're at it?
Of course he would be suspicious. Shi QingXuan disappeared at a critical time, after all, but He Xuan still didn't like that.
Lang QianQiu didn't pick up the taunt; it would be useless anyway, Ming Yi was untouchable behind the protection built by Xie Lian.
Instead, he huffed in annoyance: «Why don't you appear before the Emperor, then? You can't blame the Heavenly Court for asking questions, this situation it still convoluted».
He didn't realize the Earth Master was such a pain to deal with. It was a good thing he rarely interacted with anything that wasn't a plate of food or a cup of wine.
«Who's going to watch over GuZi, if I leave? I can't bring a human child to the heavens».
«I'll do it».
He Xuan was stunned. So much that he actually turned around, and scrutinized the resolute expression on Lang QianQiu's face, searching for any sign of mocking hiding beneath the surface. He couldn't find a single one.
«What makes you think Xie Lian and Hua Cheng will allow you? No, I'll raise you one better». The ghost frowned, leaning on the doorframe: «What makes you think GuZi will allow you? You wanted to kill his father».
That seemed to shut Lang QianQiu up. However, He Xuan couldn't deny it was a great opportunity. His powers had completely settled down, now, there wasn't a single trace of unsteadiness in how he controlled his own spiritual existence. It would have been a faster recovery if he went into hibernation, but it still worked.
At that point, He Xuan mainly avoided the heavens because he didn't want to face Jun Wu and his questions. Of course he wasn't afraid of being discovered, not even the Emperor himself could see through his disguise, but it was still annoying.
Plus, Shi QingXuan was on the run – at least figuratively – and Xie Lian had a feud going on with the majority of those who inhabited the Heavenly Capital. Considering his relationship with both of them, it didn't quite make sense for him to disregard everything and go meet Jun Wu as if nothing was going on.
The refusal didn't discourage Lang QianQiu, who almost took a step forward only to realize he would be hit by the blessing if he did so.
What a pain.
«Listen, go clear your name. I'm not kidnapping that child, I...».
«You want to be forgiven so easily?», He Xuan actually scoffed with a brief laugh. «Dream on».
«Jun Wu suspects the Lord Wind Master to be entangled with Black Water Sinking Ships», the martial god spoke up, before the one before him could slam the door in his face. «If you come out clear, the Emperor will stop thinking you're him».
Oh, what a fool. What an unassuming, blind fool.
«Sit down and wait», He Xuan told him, before going inside. «I have some people to talk to».
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Feng Xin slammed both hands on his desk, sending piles of dreadfully boring paperwork flying: «What the fuck do you mean "Ming Yi is back"? Are you fucking kidding me?».
The poor junior official that brought the message to his martial god flinched back at the loud yelling in his direction, so Feng Xin raised his hands from the – now cracked – wood and took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fingers as he regained some of his composure.
With Ming Yi back in the Heavenly Capital, many of the theories he and Mu Qing came up with went flying straight out the window.
Mu Qing actually believed the Earth Master wasn't exactly who he claimed himself to be; in fact, he theorized he might be Black Water, and there were many instances that could confirm that hypothesis. Shi QingXuan being on edge during the last meeting and disappearing soon after voices of him colluding with evil started coming up was just a major one of them.
Another one was the fact that Ming Yi seemed to be in such good terms with Xie Lian, but hated the guts of every other heavenly official, and even categorically refused to have junior officials working under him. No god in their right mind, especially one that had believers all over a massive expanse of territory, would refuse to have people working for him. If only to ease the extensive amount of labor being the Earth Master entailed.
And speaking of that, Ming Yi never cared about doing anything that could fulfill his title of Earth Master. He never even took out his shovel all that much, which was weird if one thought about it. All of his temples were still standing and all his believers still flourishing, but in so many centuries Ming Yi did almost nothing for them.
Those few times he left the heavens wasn't to visit his temples, and Jun Wu himself rarely gave him any tasks to accomplish. For one of the five masters, it seemed incredibly suspicious. Especially if one confronted him with the others, who all fulfilled the obligations given by their titles.
With those, and many other examples to take into account, both Mu Qing and Feng Xin started theorizing about it. They wanted to understand why Xie Lian let a Ghost King stay in the heavens for such a long time, and why he was still willingly lying to the heavenly officials when it came to him. Mu Qing was a bit curious about the reason why Shi QingXuan of all people seemed to be in such good relations with He Xuan, but it wasn't important for them.
What they wanted was a way to understand Xie Lian before facing him head on, by looking at those things no one ever cared for.
Now, though...
«Go, don't bother me anymore. I'll have Xuan Zhen come over, try not to disturb us», he ordered his junior, who bowed and didn't think twice before running away.
Ming Y coming back to the heavens scrambled all of their thoughts about him. Surely He Xuan wouldn't be so reckless; thanks to Mount Tong'lu getting ready to spit out a Devastation, and thanks to Xie Lian causing not few troubles, the entire Heavenly Court was on high alert. Since they angered such an influential official, one that could decide to have his husband and dear friend overthrow the heavens with something as simple as asking, the gods were terrified of ghosts infiltrating their sacred territory.
A Ghost King walking the heavens risked so much, it wasn't ever worth the hassle.
Surely He Xuan wasn't so stupid, after pulling off a murder as precise and unexpected as the one of Shi Wudu. Either that, or the heavenly officials living above the clouds were incredibly foolish and a Ghost King like him would have no troubles showing up with no retaliation against him.
After seeing the state of things, recently, Feng Xin was more than certain the latter was possible.
Still.
Him coming back ruined the assumption of Shi QingXuan fleeing the heavens, instead of simply leaving.
Were Feng Xin and Mu Qing so wrong about Xie Lian that they assumed he would never be able to have friendly relations with other officials, or were they so wrong they assumed he would never betray the heavens but did so anyway?
How could they face him with their questions, if there was nothing for them to start from?
Feng Xin didn't want to show up on his doorstep and ask questions after assuming things he had no idea about.
Sure, he knew Xie Lian was close to He Xuan, but was he conspiring with Black Water by letting his disguise go unnoticed? To ask a question without being insulting, one needed to know at least something. If Feng Xin – or Mu Qing, for all that mattered – wrongly accused him of something... gods, Hua Cheng would skin them alive, after all that happened.
«Quit thinking so much, I'm not going to pick up the pieces of your brain when it will inevitably explode».
Seeing how much his fellow martial god was stressing over things, Mu Qing knew he had been informed of Ming Yi's return as well. It also meant that his intention of visiting his palace had been caused by a correct feeling, because he hadn't been summoned there by anyone.
Feng Xin huffed, falling back in his chair, arms slumped on the armrests: «What am I supposed to do if not think?».
Expecting a similar response, Mu Qing fought down the urge of rolling his eyes and sat in front of his friend, propping both elbows on the cluttered desk. That place was always a mess, the god still didn't like visiting all that much. He preferred his much more tidier palace.
«Ming Yi being back should make us realize it's impossible to grasp an overview of Xie Lian's situation on our own», Mu Qing calmly pointed out, more resigned than anything else. Something as simple as the Earth Master returning changed so many variables that the god had no choice but understand they had no way of solving all those questions without asking.
«So what? Screw all out efforts?».
Feng Xin scoffed: «We can't show up a Paradise Manor and make assumptions because we're both ignorant, Crimson Rain will fucking murder us».
That's another thing Mu Qing spared some thoughts about.
Would Crimson Rain Sought Flower really cause harm to them, if they made a mistake while talking to Xie Lian? Based on what they both saw, it was a possibility, was it was also quite improbable. Hua Cheng already tried to throw his anger at them, since the day Xie Lian ascended for the third time, but he never followed through with his intention.
Sure, one might say it was because of Xie Lian himself, who was there to stop him from making reckless acts, but Mu Qing didn't believe he would truly hurt them.
Even if he hated their guts.
He cared more about Xie Lian's feelings than anything else, and the martial god doubted the prince would be pleased in learning his husband killed or wounded his two former attendants.
«If we don't anger him, he won't. We can't stop being ignorant if we don't ask. Trying to search for answers by dancing around the issue is doing nothing for us».
However, Mu Qing wasn't a fool. He knew Crimson Rain loathed and despised him a lot more than Feng Xin. While he surely didn't like both of them, Feng Xin never intentionally hurt Xie Lian. Even when he left, it wasn't completely his decision.
Mu Qing, on the other hand... not only he abandoned Xie Lian in a crucial moment of his life, he also humiliated him in front of many other officials. He actually hurt him, to the point of Xie Lian running away in total distress and shame, a ghost fire the only protection and help he was given. It didn't matter how much Mu Qing deserved and needed to get away, acting like that in the cave was the biggest mistake he could have possibly made.
And it was a mistake that Hua Cheng surely never forgot. He was there, after all, he was the ghost fire that desperately tried to protect Xie Lian, despite being nothing more than a weak wisp of soul.
If anything, Mu Qing was the one truly in danger, not Feng Xin.
He didn't say it out loud.
«There's still time. Qi Rong's not going to leave the Kiln yet», he said instead, leaning back in his chair. «Let's see how things play out, and we'll act accordingly».
Feng Xin, from his helpless confusion, could only agree.