Chapter Text
He Xuan sighed. He missed the old days sometimes. Yeah, having a cellphone was nice and all, but there were much less expectations of him back when he was simply a Ghost King fresh out of the Kiln.
Now, the Ghost Realm and the Heavenly Realm were on much better terms, in mutual agreement to band together for the good of all of them. Jun Wu was essentially gone, likely about to fade any day now. He simply couldn’t adapt to the technology of the new age, and his followers stopped following him.
This led to Ling Wen taking over as Heavenly Empress. With women finally gaining more respect as the years went on, many mortals actually respected her as the Empress, and she gained more followers every year.
Unfortunately, this led to a gap in management. Ling Wen used to be the top civil god, but that changed when she became the Heavenly Empress. And now He Xuan is the top civil god. He hates it. He would much rather be dead with no hope of reincarnation than be a civil god.
It’s funny, he thinks. His dreams when he was mortal consisted of him ascending as a civil god. His younger self was stupid.
That leads him to where he is now. Lang Qianqiu is somehow still alive in modern times, and he came to him with a problem.
“This ghost just won’t leave my followers alone.” Lang Qianqiu lamented, rubbing his brow. “He only died within the past 15 years, and all he does is scream western pop lyrics to anyone who will listen. He’s determined to rant to everyone about the songs written by this band that panics at a disco party? I haven’t even heard of them before.”
He Xuan sighed. “And why didn’t you go to Hua Cheng for this?”
“He’s a scary guy.” Lang Qianqiu said. “Everytime I go up to talk to him he just glares at me. I know I’m from Yong’an and he hates my country for whatever reason, but it’s been thousands of years now and he still looks like he’s going to murder me every time I even glance in his direction!"
…yeah, he hates this job. “Hua Cheng isn’t scary if you just learn how to actually interact with other people.”
‘The previous Heavenly Emperor Jun Wu has completely faded.’ Ling Wen announced in the heaven’s communication array. ‘Those who wish to pay their respects may do so.’
They both ignored the announcement, continuing their conversation instead.
“You’re just saying that.” Lang Qianqiu said. “You’re the one who’s basically his brother.”
“Fine.” He Xuan groaned. “So this ghost is just annoying and loud. Can you relocate him?”
“I could try, but-”
The younger man suddenly broke off as his brow furrowed.
He Xuan assumed that one of his deputies had contacted him, and was about to open his mouth when Lang Qianqiu suddenly turned around. “I have to go.”
“For what?” He Xuan asked with exasperation. “Is it actually that important that you have to go now instead of getting this stupid matter resolved?”
“Fangxin.” Lang Qianqiu said simply.
He Xuan pursed his lips but ultimately did not prevent him from leaving, and instead followed him. Everyone knew of Lang Qianqiu's plight with his Guoshi. He knew better than most the feelings associated with someone you were meant to look up to, only for them to betray that.
He followed Lang Qianqiu as he drew a travel array, absently stepping forward to power it like he always does with Shi Qingxuan. Lang Qianqiu offered him a nod of thanks before stepping through the array.
He Xuan followed, and immediately raised his sleeve to his nose. It smelled disgusting.
Lang Qianqiu conjured a flame, and He Xuan never wished for the ability to see less.
“Where the fuck is this?” He Xuan asked. Basically every disgusting thing he could think of was here; bugs, mold, rotting rat corpses. However, none of that explained the overpowering smell of rot. There was no way those tiny rats could make this cave place smell this revolting.
“The wards around Guoshi’s coffin broke.” Lang Qianqiu said quietly. “It needed to be investigated immediately.”
“Your master is dead.” He Xuan said. “We’ve tried to recall his soul multiple times, and nothing ever came out of it. Surely he’s moved into the cycle of reincarnation by now.”
Lang Qianqiu led the way forward, and He Xuan could almost hear the screams as the darkness was squashed by the light.
It took only a minute of walking but with each passing second, He Xuan found himself rediscovering what it felt like to be a human and resist the urge to puke. Ghosts can’t puke. They don’t have a gag reflex.
The two men stopped once a coffin came into sight. Bright red blood was pooled around it, seeping into the stone around it and dying it a gross copper color. The wood of the coffin was somehow still in the shape of a coffin after all these years, dyed a coppery hue just like the stone.
The heavy wards placed in a circle around the coffin were no more, little more than burnt remnants of paper and flags.
The two of them jumped as they heard a sudden shrill scream, the coffin suddenly being engulfed in the green flame common to a ghost fire. Both him and Lang Qianqiu drew their weapons, the god with his sword and the ghost with his floating skeleton fish.
Despite the situation, He Xuan couldn’t help but be proud of his ability to change the size of his fish.
The flame went out as quickly as it grew, leaving only a small ghost fire hovering dully above the ashes of the coffin.
Though it might have been stupid, He Xuan stepped forward to investigate it. It was such a stupid idea that this ghost fire had only just formed when nothing had been inside this tomb for presumably the thousands of years since the Guoshi was buried.
The fresh, vividly red blood that had been pooling around the coffin was another indicator. His only question was how the Guoshi hadn’t died during the hundreds of years since he was buried.
“Fangxin?” He Xuan asked, his skeleton fish hovering in front of him protectively.
The flame burned brighter for a brief moment before dulling back to its previous brightness.
“What the fuck?” The Ghost King muttered underneath his breath. Either this was a really good illusion, or this was Guoshi Fangxin as a freshly formed ghost fire.
Lang Qianqiu stepped forward. “He’s a fresh ghost fire?”
“It appears that way.” He Xuan said, straightening his posture. He hadn’t realized that he was leaning forward. “But it doesn’t add up.”
Lang Qianqiu nodded. “He should’ve been dead and completely dispersed thousands of years ago.”
“Based on what I know, I think your master may have been an immortal of some kind.” He Xuan said, never taking his eyes off of the tiny green flame.
“But why would he have suddenly died now?” Lang Qianqiu asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Is there any chance he had some connection to Jun Wu?” He Xuan asked. “He just faded, so any spells he cast would've been destroyed.”
“I didn’t think he had any connection.” The younger man said with a furrowed brow. “The Heavenly Emperor never mentioned him after I ascended, and Guoshi never said anything about him either.”
“I’m calling Hua Cheng.” He Xuan with an exasperated roll of his eyes. “I don’t feel like dealing with this with just you.”
He half expected Lang Qianqiu to protest, but the god only nodded as he stared at the tiny ghost fire.
‘I need your help.’
‘With what?’ came the response. ‘Unfortunately, you’re perfectly capable of doing things on your own.’
‘I don’t think I want to deal with this on my own.’ He Xuan said. ‘Guoshi Fangxin just turned into a fresh ghost fire.’
‘He should’ve been dead a long time ago.’ Hua Cheng commented, though he sounded much more serious than before.
‘Exactly.’ He Xuan said. ‘There’s something up, but whatever is it, it’s powerful, and I would rather exploit your experience with fresh ghost fires.’
‘Fine.’ Hua Cheng said. ‘Roll your dice and I’ll set up an array to come to your location.’
Before he could say anything, Hua Cheng disconnected their array. He Xuan grumbled as he pulled out his dice, tossing them in the air before catching them in his hands. He pocketed them once more, and folded his arms as he waited to see the other Ghost King.
There was a jingling before Hua Cheng stepped out of the darkness behind them. Lang Qianqiu quickly stepped to the side, while He Xuan simply turned around with a raised eyebrow.
“Took you long enough.”
“Shut up, fishface. Why don’t you try to pause a painting mid-session. Time freezing arrays are somewhat difficult to make on the fly.” Hua Cheng retorted, before his gaze landed on the ghost fire. His gaze hardened and he stepped past them, stopping just past where the pool of blood was finally starting to dry.
“How long ago did it form?” Hua Cheng asked, scrutinizing the flame from where he stood.
“Just a few minutes.” Lang Qianqiu provided.
Hua Cheng shot him a glare, and the god shrunk slightly.
“I don’t know why you two are so scared.” Hua Cheng said, reaching out to grab the flame. “It’s just a ghost fire, which are-”
The elder Ghost King froze mid-sentence, his hand having only just clasped around the flame.
Neither of them could see his expression, but they could see the way his entire body went tense.
He Xuan immediately stepped forward, placing a hand on Hua Cheng’s shoulder as he leaned down to see his expression.
The Ghost King’s singular eye was blown wide with genuine shock, locked onto the ghost fire in his hand.
He Xuan looked at the flame, noting nothing of significance. He attempted to grab the flame from the older Ghost King, but Hua Cheng quickly wrapped his other hand around it and brought it to his chest.
“Don’t touch.” he growled.
“Hua Cheng, what is it?” He Xuan asked, his brow furrowed. Lang Qianqiu faded into the background as he held eye contact with his longest friend.
The Ghost King stayed silent, simply looking back down at the ghost fire. This time, his expression of shock was tinged with grief.
“I won’t take it from you, but what is going on?” He Xuan repeated, placing his hands firmly on Hua Cheng’s shoulders.
Hua Cheng didn’t respond for another minute, never averting his gaze from the ghost fire cradled gently to his chest.
When he finally did speak, his voice was quiet.
“...His Highness. This is His Highness.”