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PART 1 – A Forgotten Letter

Si Ge,

… Si Ge, I’ve thought it over, and I still want to tell you something.

I met the Ghost Prince, and we like each other.

Me and him, we didn’t do anything inappropriate, he doesn’t even know that I’m a girl yet, but I think he is the one.

When he nags, I get annoyed. But when he stops, it feels worse. He sends me the most stupid, girlish things, with no use whatsoever. But when he doesn't, I can't help wanting to throw a very large, very heavy stone at his head.

But now the tension between Heaven and the Ghost Tribe has gotten worse. The Ghost Lord will fight Heaven sooner or later.

Si Ge, sometimes I wish we could just leave everything behind and just be somewhere else. Maybe on a small hut on Mount Junji, drinking when we are thirsty, eating when hungry... Just life. Pure, simple, and beautiful.

I know it’s wrong, but he and I…

Li Jing closed his eyes, the letter locked tightly between his frozen fingers as the meaning behind those few words finally begun to sink.

I think he is the one.

The Ghost Prince chuckled. A broken, self-derisive sound that echoed hollowly inside the empty room.

Maybe his family was truly cursed, after all. Maybe he simply couldn’t outrun the desgrace of his Father’s blood running through his veins.

Because, how else didn’t he notice? How come he didn’t know?

Si Yin loved him…

His A-Yin loved him.

Li Jing felt his knees weaken, his weight falling agains the wall for support as the tears finally freed themselves from his lashes, sliding silently down his face and into his collar, dampening the dark red of his clothes.

At that moment, the Ghost Prince thought that, if he was anywhere else, he might actually be laughing at his own stupidity.

It had been in his face all along. The truth. 

In every blush, every shy answer, every half smile... It was as if she was hinting at her own secret, asking him to understand, to see beyond his eyes.

Still... At the end, he had failed her. Over and over, he failed her.

After everything, was he even any better than his Father? Was he any different from the monster that haunted his deepest, darkest memories?

What would Mother think of me, now…?

Li Jing found that his only consolation was that the Heavens couldn’t hate him more than he hated himself at that moment.

”It will always be you" he had promised just a few nights earlier, his fingers playing with A-Yin’s hand as her head rested over his shoulder "It doesn't matter to me wether you are a man, a woman or even a Heavenly Beast. It is you. It is who you are that matters to me. It is enough.".

"Knowing your heart... Li Jing... That is enough for a lifetime".

But apparently, it hadn’t been, not for the Ghost Prince.

Li Jing still couldn't understand what had happened that night... Why he'd fallen into that woman's trap, why had he betrayed the one person he loved with his entire self, treating her feelings so callously. Without remorse, without looking back. Without a moment's hesitation.

It was his fault – his own, shameful weakness.

After having so many concubines, after sleeping with so many, man and woman alike, he felt almost detached as Xuan Nu came to him. Her smile so sweet, her skin so soft against his. It felt like holding his A-Ying close for the first time... For a few seconds, he permitted himself to dream, to wonder how could life be so good. It had been the perfect fantasy…

…If only he could ignore the eyes. 

It didn't matter how good the disguise, how similar the of them looked, Li Jing knew, he simply knew, deep in his heart, there would never be a pair of eyes like Si Ying's to him.

Her deep, caring, mischievous phoenix eyes were engraved in his very soul.

Si Ge, I think he is the one.

Li Jing looked down at the paper still clutched close to his burning heart, the light, yellowish color a stark contrast with the cold stone floor of A-Yin’s chambers on Kunlun Mountain.

Everything was so quiet, so empty. There was not a single painting, not one piece of clothing left around. Where once all his presents had stayed, now only an empty, clean shelf was left.

It almost felt like the room itself was mocking him. Laughing at the stupid Prince that would never be enough. That, when it mattered the most, would always make the wrong choices.

'How could I have been so blind?'

She had loved him, just as much as he had loved her - maybe even more. 

Even if she didn’t show. Even if she mocked his gifts and flipped his poems away… Li Jing had always known she cared, hadn’t he? Always seen the spark of affection on her eyes when they were together. 

Alas, it didn't matter anymore. It was already too late.

Their fate, Li Jing realized, was like the first snow... Coming and going with brightness and strength. And then disappearing quietly, like clean water melting back into the ground, till there was nothing left of its beauty but a soft, distant memory.

His eyes rose sharply with the long, whistling sound that reverberated through the walls, his entire posture stiffening at the thought that one of his Father’s underlings might see him in a moment of weakness. 

And he had to be strong. Because even if his heart was broken beyond repair, even he had nothing left of light in his life… There was still his little sister. Yan Zhi was the better half of him. She was the one part he wouldn’t allow to get hurt in the crossfire.

Yan Zhi had done nothing to be judged for their Father’s mistakes.

So he had to stand his ground. He had to be firm and move forward. 

For her. For the last spark of good left in his heart. 

With the second whistle, Li Jing’s gaze strayed once more to the letter on the ground.

It was finally time to leave Kunlun Mountain. 

They had already gotten the strategy maps. Already guaranteed that the Ghost army would be able to thwart the entire formation of their enemies. Now, Li Jing had only to go back. To stand tall by his Father’s side and watch as the world burned.

To stay unmoved as all the realms fell into a war that might end up killing her.

“Sometimes, destiny is deep... Yet fate is shallow"

With one more long, fortifying breath, the Ghost Prince straightened his shoulders, leaving that small room behind as the old letter was kept carefully stored inside his vest, just over his heart.

He was ready.

For the firs time in his life, Li Jing, the unwanted, lazy Prince of the Ghost Tribes knew what to do.

And he wasn't scared anymore. 

Not even for a second.

PART 2 – THE BELL OF THE EASTERN EMPEROR

"Seventeen?"

Bai Qian looked up, a slight frown appearing between her brows as she took in the worried look on Shifu's face. Through all her years on Kunlun Mountain, the Fox Princess had never seen Mo Yuan like that. 

She was no stranger to the flash of anger that could light up his gaze and be gone just as fast. She had been witness to his frustration with the Sky Emperor, and his look of resignation when the news that war was unavoidable finally reached the Mountain.

She had seen kindness on the turn of his eyes when he rescued her from the Goddess Yao Guang, and even a streak of amused resignation whenever he caught her daydreaming behind a book.

But now was different. 

In the thousands of years they had known each other, Bai Qian had never seen him worried before.

A cold, foreboding feeling slid down her spine.

Because in that one second before High God Mo Yuan was able to school his expression, she had already seen it. The man that hid behind his kind eyes, a stranger that carried the knowledge and grief of a thousand lifetimes on his gaze.

For the first time, Bai Qian felt like she was in the pretense of the famous God of War, Mo Yuan.

"Shifu?" she asked worriedly "What is wrong? Did they not agree with your plan? I thought Goddess Yao Guang was going to help!".

Mo Yuan only smiled softly, his hands still gripped behind his back.

Sometimes, the High God found himself worried if taking her in had actually been a mistake. From her first moment, Bai Qian had been mischievous and strong-willed, easily jumping around her older disciple-brothers as she pulled pranks and escaped to the Mortal Realm.

Maybe his old Mountain was not strong enough for her personality, after all. 

But then, there were these other times… Times he could only feel blessed. For being able to see the sparkle of excitement and youth in her eyes, to see her smiling and dancing and remember how it had been once, to feel strong and undefeated.

The Mo Yuan sang and praised as the God of War was a man that didn’t exist anymore. What was left, after so much blood and pain and loss, was just a shell, a recluse man that kept to his mountain. Favoring isolation to the changes of the world.

It was Bai Qian’s youth that let him know, even for the briefest of moments, how it would feel to be that man again.

"Seventeen, come with Master for a bit" he asked instead, motioning for them to slowly walk towards the camp entrance, the cold, white moonlight shining brightly over their heads.

”When the world was still young, there was a saying between us, my Father's children..." he said eventually, his gaze lost on the night sky "It takes a single drop for the water to overflow, but it takes thousands to fill a river... Seventeen, do you understand what Shifu is trying to say?".

Bai Qian only blinked, her frown growing as she remembered hearing those same words before, many years earlier. It had probably been from Zhe Yan, she decided, in a particularly drunken night… 

The old phoenix didn’t really care about partaking wisdom to the younger generation, only deciding to wax poetry when deep in his cups!

"There is no need to strain yourself" Mo Yuan chuckled softly, bringing her attention back to his indulgent smile "Seventeen... You're still so young and naive. Have you ever considered how big the world is? How much we actually have to lose?" he breathed deeply, a far-away look clouding his features once more "The actions of a single man put into motion the wheels of fate. But I'm afraid, this time, it'll be needed more than his blood for the engines to stop."

The fox squirmed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

By her side, the High God closed his eyes, the moonlight shining over his upturned face, making his beautiful, timeless features even more alluring as they walked. And Bai Qian knew, even as the years progressed, and through everything that followed, she would never forget Mo Yuan's expression at that moment.

The moment she understood they were much farther from winning than the Sky Emperor was willing to accept.

"Seventeen, did I ever tell you about the Bell of the Eastern Emperor?"

And it was right there, at the gates of a dusty, bloody war camp, with only the moon and the smell of ash and sweat around the two of them, that the Fox Princess finally understood what it meant to be an adult.

That was the moment Ba Qian left her childhood behind.

PART 3 – SACRIFICE

“JIU SHIXIONG!” (A/N: Ninth Brother).

The world came to a sudden halt.

Mo Yuan, Qing Cang, the blades crossing, the blood flowing like a thousand rivers… Time seemed to slow to a crawl as her gaze locked with Ninth Brother's wide-opened eyes, his feet staggering as thick, warm blood dripped from his mouth. 

Bai Qian felt her mind go blank.

For a moment, it felt like her heart had stopped, the only sound of the battlefield the loud ringing on her ears. 

And then his gaze focused on her, eye already glazed as his lips curved into the tiniest of smiles. 

His face softened.

The general screamed over the jumble of her mind.

And the, the ghost soldiers ripped their spears out of his chest with a single, merciless pull. 

Bai Qian didn't know she had moved until Jiu Shixiong's body weighed down against her own, his head falling limp over her shoulder as the two tumbled to the ground. All along, she called for him, her hands trying to hold onto the gashes that had ripped his white, pristine armor to shreds. 

But the blood just wouldn’t stop flowing, pooling around the two of them like an open wound to the very earth.

Her hands were red now too, she noticed.

Her hands, her clothes, her arms…

Part of her wondered if she would ever be able to wash away the stain. If maybe her hands would forever be bloody, like a proof that they had all failed that day.

"Jiu Shixiong!" she called once more, shaking him slightly as her voice broke "Jiu Shixiong, I'm here...! Please, I'm here now! I will help you. Jiu Shixiong!”

And then finally, his larger, shaky hand found her own.

But it was wrong. Still so wrong… 

Ninth Brother had never been this cold before.

"Seventeen..." he whispered, eyes glassy, barely lucid “Seventeen… Go… Quick, you have to go…”

No... No... no! 

She shook her head, silent tears streaming uncontrollably over her face. Bai Qian wouldn't leave. She couldn't leave him there. He couldn't... He...

"Ninth Brother! Ninth Brother, you have to stay awake" she begged, barely conscious of the approaching enemies surrounding them from all sides “Seventeen will take you out of here, okay? I... I will get you to Shifu, S-Shifu will save you!" she kept going on, willing him to stay awake "Night Brother, please! You can't... You can't..."

He coughed, more blood spilling from his discolored lips.

"So... Tired..." his words, slow and soft, sounded like the final rip on her sanity.

“JIU SHIXIONG!” Bai Qian cried, completely unaware of Li Jing's figure fighting his elder brother and Mo Yuan's desperate calls for her to go back. 

It didn’t matter, anyway.

Not now.  Maybe not ever again.

"Ninth Brother... Ninth... Ling Yu! Ling Yu! Please, you have to wake up! You can't die here! Please, Ling Yu! Ling Yu!".

Why wouldn't he open his eyes? Why couldn't he just answer?

"Ling Yu!" Bai Qian screamed, shaking his unmoving body as she tried to find a way to fix it, to burry the small voice inside her head that kept saying it was her fault. 

Her fault, her faul her fault,…

If she hadn't met Li Jing, If she hadn't brought Xuan Nu to the mountain... If she hadn't been so childish in wanting to visit the Purple Palace…

My fault. My fault, my fault... All my fault.

“Ling Yu…! Please…”

The words kept echoing on her head, an endless vortex gripping all the strength left on her body... 

Until she heard it. 

His laugh.

The laugh of the man that had started it all.

The laugh of the man that should be dead… That should be the one laying on a pool of his own blood in Ling Yu’s place.

Bai Qian knew Si Ge had left his post at some point, trying to reach for her. She knew there was something terribly wrong with that scenery. Something she was missing. But the other part of her... The biggest one, just felt numb. Bai Qian couldn't think. She couldn't plan. 

There was just Ling Yu's weight on her arms... And the Ghost King's laughter on her ears.

The Ghost was roaring, his head thrown back as he taunted her Shifu, his despicable excuse of a son by his side, a wide grin illuminating his face as Yan Zhi contained Li Jing, gripping his arm to keep him from joining the fray.

Suddenly, Bai Qian felt calm, her hands shaking so hard she felt like they were about to brake. 

But that didn't matter. 

Nothing mattered at that moment. 

Because she had reached her limit.

With jaw set, eyes burning with vengeance, the Fox Princess reached for her fan, jolting it with energy until she was holding a long, double-edged sword on her hands.

"Seventeen!" she thought she heard Mo Yuan scream “Si Ying! Don't do this!”.

It was already too late, anyway.

______________

Her eyes where hollowed. 

Li Jing thought he might never forget the look on her eyes at that very moment. The way she looked haunted, devastated. So far gone into her own mind he doubted she could hear even if her Master called for her.

His fingers tightened around his sword, a heavy weight settling over his chest.

My fault. All my fault.

If only he had not believed Xuan Nu; If only he had been stronger; if only he had stood up to his father… 

At this point, there were simply too many 'ifs' between them.

"Brother!" 

Li Jing blinked, his attention snapping back as Yan Zhi tugged at his arm desperately, trying to stop him from breaking free of her hold and lunging forward in Li Yuan's direction. 

“Brother, please! Please, stop! It's too late" her voice was sad, wobbly with unshed tears "Please, let go… I don’t want to see you hurt!”

Li Jing stopped, all fight leaving him as his face fell.

“A-Yin…” he whispered brokenly, chancing another glance at her. Just ano–

Her face suddenly shot up, expression empty, lifeless like a rag doll. 

She got up slowly, releasing a gush of internal energy as her fan extended into a blade.

The Ghost Prince froze, fear gripping at his insides as he took in the murderous look in her eyes. 

And then the world shook.

Looking up as more and more soldiers from both sides fell, fighting to keep himself and his sister on their feet, Li Jing watched, in growing panic, as his father conjured the Bell of the Eastern Emperor from an air pocket, raising his hand hight before ring it with a loud, maniac laugh. 

The entire Ruoshui river came to a halt.

A heartbeat of confused silence

Another clang as the bell rose even higher over the water.

And then chaos.

From every side, soldiers, ghosts, rocks, trees, dirt, everything was sucked by the silent strength of the bell, its size only growing more and more at each new offering, until there was nothing left bu a fiery hole, devouring everything on its wake.

“He is going to kill us all…” Li Jing realized, exchanging a short, terrified look with his sister.

“Er-Ge!!" Yan Zhi called pitifully “Er-Ge, what can we do, now?”

But just as he was about to answer – nothing, there was nothing that could be done anymore – A-Yin screamed, her body shaking as she lunged from the ground, as if trying to reach for the Ghost Lord. 

Li Jing didn’t know he had moved until his arms were encircling her small body, trying to hold her still as she attacked him with every manner of spell she could think of.

“Let me go! Get away from me!! GO!”

“A-Yin! A-Yin!” He called, trying to reach her between the pain and despair gushing out of her in waves "A-Yin, please! Please, you can't! He will kill you!"

"I'm gonna kill him!" she screamed instead "He's going to pay for this! I swear! He is going to pay!"

"A-Yin!" Li Jing grasped her by the shoulders, shaking her forcefully until her eyes cleared, looking at him with a semblance of recognition "A-Ying, you have to stop! He is going to kill you! It is too late now! Stop!”

Si Yin stopped so suddenly, the prince almost lost his balance, her body still as a rock in front of him.

"What is it to you if I die?" she whispered venomously, eyes burning with fury as her legs begun to shake "What is any of this to you? You, Li Jing, betrayed us. You betrayed me! You are just like your father!"

The Ghost Prince stumbled back, her bitter words hitting him like a punch on the gut.

"A-Yin..." he called softly, unable to hide the pain on his voice "A-Ying, please... It's not as you think..."

"It doesn't matter now, though, does it?" she retorted, face cold as ice "You chose your side. I chose mine. We can never again walk the same path."

No. No, no... He didn't want to hear it. His heart was crumbling into peaces, shattering slowly inside his chest.

A-Yin...

Thunder clashed above, their eyes instinctively darting up as the fight stopped around them. There was another moment of tense wait, the two weapons locked onto each other as the immortals qi raged. And then it happed.

On the sky, Mo Yuan had stabbed the Ghost King.

For a second, the world went completely still. The air turning into ice on his lungs. Li Jing couldn't breath. He couldn't move.

His father...

But the bell rang again, the ominous sound lost into his fathers crazed laugh.

By his side, Bai Qian’s eyes widened, her face going deathly pale in realization.

"SHIFU!" she screamed, a madness he had never seen taking her expression as Mo Yuan stood frozen in the air, his eyes straying to the bell in resignation. 

"SHIFU!"

Li Jing grabbed at her hand, trying hard to ignore her shoving, screaming and punching as she reached for her master.

“Stop! Stop! You don't understand!" she grasped at his front robes, bringing the two to a halt "He is going to sacrifice himself! He is going to die for the bell! I have to stop it! I have to stop it!" she cried desperate, looking at him with pleading eyes "Please, you have to let me go! I can't lose him, too! Please, let me go! SHIFU!”

The ground shook.

The bell rang again. Stronger. Louder then before.

"Shifu..." Bai Qian mumbled, Li Jing finally letting go as another fox reached for her “Shifu… Please... please don't..."

Li Jing looked up, reading the resolve on Mo Yuan's eyes.

He understood what the High God was willing to do, but seeing his A-Ying… Seeing the broken look on her face… Li Jing knew he couldn’t allow it to happen. Not again. Not if with had to live with the knowledge that his actions had broken the most beautiful thing to happen in his life.

If any of them deserved to have any measure of happiness out of this… It was her.

Always her.

With a new resolve, the Ghost Prince flew up to the sky, stopping only when he was standing beside a tired, bloody Mo Yuan.

"This is not your responsibility, War God.”

"Ghost Prince, Li Jing" he acknowledged “The Bell is my own creation. I could never ask for anyone to atone for my failures. This is what I must do.”

“A sword that is not wielded is not a weapon. The fault is not on the blacksmith that builds, but in the warrior that destroys” the prince recited, giving himself the right to enjoy Mo Yuan’s wide eyes at seeing him recite the doctrines his own father had written before entering the void.

“Besides, you didn't ask, High God” Li Jing continued with a bitter smile "Since the beginning of times, aren’t children always paying for their father's sins?”

“Er-Ge!!” The prince stilled, closing his eyes at Yan Zhi's sudden call “Er-Ge! Er-Ge, what are you doing!?”

But Li Jing couldn’t turn to her. He couldn’t allow himself to look her. Because he knew, deep down, that his resolve was like gauzy fabric, standing a single tear away from shattering.

"When this is over" Li Jing said, fighting to keep his voice still “Please... Spare her. You can do anything you want with my brother, he is too dangerous to be left free, but Yan Zhi... She is good. This was nothing of her doing."

Slowly, Mo Yuan's old gaze turned back at him.

"I would never hurt an innocent" he vowed "This was a feud your father begun. And it died with him."

The ghost nodded, fighting to keep his gaze straight, to ignore A-Yin's confused cries, to not respond to the loud, beautiful sound of her cracked voice as she fought her brother's grip.

She hadn’t understood yet, had she?

A-Yin… Even at this moment, do you think so little of me?

Finally, as the warmth of the Bell descended over his skin, it's flames burning into his very soul, Li Jing gave up. Looking down at her distraught face, he whispered a last, soft request.

"Please, take care of her."

Mo Yuan didn't need an explanation to know who he was referring to.

"You have my word" he agreed softly, seemingly just as emotional as Li Jing was feeling.

Closing his eyes, Li Jing waited until the image of the first time he had met her took hold of his mind, conjuring for a last time her bright, mischievous eyes indignantly gazing at his as they stumbled into the waters of the Purple Palace.

'A-Yin... My A-Yin' he prayed 'We were not fated in this life... May Destiny be good so I can meet you on my next life. I promise, i will never betray you again.'

And with the memory of her smile warming his heart and the hopeful words of her forgotten letter tucked close to his heart, Li Jing flew up. 

Inside the Eastern Emperor's Bell.

To a better place, he hoped, where there was only the two of them. 

Where there were no mistakes between us.  

Where they could be happy, just two people that loved each other on a small cabin on the mountains…

"NO! LI JING!"

The Ghost Prince smiled, eyes closing as a small, lonely tear made its way down his cheek. 

Her voice. Her sweet voice – calling for him earnestly. Just like before.

Wether it was real or just imagination, in his heart, Li Jing knew it didn’t matter anymore. 

To go listening to her, to feel she cared for him one last time...

It was already enough.

At that time, as the fire of the Eastern Emperor's Bell enveloped him, it was indeed everything.

PART 4 – ANOTHER LIFE, ANOTHER WORLD

Shuangqing, China.

2021

Ma Shang jolted up from the bad, his breathing shallow and eyes wide as he stared at the dark room.

It was still the middle of the night, the air-conditioner turned up high on the ceiling. And yet, he was feeling warm – burning, like his muscles were still on fire.

“Ma Shang?”

His face jerked back, watching as An Jing rubbed the sleep from her eyes while tapping the bed-side table for the light-swish. 

“Is everything all right?"

Instead of answering, Ma Shang did the only thing he could. With a tight knot on his throat, the man lunged forward, bringing her back into his arms, holding her so tightly against his racing heart he wondered if she could actually heart it racing out of his chest.

“Ma Shang… Ma Shang, you are scaring me” An Jing tried again, but her arms rose to circle him too, the warmth of her body just barely seeping into his flailed nerves “You are so cold…” 

Ma Shang only hummed, burring his head on the side of her neck as he tried to shut away the images of that dream. To brush away the feeling of her eyes filled with hatred. The pain he had felt for disappointing the woman he loved so thoroughly that destruction had looked like the better ending to his life.

The Nacional Security agent didn’t know he had started crying until he felt her hand on his hair, brushing softly while his tears dampened her clothes.

“Shh… It was only a nightmare” An Jing eventually whispered against his neck, her breath playing over his skin like a soft, feathery kiss “It's over… We are all fine…”.

Ma Shang closed his eyes tighter, only managing a small hum at her words.

An Jing probably thought he was having a relapse about the case now that Du Meng had finally woken up from the come, and he couldn’t blame her for the assumption.

After Cheng Lei was arrested, he had been getting less and less sleep, even showing up by her front door once because he couldn’t silence the voice on his mind that told him Horus Corporation would eventually come for her. 

He didn’t think it was PTSD, exactly – in their line of work, Ma Shang had dealt with more disturbing cases before. It was probably just his mind cashing in ten years of worry, of thinking An Jing was dead, and then lost to him.

That the two had found their way back to each other, that they had managed to be together despite everything… Ma Shang felt that thanking the Heavens every night for the blessing was not enough.

They had decided to move in together only a couple months after his relocation to the Shuangqing Bureau – to the utter delight of their mothers, who thought they were subtle by already arranging for marriage sites and baby names – and the proximity, the feel of her next to him every night, the small babbling noises she did after a too long day on NSS… It was everything he never thought he would have a chance to experience.

And now, just that week, Du Meng had finally come out of his coma.

At the time, the doctors had been reticent, saying that the stab to his neck had damaged the artery too much – that if he survived, he might never wake up again.

But An Jing had never faltered.

“Du Meng is too stubborn to let you just waltz in his city without complaining about it. He will come back. He just needs some time to rest.”

Ma Shang hadn’t doubted her words, but his perspective was a bit more gloom.

So he understood her reasoning. That Du Meng’s awaking might be bringing back some bad memories. If he was being honest, the agent actually felt grateful. 

That was a dream he would never share with her. That was a fear he would never voice again. Not when, in their line of work, every case could very well be the last.

She was the best. He was a prodigy. But they weren’t gods. They were not invincible.

And to say the words, to make that one possibility real… Ma Shang was not strong enough.

“I'm sorry” he mumbled, finally letting go a bit from her, just enough so that they could face each other “It seams I am determined to interrupt your sleep, even when not intentionally” he joked, forcing a small smile.

An Jing scoffed.

“Shameless" she shot back, pushing the covers aside “Besides, you didn’t wake me… I was going to get something to drink, anyway.”

“Are you going to call room service this late?” He asked amusedly, the last remnants of the dream finally ebbing from his tired, stiff muscles.

“You were the one complaining that we should make better use of State Resources and book a single room” she reminded him with a lifted eyebrow “Now, thanks to your big mouth, there is nothing left – and I’m thirsty.”

Ma Shang grinned, unable to stop the innuendo just dying to slip from his mouth.

“One word” she shot “One word, and I go book another room.”

“Director Song would throw a fit having to explain the additional expense.”

“I'm sure he would survive” An Jing deadpanned, still looking a bit spiteful as the other agent rose from the bed, almost tumbling from the messy sheets before reaching to hug her once more from behind, his arms crossing over her thin shirt.

“An Jing…" he mumbled against her neck, his words warm against the soft skin "Please don’t be mad?”

The woman chortled, unable to prevent a small laugh at how silly he looked then, with hair a bird’s nest and yellow-ducks shorts.

Turning around, she looked at his beautiful, soulful eyes, fingers reaching instinctively to brush back a few stray strands of hair.

“You are ridiculous, did you know it?”

Ma Shang groaned.

“Aish this woman, such a sharp tongue! You are lucky I love you so much.”

At those words, An Jing’s eyes softened, her giggle falling into a caring smile as she took his face between her small hands.

“For some reason, I seem to love you too” she answered, brushing her lips against his “Better now?”

Ma Shang hummed, letting out a deep, fortifying breath as his hands fell over hers, their foreheads connecting.

“Mn.” He nodded “Just a nightmare. It is gone now.”

“Do you... Want to talk about it?”

“No. Maybe tomorrow” he conceded after a small moment’s hesitation “But not now.”

“Alright.”

“Now… Can we go back to bed?”

“I still want to call for something that is not tap water to drink.”

“You know, if you are awake enough to be picky–”

“MA SHANG!!”

If their laughter woke up the neighboring rooms, the two would let the Bureau deal with the extra fees. 

After all, they had saved on their expanses by booking a single room.

Chapter Text

This picks up After their return from Ziming Palace

Si Ge,

... Life at Kunlun Mountain has been quiet uneventful of late.

That nosy High Goddess has not been a problem anymore and, for reasons you might understand, Shifu has locked up the cellar. He must probably be trying to avoid trouble with any drunk disciple running around again.

Between classes and cultivating, being a Student to High God Mo Yuan is quite different from what I expected. All things considered, it is actually quite boring.

Si Ge, why is life so unfair? I bet you are still having fun annoying Zhe Yan.

Fortunately, I’ve made a new friend, now that Zi Lan is always too busy with lectures and long faces to play.

Write soon.

Si-Yin

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Si Ge, 

Why are you so lazy? You always like to talk so much, why did you write so little?

Next time give it for Zhe Yan to answer!

Speaking of the old phoenix, Si Ge, can you send me some peach wine? The cellar is still locked – even that trick you taught me is unable to pass through the wards!

Do you think Shifu did it on purpose?

Anyway, Si Ge, do you remember that one friend I talked to you about?

The thing is, he says he likes me.

I'm sure you are trying to understand how it came to be, but as I myself have not figure it out yet, this question will have to be left for another day.

Most times, he keeps acting like a clinging nuisance, refusing to let go. Just like a very nosy, very loud puppy dog.

He is annoying, he is vain, he is incapable of thinking beyond his nose, and seems to have the enervating ability to show up everywhere! 

Si Ge, I swear, sometimes I just want to shove his head on a hole in the ground to make him go away. Or stop talking.

How can someone have such an annoying laugh, anyway?

He is just lucky Da Shixiong can’t hear him. He has no ear for a good joke!

Please, answer faster this time.

And send the wine!

Si-Yin.

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Si Ge, 

Next time you rat me out to Second Brother, I’ll tell him exactly WHO painted his fur blue that one time!

You are lucky no-one here knows who I am, so he didn’t come personally.

Still – maybe life in Qinqiu is just as boring as here, if you thought this would be funny.

Anyway, Si Ge, did you hear anything about the Ghost Realm recently?

There have been some rumors going on about war. Zi Lan said his family moved farther from the frontear some weeks ago. I wanted to ask Shifu, but he is still in seclusion, so we can’t know for sure. 

Si Ge, do you really think the Ghost King would dare to attack? 

I know he doesn’t like the Sky Emperor, but it would be a stupid move, wouldn’t it? The Heavenly troops are so much bigger now! Besides, Shifu is undefeated. With him leading, there is not much they can do.

Apart from this, Si Ge, the most strange thing happened!

These days, I went with that friend to the mortal realm. He told me he had never seen a play before, so we went to that Tea House Father used to take us, remember?Anyway… I heard some mortal girls saying that he was so pretty, and I couldn’t help laughing at his face!

Si Ge, I think he was really angry, I thought he would just turn back and leave me there alone!

It was all very ridiculous! I had to actually apologize before he finally agreed to stay.

I think now I understand what Mother means when she says men have such fragile egos. 

You are all terrible!

Si Yin.