Chapter Text
The air smelled of salt water and sea life. This sprawling merchant town bordered the ocean, with the sound of seashell windchimes mingling with the sea breeze. The rhythmic rush of waves would be soothing if not for the boisterous activity on the docks. It was nearing evening when Xie Lian and Hua Cheng reached this place on the edge of the southeastern coast.
According to Yin Yu’s information, this place had been rumored to have some considerable ghost activity. It was a large town with many buildings which lined the rocky shoreline. The piers and docks were extensive, able to accommodate large merchant ships alongside the smaller fishing vessels that were inevitably going to be present in a coastal town like this.
However, the activity on the docks tonight seemed frenzied and heavy. There were large groups of people crowded along the edges of the docks and peering out into the horizon. The setting sun seemed to have everyone on edge.
Even the stall owners that lined the pier weren’t really hawking their wares much. They stayed huddled in their stalls whispering to each other while wearing looks of fear and concern. There were groups of women crowded along the pier’s edge and most of them seemed to be encouraging and comforting a crying woman in the center of the group.
“Something seems to be going on.” Xie Lian observed all of this. It tugged at his heart to see such negative energy in one place.
“If I were to guess, it seems that one of the ships they were expecting didn’t arrive.” Hua Cheng had a knack for connecting the missing pieces based on observation alone. They had been traveling together a little less than a month now and Xie Lian had quickly learned to trust in his conjectures.
“I wonder what happened…” The idea of someone’s family failing to return home after a voyage was a truly sad one. He found himself looking back towards that crying woman, wondering if there was anything he could do for her.
Though they were aware that there was possible wrath activity in this town, the information they had was a bit chaotic, as rumors tended to be. Some rumors said people were disappearing without a trace, while others said that every time it rained someone went missing. Others chalked it up to the gods being angry and spiting the people who didn’t believe in them.
Whatever was really going on here, they’d need to gather a bit more information before they could hunt down any wrath ghosts who could be causing it.
Someone roughly bumped into Xie Lian’s shoulder when he was distracted by the group of women. Hua Cheng caught him around the waist so he wasn’t sent tumbling forward, but the large group of people hustling by didn’t even stop to apologize as they rushed across the street.
They were running into a huge building. It was by far the largest one around, with extravagant decor all across the façade in deep blue and teal hues. A massive dedication plaque hung across the front entrance. It read “Temple to the Lords of Wind and Water. May our seas be calm and our skies clear.”
Xie Lian couldn’t help but be curious. He hadn’t heard of many temples dedicated to two gods together. He had to admit, he was not knowledgeable about the current gods who resided in heaven. He’d been away from heaven for a long time, and only occasionally passed temples. Every now and again he would take shelter in one for a night, but he didn’t pay much mind to which god it was dedicated to. The only ones he knew for sure were the ones dedicated to Mu Qing and that was because his statues always looked exactly like him.
So he couldn’t help but peek inside the entrance to this one. It was absolutely packed with people. Two huge statues stood at the center. They were built so that they stood back to back. The one on the left wore a kind and gentle smile, but the eyes had been carved to be large and almost innocent looking. They were painted in bright teal and gave the figure a rather feminine quality. This statue held a fan up to their face which covered their mouth and read “Wind”. Their robes were carved to be billowing and regal, painted in teal and white.
The statue on the right was more stern in nature. This one had slightly sharper features and pointed eyes that were painted a nice shade of blue. The two statues had similar facial structures, but the one on the right was frowning and looked generally less welcoming than its counterpart. He also held a fan, but he held it lower so that it was held across his chest. It read “Water”. His robes were smooth like silk, straight down to the floor like a waterfall and were painted in shades of white and blue to give the illusion of such.
They were lovely statues. This town had clearly offered a lot of money towards this place.
His eyes fall away from the statues and instead to the groups of people all bowing before them. A lot of them were women, praying for the safety of their husbands who had gone out to sea. But there were men there too. A considerable number of them appeared to be merchants, praying for safe travels as they carried their goods across the ocean. But one man stood out in particular, bowing low in front of the statues till his forehead touched the ground. He was a broad shouldered man with a thick beard and tanned skin from the sun. Xie Lian could not hear what he was praying for, but there were tears at the corners of his eyes.
“Gege.” Hua Cheng drew his attention away from the busy temple. He pointed a thumb at a tavern that stood across the street at the corner. “It’s getting late. Why don’t we get some dinner and find a place to stay for the night?”
He was right. The sun had dipped beyond the horizon now and the sky was darkening quickly. The docks were still full of apprehensive people holding out hope, but the rest of the town would be starting to wind down for the night.
They entered the tavern and found an empty table in the corner. The place was decently full, and it appeared to be entirely men here at this hour. Most likely it was the hungry, sea weary fishermen who had come in on the boats that had returned successfully. Even still, the atmosphere remained a bit somber.
Xie Lian brought a hand to his chin. “San Lang, do you really think such a bleak cloud would be over this town if it was only one ship that hadn’t returned?”
“It depends on the size of the ship and how many locals were on it, I would say. But the best way to get answers is to ask.” Hua Cheng waved over the barmaid, who was the only woman in the building. She was a tall, broad shouldered lady who looked like she could hold her own against the common crowd here. She obediently wandered over to take their order.
Hua Cheng flashed that dashing smile of his and placed their order before asking. “We’re travelers. Can you tell us what happened here? It seems like something has the town in mourning.”
The woman sighed heavily and set her hands on her heavyset hips. “It’s been rough here. For the last month or so, we’ve had these freak storms popping up at sea. We never know when they’re going to happen. The skies can be perfectly clear, and they’ll just pop up out of nowhere. They’ve been catching some of our fishermen off guard. We’ve lost eight boats this past month alone. They say two of them didn’t come back today. We’re holding out hope, but now the merchant ships are saying they’re afraid to come to our docks and that’s our livelihood you know! Merchant traffic and fishing, that’s what we do here and with these storms, people are scared. The women aren’t letting their husbands go out to sea anymore. What are we supposed to do?”
The bell at the front door chimed as another patron came into the tavern. Xie Lian glanced over and noticed the burly man that had been praying so ardently at the temple. The man scanned the room until he spotted the barmaid who gave him a nod. He must have been a regular there and that was only proven true when the barmaid spoke again. “Poor Old Man Hai there has had it especially hard. He and his brother are fishermen like so many of the locals here, but last week his brother’s boat was caught up in one of the storms. He took a little time off to plan the funeral and mourn, only to find his whole crew had quit when he came back. It’s real tough to make a living right now but it’s even harder to stay alive out there on the open ocean.”
She sighed again, like the weight of it all was pressing on her chest. “Anyway, I’d better go put in this order for you boys. Just holler if you need anything.”
And with that she went and exchanged a few words with Old Man Hai before stalking back off into the kitchen.
“Freak storms.” Xie Lian mused. Yin Yu had mentioned unusual weather. He had heard of regions in the Southern sea that ships refused to go near but he had figured they were far enough east to avoid that area. The weather around here should be fairly calm aside from the usual times of year, so these storms happening now certainly were odd. “It seems like these could be the result of a ghost.”
“Most likely.” Hua Cheng agreed. “There are plenty of ghosts and spiritual beasts in the world who are capable of manipulating the elements. Most of them would only be capable of capsizing a few small ships, but this one seems stronger. If it’s already taken out ten ships, assuming the two that disappeared today don’t return, I would venture to guess that would mean it has consumed at least 50 people in a month which would put it on the level of wrath.”
“At this point I don’t think it’s too crazy to assume this is another of the thirty-three gods causing trouble.” Xie Lian frowned. There were still thirty of them lurking around, wreaking havoc on innocent towns just like this. How many more people would be hurt before they could get rid of them all?
“Yin Yu should be finished with the map soon, and then I’ll pay them all a personal visit.” Hua Cheng smirked, not concerned in the slightest.
The bell at the front chimed again, and the two who entered this time caught everyone’s attention. It was two very well dressed women who stood out like a sore thumb in a place like this. The one leading the way was a shorter lady in white with long brunette hair and bright teal eyes. She promptly glanced over the room before flouncing over to a free table in the opposite corner. Behind her, a taller woman in all black followed her inside. Her gaze was much colder and her demeanor much more standoffish than her companion.
It was certainly unusual for two clearly well off women to want to eat at a place like this which catered more to the working man, but no one said anything. Still, Xie Lian kept their table in the corner of his eye just to keep a watch for any drunken endeavors that the other patrons might start.
The barmaid came back with their food, two bowls of warm, fresh stew with decent pieces of meat and potatoes. Xie Lian took a bite and relished how it warmed his stomach in this cold atmosphere. After a few bites, he turned back to Hua Cheng, only to find him staring rather piercingly at the table where the two women had sat down. “San Lang? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine.” He looked back at Xie Lian and whatever malice had been behind his eyes a second ago disappeared. He stirred his stew, pushing the vegetables aside and eating only the meat. “Did Gege have something to say?”
Xie Lian couldn’t help but cast one more glance at the other table, a little put off by the unusual reaction. But Hua Cheng was looking at him with the picture of innocence now so he decided not to bring it up. “I was just thinking, maybe we should look into these storms. It’s clearly tormenting this town. If our ghost is out there causing them, then it would be our best chance at finding them.”
“If that’s what gege wants to do, then we can.” Hua Cheng raised a hand and waved towards the old fisherman. “Hey, Old Man! You need a crew, right?”
This took the man by surprise. His bushy brows raised up questioningly. He glanced over at the barmaid, who gave him a guilty look that told him that she’d opened her mouth. He turned back to Hua Cheng and gave a single gruff nod.
“We’ll join you then. When are you going out next?”
The man’s voice was deep and rough when he answered. “Tomorrow. My boat's the one with the character for “Sea” written on the side.”
“We’ll meet you at the docks first thing in the morning then.” Hua Cheng smiled that wide grin that no mortal seemed capable of arguing with. Even Xie Lian found himself enamored by him when he saw it. Hua Cheng turned to face him again, looking pleased. “There. We’ll go out tomorrow and see what we can find.”
“We’ll join too!” The voice that peeped up from the corner was the last one anyone would expect. The small brunette woman had stood up from her seat and was staring in their direction.
Old Man Hai raised only one brow this time. “Whaddya mean?”
“You need a crew! Two isn’t enough. We’ll come too!” She had an admirable ferocity in her bright eyes but determination wasn’t going to be enough here.
“You’re women. This isn’t a job for women.” The old man said it a little more brusquely than necessary.
She seemed taken aback by the blatancy of it. She glanced at her companion briefly, but the other woman seemed to make no move to come to the aid of her friend. So she simply steeled herself. “We’re strong!”
“Don’t matter how strong you might be. You’re a woman. You won’t ever be as strong as a man.” The old man took a sip of his drink, clearly not taking the woman seriously. “There’s plenty you can do here, but on a fishing boat? It isn’t your place.”
The woman puffed out her cheeks, clearly angered by his words, but truthfully what more could she say? She was a dainty, wealthy woman and the work would be dirty and labor intensive. The old man had a point, and was unwavering in his stance.
Xie Lian felt secondhand embarrassment on her behalf. Why did two women want to work on a fishing boat anyway?
Whatever the reason was the woman clearly couldn’t come up with any more to say so she sat back down in her seat with an audible huff!
There wasn’t anymore that could be said, so they simply let it go. Xie Lian finished his bowl of stew, feeling warm and full and ready for a hard day of work tomorrow.
*~*~*~*
They met at the docks at dawn the next morning. The old man was already there, standing with his arms crossed beside his ship. He gave the two of them a once over before his gaze settled on Xie Lian. “You’re wearin’ white?”
“Aha. All I wear is white. It’s fine.” Xie Lian waved off the concern. It didn’t matter how dirty it got. He had gotten pretty good at removing stains over the years.
The man just grunted in response to that and turned to board his ship, clearly expecting them to follow.
“We’re coming too!” A voice shouted from behind them. Xie Lian turned to see two people striding over to them. They were both men and both quite tall. One was wearing a light beige short robe and pants with a teal inner shirt and sash. He was tugging his long, dark brown hair up into a bun as he approached. He had bright teal eyes that were full of spirit.
Beside him was a much more stoic man wearing all black robes. His sleek black hair was tied up into a high ponytail and he made no effort to tie it up anymore than that. A large swath of hair still hung in his face. His eyes were deep blue and piercingly cold to fit his rather unamused demeanor.
Xie Lian recognized the two of them instantly by their eyes alone. He shimmied a little closer to Hua Cheng so that he could whisper in his ear. “San Lang…are those two…?”
Hua Cheng was staring at the two as well. “Gege can’t be fooled. You’re right, they’re the two from the tavern last night.”
“But last night they were…” Xie Lian felt a little embarrassed if he stared too hard. Many women wore men’s clothes at times, but that didn’t seem to be the case here. The women last night had been…well they’d been much more well endowed than could be hidden in these outfits they were wearing now.
Hua Cheng chuckled lightly at his embarrassment. “They were women. They’ve changed their appearance. Those two are not mortal.”
Ah, so his assumption was correct. Even when he had seen them last night there had been something a little off about them. They didn’t quite fit in with the common crowd here in this town. To be able to shift their form so well, they had to be quite strong. “Are they ghosts?”
Hua Cheng opened his mouth to respond, but then he closed it again. He seemed to be staring quite hard at the man in black, and the man was staring back equally coldly. For a moment, Xie Lian thought he had to be a ghost just from the murderous intent rolling off of Hua Cheng, but he finally answered. “They’re gods, gege.”
“Gods?” Xie Lian looked back at them as the teal eyed man exchanged words with the captain. They seemed to be working out payment and contracts. Why would two gods be interested in going on a fishing vessel? Gods typically wouldn’t do such a bothersome thing.
Hua Cheng nodded and nudged his chin towards the teal-eyed man. “That one is the elemental master of Wind, Shi Qingxuan. The one beside him in black is the elemental master of Earth, Ming Yi.”
Wind and Earth? Xie Lian remembered the temple they had seen yesterday. Wind made sense then. It had been dedicated to the Elemental Masters of Wind and Water…so why was the Earth Master here?
“Why do you suppose they’re here? Gods don’t descend just to go fishing.” Xie Lian was bewildered by the entire scenario. The teal-eyed man, Shi Qingxuan, evidently got the captain to agree to whatever terms he was negotiating because he smiled and did a little victory bounce.
“Do you remember that extravagant temple last night to the Wind and Water Masters?” Hua Cheng asked. When Xie Lian nodded, he continued. “The Wind Master is blood related to the Water Master, Shi Wudu. They’re brothers.”
“Brothers? And they both ascended? That’s incredibly rare.” He’d never heard of such a thing happening before. It was really impressive. They must have had a strict upbringing in cultivation. He found himself awed by that fact.
“Rare indeed.” Hua Cheng didn’t seem to share the same admiration that Xie Lian did. “My guess is that Shi Wudu didn’t want to do the dirty work of investigating the storms himself so he sent his brother instead. The wind master is more willing to involve himself in the issues of mortals than his brother.”
“I see.” So in other words, one brother was too conceited to lower himself down to this sort of work, while the other seemed to genuinely care about both of their followers. He found himself earning respect for the Wind Master. “Then what about the Earth Master?”
Hua Cheng shrugged at that. “He probably got dragged along with the Wind Master. The two of them frequently descend together.”
“Everyone aboard!” The captain shouted in a loud and commanding tone and the four helpers quickly shuffled onto the boat.
Shi Qingxuan immediately came over to Xie Lian and Hua Cheng with a bright smile. He gave a small bow in greeting. “I’m looking forward to working with you today! You can call me Feng.”
Xie Lian returned the smile and bowed in return. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is-” Ah! If these were gods then there was a chance that they would recognize him by his real name, so he quickly switched to the first alias that came to mind. “Hua Xie.”
Behind them Hua Cheng and Ming Yi were too busy glaring at each other for greetings. They didn’t seem to have any intention of properly introducing themselves. Xie Lian gave a nervous laugh as he scratched at his cheek. “This is San Lang. He’s really quite pleasant, I promise.”
“Don’t worry about it. I get it.” Shi Qingxuan waved it off like he was used to it while he pointed at the looming man in black behind him. “Ming-Xiong here can be tough to get along with, but he’s not so bad. We’re besties afterall! Right Ming-Xiong?”
He clapped his hands together joyfully when he faced his friend, but the other man only sneered. “We’re not.”
With that he stalked away from the group and began to help set the sails. Shi Qingxuan looked absolutely wounded. “What? Ming-Xiong you’re too cruel!”
Xie Lian sighed and rubbed at his temple. Hua Cheng brushed his shoulder. “Hua Xie?”
Xie Lian flushed when he realized that he had chosen that alias. “Ah! Don’t overthink it!”
That just earned him a chuckle. Xie Lian found himself already tired by all this activity. It was going to be a long day.
*~*~*~*
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but water. The port they had left was a hazy silhouette on the horizon. Right now, the waves were calm and the small fishing vessel gently swayed back and forth with the movement of the ocean. It would have been peaceful, if not for the beating sun. The heat of the day had no relief. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky to block its rays.
Work on a fishing boat was just that; grueling work. Large nets were used to catch schools of fish that swam beneath the water's surface. They had to throw these nets out and then drag them back in, over and over again. These nets were heavy and water laden so it took very little time before their arms were sore and aching.
Xie Lian didn’t mind much. He’d volunteered to help on fishing vessels many times, and though he had little to offer he at least had his physical strength. Shi Qingxuan on the other hand was very rapidly groaning and moaning about how much his arms hurt, how hot he was and how the rocking made him queasy. He very clearly hated every second of this.
At some point, Ming Yi had grown tired of his whining and had given up on sharing the net with him, claiming that he was doing all the work. It was impossible for one person to pull the nets back in alone, so Xie Lian had taken up the duty to help Shi Qingxuan out. His lamenting did not cease, but with Xie Lian helping him, he did his fair share of labor.
Once the sun was at its height, beating down on them relentlessly, the captain allowed them a moment's break. Shi Qingxuan immediately took a folding fan out from his belt and began to fan himself feverishly. “This sun is just awful! Too much sun is so bad for the skin!” He turned to Xie Lian with a look of concern. “Am I sunburnt? Do I look red to you?”
Xie Lian wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. His bamboo hat shielded his face from the sun, but he was still drenched in sweat. He had tied his outer robe around his waist and rolled his pants up to his knees, but it only offered a little relief against the sun. He stared hard at Shi Qingxuan for a beat before answering. “Mmm…maybe a little bit.”
“Ahh, noo!” Shi Qingxuan moaned like this was the worst news of his life. He lifted his fan and waved it faster in front of his face. “I should have brought a hat. How stupid!”
Xie Lian was tempted to tell him that fanning himself would help cool him but it would do nothing to protect him from the sun. He decided against it though and instead turned to see how the other two were fairing.
Hua Cheng and Ming Yi had just dragged in a net full of fish so they were still finishing up plucking the fish out and tossing them into the cargo hold. If Xie Lian wasn’t mistaken, the two of them seemed to have some sort of silent competition going on with who could pick up the fish the fastest. Ming Yi had an envious armful until Hua Cheng tossed a fish at the back of his head. He had to drop the fish in order to catch it which earned a taunting grin from Hua Cheng as he dropped his own armful into the cargo hold.
Xie Lian wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between them, but it probably had something to do with Hua Cheng’s disdain for the gods. Perhaps he had some reason not to be too fond of Ming Yi. He’d have to ask later.
Still, Hua Cheng was a ghost, and this sun wasn’t good for him. He was wearing his mortal skin, as he usually did when they volunteered with these sorts of things, but this skin was really only a thin veil. It didn’t actually protect him from burning.
Xie Lian wiped his hands on his robes and approached him. Now that he was closer, he did seem just the slightest bit flushed. “San Lang, how are you doing?”
“I’m fine, gege.” He smiled so innocently at him that Xie Lian could actually feel the glare that Ming Yi was giving him over his head. He chose to ignore it. He untied his bamboo hat from under his chin and lifted it off his own head so that he could set it atop Hua Cheng’s. “Here. It’s important to protect your skin from being burned. Make sure you drink plenty of water, okay?”
Hua Cheng looked slightly taken aback at first, but then he smiled softly. He ran his hand lightly along the edge of the hat. “Okay, gege, I will.”
Xie Lian heard a scoff from behind him but when he turned around, Ming Yi was looking in the other direction.
Meanwhile, Shi Qingxuan had removed his outer robe and had it draped over his head as a makeshift hat. “I thought there were freak storms happening around here? Where are they? With this weather we might just be out here for nothing.”
“Don’t speak them into existence!” The old captain snapped at him briskly. “I’ve seen ‘em crop up outta nowhere even on clear days like this. They aren’t natural.”
The man looked up at the sky and mumbled something to himself that sounded a little like a prayer. Then he turned back to them sharply. “It’s noontime. You all need to eat and then get back to work!”
With that he stalked off to the other end of the boat to eat his own meal in peace.
“He sure is a pleasant one.” Shi Qingxuan commented with clear sarcasm. Xie Lian gave a nervous laugh in response. He didn’t find the man to be cruel, just very gruff. He had grown used to people like that.
“Hungry, gege?” Hua Cheng held out two wrapped packages which held something inside that smelled delicious. When he unwrapped them he revealed two bowls of fresh cooked meat with some salted, seared vegetables and rice on the side. It had very clearly been cooked recently, and couldn’t have possibly been hiding within his robes all day. Still, it smelled delightful, so Xie Lian decided not to mention it in front of the others and played along.
Apparently, it didn’t matter much though, because Ming Yi ended up laying out four large packages, each filled with various salted meats, pickled vegetables, rice and fruit. He sat down and started eating it like it wasn’t an absolutely absurd amount of food to pull out of thin air on a fishing boat.
“Ahahaha, Ming-Xiong!” Shi Qingxuan covered his mouth behind the fan and hissed the next words. “Don’t you think that’s a little too much?”
“I always eat this much.” He answered without an ounce of concern.
Shi Qingxuan stomped a foot in anger and then brought his fingers to his temple. He tried to conceal the fact that he was communicating within an array by tilting his head, but Xie Lian easily recognized the gesture. Ming Yi was getting chewed out.
Even so, Ming Yi’s facial expression did not change in the slightest. He simply held out a smaller package wrapped in a cloth. “Here.”
“Hm?” Although Shi Qingxuan was obviously mad, he still took the offered package without hesitation. When he unwrapped it he found a much more reasonably portioned bowl of rice with salted meat and vegetables. “Ming-Xiong! So you do still love me!”
He flung his arms around Ming Yi’s shoulders in a hug, but the other god did not reciprocate it in any way. “Just eat.”
Xie Lian watched the interaction with a gentle smile. Ming Yi came off as cold and introverted, but he didn’t seem to actually mind the Wind Master. Their personalities were different for sure, but the fact that he thought of the Wind Master in times like this just showed that he cared. He reminded him a little of Mu Qing in that way.
All irritation completely gone, Shi Qingxuan took a seat and eagerly dug into his lunch. He smiled warmly at Xie Lian and Hua Cheng. “Since we’re spending the day together, we should get to know each other better! The two of you are clearly well acquainted. How did you meet?”
“Ah, well that’s a bit of a complicated story.” Xie Lian couldn’t exactly just say I was being chased by an angry mob and in my mad dash to escape, I jumped straight into San Lang’s arms. That would sound insane! So he instead settled on “We’ve been traveling together for the past few weeks.”
“That’s it?“ Shi Qingxuan politely covered his mouth as he swallowed a bite of food. He raised a brow. “You two seem closer than that.”
What exactly was he supposed to say to that? He turned to Hua Cheng in hopes that he would provide some kind of decent answer instead, only to find him already looking at him with his chin propped in his hand and that mischievous twinkle in his eye. “We just got married.”
That was exactly the opposite of any kind of decent answer! Xie Lian shot to his feet in absolute shock. “Married?!”
“Married!” Shi Qingxuan clapped his hands together, clearly overjoyed on their behalf.
“We’re not!” Xie Lian waved his hands furiously in denial. “San Lang! Why would you say such a thing?!”
“Oh, San Lang!” Shi Qingxuan mumbled the name to himself like it was a revelation. He was watching the scene play out like a very interesting show.
“Not like that!” Xie Lian’s face was bright red.
“Sorry, gege, it was just a joke.” Hua Cheng laughed. “I just thought it would be fun to pretend.”
“You’re too much!” Xie Lian had been so startled by the statement it felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest. “How could you joke about such a thing?”
“It’s my bad, gege.” Hua Cheng got to his feet as well but when he stepped towards Xie Lian he found himself taking an involuntary step back where he bumped the side of the boat. That made Hua Cheng stop and his smile wavered. “Everyone here is pretending, so I just wanted to play along. I won’t joke about it again.”
“Oh, so you’re not married?” Shi Qingxuan looked a little put out about that fact.
Xie Lian chose to ignore him. He found himself flustered and overwhelmed. He very distinctly remembered how Hua Cheng’s lips felt on his own and it only made his cheeks turn even more red. He desperately wanted to run away, but he was surrounded by ocean with nowhere to go. Hua Cheng stood before him with a slowly fading smile. Xie Lian didn’t know how to deal with facing him and could only mutter. “San Lang, you tease too much.”
“I was in the wrong.” This time the playfulness in his tone was gone and he sounded genuinely apologetic. “Please don’t take it to heart.”
Hearing him apologize so sincerely made Xie Lian feel a little guilty at overreacting. Ah, it was just a joke! A joke! Why am I overthinking it? He’s right that no one here is truly how they are presenting themselves to be, so joking a little really isn’t a big deal.
But then the Wind Master voiced a question that only sent his thoughts into a spiral all over again.
“Would it really be so bad to be married?” He said it without a single ounce of shame. Like asking such a thing was completely normal. “Is there some reason you wouldn’t want to marry your San Lang?”
Whatever words were sputtered out of his mouth were completely incomprehensible as he rapidly looked between Shi Qingxuan and Hua Cheng. The god was staring at him with a grin while the ghost was watching him with raised brows. Both seemed curious about his answer.
Xie Lian even looked at Ming Yi for some kind of rescue, but he was far more occupied with his banquet than their conversation.
How was he supposed to answer such a question when put on the spot like this?! Married to Hua Cheng? Such a thing was clearly impossible!
Those obsidian eyes felt like they were boring into him, waiting for his answer. “I…I-ah!”
The boat suddenly lurched violently beneath them, almost as if something had grabbed it from beneath and yanked it. Everyone on board was unexpectedly thrown from their spot, including Xie Lian who quickly found himself falling backwards over the side of the boat.
Hua Cheng’s arm whipped out so quickly it was nothing more than a flash of crimson. He caught his hand and pulled him back before he could hit the water. He pulled him close to his chest with his other arm around his shoulders and twisted so that Xie Lian no longer had his back to the boat’s edge.
Above them the sky began to darken. Puffy, deep black clouds manifested out of nothing at all and blotted out the sun within seconds. They began to dump rain with no warning while lightning crackled through the sky. The sea beneath them grew rough and choppy, jostling the boat back and forth.
“No!” The captain looked up at all of this with horror in his eyes. “The God of Water…he was supposed to protect us!”
“Ah, our storm has finally arrived!” Shi Qingxuan looked up at the clouds with a smile. He snapped his fan open again and turned to Ming Yi. “Ming-Xiong, it’s finally our time to shine!”