Shi Qingxuan sighed as he stared at the looming stacks of reports and missives neatly sorted on his desk.

He had been gifted the Wind Palace near his brother's own abode as a reward for his ascension, and had moved in fairly quickly. Said brother had been highly concerned about him living alone, but he'd convinced Shi Wudu to let him do so after he was allowed to be the one to set up defenses around the palace.

Qingxuan loved his brother, he really did. He just didn't want to bother him anymore with his scribbling in the dead of night on a report some literature god asked him to help summarize.

The process of moving had taken a while between the amount of paper he had to carry and the fussing of his older brother, so he was now swamped in tasks he needed to complete in a short amount of time. He eyed the stacks apprehensively before grabbing one from the left outermost stack, which turned out to be a thin paper packet containing some palace budgets that needed to be calculated.

Irritation bubbled up from a darker part of his mind, but Shi Qingxuan shoved it down and pulled the first sheet out of the packet to begin working.

His wings twitched at the momentary lapse in control over his emotions, and he stretched them out a couple times to release the tension that had built up in them.

He should count himself lucky that he was newly ascended, and was such a young god with little influence in the mortal realm for now. If he had a bigger presence, he'd have his own work to complete on top of everything he has and he'd have no time to spend with his brother. Looking on the bright side was always the best option.

The entire packet didn't take long, either. It was tedious work, and Shi Qingxuan could guess that the martial god that had shoved it at him had gotten bored of it. Barely a few minutes of quick, basic mathematics and he was finished, carefully placing the papers back into the packet as to avoid crinkling them. He sealed the packet again, and lifted it up above his head.

Qingxuan could feel his spiritual energy swirl as it generated a soft breeze, the packet being taken from his hand and carried by the wind out of the open window to his left. The wind would take it where it needed to go, as it always did. Ever since he'd discovered that little party trick, the time he needed to get, complete, and deliver a task was cut down by a large margin. It did cost some of his spiritual energy though, so he did have to keep a close eye on his reserves. Despite all of that, he couldn't be happier at the prospect of more free time to go and spend with his beloved brother.

Before that, though, he did need to finish all the work that was piled on his desk.

Shi Qingxuan felt an involuntary, slight downturn in his brow as he grabbed a second packet, this one a mission report that needed to be revised and taken notes on due to the confusion regarding the chronological order of events.

His eyes ran over the report, lightly tapping the wooden end of his brush on his desk in a rhythmic pattern. He hummed as he pulled a blank sheet of paper from a lower cabinet of his desk, trying to summarize the report as clearly as possible.

The original report felt like it had been written with little to no effort, with the martial god who wrote it just writing things down in the order he remembered it and not what actually happened. His handwriting wasn't exactly the best either, though Shi Qingxuan knew to keep those complaints to himself.

This was going to take a while.

A wind that had been silent before now hummed a sympathetic tune in his ear, and Qingxuan gave a small smile as he felt the soothing presence. He wouldn't dare disturb his brother for something as insignificant as his need for company. The spirits of the wind were enough. Even if they weren't, they would have to be.

Time flew by as the Wind Master completed paper after paper of work not his own, expending a rather large portion of his spiritual energy to send off the completed papers to whoever needed them. It was well into the afternoon when he absentmindedly grabbed another from the stack, a scroll this time, as he finished up packing up yet another summary for his winds to deliver once more.

Shi Qingxuan rolled open the scroll, finding a missive for a mission to the mortal realm. He felt a mild sense of deja vu and a gut feeling of unease as he read through it. It was a mission that had been given to a deputy of some martial god again. It seemed like there was a ghost with a personal vendetta against the general that was stirring up trouble for his worshippers. He wondered what the case was this time. A scandalous lover? A bitter enemy on the battlefield?

Qingxuan debated on whether to set it aside before he made his decision, sighing as he began planning to head down to the mortal realm to take care of the problem immediately. There was no point in procrastinating for work he would eventually have to do, and he was sure the god would be much happier if he got it done as soon as possible.

Most of the written work that he knew were priority and needed to be completed quickly were done anyways, and he would love the chance to stretch his legs a bit. The ghost was labelled to be Fierce, so he doubted it would be too much trouble.

His reserves were a bit lacking from all of the deliveries he had his winds do, but it would be more than substantial for a ghost that could only do real damage to single targets. He did feel a bit tired though, so after he decided that after he returned he'd take a quick hour long nap before he went back to his work.

The white wings on his back gave a final stretch before they curled into themselves, fading from sight at the expense of a steady stream of Shi Qingxuan's spiritual energy.

His brain was already making schedules and plans for himself upon returning by the time he arrived at the room containing his personal transportation array he had set up for himself. He Xuan must've had massive potential in talismans and spells for me to be capable of all of this, Shi Qingxuan mused with a sad droop of the shoulders as he stepped onto the array. He was living on the poor man's unwilling sacrifice, after all. He couldn't forget that.

None of what he did, none of what he accomplished was truly his and it never would be.

The figure of the Wind Master disappeared from the room as he spent some of his remaining spiritual energy to activate it.

Hours passed without his return, and it was well into the next morning when the fourteen year old made a reappearance, gasping in pain with unshed tears in his eyes as he rushed with unstable steps out of the room and into the hallway with desperation, the disguising spell placed on his wings having been undone due to his now dangerously low spiritual reserves being unable to keep up with the demand.

Weary exhaustion dragged down both his body and mind as he stumbled through the long hallway of the Wind Palace, Shi Qingxuan using the empty walls as a crutch to prevent his fall. Any sense of balance or grace that he had possessed had been bled out along with the vast majority of his blood that now decorated his robes or filled the growing red puddles at his feet.

He gasped in pain as a jumble of awkward steps aggravated a wound on his stomach, the boy bringing a hand to the injury to feel the red blood stain the white fabric of his robes. The cloth soaked up much of it, making it beyond repair, but some still dripped down onto the otherwise pristine tile floor.

Qingxuan grimaced as he realized he would have to throw the stained robes away, and this brother would surely realize the missing garment from his wardrobe.

The meager amounts of spiritual energy he had left had been scrambling to heal the wound, but there was only so much it could have done without completely depleting his reserves and sending him into deep sleep for the next week or so. It had long given up after the first few attempts to heal the injury, with the energy more focused more on keeping the Wind Master alive for as long as possible.

He had so much work to start and finish; a tiny injury like this should be nothing to a god. Qingxuan gritted his teeth as he shakily stood up, still leaning against the nearest wall. He could do this. He had to.

A wobbly step forward was all he could manage before he heard the sound of the doors of his palace slamming open. Quick footsteps echoed through the hallways, bouncing across empty walls that lacked any decoration.

"Qingxuan!" Shi Wudu called out sharply, though the younger brother could hear the worry in his tone. "What-"

The Water Master stilled as he turned the corner to see the bloody sight. Shi Wudu rushed forward, steady hands working to help his brother find his balance, though that was a bit difficult to the pounding headache at rang in his ears.

The elder of the two helped Qingxuan sit down with a pained expression before he brought his hand up to his forehead, likely reaching to grab someone from the Spiritual Array. He snapped out of whatever conversation he was in quickly, a fearsome scowl present on his face as he pumped spiritual energy into Shi Qingxuan's wound.

The injury began to close, pain numbing. Qingxuan released a breath of relief at the fading pain before he let out a strangled scream, feeling a blazing heat and the familiar thrum of resentful energy reverse whatever healing the gifted spiritual power had done for him.

He bit down on his lower lip to prevent any more pained sounds from escaping, fingernails digging into his palms to find some semblence of control. His conscious began to fade in and out, coming back at the feeling of the supply of spiritual power easing the pain before returning to the land of dreams once the blaze of pain returned. Shi Wudu flinched before he frantically undid his upper robes to see the bleeding gash that dug into his stomach. His hand seemed to reach towards it with the intention of pushing more spiritual energy into healing it, but paused once he felt the presence of a foreign power.

Shi Wudu frowned as he quickly inspected the wound. He sharply inhaled as he was greeted with the sight of the remains of a ghost's final wave of resentful energy before dispersion inscribed onto the inner side of the wound.

The man pulled his hand back before placing it onto Shi Qingxuan's head, having realized there was nothing he could do with his spiritual powers and limited knowledge alone.

"Sleep, A-Xuan." Shi Wudu murmured, Qingxuan's clarity of mind returning for just a second at the rare nickname before his mind was forced back, the numbing expanse of darkness enveloping his vision.

The next time the boy awoke, it was in an unfamiliar room with a familiar, concerned face hovering over him.

Shi Qingxuan had seen Pei Ming around plenty of times, particularly when he was hanging around his brother's Water Palace or the occasional visit to Pei Ming or Ling Wen's individual palaces, though Shi Wudu was always present during their interactions. His elder brother seemed dead set on censoring everything that came out of the martial god's mouth when Qingxuan was nearby, which was always funny to watch.

He suspected that the difference in attitude from what he had been familiar with from reading the novel was heavily influenced by their age. Shi Qingxuan of the canon universe had been a young adult, assumed to be around his prime from the descriptions provided.

Himself, on the other hand, was physically fourteen and would continue to be a child by the way his worshippers were continuously portraying him as his own age instead of pretending he was an older adult like they usually did for gods that had ascended rather early in their lives like him.

It was confusing, but he supposed it was fair considering that he never did get older than fourteen in either of his lives.

It took a second for the man that seemed to be intensely standing guard over him to find the words to speak, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times. "How are you feeling, Qingxuan?" Pei Ming settled for, grimacing at the poor choice in question after he had spoken it.

Shi Qingxuan looked pointedly at his bandaged stomach area before answering in a hoarse voice, "I'm as fine as I could be."

The martial god blinked before he stood up, a worried frown on his face. "I'll get you a glass of water." He promised, squeezing Qingxuan's arm in comfort before he quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him with a soft click.

The Wind Master stared at the door for a few seconds before looking back up at the ceiling, noting the rather intricate carvings that decorated the material. He could feel the wings on his back lay stretched over the edges of the bed and hanging loosely in the air, which he appreciated over having them crushed under his weight. He debated on whether to try and get up or not before he decided against it; he didn't want to set back his recovery longer than he had to.

Not only did he still had work to do that he was missing out on every moment he was resting, he was also burdening whoever was hosting him and there was no need to extend his stay and bother whoever he was staying with any more than he already had.

The door opened with another click, drawing Shi Qingxuan's attention.

Pei Ming was the first to enter, promised cup of water in hand. He was followed by Shi Wudu, whose glare looked like it could burn a hole through metal, with another god trailing after the two with his arms crossed. The unfamiliar god, assumably the one whose palace he was staying in, had skin of a pale shade, which was a noticeable contrast to his dark, nearly black hair and eyes.

He was actually Mu Qing, titled General Xuan Zhen, but the Water Master had no intentions on letting the two get familiar. Having an influence that would give Qingxuan the backbone to say no would be great, but he would rather not have to deal with the sarcasm the martial god spat out easily.

"Look who's awake." Shi Wudu snapped his fan closed, seemingly filled with hostility at the sight of his brother. Qingxuan knew better though, as he could see the worry that burned behind the wall of anger.

"Ge." Shi Qingxuan rasped out a greeting, his brother giving away a tiny flinch at the sound as Pei Ming hurriedly handed him the cup. He took it and drank the water gratefully, feeling the cool liquid slide down his sore throat. "Thank you."

"Your throat was damaged from the blood you coughed up." Mu Qing interjected, sounding completely unimpressed. "I'm not sure whether the curse on your wound affects the rest of your body, but the only way we'd know is by testing it, which none of us particularly want to do."

Shi Qingxuan paused. "Curse?" He questioned, the gears in his head turning to come to a conclusion. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was.

The ghost that he had fought had been far stronger than the mission scroll had implied. It was true that the ghost could only attack single targets at a time, but when it latched onto a victim the severity of the situation rose sharply. It may not have been capable of going after multiple targets at a time for an unknown reason, but the ease that it had been able to attack and nearly overwhelm him, who despite his age, was still a heavenly official was unnatural.

He had barely won by the skin of his teeth because the ghost had been caught off guard by the heavenly power that was mixed in with his natural spiritual energy. If it was anyone else, they would've been consumed.

The ghost had been dispersed, but there were instances where powerful ghosts could cast a final curse with the scraps of resentment they had left. They tended to be aimed towards whoever had wronged them in life, but Shi Qingxuan could see why he could be a possible candidate to receive it.

"Yes, a curse." The god rolled his eyes. "The curse sucks up whatever spiritual energy applied to it. And since it's right on your injury, we have to heal it the mortal way. The ghost that cast it is long gone, so once your wound heals it'll most likely dissapear as well. How lucky you are."

Qingxuan stilled. His theory was correct, then. He asked, "And how long will healing take, sir?"

"Sir?" The god muttered quietly, face scrunching up before he seemed to shake it off. "Three months, maybe more."

He couldn't wait three months. There were too many people that he needed to complete work for. Several of them had already asked for assistance ahead of time. They were people who had earned their right to ascend, people who worked hard to be where they were now. They all had their flaws, but none of them were thieves. What was a bit more work for someone like him, a faker who stole his glory from an innocent man?

Shi Qingxuan was about to ask if there were any alternative options before his brother smacked the top of his head with his fan.

"How did you even get cursed with something like this anyways?" Mu Qing asked, a frown on his face. "You're too new to the heavens to be sent on missions like this yet, and that's not even accounting for your actual age."

"Yes, how did you get so injured, let alone cursed this badly?" The Water Master followed.

"I'm pretty curious as well." Pei Ming piped in, eyes focusing on him. "Ling Wen would never let something like this happen, especially not to you."

"Ah, well…" Qingxuan shunk under the gazes of the three gods. "A martial god- Yan Qiu, I think his name was- asked for some help with completing the work he was given, since he was busy. So I ended up going to the mortal realm to do one of his assignments for him, since he had plans already."

Shi Wudu slapped a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose while Mu Qing stilled. "I thought that was just a rumor." Mu Qing said.

"It's really not, you should see his office." Pei Ming replied, slouching forward in his chair with a groan. "We should've known."

"General Xuan Zhen." Shi Wudu called to the god, face still in his hands. "Release him into my palace. I'll take care of him."

Mu Qing nodded, sending a quick glance over to the Wind Master. "I'll tell you more about the problem when we're alone, then."

Qingxuan blinked at the revelation of the unfamiliar god's identity before he processed what was said between the two. He looked towards Pei Ming for assistance, only to see the man shrug in his slouched position with his typical 'what can you do' fashion. The martial god was loyal to a fault and could charge into any battlefield without fear, but all of that backbone disappeared instantly when it came to the Water Master.

"Wait, I still have work to do-" Shi Qingxuan tried to start, though he was hastily interrupted by his older brother.

"Hush." Shi Wudu said, "Leave the conversation to the adults."

The Wind Master made a strangled noise at that, replying with, "But I'm a heavenly official."

His older brother raised an eyebrow, wordlessly asking how that had to do with anything. Mu Qing and Pei Ming watched silently, the former with an unreadable expression on his face as he stood stiffly next to the latter. Pei was spread over a chair next to the foot of the bed Shi Qingxuan was resting on, looking tired but amused.

"I'm going to be fourteen for the rest of eternity." Shi Qingxuan clarified. "When am I ever going to be an adult?"

"Three centuries." The Water Tyrant decided on. "Come back once three centuries have passed." He turned away seeming like he was done with the conversation as he shot Pei Ming a glance that had him jumping to sit straight in his chair.

"You want me to be three hundred years old before you consider me an adult." The younger of the two said, repeating the time to emphasize the absurdity. "Three hundred years old."

Shi Wudu hummed in confirmation as he walked to stand next to Mu Qing. "That's correct." He agreed. "So do you need anything while we make preparations to move you?"

"...You know what, that's fine. Everything is fine. And yes, I do need something." Qingxuan sighed, giving up before it escalated. Both of them were insanely stubborn when it came to certain things, and he knew better than to push his brother too far.

"Oh?" The Water Master's curious eyes scanned his younger brother's expression. "What is it?"

Shi Wudu was a bit excited, though he would rather die than admit it to anyone. His brother had never directly asked him for anything, so this would be the first time he got to indulge Qingxuan like the doting brother he wanted to be.

"Well, when I first went down to the mortal realm, it was pretty late." Shi Qingxuan started. "So I was kind of walking around, trying to solve the problem as fast as possible before I lost all light. Nobody was really talking to me for some reason, all except for this one elderly man. He helped me out a lot, and I doubt I would've found the ghost without him, so I was hoping I'd be able to take down some money to help him in return. He told me he had a wife at home, and they weren't exactly the most well off either. He was probably mourning someone too, since he was wearing a lot of white. Hopefully I can help, if only by a little bit."

"Alright." Shi Wudu agreed in an odd tone of voice. "I'll take something down there. And there's absolutely nothing else you want? Nothing at all?"

"The work piled on my desk would be absolutely wonderful. I still need to complete those." Qingxuan answered. "Thank you for offering!"

"Right. Your work." Shi Wudu said sharply, taking charge of the situation and grabbing Pei Ming from his chair. "I'll go do that right now. Immediately." He gestured towards Mu Qing, reservations about giving the two a chance to get to know each other gone. "You stay and look after my brother."

Mu Qing stared as the Water Master closed the door behind the two. He really wasn't paid enough to deal with whatever miscommunicated mess of a family that was. He sent a quick glance towards Shi Qingxuan, feeling uncomfortable at the young age of the Wind Master. He wasn't sure what kind of idiot would shove the work they were given for a reason onto a fourteen year old, but he wanted to meet with them.

He was honestly starting to feel bad for the kid.

The martial god fidgeted in place self-consciously at the thought, hesitantly voicing his next thoughts. "Are you interested in medicine, by any chance?"

Shi Qingxuan's curious stare shifted over to him, the boy clearly interested in where the conversation could potentially go.