3. A Decision Washed in by the Rain

Xie Lian heard the sound of way too many voices talking at once long before he entered the Palace of Divine Might, where apparently everyone was having a shouting match. This was not what he was here for, but if he wanted any answers, he would have to tolerate … whatever this was first.

Inside, the picture couldn't have been stranger. Ling Wen was standing to the right of the empty throne an Emperor should be sitting in. Yushi Huang stood at the left, with her eyes somewhere off to the side as if none of it concerned her. However, the moment he entered, both women looked at him and the Rain Master even pointed. 'There. Him. Ask him.'

Xie Lian turned around, hoping she was trying to indicate someone behind him. She was not. 'Ask me what?' he ventured cautiously.

'Your Highness!' Pei Ming had spotted him and spread his arms wide. 'Please talk some sense into that woman. With Ling Wen back in place things are somewhat normal, but … we need someone who is willing to settle disputes, to prioritise. We think the Lord Rain Master is perfect for it.'

'I am not even a martial god,' she said. She sounded as if this wasn't the first time. Or the twentieth. 'That aside, we have an Emperor. Jun Wu is alive. He has not been banished.'

So this was the issue. Xie Lian sighed. He shouldn't have come. 'And what part do I play in this?'

'You take the throne,' Yushi Huang said.

'Ah. No.'

'Then tell them that I am not suitable.'

'I won't do that, either.' He smiled. 'I think you are very capable. There is no rule saying that the Heavenly Emperor has to be a martial god. Or that he must be dead to be replaced.'

'There is a rule saying that he has to be dead, banished, or he has to abdicate to be replaced formally,' Ling Wen cut in. 'An abdicating Emperor can recommend a successor, but that successor has the right to refuse, of course. However, you can take his function while he is … resting under Mount Tonglu.'

'Lord Rain Master, you kept everything as sane as it could be when our world went to shit,' Pei Ming said vehemently. 'If I of all people think you should do this, then things are dire. Jun Wu … after what he did, we aren't going to accept him back. He can sit there and call himself Emperor, but we don't want him in that fucking chair, and we're not going to let him tell us what to do.'

'There is not a rule saying that the Emperor has to be an expert in every matter,' Ling Wen helped out. 'As long as they point anyone with an issue to the most suitable person to solve it.'

'Is ... this what everyone wants?' Yushi Huang asked. 'You too, Your Highness? I hoped you would talk some sense into this rabble.'

Apparently her definition of 'some sense' was the exact opposite of Pei Ming's. Xie Lian bowed before her. 'I am deeply sorry, but no-one here has ever listened to me. I also … can't. I agree with them. You would be a great Emperor.'

'Or for the love of …' Her lips grew thin. 'Fine.' She sat on the throne and let her eyes wander over everyone. 'I declare myself Emperor in Jun Wu's absence. Now. I need a teleportation array, I'm bad at them, and we have no Earth Master.' She stood up again and strode towards the huge doors leading out onto the avenue. Her eyes fixed on Mu Qing in passing, and he fell into step behind her like a puppy when she told him, 'You draw it.'

'She certainly has the authority,' Xie Lian said. He really wanted to ask his question, but he decided to wait for the Rain Master's return. Her voice was one he valued, and even if she had probably not received a prayer concerning a rogue ghost, he trusted her more than most of the rest combined.

He took the time to look around. There were fewer faces than there used to be, and he missed one of them keenly. Maybe the Wind Master hadn't ascended of his own power, but Xie Lian had a hard time feeling he hadn't earned his place. He'd had plenty of followers, he was kind-hearted and hadn't let anything get in the way of saying what he thought was right. Xie Lian wondered what his opinion on this situation would have been. The answer was probably simple: He'd have laughed and said so long as he didn't have to, he was fine with whoever took the job. Maybe that would have made him a good Emperor. Maybe that was what would make Yushi Huang a good Emperor: They didn't want the power that came with the position. Although by the looks of it, no-one did. Perhaps this was a reason to be optimistic about the future: None of these people were on a power trip and had tried to seize control.

Aside from the three missing elemental masters, Quan Yizhen and Feng Xin weren't anywhere in sight, either. The former probably just couldn't be arsed to attend. The other man was a little surprising. He wasn't one to pass up a good opportunity to yell at people. Xie Lian approached Pei Ming, who was standing with his arms folded and looking absolutely forbidding. 'Any idea where General Nan Yang is?' he asked.

Pei Ming's expression got even worse. 'I tried asking General Xuan Zhen that. Apparently, being stupid on purpose, seeking death and disgrace.'

'That … is typical but not very helpful,' Xie Lian said.

'No? I think it's obvious. He's chasing those ghosts of his. Honourable but moronic, if you ask me.'

'Oh.' Xie Lian wondered how much he would achieve. Maybe they would at least manage to have a normal conversation. But knowing Feng Xin, a normal conversation was a pretty tall order. 'Thanks. If this escalates, please let me know.'

'I will, Your Highness.'

Xie Lian drifted back to the side of the crowd. Leaning against a column, he closed his eyes and let the background noise carry his thoughts away. Chances were that no-one here could help him. Then what would they do? Knock on every door in the Royal Capital and ask, 'Excuse me, do you have a ghost problem?' That was hardly a good plan.

When the entrance opened and closed again and silence fell, Xie Lian convinced himself to stay hopeful: If someone knew something, they would talk. The days where he had been ignored when he asked a question were, at least, behind him.

Clearly the Rain Master had returned, but Xie Lian kept his eyes shut and relished the thought that in an incense time he could go back home to his husband and take the matter into his hands – with or without anyone else's help.

Something touched Xie Lian's head and his hand snapped up automatically. He knocked that same something off himself and heard a chuckle behind him. 'I am simply returning what is yours, Xianle.'

Xie Lian's eyes met those of Jun Wu, and he stood frozen as the other man put his bamboo hat back onto his head. 'Thank you,' was all he managed eventually.

The Rain Master gave them both a stern look, and Jun Wu followed her with a sigh he'd never have allowed himself before. He stood in front of his throne but didn't sit. 'I have been asked to come back to settle the question of leadership. I will, of course, abdicate. I understand completely that I can no longer rule.'

'Do you have a successor in mind?' Ling Wen asked without any indication how she felt about this.

'I have suggestions. The most suitable candidate in my opinion is Xianle.'

'No.' Xie Lian shook his head. 'I can't rule a place where my husband isn't welcome.'

'If you rule,' Jun Wu said, 'who do you think is going to stop you from bringing him at your leisure?'

'I don't want to be here permanently. I might try to visit more often if the leadership doesn't look like I have brought a monster into my home whenever he's there with me, but at this time, I won't live here.'

'Then I will go with everyone else's first and my second choice. Lord Rain Master, you have shown competence and wisdom, compassion and the ability to lead. Will you take the throne?'

Yushi Huang looked at him for a few moments before she lowered her gaze. 'If this is indeed what everyone thinks is best, then I accept.' She raised her head again and stared straight at her predecessor's eyes. 'But I appoint you as my assistant in my absence and for anything the martial gods might need. If both you and Xie Lian refuse to take that role, too, I refuse the throne.'

'Xianle?' Jun Wu offered.

'No. Thank you, but no.'

'Then I accept,' Yushi Huang said when Jun Wu inclined his head to her.

'Thank the gods,' Pei Ming muttered.

'You are a god,' Mu Qing answered in an undertone. 'Are we sure this is a good idea?'

'This is the only idea anyone has,' Xie Lian said. 'You guilt-tripped her into taking that chair. Let her choose who helps her wrangle the lot of you. He sure knows how.'

'He's right,' Pei Ming answered. 'We can't start out by second-guessing our new Emperor's first order.'

Xie Lian raised his voice. 'Can I … ask a question?' He had a feeling that this would get much more chaotic before everyone was used to the new situation, and he really wanted to be far away by then.

'Sure,' the Rain Master said. 'How can we help?'

'I just meant to ask, has anyone received a prayer from a mortal in the Royal Capital regarding a bothersome ghost?' Only silence met his question. 'No-one? Somehow I didn't think so.' He closed his eyes and smiled. 'Well, that was a meeting that could have been an exchange on the communication array.'

'Not quite yet,' the Rain Master – now the Emperor – said. 'Everyone, please leave us. You stay, Your Highness.'

Suppressing the ominous feeling that he'd been in that place before, Xie Lian approached her. 'Is there anything I can do to help?' he offered.

'There are two things I would like to tell you. First, your husband is, of course, welcome. The Palace of Xianle is yours and … if I'm honest, I'd rather be aware that there is a ghost king skulking around than have them skulk without my knowledge.'

A small smile tugged on Xie Lian's face. Hua Cheng had no desire to live here, he knew this, but it was a gesture that meant that something was changing. 'Thank you,' he said.

'Don't. Like this, there's only one that is no-where to be found.'

'Maybe he dissipated?' Xie Lian suggested. Black Water had done what he had wanted. It was possible. Not that he believed it for a moment.

'He has certainly abandoned his lair, but I don't think he's gone.'

'Abandoned how?'

'It's safe to travel the area,' she said. 'He has given up his claim on it, apparently. He has lain completely low, it's almost as if he had left the world. But he is not your problem. Your problem is that you need a deputy.'

Xie Lian laughed and scratched the back of his head. 'I don't know about that. I have only a small handful of followers and …'

'They are becoming more by the day, most of them followers of you and your husband. I'm not saying you need to do this at once, but it's something to think about.'

She was right, of course. But the problem was, Xie Lian had had deputies. It hadn't gone well. He was rather hesitant to pick new ones. Still, that wouldn't do as an answer. He bowed low before her. 'I understand, and I will consider it very carefully.'

Jun Wu chuckled. 'Meaning she can expect a result at some point within the next few hundred years, Xianle?'

The Rain Master's lips twitched. 'Probably, but that is acceptable. It's His Highness who will struggle to deal with an increasing amount of prayers himself.' The Emperor shook her head at him. 'You may go. Take care of your ghost problem, Your Highness. If I hear anything, I will contact you. But I'll need the password to your private communication array. Ideally, that of your husband, too.'

'I know them,' Jun Wu said. 'I'll pass all information you need on to you. You may not want to use Crimson Rain Sought Flower's, however. I'd go through Xianle, if I were you.'

Ϡ

Xie Lian returned to Paradise Manor with very mixed feelings. He knew that Jun Wu was capable. He was also confident that he wasn't going to harm anyone. While he had never visited him during his imprisonment, the State Preceptor had, and according to him, Jun Wu was relieved it was all over. He had spent his time letting go of the past and had, apparently, moved on.

Before Xie Lian could do so much as call out to Hua Cheng, he heard an almost desperate, 'Gege!' and was rushed by the ghost king. 'Gege, is everything all right?'

Did he look that shaken? He didn't feel overly bothered. 'I … yes. Jun Wu is back, but …'

'He's WHAT?' Hua Cheng's horrified expression got exponentially worse. 'We have to …'

'San Lang? He won't do anything. But something clearly happened. Will you tell me?'

'Are you sure …'

'Yes. Very.' He reached out and cupped Hua Cheng's cheek. His husband leaned into the gentle touch, closing his eyes and brushing his lips over Xie Lian's palm. 'He just wants to be left alone, forget him. Please talk to me, San Lang.'

Hua Cheng pulled him into a tight embrace. 'I went to take a look at the market, and someone had the gall to approach me impersonating you. You said … No. He said you were leaving me.'

'You knew this wasn't me at once, right?'

A smile played around Hua Cheng's lips. 'Of course. Gege wouldn't break his San Lang's heart.'

Warmth filled Xie Lian from head to toe, and he rested his head against the ghost's chest. 'Then everything is all right, isn't it? Did you capture or kill them?'

Hua Cheng's expression clouded over. 'Neither. They fled.'

'How?'

'I admit that I was caught a little bit off guard. I knew it wasn't you, but the thought was distressing, and they used that moment to flee.'

'And you worried that they tried the same with me?'

The ghost nodded slowly. 'Not that I expected it to be any more successful, but it felt nasty regardless. I didn't want you to be hurt even briefly.'

'I imagine.' Xie Lian stood on his toes and kissed Hua Cheng softly. 'Nothing gets between us, San Lang.'

The ghost's voice when he spoke again was low and tender. 'Did you learn anything?'

'Nothing, sadly. No-one received a prayer. Do you think your visitor has something to do with this?'

'He's not the one that impersonated you.' Hua Cheng's brows knitted. 'But I don't know if it's a coincidence. Someone asks for help with a ghost, and a bit later another ghost makes a stupidly feeble attempt to disrupt our peace?'

'How did they even know I was gone?'

'I asked myself that. I believe they originally came and went with our visitor. They overheard that you were leaving and used that moment.'

Xie Lian shook his head. 'But … why?'

'If it makes you feel better, I doubt that it's personal. They want us to stay out of the way, to distract us from this issue our guest asked for help with. Our … client told the truth. Something is after him.'

'Not personal?' Xie Lian shook his head fiercely. 'It's certainly personal now!'

'I wasn't inclined to investigate before, but I agree: They crossed the line. But if you have heard nothing, where do we start looking?'

'First, we take a walk through the rich districts. Maybe we see something or can sense an evil aura that guides us to the right place.' Xie Lian smiled. 'Failing that, we pay a visit to someone who might have a friend who saw or heard something.'

'I didn't know you had an information network in the Royal Capital,' Hua Cheng said.

'I've got nothing of the sort.' Xie Lian grinned. 'But we have a friend there, and he knows a lot of people that can be found throughout the entire city and that no-one pays attention to. I don't want to involve him because he can't fight against a ghost, but if we don't notice anything ourselves, he might be our best bet.'

Ϡ

Their own search produced nothing. For one day, they visited temples on the outskirts of the city to talk to the cultivators and look at the prayers people left. That none of the gods had heard anything might be an accident: If a deputy in charge of managing what was important and what wasn't tossed a request for help out, that god would never hear of it. They spent the following day wandering the streets, hoping to sense a powerful aura, but it seemed like this ghost knew how to hide it. When they found nothing untoward, the pair decided to use their fallback plan the next morning. The problem with this was that apparently, this particular friendly person had vanished. The moment they arrived at the old temple, they were swarmed by a bunch of people that worried about Ol' Feng and knew Xie Lian was his friend. 'When exactly did you last see him?' the god asked, feeling concerned.

'Only two nights ago,' a middle-aged man who was thin as a stick answered. 'But it's not like Ol' Feng.'

'I told you he's been carried off.' An old woman with grey hair sticking in all directions said sharply. 'Someone took him!'

'Shut it, old hag, you always talk nonsense just to scare people.'

'Carried off by whom?' Xie Lian asked. He wasn't going to turn down the only lead they might get because someone thought she imagined things. 'Ol' Feng is my friend, he helped me at a time when no-one else would. If I can help him now, please tell me how.'

The old woman pushed past the man that had first spoken to them. 'It was dark, I didn't see a lot. Just that a tall fellow scooped him up off the ground as if he were a kitten and walked off with him. I called out to him, even, said, "Hey, you can't just knock out Ol' Feng and take him away!" He stopped and looked at me. I couldn't see his face, it was too dark, but I felt his eyes on me and I … I ran.'

'You haven't run anywhere in at least 30 years,' the younger man said. 'I don't know what you saw, probably just a boy picking up his actual kitten. If your so-called tall fellow wanted to hurt you, you'd be dead meat.'

'Where did they go?' Xie Lian asked. 'Can you tell me the direction?'

'I'll show you the place where he snatched him up. Where they went … well, I know which way they started, but …'

'I understand,' Xie Lian said. 'Every little bit helps.'

As they followed her to the spot where someone might have picked up Shi Qingxuan, Xie Lian exchanged a glance with Hua Cheng. The other guy had been right about one thing: She hadn't run, and whoever had noticed her had clearly meant her no harm. Her gait was cumbersome and pained, and her breath got laboured after only a short time. If this stranger had been unfriendly, he could have got rid of her easily. 'If someone picked him up from the ground,' Hua Cheng said, 'maybe they did it to help him?'

'Whatever it is, before I do anything else I need to know he's safe.'

'I suspect he's fine, gege.'

'This is the spot,' the old woman said. 'Here he stood, picked poor Ol' Feng up as if he was a tiny child.'

'Do you know why he needed to be picked up?' Xie Lian asked. 'Did that other guy knock him out?'

'I'd assume he passed out from fright,' Hua Cheng said, but Xie Lian doubted this. While no-one could accuse Shi Qingxuan of having nerves of steel, he was perfectly able to face a dangerous situation. He might look like a lunatic doing it, but he'd stand his ground.

'No, silly man.' The old woman scowled at them both. 'There was a lot of blood on the street. I have been telling them, Ol' Feng has been killed and taken.'

Xie Lian swallowed hard. 'Oh no, that would be too horrible! Maybe that person really wanted to help him.' And maybe they had realised that only a potion from heaven would help? It seemed like a pretty big coincidence, but it was better than the alternative: That Shi Qingxuan was, indeed, dead. Xie Lian forced himself not to think about that for now. 'What direction did that tall man start going?'

'That way,' the woman said and pointed. 'But that one, he was so scary. You should stay away from him.'

'He doesn't scare me,' Xie Lian said. As she tottered back to the temple, he turned to Hua Cheng. 'I don't believe that Black Water would attack him. Someone found him injured and took him away to help. The question is who and where. If it was Black Water, do you think he brought him into his lair?' Just because heaven was convinced he had abandoned it, that didn't necessarily need to be the case.

'I doubt that.' Hua Cheng sighed. 'He Xuan has a house here, somewhere, and he has a few friendly ghosts posing as mortals. I'm sure one of them came to us earlier – or he came himself.'

'That was my thought, too. In that case, the potion was for Qingxuan.'

'The one bothering him might have been one of Black Water's people that turned on him,' Hua Cheng said. 'That place runs itself. He isn't invested in it, just uses it if he has business in the city and vanishes again. The few ghosts he has there are those that can't properly deal with what they are and want to blend in with humans. They usually leave after a while. On that note, one of them might have seen an injured man and genuinely wanted to help.

'Whether it was He Xuan or not that took him away, there's one thing we can be sure of: It wasn't a mortal. That woman was too scared, our person must have a reasonably powerful aura.'

'In other words, Black Water has no idea who actually lives in his house at any given time?'

'Exactly.' Hua Cheng started walking in the direction the old woman had indicated. 'As for his lair … Even he must have the common sense to know that Shi Qingxuan won't get any better there. He'd be scared out of his wits, such as they are.'

'Do you have a plan how to find his house?'

Hua Cheng smiled. 'Oh yes. It's big, I know that, and it has a garden at its back. That means we can actually go knocking on doors. Anyone getting scared when I look at them is a good candidate.' He put an arm around Xie Lian. 'We'll find him, gege. I promise.'