((Update early on Thursday because I'll be very busy over the long weekend. ))

He Xuan's words were still echoing in Shi Qingxuan's mind when she sat in an office with paperwork in front of her. His faith in her, his sincerity, his affection were all she had needed to lead her here. 'But jie,' she said to the ghost that had handed her the scroll, 'what does it say?'

The ghost sighed. 'As long as you base your work off this place, fifteen percent of your income go to Xiao-Wang.'

Shi Qingxuan managed to keep her face straight at the mention of the exact name He Xuan had introduced himself with. Maybe the best way to build a fake existence was to use someone real. He Xuan had chosen her because when he had settled in the house he'd already owned, she had been dead a little while. Since Wang Ai was a bit of a loner, no-one had noticed, especially because He Xuan didn't do much except keep an eye on Shi Qingxuan's corner of the slums. It had never been meant as a permanent solution, but he simply hadn't found the courage to reveal himself and face rejection. Not that he had said any of this, but in hindsight, it was obvious.

She had run her eyes over this contract. It said a little more than that, but nothing too bad. The workers had to pay for their own food and drink, if they wanted sleeping quarters they could rent them, and if they broke anything, they had to pay for it. Trivial, really. 'And you promise I can leave again?' She looked at her hands. 'At the previous place, they said I could, but when I wanted to go, they threatened to beat me. I had to run away in the middle of the night with just my clothes on my back.' It wasn't Shi Qingxuan's story, obviously, but one she had been told by a painful amount of people at her previous refuge. She needed to think of something. She wasn't going to abandon them. They had trusted her with their pains and fears, and she had held so many of them through their tears that she had lost count. They would never be forgotten again.

'Are you even listening to me?' the ghost asked.

'I … I …' she stammered. 'I'm a little nervous is all. I just … I'm so exhausted.'

'We'd start you in the serving area. You won't have to go with anyone on your first day.'

Shi Qingxuan bowed. She could do this.

The door to the office opened, and Wang Ai strode in. This time she looked human. Shi Qingxuan bent even lower than before. 'She's here,' she said into their shared communication array. 'Stay away,' she added as a precaution.

'Leave us,' Wang Ai said to the other ghost, who hurried to get out. 'You look like you had a long day,' she told Shi Qingxuan.

Now wasn't that the truth? She'd tried with all her might to protect what she thought to be a mortal with an aggressive ghost on her case; she'd found her brother and lost him again within an incense time; she'd been poisoned, stuck in a well, nearly fallen so far she'd have needed days to recover even as a heavenly official; she'd kissed He Xuan – and made love to him, forgetting the weight of the world for a while; she'd felt fear and grief and absolute, soul-crushing love that had carried her here and was still giving her the strength for this because at the end, she'd go home to rest in the arms of someone who thought the world of her.

She smiled a little shakily. 'Oh, it was all too much,' was her condensed but honest answer. Did Wang Ai know who she was? She had no idea.

The ghost woman reached out to touch her hand gently. 'It's all right. You can rest soon.'

And somehow, she had her answer. Even before the soft hand wandered up to her wrist to hold her in a vice-like grip, she was sure she'd been seen through. 'You're hurting me,' Shi Qingxuan said – just in case she was wrong.

'Yes? Good.' The woman slapped a scroll in front of her. 'Look at it. Tell me where it leads.'

Shi Qingxuan narrowed her eyes and didn't move. 'No.'

'I know what you are,' Wang Ai said softly. 'You can't fight me. Just because that monster transformed you as a reward for letting him fuck you, you're nothing special.'

'I know I'm not special,' Shi Qingxuan said. 'But you are way too obsessed with my sex life. It's creepy.'

'Look at it.' With her free hand, Wang Ai shook the scroll open.

In front of Shi Qingxuan was the design for a teleportation array. She stared at it, then at her. 'I have no idea where it leads. Your well? I'll just climb back out.'

'Not the well. Look again.'

She sighed. 'I know one person who could tell you where it goes by looking at the design, but I'm not him. I could take it to him.'

A hand cracked over Shi Qingxuan's cheek, and she started to get angry. 'Draw it.'

'Bad plan. I've never done it. But you have practice.'

'You really are a sad excuse of a god. Draw it!'

'Well, I'm not a god, am I? I can perhaps draw it, but I can't activate it anyway. Being a mortal and all that.'

'Liar! He gave you power. I sense it.'

Shi Qingxuan wasn't sure if the ghost was bluffing, but the thing was, she wanted answers. 'I don't know if I can draw a teleportation array that actually works.' She said this slowly. Maybe that would help Wang Ai processing her words.

'Try.'

'I'm going to need cinnabar.'

'You get this.' The ghost passed her a small knife and a brush.

'Are you out of your mind?' Of course an array could be drawn with blood, but teleportation arrays were complex. This was mad. 'You want to weaken me before you send me through.'

'Your brother told me you always want to do the right thing. I'm going to see if that is the truth. Help me. Help me save someone.'

Shi Qingxuan leaned forwards. 'Okay,' she said. 'I came here because I want to help. You don't need to hurt me first.'

The ghost's lips fell open, and she relinquished her grasp on her. 'Then draw the array.'

'Does it really have to be my blood?' She didn't like being hurt, stubborn refusal of any help notwithstanding. She liked hurting herself intentionally even less.

'Do it, you sad excuse. I don't know how I could ever worship you.'

Shi Qingxuan bit back an unhelpful answer to that. 'Okay,' she said instead. 'Ha ha ha, I wasn't supposed to go through another teleportation array, though.'

'You like being the good guy, don't you?' Wang Ai asked. 'Why do you think I run this place?'

'Um.' Shi Qingxuan had made a cut into her own palm and blinked at her. 'For fun and profit?'

'Idiot. Get drawing. I do it because your ugly stallion stole my father's luck.'

'His fate, not his luck. It's not the same.' Shi Qingxuan started creating the intricate design on the door, too worried about what Wang Ai's plan was to notice much discomfort. 'Do you realise that the same thing was done to He Xuan? He just wanted his life back and … um.'

'How did this give him anything back?'

The truth was, it didn't, which was kind of the point. Shi Qingxuan agreed with Hua Cheng's assessment that he had simply practised. He Xuan hadn't offered any commentary while the other two brought her up to speed, and Shi Qingxuan wasn't going to ask. The man needed to heal, not being poked. He apparently hadn't used good people for this, but he had caused harm to others. Wang Ai's pain was He Xuan's pain, they were the same. The biggest difference was that the ghost king was much older and much more powerful than her. That and the gravity of what He Xuan had to go through, but she wasn't going to say that.

Shi Qingxuan's lips tightened, but she didn't answer, focussing entirely on her task. Her array looked nowhere near as good as He Xuan's, but it should work. Shouldn't it? 'Sacrificing me for your father won't make you feel better.'

'Oh, but you will want me to. It's either you or others who have been customers here; people who had a lot of luck in their life.'

'It's not about luck.' Her spell would never work, it couldn't. Not if she wasn't looking for the right parameters to begin with. 'Are you keeping prisoners somewhere? Are you taking me there, too?'

'Yes. It's going to be you or them.'

Shi Qingxuan thought of He Xuan and closed her eyes. 'Then let it be me.' She activated the array. 'Will you tell me where it leads?'

'You'll see soon enough, little god.'

Shi Qingxuan wasn't exactly thrilled about being addressed that way, but she held her tongue. 'Ming-xiong?' she said into the communication array. 'I have to leave for a bit.'

'I knew you'd say that. Can you wait?'

'Not really. I'll be okay, Ming-xiong. I always am.'

'Don't let her hurt you. I meant what I said. Tear down the building if you must.'

She smiled as she stepped into the array. 'I won't do that. I'll see you soon.'

Damp gloom engulfed Shi Qingxuan, and for a moment she thought she really was in the well again. Then she saw the dark hall, sensed the forsaken, evil aura, and recognition hit her full force. She had been in this horrible place before, chained and frightened, had been choked and forced to watch as her brother was mutilated and killed like an insect. The moment she understood where she was, a strangled scream tore from her throat. The strength faded from her legs and she sank to the floor, panting, trying to get a modicum of control back and failing badly.

'So you are afraid of him,' Wang Ai said next to her.

'I'm not,' Shi Qingxuan managed. She swallowed, balled her hands into fists and took a few steadying breaths. It was true. It wasn't He Xuan or the thought of him that had her shaking, it was the place. Shi Qingxuan noticed that the loss of control had broken the transformation spell. The dress was way too tight for him now, making it harder still to breathe through his terror. 'I'm not afraid of him,' he repeated. Even in his dreams it was never He Xuan himself that woke him up drenched in sweat and screaming. At least, it hadn't been for a long time. It was this horrible, oppressive place and everything in it.

He wanted to run. He wanted to hide. He wanted to sit down and cry. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to beg He Xuan to come and rescue him. He did none of those things. Instead, he forced himself to stand up straight and face his abductor. 'What now?' he asked, surprised by the steadiness of his own voice.

'Follow me,' Wang Ai said.

Long before they reached the place, Shi Qingxuan knew where they were going. He pressed his teeth together to stop them from chattering, every muscle in his body tense, so he wouldn't shake like a leaf.

'Qingxuan!' The voice over the communication array was sharp, and he felt tears break from his eyes, but it was from relief. He wasn't alone. Not really.

'I'm scared, Ming-xiong,' he told him. Even saying it helped a little.

'Where are you, I'll get you!'

'No!' It would be easy, but something in him refused to sit back and let others take care of him. He had to face whatever this was on his own. 'I've got this. I-I'll be all right, Ming-xiong.'

'You don't sound remotely all right.'

'I'm better now. If – if it's too much, I'll tell you, okay?'

'I'm heading back home, and we'll stand guard next to the teleportation array. If you need us, just say so, and we are with you a moment later, you hear me?'

He managed to smile. 'I hear you. Thank you.'

They reached their destination and Shi Qingxuan steeled himself. He knew there would be blood on the floor, so much blood. He couldn't think of it, of how it had got there. He followed Wang Ai meekly – and froze.

The room was almost the same as it had been when He Xuan had chained him to the wall. Now seven cages lined one side of it, each with a person in it. One of them was slumped against its bars, dead or unconscious, and he had to look away. The urns holding the ashes of He Xuan's family were missing.

What drew his attention was the man occupying the same chains that had once held him. It was a man in tattered, dirty clothes, head slumped to his chest, what remained of his hair a mass of filth that hung limply past his shoulders. 'Oh no,' he said. His voice was steady, and he dared to unclench his hands. 'Xiao-Wang, is this your father?'

'Yes. He doesn't remember me.'

'I don't think he ever will,' he told her quietly. 'Try your spell on me. Go on. I won't run or fight.' It wouldn't work. The worst it could do was make him twinge a bit.

'Is there some protection magic on you?'

He shook his head. 'No.' He was a heavenly official, but that wouldn't do much for him. 'You shouldn't do this, you'll burn yourself out if you try. He Xuan needed several attempts before he had the confidence to do it to me.' Except he never did, in the end. He had spared him completely. 'I'll let you do it, but it will destroy you.'

'Then I shouldn't do it to you, but to them.'

'That won't change anything!' He shook his head. 'You're killing yourself.'

'This place is really interesting,' Wang Ai said. 'It's brimming with power that he abandoned. Since he lifted his curse, I could use it. Your brother never liked the idea, but I always knew I had to try. I'm no supreme, I don't think for a moment that I could win against you in a fair fight. Not if that monster gave you spiritual energy.' She stood close to him, holding up the knife he had used to draw his own blood for the array. 'But I'm not fighting fair.'

For a moment, Shi Qingxuan thought she would attack him, but instead, she rammed the blade into her own hand. He was going to reach out and stop her from doing whatever her plan was, but his movements were sluggish, and the harder he fought, the harder it got. Once more, he sank to his knees, crashing down painfully because he couldn't break his fall.

'I'm afraid I need you and them. Their luck and your fate. Thank you for telling me this. And thank you for cooperating and giving me your blood willingly. It makes my hold on you stronger.'

'It won't work!' he ground out.

'Then you have nothing to fear.' She opened the first cage and dragged a woman out of it. The poor soul didn't put up a fight when Wang Ai cut her arm open from the elbow down. It was a deep wound, and blood gushed from it. The captive screamed.

'What in the world did she do to you?' Shi Qingxuan shouted, his voice cracking. He needed to end this. He might not be in too much danger, but every single soul apart from him was.

'You think she's a victim? She hit one of the girls working at the temple. And not just a little slap, she hit her so hard she fell and broke her wrist.'

'That is … completely wrong, but you can't just kill her for being a brute!' He forced himself to relax, to ease into the hold Wang Ai had on him. She controlled him through his blood which she had mixed with her own essence by cutting herself with the same blade, but the spell she was preparing would need her full focus. The less he fought, the faster she would draw her resources away from him.

'I won't kill her,' Wang Ai informed him coolly.

No. She was simply going to leave her here. With an injury like that and the dirty state this place was in, it was pretty much the same thing, except more cruel.

Wang Ai bowed before her father. 'Forgive me,' she said, cutting him in the same way. He made no sound.

Shi Qingxuan's knowledge of magic like this was … thin at best. It wasn't something he wanted to remedy. He tried to move when she had her back to him and when he noticed that he could, he stayed put. One of his hands strayed into his sleeve and clasped his fan. He took a few deep breaths. It would be all right. 'Xiao-Wang,' he said, and there was something in his voice that made her freeze and look at him. 'Xiao-Wang, please stand down. I don't want to hurt you.'

With a shout, she launched herself at the next cage. She never reached it. With one fluid motion, he pulled out the fan, stood tall, and waved it, making the bars splinter into pieces. It felt as if the foundation of the manor itself shook with his attack, and Wang Ai was hurtled to the far end of the room. Likewise, her captives were knocked against the wall behind their cages. He couldn't help that, but he made sure she caught the brunt of his attack. He stood over her and looked at her, frail and broken. 'I don't want to hurt you,' he repeated, 'but I will if you force me.' He smiled, feeling infinitely sad. 'It's not that easy to hold a heavenly official. Or to curse one. You can't win, even in an unfair fight.'

'But you … when did you ascend again?'

'I didn't. I'm the deputy of His Highness, the Scrap Immortal. Not the best person to mess with when what you want is luck.' Xie Lian had nothing to do with this, but the ghost deflated at his mention all the same. 'Won't you stand down?' he asked, going as far as offering his hand to help her up.

'Why don't you want to kill me?'

'I … prefer to avoid harming people, and I don't think I'd like myself very much if I changed that now? I'm sorry. For what happened to you. That wasn't He Xuan's fault. Only the one who pushed you is to blame for your death.'

'But my father and your brother … Your own brother!'

'I will grieve for him as long as I live.' He felt tears stinging his eyes. 'He Xuan was so lost to his pain. You of all people should understand. I do, too. I hated him for a time. At least I thought so. Maybe I was simply frightened of him. But … I've loved him for much longer. I know he isn't a bad person. He did something horrible, and he has to live with that somehow. I still love him and I always will. Like you loved your father, even though you knew he could be cruel. We can't control it.'

He felt something touch him. The other wretches He Xuan had gathered in this place had apparently decided to join them, and one was reaching for him, patting his leg. He crouched down, caught the hand in his and held it. 'I'm sorry. I don't know what you've done, but even if I did, I wouldn't judge you. I won't leave you here again. Any of you.' All of these people had blood on their hands, had been punished by having their fates traded with those of better men and women with a horrible lot in life.

'They won't understand,' Wang Ai said.

'How do you know?' He stood up straight again. 'I mean, I don't think so, either, but I can still treat them like people. Are you coming? I don't like it here.' His panic had subsided, but that didn't mean he wished to linger. He never wanted to see this place again in his life, and if it had been an option he found acceptable, he'd have bolted the moment he recognised it.

'What will happen to me?' There was fear in the ghost's voice now. She would have to face the consequences of her actions, that much was certain.

'That isn't in my hands,' Shi Qingxuan said truthfully. 'But you won't be harmed by me or my friends. I don't know what will happen to them, either. The people, the ones you captured, they will go back to the city. How they move on from this … I have no idea.'

'You did. You were strong.'

'Oh, I'm strong now, all of a sudden?' He offered his hand once more, and this time, she took it and let him haul her to her feet. 'If it's any comfort, I feel like "sad excuse" was more fitting. Can you help me? I need to get them over to another room with a teleportation array, then I'll have us picked up.' He didn't wait for an answer, turning to the one caged person that hadn't moved. He knelt down in the filth and touched his face, tilting it up a little. His skin was clammy and cold, but not cold enough for a dead man. 'They're all alive,' he said. 'You will be summoned to heaven to be tried, but that you didn't kill anyone will count in your favour. You can also try to run. I won't stop you.'

'Why?'

'I understand you too well.' Shi Qingxuan moved on to the captive the ghost had cut. 'Please release your father,' he said to Wang Ai. The poor injured woman didn't react to him at all, but when he coaxed her to stand up, she did it without a fight.

'Done,' Wang Ai said. 'How do you mean to get these things where you want them?'

Shi Qingxuan's expression was a little rueful. 'I think they will come willingly. They like me. But I'll shepherd them a bit to be sure.' He stood over the unconscious man with his fists in his sides and eyed him. 'You I'm going to have to carry, huh? Xiao-Wang, please escort the injured woman. She won't come on her own.' He'd been in that place. She would have a very hard time. 'Can everyone else just follow us?' There were five more people she had held, and they nodded or grunted agreement. 'Great. Xiao-Wang, could you please go ahead? I'll bring up the rear.' He bent down and lifted the unconscious man onto his shoulders, holding him in place with one arm. 'Everyone, we follow Xiao-Wang. Don't be scared, no-one will hurt you. You'll all be home soon.'

With his fan, Shi Qingxuan created gusts of wind that were harsh enough to discourage the wretches from straying off course and slowly directed them to the room with the array. While he was right about the pull he had on them, he had to reach deep into his resources, send out his presence and will to lure those that weren't already gathered around him. If He Xuan hadn't lent him powers, the portion he had as a middle court official would never have been enough. This way, he could call them, every single one, and guide them in their aimless wandering. Slowly more and more of the madmen trickled towards him, and he opened pathways in the controlled gale he was conjuring up to let them near. Some of them were completely sodden, making him wonder if they'd been in the lake.

When the little ghosts that dwelled on the island started joining, Shi Qingxuan was mildly surprised, but since they didn't try to attack him, he was fine with them. 'Is there anyone still out in the open?' he asked one wet ghost, who shook her head vigorously.

'None,' she answered. 'Have you come to save us, shifu?'

No-one had ever called Shi Qingxuan anything like that, and he flushed. On top of that, he wondered why the ghosts would need rescuing. Maybe they were just bored to insanity all alone in the middle of the ocean. 'Great,' he said. 'You want to leave? I want to leave.' She refused to give more answers, just stared at him with bewilderment. 'You didn't expect to ever see another soul again, did you? It's going to be fine now.' Checking that his winds weren't letting anyone out, Shi Qingxuan decided it was high time to get away from this place for good. 'I'm done here,' he said into the group communication array. 'Can you please all come over and help me with a … situation? I'll need a few distance shortening arrays.'

'Where the fuck are you?!' He Xuan asked loudly.

'Your manor,' he answered curtly.

'What?! Since when! How did you get past us?' The ghost was confused and worried, but there was really no need.

Shi Qingxuan laughed, knowing He Xuan would glare at him for that if he could do that through the array. 'Your other manor,' he clarified.

'…'

'Ming-xiong?'

'She dared to take you to my lair?!'

'Not just me. But don't attack her! Any of you, do you hear? She won't hurt anyone any more.'

He Xuan had clearly made good on his promise to wait next to the teleportation array in his house because when the cavalry came, Shi Qingxuan and his charges were still on their ponderous way. There were moments where he thought he heard thunder, felt it in his bones, but he couldn't divide his attention with so many lives in his hands. It didn't matter if the whole place came crashing down on him, he wasn't going to break his word: No-one would stay behind this time.

Xie Lian's expression was a little shocked, Hua Cheng's eyebrows travelled up so high that they looked like they'd float away soon, and He Xuan – in his true form this time – stared with his mouth open before rushing past everyone else to Shi Qingxuan. 'Are you hurt?' he blurted.

'Not a scratch. Hug me later, I need to focus, or they'll wander off.'

'What do you intend to do with them?'

Shi Qingxuan faltered. He hadn't really thought that far.

'Send them to ghost city,' Hua Cheng decided. 'He Xuan, break the inane curse on this array. If we have to make a new one for every single person, we'll be here a week, and we definitely don't have a week.'

'Is ghost city safe for the mortals?' Shi Qingxuan asked. 'Won't they be eaten?'

'Not if I tell people they're off limits.'

'It's probably safer there than among humans,' Xie Lian said. 'They won't even be too conspicuous.'

'Well, then send them ahead. The others are from the Royal Capital. But every one of them needs attention, they're sick, one injured, all underfed.'

'I have my physician back,' He Xuan said. 'I've found the bottle that impostor put him into. He can look after them.'

'Thank you, Xuan-xiong. Your Highness, you will probably want to take Xiao-Wang to heaven to be tried.'

'Yes. She should be.'

At that, Wang Ai launched herself at Hua Cheng with a scream, pummelling him with her fists. 'Hey,' he said coolly. 'I won't help you.' He pushed her away effortlessly, holding her at arm's length. 'What are you doing?'

'She wants you to kill her,' Xie Lian replied in a soft voice. 'She thinks if she makes you angry, you'll finish her.'

Hua Cheng looked at her the way he might inspect a mildly interesting slug. 'You'll have to try a lot harder than that.'

He Xuan snorted. He snatched her out of Hua Cheng's grip, holding her firmly. 'Stop it. He won't do it. You want to die?'

'Xuan-xiong, no! I promised her we won't hurt her!'

'Be quiet, Qingxuan. You. If you want to die, don't be a coward about it by using someone else. Just let go. It's easier than living. But it's also over. These idiots in heaven, they'll jail you under some mountain for a while, but they'll let you go when you've calmed down. By that time, I'll have forgotten you. You're too insignificant.'

'You want to be forgotten by him,' Hua Cheng helped out, examining his fingernails. 'But if you really do wish to die, try that earlier move in the heavenly court. With any luck, you'll get whacked into eternity by a martial god.'

Remembering something, Shi Qingxuan put a hand on He Xuan's arm. 'Hey, we need to stay behind a bit. We've got to look for your family. They're no longer in … in there.'

For a few seconds, He Xuan looked at him, then he kissed him fiercely, stealing his breath and what was left of his composure. 'I took them away long ago. But that you remembered …'

The truth was that Shi Qingxuan would never forget a single detail about this place, but at He Xuan's expression, he managed a smile. 'In that case … can we all go? I'm so done.'

'Of course. You go first …'

'No.' Shi Qingxuan took a step back. 'I need to see this through.'

He Xuan shook his head. 'There is no time, Qingxuan, we need to get out of here!'

'Then we'd better start moving these people, Xuan-xiong. I'm staying here to keep them corralled until I know they're safe. All of them. I will not run away!'

He Xuan nodded slowly. 'All right, Qingqing, as you like. Hua Cheng, don't dawdle.' He put an arm around Shi Qingxuan's back until everyone except for them was gone. Upholding the spell to keep the poor lost souls near had been exhausting, and Shi Qingxuan closed his fan with a sigh. 'Come home with me,' He Xuan said. 'You need sleep. You did great, but you had enough day for today.'

'Or for five days,' Shi Qingxuan said. He knew they needed to talk about the logistics of being Xie Lian's deputy, but that could wait until the next day.

((Next week, I will also have to update on Thursday. Please note that I will post both the last chapter and the epilogue, because the latter is too brief to hold it hostage for a week.))