Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The window was wide open, allowing a soft breeze to waft through the office and bring an intense scent of nature alongside it; almost as if the wind was carrying a whole forest on its back.

Mu Qing, from his position by his desk, blinked his eyes open at the smell, realising that he had begun unintentionally dosing off by leaning his head on his hand. The reports in front of him stood as the only witnesses to his unsightly behaviour but also acted as the sole reason for his drowsy mood in the first place. The repetitiveness of reading through reports of mission, after mission, after mission, after mission, all blended in together after a while and caused his mind to slowly shut down.

With the bright weather and the soft draft ruffling the sheer curtains at his office window, it was hard to concentrate on uneventful reports when Mu Qing wanted nothing more than to wander to his garden and settle under one of his trees to enjoy the warmth of the sun on his skin.

Instead, a sigh escaped his lips and he brought up two fingers to rub at the skin between his brows, hoping to elevate the present headache. A pointless hope really — it was bound to only worsen as he continued to waffle through the stacks of reports on his desk. With not much hope of delaying the inevitable, Mu Qing reached for the next report written by one of his junior officials.

Due to his busier schedule, as was expected with the start of the summer underway (an abundance of prayers for rain and good crops from his worshippers, Pei Ming annoying him about their yearly tradition of attending one of the upcoming festivals up North, and the... bonding time with Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and Hua Cheng), Mu Qing has chosen to let his junior officials practice more field work and sent out a few teams in the last month to deal with a variation of issues in the Southwest.

It had certainly stroked his pride a bit that all had reported back to him with news of successful missions. Sadly, now with fieldwork out of the way, all that was left behind was the paperwork.

[Sightings of a sorrowfully vengeful spirit in one of the woodland villages. A small team excursion was sent to gather information, with his head junior official Yong Baige leading the mission under Mu Qing's deliberate command. Spirit found, cornered, detained. A successful mission with minimal damage.]

Mu Qing signed the report.

[Rumours from travellers of an unexplained barrier situated a mile or two off from one of the main paths that crossed the borders between the Southeast and the Southwest. A trio of Xuan Zhen officials was sent out to scout the area and record any important details. The report stated that nothing of interest was noticed, so the trio went back with their general's consent and successfully took down the barrier. The source turned out to be an abandoned artefact found next to a tree, presumed to have been accidentally dropped by a traveller. Safely deactivated and brought back, no damage done.]

Mu Qing signed the report.

[A hurried insight from Ling Wen about a sudden fire in one of the Xuan Zhen temples. Nie Zhiyuan, his third-in-command, immediately volunteered as the first to help with damage control, maybe because of his slight pyromania. The fire is safely put out, but the temple is unfortunately half burnt. Nie Zhiyuan investigates foul play but only finds a devastated temple priest and a very crisp tapestry that had hung above a table with multiple incense holders. All of it is ruled as an accident and an interior design flaw that earned the temple priest a twenty-minute lecture.]

Mu Qing signed the report.

[Scared prayers of a ghost luring people away from a village in the middle of the night, never to be found again by morning. Both Yong Baige and Nie Zhiyuan are sent out undercover to gather information and investigate. They urgently claim that they have identified the ghost to be a Savage. Mu Qing informs Ling Wen of the situation and descends into the mortal realm to join his junior officials. The three of them bide their time. Lair found, Savage cornered, and successful detainment of the ghost.]

... Mu Qing hesitated in signing the report.

A memory flash of Yong Baige being flung into a tree crosses his mind, with the sound of a resounding crack echoing in his ears. The Savage had not been as easy to take down as Mu Qing had hoped.

There had been something about it which had sent the smallest of shivers down his spine, and he wasn't sure whether it had anything to do with the devastating sobs that kept wracking its being or the desperation with which it claimed to bring justice upon those who wronged it. The image of despair which it presented seemed to portray a soul stuck in a loop of uncertainty and agony, a prison of its own making that had trapped the soul and isolated it from the reality of the real world.

Even upon its capture, its sobs hadn't lessened. It only had the state of mind to madly eye Mu Qing and his two officials, muttering about justice and revenge.

Ling Wen had thankfully sent out a team of deputy gods at his request that took the Savage away from his sight moments after its capture. After this, Mu Qing ascended with Yong Baige and Nie Zhiyuan to heaven, dragging the two to Palace Xuan Zhen and forbidding them from further work until their injuries were healed to his adequate standards.

Nie Zhiyuan had gotten off slightly better from the fight, with only a few serious cuts and bruises (alongside a mild concussion), but Yong Baige would need a while to walk off the fractured shoulder from her impact with the tree and the rest of her injuries (which also included a bit of head damage — again, from the tree impact). Mu Qing refused to mention anything of his own battered state, and the two didn't comment on it, but all three were aware that even he needed time to rest after the fight.

Mu Qing reached up a hand and rubbed one of his temples, already feeling the headache that had been building up behind his eyes worsen.

Though it came faster than usual when he was forced to sit and read through stacks of reports, he blamed the vulnerability of his head at this given moment on a blow he had suffered during the fight with the Savage. At that time, it had been enough to cause a dizzy spell that had gone through him. And right now he was still suffering the leftover effects since the fight had been so recent.

Mu Qing.

Oh great. Just what he needed to lessen the headache. The number one reason behind most of his combined headaches in the last eight hundred years; General Nan Yang.

Yes?

Mu Qing began to stack the reports on his desk into neat piles. With Feng Xin contacting him, there was bound to be a distraction to any current events ongoing in his life, as usual. At this point, there was no point in hoping to stop the inevitable either. He knew better by now.

Some days it came as a welcome call that took him away from boring tasks, but most days, Feng Xin's interruptions came during times when his mind was bound to be focused on something important. Today was no different, as he had hoped to have done most of these reports by the end of the day. Instead, he disgustingly glanced at the large pile he had left and mourned the sleep he was bound to lose later.

Where are you?

A furrow made itself known between his brows at the blunt question. He didn't understand the petulant (and slightly accusatory) tone which it carried either.

... at my Palace? Why are you asking?

Because you're fucking missing dinner.

He was? Mu Qing glanced out the window, noticing the sun having nearly set on the horizon. The soft breeze was still drifting through his office, but noticeably, the temperature had dropped. There seemed to be a dampness to the air now, which lingered and settled on his skin like droplets of rain. Mu Qing felt himself shiver.

Oh, he had lost track of time. It's those damn reports. With a curse under his breath, he recited the password for their joined spiritual array (which was still weird to think about, he had to confess. At moments, it still felt like a dream that the four of them had taken this step in their relationship. That meaning, of course, all of them being together). Thankfully, Mu Qing knew that Xie Lian would be calm about his tardiness, which would certainly tame the wild tempers of the other two.

My apologies, I had not realised the time. Since I'm late, don't hesitate to start dinner without me.

Ah, no worries, Qing-er! That was Xie Lian, happy as always, as expected. Will you be long?

Mu Qing glanced down at his attire. By a stroke of luck, he had been dragged to a meeting today with Ling Wen, so he was accordingly dressed for that affair. The outfit would therefore be more than suitable for dinner with his... well, with the other three. That only left informing his deputies of his departure for the evening and the actual journey to Paradise Manor.

No more than ten minutes, he assured the crown prince.

Good. The voice that now rumbled through the array belonged to Hua Cheng. The baritone sound of it, even through the spiritual array, still caused a slight shiver to run down Mu Qing's back. However, there was almost a complete lack of fear in his reaction to it nowadays, which in itself served as proof of great progress in their relationship. We will wait for your arrival then.

A slight sigh of frustration escaped his lips, but Mu Qing felt the way in which the words warmed his heart. Despite Hua Cheng's stubborn refusal to heed his words, and the lack of protests coming from Xie Lian and Feng Xing when it came to the ghost's idea, their insistence to wait for him before they began dinner caused the corners of his lips to pull into the smallest of smiles.

Not wanting to keep them waiting for him much longer (and risking their anger as always, a voice inside him said), Mu Qing hurried to join them. 

"—and so Ling Wen decided the only way she could properly punish Pei Ming was by sending him undercover to a male brothel, but apparently the fucker entertained himself enough as it was and come by Ling Wen's Palace afterwards to thank her for 'sending him out on such a thoughtfully selected mission.'" Feng Xin scoffed in disgust, finishing his recounting of the most recent event that traumatised him, and putting another chopstick full of rice in his mouth.

Hua Cheng responded in kind by snorting at the story inelegantly, which was a contrast from the awkward giggle that Xie Lian let out upon hearing of Pei Ming's adventures in the mortal realm.

From where he was sat opposite the ex-prince, Mu Qing raised an eyebrow at the General of the Southeast. "You mean to tell me the great Nan Yang has been oblivious to Pei Ming's open interests in partners this whole time?" he mocked, just the tiniest bit.

Feng Xin blinked, looking outraged. "And how exactly was I to know?" he demanded. "As far as I, and the rest of the heavens, with even Ling Wen at that, were aware, Pei Ming only cared about coming across beautiful women and seducing them into his bed. There has never been any indication — and wait a minute, how exactly did you know?"

Mu Qing shrugged and glanced down at his rice bowl, avoiding the three pairs of inquisitive eyes suddenly centred upon him. "I thought it was an open secret," he answered, hating himself for feeling embarrassed about their attention. "Pei Ming never denied his attraction towards men whenever the conversation came up between us." He looked up just in time to see the instantaneous rise of both of Xie Lian's eyebrows.

"You and Pei Ming have talked about romantic partners?" Xie Lian asked with a small hint of disbelief. The feeling seemed to be shared with Feng Xin, judging by his surprised face.

Mu Qing scoffed. "I wouldn't call it talking, but rather something closer to reprimanding," he corrected steadfastly, wanting that assumption to be long buried. The day he decided to turn to Pei Ming of all people for love advice, would be the day his heart would stop and his last will would say to give all his earthly possessions to Qi Rong. Which is to say, the chances of such an exact scenario happening were close to impossible. "As someone who has had the numerous misfortune of being paired on missions with General Ming Guang, there is only so much flirting I can bear to witness before I make my displeasure very clear to him."

Hua Cheng hummed from where he sat next to him. "Indeed, it is hard to imagine you indulging the General in such actions." Mu Qing merely raises an eyebrow in response but it's enough to make the ghost grin. "Perhaps you should implement a more memorable method to make him cease such behaviour."

The hint of a mad glint in Hua Cheng's eye told him everything he needed to know. Mu Qing couldn't say what it was exactly that suddenly had the ghost interested in Pei Ming's pain, but he wasn't above playing along. If only to see the madness intensify. "If you are referencing the utilisation of my sabre, then I would have to admit that the idea has certainly crossed my mind a few times."

For a second, the red of Hua Cheng's eye flashed with an emotion he couldn't place, and when he spoke next, his voice had lowered. "Oh?"

Feng Xin took that second to choke on his rice on the other side of the table, bringing everyone's attention to him. With the help of Xie Lian, who fretted slightly and patted his back, Feng Xin was soon well enough to once again send Mu Qing a look of disbelief, mingled with some other emotion hidden under the surface.

He wasn't sure why exactly Feng Xin decided to look at him like this — it certainly wasn't news that Mu Qing was seconds away from engaging Pei Ming in a fight every time the man opened his mouth.

Xie Lian, amidst the staring, took his hand back from Feng Xin's back and scratched lightly at his cheek. "Ha ha, well, it certainly wouldn't do to attack another General, I would say," he spoke. "But I could understand your frustration with such a situation. At least Ling Wen cannot force you upon joint missions all the time — haven't you recently gone away undercover?"

Mu Qing, seeing the escape for what it was when it came to getting away from Feng Xin's and Hua Cheng's sudden interests in his missions with Pei Ming, nodded at the ex-prince and plopped some rice into his mouth.

Xie Lian smiled that soft smile of his. "You have been gone for so long. Tell us about it, please?"

Faced with such a serene expression, Mu Qing could do nothing but obey his plea. 

After dinner, Hua Cheng had taken a moment to pause and decided to direct them towards a different private lounge than the one they normally occupied — surprisingly, this one had a large open window overlooking the main gardens of Paradise Manor.

Mu Qing took in the view carefully as he situated himself on one of the plush sofas, as he rarely had a chance to even catch a glimpse of said gardens. During the many centuries that he had lived, gardening and an overall interest in flora had made their way into the top list of interests for Mu Qing, with the Place of Xuan Zhen itself having a beautifully maintained garden, if he had to say so himself. Even his junior officials took pride in the perfect upkeep of all the plants, with a strict rotation system created between them all when it came to watering, weeding, and fertilising.

It all worked to create the perfect ecosystem within the most inner courtyard of Mu Qing's Palace — with this in mind, the gardens of Xuan Zhen could potentially be the talk of heavens in regards to their beauty, if anyone in the palace allowed outsiders to even catch a glimpse of a single piece of flora.

Instead, over the centuries the gardens somewhat became a secret only known to those belonging under Xuan Zhen. They were the heart of the Palace, and like it's owner (as Mu Qing had heard some of his junior officials whisper between each other many lifetimes ago), they stayed closed off to the outside world in fear that someone should one day stomp their way in and trample all the flora till nothing but broken petals and ripped roots remained.

Mu Qing has thought over this analogy during many sleepless nights since it was first uttered, and parts of him had always battled over whether or not he accepted the truth behind the words.

The idea always seemed so pathetic in the grand scale of things (shielding his heart from anyone in fear that they would break it?), and yet, the moment things started progressing within his relationship with Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and Hua Cheng, the only thing he thought about was how easy it would be for any of them to hurt him.

He feared how easily they could rip apart his heart like ripping weeds from the ground, and sometimes the fear drowned him so much that he wanted to crawl his way back into his inner courtyard and bury himself among the flora in hopes that they would never find him and have the opportunity to hurt him.

And yet... the three of them surprised him. To the point that these thoughts came less and less often, and his garden bloomed with all the attention that Mu Qing bestowed upon it during days when thoughts of Xie Lian's smile, Feng Xin's laugh, and Hua Cheng's smirk urged him to get out of his office and enjoy the beautiful flora.

They surprised him in the most enjoyable sense, and every day that they looked at him and tried their best to see through the cold exterior he had fallen victim to in his youth, he let himself relax more and more and more in their presence.

It was a slow process, and Mu Qing still had intrusive thoughts that told him Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and Hua Cheng were playing the long game with him — that any moment they would turn around and laugh in his face after they decide it had all been a joke. But now, during the days when his mind attempted to overwhelm him, he thought of how warm he felt when one of the three subtly showed their affection or the hesitant touches placed upon his shoulder, lower back, or arms, so light that a shrug would easily throw them off.

They never crowded him, and never pushed — and even if at times this hesitance made him think they see you as weak, he didn't linger in these thoughts too much and instead enjoyed the idea that they were so hesitant with him because they feared crossing a line with him.

It showed they cared, and if they cared, they couldn't possibly hate him, unless this was all a trick and any minute now they would—

"Here," a gruff voice spoke softly in front of him suddenly — Mu Qing blinked himself back into the present and turned his head to look up at Feng Xin.

The archer was holding out a cup of tea, his calloused hands gently curled around the fine porcelain and for a split second Mu Qing wished that he could be held as softly as the cup; he wished deeply that Feng Xin's hands could reach inside of him and curl all ten fingers tenderly around the cracked remains of his heart and never let go, please don't let go—

He reached out and carefully took the full tea cup into his own hands, humming softly at the smell of jasmine and something slightly woodsy, like forest grass after long hours of rainfall during summer mornings.

Mu Qing murmured his thanks to Feng Xin, chanced a look to the side and caught Hua Cheng's eye, noticing the pleased crease at its corner. Xie Lian and Feng Xin both preferred sweeter teas than Mu Qing did, so the Ghost King must have had a separate pot brewed for him. The thought alone caused something in his chest to flutter against his will.

Still keeping the eye contact between them, Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow. "This one had not realised that the sight of my gardens could make one so lost in thought." Whether voiced as a statement or not, the question within the words made itself apparent regardless.

Hua Cheng did that often — he stated questions and answered in riddles. Normally, Xie Lian could coax a clear sentence from him if the situation required a more straightforward approach, but the three of them have come to understand Hua Cheng so much since they have gotten closer that such instances rarely happened nowadays.

As for Mu Qing, he had grown up reading between the lines and even hid himself in such an inaccessible way that sometimes his methods resembled Hua Cheng's a bit. It was hard coming across as honest, and at times, he envied the ease with which Feng Xin and Xie Lian shared their thoughts.

"Maybe Crimson Rain has never taken a close enough look then," Mu Qing uttered back, part defensive and part deflective. It was unintentional to have lost himself in his thoughts. He resisted the urge to rub his temples again to soothe the still-ongoing headache brewing behind his eyes.

From experience, Mu Qing knew that the mild concussion was bound to only take a few days to heal properly, but it was still frustrating to suffer its effects. Besides, he didn't want to give the three of them any indication that he was in pain — having them fret over him was currently the last thing he wanted when the Savage would have never even gotten the chance to hit him in the first place had he been more careful.

No, he would keep his embarrassment to himself.

Hua Cheng huffed, clearly amused by his attempts, but willing to put the subject aside. "Perhaps the General is right," he agreed instead. "Plants never particularly caught my interest." A pause, then a small smirk and a glance at Xie Lian. “Unless they hold a certain meaning.”

Feng Xin snorted loudly from beside Mu Qing, shifting his weight on the sofa to lean back and glance at the beautifully carved ceiling. Mu Qing wondered if Hua Cheng had crafted the designs himself, so long ago when he first decided to make this the perfect home for Xie Lian.

He imagined the Ghost King, so young compared to now, filled with nothing but determination and devotion for his god, and a chisel in his hand that carefully carved the mesmerising designs above. Despite his curiosity, he knew it wasn't his place to ask for the truth.

"Do you enjoy flora, Qing-er?" Xie Lian asked eagerly, always the first to find out new things that any of them were willing to share with him. Most times than not, the excited smile on his face made Hua Cheng and Feng Xin more than happy to share all the small details he wanted to know, and even Mu Qing found it harder to hold back truthful answers to his questions as more and more days passed.

And it was not only due to the joy Xie Lian exuded whenever he learnt a new fact about Mu Qing — always softly taking in the new piece of information and storing it away to remember for later. But it also had to do with the bright sparkle in his eyes; so open and unafraid to share anything of himself in return if Mu Qing only asked.

That and the nickname, the tender Qing-er that slipped past Xie Lian's lips a few weeks ago, and upon no reprimands from Mu Qing, continued to hesitantly appear in conversation until it was the only way Xie Lian referred to him in private. Until it was the only way that Mu Qing expected for him to refer to him — it was intoxicating.

Feng Xin jumped into the conversation before he could. "He does — he loves plants," came the confident reply, and Mu Qing sipped his tea quietly to calm his suddenly racing heart. He never told Feng Xin this. "You cannot step five feet into his Palace without seeing a bit of green. I'm also certain that there is some sort of conspiracy regarding his private gardens — Yong Baige, Mu Qing's head junior official," he explained upon seeing the furrow between Xie Lian's brows, "once kicked me out when I wandered in too deep looking for Mu Qing. Told me I didn't have access to the inner courtyard."

Mu Qing lowered his tea cup onto his knee. "And she was right," he defended his head junior official, ready to explain that Feng Xin was lucky not to be kicked out on his ass after barging his way through Mu Qing's Palace after one of their fights. However, last second, he noticed the sharp glint in Hua Cheng's eye and realised that the Ghost King wouldn't let this subject go if he added onto his curiosity. Instead, he cleared his throat. "My gardens are a safe space for all of my junior officials. It is only normal that they're cautious to allow any outsiders to enter."

A half truth, but it was bound to throw them off track. He sipped more of his forest-smelling tea and fought against the shiver making its way down his spine as the air from one of the open windows drifted over his figure.

Xie Lian, as predicted, lit up with the idea. "That sounds wonderful," he murmured. "Your junior officials sound very lucky to have a place to relax and be themselves without the fear of judgment from the rest of the heavens."

Mu Qing inclined his head in agreement and cleared his throat. He wished for a change in subject, to move on from the topic of his gardens, when only moments ago he had been thinking of them being used as a metaphor for his heart. Because to have them talk so openly about the gardens now almost felt like he was bearing his heart open and he wasn't ready, please give him more time—

"In any case," Mu Qing interrupted his own thoughts, allowing his lips to quirk into a small smirk, hoping the bait will be caught, "I sincerely think that you have no right to comment on the secrecy of my gardens, Nan Yang, when it's an open secret that you couldn't even keep a cactus alive if you tried."

"Oi!"

"Come now." Mu Qing rolled his eyes, hard. The show of theatrics only worsened his headache, and yet Feng Xin's indignant expression deepened. "Even General Ming Guang has a better green thumb than you, and his interests lie in aphrodisiac flora."

"Unsurprising," Hua Cheng scoffed.

Feng Xin leaned back further into the sofa, his empty cup having long been placed on the low table in front of them, which meant he easily crossed his arms over his chest. "The cactus incident only happened once." Mu Qing raised an eyebrow. "Alright, fine! Twice, it happened twice. Happy? Besides, not all of us can be in sync with nature as you are. I would like to see you excel at some of my hobbies."

"Ah yes, let me climb some mountains and then roll around in mud."

"Take that back — you make me sound like some sort of animal."

"Are you not?" Mu Qing paused, as if contemplating a bizarre idea. Xie Lian quietly giggled into his cup of tea and Mu Qing agreed with the fond look with which Hua Cheng gazed upon the ex-prince. "I had always dubbed you as some sort of beast — it seems that suddenly my perception of you has completely shattered."

Recognising the deep sarcasm for what it was, Feng Xin's eye twitched and it was the only indication he gave before he launched himself at Mu Qing. It was only through many centuries of practice that Mu Qing managed to roll himself out the way, tea cup still in hand, and back away from the sofa and the agitated Feng Xin to place himself on one of the free chairs.

To add further insult to the injury, he proceeded to make direct eye contact with the archer and take a sip of his tea.

Feng Xin briefly closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're going to be the death of me." The words, while they were supposedly meant to come across as annoyed, only sounded fondly exasperated and when Feng Xin opened his eyes again, he looked at him so softly that something within Mu Qing's chest twisted again.

"Oh!" Xie Lian suddenly exclaimed, bringing their full attention to him. "Speaking of deaths — there is a new disease that has started spreading through the lands near Puqi Village. One of the aunties filled me in on the details when we ran into each other yesterday. It's quite unusual as it only affects people in relationships — but understand this, if one person in the relationship is already diseased, then the other, or others," he mumbled suddenly, a blush colouring his cheeks delicately at the admission, "are automatically immune. Isn't that just something?"

Hua Cheng's shoulders had stiffened just the smallest bit. "Indeed," he muttered. "In that case, this one implores that Gege stay at Paradise Manor until we are certain that the disease won't spread to Puqi Village."

The ex-prince blinked, slightly baffled. "Ah, that's unnecessary, San Lang!" he objected, flapping his hands in a gesture that symbolised his sudden flustered state. "Even if the disease should spread, the cure for it is rather easy."

"And yet Your Highness implied a death count," Feng Xin objected right back.

A slight pout formed itself on Xie Lian's lips. Mu Qing struggled to stop himself from imagining how those lips would feel against his, if they would be as soft as they look, and it was only due to 800 years of abstinence that he was able to overcome the urge to continue looking at that pout the way that Feng Xin currently was.

That was another unexpected development that surprised him when the four of them started courting — the sudden need for something more. In the many centuries that he lived and shoved all his wants into a dark corner of his soul, Mu Qing never allowed himself to think of another person in this sort of way.

Even Feng Xin never crossed his mind in terms of anything remotely romantic until the moment the heavens were finally on the way to recovery after everything that happened with Jun Wu and Feng Xin grabbed him by his cheeks and straightforwardly declared that he was sick of fighting, that he wanted to court him, and to please at least give him a chance—

It wasn't long afterwards when Xie Lian invited them to Puqi Shrine for tea and shyly admitted that after many discussions, both he and Hua Cheng also wished to join the courtship if they found the idea agreeable. Mu Qing, who had only just gotten used to the idea of Feng Xin wanting him, of Feng Xin courting him, had politely finished his tea and excused himself back to the heavens.

The next few weeks to follow were awkward for all four members of the group, but Hua Cheng's stubbornness rivalled Mu Qing's own and after far too many arguments, the Ghost King managed to persuade him to allow them all to meet for dinner at Paradise Manor.

And then they continued to meet for dinner. Again, and again, and again — and now Mu Qing was sat in a private lounge, Hua Cheng's beautiful garden just outside the open floor length windows, basking in the company of the three people he would have least expected to spend an early evening with had he thought about it a few years ago.

"A-Xin," Xie Lian huffed, clearly disgruntled. "Must I continuously remind you that I am no longer a prince? I thought we agreed that there is no need to refer to me as 'Your Highness' anymore."

Feng Xin blinked, looking properly chastised. "Apologies, Your Highness," he seemed to automatically reply, then looked panicked the next second as Xie Lian's cheeks puffed up with frustration.

Mu Qing caught Hua Cheng's eye and realised that the Ghost King shared his amusement about the situation. A small part of his soul settled at the normality of this moment — no battles, no hate, no death, just... three gods and a ghost who all peacefully settled themselves into a courtship that shocked the heavens.

General?

Mu Qing felt the smile that had unconsciously made its way onto his lips slide right off again. Yong Baige, for lack of a better term, sounded anguished in a way that he had only heard once or twice during the long centuries she stayed by his side.

He felt a draft from outside glide over his figure again, and the moist air of Ghost City was one of two reasons why he suddenly shivered.

What happened? he demanded instantly.

General, Yong Baige whimpered over the spiritual array. I can see her, I can see her right in front of me, but she's dead, General, she's dead. Please remind me that she's dead, please.

Oh fuck.

I will be there shortly, he promised.

Abruptly, Mu Qing stood up and didn't realise that the action would worsen his headache until his shaking hands placed his empty tea cup on the low table a little harder than he meant to.

Feng Xin and Xie Lian stopped their conversation and snapped their attentions to his hurried movements, surprise flickering across their faces, but Hua Cheng quickly followed to stand as well, having witnessed the shift in emotions on his face.

"Tell me," Hua Cheng demanded, the deep baritone of his voice expecting an explanation, yet his brow furrowed in what Mu Qing knew to be a subtle sign of worry. Less of a demand, more of a plea, but the force behind it still present nevertheless.

Mu Qing took a split second to collect himself. "An issue at the Palace — it seems I must get back immediately." The furrow between Hua Cheng's eyebrows deepened. "Thank you for your hospitality. I will make sure not to be late for dinner next time."

"Mu Qing?" Xie Lian's eyes widened slightly, leaning forward in his seat.

Feng Xin rose up as well, softly reaching out for Mu Qing with those tender hands of his. "An issue at the— is everything alright?" One of his hands landed on Mu Qing's arm, and he let it linger for a moment before he remembered Yong Baige’s devastated tone.

"There is no reason for you to worry," Mu Qing claimed, his voice slightly colder than he meant for it to sound, but he suddenly felt cornered yet unwilling to share any more on the situation. Those were Yong Baige’s secrets more than his. Feng Xin's arm fell back to his side, and Mu Qing briefly mourned the loss of contact. "I wish you all a good night."

Before he could even think to regret ruining the tranquillity of the evening they were having, Mu Qing swept his way out of Paradise Manor and back to the heavens.

Yong Baige has stood by his side since almost the beginning of his godhood, from the early days when being a General of the Southwest confused him and only earned him a significant lack of sleep — and she was always loyal, always willing to understand him when all the gods whispered behind his back, and she needed him right now.

As much as he mourned the thought of taking a step back in his courtship with Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and Hua Cheng, the thought was almost insignificant against the urgent need to find Yong Baige and make sure she was always going to be okay—

Chapter Text

The moment Mu Qing stepped foot within his Palace, he had Nie Zhiyuan run up to him like a scared child; robes nervously twisted within his hands and lips pursed in worry.

It was moments like these when Mu Qing was reminded that his junior officials, despite their appearances, were several years (if not centuries) younger than him. Nie Zhiyuan himself only joined his ranks around 50 years after Mu Qing took control of the Southwest, a whole lifetime of a difference between their ages.

Despite this, often he forgot that most of his officials saw him as something of a father figure — since the thought of having children had never even crossed his mind, most of the time he couldn't understand how anyone could see him in such a light. And as someone who didn't remember his own father, Mu Qing wasn't sure whether he suited the role or simply created unrealistic ideas in the heads of his officials. 

What he did know was that if caring for one's children felt anything like the overwhelming desire he felt to protect his junior officials against all the dangers of the world, then he was fine with playing the father figure for their sake.

And Yong Baige needed the most protecting right now.

"Where is she?" Mu Qing asked, the demand soft because he knew that Nie Zhiyuan couldn't handle sharp tones from him during times of vulnerability.

"Kitchen, General," Nie Zhiyuan murmured back, his eyes lowered to the floor. "We were cleaning up after dinner and then A-Bai started crying and flinging plates, saying that she could see Min Ying, and General I didn't know what to do because she wouldn't calm down but there was no one there, especially not her—"

Mu Qing reached out and pulled the boy into an embrace as the other dissolved into tears. While the position should have been awkward, since Nie Zhiyuan was those couple of centimetres taller than him, despite this the boy comfortably fit himself in between his arms and laid his head on Mu Qing's shoulder like he had done many times over the centuries.

"Let's go to her, hm?" he murmured into Nie Zhiyuan‘s brown hair. And so they did.

Yong Baige, when Mu Qing finally found her amidst the broken plates covering almost every inch of the kitchen floor, was sat curled up within the furthest corner of the room, with knees pulled up to her chest and her face hidden so deeply into them that not even a sliver of her forehead poked out. 

If it wasn't for the heaving breaths coming from what sounded like the deepest parts of her chest, he would think that she had fallen asleep. He watched her unmoving figure in case of any violent outbursts as he carefully moved closer, taking a second to wonder about the state of her shoulder injury in her current position. 

There was no reaction when Mu Qing carefully crouched in front of her, so he moved onto his knees instead amidst the porcelain shards to be closer, and that seemed to trigger Yong Baige into murmuring under her breath, words not distinguishable as full sentences but the fragments he caught told him please and I miss you and dead—

Nie Zhiyuan, despite staying a few paces back, undoubtably also heard enough to understand, if the comeback of the quiet sobs emitting from him was any indication.

Mu Qing heaved a deep sigh. "Xiao Baige..."

The nickname caused a reaction from her at last, and soon the head of hair as dark as his own raised to reveal red-rimmed eyes overflowing with tears. Yong Baige's lips quivered at the sight of him as she quietly cried out a desperate, "Baba."

It only took Mu Qing spreading his arms slightly for her to fall forward onto his lap and breathe body-wracking sobs into his robes the same way she had when he first met her. He tenderly ran his hands through her long black hair, the same way he did when she was only a 10-year-old orphan who had at first found herself in a dangerous situation only to be saved by Mu Qing within the nick of time. 

As he had been unable to help himself afterwards, despite the voice inside his head warning him against interfering in mortal lives, Mu Qing had done everything in his power to lead the little girl (who happened to remind him a little too much of himself) towards a bright future. And as luck would have it, one of the richer families in the area owed him a life debt and they happily took the girl in to fulfil their end of the deal.

He wouldn't know until six years later that his little act of care inspired a sense of devotion so deep within the little girl that she aced through her cultivation and sought her god out herself, begging to devote her whole being in General Xuan Zhen's hands if only he would let her please—

At times he wondered about the parallels between Yong Baige and Hua Cheng, and thought that maybe he could have come to understand the Ghost King centuries ago had he known the whole story.

While he personally never experienced the feelings of devotion Yong Baige expressed towards him, he had come to accept that her loyalty towards him was forever unchanging — with this understanding, this knowledge on the subject, the 800 years Hua Cheng spent searching for Xie Lian simply made sense.

"Xiao Baige," Mu Qing repeated softly. "Tell this General, is she here?"

The head against his thighs nodded jerkily and the hand not belonging to the same side as the injured shoulder left their grip of Mu Qing's silk robes to shakily point across the kitchen. There was nothing there but the broken plates on the floor and the stifling silence of the kitchen only filled by the cries of his junior officials.

Despite it all, he could imagine it — he could imagine Min Ying stood in the empty space; her long, bright hair always meticulously braided and her delicate chin famously held high. Her character never allowed her to be anything but the perfect version of herself, and she never backed down from what she believed was the right thing to do. 

Not even when it took her to her grave.

Her death had devastated the Palace of Xuan Zhen to the point of isolation from the rest of the heavens. 

Mu Qing remembered a single meeting with Jun Wu, when the former Heavenly Emperor covered himself in more masks than anyone knew, all words said during the few minutes that it lasted now lost in time, but they permitted him the freedom to close his Palace to outsiders and let his junior officials mourn Min Ying the way she deserved.

Yong Baige never forgave herself for that mission, and she spent all three weeks during which the Palace was in mourning prostrating herself in front of Min Ying's now forever closed door. Mu Qing had forbidden all the other officials from disturbing her and only softly persuaded her to leave her post when it was time to eat or sleep. 

Even now, over a 100 years after Min Ying's death, there are pieces of the Palace which remind Mu Qing that she had once lived and breathed here.

And if they must remind him of her, then Yong Baige must be hit with those memories tenfold when they appear, since, though she never had a chance to say it, she loved Min Ying in a way Mu Qing himself hoped to be loved one day.

But time passed, and Mu Qing slowly came to the realisation that he would never see Min Ying's determined expression every time he entrusted her with a particularly difficult mission. That he would never feel the certainty she would come out victorious because she always did during the 600 years she served him — (because the only time she didn't was because she also never got the chance to tell Yong Baige that she loved her, so she spent her last moments showing her instead).

With time, he chose to remember the good memories of an 18-year-old girl that looked him dead in the eye and declared that, General Xuan Zhen would be a fool not to accept this one as a junior official, as I would serve in his name until my final breath.

However, unlike him, he knew that Yong Baige’s grief never passed, but Mu Qing did not expect her mind to turn against her and haunt her with visions of a love that could have been but never will be.

"How does she look?" he asked, instead of voicing the many concerns plaguing his own mind. "This one cannot see her as you do, Xiao Baige, so tell this General if she looks healthy."

"No," Yong Baige gasped out into his knees. For a second he thought the word was a protest against sharing such information with him, until she continued with words that caused the air around him to suddenly feel like it had dropped in temperature to the point goosebumps formed on his arms and a shiver followed. "Baba, she is not healthy, she is dead. I can smell her blood from here and I see it dripping onto your kitchen floors — you must believe me, she is real, she must be real because I felt her!" She raised herself suddenly, regardless of her hurt shoulder and grabbed onto Mu Qing's hands with her own, desperately holding on as if he was her anchor between the worlds of the living and the dead. "She grabbed me as I hold you now and I felt her."

Mu Qing's body momentarily stilled and then he softly gathered Yong Baige into his arms, hugging her shaking frame and murmuring, "I believe you," and, "If it is indeed Min Ying, she would never mean you any harm," until the girl in his arms fell into a restless sleep.

After having sat for over a shichen on the kitchen floor, Mu Qing's knees felt numb. One of the windows in the kitchen had been left open earlier in the day, and with the late hour now the air filling the room felt slightly moist and smelt of nature, the wind most likely wafting the scent from the gardens.

Feeling the effects of the lowered temperature, he imagined that Nie Zhiyuan, who had at some point sat down as close to him as he could without initiating any point of contact between them, felt the cold all the same and he instructed him to head to bed.

It was only after both officials were settled in their own rooms, once Mu Qing carried Yong Baige to her bedroom and only took off her shoes before tucking her under the covers, that he slowly made his way to his own chambers and closed the door behind him with a soft click.

Only then did he allow himself to lean back against the door and slide to the floor in an undignified heap. His heart was racing and his hands shaking with the single thought that had been plaguing his mind for over a shichen now.

Because when Yong Baige claimed, I felt her, he thought it unimaginable and yet... she had reached for his hands, reached up to catch them in a way that caused the sleeves of her robes to lower slightly and he noticed them.

Like a pair of shackles, two sets of hand shaped bruises, too small to have belonged to Nie Zhiyuan, coloured her fair skin a dark shade of purple.

And he thought, no hallucination could have caused such damage, so then what did?

The night and morning passed for Mu Qing in a sleepless blur and soon he found himself back at his desk, staring at the pile of reports in front of him with detached eyes. Every time he blinked, the image of the bruises colouring Yong Baige’s wrists flashed within his vision and sent his heart racing just a bit faster.

It didn't help that the lack of sleep caused his blinks to last longer in their drowsiness and also worsened the effects of the concussion, meaning that his head was back to beating against his temples like a drum.

Nie Zhiyuan had knocked on his office door some time ago and left tea for him, but the cup had remained untouched in his detachment and thus had gone cold by the time Mu Qing reached for it.

According to his deputy head official, Yong Baige had secluded herself in the kitchen and refused any help in cleaning up the ruined porcelain. She claimed it was part of her punishment to clean up the mess she had made.

Mu Qing placed his elbows on the table and then his head in his hands. 

He didn't know what to make of the whole situation and what's worse, he had a feeling that the Savage they had taken down two days ago had something to do with it.

There was no way he could forget the look in those desolate eyes, empty save for the animalistic need for revenge and centred straight upon Yong Baige, Nie Zhiyuan, and Mu Qing himself.

Something about those eyes just struck a cord within him and he couldn't figure out why.

Xuan Zhen.

Mu Qing pressed his face harder against his hands — maybe he could hide within his skin in a way that would prohibit anyone from ever finding him and talking to him ever again. Lest of all, General Ming Guang.

What?

Well, it seems like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, Pei Ming teased him through the spiritual array. Not even a hello for your favourite shixiong?

Hello, General Ming Guang, Mu Qing gritted out, ignoring the 'favourite shixiong' comment — as if. What do you want?

Ah, Pei Ming sighed. As cold as always — just like your beauty.

For a split second, Mu Qing imagined what it would be like to place his hands around Pei Ming's neck and squeeze. Surely, he would make a satisfying squeak when his oxygen got abruptly cut off. Regardless, such thoughts would only stay as unfulfilled wishes.

Is there a particular reason why you are wasting my time, General? Mu Qing demanded.

Xuan Zhen wounds me, but very well. Is there a chance you might consider clearing your schedule for the rest of the day?

There was a second of pause during which Mu Qing's eyebrows knitted together as he raised his head.

Any other time he would have taken Pei Ming's question as a harmless flirting attempt to ask him out to dinner, though both of them knew it would only ever be platonic, but there was a severity lacing Pei Ming's tone now. Mu Qing couldn't decide whether it made him more curious or worried. 

... Why?

A mission. Another pause, this one a little bit longer than the one from Mu Qing's side. The next words were voiced a little bit quieter than expected of Pei Ming. As a man with a constant supply of energy, his tone normally matched his character. I would prefer not to go alone. You were the first I thought to ask.

It took a single glance at the reports splayed out across his desk (and the memories of centuries of companionship with Pei Ming), for Mu Qing to make his decision. Maybe he could use this as a break for his mind to settle from its frazzled state and to theorise all the possibilities behind the events of last night.

Maybe there was a reasonable explanation for this that he had yet to think of, one that didn't make him think of desolate eyes. 

In any case, it was either this, doing his paperwork, or contacting Ling Wen to gather all the information she managed to find out about the Savage. Picking the lesser of the three evils presented in front of him, his choice was made. 

Very well, he agreed, and thought that he could almost feel the relief coming from Pei Ming's side of the spiritual array connection. Fill me in on the details.

It turned out that the mission was a perfect opportunity for him to think as it required little brain power in terms of fighting or strategising.

He had been wary at first that Pei Ming required General Xuan Zhen to help him on the field with a particularly difficult opponent, but instead Pei Ming had simply wanted Mu Qing with him as a symbol of emotional support.

They travelled to what used to be Pei Ming's childhood village — some of the last scraps of the kingdom of Xuli. 

To the outside eye, the place was a collection of ruins; an environment that has had centuries to house a number of vengeful and lonely spirits, and thus Mu Qing looked upon the decaying structures without any feeling.

However, the look reflected in Pei Ming's eyes spoke of times long passed, of days when the General breathed air as a mortal and nights after his parents tucked him into bed when he dreamt of heavens. Every slow step that they took among the crumbling stones and overgrown flora seemed to transport Pei Ming further back in time.

Suddenly, Mu Qing realised that when Pei Ming told him earlier You were the first I thought to ask, what he truly meant was You were the only one, because Mu Qing, as someone who guarded his own wretched past with knives of steel, wouldn't dare to force someone else into revealing parts of themselves that moulded them to become what they are today.

Since the same could not be said for anyone else they associated with in the heavens, this showed that ultimately Pei Ming picked him because he trusted Mu Qing to witness moments of his vulnerability and yet never use them against him.

This trust... Mu Qing didn't know how to feel about it. Pei Ming and he used to constantly argue within the first two centuries of knowing each other. The squabbles were known to be of a lesser extent than Mu Qing's fights with Feng Xin, but they weren't without damage either. 

Then more years passed, more missions were forced upon them, and then one year they ended up accidentally involved in the preparations of a festival in the Northern territory.

At the time, they had been working undercover and took in the tasks in stride for the good of the mission, but surprisingly both had enjoyed themselves more than they first expected.

Then it became a tradition that year, after year, after year, they made a point out of attending a festival together and their friendship strengthened without either of them noticing.

But to be trusted enough to stand within the remains of Pei Ming's childhood? Mu Qing wasn't certain he deserved to look at the sad quirk to the General's lips or the way his hands tightened at his sides in an act of controlling his emotions.

And yet here he stood, breathing in the smell of trees and grass, letting the cooler air of the North settle coldly onto the skin beneath his robes.

"Do you see the forests surrounding the area?" Pei Ming asked after many moments of silence. "This place is completely isolated — the closest settlement is a good two days' walk from here and so travellers rarely find themselves coming across these ruins. But it is not entirely impossible. A few years ago, there was a particularly bad storm in these areas, and a family that had been travelling to the south got caught in the worst of it. They attempted to take shelter here but unfortunately they perished instead." 

They had moved over towards one of the more stable structures and both stared at the stone with hardened gazes. There was no need to point out where exactly the family took their last breaths.

Though no bodies remained behind, since they were most likely buried somewhere within the woods, Mu Qing could picture them lying there in front of him all the same. 

After a few moments of silence, Pei Ming continued, "In any case, the parents passed onto the afterlife, but only shortly ago did it come to my attention that the kids never did. They have been haunting these woods with their laughter and travelling as far as the nearby village to pass their mischief onto its occupants."

Mu Qing's heart shrivelled into itself even more at the thought of two young children, surrounded by the memories of their deaths and left to haunt the grounds that took their parents away from them.

He rarely thought about the slums he grew up in, but if those years forced anything onto him, it was the compassion for children that suffered the consequences of simply existing within a world that didn't want them.

"They are not to blame," he found himself muttering.

Pei Ming hummed from his side and glanced at the cloudy sky above them. "Rarely any ghosts are," he agreed, his voice also lowered. "Most come back to right the wrongs done to them when they were alive, others to experience the world in a way that they couldn't when they breathed, but to my knowledge they all seek the same thing for themselves — peace."

Mu Qing takes his time to think over Pei Ming's words while they travel through the woods and track down the ghost children. Eventually the late afternoon turns into the early evening and Mu Qing finds himself sat in the middle of a clearing with two fading children curled up in his lap. 

He passes his hands through their almost translucent hair and watches Pei Ming unhurriedly clear away everything they used in the funeral rite.

The breeze around them smells of moss and the darkening sky causes moisture to linger in the air to the point that Mu Qing wishes he had worn a thicker pair of robes. But it's also peaceful, and a part of him wishes that he never had to return to the heavens again.

"It's getting dark," Pei Ming broke the silence, glancing at the children cuddled into Mu Qing's thighs and then quickly away in the direction of the surrounding trees. It made Mu Qing wonder if the General ever lost any children of his own far too young. "They are on the tethers of the mortal realm now. We can wait until they pass before we set off."

It took less than half an incense stick's time for the two forms to fade completely, and what followed was a deep silence filled only by soft breaths.

Afterwards, the two Generals shared a glance that spoke their thoughts without need for words and decided to slowly start making their way out the woods before they ascended back to the heavens.

Though they had seemingly spent the day away chasing after mischievous spirits of children, the time had passed in the blink of an eye and Mu Qing still had no rational explanation for the bruises that he had seen on Yong Baige’s wrists.

He hoped that the lack of communication from his junior officials meant that there were no more further mirages attacking members of his Palace. The fewer incidents, the more of a chance of settling this quietly without broadcasting the vulnerability of his junior officials to the heavens.

"So," Pei Ming broke the silence yet again, as was his habit, tearing Mu Qing away from his rushing thoughts. "How goes the courtship, Xuan Zhen?"

Mu Qing sent him a narrow-eyed look. "Is that any of Ming Guang's concern?"

The god of the North hummed, a grin curling up on the corner of his lips. "Probably not, and yet my curiosity begs to be sated with any information that General Xuan Zhen is willing to impart with this one."

"All is fine," Mu Qing proclaimed coldly, crossing his arms over his chest with a swish of his robes before he realised what he was doing.

Pei Ming's eyes skipped over the defensive action and his grin dimmed a little. If their many missions and outings during the centuries have taught them anything, it was the ways in which to read each other through body language alone.

Thus, it was only expected that Pei Ming would predictably question, "Did something happen?"

Mu Qing did not want to talk about this — he had managed to push the thought of Hua Cheng's private lounge escapade out of his mind throughout the duration of last night and during the whole day, but it didn't escape his notice that neither Xie Lian, Feng Xin, or Hua Cheng reached out to contact him since. 

He didn't feel completely sure whether this silence was an instance where they were giving him space or if he had offended them with his abrupt departure from Paradise Manor.

At the time, he could admit that thoughts of concern about Yong Baige had taken over his mind, and when he could not simply leave straight away because the other three required an explanation, the situation caused him to revert to his standard cold exterior.

After weeks of spending peaceful dinners together and enjoying many nights full of soft smiles and softer words as they got to know each other, being faced with Mu Qing's sharp tone must have seemed like a sudden splash of cold water in their faces.

And now he held no certainty whether he had any right to contact them first, if they would even want him to contact them so soon, but the silence of their shared communication array slowly ate away at his insides with growing ferocity following every half a shichen that passed. 

"No," Mu Qing still answered, fighting against the growing need to spill his soul upon the feet of anyone willing to listen and understand. He had bigger problems to worry about than his inability to ever treasure anything good that finds itself falling into his hands, no matter how much effort he puts in, no matter how hard he tries— "Everything is fine, General." 

Pei Ming took a few breaths time searching his face, as if he wished to find something there that he could latch his fingers into which would help him tear away the cold mask covering Mu Qing's face.

Instead, he was faced with tired eyes surrounded by a perfectly crafted image of a martial god, and he could do nothing but grunt and accept the lie as it was. 

"Very well," Pei Ming murmured, eyes moving to focus ahead again. "Xuan Zhen knows where to find me in the future should that ever change."

Mu Qing did not acknowledge the offer of support for what it was, but he felt his chest warm at the implication that Pei Ming cared about the state of his personal affairs.

If he had any doubts about the other General thinking of them as friends before now, these words caused them to vanish within an instant. He could secretly admit that it felt good to be certain that someone would stand by his side, that he had someone to turn to should he have the need to.

And though the chances of him taking Pei Ming up on his offer were low, the existence of the offer itself caused his arms to relax from their crossed stance and his shoulders to loosen the tiniest bit. 

If Pei Ming noticed, he wisely chose not to comment on it. 

Instead, he allowed the comfortable silence to last between them as they made their way out of the woods and soon they ended up exiting the trees to find themselves among the stone rubble they started their journey from.

As dusk had long started to set, the once-village was coated in the near darkness of the night, making it truly seem like a piece of history long forgotten in the folds of time. But just then, Mu Qing caught a small flicker of light flying around the flora growing over the broken settlements and watched in silent wonder as fireflies slowly filled the area. 

The two Generals stood at the edge of the woods and silently took the sight in as if they didn't have Palaces to go back to, reports to fill, or busy lives ahead of them with more drama than Mu Qing wanted (though the same could not be said for Pei Ming — that man lived for drama). 

Yet, the scene was beautiful. It was nothing like the wonders of ancient palaces, or the unique petals of the many flowers adoring Mu Qing's gardens, but it spoke of harmony. Of nature accepting the memories of Pei Ming's childhood as its own and claiming back the land that was once borrowed from it.

He wondered if such a sight ever existed in the ruins of Xianle. Had the earth also sent fireflies as her little helpers to fly through the fields Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing once trained at on lazy afternoons? If she had, maybe she heard the memories of their youthful laughter. 

Mu Qing heard Pei Ming huff a soft laugh by his side, and glanced at him from the corner of his eye. There was a peaceful smile on the General's lips, as if he understood what the earth was telling him and gave his permission for her to take back what was once hers.

It seemed like he was at peace with saying goodbye to the ghosts from his past. 

And when Pei Ming's head turned to look at him to teasingly say, "Let us ascend back before Xuan Zhen's junior officials think I have kidnapped their General and declare war on my Palace," Mu Qing simply rolled his eyes and pretended not to notice the glossy shine to Pei Ming's eyes.

Chapter Text

After ascending back to the heavens, Mu Qing and Pei Ming parted with one courtly goodbye and a flirty wink (it can be easily deduced which gesture belonged to whom without need for an explanation). The deadpan look Mu Qing had thrown at the other General as he dashed away would have most likely stayed on his face throughout the journey back to his own Palace, had he not suddenly felt eyes on his person and caught Feng Xin's gaze from a few paces away.

Instead, Mu Qing unconsciously blinked and relaxed his features under Feng Xin's amber stare. It certainly served as a juxtaposition to the last expression he directed towards the other General, and a small stab of guilt pierced his stomach again at the memory of Feng Xin's hand hastily falling away from its place on his arm.

The action had spoken of uncertainty and a refusal to overstep any boundaries, because Feng Xin was aware that Mu Qing had the tendency to distance himself the moment he felt the slightest bit uncomfortable with anything or anyone.

And Feng Xin, in his hasty retreat upon a change in Mu Qing's tone, and the fact that he must have realised later that Mu Qing had felt cornered, meant to express that him, Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng never meant to make Mu Qing uncomfortable and that he had no reason but to feel safe with them.

Even now, Feng Xin's expression - as his golden amber eyes roamed their way intently across Mu Qing's face - seemed the littlest bit guarded as if he expected to be pushed away.

After 800 years of nothing but fights and distrust stemming from misunderstandings, it only seemed natural for the uncertainty to stretch between them. Especially since this was new to them. It hadn't been long since Feng Xin first requested permission to court him after all, and in the few months that have passed since, the only dip in the road of their courtship had been the unexpected addition of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng into it.

And even then, Feng Xin had acted... perfectly, for a lack of a better word — he had shown no hesitation in telling Mu Qing that he would only consider their offer should Mu Qing consider it, and if not, then Mu Qing was more than enough for him and nothing would change that, he swears it on his godhood—

Safe to say, Mu Qing had very few doubts about Feng Xin's loyalty regarding their courtship. The other General was already a recklessly loyal person in any other instance, and he knew that once Feng Xin set his mind on something, there was a small number of things or people that could deter him from achieving his goals.

After all, this initial stubbornness had been the leading factor behind his confession: once Feng Xin was sure that there was the slightest chance that Mu Qing didn't actually hate him, he seemed to latch onto this hope like a leech attaching itself to skin and refused to let Mu Qing go this time without a straightforward rejection.

Therefore, it was safe to think that his loyal mindset followed the same rules in romantic relationships as it did in every other aspect of his life.

But Feng Xin didn't know that Mu Qing trusted he had the best of intentions in regards to their courtship. Such thoughts hadn't been shared with him yet because of their vulnerable nature, as the idea of telling Feng Xin that he left safe in their courtship felt equal to purposefully allowing himself to be surrounded in battle— a situation with little chance of escape. Even the thought of sharing how comfortable Mu Qing felt within this tentative bond that Feng Xin, Xie Lian, Hua Cheng, and himself have found themselves in left his hands slightly shaking.

Though, that is not to say that there hasn't been any progress— a few months ago, he wouldn't have even admitted to the feeling of safety within his own mind, much less outside of it. He just needed more time.

But now, Mu Qing's tone slip in Hua Cheng's private lounge seemed to have caused a lingering fear that showed itself in Feng Xin's gaze, one that worried that all the progress between them might have been ruined.

The thought of such a thing happening caused an uncomfortable twist in the pit of Mu Qing's stomach. Instantly, he wanted to reassure Feng Xin that the cold tone had been a mindless action, that for once he hadn't calculated to distance himself from everyone, that he would prove his willingness to continue their courtship if only given the chance—

And yet, the words got stuck in Mu Qing's throat and the lump wouldn't move, no matter how much he cursed himself for his inability to open up, wishing once again that such things came easier to him, thinking how much smoother conversations would play out if only he wasn't so pathetic.

Instead, here he stood, in an empty street of the heavens across from one of his... beloveds, feeling the cooling evening breeze that drifted over his figure and left goosebumps in its wake, while his mind was a scramble of thoughts.

Feng Xin was always better at dealing with his feelings. Thus, at least he had no problems in clearing his throat and saying, "Did uh... your Palace officials— the other night, there was an issue, you said? Are they alright? I haven't heard anybody in the heavens say otherwise, but I thought it best to check with you regardless." There was a second of pause, and Feng Xin's hand came up to rub the nape of his neck, while his eyes kept flicking back to Mu Qing's face. "Actually, that's probably a stupid question. I saw you ascend back with Pei Ming, so— I mean, I know you wouldn't have left your Palace had they not been alright..."

Mu Qing attempted to swallow the lump in his throat, but suddenly it seemed bigger than before. He had left his Palace while his officials weren't alright, though, hadn't he?

Granted, his communication array had been open the whole day and he had left Nie Zhiyuan with strict instructions to contact him should anything unusual happen, but Yong Baige had decidedly not been alright after the incident the night before, and though Mu Qing had assumed she required some space to calm herself, perhaps that might not have been the case.

He would strive to quieten these doubts once he got back to his Palace, or should they prove to be true, he would assure Yong Baige that she had his shoulder to lean on.

With these thoughts, Mu Qing was finally able to loosen the uncomfortable tightness in his throat. "They are fine, the matter has been momentarily dealt with, so this situation has no need for your concern." Despite his words, Feng Xin's brows furrowed the littlest bit, causing Mu Qing to sigh softly. "Thank you for checking... it was— it was very considerate of you, Feng Xin."

Feng Xin blinked, and the eyebrows smoothed out again. There was a softness in his eyes when they met Mu Qing's own again. "It was a slight selfishness on my part, to be honest. You left in a hurry, and though we assumed that whatever emergency happened with your officials simply had you concerned, I... actually, we wanted to know that you were also alright."

Mu Qing had to look away from the golden amber gazing at him, as he felt that his very soul was about to be grabbed and dragged up from the lonely depth it had buried itself in all those centuries ago.

This was the exact reason why nobody was allowed to be close to him, why he kept his gardens — one of the only things he treasured — secret from everyone but those at Palace Xuan Zhen. If the gardens indeed played their part as a metaphor for his heart, then their secrecy relied in the hope that no one would even catch a glimpse of them, because such an action would be the equivalent of letting someone take a long look inside of Mu Qing's chest.

And even he wasn't certain whether they would find a perfectly healthy heart beating inside, or a complicated mess that didn't deserve three fond sets of eyes staring at its pathetic nature.

But Feng Xin was admitting that his selfish desires were about checking on him. If he could speak of such honesty out loud then Mu Qing didn't have it in him to hide the truth from him.

"The matter unsettled me, but it caused me no physical harm," Mu Qing admitted. He bit his lip for a second, considering his options, and truthfully, he would have decided to stay silent had he not looked back and caught Feng Xin's gaze again. His eyes were just so soft that they prompted Mu Qing to continue talking, "Yong Baige... well, there was an incident that led to the destruction of half the porcelain I own... or rather, owned."

Feng Xin's eyes slightly widened. "Oh, I see. And she is better now?"

"Yes," Mu Qing reiterated, though he wasn't certain whether he was telling a lie or not.

"I'm glad," Feng Xin answered, his shoulders visibly relaxing.

He looked less uncertain now that Mu Qing had shared his reason behind abruptly leaving Hua Cheng's private lounge, despite the lack of detail. Though after eight hundred years of brief reports shared between them, and as few words spoken as possible during missions when they were particularly enraged with each other, Mu Qing's short explanation didn't seem to faze Feng Xin in the slightest.

"I also wanted to apologise."

Mu Qing was momentarily caught off guard, and felt his eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What for?"

Feng Xin's hand raised to rub the nape of his neck again. Whereas Hua Cheng tended to avoid eye contact and Xie Lian scratched at his own cheek when either of them felt awkward or nervous, Mu Qing had long realised that this was Feng Xin's subtle tell.

The small action had been something that he had known to look out for for many centuries now, but nowadays, instead of using Feng Xin's discomfort to tease him during missions or long meetings (mostly), he kept an eye out to prevent situations from happening that would make the other feel this way. Truly, progress.

For a second he wondered if the three of them also looked for the smallest of changes in Mu Qing's demeanour to get a full understanding of his emotions, and thought that maybe they tried at the very least, if Hua Cheng's instantaneous notice of his worry when Yong Baige reached out to him served as any indication.

"It's just..." Feng Xin sighed and dropped the hand from his nape. "You told us there was an issue at your Palace and we might have, well, cornered you a bit about it? It had been unintentional, and I realise that you had probably just wanted to get back to the heavens as soon as possible. Now that I know it had something to do with Yong Baige, I understand you must have felt quite concerned— I know how much she means to you. So, I apologise for the way we reacted when you told us you wanted to leave. I had not... when I grabbed you, I hadn't meant to hold you back or anything, I promise, just simply to check if you were alright..."

"Feng Xin," Mu Qing interrupted him, raising his hand to stop the man from continuing. "You didn't... that is to say..." He briefly closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, the perpetual headache making its presence known yet again.

He felt too exposed, standing outside in the streets of the heavens, his Palace just within eyesight behind Feng Xin's form. Despite there being no heavenly officials around to witness their conversation, he felt like the whole world would judge him should he voice his feelings out loud. Once he said them, they would travel with the wind and he would have no way of catching them to shove them back on the tip of his tongue where they belonged.

"Mu Qing..." Feng Xin's tentative call of his name came with an even more tentative touch.

When he didn't immediately reject the contact, Feng Xin softly wrapped his calloused fingers around his wrist, bringing his hand back down from his face and causing his eyes to open again. They stood so close to each other now, that Mu Qing was left to stare into Feng Xin's eyes, which burned as bright as the sun in both their colour and intensity.

"You're not mad?" The uncertainty was back, lacing Feng Xin's soft question to the fullest with its influence.

And how could Mu Qing look into those golden amber eyes, centred upon him as if nothing else around them existed, and lie? Surely, such a sin would have him banished from the heavens.

"No," he uttered, slightly breathlessly. "No, how could I be? Feng Xin, I am the one who had reacted poorly in my worry for Yong Baige. None of you did anything wrong— you said... you said you had been merely concerned?"

Feng Xin used his gentle grip on Mu Qing's wrist to bring the hand closer to him and held it against his own chest, almost cradling it. Mu Qing's heart skipped a beat.

"Of course, it was only after you left that we assumed it must have been an emergency, and that's why you reacted in such a way when we accidentally held you back from leaving."

"And you're not mad?" Mu Qing checked.

Feng Xin's brows furrowed again, this time in perplexity. "What reason would I have to be mad?"

"Because I snapped at you," Mu Qing protested, his voice bleeding into a slightly bewildered tone upon Feng Xin's lack of understanding. "You were trying to check that everything was alright, and I dismissed it as none of your business!"

Feng Xin took a moment to stare at him, his head slightly titling to the side as if he was considering something, and yet the gentle hold on Mu Qing's wrist never wavered.

"Mu Qing," he said at last, his voice hardened with resolve. "Your head junior official contacted you to report an issue at your Palace that resulted in what I'm assuming to be a completely destroyed kitchen, and in a moment of panic, you had only wanted to leave Paradise Manor and return to the heavens immediately. Had you wanted our help, you would have asked for it, but since this situation had nothing to do with Xie Lian, Hua Cheng, or I, you claimed you were leaving and tried to do exactly that. Hua Cheng and I were the ones who selfishly – upon seeing your distress – tried to get some sort of answer out of you. Only afterwards did we understand that it is none of our business, and you are free to share with us what happened only should you want to."

There were a few moments after Feng Xin's speech in which Mu Qing could only blink at the other General, while a sense of shock coursed through his body.

This whole situation seemed slightly ridiculous in the grand scale of things, since there seemed to be misunderstandings from both of their sides regarding his departure from Paradise Manor. Mu Qing couldn't get his head around how Feng Xin and Hua Cheng took the blame upon themselves when they did nothing wrong.

After all, it seemed only natural to ask questions of concern when someone you care about (and they clearly cared about him it seemed, he couldn't deny this) attempts to leave abruptly in a state of panic. His headache worsened in intensity just trying to think about the mess this situation has created, and if Feng Xin wasn't holding onto his wrist, he would bring both his hands up to rub at his temples.

The only way to fully resolve the situation, without ill feelings on any side of their courtship, would be to discuss everything at length without explicitly explaining Yong Baige’s heartbreak. It seemed like a plausible idea.

Eventually, after a few breaths' time in which they simply gazed at each other, Mu Qing cleared his throat. "I thought," he said, and then pursed his lips. His eyes darted away from Feng Xin's as he allowed some truth to spill from his lips, "I thought that maybe I had offended you with my departure. I didn't know whether I would be welcome to contact you all through the array... and you never—"

Feng Xin's grip suddenly moved up from his wrist to his hand, which allowed the archer to tangle their fingers together in a tight grasp. Another hand reached to hold Mu Qing's chin and forced his head to meet Feng Xin's gaze again. His golden eyes were a little wide now.

"Mu Qing," he breathed out. "You misunderstand— you didn't offend us, we thought we might have offended you! The lack of communication over the array was because we thought you might need some space from us, and also because it was later in the evening. We thought you might be further infuriated if we contacted you during the night, so I assured Xie Lian and Hua Cheng that I would stop by your Palace in the morning to speak with you. And I tried to do just that— except," Feng Xin faltered slightly, his jaw clenching for a split second, while his hand let go of Mu Qing's chin, "Nie Zhiyuan informed me that you had left on a mission with Pei Ming."

Mu Qing winced at that. To think he had been worrying about lack of communication from Feng Xin, Xie Lian, or Hua Cheng the whole day, when in reality they had been under the impression that he required space and would contact them should that change.

And Feng Xin visiting his Palace after he departed with Pei Ming? What terrible timing.

Maybe this could have all been resolved earlier had he declined joining Pei Ming for his mission, but no part of him regretted accompanying the General of North to what is left of Xuli. After all, the other had come back to the heavens in a better mood than could have been expected after such a trip. Should he need to in the future, Mu Qing couldn't imagine travelling to the scraps of Xianle by himself, and so he was glad that Pei Ming didn't have to go through a journey to the past alone.

"I hadn't realised. Nie Zhiyuan didn't contact me to say anything," Mu Qing said, and quickly checked to see that his communication array for his head deputy junior official was still in fact open.

"I asked him not to disturb you," Feng Xin confessed, which might have just saved Nie Zhiyuan a reprimand from Mu Qing later. "He couldn't say what sort of mission you and Pei Ming went on, since you apparently didn't specify, so I thought it best if he didn't distract you."

Mu Qing hummed, feeling slightly warmed at Feng Xin's consideration. "Thank you, though the mission wasn't strenuous. General Ming Guang simply asked me to join him in hunting down a pair of children's spirits in order to help them peacefully pass onto the afterlife."

Feng Xin's eyebrows twitched, as if they wanted to furrow together again, before one of them raised instead. "Did he struggle to do it on his own?" he asked, a hint of deadpan in his voice. He had yet to let go of Mu Qing's hand, and it didn't seem like he was in any hurry to do so, as his grip tightened the littlest bit instead for some reason.

"He simply wanted some company," Mu Qing deflected, thinking it best not to mention Pei Ming's need for emotional stability when visiting what was left of his childhood village.

The notion might seem unbelievable to others as Pei Ming had asked the heavens' most known 'emotionally unavailable' god to accompany him. A title that Mu Qing couldn't even bring himself to be offended about, as the most Pei Ming had gotten out of Mu Qing joining him for those few hours had been bickering and briefing each other on weird missions they had recently done.

Come to think of it, maybe the chatter had distracted Pei Ming a little at least, as it strayed far away from anything of the emotional nature, and so, in the end, the emotional support came in the form of keeping him from thinking unwanted thoughts.

"Mhm," Feng Xin hummed in reply, jaw clenching slightly again for a second, and eyes flashing with an emotion Mu Qing couldn't catch. "You do accompany each other during a lot of missions."

Mu Qing squinted his eyes at the other, confused by this comment. "Yes...?"

It was inevitable after all, as Ling Wen had long ago caught onto the fact that, as she says, 'Pei Ming and him work both efficiently and amicably with each other during missions'.

Mu Qing could personably argue the 'amicably' part at times, since there had been moments during missions when the only thoughts running through his head were those of having Pei Ming's head on a stick. Thankfully, Pei Ming liked his head on his shoulders more times than not, and refrained from excessively flirting within Mu Qing's vicinity unless he had means of instantly defending himself.

At other times, Mu Qing simply turned heel and walked away from Pei Ming prostrating himself over another woman or man in fear that any onlookers would associate him with the heartbreaker. He liked to save himself from embarrassment if he could.

Feng Xin sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Never mind," he said, looking into Mu Qing's eyes again with a fond glint reflected in his own. "Since all of us completely misunderstood each other, would you like us to have dinner earlier than usual to talk this out with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng? I know we normally schedule it every three days, but maybe we could move it to tomorrow instead. How does that idea sound to you?"

Mu Qing bit his lip and gazed at Feng Xin's calm expression. There were no expectations from the other, and his hand was in no way forced to accept this offer.

He was confident that should he refuse to meet with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng for dinner tomorrow, Feng Xin would not only accept this without any complaint, but he would also ask whether he wanted to cancel the next scheduled dinner as well.

There was not a doubt in his mind about it— not when Feng Xin's loyal character always proved such thoughts right in the many occasions there had been any need during the past few months of their courtship.

All of this combined made Mu Qing eager to fix any misunderstandings between not just himself and Feng Xin, but also the other two. The sooner the better, as there would be less of a chance for any resentment to build up, or should they decide that they had changed their mind about the courtship because of all the issues he caused—

"That sounds acceptable," Mu Qing decided, interrupting his own dark thoughts.

"You're positive?" Feng Xin questioned, raising his eyebrow for emphasis.

Mu Qing frowned up at him with a hint of annoyance. "Was I not clear enough?"

The hand not clutching his own raised in a defensive pose, as if trying to quell Mu Qing's temper, and yet Feng Xin's face was adored by a small cheeky grin.

"Always best to double check with you to be sure, even if your pretty face scrunches up in frustration at me in return."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Mu Qing demanded, deciding to ignore the 'pretty face' comment even if he could feel his cheeks heating up against his will.

Feng Xin seemed to notice his predicament too, if the amusement on his face said anything. He chose not to respond to Mu Qing's demand and instead reached over to poke one of his presumably red cheeks.

In response, Mu Qing hissed at him in embarrassment and ripped his hand back from Feng Xin's hold before he shouldered past him to head to his Palace.

"I'll see you at Paradise Manor tomorrow then!" Feng Xin called behind him cheerfully.

Mu Qing sent him a reproachful look over his shoulder at his voice volume (despite the fact that the street was still empty— a part of him thought that maybe heavenly officials could sense where him and Feng Xin were in heaven nowadays and avoided the areas because they feared being caught in their fights. The thought was amusing, especially since not many people were aware that they were courting now).

Feng Xin didn't seem fazed by his expressions, and Mu Qing walked away with Feng Xin's laughter echoing in his ears. 

Within a few breaths' time of stepping into the (known to be) stoic Palace of Xuan Zhen, Mu Qing was assaulted with the sound of loud laughter ringing through the entrance hall (as if Feng Xin's laughter hadn't been enough mere seconds ago).

His headache had a split second to make itself known again, as if he wasn't already prepared for it to come back soon enough, before two smaller forms stumbled over each other and landed in a heap at his feet.

Despite the many protests he had mentally made against acting like a father to his junior officials over the years, there was no stopping his arms from crossing over his chest to portray a disappointed stance. "And what is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

The troublemakers instantaneously snapped their heads in the direction of his voice. Then, two sets of brown eyes widened upon catching sight of him before both of them scrambled to stand and properly bow despite their dishevelled states. "General!" exclaimed two overlapping voices.

Mu Qing merely raised an eyebrow and waited. Those two could never keep quiet for long.

"General," said Heng Bao, the older of the twins, "this one was only testing the cleanliness of the Palace floors. After all, it is greatly known that well-polished floors are easier to slide on!"

Indeed, as Mu Qing glanced down, he realised that neither of them were wearing shoes— only socks. This would certainly make it easier for them to slide upon the tiled floors. However, that didn't mean that he believed for even a second the lies that were being fed to him.

"Through this, this one and her twin were able to determine that the floors are completely up to the General's standards of upkeep."

Heng Bai, the younger twin, nodded his head with enthusiasm from his sister's side, face set in a sincere expression. "It is as Bao-jie said, General. This one and his twin were merely doing their duties to the Palace of Xuan Zhen."

Mu Qing took a moment to stare at them blankly, wondering if he should feel offended that the twins thought such a story could trick him into believing that they hadn't just been racing each other through the corridors of his Palace.

Sometimes he wondered why he seemed to choose to accept officials who liked to play on his nerves more times than not, and then he realised that maybe it had something to do with the years he spent running around after Xie Lian during their days at Xianle.

After all, he had made it his priority to be certain that the prince wouldn't end up dying when he snuck out of the Xianle Palace, or worse, damaging his expensive and intricate robes in grass stains. To feel as exasperated by his junior officials as he remembered feeling about Xie Lian back then, caused a sense of nostalgia to well up within him more times than not.

"Very well," Mu Qing said, enjoying the split second of badly hidden relief that flashed upon the face of the twins, before the next words caused their jaws to drop, "Since both of you seem eager to monitor the state of the Palace's floors, then I'm entrusting this duty in your care for the nearby future. You'll both be solely in charge of scrubbing the floors clean and keeping them in the perfect condition to 'slide on'. Does that please you?"

The two troublemakers stared at him in disbelief for a second, then around themselves as if just taking into account exactly how much scrubbing they will have to do (considering the sheer size of the Palace, the answer was a lot), then they looked at each other in undisguised horror as they realised they shouldn't have attempted to lie, before both of them sighed at the same time and turned their gazes back at Mu Qing in defeat.

"Yes, General," both mumbled. 

Mu Qing felt the corner of his lips twitch into a smile, but he fought it down. "Excellent, now let us head to dinner."

He proceeded to walk past the internally weeping twins, knowing that the floor scrubbing was the perfect payback for the last prank they pulled on him. While then he had no evidence to prove that those two had been behind the 'purple dye incident', it was obvious that they were the true culprits. He was certain of it. And now came the time for his little revenge.

As they made their way to the main dining room, Mu Qing amusedly listened to the twins bickering behind him, insulting each other and blaming the other for the punishment they would face in the near future.

He wondered how long constituted as enough time to have them scrub the floors for— maybe a week or two? And then, he thought back on the multitude of pranks that those two rascals had subjected him to in the last few years, and decided that a month of floor scrubbing seemed reasonable.

After all, the 'purple dye incident' was still fresh in his mind.

When they neared the main dining room, both of the twins ran past him to hold the doors open for him. Whether they did it out of respect or in hopes of getting a lighter floor scrubbing sentence, Mu Qing wasn't fully certain, but he nodded his head in thanks anyway and walked inside the room.

It seemed as if dinner was just about to start, as his junior officials were finishing setting up the table (with whatever porcelain they still had left). All of them bowed in greeting one by one when they caught sight of him, calling out a cheerful, "General!" and "You're back just in time, General!" like a bunch of excited children.

Mu Qing found that the peaceful scene of a dining room filled with a whole horde of happy junior officials tugged at his heartstrings.

At times, being surrounded by so many young faces, all of which looked up to him with awe-filled eyes, reminded him of the slums and of the days when kids would gather around his legs, calling him Mu Qing-gege and hoping that he would have brought back cherries with him from the Xianle Palace, or that he had any interesting stories that would distract the children from the harsh reality of their lives.

Back then, there hadn't been much he could do for those children, not when him and his mother struggled just as much as they did, but his junior officials were a different story. Most of them came from uncertain backgrounds: orphans, runaways, victims of abuse, and so on, but here they were safe.

He made it his priority that they would never again have to suffer— that they would never end up with the same fates as the children from the slums did.

"General," Heng Bao said, breaking Mu Qing out of his rushing thoughts.

It seemed as if he was a bit absent-minded today, but he blamed it on his concussion's worsening side effects, which had been bringing about a multitude of headaches all day. The lack of sleep was also certainly slowly catching up with him, so he would make sure to get a good night's rest tonight instead. It would be best to heal from this annoying concussion as soon as possible.

His attention was brought back to Heng Bao once again when she continued speaking, "Yong Baige and Nie Zhiyuan are just in the kitchen finishing up the food— we're wondering if the General will be joining us for a meal today?"

Mu Qing hummed, and his lips quirked into a smile when he was faced with a bunch of hopeful junior officials. It had been a while since he had actually stayed to have food with them rather than wishing them a good meal and secluding himself in his office to do paperwork.

The start of the summer season really had brought a lot more stress and work for him, not to mention the week that Yong Baige, Nie Zhiyuan, and him spent undercover while they tracked down the Savage. And then the evening before he had spent in the company of Feng Xin, Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng, which meant that he had been away from the Palace once again.

It only seemed right to dedicate this evening to his junior officials, even if it was simply to check that everyone was fine.

"This General will," Mu Qing answered and watched his junior officials break out into wide smiles.

He made a mental note to spend more meal times with them if his apparent presence kept them this happy. While they hurried to get the table fully set up, Mu Qing walked out through one of the dining room side doors and down a short corridor that led to the kitchens.

The doors to the kitchen slid open noiselessly under the light push of his hand, and Mu Qing immediately caught sight of Yong Baige, who was piling rice and side dishes onto a set of large platters and bowls. Her dark hair was neatly tied back as she dealt with the food, which gave Mu Qing the perfect opportunity to get a look at her face.

Aside from the almost unnoticeable dark circles under her eyes, nothing else was amiss, with no signs of the tear marks that had stained her cheeks the night before. However, despite this perfect image that she tried to present, Mu Qing's eyes instantly locked onto the pair of silver braces that adorned her wrists, seemingly hiding the bruises colouring the fair skin underneath.

His chest tightened uncomfortably. A part of him had wished, while him and Pei Ming had run around earlier today, that his mind had merely conjured up the bruises on Yong Baige’s skin.

But there was no denying their existence— ever since Yong Baige had joined as his junior official she has continuously volunteered to be part of kitchen duty, and over the years, Mu Qing has continuously witnessed the way she rolled up the sleeves of her robes and secured them at her elbows as tightly as possible, because she hated to have her hands and arms obstructed while she cooked and washed up, and she could never understand how Min Ying tolerated wet sleeves—

Now her sleeves were held down against her wrists by the braces, and the only possible reason she could have behind this decision would be that she was attempting to keep something hidden.

However, Mu Qing decided that now was not the time to question Yong Baige on the thorough details regarding yesterday's incident. Instead, he let his eyes pass over the rest of the kitchen until they rested on Nie Zhiyuan, who was standing by the stove, slowly stirring the main dish of tonight's meal.

His deputy head junior official continued the repeated motion of stirring over, and over, and over again. And yet, his face was turned towards the wall above the stove as though he was lost in thought, and the motion of his hand was merely muscle memory.

Mu Qing was certain that Nie Zhiyuan had also slept badly after last night (if he slept at all) and so it was plausible that the lack of sleep was catching up with him as well.

He made another mental note for later, promising to make sure Nie Zhiyuan slept tonight, even if he had to order him into doing so. That boy could never function properly on a bad night of rest, but furthermore, he was still healing from the injuries he suffered because of the Savage.

All three of them - Yong Baige, Nie Zhiyuan, and himself - needed to heal sooner rather than later after all. It wouldn't do wonders for the Palace of Xuan Zhen if its General and top two officials were indisposed for too long.

"Oh, General!" Yong Baige's soft exclamation brought his attention back to her. She seemed to have only just noticed his presence by the doorway and bowed to him in greeting. "My apologies, I hadn't realised the General was back yet from his mission with General Ming Guang. This one would have made sure to greet you at the doors had I known."

Mu Qing waved a dismissive hand and stepped fully into the kitchen, coming to stand by the table in the middle of the kitchen, which served as the resting place for all the platters and bowls Yong Baige was filling.

"There was no need for that," he said. "The Heng twins certainly outshone any greeting you could have possibly bestowed upon this General, Yong Baige."

Yong Baige blinked at him. "Then, this one should have at least been there to save the General from the headache their mischief undoubtedly caused."

Mu Qing huffed a laugh. "I cannot argue with the truth." He glanced down at the table. "Do either of you require any help with the food?"

It seemed like everything was already prepared, but a deep part within Mu Qing itched the help despite this. Even after all this time, it felt bizarre to let someone else do the cooking, to let someone else clean, and not have anyone telling him what to do.

He felt pathetic experiencing this urge to do something, and yet he sometimes couldn't fight against it because it was the way he was raised, the way he spent the early years of his childhood, when the only breaks from duties he got was at night in a small room in the servants quarters of the Xianle Palace, all alone until the Prince called on him in the morning yet again—

"No, no," Yong Baige protested, eyes a bit wide and hands held out in front of her as if she aimed to physically stop him from helping. "There is no reason for the General to trouble himself at this moment. This one and Nie Zhiyuan have everything finished up anyway— right, Nie Zhiyuan?" She turned to look in the direction of the other junior official, but surprisingly, he seemed still lost in thought. The stirring hadn't stopped. "Nie Zhiyuan?"

"Hm?" Nie Zhiyuan replied, turning his head in their direction and slowly blinking his eyes at them. As Mu Qing thought earlier, the lack of sleep seemed to catch up to him in the form of a drowsy trance. "Yes, Yong Baige?"

"The General asked if we require any help with the food, but we have everything ready, yes?" Yong Baige checked, raising an eyebrow at the state of the other official.

If Mu Qing didn't know her as well as he did, he wouldn't have been able to notice the slightly upset expression marring her face, the tightening on the corners of her lips clearly portraying the guilt she felt over being the reason behind Nie Zhiyuan's evidently restless night.

"Ah," Nie Zhiyuan muttered absentmindedly. "The food. Yes, of course, the food. I have finished my task."

He proceeded to put out the fire in the stove and soon the dish was transferred onto another serving platter. It was just in time for a few of the other junior officials to enter the kitchen and help carry all the food into the dining room down the hall.

Mu Qing took a moment to gaze at Nie Zhiyuan while everyone slowly vacated the kitchen, taking in the unfocused look in the boy's eyes and the dark circles underneath them. A slight pit formed at the bottom of Mu Qing's stomach at the sight— Nie Zhiyuan seemed entirely disconnected from his surroundings.

It was a wonder that he had managed to prepare a whole meal without any injuries to his person, though Yong Baige had most likely done nearly all the cooking anyway. If only because she was the better chef between them.

"Nie Zhiyuan," he still found himself calling out. "Are you alright?"

Nie Zhiyuan gazed at him for a second, and then nodded faintly. "Of course, General. This one is merely tired, so there is no need to worry. We'd better head to the dining room. The sooner we eat, the sooner everyone can rest, and then we will all be alright. I know it."

Mu Qing frowned slightly, Nie Zhiyuan's words seeming bizarre to him. Something about their wording didn't sit completely right with him, but he blamed it on the state of exhaustion that the boy was visibly encroaching. One slight push and Nie Zhiyuan looked to be a wind's sway away from collapsing on the ground in a snoring heap.

Dinner followed by sleep appeared to be a perfectly reasonable solution to this problem.

"Very well," Mu Qing answered a bit apprehensively, and they both proceeded to join the others in the dining room.

Dinner went as well as expected. His junior officials happily shared stories of their recent ongoings in the heavens and many attempted to encourage Mu Qing to recount some of his more adventurous missions over the years.

The twins in particular eagerly pleaded with him to join in the storytelling, as they (and many others around the table, apparently) never tired of hearing about the more gruesome fights he had been a part of in the last few centuries. Nie Zhiyuan also normally joined in on this subject on a regular day, but Mu Qing noticed that he seemed to barely have the energy to eat anything, much less excitedly chatter with the others.

He decided not to call attention to it and let him be.

Yong Baige, who was sat on his right as usual, surprisingly appeared to be in a better mood than was expected. Though the braces stayed on and neither she nor Mu Qing mentioned anything about them, she seemed to genuinely enjoy dinner and even contributed a few fearsome stories of her own.

However, it was also without a doubt that she was putting on a front for the other junior officials, acting as if nothing was wrong in hopes that her worries would cease to exist or at least lessen in their severity. Mu Qing would know; he had been the one to accidentally pass down this mindset onto her.

If anything at least, he knew that Yong Baige found it hard to lie to him, her devotion prompting her to always stay truthful to him even in the hardest of moments (like when he had demanded to know the details of Min Ying's death all those years ago and she had cried her heart out to him), so he planned to pull her aside after dinner and ask her to explain everything that led up to and during her hallucinations of Min Ying the night before.

He hoped to keep that conversation short.

A slow glance to one side of the dinning room showed him the large windows that faced out onto one of the Palace's smaller courtyards (the layout of this particular dinning room was especially the reason why his junior officials liked to dine here), and allowed him to notice the rising position of the moon in the sky.

Mu Qing didn't want to keep Yong Baige up too late with their conversation, as just like Nie Zhiyuan, she needed her rest, and so he thought that they should talk after dinner as soon as possible. Hopefully, that should give them plenty of time before the moon rises fully.

Yes, he would speak with Yong Baige about last night after dinner.

And the bruises: that needed to be brought to attention, too.

Was she aware he knew of them?

It was possible, but also understandable if she didn't, as she hadn't been in the right state of mind last night.

But she was now, and so they would speak later.

It was for the best to understand her side of the story.

And so they definitely needed to speak later. 

They had time before the moon reached the highest point in the sky, didn't they?

And yet, the next second Mu Qing blinked his heavy eyes open, the moon had long passed midnight.

Firstly, he felt cold. One of the windows facing the courtyard had apparently been left cracked open, and the room was subjected to the moist air from outside. A faint summer draft brought it all in alongside the sharp smell of the night and a slightly metallic undertone that he couldn't identify at this moment.

Secondly, the sound of his teeth chattering made Mu Qing realise that shivers were wrecking his body. He was lying down on something soft, which for a split second he imagined to be moss, before he realised that it was the rug in the dining room instead.

With a grunt, Mu Qing moved his arms to support his weight and attempted to push himself up into a sitting position. The action caused a spike of pain to ricochet throughout his scalp so sharply that a feeling of light-headedness echoed within his head for several seconds afterwards. Despite this, he forced himself to sit up at the very least, even if he had to lean back against one of the table's legs.

"General!" A sobbed call of his name caught his attention, and instantly his whole vision was filled with a distressed image of Nie Zhiyuan. "Oh gods, you're awake. I'm so sorry! I'm so— I don't even know why! I hadn't meant to, I swear! I didn't— I would never, how could I? General, please believe me, I never wanted this to happen! I don't know why I did this, I really don't! General, please."

Third and lastly, Mu Qing had a hard time understanding what was happening.

Between the headache splitting his head in half, the shivers coursing through his somewhat numb body, the fact that it appeared that somehow hours had passed in the blink of an eye, and Nie Zhiyuan crying in front of him, he needed a moment to think.

"Nie Zhiyuan," he said, voice coming out in a slight rasp. Clearing his throat did little to help. "Nie Zhiyuan, what—"

"I poisoned the food!" Nie Zhiyuan gasped out, the confession ripping itself out of his throat between the sobs.

Suddenly, a sense of clarity washed over Mu Qing and made him feel even colder than he already felt.

"General, I felt myself do it— I did do it, but it wasn't me, I swear. I wanted everyone to be safe, but I would never do this! I don't know what the sedatives were supposed to achieve, it makes no sense!"

Sedatives. Oh, thank fuck.

Mu Qing took a moment to get a hold of his bearings and take notice of his other junior officials scattered around the room, all breathing just fine and peacefully snoring away the night.

From where he was sat on the floor next to his chair, one that he had presumably fallen off of when whatever Nie Zhiyuan put into the food took effect, he could see Yong Baige's form just peeking out from the other side of the table. At the very least, she seemed to be peacefully sleeping as well. It was a small relief.

"General," Nie Zhiyuan hiccupped pleadingly, choking slightly on his breath in his panic, while reaching out a shaking hand in Mu Qing's direction. He appeared entirely pitiful and harmless. "General, please believe me, I would never do this. I would rather die, believe me, I would never—"

It only took a split second for Mu Qing to gather the distraught boy into his weak arms.

Nie Zhiyuan went entirely boneless the second he was within his grasp and started to cry so hard that the sobs shook his body with their power. His shaking hands gripped tightly at Mu Qing's silk robes. Between hiccupped breaths and choking for air that appeared to have trouble filling his lungs, Nie Zhiyuan continued to gasp out the repeated mantra of I'm sorry and I didn't mean to and It felt like a trance.

Meanwhile, Mu Qing sat in a state of disbelief on the rug covering the floor of his main dining room and stared out through the windows into the darkness of the courtyard.

His body felt numb with both the leftover effects of the sedatives and the cold air filling the room, but his mind was a heated mess of thoughts. His deputy head junior official continued to sob in his lap while Mu Qing's mind cleared and he gradually realised that there was no other possible explanation for all this— the Savage was the one behind it.

First Yong Baige, now Nie Zhiyuan. One night after the other, an unexplainable incident had occurred. Narrowing it all down only meant two things: this was an act of revenge, and Mu Qing was next.

Chapter Text

By the time dawn had fully fallen upon the heavens, all but one of the junior officials of the Palace of Xuan Zhen found themselves safely tucked into their beds. The effects of whatever sedatives Nie Zhiyuan added to the food had held strong even when Mu Qing and Nie Zhiyuan struggled to get this task accomplished.

Though it seemingly took a full shichen of frankly humiliating huffing and puffing to move everybody, both of them could eventually reward themselves by tiredly collapsing onto the sofas of one of the lounges situated close to the junior officials' dorms.

After having woken up from the sedatives, Mu Qing had attempted to get his bearings on the situation. He had hoped that calming Nie Zhiyuan down and ordering him to help in transferring the others from the dining room would give him enough time to get his thoughts in order.

Instead, the aftereffects of the sedatives left his hands and knees shaking, which not only made it difficult to both think and manoeuvre the passed-out junior officials back to their rooms, but had also caused Nie Zhiyuan to quietly sob throughout the whole ordeal once he noticed.

Even now, while leaning back into the plush cushions of the sofa, Mu Qing felt cold enough to shiver and weakened to the point of light-headedness. He wasn't certain whether he had banged his head against the dining room floor upon falling out of the chair earlier, but a horrid headache had steadily situated itself behind his eyes ever since.

He hoped it was merely from the sedatives rather than the fall— it wouldn't do him any favours to have worsened the effects of the already two-days-in-the-making concussion. It was already pathetic enough that it was taking him this long to heal from it.

"General...." Nie Zhiyuan whispered from across him. The boy was curled up on the other sofa, arms pulling his knees up to his chest.

Looking like this, he reminded Mu Qing of the skittish child he once was: the youngest boy of a family of five and the only one to survive the fire that had overtaken his home. Even the helpless expression plastered on his face now was an identical copy to the one Mu Qing had seen when he pulled a shell-shocked teenager out from a crumbling building. It had taken years for the boy to learn to live alongside his trauma, but even now, a few hundred years later, there were situations that caused him to revert to the same scared boy that had cried out for his family as the fire ate away their bodies.

In his many years as a General of the southwest, there weren't a lot of instances that stuck out to Mu Qing as causes of regret. With a lifetime as long as his, he accepted that mistakes were more often better left behind in the past (at least, most of them) lest they haunt his days through overwhelming thoughts and his nights in horrid nightmares. That being said, a small part of him always wondered if things would have been different for Nie Zhiyuan had Mu Qing reacted quicker.

It wouldn't be honest to say that he thought himself to be the sole reason behind the murders of Nie Zhiyuan's family— the raiders that set fire to Nie Zhiyuan's home were the ones with the blood on their hands, there was no doubt of this. However, the only reason Mu Qing had been in the mortal realm back then was to stop their tyranny, and a small part of him always wondered if he really was to blame only because he had failed to capture them in time.

In any case, Nie Zhiyuan never threw out any accusations, and Mu Qing never dared to ask. It suited them better like this— Nie Zhiyuan refused to think of the excruciating last moments of his family, and Mu Qing wouldn't force him to remember the repressed memories in hopes of satisfying centuries-old doubts.

Instead, Mu Qing had learned to care for the boy in a manner softer than most others he associated with, since he understood the ways certain circumstances triggered the trauma Nie Zhiyuan attempted to hide. It was the least he could.

Mu Qing let out a deep sigh, catching the eyes of the boy across him. He sat up slightly in an attempt to prepare himself for the conversation ahead, all the while pulling his robes a bit tighter around his body to fight off the chill emitting around the dimmed lounge.

"You— it made you poison the food. Correct?"

Nie Zhiyuan tightened his grip on his legs and then took an unsure breath. "Yes, General."

"And Nie Zhiyuan mentioned a trance," Mu Qing continued, thinking back to Nie Zhiyuan's earlier confession and breakdown. "During it, were you aware that something was wrong?"

"No, General."

"So, it was controlling you, Nie Zhiyuan? Completely overtaking your mind and actions?"

"No, not exactly."

Mu Qing's eyebrows furrowed sharply, and he ignored how the action caused his headache to pulse further. "Explain."

Nie Zhiyuan hunched his shoulders and attempted to look even smaller than he already looked. "It felt like a dream," he whispered. "There was a whisper— in the back of my mind, reminiscent of my own. Soft and luring, and it was telling me how to keep you safe. How I needed to keep you all safe."

For a moment, Mu Qing stared blankly at his deputy head junior official. What Nie Zhiyuan was telling him was another ludicrous notion, just like the impossible bruises on Yong Baige's wrists. It made no logical sense in the grand scheme of things, as only madmen heard their thoughts rebel against them, forcing them to hurt the ones close to them while their minds were filled with delusions of care.

But he knew Nie Zhiyuan, the boy who has been under his care for the last seven hundred years, to be no madman. He wasn't willing to think otherwise, because then he would have to add Yong Baige to the same category, and losing both of them to a slow descent into insanity was out of the question. Mu Qing refused to entertain such a notion when there was still the uneasy feeling rolling knots inside his stomach, certain that whatever was plaguing his two junior officials had everything to do with the desolate eyes of that Savage.

He refused to lose hope before he was stood eye to eye with the ghost and saw for himself proof against this claim. Because all of it, the hallucinations, bodily harm, voices inside minds that encouraged poisonings—

It could be anything but their fault.

Yong Baige and Nie Zhiyuan were stronger than to fall prey to their own minds without fighting tooth and nail first for even a single shred of sanity. After all these centuries, Mu Qing was confident in knowing that they could fight their own demons, and so he refused to doubt them in this regard. And for that reason alone, he believed undoubtedly that he needed to pay Ling Wen a visit sooner rather than later, and demand to know all she had found out about the Savage.

"Nie Zhiyuan," Mu Qing said, and noticed the boy's eyes flicker to his own. They were clear of the haze that clouded them earlier. Now they remained focused, if a bit red from the many shichen they had been subjected to crying. "The sedatives... they were supposed to keep us safe?"

Nie Zhiyuan blinked, and then nodded his head hesitantly. "Yes, General," he replied. "The voice, it reassured me that using them was the right choice. It tricked this one into thinking that if you were all asleep and tucked away in the Palace of Xuan Zhen, then nothing could possibly harm you, not even yourselves. And this one would be there to watch over and protect you." Nie Zhiyuan paused, and Mu Qing watched the motion of his throat as he struggled to swallow. "This one believed it, General. After all of you had fallen asleep, and as I was sat at the table among your slumbering forms, for a while I believed that what I had done was the right thing. But then, when I took a proper look at you all, I could only think 'oh, what have I done?' and it all came into focus, like waking up from a dream. Then... well, the General woke up only a short while later and he knows the rest."

Mu Qing only hummed quietly in reply. He allowed himself to bring up a hand and massage the spot between his eyebrows, hoping to lessen the pain there. Nie Zhiyuan shot him a remorseful look for it, but thankfully didn't burst into tears again. There was only so much crying Mu Qing could witness at the moment, especially when his hands still shook, his body still felt sluggishly cold, and he wanted nothing more than to go to Paradise Manor right this moment, dragging Feng Xin with him from the heavens, to force him, Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng into a cuddle pile with Mu Qing until he felt relaxed and safe among them—

"This General believes..." Mu Qing eventually uttered, "that he has heard everything that needed to be said. Nie Zhiyuan should stay here and watch over the others. I doubt they will wake up anytime soon, but should that change, it wouldn't do any good to leave them in a state of confusion."

Nie Zhiyuan blinked again. "General? You are leaving?"

Mu Qing nodded and stood from the sofa, fighting against the tremors that shook his legs, confident that he could walk it off soon. He had endured worse in the months he was forced to slowly heal after the fall of Jun Wu. At least now it was only muscle weakness, without the added discomfort of burns.

"This General is off to visit the Palace of Ling Wen," he informed Nie Zhiyuan. "Should anyone wake before this General gets back, Nie Zhiyuan will calmly tell them the truth of what happened last night. This is not something we can hide."

"This one should..." Nie Zhiyuan hesitated, his breath hitching in his throat. "This one should tell them the truth, General? That I poisoned them?"

"No," Mu Qing said, sharply. It seemed to surprise his deputy head junior official enough for him to jerk back slightly into the sofa. "You will tell them the whole truth— let us not pretend that this incident was within Nie Zhiyuan's control. This General never took Nie Zhiyuan to be oblivious to the danger around him."

"I'm not!" Nie Zhiyuan exclaimed, jumping up from the sofa alongside his words, as if he was trying to push them across with a physical force. He composed himself a second later and bowed his head slightly. "That is to say, this one is merely confused. How can... how can the General be certain that there are outside forces at play?"

Mu Qing took a moment to look over the boy, sweeping his eyes over the slightly shaking shoulders and the smallest of pinches of skin across his forehead that signified Nie Zhiyuan was also sporting a headache. Right now, Nie Zhiyuan looked like he could be defeated with a badly thrown handkerchief, and yet when the boy raised his head that littlest bit, Mu Qing caught a shadow of the same determined glint that always prevailed in his eyes.

It meant to say that despite asking Mu Qing to prove that something was messing with Yong Baige's and his minds, he was willing to believe Mu Qing even if he chose to keep that information to himself. If only because he believed in Mu Qing's expertise and experience.

Ah, he really was surrounded by a bunch of awe-filled children.

"Because this General knows his junior officials," Mu Qing proclaimed, causing Nie Zhiyuan's eyes to widen and then water a second after. Mu Qing let out a sigh and stepped forward to place his hand on Nie Zhiyuan's shoulder. "I plan on speaking with Ling Wen about the Savage."

"The ghost from the last mission?" Nie Zhiyuan's eyes narrowed in thought. "This one did think it odd that we never found out how exactly it got rid of its victims since no bodies were found."

And that was the problem. Mu Qing and his two junior officials had searched those woods thoroughly before they encountered the Savage. During that search, there had been no signs of anything out of place— no blood, no trails, and worst of all for the families that awaited the news of its defeat, no bodies. Even after the Savage had been detained, when Ling Wen had a few of her own officials search the surrounding area, nothing had shown up.

It was possible that rather than kill its victims, the ghost consumed them, which would explain the lack of bodies and any evidence, but something about that didn't sit right with Mu Qing. Throughout the final fight, the Savage had shown no gruesome tendencies towards them. It was certainly violent - as the concussions would prove, and Yong Baige's injured shoulder - but it was nowhere near, for example, Qi Rong's level of maliciousness, not to the point where it would willingly consume human flesh as a delicacy.

It had seemed more interested in playing with them than anything, only causing the smallest of injuries that had their vision blurring for a few minutes, but nothing more than that. 

But then again, Mu Qing could always be wrong in this assumption. After all, the only thing he had to prove his point was a gut feeling and the memory of those eyes staring them down while the ghost swore its revenge, though if he thought about it, the exact details of that scene had distorted themselves over the past two days with everything that has happened—

He winced as his headache cut his jumbled thoughts off with another spike of pain, though it did a good job of bringing him back to the present. 

"Yes, the lack of bodies is certainly odd, though hopefully Ling Wen will have an update on the situation," Mu Qing said. "But furthermore, the General believes the Savage has something to do with... this." It didn't need to be said that he was referring to whatever in the heavens had happened to his junior officials. 

Nie Zhiyuan took a moment to think this over and then nodded with that determined glint in his eyes. He bowed before Mu Qing shortly. "If the General says so, then this junior official will believe so too. This one will be here should the General require any help with his investigation. In the meantime, I will do as the General asks and look after the others."

Mu Qing gave one final squeeze to Nie Zhiyuan's shoulder. "Thank you, Nie Zhiyuan. This General will come back as soon as he can. You'll be able to rest afterwards— I know you must be exhausted after everything that happened." He watched Nie Zhiyuan nod softly and, after a few seconds, felt compelled to add, "Everything will be all right, Nie Zhiyuan."

The boy sent him a small smile. "If the General is taking care of it, then yes, I believe everything will be."

Mu Qing hummed in reply, and turned to leave his Palace at last. There was a feeling of warmth that slowly spread itself through his system at Nie Zhiyuan's words, and he hoped it would stay there for whatever was to come.

The Palace of Ling Wen, as always, greeted him with a harried junior official who only had enough decorum to bow and then direct him towards where he could find Ling Wen before they scurried off with a flurry of scrolls. Mu Qing, long used to the way Ling Wen's junior officials ran around her Palace like headless chickens, took it in stride and found the person he was looking for without any hiccups on the way.

Ling Wen looked the be the epitome of a scholar; hunched over multiple scrolls that littered her desk, with brushes tucked into the messy bun atop her head in lieu of hairpins, she appeared to be moments away from becoming one with the paperwork she was reading. When she glanced up at him, he also noticed the bags under her eyes, which only proved that she had spent countless nights in that position, considering it took a lot of effort for gods to sport eyebags of that size.

After countless missions in the mortal realm with little to no rest (especially if either Feng Xin or Pei Ming joined him), Mu Qing was unfortunately a verified expert in that field, and so he was secure with his deduction.

"General Xuan Zhen," Ling Wen greeted him, a little more cordially than her junior official had, though she notably forwent rising from behind her desk. "What can this one do for the General?"

"Ling Wen," he returned the greeting, nodding his head, but not bowing. He stepped away from the doorway of her office and decided to make this visit as quick as can be. Though, whether that was because he was anxious to return to his Palace or to escape Ling Wen's company was only for him to know. "This General requires any information Ling Wen has regarding my last mission."

Ling Wen took a moment to blink at him sluggishly, though her eyes seemed to focus on his words without problem. After a few seconds of thought, her eyebrows furrowed. "The undercover mission?"

Mu Qing nodded once, standing straight under her intuitive gaze despite the slight tremors coursing through his frame. He had managed to fight against the cold shivers once he left his Palace, though the appearance of the early sun gazing on his skin did little to help, but there was only so much he could do for the aftereffects of the sedatives. However, he wouldn't purposefully appear weak in front of Ling Wen if he could help it. He always thought that she tried to glimpse past his cold exterior in the same way she searched for mistakes within reports.

It was a cold and clinical process that was only fuelled by a strong sense of curiosity towards what she dubbed as the 'unknown'. And it would stay that way if he had any say in it.

A tired sigh escaped Ling Wen's lips, and she already looked as if she wished to kick him out of her Palace despite the mere minutes that had passed. "Can this one ask what exactly the General requires regarding the mission? As far as I was aware, the case was closed without any issues."

Mu Qing's eyebrows twitched as if to frown, but he was cautious not to worsen his headache— everything else wrong with his body at the moment was already bad enough. "Ling Wen closed the case? And what of the bodies of the victims? This General wasn't aware that they were found."

Ling Wen blinked again, this time a bit startled. "What bodies is the General speaking of? As I remember from Xuan Zhen's mission report, there hadn't been any casualties during your time at the Su Residence."

It took only a second for Mu Qing to understand, and once he did, he resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "It seems there has been a misunderstanding," he concluded, nearly gritting his teeth. "This General wasn't asking about the Su Residence mission, but rather about the mission afterwards— the one with the Savage-rank ghost. This General has yet to submit a full report for it, but was hoping that Ling Wen had managed to unearth any further information regarding the Savage."

For a few breaths afterwards, Mu Qing watched Ling Wen stare at him, and started noticing that the furrow between her eyebrows deepened as the silence continued. Her expression looked both parts dubious, as if she thought he was asking her this in jest, and slightly perplexed.

A sliver of impatience started to worm its way under Mu Qing's skin in that time, and he was close to opening his mouth and telling her that he wasn't particularly fond of her wasting his time—

"General," Ling Wen finally spoke before he lost his patience, though her voice was uncharacteristically tentative, "this one has no knowledge of any recent missions regarding a Savage-rank ghost in the southwest."

What?

An instant feeling of dread started to spread through Mu Qing's veins, so intricately and deeply that for a second he wondered if it stemmed from within his meridians. There was a sound of distant ringing in his ears, and while his thoughts were suddenly nothing more than a muddled mess, the always-present headache pulsed behind his eyes, and he had to clench his hands to prevent them from visibly shaking in front of Ling Wen.

"Ling Wen is certain?" Mu Qing questioned, his voice a bit flat, though at least it didn't shake despite the mess ongoing throughout his mind.

Ling Wen's eyebrows fully came into a frown, and she rummaged around her desk for a few breaths' time to find a messy scroll. It seemed to be a list.

Looking over it, Ling Wen hummed and said, "As my reports and notes say, the last mission General Xuan Zhen undertook was two weeks ago— that was at the Su Residence. Before that, there was a mission to a small fishing village in the southwest, then before that a joint mission with Nan Yang regarding a village bordering your two territories, and before that an undercover mission with Ming Guang to a brothel in the north—"

Mu Qing held his hand up as a silent plea for her to stop talking, especially since he only recently found the courage to make eye contact with Pei Ming again after the disaster that was the brothel mission Ling Wen mentioned, and he wasn't willing to let the memories resurface lest he lose his appetite for the next three days again.

His eyes skipped over Ling Wen's features, looking for any signs of deception, but while a part of him hoped that she had suddenly gained a sense of humour and wanted to play a practical joke on him, there was only exhaustion and the slightest bit of apprehension visible on her face. Neither could it be a report error, since he knew that he had yet to submit that particular report to Ling Wen (the unsigned copy of it was in plain sight on his desk, but for some reason he hadn't been able to let himself sign it, for a reason such as—).

And Ling Wen, despite her apparent dislike of him, was always the right level of professional, which meant that she wouldn't have made a mistake as big as forgetting and discarding the details of a Savage-rank ghost mission.

Abruptly, Mu Qing turned away, his heart beating loudly in his chest, almost rivalling the ringing in his ears that had become a background noise over the last few moments. "Thanking Ling Wen for her time," he called over his shoulder without looking back.

Ignoring Ling Wen's call of, "General Xuan Zhen, wait—!" Mu Qing made his way out of her Palace in a hurry that only barely registered in his panicked state. Ling Wen's junior officials almost seemed to jump out of his way, as if aware that he was not against barrelling through them if they stood between him and the exit.

Upon descending the steps leading up to Ling Wen's Palace and stepping onto the main street, Mu Qing attempted to calm himself.

There was a flood of thoughts that swirled in his head, doubts, speculations, and a why haven't I noticed it before? because it was all wound up in the same ball of yarn that was slowly untangling itself and dangling tantalisingly in front of him, daring him to reach for the wool and unravel the last scraps of this fucked up mystery that has been plaguing his mind for the last two days—

His head pulsed again, this time sharply enough that he stumbled a step and let out an unexpected gasp. The gods on the street around him turned to look, muttering to themselves, all surprised that the typically aloof General Xuan Zhen could be seen in such a state. The man in question ignored them all, since what they thought of him didn't matter now even more than it ever did before, and gathered himself together enough to turn onto a quieter path back to his Palace.

Frantically, he tried to distract himself, and throughout it all, a part of him wanted care. Wanted to be held and loved, and told that it was going to be okay. Almost without thinking of it, Mu Qing called out the spiritual array password within his mind almost instinctively, like a memory coming back to him regardless of how long he had gone without thinking of it.

Feng Xin? Xie Lian? Hua Cheng?

None of them replied to his calls.

The seconds rolled by as he rushed his way back to his Palace on shaky knees, and the silence that suddenly overtook his mind was stifling. Mu Qing called out their names again, in various orders, tone hitching in panic before it went down to a whisper.

Still, there was no response.

He was alone.

The thought only filtered through his mind for a second before he grabbed it with a hand of steel and locked it deep inside a pit that dwelt in the darkest part of his soul. There was no time for pathetic thoughts or pathetic actions.

For all that he knew, such thoughts wouldn't even be his own— Nie Zhiyuan thought that the poisoning had been of his own free will before the fog lifted from his eyes, hadn't he? Mu Qing wasn't willing to bet what such a compulsion could make a god do, if it was able to convince a junior official to add a heap of sedatives to a shared dinner dish. It would be best for all if they didn't find out the hard way.

Nobody was there to greet him when he barged his way through the front doors of his Palace, but it was expected. Mu Qing hoped that Nie Zhiyuan didn't encounter any problems with the waking of the other junior officials— with any luck, they would all still be slumbering. As the effects of the sedatives were still plaguing Mu Qing's system so disgustingly as they were, it could be deduced that most of his junior officials should only wake within another shichen or so. Though knowing her as well as he did (and knowing now what he knew of everything around them—), Mu Qing had confidence that Yong Baige was most likely already awake and demanding answers from Nie Zhiyuan.

The noise of a loud one-sided conversation (or rather, reprimand) reached his ears before he even entered the lounge he had left Nie Zhiyuan behind in, and upon stepping foot inside, Mu Qing was greeted with the unsurprising sight of Yong Baige frantically pacing in front of a meekly sat Nie Zhiyuan.

"—completely agree with the General," Yong Baige was saying, or rather ranting, as she attempted to carve pathways into the rug covering the lounge's floor with her aggressive feet. "There cannot be any other reason for this, aside from us suddenly going mad for one reason or another. Though, one would think that such a thing would have happened centuries ago, rather than catching up with us now of all of times."

Mu Qing stepped further into the room and let his presence be known by saying, "Such a thing would be impossible. This General already knew both of you to be completely mad when I took you as my officials, since one decided to stubbornly cling to me like a monkey and the other attempted to cry their way into the spot they hold today."

"General!" both of his junior officials exclaimed, before taking his words into account.

Nie Zhiyuan proceeded to squawk in offence, muttering against the claim of crying himself into the position of deputy head junior official, despite the fact that for years on end he has repeatedly won the reward for 'most likely to cry when given praise by the General' during what his junior officials like to call the 'Annual Championships of the Palace' or 'APC' for short.

Yong Baige, on the other hand, had no shame in looking pleased with herself at Mu Qing's claim, apparently more than happy to be referred to as a clingy monkey. This was no surprise, considering that the category she continuously won during the 'APC's' was the one called 'most likely to follow the General on missions uninvited'. Which has frankly happened more times than he could count, to the point that, despite the fact that it seemed like a victory in Yong Baige's eyes, he had stopped reprimanding her for it.

Heavens forbid, Mu Qing, the martial god of the southwest, take on any dangerous missions without consulting his head junior official first and reassuring her that yes, he could handle a Menace-rank ghost by himself, and no, Yong Baige, put away your armour, you are not coming with this General—

More times than not, she took his orders seriously and sulked around the Palace (as the other juniors liked to giggle) before he got back from whatever mission he went away for, but there were those instances when the dangers of the mission seemed too precarious in Yong Baige's eyes and she attempted to attach herself to his side like an aggressive sword— sheathed for the most part until the first sign of unease set her free on a warpath to defend her General.

Though he always thought her loyalty was unwavering, to see it time and time again always warmed the same part of his soul. And he wasn't certain if there would ever be a time when a part of him wouldn't be surprised to witness her devotion, despite knowing that it was a fundamental part of her personality and ready for him to witness if he only asked.

And he knew it to be love as well— Yong Baige loved him as one would love an older brother, a father, someone who would be there for her (because he would, without a doubt), and Mu Qing rarely had anyone love him like this, not since the moment his mother died, leaving behind a young boy not ready for the future he now had to face alone with a cracked heart in his chest—

Taking a deep breath, Mu Qing let the thought frizzle out. He was getting distracted again, and it didn't bode well with what he had learnt.

"General," Yong Baige said, crossing the distance to stand closer to him. "What did Ling Wen say? Could it possibly be the Savage?"

Nie Zhiyuan followed Yong Baige's footsteps and stood up from the sofa before joining them in the centre of the room. With his two junior officials looking at him, eager for any news that he could impart on them, full of hope for good news, Mu Qing swore to fight against any and all forces that could force him to lose control of himself this evening.

Mu Qing sighed. "It is most certainly the case."

Yong Baige seemed to lose some weight from her shoulders, though Mu Qing knew that it would come back soon regardless. "That is a relief, for a moment this one feared—"

"Tell me..." Mu Qing interrupted her, unwilling to give her false hope. Both of his officials straightened at his grave tone, uncertain expressions momentarily flickering across their tired faces. "Both Nie Zhiyuan and Yong Baige are currently suffering from headaches, yes? The same ones that have been present since our mission?"

The two junior officials glanced at each other and frowned in shared confusion, but regardless, both nodded. Their agreement served both as a relief and a point of dread for Mu Qing, and something of that thought must have flickered across his face, because the two tensed in front of him.

"General?" Nie Zhiyuan questioned, reaching out a hand to him, as though he wished to comfort both Mu Qing and himself during this situation. "What is the matter?"

Mu Qing let out a small breath. "Ling Wen holds no recollection of the ghost. Neither do her records. It's as if it never existed and the mission never took place."

Nie Zhiyuan's eyes widened, and he jerked back slightly in surprise. "How can that be?" he exclaimed. "We make up three witnesses to the mission, and our memories hold the evidence of its existence, even the report Yong Baige and this one wrote is proof! And Ling Wen sent her own Palace officials to take the Savage away, they couldn't not have seen it when they took it away with them, that's absurd. Surely, Ling Wen would have not only gotten a report of it from within her own Palace, but she would have encountered the ghost herself to question it regarding the bodies of the victims—"

"Not if none of it was ever real," Yong Baige whispered at his side and brought their attention to her. Her eyes were centred on Mu Qing's face, trying to extract any truth or details regarding this situation. She seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion as he did, with merely the solemn expression on Mu Qing's face and scraps of information to go off on. "Was it real, General? Or... have we been living in a nightmare?"

Nie Zhiyuan seemed lost for a few breaths' time, during which his breathing picked up in panic as his eyes darted between the resignation on Mu Qing's face and the dawning horror on Yong Baige's. But then, it seemed to come to him as well, as his panicked breathing seemed to stop altogether.

"General...?"

Now more than ever did Mu Qing feel the pain from what he had considered to be a concussion. But concussions healed within a day or two within gods— granted, he hadn't slept the night when Yong Baige had encountered hallucinations, and last night Nie Zhiyuan forced sedatives into his bloodstream, but his spiritual energy had been anything but lacking during these past two days.

It would have been different had he been otherwise injured, but with nothing else for his spiritual energy to heal after the mission, the concussion should have been tackled from all sides and gone by the time he arrived back at the Palace to calm Yong Baige. And yet, it had been there throughout both days and the whole night he spent at his desk, alongside the—

"It is constantly cold," Mu Qing realised, and even as he said it, a shiver ran down his spine. "Am I correct?" He stared at his two junior officials, who seemed at a loss for words, expressions of identical realisation. It was enough proof that they agreed with him again. "The sun has been shining, everyone around keeps leaving windows open to let some air in because the temperatures have risen, and yet, this General keeps wishing he had put on thicker robes every time he's outside because the air feels moist and the breeze is cold."

A slightly strangled sound came from within Yong Baige's throat. "This one's shoulder," she confessed, "has not stopped aching ever since the mission, despite the tinctures I have been taking, apart from... apart from during the incident in the kitchen." She paused, as if to think. "I don't remember feeling it bother me then."

"Hold on," Nie Zhiyuan said frantically, lifting his hands and spreading them out in front of him as if to ward off further discussion. "This one doesn't understand. We are all suffering from headaches, yes. There have been two unfortunate instances where Yong Baige and this one seemingly lost their minds, yes. And this one has felt cold constantly since the mission, though I took it as a side effect of the concussion, yes. But what would make this a dream? How could it be certain that we are asleep right now and not merely the only ones left to remember a Savage ghost that managed to escape by somehow erasing everyone's memories of it?"

Mu Qing briefly closed his eyes, fearing that his heart would pound its way out of his chest. "It couldn't have left us untouched, because this General cannot remember what the Savage looked like. Every time this General has tried to think it over the past two days, something around me has interrupted the process before I could focus on the fuzzy image presented in my mind. Just like with Ling Wen, it has erased its appearance from my memories almost completely, if not for the feeling of wrongness and unease that this one experiences every time I think about it. But aside from that, it is actively manipulating everything around me to prevent me from remembering what it looks like, aside from the image of its revenge-stricken eyes. Everything feels like a cage." He paused, finding it a little hard to breathe for a second. "And... let us not foolishly ignore the main problem we've been faced with and haven't brought up yet."

Nie Zhiyuan gazed at him in further panic. "The main problem?"

Mu Qing sighed. "This General bets that he is not the only one to have a vague recollection of briefly feeling a loss of consciousness when the Savage got a lucky hit on us all during the mission. However, tell me this, do you remember getting back into the fight?"

Yong Baige inhaled sharply, looking at him with wide eyes. "The concussions," she breathed out. "This one attributed the so-called concussion to be the reason behind the foggy state of my mind, and thought that its presence prevented me from getting my thoughts in order properly, that maybe it was also the reason for the muddled memories of the mission. But I remember nothing of the matter the General asks about— oh heavens, how could we have teamed up to defeat the Savage together when this one doesn't remember getting back up after hitting the tree?"

There was a moment of silence as the three of them came to the same realisation. There was a recollection of the eyes, the desolate stare that madly flashed between them while the Savage muttered about revenge and justice, and the sound of sobs that echoed from the ghost while they had seemingly taken it down, but there was no image. Not one of them could picture a solid form of the Savage because they couldn't remember what it looked like. Almost as if the image had been purposefully left out of their minds.

As for the other matter, Mu Qing had hoped that the vague memory of getting hit on the head during the mission had merely resulted in a concussion and nothing more. After all, the pain had been minimal for the past two days, more annoying than painful, and yet, despite remembering the world go fuzzy after the hit, he didn't remember it ever coming back into focus in the time before he found himself back in his Palace, dosing at his office desk and filling out stacks of paperwork.

"General, this one keeps smelling nature at all times, regardless of where I'm stood," Nie Zhiyuan suddenly admitted, his tone weakly breathless with his laboured breathing, and his hands twisting nervously together now after he brought them down again. "The scent of trees, flowers, and most of all—"

"—moss," Mu Qing and Yong Baige finished for him at the same time.

Yong Baige put a hand against her forehead and turned around to do another few paces across the lounge. Her breathing had also picked up in its panic, but she was managing it better than Nie Zhiyuan, who Mu Qing feared might faint any minute. He moved to lay a hand on the boy's back and rubbed it in comforting circles, feeling the muscles under his touch relax and lean back into him for more comfort.

"And time is out of order," Yong Baige claimed, pivoting suddenly to look at them again. "This one blamed it on the concussion, and maybe the incident in the kitchen as well, but there have been instances where a shichen passes within the blink of an eye. And this one cannot..." She struggled for a moment, clutching at her forehead more harshly. "I cannot remember coming back from the mission. Logically, I am aware that we made it back safely and got treatment, but... the memories aren't there, as if it passed in a blur. And worst of all... despite knowing that it's summer, I cannot tell the exact date."

"Oh heavens," Nie Zhiyuan choked out, apparently agreeing with her words more than he wanted to. Mu Qing attempted to force his hands against shaking even further than they already were, especially since one of them was rubbing Nie Zhiyuan's back.

The facts were adding up, and the theory appeared too real to ignore. Especially since Mu Qing agreed that he couldn't remember what month it currently was with any ounce of confidence, and he knew Nie Zhiyuan to be thinking the exact same. There was no arguing against this, as it stood for reason that a discombobulated sense of time was one of the main factors of dreaming. Mu Qing had drilled this information into the minds of his junior officials countless times before in the past, fearing that they might end up in this exact situation and not realise the danger they were in.

"General," Yong Baige continued saying, voice wavering. "General, if this is a dream... what is happening to us in real life?"

They all fell silent once again, save for the frantic way that Nie Zhiyuan's breathing continued to raggedly come out in pants. Outside the lounge room, the Palace was quiet as well, as the other officials had clearly yet to wake from their encounter with the sedatives.

But that would have been expected, wouldn't it?

There was no need for them to be awake during a discussion that had nothing to do with them— they weren't part of anything that had been happening for the past, what they assumed to be, two days. In Mu Qing's, Yong Baige's, and Nie Zhiyuan's subconscious, in this almost perfect dream world that had been crafted around them, what use would the other officials have to be present during a monumental realisation that they are stuck in a nightmare?

Instead, the dream allowed them this— it allowed them the freedom to brainstorm, for Yong Baige to have coincidentally woken up just in time for Mu Qing to get back from Ling Wen with news of what ails him and his two junior officials. And here they stood, their heads throbbing in pain, with the smell of trees and moss wafting through their noses and a feeling of dampness falling over their skin. Their bodies still remained in those woods. 

"I don't know," Mu Qing confessed, dropping the honorific in the face of the seriousness concerning the conversation. "But this one is not willing to stand around and do nothing until it is too late. We still have time to figure our way out of this illusion, otherwise, we would not be here. Our best bet is going over everything we know about the Savage so far." He dropped his hand from Nie Zhiyuan's back and turned to leave the room. "That leads us to this General's office."

"The office?" Yong Baige questioned, but instantly she scrambled after him, grabbing hold of Nie Zhiyuan's arm on the way and dragging him alongside her. "Oh, the report!"

"Exactly," Mu Qing replied, taking a glance out the windows they passed and noting with a shock that it was nearing noon, if the position of the sun in the sky was to be believed.

It had barely been mid-morning when he got back from Ling Wen's Palace, and their discussion had not taken four hours, despite it feeling like it did. It seemed like the dream no longer wished to fool around now, as if it was aware that they knew and had no desire to hide itself anymore.

Mu Qing felt the hairs on his arms stand, and disconcertingly thought that the nightmare playing with them resembled a game of cat and mouse, with the dubbed cat clearly gloating because of the upper hand it seemingly held over them, since it had backed the mice into a tight corner and was slowly pawing at them with a wicked gleam in its eye. 

He heard as both of his junior officials cursed under their breaths behind him, seemingly coming to the same conclusion about the change in the sun's position in the sky, and it was with record time that they made it to his office. A few papers flung from his desk later revealed the mission report regarding the Savage, and its short summary in its entirety.

[There had been reports of prayers of a ghost luring people away from a southwestern village in the middle of the night, never to be found again by morning. Head junior official of the Palace Xuan Zhen, Yong Baige, and the deputy head junior official of the Palace of Xuan Zhen, Nie Zhiyuan, had descended from the heavens undercover to gather information and investigate. Two days later, General Xuan Zhen is contacted with the claim that Yong Baige and Nie Zhiyuan have identified the ghost to be a Savage. General Xuan Zhen informed Ling Wen of the situation and descended into the mortal realm. The mission remains undercover for another day, despite the addition of General Xuan Zhen, until nightfall, when General Xuan Zhen and his two junior officials tracked the Savage-rank ghost back to its base by following the victim it had decided to lure that night. With the lair found, the Savage is cornered before it is successfully defeated and detained. Ling Wen Palace officials were afterwards called to the scene to take the ghost to the heavens and to help in the search for the bodies of the victims...]

It still lacked Mu Qing's signature. Good riddance.

They skimmed the full report looking for any clues that might have been missed, but the search turned up empty and they were left to blankly stare at the scroll instead. A small part of Mu Qing ridiculously hoped that the paper could become sentient and inform them of a clue about escaping the Savage's grasp, but nothing so bizarre happened. It would appear that even this nightmare had standards to uphold.

After a few moments of silence, Mu Qing let out a breath. "All of us are aware that this General will be the target tonight," he stated the obvious, and felt the way that both of his junior officials tensed at his sides. "It is only expected, guaranteed almost— now, originally this General had agreed to join... the others at Paradise Manor for dinner; however, this could either lead to the best outcome of the situation, or the worst. And so, not only should we decide what would be the best course of action, but also form a plan should this General completely lose control during the evening. We must find out how to break free of this nightmare before the night is up."

Yong Baige and Nie Zhiyuan caught on to his emphasis with alarm.

"Before the end of the day?" Nie Zhiyuan asked, his eyes wide. "Oh heavens, this is our last chance, isn't it? Three of us stuck in this nightmare, three nights to break free of its clutches, is that right? General, is that the conclusion you have come to?"

Mu Qing clenched his jaw for a moment and nodded. "It seems like a high possibility, yes. The breakdown and the trance could be said to resemble trials of strength of the mind, with their unexpected appearance and the way they played upon your weaknesses. But seeing as we were unaware that they should be overcome, there was no way of fighting against them. If this General's unsettling theory is to be believed, tonight would be our last chance to fight back against the Savage's control."

This caused another round of cursing to erupt around him. If he hadn't been feeling just as horrified as they were, this would have clearly called for a reprimand and punishment. But such things could be left behind until they escaped the Savage alive.

Yong Baige had asked what he thought it could be doing with their bodies outside of the nightmare, and he had been truthful in saying that he wasn't certain. There had been a number of scenarios to flash through his mind, though, one gruesome image after another, and though he still felt that the Savage wasn't the flesh-eating type, the risk was there regardless, and the notion of being left to rot in some hidden lair wasn't any better. If his gut feeling was proving him right, then tonight was their only chance to escape this illusion before it was too late, and Mu Qing was anything if not a brilliant improviser.

If he had to fight tooth and nail against the headache that was pounding away at his head, which could only be the presence of the Savage overtaking his mind little by little, then so be it. He wouldn't give up until he was dead and buried six feet under ground.

"No time to waste," Mu Qing proclaimed, straightening his back to appear more confident than he felt, something that his junior officials didn't fail to mirror straight away. Two determined faces turned to look at him, and he swore to himself that this wouldn't be their downfall, not if he had anything to say about it. "We have a Savage to defeat."