Soul Lock

The Ghost King Convinces The Deity To Seek Answers

The Ghost King and the deity walked for while in ultimate silence.

When Ju Xin saw his house was burned to ashes, his mood became even worse. As there was nothing they could save, Wen Lan grabbed his arm and they left the village through the forest road. Although Ju Xin was silent all that time, Wen Lan knew he was drained both physically and emotionally. As Yin energy in his body wasn't out completely, soon Ju Xin started to sway, feeling dizzy. Wen Lan was quick to respond. He grabbed his arm and supported his weak body until he saw an inn.

"Here looks fine, let's stop for the day," Wen Lan dragged Ju Xin into the stone inn. Quickly, he paid for a room, ordered some meal and hot water for bath, and took Ju Xin to the room for a rest.

By that time, Ju Xin was like a doll, not responding to anything, so he was glad that Wen Lan was with him, taking care of everything.

"Eat some," Wen Lan said with concern, pressing the chopsticks into his hand.

"I am okay, please don't look at me like this," Ju Xin smiled but it didn't reach his glazed eyes.

Don't look at me like this? Like how? Wen Lan had no idea what Ju Xin saw in his eyes. He believed he was looking at him as normal as possible, not with concern or anything. He was just trying to make him eat something while talking nonsense about trivia stuff. Of course he wasn't concerned about his 'enemy'.

Immersed in their own worlds, the duo kept sitting in front of the small table, the food long forgotten on the table. When they noticed the time was already past midnight, they lay down on the mattress side by side and called it a day.

As Wen Lan didn't need to sleep, all night long he tried to come up with a future plan. Now, Ju Xin had nowhere to go, so Wen Lan might convince him to come with him. But where? To Huang-quan? Then what?

On the other hand, he could abandon him and watch him suffer alone as a part of his revenge before killing him. But could he really do it? No matter how much he hated the deity, it didn't change the fact that he was Wen Lan's first love and shelter, and killing him without hearing his explanation would be a waste of four lives that Wen Lan chose to reincarnate with past memories.

Forgiving him was out of question, so was killing him. Therefore, there was only one option left; seeking answers together, then deciding accordingly. But how to convince Ju Xin for that dangerous adventure? Wen Lan thought about it until the first lights of the morning filled into the room.

When Ju Xin woke up, he was livelier than the previous day. The initial shock left its place to a silent acceptance, so he decided not to dwell on the unpleasant incident. It was good for Wen Lan as he was determined to put his plan into action.

"Is this a curse mark?" Wen Lan asked with a fake curiosity, pointing at Ju Xin's arm which had the prints of blue leaves.

Ju Xin fidgeted uncomfortably while hiding his arm under the table.

"Do you know who uses blue leaves as a mark?" the Ghost King pressed more.

"Lan Ye," Ju Xin whispered, "the Ghost King of Xin."

Wen Lan's eyebrows were arched, so he knew about him. "Don't you wonder how you crossed paths with a Ghost King? or what did you do to him to curse you like this?" he asked nonchalantly as his purpose wasn't to accuse him, but rather to make him curious.

"Of course I did," Ju Xin confessed, "when I learnt what it was, I was full of questions," he put his arm on the table and revealed the curse mark, "my memory loss is probably related to it," he said in a daze, running his slender fingers on the mark.

So far so good, Wen Lan thought with excitement. "So, didn't you try to regain your memories?"

"How could I do that?" the deity challenged him, "I didn't have a clue."

"Did you hear about Hong Ben?" Wen Lan asked while staring at him intently.

"The Book of Life and Death?" Ju Xin asked with a frown. He was really confused by the man in front of him.

"Yes, that one," the excited ghost leaned forward as if he was about to give a secret, "if you can get a hold of it, you can learn anything you want about yourself by simply reading it."

"Get a hold of it?" Ju Xin repeated as he was sure he misheard Wen Lan, "it is impossible."

"Why?" Wen Lan smirked while drumming his pale fingers on the table, "it is at Taishan, so it is just a matter of climbing."

"You are not serious, right?"

"I have never been this serious in my entire life," he said and Ju Xin saw a strange vibration in his eyes for a second. He flinched unwittingly; therefore, Wen Lan averted his eyes. Shrugging, he said "it is up to you to believe or not."

"Why do you need Hong Ben?" Ju Xin blurted out suddenly. This time he leaned forward, reversing their roles.

Smart, Wen Lan said inwardly and smiled softly, not saying anything. Ju Xin was understanding, so he didn't rush him.

The silence reigned until the Ghost King took the word.

"I am looking for a deity," he said, looking straight into Ju Xin's eyes.

"Who?" the word left his mouth before he could stop it. Feeling embarrassed for his curiosity, the deity tilted his head downwards, but the Ghost King just laughed it off.

"You can ask about it, no problem," he assured Ju Xin, then got serious again, "I am looking for Ju Xin, the God... Goddess of Compassion," he spitted his words in a mocking way.

"Can I ask... why?" the unaware deity asked with hesitation, but he had to know Wen Lan's intention if he was to go on an adventure with him.

"H...she ruined all my four lives," he declared honestly and Ju Xin frowned thinking about the meaning of 'four lives'. Still, he didn't utter a sound and Wen Lan continued, "in my first life, she saved my life and protected me from the ignorant people like you did. But then, she poisoned me and I died."

Ju Xin gasped, hearing the pain in his voice.

"In my second life, we were enemies and she killed me again, at least this time it wasn't betrayal," Wen Lan continued while omitting the certain details as he had to pretend as if Ju Xin was a woman.

"Then?"

"In my third life, she was the queen, but she didn't care a bit about her kingdom. People, including my family, died because of the drought, but she didn't even leave her palace!" his hands clenched into fists, recalling those memories, "I went to confront her, but do you know what she did?" he clicked his tongue with irritation, "she just threw me a rotten orange and said 'go'! But I couldn't go because I DIED IN FRONT OF HER PALACE! As if it wasn't enough she reincarnated as a DEITY!"

Ju Xin covered his mouth with shock. Poor Wen Lan went through so much hardship and pain. The deity's heart lurched, even just thinking about it.

Wen Lan took a deep breath as if he needed to breathe, in an attempt to calm his raging heart as if he had heartbeats. Ironically, the sole cause of his misery was in front of him, showing sympathy to him as he didn't remember anything! It took all of his will power not to snap Ju Xin's neck at that moment.

"And the fourth?" Ju Xin had to ask as Wen Lan was in another realm.

"Oh, the fourth," Wen Lan chucked like a madman, "it was the worst and there is no return, so I want to know why she did what she did," he concluded as he couldn't reveal his identity as a Ghost King.

When Wen Lan finished, the duo sat in silence, each immersed in their own thinking. Although Ju Xin was highly sceptical about finding Hong Ben, his sympathy and unknown trust for Wen Lan was outweighing his reason. Also, in case of success, he could benefit from it as well. It was bothering him a lot, not remembering anything about himself, so he actually had nothing to lose for trying. He had nowhere to go, so did Wen Lan. Then why not?

After a long pause, Ju Xin said "let's go then," and Wen Lan smiled triumphantly.