Soul Lock

Let the Journey Begin!

The first seven days of the journey were quite pleasant. The duo was moving towards the East until dusk before spending the night in an inn. As Ju Xin lost everything he had alongside the money he was hiding in a clay pot in the house, all the expenses were being covered by Wen Lan. Ju Xin didn't like this situation and tried to think of a way to earn some money, but Wen Lan insisted that it was okay. It was indeed okay as it wasn't his own money anyway. He was stealing the money offered to Lei Gong from his temples which originally belonged to Ju Xin. So technically it was Ju Xin's money that they were spending. Smart, ha?

If they were on a forest road, the duo would spend the night in the forest. Ju Xin was in charge of creating a barrier with some talismans before they leaned their backs on trees and slept. Well, it was Ju Xin who was sleeping as Wen Lan was using those hours to fulfil his duties as a Ghost King and steal the money from Lei Gong's temples.

Those seven days passed in peace and serenity. When they were in a forest, Ju Xin was telling Wen Lan about the plants and herbs; likewise, when they were in a village, Wen Lan was telling Ju Xin about gods and goddesses, excluding Ju Xin. Although Wen Lan would never admit it, he sincerely enjoyed being with Ju Xin. He was easy-going, lively, nice, smart, polite... ahem, you already got the point, but also keep in mind that he was still the arch-enemy.

While Wen Lan was torn between his conflicting feelings, Ju Xin had no negative feelings towards Wen Lan. He found him quite witty and attentive; not even once, he let Ju Xin starve even though he himself was eating very little. If they were passing a village, Wen Lan was dragging him to a diner for lunch, if not, he was giving him steamed buns he bought before. Not only in terms of food, but also about resting Wen Lan was quite caring. They had frequent breaks even when Ju Xin said he could continue. Also, when it was possible, Wen Lan was being sure to use litters, carriages or ox-carts. In this sense, Ju Xin felt like a spoiled prince and his admiration for Wen Lan increased more and more each day.

As everything was going too smoothly, something bothering had to happen. On the eighth day, the duo arrived at a town near River Chang. In order to continue towards the East, they had to cross the river.

However, apparently it wasn't that easy.

Sitting in a diner, Ju Xin asked the owner about how to cross the river and the poor man grimaced.

"Do you really need to cross it?" he asked.

Wen Lan and Ju Xin exchanged a glance before Wen Lan uttered "yes, why?"

"Do you have something very valuable on you then?" the man rubbed his wrinkled hands nervously.

Wen Lan and Ju Xin exchanged another glance, "well, why?" they said in sync.

The owner sighed heavily and sat on the empty bench. Leaning forward as if to share a secret, he whispered, "the river is dangerous, if you don't give something valuable as a gift to He Bo, he takes your body instead."

Arching his eyebrows with suspicion, Ju Xin asked "He Bo, the God of River?"

The old man nodded wholeheartedly, "you can ask the boatman, he will tell you how many people died in the river."

"Just because they didn't offer anything to He Bo?" Ju Xin asked again, still refusing to believe.

The old man nodded again. Ju Xin looked at Wen Lan to hear his opinion, but the Ghost King kept his silence. There was an amused smirk on his lips while his squinted blue eyes had sparks in them. Seeing Wen Lan had no intention to contribute to the conversation, Ju Xin wanted to ask further, but the food arrived and the old man excused himself.

"What do you think?" Ju Xin asked as he was itching to hear Wen Lan's opinion.

Wen Lan shrugged, "it can be true, He Bo is said to be highly greedy and unpredictable, or maybe it is just to make fun of the strangers. How about you, what do you think?"