Crimson and Clover

The Ghost Holds a Wedding - Part 2

A day or two after coming back to Ghost City, Xie Lian nearly decapitates the god in black.

It truly was an unfortunate chain of events; exactly what he's come to expect of his misfortune. Xie Lian was restlessly walking all over Paradise Manor with no destination in mind, and echoes followed him everywhere. Something was calling to him; to that empty ache in his heart had never been able to identify. RuoYe left at some point, too quickly for him to catch it. Screaming did nothing to make it return – but when it finally did, it was with San Lang in tow, who was letting himself be dragged without a word of protest.

He looked at Xie Lian and then picked him up just as wordlessly. He stayed that night, in the room Xie Lian had already begun to call his own. Xie Lian drifted off to sleep to the feeling of cool fingers running through his hair over and over again, and it made something blossom in his heart.

The next morning, San Lang asked, "Spar with me?" and so Xie Lian did, happily. After all, it had been ages since he last held a sword in his hand and since San Lang was offering...

And thus some undetermined time later, he has San Lang pressed to a wall with only two blades separating them. San Lang smiles at him and there's nothing soft about this smile, oh no; but there are excitement and the rush of adrenaline in it, and Xie Lian's blood is buzzing. The sword feels like an extension of his will; it sings in his mind and begs him to carry on, so when the door bursts open, Xie Lian acts before he thinks and just flings the sword that way.

It ends up embedded in the wall nearly to the hilt – right next to the head of the black-clothed god Xie Lian met in the village.

"What the fuck," the god says, looking from the sword to Xie Lian and back to the sword again. Xie Lian's blood freezes.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" he says so quickly that his words almost blend together. One should never taunt and threaten a god, and he's gone and done exactly that.

But San Lang is here, and he puts a comforting hand on Xie Lian's arm. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asks the god. "Don't you have work to do?"

"You know exactly why I'm here. We need to talk." And just like that, he leaves, his steps echoing in the empty corridors of Paradise Manor. "And have someone bring me food!"

"I'm not your fucking mother to feed you!" San Lang yells back. Xie Lian's mind is full of questions but he stops himself from asking even the simplest one. Whatever it is between them, it's a fragile, quiet thing which dwells in the silence that settles in the evenings and blooms in the perpetual night of Ghost City. It's a winding road Xie Lian's always trodden – and this time he'd rather walk it carefully. The promise of a treasure at the end of it is too great to rush blindly.

So he goes to the door instead and pulls the sword out of the wall. "My apologies." He doesn't turn to face San Lang; after all, there is only so much one can do upon bringing ruin to their host's household. "I hope what I've done won't put San Lang at disadvantage. I'd hate to—"

"Gege." San Lang snakes his arms around Xie Lian and pries the sword from his grip. Xie Lian feels his breath on the back of his neck even though San Lang no longer needs to breathe. He's a cool presence behind Xie Lian; close enough to be aware of it, but too far to touch. "Don't worry. You've done nothing wrong."

"But, your guest—"

"Serves him right for barging in unannounced and uninvited." And then he's gone, putting both swords back onto their racks. It's a miracle Xie Lian's blade didn't break – he has no way of repaying San Lang if it did. Perhaps they should stop this foolishness, for misfortune spreads around Xie Lian like a tumour and infects everything and everyone he touches.