ice vulnerability // shuangshui

one

they had this silent truce settled after the storm that allowed them to coexist in semi-peace, that is, as much as it was possible considering it was still he xuan and shi wudu.

generally speaking, it was really weird to end up like this. shi wudu should have been dead, and by  d e a d  he xuan hoped for properly dead. but here shi wudu was again, neglecting the fact that dead gods physically cannot become a ghost later on. that's science, that's basic rules keeping the sky up and the ground on the ground.

but shi wudu didn't give a fuck.

shi wudu's entire life as a mortal and a god was about climbing out of the ditch and towards the top, by all means available and also those illegal (like, for example, switching fates and enraging a poor scholar and have him become a supreme ghost king hunting for his life). shi wudu cared for nothing and no one, he was capable of defeating heavens just because he said he would. resilient and persistent, nonchalant and abnormally arrogant, it should have been no surprise that he would combat the rules of reincarnation.

that night when his ghost form was complete, he casually walked around black water's manor, humming a happy song as he kicked he xuan's door open and leaned against the doorframe.

"missed me?"

he xuan froze, the hand turning the page in his book halted mid-air. he slowly lowered it down as his eyes rose up to face the nuisance in the entrance.

shi wudu was wearing pure white robe and a smug expression flirting with so much anger that if he xuan could still die, he would already lay lifeless on the floor. his hair was loosely embracing his face as a pair of icy blue eyes pierced a hundred swords into the other. to top it all, there were three furiously red shackles encircling his throat and arms; black water's trade mark.

he xuan didn't flinch as he assessed his ground. having realised there was a strong ghostly aura encircling this joke of a person, his first reaction was to roll his eyes.

"you're a fucking nightmare."

shi wudu only smiled, "thank you."

some time later, a message from patrolling gods reached the new heavenly capital. an unusual activity in black water's domain.

"what even is unusual activity? let him sink his ships, it's nothing unusual," ling wen waved the official off, focusing back on her own scroll. except the official swallowed down and squeaked again.

"except it's about something else."

"hmm?"

"it, uhm..."

ling wen put the scroll down, "would you please use proper sentence construction?"

the official did. ling wen's hand shook. the official shrugged apologetically. ling wen covered her mouth as she cursed poetically. the official slowly left the room.

the next thing, pei ming and a bunch of martial imbeciles was called up and slapped in the face with ling wen's explanation. no one has ever seen general pei look so out of mind as he raced out of heavens, forgetting to take the rest of martial imbeciles.

once he arrived at that time, followed by hoards of other officials dragged in by force, he saw the turbulent sea breaking into two waves; one coal black, the other aggressively blue.

pei ming would be an idiot to waltz up right in and try to stop this abomination, but it was HIS abomination getting worked up all over again up there, so pei ming didn't even blink once before he dragged shi wudu down, very much weeping like a baby. he xuan was so surprised at a sudden martial twink stealing his opponent midair that he halted and stared.