Watching Over You ✰ Beefleaf

new residency

An Ox Cart to the Shrine 

Days passed and finally, Shi Qingxuan had his affairs sorted and left a note for his mystery person to find in the night so they would know he no longer lived there. Xie Lian dropped by his little hut with an ox cart. "Qingxuan! Over here!" He waved to Shi Qingxuan who was carrying a bag of the possessions he had managed to keep after descending. 

Most of them were mementos of his time with his brother and his brother's possessions and of course the longevity lock. He loaded his things into the back of the ox cart and sat beside Xie Lian. "Thank you so much again! The only reason I wouldn't have accepted is because of this person..." He did feel bad, he never got to know the person who gifted him things that ended up keeping him alive. "hm? Did you meet someone? Oh, I didn't even notice you're in your female form. What happened?" Xie Lian was so used to seeing Shi Qingxuan in his female form that it just became normal with or without spiritual powers.

"Ah.. the person I was talking about, I think they are a heavenly colleague that I helped. They granted me this dress and some spiritual powers so I could transform. I've never really seen them in person though, I left a note saying that I wouldn't stay there anymore though so they wouldn't keep getting things and not know I had left." 

Although Wind Master was rather joyous and normally took these gestures as gifts Xie Lian was already suspicious. "Spiritual Powers... how do you know this isn't a ghost? Someone might be targeting you and trying to gain your trust..." Xie Lian really cared for his friend. "Didn't you react similarly when Crimson Rain gifted you things and treated you kindly? Even though you knew he was a ghost, I don't even know for sure if they are a ghost." This shut him up pretty quickly since it would be like a thief telling an old friend not to steal. 

"I'm sure they don't bare ill intentions, I have been calculating and this would either be an upper-court official or a high-ranking ghost king. I'm sure it's an official though since I have only met 2 of the 4 Ghost kings and one has no opinion on me and the other is swayed against me." That was logical although some of the Ghost Kings were especially good at masking their intentions. 

They talked for a while on this subject going back and forth on who it might be, most officials were crossed out. The most likely heavenly officials would be the tumors, Ling Wen and Pei Ming. Pei Ming might not be so happy to give spiritual powers and gifts to Shi Qingxuan though, even if it was his late friend's wish. Ling Wen might but she most likely wouldn't have the time to do so. Feng Xin, Mu Qing, and Quan Yizhen had also met the Wind Master but didn't have a connection beyond colleagues. 

"If Ming Yi or He Xuan was actually a heavenly official who didn't bare ill intent towards me it could have been him but I don't think he would do it anyway." Xie Lian's face scrunched up at this comment. "How do you talk so casually about him... he murdered your brother in front of you..." Sometimes Shi Qingxuan also wondered about this. "I understand his actions no matter how much they might have hurt me." After that, everything went quiet.

But they arrived at Puqi shrine shortly after that so it was fine. villagers surrounded them to see the newcomer. "Everyone this is my friend!" Xie Lian started off before gesturing for Shi Qingxuan to continue. "Ah yes! My name is Feng." He had changed back to his male form on the cart so the villagers wouldn't have an immediate odd impression of him, not many women were named Feng. 

Surprisingly everyone immediately enveloped him in the community. "Daozhong will he be staying at the shrine once you have moved?" With Shi Qingxuan's bubbly and friendly personality, everyone already loved him. "Of course! Of course!" Xie Lian laughed at their excitement before giving him a tour of the house.

"It's rather large and the decorations are a bit gaudy so feel free to do some redecorating." He smiled, and after showing him everything and having some tea he left Shi Qingxuan to enjoy his new home. 

He quickly got acquainted and redid the decorations, he went for a more teal and white thing and cleaned up the prayer mats. This was still Xie Lian's temple of course and he had to maintain it well. Some people came in to pray and he watched on as they repeated "crown prince of Xianle" He didn't know much about Xie Lian's kingdom. Maybe he could go find some scrolls later.