Mixed Robes [FengQing]

EXTRA 5: The Other Side

Part 1: Ming Yi and Shi Wudu

The pale blossom trees trembled with every caress of the wind, their petals clinging once, then floating down to blanket the ground beneath them. In their small house, Ming Yi and Shi Wudu gazed outside. 

"I wonder how everybody's doing," Shi Wudu muttered, his eyes fixed upon the bamboo forest outside of their small home in the afterlife.

"Shi-xiong, you truly worry for your younger brother and Pei Ming, don't you?" Ming Yi said knowingly. Shi Wudu glanced at him fiercely, pinning him down with an embarrassed and angry gaze for a moment. Ming Yi suppressed a chuckle as he patted Shi Wudu's back. 

"I'm sure you'll see them again one day," Ming Yi said with a smile. Shi Wudu nodded. A vein popped on his forehead as his face darkened.

"My dumb little brother... he had the gall to sleep with the one who killed me?" Shi Wudu forced out through clenched teeth. Ming Yi pressed his lips into a flat line, unsure of what to say.

"...They were drunk, that's all," Ming Yi said after a while. 

"Of course," Shi Wudu seethed. After a few moments, he forced down his anger with understanding. "Qingxuan can do whatever he wants. Nobody can force him to do anything or not to do anything."

"Mm, seems like a few decades in the afterlife taught you a little something about not having such a short temper," Ming Yi muttered. Shi Wudu shot him a glare and frowned. He paused for a moment, then sighed.

"It's true. Maybe being dead has made me soft," Shi Wudu sighed. 

"Mr. Whore hasn't slept with anyone after you died if that makes you feel any better," Ming Yi shrugged. Shi Wudu slowly turned his head towards him.

"What did you call him?"

"Mr. Whore."

"Why you little-"

"Hey, respect your elders. I died before you."

"That makes no difference and absolutely no sense! You can't just call him that!"

"Being overprotective of him, are you?"

"You're such a dick sometimes."

"I know, right?"

Shi Wudu glared at Ming Yi again, then he muttered something under his breath. This dead man... if he was still alive, he'd be a dead man.

"Come to think of it, Zhongyuan is coming up. Let's see if Pei Ming offers you anything," Ming Yi teased.

"He's been doing that for the past decades. What makes you think he won't?" Shi Wudu raised an eyebrow at Ming Yi.

"I meant it as in if you wanted to take a little trip to the Heavenly Court and surprise some of your old friends," Ming Yi rolled his eyes. Shi Wudu thought for a moment, then looked back out the window. "Is that a yes?"

"..."

"It's possible, you know. We were hanging out here for the past few decades when we could have just hung out 'upstairs'," Ming Yi said, tilting his head. Something shone in Shi Wudu's eyes, a light akin to hopefulness. 

"...Yeah..." Shi Wudu hesitated, unable to look Ming Yi in the eye as if he was asking for a treasure that was way too precious to be within his hold. Ming Yi flashed a mischievous smile and held his chin high.

"Wait for a moment, then. I'll get everything ready."

"...What is there to get ready...?"

"Hush, hush. I wanted to say that because it sounded cool."