𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐒, MO DAO ZU SHI [REVAMPED]

♠000♠

❛❛ death has come to me,
kissed me on the cheek,
gave me closure.
immortal by design, i'll be meeting
you here everytime. back from
the dead, back from the dead,
i'm back from the dead,
back from the dead ! ❜❜

death,
melanie martinez.

❛ ━━━━━━･ ❪ ♠ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

THE LAST THING THAT lan qiao could remember was a bright light and the sound of a loud explosion. he had died alongside his long time friend and potential lover, wei wuxian. he left many people behind, most who had grown to resent him.

if only he had a second chance, if only he could turn back time. maybe if he had different origins, maybe if he were someone else, he could've had his happy ending. but here he was, in a city filled with ghosts. it was dark and reeked with alcohol, the ghosts were violent and vicious.

he saw no familiar faces here, aside from a man who frequently visited. the man's name was xie lian. he was a kind man― er... ghost? xie lian's energy didn't feel like that of a ghost nor a human, and lan qiao wasn't quite sure what exactly he was. he could only assume that xie lian was a heavenly being. aside from that, xie lian was like a brother to him, and he always kept lan qiao company.

xie lian was always accompanied by a tall man in red who wore an eyepatch and an unreadable expression. lan qiao came to learn that his name was hua cheng, but xie lian called him san lang. he was the ruler of this city filled with ghosts, and the other ghosts adored and praised him. they would follow him blindly to the ends of the earth.

xie lian had called out to him as he usually did, "a-qiao, come here," lan qiao hopped to his feet, walking over to the one he saw as his older brother. "yeah? what is it lian-gege?" xie lian looked over at him with a more serious expression than usual.

"you... always spoke about how you wanted a second chance right?" lan qiao slowly nodded at xie lian's question, "what about it?" xie lian took a deep breath, making a few gestures with his hands, maybe some sort of cultivation technique lan qiao knew nothing about. "don't make me regret this, a-qiao..." was all lan qiao heard before he blacked out.

he shot up, panting as he frantically looked around. it was... sunny? the sky was blue? he was under a plum blossom tree? just what was going on? was he dreaming? lan qiao's mind raced with so many questions. he desperately called out to xie lian, but to no avail.