The Ghost Of You

Chapter 10

When the sky split apart, Mu Qing was already running, following Shi Qingxuan back into the tunnels. He doubled back once, tempted to reach out for Feng Xin, and pull him to safety. If he'd been more confident he might have grabbed him, picked him up in his arms, and carried him away, as if he was a princess in a particularly dangerous situation.

It had become painfully clear that Feng Xin feared him. That knowledge, and his increasingly pervasive guilt, was what held him back, and kept him from touching him. He had been able to live with Feng Xin hating him. He always had. Fear was different. Fear was far worse. It felt insurmountable.

Still, he had expected Feng Xin to follow behind him. More foolishly, he had considered the possibility of them huddling for safety, in forced proximity. Both fear and Shi Qingxuan had killed that fantasy before it could get off the ground.

Safely under cover, he turned back.

He had never expected Feng Xin to stay there, standing stock still underneath the bloody rain. He looked so thoroughly beaten down that Mu Qing couldn't help but pity him. He was drenched so completely that Mu Qing wondered if the blood would seep through his clothes, and cling to his skin.

Mu Qing had seen the extent of Feng Xin's powers. He did not struggle to imagine what he could have, and deserved, to bring down upon Crimson Rain in retaliation. He might have destroyed him entirely, and Mu Qing would have watched him, and reveled in it.

It happened then, that the rain stood still.

Mu Qing leaned forwards, and reached out his hand. The drops of bloody rain stayed fixed in place, dotting the air with red. They were cold to the touch. Frost rime coated them, and light glinted off the small bits of ice.

"What happened?" Shi Qingxuan whispered. "What's going on?" He had hidden behind him when the rain first came down. Now, they were peering over Mu Qing's shoulder, and grabbing tightly at his sleeves.

"Be quiet," Mu Qing hissed, shaking him off. He stared out at the scene, and at Feng Xin, in all his understated glory. When he dared step forwards, Shi Qingxuan grabbed him again. They promptly pulled him back under the arch of the cave.

Just as quickly as the rain had fallen, and just as quickly as it had stilled, it shattered, and it vanished. All that was left behind were tiny, red shards, shining on the ground.

For a while more they were silent. And then, as if he was not still drenched to the bone in blood, and as if had not just commanded the rain, Feng Xin stepped away. Anticipation kept Mu Qing waiting, hoping he would strike back. Instead, he turned back only once, to look at Xie Lian, before disappearing entirely.

It was only then that Mu Qing realized he'd still been holding onto the dice. The gravity of it only hit him when his cursed shackle tightened.

Shi Qingxuan was the first to break the silence. "Xuan Zhen...," he said, very slowly. "Didn't you say he was your prisoner?"

***

Failure fell on Mu Qing like a great, heavy weight, intended to crush him into dust. Enduring The Emperor's disappointed gaze each time he passed him by was torturous enough. The sudden lack of well-deserved missions allotted to him made it worse.

Nearly everyone in the Heavenly Capital had turned either anxious or indignant, save for Xie Lian's placidity, and Shi Qingxuan's unshakable enthusiasm. He loathed to walk through the streets, and hear the whispers that his presence stirred up. Even lurking in the communication array had all the enjoyment sapped from it, when everyone grew awkward and uncomfortable as soon as he joined.