TIAN GUAN CI FU Fan fic stories

REVENANT

|| CHAPTER 1

The plague arrived overnight, like a thunderstorm roiling from the horizon. At the young age of twenty-one, Prince Xie Lian, sole heir to the throne of Xianle, was charged with saving his people.

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"Mother, father. I've returned." Xie Lian bowed before the king and the queen of Xianle. He, along with his two military generals Feng Xin and Mu Qing, had come back from defeating a band of demons that had been terrorizing a village within the Xianle borders.

"Great work, my son." The queen said with pride.

The king nodded in approval. "Your training has been fruitful."

"Thank you, father." Xie Lian held back the swelling pride at his father's praise.

"The people of Xianle worship you, dear. They call you their hero. Their savior." The queen did not attempt to hide how proud of her son's accomplishments she was, and at any opportunity she extolled his merits.

She was right, in fact. Over the course of the last few years, as prince Xie Lian's grand conquests further solidified Xianle's ranks amongst the most powerful of nations, the citizens of Xianle had begun to erect statues and places of worship in his name. They revered him, as though he were some sort of god, and even those who did pray within the ancient temples dedicated to more ancient gods, they prayed for Xie Lian to protect their nation.

It was a precarious predicament, for there was already a grand high priest anointed to main the temple of Xianle. But the king and queen had always paid their respects as required of their relations, which had helped maintain a cordial relationship between the palace and the temples. However, citizens praying to Xie Lian, a mere human prince, was potentially putting at risk that shaky balance.

"Has anything new happened since I've been away?" Xie Lian grabbed his mother's hand and they set off for a leisurely walk around the palace gardens. His father followed far behind, speaking instead with one of his advisors in a hushed voice.

Xie Lian's mother pointed out new additions to her garden. "Nothing of importance, dear. The leaves have begun to change colors since you've been away. Look how red they are becoming."

"They're beautiful, mother. I'm sorry we were gone for so long. There were so many more demons than we had expected, and the journey took twice as long."

The queen shook her head. "No need to apologize. Those demons had been tormenting Xianle's remote villages for some time, now. You've saved them. Though..." She trailed off.

"What is it mother?" Xie Lian squeezed her hand.

She smiled wistfully. "You're twenty-one years of age now. I think it's time you began to consider settling down. Spend more time with your father learning how to govern."

"Mother..."

"I know. The two of you don't always see eye to eye on how you should govern. We are old, and our ways may seem archaic to you. But your father misses you, I'm sure. He might not say it directly, but he grows restless every time you ride off to fight demons and vampires. He worries, as do I, that one of those days you might not return."

Xie Lian glanced over his shoulder at his father. The king was busy talking to his advisor about something seemingly very important, that he didn't notice Xie Lian was looking at him. Xie Lian and his father had been extremely close when he was a child. As a toddler, prince Xie Lian saw the king as an almighty and powerful man. An infallible king. But as it happens with any child that eventually comes of age, the cracks in their relationship began to form as Xie Lian's view of the world slowly grew more different from his father's. Where Xie Lian saw the possibilities of a future where humans and mystical creatures could live one day in peace, his father preferred the idea of the two being forever separated.