Threads of Devotion

Three

Two weeks after Xie Lian left

"These scrolls are useless!" Feng Xin shouted, slapping at the scroll in his hand.

"Now now, Feng Xin, these scrolls contain information that Ling Wen Palace worked hard on to obtain," Xie Lian chided him.

The four martial gods were currently in the main study room of Ling Wen Palace, mulling and flipping through all the scrolls Ling Wen had made of the demon over the past year or two. Scrolls and pieces of paper were stacked high all around them, some decades of years old and some more recent. There wasn't much to work with, since the demon wasn't a well known topic, and it was known to be secretive and smart with what it did.

After the demon had disappeared, the four concluded that it was no longer in the village, and was either hiding or finding a new target. So as they waited for new information, they decided to return to the heavens to research the demon more, hoping to find new clues. In between occasionally checking in on Mrs. Zhang and other villages for new cases, they had been reading scrolls for the past two weeks, filing through all that were about demons, and still were unable to find any helpful information.

Xie Lian hadn't wanted to stay so long- he had passed the time he had promised Hua Cheng he would be back. But the situation was urgent, and drastic- they had to find a way to stop the demon before it found another target.

"All this reading is making my head hurt," Feng Xin grumbled, earning a snort from Mu Qing.

"That's because your rat-sized brain can't handle it," He sneered. Xie Lian truly hoped they wouldn't fight again.

"This scroll shows evidence of victims from all territories," Qianqiu calls, and he walks over to the rest of them. "Some in the north, south, west too. But it only showed up once or twice, so it was never really mentioned." He paused, eyes widening. "There have been cases from decades ago. So it's not a recent demon, but I've only started getting prayers about it two years ago. General Nan Yang, General Xuan Zhen, have there been any prayers about it in your territories?"

Mu Qing frowned, thinking. "If there were, I wouldn't have remembered. There's too many prayers to keep track of." Feng Xin nodded in agreement.

"So why did it settle in the East?" Feng Xin asked.

"Perhaps the East was where it died? If it's a ghost?" Xie Lian suggested. "Or where it originated?"

Mu Qing started fumbling through another pile of scrolls. "Let me see if there were any cases of deaths following malicious intent or betrayal in the East."

As Mu Qing was busy with that, Xie Lian suddenly wanted to contact Hua Cheng. Over the past few days, he had been so busy that he didn't have any time to call him. He put two fingers to his temple, speaking in his spiritual array.

'San Lang? How are you doing?'

Xie Lian waited. There was no answer. He frowned. 'San Lang? Are you there?'

Still nothing. Perhaps he was busy in the Gambling Den? Or sleeping?

"Your Highness?" Qianqiu asked, staring at Xie Lian worryingly. "Are you alright?"

"Ah- yes, I'm fine," Xie Lian said, unaware that he had worn a dark look on his face. He went back to smiling. "I just can't contact San Lang, and he usually answers immediately. Just a bit worried, is all."

"Maybe the connection's bad," Feng Xin offered, shrugging. "Maybe he's on business. Knowing the red bastard, he wouldn't not answer you purposefully."

Xie Lian smiled at him, warmed that his friend was trying to cheer him up. But that's why I'm worried... I'm afraid something happened to him.