Threads of Devotion

Six

Hua Cheng kneeled at his usual spot beside the throne in the Gambling Den. The gamblers had all left by now, and Xie Lian was nowhere in sight. The ghost king stares blank-eyed at his lap, his head heavy and empty.

The wound on his forearm had scabbed over- and the burns on his hands had reduced, but it still hurt to pick stuff up. Hua Cheng didn't even sense nor acknowledge Yin Yu's presence when he cautiously walked over, crouching down in front of the ghost king.

Yin Yu removes his mask, placing it on the side of his head. His face was conflicted with worry. "Hua-Chengzhu, please- you've been here for 17 hours. Please get up." His voice was desperate, almost akin to begging, which was something you never heard from him. The dead, empty expression of the ghost king unnerved him- only him and the Gambling Den dealer knew what had been going on the past few weeks with His Highness, so they had decided to stay out of their way, as it wasn't their business. But Yin Yu couldn't take it anymore. The whole thing was too weird.

"...His Highness has not instructed me to get up yet," The ghost king whispered, his tone flat. No longer was he the confident, all-powerful ghost king. From this, Yin Yu could see the shell of what he once was, and he saw that underneath everything, Hua Cheng was a broken vase. The glue that held the vase together had washed away, and now the pieces were scattered about, only a hollow image of what it once was.

"Hua-chengzhu- don't you think it's a bit weird?" Yin Yu pleaded. "What if that person isn't really His Highness? What if he's fake? I know His Highness, and he would never do this-"

"It's him," Hua Cheng said. Yin Yu didn't like how defeated he sounded. "I know it is. It's nothing. Leave me be."

But Yin Yu wouldn't go. "Please, cheng-zhu. Just get up, walk around, take a break. You haven't eaten anything the whole day."

Hua Cheng's legs had gone so numb that he couldn't get up even if he wanted to. But he didn't tell Yin Yu that.

"Leave me be," he said again, and this time it's an order. Yin Yu pursed his lips, obviously reluctant to leave Hua Cheng in such a state. But he gets up anyway, giving a low bow to Hua Cheng as he goes.

If I can't help, Yin Yu thinks, the least I can do is send a prayer to His Highness, and pray that he hears me if he's still out there.

***

When Xie Lian bursted through the door to the gambling den, he was slightly shocked to see it empty. Everything was eerily quiet, and he's afraid of what he'll find.

"San Lang?" He asked, his voice echoing around the den. He walked towards the stairs and looked up towards the throne behind the red curtains, catching sight of a faint silhouette beside the throne.

His chest tightened as he made his way up the stairs, the silhouette becoming clearer and clearer as he saw Hua Cheng kneeling next to the throne, his head lowered.

Xie Lian pulls the curtain away slowly, quietly crouching in front of Hua Cheng. He puts a tentative hand on the ghost king's shoulder, eyebrows creasing with worry when Hua Cheng flinches.

"...San Lang?" The god says again, softer this time. He gives Hua Cheng a small smile when the ghost king raises his head to meet his eyes. Hua Cheng is stunned at first, eye wide as he takes in the person in front of him. At first he thinks he must be hallucinating.

The first time he heard his name called, he thought he must've been hearing things. His Highness hadn't called him "San Lang" in weeks. Just cruel names like "you," or "trash" or things like that. But now the person in front of him, smiling with that same soft smile Hua Cheng fell in love with, is here. The ghost king was so very confused.