Chapter Text
"What the fu-", is what Feng Xin is saying instead of "good morning", because his very needed sleep after a rather tiresome hunt is being interrupted. His back is aching after sleeping on the rough forest ground - setting up a camp for the night after purging the nest of some extremely pesky demons to replenish powers and make sure that the monsters don't have any "friends" around was his own idea, which he is already regretting. He doesn't finish the sentence, because the peculiarity of the current situation suddenly dawns on him. He is not being awakened by the alarms of the protective array or by the howling of ghosts or demons. What pulled him out of his sweet but not so comfortable sleep is the ear-drum-shattering wailing of a child.
Are they being attacked by fetus spirits?
"Mu Qing, what the fuck is going on?" he calls out, glancing around the tent, half-curious, half-enraged.
Mu Qing is not around. He can still hear the crying noises and now pounding against the array's surface too. He crawls outside, the fresh forest air hits his lungs, and the dim light of the dawn is revealing a very confusing scene: a scrawny child of eight years old or so, crying, trying to push through the invisible wall of the array. The boy hears Feng Xin, turns around with pure terror displayed on his face and starts scrambling around, crying even louder, panicking, smearing the mix of drool, snot, and tears across his face, as he is trying to hide it behind the sleeves of his way too big robes. Silky, flowy, decorated with an arrangement of elegant leather belts...
God. Fucking. DAMMIT.
"Mu Qing?.." Now, Feng Xin is panicking alongside the kid. He's rushing towards it, to make the mini Mu Qing stop crushing his knuckles against the array. He is trying to say something uplifting and calming, but the kid version of his f-f-friend is obviously too scared to listen. Memory loss is apparently one of the effects of the curse.
"Hey, Mu Qing, stop crying! HEY! Calm down, please!" Feng Xin is trying to slowly approach the child but it seems to upset it even more. It's hard to understand what it is saying - the voice is hoarse, and the kid is stuttering too much in between the hiccups.
They need to get out of the forest as soon as possible and someone has to calm the brat down. The only person with such abilities must be Xie Lian with his saintly looks and pleasant voice. Besides, Mu Qing would murder him if Feng Xing was the reason why the heavens saw him in such a state - one has to think about the future sometimes. Sloppily Feng Xin draws the transportation array to Mount Taicang, hoping that Xie Lian is there.
He grabs the crying and kicking Mu Qing and darts to the tent to go to their new destination. Sadly, they don't arrive at the door, but at the nearby stream (when Mu Qing gets back to normal, Feng Xin is for sure going to get scolded for the shitty array lines), but now he would rather have his companion's snarky comments than all this... well... whatever the fuck this mess is. Honestly, can he ever get to babysit someone who doesn't have anger issues?
Kid Mu Qing doesn't seem to have any of it and is crying and panicking even more due to the change of scenery. Feng Xin is not having any of it and is panicking even more, because instead of the saint he was hoping to see, the scenery includes the devil himself, the bare-chested Hua fucking Cheng holding an axe above a piece of wood, glaring at the sudden guests.
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Hua Cheng's morning was only good for a short while - cuddling with Xie Lian was the best thing to do after waking up. It didn't last long today though, which is when the good morning ended. He couldn't be mad, of course. Having Xie Lian go on a little trip with Shi Qingxuan was a positive thing after all. Gege needs some fun times outside the usual places, especially outside the heavens, and with other people, other than the two servant generals. Hua Cheng will miss him every second, undoubtedly. However, he can do the chores around the cottage, fix what needs fixing, and prepare to greet his beloved with a good meal, a clean house, and a warm bath.
So, after Xie Lian's departure, Hua Cheng doesn't bother with his outfit, putting on some loose pants and tying a simple robe around his waist, and goes to chop up some wood after a quick refreshing dunk in the stream. He doesn't need to do any physical work and could use his spiritual energy. However, it feels nice to spend some time in the cool morning air, and it is a good distraction tactic.
The morning tranquillity doesn't last though, interrupted by the mix of crying and yelling. Hua Cheng raises his head and glances in the direction the source of the noise to observe quite a disturbing sight: the idiot Feng Xin, with the dumbest exasperated look on his face, holding a bunch of wiggling robes. Among the layers of fabric, he notices Mu Qing's face, however young, red, and swollen, but still unmistakable.
Hua Cheng was about to raise his eyebrow and tell the servants to fuck off to heaven, but the way the kid is crying for his mum and the way he is doing it stirs something underneath his throat. He also wants the yelling to stop. So, he musters the most neutral look he possibly can in this situation and speaks, in the most authentic Xianle slum accent:
"Oi, what is the yelling about? Feng Xin you dumb oaf, put the brat down!"
Silence. The kid's look is immediately fixed on him, then he glances at Feng Xin, then back at the ghost, but stops crying. Feng Xin, as speechless as the kid, obediently puts the lump of robes on the ground. The two pairs of eyes are now staring at the ghost, and it is quite amusing how Feng Xin is managing to look dumber than an eight year old.
"I... uhm... that... wha-... where uhm is..." Feng Xin is stuttering, trying to speak several sentences at once, obviously having too many thoughts at the same time is beyond his mental capacity. So instead, Hua Cheng looks at Mu Qing and decides to speak directly with him.
"Mu Qing, right?" Hua Cheng puts the axe aside and sits down onto the tree stump he was using to chop the wood, crossing his arms.
"Mhm", Mu Qing nods and asks, "Why am I here? Where is Ma?" His lower lip is trembling, and the tears start appearing again.
Hua Cheng tries to remember anything he knows about his husband's ex-attendant to try to calm him down. Whatever Feng Xin did before wasn't anything that worked well or at all.
"Your Ma is sick, right?" Hua Cheng asks. Another nod. "Well, she went to Yong'An hot springs to improve her health."
"But we don't have money for that… Am I...?" Kid Mu Qing starts shaking.
"No. Don't worry", Hua Cheng interrupts. He needs to come up with a story. NOW, before the kid throws a tantrum about not willing to get sold to a brothel or something.
"Uhm... She won a bet. Against Ol' Xu, you know Ol' Xu from the fish market?" after another nod he continues. "Ol' Xu is my cousin. So he lost a game of cards to your Ma and asked me to pay for the hot springs, this drunken donkey. My friend is running an inn there, but he couldn't take you as well. And it is not cheap, so your Ma agreed to send you here as an apprentice to help me around."
Mu Qing is listening quietly and attentively, gasping after the word 'cards'.
"I didn't know Ma gambled..." he murmurs, with a mix of suspicion and sadness in his voice.
"Everyone gambles, Qing-er", sighs Hua Cheng. "And who wouldn't play against my cousin after he was rambling about the amazing hot springs I paid for him to go to? Especially when he was so drunk and wanted to gamble for another pint? I'm honestly glad it was your Ma and not someone else," Hua Cheng shrugs and scans Mu Qing's appearance again. If there is a curse, there must be a wound and it has to be treated fast, before the curse gets stronger. And of course, he soon enough sees a blood stain on the robe, which gives him another idea.
"You also don't remember how you got here, yeah?" he asks. Mu Qing shakes his head, still processing everything he's just heard. "Seems like you and Xin-ge got attacked by robbers on the way. You are hurt, maybe lost some memories...Let's patch you up, you can rest after. I'm Hua Cheng by the way, this dumbass," he gestures at the dumbass, "is Feng Xin."
He picks Mu Qing up, because walking in those robes would not go well, and strides to the cottage, Feng Xin in tow. When they get inside, Feng Xin finally remembers he can speak.
"Where is Xie-," he starts and gets immediately interrupted by Hua Cheng.
"Hua Xie went fishing with his friends," and immediately after in the communication array, "Surely you aren't stupid enough to drop the name of the Crown Prince, right?!"
Out loud he continues, "There is a robe of mine in the chest, cut it a bit so it fits. Then you will have to go fetch some new ones."
"Okay..."
Feng Xin is cutting the robes while Hua Cheng is cleaning the wound on Mu Qing's nape. He gave him a steamed bun that was a leftover after breakfast and the kid is chewing silently.
"Okay, rest now, Qing-er," Hua Cheng says, making sure not to pull his jaw muscle while trying not to grimace. He then puts the kid on the bed after applying some ointment to the wound and letting him change into the badly cut robes. The kid is tired after the stress and doesn't object. Hua Cheng is well aware of it, but dares to silently hope that it is his normal temper, which is probably not the case considering the kid's grown-up counterpart. After checking Mu Qing's meridians he realises that the curse is weak, hopefully weak enough to be gone very soon. Hua Cheng mentally curses the dumb apprentice story that he came up with. Is he stuck babysitting Mu Qing now?!
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Now, it is time to talk. Crimson Rain saunters towards the table and takes a seat across Feng Xin.
After collecting his thoughts, Feng Xin says, "Thank you, Crimson Rain," - his lips twitch as if his own body is opposed to producing thanks in the same sentence as the man's name - "...uhm... for calming him down. I didn't think Xianle dialect would have such an effect."
"Surely you didn't expect a kid from 800 years ago to be able to understand today’s speech?" Hua Cheng raises an eyebrow. "I assume you didn't piss off to the heavens to spare your friend's fragile ego? So you immediately went looking for Gege to help with the inconvenience?"
Now, Hua Cheng isn't wrong, but it doesn't mean that his palpable tone of superiority isn't annoying.
"FUCK-", Feng Xin wants to growl but gets interrupted immediately.
"Shut it!" Crimson Rain hisses. "If you wake him up, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Both of you."
Feng Xin holds his breath as the ghost continues, "I spoke with Yin Yu; I might have a simple antidote that will speed up the recovery. It will take a week or maybe even less. I'm not surprised the idiot didn't notice he had got scratched by a demon, though - it seems like the efficiency of the heavens' work is not getting any better no matter what," Crimson Rain drawls, playing with a strand of his hair not even sparing a look at the martial god in front of him.
"So generous of you, but it's not like I asked for your help, you asshole," Feng Xin grunts, glaring at the disinterested Ghost King. "I came here for Xie Lian's help. Where the hell is he anyway?"
"Oh, he is on a little holiday," says Crimson Rain matter-of-factly.
"A what?"
"A holiday?"
"..."
"Like... to relax?"
"..."
"Spend time with friends?" Hua Cheng glances at the dumbfounded look on Feng Xin's face, getting annoyed with the need to clarify more.
"And what? You didn't go with him? Very believable! Now what did you do to him?" The martial god can't imagine that the obsessed Calamity would not follow His Highness everywhere, and only the most negative pictures are now swarming his mind.
"Huh? Are you stu-...ah, never mind, you are," says the ghost, and the swing of his eye-roll could compete with that of Mu Qing. "You can only go and assume things, and pretend you know everything, not realising that most of your knowledge is only based on your own imagination and bias, since objectivity and reality is not a matter worthy of your heavenly consideration", Hua Cheng's voice is low and quiet, but the venom in it is so thick that it could be drunk directly from the air. "Go ahead, let's ask my husband directly. I was going to contact him anyway."
And so they do.
"Your Highness? Where are you?"
"Feng Xin? Hi! I'm on a holiday with Shi Qingxuan! Is everything okay?"
"Hi, Gege!" purrs the ghost after joining the array.
"Sang Lang! Why are you guys calling?"
"Gege, I only wanted to ask if you two arrived at the location safely and whether you had lunch. There is a small issue with your servants, but you needn't bother and just enjoy your time. You've been planning it for so long."
"What issue?" Xie Lian immediately sounds worried.
"My questions first, Gege," Hua Cheng won't let himself get distracted.
"Oh, yeah, everything is great! We had a little lunch and are fishing now, and it will be our dinner. The weather is great and we are having fun!" Xie Lian's voice changes to cheerful and relaxed.
"Great, Gege, I am glad to hear that, make sure you don't sit in the sun too much."
Xie Lian chuckles, "I won't, love."
"Contact me if you need anything. And since you are near the sea, you can reach out to Black Water too."
"I know, I know... Don't worry. Next time you two should join - it's really lovely."
"Hehe, sure. When the weather cools down a bit, though. You know we don't like the heat that much."
"Oh, sure, but you could always cool down in the water and you know... you don't need to wear that many clothes..."
Feng Xin clears his throat and Xie Lian remembers they are not alone.
"Oh, yeah, uhm, Feng Xin, what's up?"
"Mu Qing got hit by a curse and he is now a kid with the memories of a kid. And..."
At that Hua Cheng glares daggers at Feng Xin and whispers out loud,
"Tell him everything is fine and that he doesn't need to come back, or it won't be fine and I'll make sure of it."
Feng Xin continues with a gulp, "And it's not a big deal. Crimson Rain has an antidote and Mu Qing seems to be a quiet kid, so it won't be a problem Your Highness. We can handle it. Enjoy your holiday."
"Thank you, Feng Xin. I am glad you guys are bonding!"
"Ahaha, yeah, sure, don't worry about it," Feng Xin tries not to sound very nervous, but feels a droplet of sweat escaping his temple at the sight of a very intense stare across the table nevertheless.
They bid their goodbyes and disconnect the array. Feng Xin doesn't dare speak and is waiting for Hua Cheng to break the silence. It doesn't take long as Crimson Rain gets up and orders,
"Now, go fetch some robes for him, a couple of sets, not too fancy. Yin Yu will come by with the antidote soon. I have things to do around the house."
"Yes, sure. I will be right back; don't do anything funny to him!" Feng Xin's frown wanders in the direction of the bedroom. The ghost sighs and presses two fingers against the bridge of his nose,
"Don't make me change my mind with your stupid comments. Just do what has to be done and don't disturb Gege."
Feng Xin nods abruptly and walks out.
