CH 99

Chapter 99: Some sweetness (VI)

Xuanmin lifted up an arm and let the dove land gracefully on his hand. With its two claws clinging tightly to his fingers, the dove seemed to be experienced and tame –– it wasn't afraid of people at all.

Xuanmin retrieved the letter tied to the dove's leg and unrolled it to quickly skim.

Xue Xian peered over his shoulder and glanced at the signature. "From the Ministry of Ceremonies?"

"Yes," Xuanmin said. "You already talked to them?"

The letter was from the Taipu. Instead of asking for clarification on the whole 'two Great Priests' thing, all she'd written was a report of the things that were now going on at the Ministry, and the peace that had arrived across all the land thanks to Xuanmin's spell. Everything she'd written was in perfect order, and highly formulaic –– clearly, someone had already told them the truth in detail.

That day, after the fierce waves of the river had receded and the storm had stopped to let in warm sunshine, all the people who had been trapped in Zuhong's spell –– at Daze Temple, Dongting Lake, and Mt. Wanshi, as well as those on Heishi Shore –– had all fallen unconscious for days on end. Although they were no longer in mortal danger, there had still been a lot to do.

While they'd slept, Xue Xian had gone ahead and muddled most of their memories. It wasn't magic that he knew a lot about –– after all, he was usually carefree and didn't care whether or not mortals saw him –– so he hadn't used such spells much before. So he hadn't gone in and actually edited the memories, but had simply made them blurred and indistinct, so that they'd all think they'd had some terrifying nightmare.

All except one.

And that was the Taipu of the Ministry of Ceremonies. When Xue Xian had gone into Daze Temple, he'd immediately noticed the blood marks and the one perpendicular mark by her finger.

Based on that, he'd been able to more or less guess what had happened; that she'd been the one to rupture the spell. He'd also remembered that he'd met the Taipu and her group back at Dustpan Mountain, and that their manner of speech and body language when talking to Xuanmin at the time had been highly significant.

From what he'd seen of Xuanmin's memories, this girl had only appeared a handful of times, but he'd been able to tell that she was someone with her head screwed on right, someone reliable, who could keep the big picture in mind without forgetting the details.

So Xue Xian quite liked her, and had decided to let her keep her memories.

But he hadn't left her alone, either. He'd entered her dreams and given her instructions for how to clean up the mess, as well as explaining the truth behind the Great Priest's identity.

With an ally who knew the whole story, the situation became much easier to deal with.

And although the Ministry of Ceremonies was generally headed by the Great Priest, that didn't mean that they needed the Great Priest to direct every single task. So although it had taken Xuanmin more than half a month to come back to life, the Ministry had gone on perfectly well without him and dealt with things smoothly. They had even appeased the officials at the imperial court and quashed all the rumors flying through the land.

Xuanmin trusted Xue Xian completely. Hearing Xue Xian's explanation, he nodded and handed the Taipu's letter over to him.

Xue Xian had been the one to take care of it all, to give all the guidance from beginning to end, so naturally he should be the one to respond to the letter. So as he gave Xue Xian the letter, Xuanmin picked up a thin twig and fiddled with it until some dark sap leaked out, so that it became equivalent to a brush dipped in ink.

Then he retrieved a talismanic paper from his pocket and gave that to Xue Xian too, indicating for him to respond.

Xue Xian gripped the twig and thought for a bit, then, with a flourish of the pen, confidently spelled out three simple words: Good girl. Thanks.

Xuanmin took the letter back and scanned it, then, without betraying any emotion on his face, crumpled up the paper. He retrieved a new sheet of paper, took the twig from Xue Xian's hands, and rewrote the letter in its entirety –– apart from there also being a word of Thanks, nothing else remained the same.

Xue Xian watched, blinking, as Xuanmin did all this, then suddenly burst into laughter. He put an arm on Xuanmin's shoulder and leaned into him, reaching out to scratch his chin. "Hey –– I didn't know you were so fussy."

They'd already done the most intimate thing, so having one's chin be scratched was no big deal. Xuanmin let Xue Xian run his claws all over his face as he looked down and lit a match, burning the letter into ash.

As the last shred of the letter burned, Xuanmin finally looked up at the claw that scratched his chin, then at the claw's owner Xue Xian, and calmly asked, "You don't like it?"

"I like it," Xue Xian replied fondly, scratching Xuanmin's chin again. "I like it more than anything."

He watched as Xuanmin let the dove go. The dove flew into the air and followed Xuanmin's crow as it led it to the best places to drink water and nibble fruits. Xue Xian snickered mischievously and couldn't help but add, "So, bald donkey, will you do anything as long as it's what I like?"

Seeing him smile, Xuanmin thought for a while, then said in a serious voice, "To the extent possible."

After all, a certain someone was a lord of the skies, and one who was always up to no good at that. A mortal like Xuanmin couldn't necessarily do it all, and he also wasn't the type to get into trouble willingly.

Xue Xian winked at him. "I don't like the clothes you're wearing."

Xuanmin looked down at his white hemp robe. He liked being neat, and preferred his clothing to be completely pristine with not a hint of dust, so he'd always gone for the simple monk's robe. But if Xue Xian didn't like it, then he didn't mind changing it either –– after all, these were all material items of no consequence. "What should I change into?" he asked.

Xue Xian gave him a look and lowered his voice. "It would be best if you just didn't wear anything. I like seeing you covered in sweat."

Xuanmin said nothing.

The crow, who had been flying back to greet them again, suddenly screamed and flew straight into a tree, then dropped limply to the ground. It rolled its eyes and croaked, as though it wanted to be dead. The grey messenger dove, still following, squawked and flapped its wings amidst the branches.

Seeing Xuanmin's austere face, Xue Xian buried his face in Xuanmin's shoulder and giggled.

"Fine, I'll temporarily allow you to keep your clothes on. But I have a condition: you pay for lunch." Xue Xian stood up straight and began to walk away away in exaggerated strides, even clasping his hands together behind his back, cocking a single finger and beckoning Xuanmin to follow.

Xuanmin shook his head, exasperated at Xue Xian's antics, and followed.

The mountains loomed tall and majestic around them as they cut through the morning mist, as soft as clouds. Birds fluttered softly between the trees, and, in the distance, they could see the smoke from the nearby village's chimneys.

They walked neither slowly nor hastily, their robes swishing lightly back and forth as they strode, carefree, down the winding mountain path. And thus they walked, sometimes stopping, sometimes straying, through the months and years, through the rest of their lives.