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windmasterreturns · 1 year

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Dawn Brings an Honoured Guest

Characters: Shi Qingxuan, He Xuan, Shanyao Timeframe: Post series @ellysfir @windmasterreturns

Shi Qingxuan was slowly dragged from his sleep by the sunrise creeping across the floor of the temple he had spent the night in. Out of shadows to slowly retreat into he finally conceded, standing up carefully before stretching slowly and sighing a little as his body loosened. How in the heavens had Xie Lian endured this for 800 years? It was the only part of his routine he still hadn’t adapted to – hopefully when he set out on his next cultivation trip, he could find a mat or some hay to lie on.

He had made a lot of friends, many of whom were eager to offer their support, but he was determined to independently carve out his own fate – this time it would be different. Even when he was so ravenous he could feel the back of his stomach, curled up in conditions so frigid his extremities stung; he knew this was nothing compared to what Ming- He Xuan had endured after suffering the result of his brother’s cruelty – after he, himself had unwittingly stolen the silver spoon from Scholar He’s mouth, and left him to suffer the fate that should have been his own. He plucked his robe up from where he had been lying and slipped it on, pulling it closer around himself. He had thought he’d known his brother, but he had been gravely mistaken; Shi Wudu in the end had been like a stranger. His fingers traced over his neck idly as he remembered that night, it was something he thought about far too often.

Slowly his expression lifted, and the warm, familiar pull of a smile found his lips again. Speaking of He Xuan… it was time to check on last night’s offering. Dining alone after descending had been so difficult, and even though he had easily made friends to eat alongside. The empty spot at his side pained his heart, so much so that he quickly began dividing his meals daily, leaving the other half out for – well, just in case. It had been surprisingly easy to convince the others to leave the be, once he explained that he had previously been a god (whether they believed it or not was another story). For what felt like an eternity, he had awoken to find the food untouched, until a couple of months ago. At first the empty plates were infrequent, but since the moon’s last cycle, every meal had been eaten.

He limped slowly out of the temple, lingering in the doorway momentarily as he leaned forward, peering to the side, and he fished a familiar object out of his sleeves. He had gathered his precious fan after the incident with the human array circle, and while it could no longer be opened, he still fondly held it up, and tapped it delicately against his lips. His brows raised in surprise at the sight before him. “…oh?”

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