Chapter 6: Brothers Pt.2

MingYu grimaced as he finally came to. His head felt like it was smashed against a rock multiple times, then trampled by a herd of buffalos. He could barely move his fingers, his eyelids too heavy to lift. His body was pressed against another back, presumably XiaoHe's.

XiaoHe was snuffling lightly. He wasn't dead yet, MingYu thought with relief. He didn't know how to answer to the divine guide if XiaoHe went and offed himself so soon.

He should have trusted his guts – the girls were up to no good. As soon as the girls got them to a secluded area, FenFen had taken a white powder out of her little pouch and thrown it in their faces. The moment the strong scent assaulted MingYu's senses, he knew the flower, heartbreak grass. The girls were evil, no doubt. Who used this plant so heavy-handedly?

A single flower could burn a hole through the gut, not to mention a handful of that stuff in your lunges. It was a miracle they weren't dead. The powder was apparently weak in nature, even though the scent was overwhelming. It merely knocked them out for a moment.

MingYu listened as the two girls shuffled nearby, arguing. Their heated discussion echoed against the walls. They were probably in one of the rundown houses in the further parts of the village. Great, thought MingYu, how could the two brothers find them now?

"FenFen, what if he finds us out? He will be mad!"

"He has no right to be mad, FuFu! How dare he already go and follow someone else around!"

"But look at the bandages. He gave them to that baldy, but he never removes them of his body."

"Exactly! Who is he to get such special treatment?"

MingYu was miffed. He was more than just a baldy! he used to be quite a looker in his old days. He had many marriage offers. Girls swooned after him.. Even some men. The emperor of Qin and the grand eunuch even forced a fiancée on him! Listening to the girls, he came into the irritating conclusion that ZhiYi must have treated his lover or lovers unjustly.

MingYu remembered ZhiYi being shameless with his words in their youth, but now with his actions too, he really had changed. ZhiYi seemed all virtuous and courteous, all just a front to hide the rotten core!

MingYu found himself getting awfully frustrated over the matter for no reason. After all, ZhiYi had wandered the land for a thousand years. He had free rein to go off with his wanton ways if he so wished. Dying at the prime age of 21, ZhiYi had been a young man who hadn't experienced the fun side of life yet. He also didn't need to fence himself in an office like MingYu had. But what did all of this have to do with MingYu? Were these two ZhiYi's lovers? Not one, but twins? He was going to strangle ZhiYi when he got out of this mess!

Concentrating on the matter at hand, MingYu held his eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness as he tried to move his hands. They were tied behind his back, attached to another pair of wrists, XiaoHe's. MingYu wanted to scream. He was prodding his brain furiously. There had to be a way out of this mess. His talismans were all in the sack that was nowhere near his fingers - they were of no use.

Cold, earthy ground pressed against his fingertips. MingYu cussed silently. There was only one way out of this mess. MingYu was starting to have a feeling that before the week had gone by, ShiBai's body would be bled dry.

He unwrapped one of the bandages and pressed over his open wound. His face stayed motionless as the pain and the feeling of his flesh ripping open again ran through his body. Warm blood trickled down his fingertips. He started to draw an incantation with the blood. It was the first time in his life he drew one behind his back with his eyes closed. He sure as hell hoped it was the one he intended to draw, or he bled for nothing. If he had a strong core, he wouldn't even need to draw them. Hand gestures would have been enough. MingYu pressed the final line in place. Nothing happened.

Come on, work! Just as MingYu thought he had failed miserably, the ground shook under them. MingYu's eyes blinked open as the girls yelped in surprise. Tree roots broke through the ground, wrapping themselves around the girls like snakes, holding them tightly in place. Another root crept its way towards MingYu and snuck through the rope, cutting it open and freeing the monks. XiaoHe had woken up to the commotion and stared at the moving roots in horror before fainting against MingYu.

MingYu wrapped his bloodied hand in the bandages again, but he was not as precise as ZhiYi. His binding looked untidy and dirty in comparison. He put XiaoHe leaning against a wall before walking over to the girls. Both of them were staring at him with a mixture of respect and contempt. It was an interesting facial expression.

The girls didn't seem to have any special skills. They sat rooted in place, pouting at him. Somehow, MingYu had expected them to fight back.

"What do you want from me? Do you know how dangerous heartbreak grass is? Are you ZhiYi's lovers? Your relationship problems have nothing to do with me! Kidnap him if you want to take revenge or whatever."

The girls looked stupefied. They only stared at him with their orb-like eyes. Then FenFen regained her ability to talk and screeched, "That's disgusting!"

MingYu choked. ZhiYi was pretty much a perfect package. He had never heard anyone describe him as disgusting. Were the girls blind? He couldn't help but feel he had the responsibility to defend ZhiYi's beauty. "Youth these days have warped beauty standards. ZhiYi is gorgeous. His eyes look like they are painted with the utmost precision and love. Dark, slanted brows, clear skin, delicate features. He is rather tall, lean, and just muscular enough. He even has a perfectly narrowing waist that accentuates his broad shoulders, on top of it all he has nice long legs. What is there disgusting about him?"

"Stop describing him with such creepy detail!" FenFen snapped, her face turning pale. FuFu looked utterly horrified of the situation.

MingYu frowned. Did the roots hit them on their heads as they sprouted through the ground? He opened his mouth to ask when the door to the house was kicked down and ZhiYi appeared in his glorious beauty with PingZe right behind him.

"Girls!" ZhiYi said in amazement as his eyes moved from the girls wrapped in thick tree-roots to MingYu.

MingYu was about to explain the situation when the girls screamed in unison, "Father!"

"Father?!" Said MingYu. His brain was folding on itself. ZhiYi had kids? MingYu felt like he needed to sit down, but he stayed standing.

"MingYu, release them." ZhiYi said as he checked on the girls. MingYu's lips twitched. He was the one bleeding out currently. Nobody seemed to care, though.

MingYu cursed silently as he went over and kicked the dirt where the incantation was, removing the mark. The tree roots became limp at once, and the girls sprang out and right into ZhiYi's arms.

"Father, that monk is so creepy! He's a pervert!" FenFen said and almost hissed at MingYu.

"He kept talking about your body." FuFu added.

PingZe snorted. ZhiYi raised his brow at MingYu.

Blood overflowed in MingYu's head and he nearly busted a vein. He turned to XiaoHe and went to check on the monk. So ZhiYi wasn't a rotten piece of shit. He actually got married and had kids. That was wonderful, MingYu decided as he started slapping XiaoHe awake a tad too harshly. This meant ZhiYi had matured from the brat he was in their army days and had buried the nonsense he used to spout. Wonderful, MingYu said silently, again. XiaoHe had now fluttered his eyes open, cheeks flaring. MingYu was still slapping him absentmindedly.

"MingYu, he's awake." ZhiYi's voice broke through the intense repetition of the word 'wonderful' in MingYu's mind. MingYu pulled his hands away. Somehow, MingYu noticed, his fingers were a little sore. That's wonderful! MingYu thought.

XiaoHe was holding his cheeks, tears brimming his eyes. PingZe ran over to pull XiaoHe away from MingYu's clutches before further damage could be caused.

"Is your hand bleeding again?" ZhiYi asked. MingYu nodded stiffly as he moved after PingZe and out of the door into the night.

FenFen and FuFu stared after him in confusion. "What's wrong, father? Is he crazy?" FuFu said.

"A pervert and a madman!" FenFen decided.

ZhiYi swatted them gently over their heads. "Don't be disrespectful. He is my older sworn brother, Qing MingYu."

The girls froze. ZhiYi smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I told you to stay at home, but instead you roam this far, and even used heartbreak grass on them?"

The girls looked at each other. ZhiYi's smile widened. "Do you know how dangerous it is?"

"Father, we – we were just worried -" FuFu's voice died out.

"So, err, we call him uncle?" FenFen tried to change the topic.

"You two-"

"Oh, look how dark it is outside. I'm late for my beauty sleep!" FuFu cried out, and the two ran before they were skinned by their father.

***

Later that night, MingYu woke up in the inn room he shared with XiaoHe. It was still dark outside. The rain was tapping gently at the roof. XiaoHe was snoring on his side of the bed. After shuffling aimlessly on his bed for a while, MingYu decided to crawl out of bed and lid an oil lamp.

So LongHai and ZhouYan were both in the mortal realm, too. The three were sent to perform the same mission. But it should have been a fairly simple task. Why did ending a dynasty demand three deities? MingYu's frown deepened. On top of that, all three failed at the mission too. What on earth was going on?

He dug his scroll out of his bag and opened it. Familiar words were still there. MingYu started unbinding his left hand that he used earlier to draw the incantation. It was still aching and oozing some blood.

Heavenly scrolls had one gimmick to them that the Heaven was very proud of. No one could read the hidden messages if the scroll was not meant for the holder. How it verifies the owner? With blood, of course. MingYu clicked his tongue. Heaven was so loaded with themselves, everything had to be dramatic. They seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with blood.

He pressed his bloody hand over the scroll and watched as the bamboo slips soaked in the crimson. When he removed his hand, the blood had seeped out of sight. With patience, MingYu watched as words carved themselves on the remaining blank slips.

Five families to make amends with: Jiang, …

The final four names were left empty. Only the name Jiang appeared. MingYu rolled his eyes. Heaven most likely did this for dramatic effect too, to build up suspense. MingYu would have to ask ZhiYi about his wife- no, the Jiang's. MingYu threw the scroll aside and rubbed his eyes. He had more important matters to attend to than to worry about his sworn brother's personal life. Like how to get the donkey and the bird from madam Mo's clutches.

----

The girls names : Wang XiaoFu and Wang XiaoFen, however as they call each other FuFu and FenFen, I will use these nicknames for them throughout the novel. :)