The others had stopped a little further back, all looking at them with worry. After a moment, FenFen's shaky breathing calmed down and FenFen released her hold on MingYu, rubbing her swollen eyes with her hands. MingYu didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent.
"You talk like pa."
"Really? ZhiYi says the same things? He never ceases to amaze me!" MingYu mused as he pulled LongHai along and they walked forward.
"I-" FenFen's words were cut away by a sudden lightning strike that hit right in front of them, leaving a scorched patch of dirt and tall pillars of smoke behind. ZhiYi was now right beside MingYu, half-covering MingYu with his back.
"What the hell was that? Did you summon it, brother?" PingZe said as he stopped by their side.
Before MingYu managed to answer, the smoke pillars thinned out and giant, black wings came to view. The wings were attached to a man, with gigantic talons for his feet. While he looked like any man, his nose and mouth should have been, there was an eagle-like beak. The man was holding a hammer in both of his hands. When he opened his beak, a thundering voice emerged.
"Nobody summons me. I appear out of my own will. But I might make an exception for Ah-Yu."
ZhiYi stiffened, his eyes narrowing as he turned to MingYu, who was rubbing his temples in distress. Frankly, MingYu wanted to lie down and just blackout - he had no energy for this. He just had a rough couple of days on earth - he really didn't want to deal with the god of thunder!
The god of thunder tapped his talon at the ground, scraping at the dirt. The Sun was slowly making its way up the sky, covering the world in a golden glow.
"FengBao Shen, what are you doing here?" MingYu finally said as he rubbed his bald head and sighed with contempt. FengBao Shen was the far and few of the gods who had a free pass between realms because of his work. Here MingYu had thought he didn't have to deal with anyone from his workplace.
"How formal, Ah-Yu." FengBao Shen said as he stepped closer. The god was a wall of thick muscles and man. He towered over all of them, looking down the beak with his almond eyes. "I've come to relay a message. You can't summon lightning anymore with your incantations. I'm sorry, Ah-Yu."
MingYu merely waved his hand. He could manage without the lightning, no problem. He was secretly glad he wouldn't need to bleed any more than what he already had during the past few days.
"But even more so, I'm sorry for your state. That body is horrendous; it does your beauty no justice! There's nothing but height that is the saving grace of this tragedy!" FengBao Shen's voice thundered and boomed, nearly popping MingYu's eardrums. MingYu recalled no such problem in Heaven before. Being back in the human body didn't have many benefits.
"You are awfully superficial for a bird, Bao'er." MingYu said as he rubbed his thumping ears.
Bao'er chuckle sounded like the sky was hailing ice. "That is how birds mate and with one awfully beautiful right there, present at the office, how could I ignore it."
MingYu snorted. "Bao'er, you say that of everyone."
"I'm a one person's bird." Bao'er said honestly. "I can't strike any lightning for you, Ah-Yu, sadly, Heaven's orders. But if you agree to marry me, I might change the rules. You could even get out of that little office and settle in our love nest instead."
"I rather be struck by lightning." MingYu said dryly. Bao'er managed to look surprised with a beak for his mouth.
"You know I would never strike you with a lightning, not directly at least."
"Less talking, more working. You must be swamped with missions. There must be bastards somewhere you need to strike down! Go, go!" MingYu ushered FengBao Shen. The god of thunder scratched his shoulder with one of the hammers as he thought about it.
"I guess there are a few I need to get over with in the southern parts…"
MingYu made hand movements that signalled FengBao Shen to leave. The god stretched his wings wide, almost parading them in front of the crew. MingYu grimaced.
"Get over the punishment fast, Ah-Yu. Heaven is not the same without you." FengBao Shen winked at them before he shot up into the sky at the speed of light and disappeared into the clouds.
"I thought I was bad, but this guy takes the cake." PingZe said, gagging.
"He is just kidding around," MingYu said as they journeyed forward. ZhiYi had been terribly quiet the entire time. But now he shot MingYu a piercing stare and said,
"You two seem awfully close."
"I got to know him soon after ascending Heaven. He always comes to the office. We give him his mission scrolls. He is harmless, like a younger brother."
"Like you and me?"
MingYu was caught off guard, and a faint blush overcame him. He stuttered, "Well, err, in that sense, yes."
Of course, FengBao Shen could never be held on the same level as Wang ZhiYi. But that wasn't something MingYu felt comfortable letting others know, in the least let Wang ZhiYi himself hear about it.
"So I can call you Ah-Yu?"
The faint blush turned into a raging red turnip colour as MingYu thought about the ticklish feeling he would surely get if ZhiYi used that endearment. Not in a million years!
"Don't be a damn brat!"
---
It was already nearing night-time as they emerged inside the city walls, but the streets were still full of life. Lanterns where strung high on trees, poles and buildings, lighting every corner, as if it was broad daylight. Lanterns of most delicate details were present, from dragon to firefly shapes. Whatever the mind could conjure, it was there in the lantern form. Lunan truly lived up to its name as the city of lanterns.
The next day, MingYu woke up disoriented. He reached out his hands and roamed around for something comforting, but grasped nothing. He groaned, he had forgotten he was alone in the room. Growing up poor and living most of his adolescent and adulthood in the army with hundreds of other men, he never was used to sleeping alone. Now that XiaoHe was with his family, MingYu had the entire room to himself. He had been waking up and drifting off back to sleep multiple times, and he could feel it in his heavy lids and shoulders.
MingYu lazily sat up, adjusted his robes in a flimsy manner, gave them a quick sniff to make sure he could appear in the public, gave a so-so shrug and slumped back on the bed. An hour later, ZhiYi was behind his door, scraping at it like a cat. "MingYu, you awake?"
"..."
"I know you're up. Come out."
"..."
"Ah-Yu," ZhiYi was smirking on the other side of the door, when he heard fumbling noises. MingYu fell on the floor, muttered loudly, and after a minute of chaotic sounds, the door was flung open. MingYu looked like a death collector. The monk was pale, lips thin and chapped, eyes had red brims to them. "Bad night of sleep?"
"Oh, no, it was the regular."
"I see."
The Sun was high up in the sky, diving in and out behind the wispy clouds as the two stepped out to the street. MingYu was not having a good day. He had run in and out of his room multiple times, first to get his pewter staff, then his belongings, then his straw slippers. He was a mess.
FuFu and FenFen soon joined them. The girls were giving MingYu concerned looks. FenFen looked more like she was judging him for looking worse than a ghost.
"Uncle MingYu, you ok?" Asked FuFu.
"You look like you saw death. No, actually, you look like death, uncle MingYu. It's almost uncanny, only the hair is missing." FenFen said.
"Where's PingZe?" MingYu changed the topic. He really didn't want to be the centre of discussion for the day.
"Oh, he was gone since morning." FenFen shrugged.
"Probably where red lanterns hang high." FuFu said.
"Does he ever do anything else?"
"No, he is a very devoted cultivator." FuFu sounded proud. MingYu wondered how on Earth the two things had anything to do with each other?
At that moment, a young man, well dressed and of good looks, crashed into FenFen. He crashed, because FenFen didn't budge. She stood like a tree, while the man stumbled, fell on his butt and looked up in surprise. Demons didn't flinch much from anything. Seeing that it must have looked weird from the outsiders who had stopped to stare, FenFen feigned hurt and dramatically fell over to FuFu's side. FuFu, however, was too distracted by the handsome man on the ground to catch her.
Thankfully, MingYu was quick enough and stepped over to catch his niece.