Meeting old friends after a long time was a reason to rejoice, meeting one's sworn brothers after centuries surely was one of these occasions. Yet, MingYu soon found himself in a plight.
On one hand, there was no feeling or words to describe how much he had missed the two brothers. On the other hand, he wanted to strangle the two, until their eyes bulged out of their sockets.
Apparently, ZhiYi had something to do with his mission going awry. That was why MingYu was being punished. And if ZhiYi had something to do with it, so did that brat, PingZe!
The divine guide had known the details. Nothing could pass his radar, yet he only told MingYu to wait and see. The two demons hadn't uttered a word so far either. They left MingYu to find out his unfortunate situation for himself. So far, he only knew that the two had worked as generals under Wu TianLan.
"Don't you have anything to do as demons?" MingYu snapped as they started their journey down the mountain, Tiankong with XiaoHe.
"I'm on a leave with supreme sect leader's permission," ZhiYi said as he strolled beside MingYu, determined to accompany him on his mission.
MingYu had never heard of demons getting leaves in his life. He shot his eyes to PingZe, who smiled and said, "Mental support for ZhiYi during his leave."
How remarkable! Thought MingYu. Deities never had off days. They didn't even seem to have days. Time followed no rules up there, and MingYu hadn't even realised how much time had gone by until ZhiYi said it had been 997 years since they saw each other last time.
MingYu's smile had nearly split his face in two. He had been sitting in the office stamping away scrolls for 997 years! How the chair hadn't grown attached to his ass at this point was a miracle.
MingYu started regretting his early ascension to Heaven. Being a demon sounded much more fun. No wonder so many went on a mission and never returned. Office work had piled up too. He had to stamp with both hands lately.
At the rate, Heaven had to lower their admittance qualifications for new deities or they would run out of them. Who would do all the paperwork then? The situation had become so bad with missing deities, who never returned from the Earth realm. Even an office rat-like MingYu got kicked down to do Heaven's bidding. It was desperate times.
MingYu scratched his head under the damp heat.
The mountain forest grew in dense clusters, the air seemed to be trapped within these walls made of trees. Not even a gust of wind rustled the leaves. Looking at the two brothers, they seemed to be fairly unaffected by the environment.
XiaoHe was used to these conditions, so even though he appeared slick and ready to slide down the mountain, he was whistling a tune, happy to have the chance to see the world in an unusual company.
MingYu wanted to strip. It wasn't the most appropriate thing to do, especially when the body in question belonged to a monk. The cotton clothes were breathable, but the moisture in the air made the clothes cling to his already sweaty skin. Looking at the brothers, he said,
"White doesn't suit you ZhiYi, why such a colour choice? You always preferred darker fabrics."
"It doesn't absorb heat," ZhiYi said solemnly.
PingZe snickered, "Yeah, that's the reason."
MingYu was suffering too much under the heat to pay attention. It was early March, yet the mountain was like an oven on fire. MingYu was fanning himself with his hands when ZhiYi and PingZe suddenly stopped in their tracks. PingZe snatched XiaoHe by his collar and pulled him back.
"You should stay next to brother MingYu. Wouldn't want any creatures to eat you up."
XiaoHe snorted as he brushed PingZe's hand away. "Tiankong is perfectly safe. I've lived here most of my life and the oddest creatures I've ever seen are you two."
PingZe raised his brow, his grin growing sinister. "I see. Then, by all means, continue."
XiaoHe shot him unsure glares before stepping forward. MingYu tried to follow suit when he noticed a dark shadow moving between the trees and caught him by surprise. He had focused too much on his mortal sufferings to notice a presence in their vicinity.
Before he could call out to XiaoHe, the shadow had moved at the speed of the wind. A large, grey wolf stood in front of XiaoHe, snarling and snapping its teeth. XiaoHe cried out and, to everyone's surprise, fainted.
"You've got to be kidding with me," PingZe said as he stooped down and poked XiaoHe with his finger.
"You could have just said there was a wolf," MingYu grumbled as he eyed the wolf cautiously. The creature was as surprised as all of them as it padded closer and sniffed XiaoHe with its muzzle. It retracted its head immediately and seemed to crinkle its nose in disgust.
"How would I know he would faint over something like this? What is he, a pampered prince?"
"Don't worry, MingYu. Xie Qiang is not a threat." ZhiYi said as PingZe pulled XiaoHe up on his feet and tried to awaken him.
The wolf side-eyed them disapprovingly as it heard ZhiYi call its name. Turning on its heels, Xie Qiang sped away as fast as he had appeared.
MingYu was starting to doubt this mission of his. Not even a full day had gone by since he awakened, and already he had met at least three immortals and – whatever Xie Qiang was. "What is he exactly?"
"A loser, a coward, some kind of wobbly, lanky creature," PingZe said as XiaoHe's limp body slid over PingZe's shoulder and chest like a squid.
"I was talking about Xie Qiang."
"Oh, I would say the same thing, but with the exception that he is a half-breed." PingZe was struggling with XiaoHe. The monk seemed to be determined to lie on the dirt unconscious.
"A half-breed?" MingYu said in surprise. In his entire time in Heaven, he hadn't heard of many half-breeds and now he got to meet one on the first day of his mission. He was sure most of them weren't even allowed to exist.
"There are undoubtedly many, but most are living in hiding. Xie Qiang's mother was a wolf spirit, his father a mortal." ZhiYi said.
They dropped the topic as XiaoHe stirred up at the moment.
The Sun seemed to set earlier than usual that day. They were only two-thirds of the way down Tiankong, and already darkness had enveloped the mountain. The Moon looked hazy through the mist, as the four set up camp at a small, level clearing. PingZe started the fire with a talisman he had pulled out of nowhere, but MingYu failed to see which kind he used.
The flames nearly licked the sky and cast menacing shadows all around. MingYu had never seen a talisman that created such high flames. He was peeved and ashamed of his fire talismans that even though did their job well, only sparked tiny 'barely there' flames.
Their stomachs were already churning and eating on itself, roaring in competition with each other. MingYu fished around his belongings, hoping that the old monk had packed something edible for him. Sure enough, the old monk had included a package of dried bread to share with XiaoHe.
The brothers didn't touch the bread offered. Instead, PingZe wanted to find some wild hen in the forest. XiaoHe snorted at the idea. It was too dark outside to hunt for any animals. At that moment, a small hen stepped into view. The warm hue of the fire and the breadcrumbs they had littered here and there attracted the hen over.
Before the monks had the time to react, PingZe already noticed the bird. He snapped his fingers, and the hen twisted its neck with a satisfying crack and fell over dead. XiaoHe turned ash grey, his eyes rolled up into his skull, and he fainted over MingYu's lap.
"What the- why did you just do that?" MingYu bellowed. Fainting this many times a day couldn't be healthy.
"What? This is much faster and a lot less painful for the creature. You want me to chase it around - forcefully capture it, then wrung its neck for some time before it finally dies? How cruel!" said PingZe with an accusing tone.
"I-" MingYu materialised none of the words he had thought of, and most of them weren't very articulate or polite, anyway.
"Point taken," MingYu said dryly. He made a wry face as PingZe gingerly lifted the chicken and the head plopped back and forth without an intact neck bone.
"That kid," PingZe used the hen's limp body to point at XiaoHe, "is too innocent for the world. They will eat him alive out there."