As they popped out on the other side of the ice, MingYu was almost stabbed in the eye by one of the wildly flying silver arrows. ZhiYi was fast enough to catch the arrow mid-air or MingYu would have been a goner. There were at least ten of these arrows circling in the air. As PingZe saw his brethren, he whistled and the arrows merged into one and dropped over PingZe's stretched out palm. XiaoHe was nurturing his thumb on the side, shooting glares at them.
The moment they were freed from the ice and mist of LongXi, Mo XunYing's shiny black locks had turned thin and grey. The tall figure was now hunched over, deep folds framed his eyes. He had aged 30 years in a blink of an eye. Without a word, the old man had hurried home to his wife's side. Come Hell or high water, Mo YunXing wasn't going to leave his wife ever again. There weren't many years left to their blissful marriage, surely Heaven wouldn't be cruel enough to call him back now?
MouChu buzzed at the news of old Mo returning home after thirty years. A welcome party was in full swing as MingYu and the crew walked out of MouChu. Mo YunXing had seen them off at the gates. As his parting gift for them, Mo YunXing had punched MingYu in the gut – he had found out of the latter's mission as Wu TianLan from his wife. Mo YunXing was old, but the punch was still painful. MingYu was rubbing his sore stomach even after the village had disappeared into the distance behind them.
ZhouYan was stretching his wings far above in the cloudless sky. LongHai was chewing on peaches, still looking at others with profound contempt. Being a donkey was definitely too much for the previous imperial general and a general star.
MingYu twirled PingZe's arrow in his hand idly. The silver looked brand new. When turning it under the sun, the arrow seemed to catch on fire, a greenish glint to it. At the base of it, the name Xu Guanting was carved with PingZe's rough handwriting. MingYu frowned, during his time in Heaven, he had heard of this name.
'The flower of Heaven, sculpted like the rarest of jade, radiant like the sun, distant like a star' – that was how he was spoken of, Xu Guanting, the guardian of the Heavenly library. His beauty was so intense, it even made its way over to MingYu in his stingy office.
MingYu had always been intrigued to see the man behind those endless gushes and mooning. He never had the chance to take a peek – the stoic and cold Xu Guanting was accused of molesting the moon goddess, banished from Heaven and his soul scattered across the mortal realm. It was a scandal that no one could get over.
Not Xu Guanting! Most had cried. Indeed, in the end, the man had been falsely condemned and punished, but as the Heaven's was too proud to admit their mistake, they brushed it under the rug.
"Xu Guanting's soul fragments are in this arrow?" MingYu said as he handed the arrow back to PingZe.
"No, after I traveled far and wide with it, we found most of his soul and he cultivated himself a new body. Very little power this thing has left." PingZe said, tucking the arrow in his sash.
MingYu was now even more intrigued. For an arrow to be so powerful to pierce the ice picks of Heaven, it had to have some spiritual power within it, yet, Xu Guanting's soul no longer inhabited it. PingZe chuckled as MingYu pointed this out.
"ZhiYi didn't tell you? All of our metals are forged by the NiuJiao sect. Master Fan has forged silver with his special technique. It can cut through anything."
So that was how ZhiYi's hairpin could pierce the ice prison. MingYu grimaced, of course. Fan ZhiHao was the master weapons specialist of the demons. He was the one who forged the Shashenze, the god slayer. The only sword in the universe that could cut through golden cores like one cut through butter. Something that was said to be perpetually impossible. Heaven had been in search of the fabled sword, yet no one had seen it in centuries.
"Where are we going, father?" XiaoFu said, she was fanning herself under the scorching heat, but she wasn't sweating even a droplet.
"Wherever MingYu goes, I follow." ZhiYi said, his tone stern as if it was the final of all things and he wouldn't listen to anyone crying about it. XiaoFu patted her round eyes at him but said nothing. She was smiling contently, not minding where they would go as long as she didn't have to sit around at home bored.
XiaoFen was shooting wary glances at MingYu, her face serene but her aura menacing.
This kid... XiaoFen acted like MingYu was going to steal her father away from her. She was already an adult, and so was ZhiYi. It wasn't like MingYu had forced them to come with.
"And where is that, exactly?" XiaoFen said, her eyes narrowing slightly, never leaving MingYu's way.
"Err, about that…" MingYu rubbed his bald head, embarrassed. He hadn't actually thought about it. The moment he got hold of LongHai and ZhouYan he had demanded they set out so he may finish his punishment. He had no idea where these Jiang's were and he hadn't had the chance to ask the brothers either.
ZhiYi seemed to notice his flustered posture as he quickly said, "We will head for HeHua for now. It is the nearest city. There we will find the fastest route to our next destination."
XiaoFen seemed satisfied with the answer, for now, she asked no more, but MingYu could feel her occasional glares at the back of his head. If she was going to glower at him like this for a long time, she would bore a hole in his head one day.
ZhiYi had moved now right next to MingYu, ahead of the rest. XiaoFen's glare intensified and MingYu felt an itch on the back of his head that he didn't dare to scratch. He couldn't help but think how jealous must ZhiYi's wife have been to bring up a daughter like XiaoFen. Must be like a tigress!
"Where do we need to go?" ZhiYi asked, low enough that others couldn't hear.
"The scroll said I need to make amends with the Jiang's." MingYu muttered.
"Official Jiang was the chancellor during Wu TianLan's reign. After the nine imperial officers grew disgruntled with Wu TianLan, they banded together to overthrow him. Officer Jiang was hailed to be the next emperor, but before they could make a move, Wu TianLan caught him and tried to extract the information on who was in on to the mutiny. Officer Jiang committed suicide, refusing to spill on his brethren."
MingYu raised his brows in surprise. That didn't sound like MingYu at all. If he knew his mission was to end the reign of Wu, why did he make the effort to ruin the mutiny? Even if gods went through the rebirth limbo-like regular souls, once they reached adulthood, their memories would return and surely, MingYu would have known his mission.
That also meant ZhouYan and LongHai must have known too. How did they fail then? MingYu relayed his thoughts to ZhiYi. The demon looked at him for a very long time without saying a word. The stare was not menacing, it was curious, almost stunned.
"You will know you're a deity even after going through the rebirth limbo?"
"I should. How would I otherwise know what my mission is?" MingYu frowned. "You – you didn't know that I was actually Wu TianLan back then?"
ZhiYi gave a stiff shake of his head. He looked slightly flushed, MingYu wasn't sure what to make of it. MingYu used to easily read his brethren's facial expressions, but it had been centuries, they had changed, matured – it was discouraging. The more confusing matter was why would MingYu had hidden his true identity from his brothers?
XiaoFu had snuck next to them now, she was waving her rose painted fan with grand gestures. "Uncle MingYu, what was father like when he was a kid?"
MingYu nearly choked, never in his life had anyone nearly around his age called him uncle. Pulling himself together and accepting he was practically a fossil, he gave her a mischievous smile. "A thief."
XiaoFu's fan stopped mid-air. "A what?"
"A little thief and a brat." MingYu repeated, enjoying the shock creeping up XiaoFu's sweet face.
"Caught him stealing an egg from my chicken, he was only six then." He turned to point at PingZe who was annoying XiaoHe at the moment, "Was trying to feed that brat over there. Didn't say a word, not even apologise after being caught. I thought he was mute or deaf. I brought them to brother LongHai's father to be fed and wash up. After that, they turned over at my door every morning. Like stray cats. Feed them once they will come by forever."
"Oh. He must have been very cute." XiaoFu managed to say. She was blushing, and for a brief moment, MingYu wanted to pat her over her head as one did to a little child.
"I guess he was under all the dirt."
ZhiYi cleared his throat, "I wasn't that dirty."
"Oh, not compared to PingZe, no." MingYu smirked. "PingZe was all skin and bones, like a little old man."
"And here I'm now. Handsome as ever." PingZe called from the back.
XiaoHe made a face and moved further away as if PingZe had a disease. PingZe pulled him back and held him in a headlock. "What, you disagree? Everybody else seems to agree with me."
"In your dreams maybe!" XiaoHe managed to snap from under PingZe's arm.