MingYu shot up on his feet, then winced. The blood rushed out of his head with the sudden movement. The stone floor looked crooked. He closed his eyes for a moment to regain his balance.
The old monk stood up and walked over to the door without a stick or a helper. He was blind, eyes white as snow, yet he walked as if he could see.
As they reached the main hall, XiaoHe was already there, waiting anxiously for them. "There are people outside, master."
The negative energy was so thick it was hard to breathe.
MingYu sprang into action. He ripped the few fabrics hanging on the ceilings and walls, drew incantations over them with his blood, and set them flying out.
He just came back to life an hour ago. He didn't want to meet up with any monsters or the nether-kind! The Heavenly incantations he drew should seek and capture all things that emitted the negative energy.
A fight sounded from the front yard, and the three walked cautiously towards the source of the struggle. As they reached the last pillars before the main door, MingYu drew barrier incantations over them to keep out demons and ghouls. They were weak since his powers were almost non existent, but they should hold up long enough for the monks to escape. A god-level weapon would have been helpful about now!
"Who the hell set these fabrics up? Is this a joke? This couldn't hold a struggling spirit!" Someone sneered outside.
What the hell? MingYu was trying his best with what he got, and it wasn't much. ShiBai was as useful as a broomstick without the bristles! MingYu pushed past the monks and stormed outside.
"Who the hell are you to judge? You know I just woke up in a body that I wouldn't have taken even for free? It has almost no cultivation powers! I-"
MingYu's voice whittled away as he saw the two men standing in the front yard, at the bottom of the stone steps. A flying golden phoenix covered the backs of their uniforms. FengHuang, immortality was their emblem to transcend death and rebirth. Virtuous, dutiful, and merciful. None of these words seemed to fit at least one of them.
"What the hell are you two doing here?!" It didn't come out the way he had intended, but MingYu was rather shocked. He hadn't expected to meet his sworn brothers so soon, if at all. Wang ZhiYi and Huan PingZe stared at him in confusion. The two demons couldn't recognise MingYu. Not because it had been nearly a thousand years since they met, but because MingYu was never so underwhelming in anything, especially in the looks department.
Huan PingZe was brushing the pieces of incantation fabric he had torn off his deep green robes. Gold feather stitching over his chest glinted under the Sun. Brushing his dark auburn hair over his shoulder, PingZe grinned, his eyes squinting under the bright light as he looked at MingYu from head to toe. "I assume you are the deity who ascended recently? How pathetic, and here everyone was already buzzing as if this guy could become a threat! You don't even exude any presence."
MingYu turned darker than a beetroot. It was a miracle his head wasn't steaming.
This damn brat!
"Somehow, I expected more from that flashy entrance." Wang ZhiYi said as he straightened his pure white robes. The four coloured bottles hanging around his sash juggled lightly with his every movement. Dark strands of hair were pulled into a ponytail, showcasing his sharp yet delicate features. Slanted eyes were like that of a painting, framed with long, black lashes. Thin lips were the colour of red hibiscus. His gorgeous face was absolutely punchable at the moment.
That was the last straw!
MingYu tried to walk over, but the old monk was now right next to him and motioned him to stop. With a low voice that only MingYu could hear, he said,
"Qing MingYu, now that your sworn brothers are here. Why not duel and see how well you can perform in this new body?"
The old monk had lost his marbles along with his core. How was Qing MingYu supposed to duel with this body? Throw himself at the demons and hope one of these limps hit the target? He didn't even have weapons or talismans, and apparently, his incantations sucked too!
"I heard you worked on battle co-ordination in your previous life. Just use your head."
"How - Wha-!"
The old monk suddenly shoved MingYu off balance, and he flew down the steps, almost face-planting on a rock, if he hadn't pulled his hands forward to brace himself. Dying after an hour of spirit possession would have been a record.
The demons shuffled out of the way, looking at him with surprise.
"What are you trying now?" PingZe sneered. ZhiYi's unreadable eyes studied the deity in silence.
MingYu grimaced as he pushed himself up on all fours. The old monk seemed to forget the last time MingYu used his head for anything was a long time ago. Stamping scrolls and handing them out demanded little brain capacity or function. A monkey could do it.
Not to mention he woke up an hour ago. Controlling this body was anything but easy. If it had a stable core, at least he could use it to control the movements more fluidly, but there was almost nothing to work with.
Great, my hands are bleeding again, thought MingYu.
Even healing was slow with this body. MingYu wiped his hands on his robes, then he noticed the incantations he had drawn on the ground from earlier. The wonderful thing about using blood as the array medium was it was hard to remove or mess up. His lips twitched as he noticed the two brothers so happened to stand in the middle of it. It had been a while since he taught these brats a lesson.
MingYu pressed his bloody palms on the edge of the array, and the sky darkened, lightning cracked as it made its way towards the two demons. They were fast as they moved out of the way in time, but MingYu had expected it. He had already scrambled up on his feet. And as the brothers spun towards him in a moment of surprise; he spread the blood over their backs, smearing the flying phoenix embroidery of their outer robes with his marks.
The sky seemed to split open as lightning flashed and rumbled, tracing after the brothers. No matter where they moved, lightning struck, shattering the stone slabs on its way. It wasn't any simple lightning either; it was the soul-shattering one, few survived it. MingYu smiled, it was a good exercise for the two.
"Make it stop!" PingZe roared as the lightning scraped his heel.
ZhiYi pulled his jacket off, tossing it aside. PingZe followed suit, and both of them now stood in their plain uniforms in front of the temple.
Lightning struck for the last time, and their outer coats burned to ash on the ground. PingZe was deep red but still grinning, his eyes burning like two fires.
"If you wanted to see us strip, should have just said so, pervert monk!"
"As if you two have anything I haven't seen before!" MingYu snapped as he stood up straight and grimaced. The blood was trickling everywhere. His cotton robes absorbed it like a sponge, and now he looked like he had gone on a killing spree. It didn't help that he was feeling light-headed too. He hadn't eaten a thing since coming to.
"Ok, I'm done for the day. I'm just going to rest my eyes for a sec..." MingYu yawned, his eyelids drooping.
Being a deity had its perks. He rarely felt this hungry or tired, but once back in a mortal body, one realised how much of a pain living was. One had to always remember to breathe, eat, drink, sleep - rinse and repeat. There was also that nagging urge to procreate every second of human existence - or maybe it was just the monks?
MingYu had long since left the mortal world to remember all the details. MingYu wobbled a few steps.
ZhiYi moved forward and caught the monk in time as he passed out.
"Should we take this opportunity and just snap his neck?" PingZe said, his fingers itching to strangle the deity for ruining his clothes.
"No. Not until we know what the deity is doing in the mortal realm in the first place," ZhiYi said as he shuffled the monk into a more comfortable position on his arms.
"That should be easy." The old monk said, taking the Heavenly scroll out from his robes. "This should explain it to you."
PingZe's eyes had now grown big as he read the scroll. Turning to ZhiYi, a grin graced his face. It looked almost evil. He shoved the scroll in his elder brother's face. "Read it for yourself, ZhiYi."
The moment ZhiYi's eyes landed on the scroll, his neck and ears turned bright red. PingZe broke into a laugh.
"You've outdone yourself, ZhiYi. Who would have thought the two were the same person all along?"
ZhiYi looked torn as he studied MingYu's new body with such an intense gaze, one would think he expected the shell of ShiBai to fall apart and the real MingYu to surface.
"He has no memory of his time as Wu TianLan." The old man said as he motioned the two to come inside the temple.
ZhiYi carried MingYu as they passed the threshold. But when they tried to step forward, a barrier appeared before them, a golden net was strung across the pillars, shimmering in the light. PingZe flicked it with his finger, and his skin sizzled and turned an angry red. Blisters formed and burst.
"Pretty good incantations." He said before he wrapped his hand around the strands of heavenly light and tore it off. It crumbled to dust in their feet. PingZe's hand was scorched to the bone, but slowly the skin mended itself, and not a minute later, his hand was like new. "But not good enough."
"He tried," ZhiYi said, as he laid MingYu on the floor. Looking at the old monk, ZhiYi frowned. "Have we ever met?"
"Not that I know of. I've lived here all my life. We are simple monks." The man said, smiling at them.
ZhiYi turned to inspect MingYu's palms. The cuts were deep, but they had already stopped bleeding. ZhiYi's frown deepened. The ragged flesh looked painful.
PingZe side-eyed him before he said, "You can't do it, ZhiYi. He is a divine being. If you transfer your cultivation powers to him to heal him, you will weaken his core. He will probably lose all the stability he still might have. Try to explain that when he is called back to Heaven."
ZhiYi didn't answer. Instead, he unwrapped the bandages he was wearing around his wrists and bound MingYu's wounds. Making sure the fabric was not wrapped in too tight, ZhiYi turned back to the old monk. "You are not a mortal, are you?"
"Does it really matter?" The monk said peacefully. "I will pack everything ready for MingYu. You may leave as soon as possible. Our temple foundations can't handle any more lightning bolts for the day."