The Stone King's Lover (石王的愛)

Chapter 6

Xie Yi-jun

2004 years after The Long Night

Sanlín City

<Church of The Willow Song>

"Thank you for coming, Master Hao. As you can see, the situation is rather dire-"

As the priest spoke, Yi-jun wanted to roll his eyes.

Dire? Dire is being stranded in the middle of The Dust Maze with no shelter, or forgetting a loved one's birthday...

As Master Hao continued speaking with the priest, the young King surveyed the room, taking in the man's idea of dire.

Altars were tipped over, their contents of candles, oils and garlands all strewn about the floor. Pictures hung crooked on the walls of the church, and it appeared as though this particular ghost had a dislike for flowers, as all of the bouquets had gotten their heads cut off at the stem.

I suppose if weddings were my job it would feel rather disastrous, but really...

And why bring along three children to aid in the ferreting out of a spirit with pollen allergies-

"Look out!"

The call came from one of the disciples, but before Yi-jun could understand that the shout was to him, the candlestick had already struck him in the back.

"Ow!" Wincing and jumping away rather clumsily, all eyes were suddenly on him and the apparently sentient candlestick at his feet.

"Who threw that at him?!"

"No one, it was the ghost!"

The children prattled on like that as Master Hao continued questioning the priest on things like; the date the church was built, and when exactly they started having problems. Xie Yi-jun shook his head, starting to reach for his back.

That will leave a bruise-

"Here, let me."

Yi-jun was unable to react fast enough before the boy who had woken him the night before stepped closer.

"What are you-"

The boy closed his eyes, reaching out with his energy and pressing it against the pain. Despite being currently unaware of his own energies, Xie Yi-jun was shocked once again by the boy, his aura flowing strikingly fast into his body-

This time we aren't even touching...

Reian, that was his name, wrapped a cooling blue light around the ache, easing it as if he was unspooling a tightly wound cord. With every breath, Yi-jun felt not only his physical pain departing, but the sharpness that lay tucked just out of sight in his heart vanishing.

That feeling, of being held by someone else's aura, was so comforting and familiar that for a moment he entertained the idea that this boy was actually his Jincai.

"There, that should be better."

The King blinked, startled as the boy suddenly retreated, returning to his friends as if nothing had happened.

Songcai would never just leave like that. In fact, if he felt pain from someone it was impossible for him to stop checking if they were okay-

"...as you can see, we've had quite a lot of trouble over the past six months. Items going missing or being broken. Objects flying, even injuring people! It gets worse whenever we've tried to hold a wedding. Just last month, two young couples were beaten so badly by a couple of broomsticks that they still haven't opened their eyes!"