The Stone King's Lover (石王的愛)

Chapter 28

Xie Yi-jun

2004 years after The Long Night

The Spirit Orchard

<Jingshén>

"I must say, you're looking better these days Yi-jun..."

Master Hao spoke to him softly, though the King was currently preoccupied by the familiar yet dramatically different forest he was in.

It's completely free of resentful energy. I guess they really did expel all the ghosts-

Xie Yi-jun blinked when he realized he was being spoken to. An amused smile was playing on the old Master's lips now and the young King blushed.

"Sorry, yes. I feel better having left Wúmeng."

Master Hao nodded in understanding, pulling on the reins of their horse lightly, redirecting him. Already ahead of them, Xie De and Reian dashed through the trees, calling out to each other and laughing. The younger boy, Jin Yu was asleep in the cart, his leg still healing.

Yi-jun remembered his own childhood, getting lost in this very forest with Su Lan as he tried to escape his title and his life. What good it did...

"Memories can be tricky things," Master Hao said, as if he was reading the King's mind.

Xie Yi-jun wanted to laugh awkwardly, because the truth was he did feel better. He felt stronger and healthier than he had in years, his energy restored and his aura unsuppressed. Yet... for the life of him, he couldn't remember why.

He recalled the nights leading up to their departure in a haze. He'd been in so much emotional and physical agony that the King had even taken to drinking several bottles of alcohol just to get to sleep. When that didn't work, matches and the searing pain to distract himself were his only companions through the darkest, most horrible loneliness he'd ever experienced.

Something had happened to bring him out of it, but he wasn't sure what. When he woke up yesterday after sleeping for several hours, Yi-jun suddenly felt a shift in his core, everything back where it should be...

Unless Jin Songcai had risen from the grave and adjusted Yi-jun's core himself, the King could think of no other explanation except that maybe his aura had righted itself.

A ridiculous notion but what else is there??

Up ahead Xie Yi-jun heard Xie De yell in excitement, Reian also speeding up-

Master Hao watched them and smiled fondly.

"Xie Yi-jun, welcome to Jingshén."

The trees thinned, and soon enough the King could see the tower rising high just ahead. The castle around it was small, seeming to have only three or four stories, though Xie Yi-jun was used to the never-ending layers of Hêi'àn City; stairs that went up into the clouds, stairs that went further down than hottest hell...

On all sides Jingshén seemed to be surrounded by green. Plants and vines grew up the sides, curling between the cracks in the stone, making everything look older and rather comforting. Though, Yi-jun realized with a bit of chagrin, that he himself was older than this place by at least a hundred years.

Xie De and Wen Reian were already galloping down the path and towards the front door, which had a delicate but ornate archway above it. Master Hao tied the horse to a post nearby, allowing it to feed on the grass while Jin Yu finally began to wake.