Why Not Walk In and Play?

by Vaeryn3947

Summary:

Wen Kexing decides to forego all the little pleasantries such as asking for permission to attend the conference, after all, what fun would that be? No, instead, he walks right in, plays everyone to his whims, watching as they hatch their own theories, rumors, and gossip about him. He had a total of five wonderful days to cause chaos, and only two to actually implement his plan. Perhaps it was a bit...insane...but he had never pretended to be anything but...after all, he was the Master of the Valley.

Chapter 1

The conference only officially lasted two days. It was a tedious two days, but in order to offset that, the five sects feasted for five of those seven days everyone was expected to be pittering away time as though they had nothing better to do. It was tedious to Zhou Zishu, and he hated coming to these conferences more and more every year. They got on his nerves, they heard the same things being touted every year, and it was really just...frustrating. He did not know why Prince Yi insisted on him coming every year, when he could just as easily get Han Yi to do it for him and then he would not have to be hear and listen to all this...annoying shit. He even had to show up to the damned feasts! It was demanded of him. Apparently the feasts were a great time for gossip, checking in, and catching up, but Zishu did not have anyone he wanted to gossip about or listen to gossip of, he did not want or need to check in with anyone here, and there was nobody that he cared to catch up on either. Really, if Prince Yi was so insistent on coming to these damned conferences, he could just come himself, or send someone else. Zishu would have to take the matter up with him again next year, though he doubted that it would do anything. 

It was only the first day, and yet he just wanted to slink back into his inn room and rest his head against a pillow, perhaps get a hot towelette to aid with the impending headache due to the boredom and loud sounds all about him. These stupid celebrations were even worse because of how long they took. Granted the feast was only one meal, dinner, but it lasted at least three to four hours before it was considered socially acceptable to leave. It had only been an hour and a half so far, so he had at least another of the same before he could leave. It was frustrating. He did not take three hours to eat a dinner plate. Speaking of, ZiShu sighed and shoved his plate to the side, pouring himself another glass of wine, considering he had nothing more to eat. He was not going to gorge himself by being forced to go on these stupid feasts. 

It was always the same humdrum routine. It got annoying after a bit. Every year, around the same time of year, all the cultivators gathered together for a week, and at the end of that week, they went over any disputes sects may have with each other, and it was usually the same sects, having the same disputes that never truly get cleared up because they really just are using it to drive drama more than anything and get their time for fame or followers, and then they would get negotiations, and debates, maybe once in a few years some actually interesting thing will come around and happen, but Zishu hadn't seen much things of interest the last several years. He used to come to these with Prince Yi, but then the Prince decided to stop going as soon as he was able, and Zishu was sent alone in his place, which was totally unfair but just how things worked he supposed. 

Swirling the red liquid around his cup with a straw he stared bored at the tablecloth beneath the red wine, and the glass which held it, trying to figure how the hell he was going to continue to survive this...again. Another four days of this, before they actually get on with the meetings. As much as he appreciated the point of having the nightly feasts for a few days before the actual conference, he wished that they would just hop to it rather than forcing them to drag it out. What if he had some legitimately important business, not that he ever did around this time of year, but that was besides the point. The conferences were so dull, and the last interesting one had been about three years ago when Prince BeiYuan had shown up out of nowhere. He was the seventh prince, and ZiShu remembered him from his childhood at the palace. The boy was gentle, sweet, and a bit of a push over. He knew that Helian was truly gone for him, though would never admit such things. He had no idea what had caused their falling out, or why it was that Helian had started acting so rude to him. 

"Well, is this not a fascinating display." the words were spoken after a slamming of the wooden gate, but honestly it was more the way the words were said that caught Zishu's attention, and how almost everyone was standing now, staring at someone, rather than the gates. Those gates slammed all the time, though he would admit it was usually not so late into the feasts after the beginning, but so soon after the end. Peeling his eyes from the tablecloth to the view before him his breath caught involuntarily. 

A man, young...very, very young, was standing in turquoise robes that had bamboo detailing, along with green tunic and white pants and the same turquoise shoes, had apparently shoved his way into the feast. A quick glance around told ZiShu what he had expected, nobody quite recognized this person, though the nervous peering eyes that popped out from behind the man clearly were of ones that someone did recognize, if the widened eyes of one of the Sect Leaders was anything to go  by. "I seem to have somehow accidently...absconded with a young member of your court." The man hauled the boy out from behind him, shoving him forwards. "He was in the main square," 

"What happened to your hand?" Just then was when ZiShu noticed it, his right hand was covered in blood, leaving a faint imprint of red on the sky blue outer robes of the boy that he was with when he shoved him forwards. The mystery man huffed, lifting his hand uselessly. He moved to the side, grabbing a goblet of wine, and washed the blood off his hand, leaving it as pale as the rest of his arm. He stared at the leader. 

"Better?" He questioned. "Besides, I think a more apt question is why does a child of...how old are you?" The man asked the boy before him once more. 

"Th-Thirteen sir," 

"A child of thirteen being attacked by a group of...what I would hope were merely rogues from the Beggar sect." 

"What? Chen Ling, is this true?" Zishu recognized the leader standing now, the fact that it had taken so long somewhat concerning. Gao Chong, hosting the feast this year. He was the leader of the Yu Yang sect, and had been since Wen RoHan's death almost a decade before. 

"I-I don't know why they were after me Uncle, I swear!" Chen Ling, the boy, stated, his face pale and shuddery. 

"Oh but there is no need to dwell on semantics for the time," The mysterious stranger stated. "After all, I am sure this conversation should be held in a more private meeting." he shoved the boy towards his uncle. "I will say, it is quite interesting, seeing so many...unique people gathered together. Feasting. I thought there was a conference that was supposed to be going on, not a banquet hall, but alas, I suppose the Master was wrong, to an extent. It would seem you all glutton yourselves before speaking in the conference." At the words 'the master' it had everyone tense and glance around. So far, all the Leaders of the sects that were affiliated, even somewhat distantly, were in attendance tonight as per the custom. Well, except for Ye Baiyi, but he never came to these things. Who was this person? A disciple of Ye Baiyi maybe? But no, as far as anyone was aware, Ye Baiyi only had one diciple, and he was in attendance and staring at the mystery individual with the same confused and curious eyes. 

"Ah, perhaps you can give us a bit more information. What master are you on about?" Gao Chong asked amicably. The man stared up at him and tilted his head. 

"There is only one person not here, that still has something to do with this wonderful alliance that you have going on, or do you...conveniently, attribute everything to yourselves?" The words had members squirming, uncomfortable. Zishu wanted to laugh. This was the best conference that had happened so far in...ever, really, since the one after the fiasco of Wen RoHan but he had not gone to that one, still too young. "Oh, perhaps you have forgotten, its been so long, I wouldn't be surprised. Ah, the Master offers something, if I could find it," The man dug in his robes, pulling out a sheaf of white, moving forwards to the front, and handing it to the host. "I suppose, that would clear plenty up...will it not?" The leader paled, dropping the envelop as if it burned his fingers. 

"Y-You...You...."

"What? The other questioned, seemingly confused. Realization seemed to dawn on him and he nodded. "Oh, you mustn't worry of anyone having caught a glimpse. The rules of delivery were very simple. I was to give it whomever was hosting the conference this year. I presume that is you, of course, since...you are the one in the middle of these gentleman, and the one to speak...so far." He waited as the leader's trembling hands pulled a sheaf of paper from the envelop, reading it through, his face getting more and more pale the more he read it. 

"I am not sure I understand..."

"Yes, it was thought to come as a shock...but may I say, the Master does enjoy a bit of shocking, every once and a while, and according to him, it has been far too long since the Valley has come and done their...diligence, and demanded said diligence returned. According to what I know, the general belief is that the terms are a bit...outdated, and now that there is time to be had, there are wishes to fix them. Of course, the Master of the Valley cannot simply deny the rousing demand..."

"You...you are what...some messenger, where is this Valley master if he so desperately wants to speak on terms. We can do it now, rather than waiting, there is no need for that." The mystery man seemed as though he was presented the worst of scandals, his eyes going wide. 

"Oh, no, no, no, I simply could not accept that. After all, the tradition, five days of feasting, and two of legitimate conference work, or at least, those are the mutterings that I heard from the innkeep before I left. The Master of the Valley could not possibly demand you break such longstanding a regulation. No, he will wait, until the conference actually begins to address these matters. There is plenty of time, after all." The Leader seemed to be at a loss of what to do, confused, and horribly frustrated. ZiShu found it funny, to see it. 

"Ah, will he be joining us for the feasting then?" Gao Chong struggled out, his teeth clenched tightly. 

"Do you see the Valley Master here?" Came the question. Gao Chong furrowed his brows, not quite used to the way this man spoke, or how he went about his way of words. "If you do not see him here, I suppose you have your answer don't you? The Valley Master is known for making cruel and sudden decisions, but once that decision is made...little will deter him from going down that path and seeing it to wherever it may lead. If you do not see him here, then it is wise to presume you will see him during the actual conference, is it not?" 

"You said you were not aware that the conference was not today, though...surely the Valley Master would not know such things either?" Zhao Jing...the slimy mutherfucker. Zishu recognized him, he was the one who groomed the young little Scorpion. He basically adopted the boy, who was already half insane, and then twisted him into some weird, creepy co dependent thing...ZiShu was not sure he wanted to name what it actually was from just how discomforting it was to think about. 

"Well, The Valley master went to the same inn, heard the same woman speaking under her breath about how she feels it is stupid, and ridiculous for a sect conference to spend five whole days doing nothing but gossiping and eating, and how frustrating it would be that she would have to deal with drunk tomfoolery from supposed high noble characters for the next five nights, so, I think it can be easily concluded that whilst unaware at first, the suspicion would be warranted, correct?" The man gave a mysterious smile before turning to leave.

"Ah, wait, you are welcome to the feast, if you wish...since you are in the contingent of the Valley Master, surely you and perhaps some of your master's people would like to eat...at the feast." The man pauses, turning to look back at the leader.

"Me? In a contingent of...what is that you just said, ah, yes...of people. Do you suddenly forget that according to you, and for the past...how long was it, since...oh, what was the name...right, Rohan, Wen Rohan, since he fell...we are called nothing but ghosts, nightmares, awful, vile, creatures to haunt your existence. Scared, you are, of our propensity for violence, and whilst many of us do cause violence, of course, you and your sects have never once labeled us as people...no I believe the word you commonly use to refer to us in the Valley are ghosts, correct? Your name...not ours...therefore, we can't exactly be considered a group forming a larger group of people...can we? Funny how, now, now that the Valley is here, and wanting to rediscuss terms of our alliance and peace, you all of a sudden decide to push humanity on us, where you stripped it of us before." The man gave a smile, though it did not reach his eyes. The sect leaders were clearly floundering, trying to gather some sort of...upper hand here, or at least gain a more even ground, but it was swiftly crumbling under their feet, and ZiShu had to admit, it made for quite the show. He had not even noticed that so much time had already passed. "Perhaps we are a contingent of ghosts, but then...that doesn't really fit the definition of a contingent, does it, Master Gao?" The man questioned with the fake smile alight on his lips. There was something in his eyes that made ZiShu shudder as he saw it. A sort of dark malevolence. "However, perhaps I shall humor you, just this once. though I doubt my...companions will want to suffer through a feast like this, no, they are much happier wandering about the city." The man seemed to revel in the ripple of unease that rolled through the people. "Besides, I am the one here to give a message, perhaps if I am here again tomorrow for whatever reason I will enjoy some of this...delicacy." 

The man took a seat right next to Zhao Jing, ignoring the hushed mutters and shocked stares as he slid himself into such a small space. The readjustment of the entire leaders table made ZiShu have to cover his lips with his hand, as a smile threatened to curve around them. 

Chapter 2

Notes:

patreon.com/Vaeryn3947

As much as it was probably wrong to hope, Zishu nonetheless found himself hoping that the strange man would be at the feast again...It had not even ended yet and the amount of unease and general anxiety fluttering through the air was brilliant to watch. It was almost delicious, if ZiShu took pride in such chaotic happenings. Of course, he would never admit it to anyone-and even barely admits it to himself-that he enjoyed the chaos that interrupted this year's feast. Perhaps due to the dull monotony of the feasts, it was quite frustrating, of course, having to deal with the same things in and out, agitating, at best...but even still...the strange messenger from the Valley was just enchanting to watch of his own accord. Zishu wondered how old he was, as he could not possibly be that old. He looked so young (then again there were plenty of rumors that the ghosts in the valley did not age, though Zishu never took much stalk in rumors in the first place). He was just so youthful....ZiShu would hazard a guess that he could not be more than twenty, which would place him as a rather young child by the time Wen Rohan's death stalked the nations-and the haunted acts of what happened before the war as well. 

Still, the man did not seem to be traumatized...or at least he did not give the sight of someone that was traumatized by war. Then again, those people are the ones best at hiding such scars, and perhaps he had nothing to do with the war in the first place. Though that did cause the question of just how he had entered the Valley in the first place. No innocents entered the valley of their own volition. There had been some concerns that because of the war the Valley had received souls that were not truly evil, but even still...He could not help but wonder...and in wondering Zishu knew he was far too far gone now. He would need to speak with the man on his own...his heart longed for it so badly he almost had to physically dig his own coffin. It was dangerous, as anyone knows, talking to someone from the Valley, or even seeing someone from the Valley. There was suspicion that most do not end up alive at the end of their playing time. Zishu wondered if this young man was sent to kill them, and if so...how he intended to do it. 

Morbid...definitely, but ZIshu just could not help but wonder. Since these feasts were always talk and no interesting things ever tended to happen, he could not do anything but wonder for hours-and wonder he did. It was strange, that the Valley would decide now, of all times, to enter deliberation with the five sects. The news coming from in the Valley was next to nonexistent, and nobody really knew what was going on. Those that went in to try and find out never returned, and if they did they were not in the state to be able to say anything, let alone give any sort of information on the Valley as it was seen by them. They had come back, better than most who ventured in, but a huge part of them had remained in the Valley, and that was the terrifying part. Nobody knew what the Valley did to them, and nobody would either. Going to the Valley was seen as idiotic at best and suicidal at worst. Hell, they were what cultivators told horror stories to their children at night.

The strange man did have a point. They made the Valley residents out to be these things from haunted nightmares. They forgot, or maybe they created and fostered, this idea that they were not people-not humans-they were these ghost like beings. The reality was much different unfortunately. They were humans that were in the Valley, and humans that were cultivated into something different, something...twisted. Maybe it was the valley that changed them, maybe it was something else-resentment, rage, anger...whatever was the case the Valley definitely fucked with people's head, and their body, and more often than not the ones that did return were almost incoherent. Zishu was not sure if the Valley did these things, or if there was something more that they were missing. There were lots of criminals in the Valley, and most forgot who was sentenced to the Valley and who was not. As a result, he would not be surprised if a lot of innocents had gotten sentenced when they should not have been, and that resulted in the overall dark and twisted nature of the place. Even the air seemed thick and heavy...from what Zishu had seen of course, since he had never dared to step foot inside the valley himself. He was not that stupid. 

He should, he knew, talk to Helian about the fact that the Ghost Valley was here, and intending on making demands. Helian would find it highly interesting, and something worth looking into and keeping a very close eye on, he knew...but at the same time the very thought of his boss, his Prince, was in the back of his mind, as opposed to watching the strange, but pretty, man from the Valley who did not say a single other word than that which he had already spoken upon sitting down. It was unnerving, and if the Sect Leader's poor poker faces were anything to note, they found it just as unnerving as the rest of the poor folk. 

He just...watched everyone. Just stared...eyes tracking everything like a predator. His aloof nature may have allowed them to forget, but there was definitely something dangerous hidden under that pretty smile and bewitching tone. Something that was just waiting to be unleashed. He wondered if this Master of the Valley would allow it to be let loose in the middle of a feast one of the next four days, or if it would be carefully contained. He was clearly an important official in the Valley, especially if he had been sent to speak for the King. That was not something that was taken lightly, and his dramatic flair definitely caught everyone off guard.

Perhaps that was what they wanted...Zishu thought to himself darkly. To have us all caught off guard. It definitely would do us good. If that was the case though, why inform us so early of the Valley's presence. After all...they could have just lied in wait and it would have gone over just as well, even better perhaps. Zishu watched the stranger through dark eyes and tracked his movements as easily as the other was tracking everyone else. The awareness he had just walking through the room, even just sitting there...it was impressive, and hinted to something a lot darker in the past. Perhaps he had been part of the war? Or a war, at the very least. If he had spent long enough in the Valley, it would not surprise him if there had been some uprisings. Perhaps they have something else planned? Whatever it is, it bodes interesting for the feast, at the very least. 

Chapter 3

Zishu had to admit that after watching the predator like behavior earlier in the feast, seeing the man acosted by mutliple cultivators on the market streets was not what he was expecting. Though, to be fair, he did seem rather bored...if one could really say that. His expression was listless, just standing there, staring into space, as the men shoved him against the wall over and over again. It was almost as if he did not care. ZiShu, though, well he could not just ignore such obvious misbehavior. It was shameful, and exactly what the man had said about their sects in the first place, and their actions against the Valley inhabitents. So he had to do something...why...he did not really know, but he felt it was important to correct this wrong. 

He strode up, shoving the ring leader out, and glaring down at them. "Get the fuck away from here." The words were harsh, crass, and the energy crackling around him, well it was easy enough to intimidate them into compliance, and they ran off. He turned to look at the stranger, who was staring at him curiously, as if he was surprised that someone would come to his aid in such a situation. It did not really paint the valley in a...bright light, but they all knew the worst ended up in the valley. Zishu wondered what this man did to be in the valley. Especially considering he was so young, and seemed to be held in such high esteem by the King. He couldn't be more than twenty. That was extremely young, and the current king had been in charge for a few years now. 

"Well, that was quite unexpected," The stranger's voice held a bit of, surprise to it, and Zishu was in his own way shocked to hear it. His voice, that was, not that there was surprise in said voice (although that was something he had to admit he was shocked about to). "Thank you, stranger, for your aid, but you did not have to do that. It was not as if they were doing anything too particularly harmful. They have what is coming for them, karma...is that something you people still believe in or no?" The stranger seemed genuinely curious, so Zishu answered with a nod.

"I mean, not all," He quickly amended, trying to force his head out of the clouds. "But a lot of people do, and the sect mottos reflect it." The stranger pursed his lips at the mention of the sects, and Zishu realized that it was kind of stupid to bring them up to someone that obviously disdained them. He tried to rectify the situation. "I personally don't really believe in it, but what can you do. Some people believe some don't. What about you, do you believe in karma?" A strange looked seemed to take over the delicate features at that question. He hummed, fan flicking shut as he tapped his chin. The tip of the fan lightly brushed against red lips. 

Zishu mentally cursed himself. he needed to stop fawning, he probably looked and seemed like an absolute creep. Especially since he did not want him to get the wrong idea that heh had been saved for a debt. Zishu knew plenty of people that did that, and he was not one of them, but he would not be surprised if that was what the man took from Zishu's help. The valley of all places seemed the type of place where that sort of transactunal help would be quite common. He needed to dispel any thoughts that was why he was helping. 

"In a way, I suppose I do, but I much prefer to take karma into my own hands," There was a flash of depth in his eyes at the words, but it was gone far too quick for Zishu to be able to figure out what he meant by that. "Either way, I do thank you for your interference. As much as they were not doing anything particularly harmful, more like annoying little pests, it is nice to have them gone. You have my thanks," The man bowed slightly lower than required, but quickly straightened, smoothing out the sleeves of his clothing. "I do wish to continue to peruse, though, if you wish to continue to be such a..." The stranger paused, as if trying to think of the word. "Ah, gentleman, you may accompany me. I do fear that they are not the only ones wishing ill will on my person." Zishu shook in anger at the thought that this was not the first time he had been accosted. The feast had literally just ended. 

"Of course, I have no problem in escorting you. It would be a pleasure," The stranger smiled slyly, and Zishu hurried to correct himself before they got ahead of the game. "I just want to make sure that you are safe, and okay. You and your friends took a lot of effort in coming here, and it isn't fair for you to be subjected to prejudice whilst here." 

"What a fascinating take," The stranger gasped, fan coming out to hide his features. Somehow, Zishu felt that he was being genuine, despite the slightly sarcastic body language. "Well, far be it from me to stop your heroics."

Chapter 4

The stranger did not really do anything. He perused, looked at various different vendor items, even bought a couple of things, nothing really noticeable, or of note. It was more likely to avoid suspicion than anything else, and the vendors were just happy to have things being bought by such a handsome looking young man. ZiShu walked with him, and neither of them really talked, they just enjoyed the silence between themselves. Or at least, ZiShu did. He really did hope that the man would be at the next feast. It just seemed like it would be something he would enjoy. Or perhaps that was him projecting. This had been the most entertaining conference and it was barely day one. ZiShu knew for certain he would be spending every feast watching as long as this individual was there. 

"Oh," The stranger stopped, frozen in his tracks as a person seemed to barrel into him. ZiShu recognized the robes as the boy from yesterday. 

"Hi Sir!" The overly eager look in his eyes left the stranger entirely baffled. He did not respond to the hug, merely plucking the boy's arm and side stepping it. 

"Hello," He seemed...discomforted at the sight of the boy, and the naive nature of him. ZiShu felt that did not do wonders for the hints of his childhood that he was trying desperately to grasp, he wanted to know this man, to understand him...perhaps it was treason, ZiShu did not really know. There was that saying, know your enemies. "I thought I deposited you to the correct people..." He said gently, fan flicking open to hide his face. "What are you doing?" 

"I didn't get the chance to say thank you so I decided to try and find you after. I am all better, by the way!" 

"Right." The man's eyes flicked around. "And where are your...parents? Or guard...or whatever?" The boy seemed to vibrate. 

"I ran away from them, obviously they were not going to let me come you know." The stranger was clearly out of his depth, and ZiSHu was almost feeling bad by how lost he seemed to be. 

"You just got attacked by rogue sect members, and your first thought after I bring you safely...back, is to ditch your guard?" The stranger tilted his head curiously. "Rather bold of you, I suppose." A sigh exited from pretty lips...ZiShu cursed himself, he should not be thinking of this man as pretty. "Fine, you may come along, if you insist upon it, but do not expect me to help you if you get attacked again, and you are buying lunch." The boy nodded, eager and agreeing. The stranger seemed baffled at his behavior. Unable to comprehend it. 

"Well, come along, my little retinue." He flicked the fan closed with one hand, and held it calmly behind his back, striding forwards purposefully. ZiShu could not help but stare at the figure he made. He was not necessarily gay, but this man was making him question many things. He was just so...beautiful, so confident, and so effortlessly calm no matter the situation, despite the slight panick that had licked his features as the boy came around again. 

The boy followed him, eager as a puppy, and he watched as the stranger flicked his forehead with the fan anytime he got too close to him. It would seem that he was not necessarily fond of people getting too close to him. He had to assume that would be the case with most in the valley, but he had heard accounts of many of the ghosts allowing people to grab all over them in order to kill, or torment. Perhaps he was actually an outlier. ZiSHu did not know, but oh did he long to figure it out. 

"What place should we eat creatin?" The boy perked up, clearly having been called that by the man before and knowing it was to him that he was being asked. 

"Oh, I know a few good places, let me show you!" The boy went to grab the man again, who once more got flicked by the fan chidingly. He was good with children, and not harsh or cruel. It was strange, ZiShu supposed, seeing someone who was gentle with the innocents despite knowing just how dangerous he was. He had probably committed atrocities within the Valley, and yet he was kind with an innocent child. A juxtaposition ZiShu did not really know what to make of. 

Chapter 5

The boy definitely had a good choice in food. that ZiShu could say. The Ghost Valley member was humming softly as he picked at his food delicately. Despite his morality, ZIShu simply could not help but have his eyes roam the figure of the Ghost as he ate. It was with a certain decorum that ZiShu had not come to expect from the valley. Though there was clearly a lot of things that he had come to expect from the valley was was all but wrong. He cleared his throat nervously as the man caught him staring. A sly smile took over his features, but was school into neutrality very quickly. ZiSHu felt embarrassed. His Prince did not have him come here to fawn over pretty men. Though he just couldn't help it. 

The Ghost was gorgeous. He rivaled many women that Zishu had come to know, and he could not help but wonder how the man would be in bed. There was a delicacy to him, an almost unseen fragility...ZiShu could not help but wonder if he would be a dominating man, or a submissive one in the sheets. A part of him thought he would be more on the submissive side, and another part of him said that was wishful thinking on his end because he wanted the man to be compatible with himself so that he could get into his robes. It was scandalous, and definitely not something he should be thinking about in a public restraunt, much less right in front of twinkling, knowing eyes. He had to get his thoughts to more safer routes. 

"So, what is your name?" ZiSHu questioned. the stranger stopped eating, pausing, placing his chopsticks down to turn his full attention onto him once more. ZiSHu felt himself fluster. There was something about having the other's attention that really just left him scrambling for brain cells. It made him feel like he was nothing more than a playboy with how much his desire flared at the other's attention. He wanted to have it entirely on him, devoted, and worshiping. That was a crude thing to think though, and he tried to keep it from his face, feeling as though he was failing the entire time. 

"You helped me without even knowing my name." It was not a question, a statement, and a confusing one all the same. "Well, aren't you a little hero." Another smile played itself on his face, but the other was clearly confused and baffled. ZiShu just narrowed his own eyes at the admission. "I have to admit, I guess some of your little sect members aren't too bad. Good to know there is at least a few non vile members." The words were said dismissively, but ZiSHu could hear the confusion in them, the warring thoughts.

He did not know what this person had against the sects, but he supposed it didn't matter. It wasn't why this person hated the sects, it was more important as to why his master hated the sects. After all, the Ghost King was the one who was going to be doing the negotiations, and the ghost king was the one who was going to be forging new contracts. His opinions were really the only important ones in this, the rest of the ghosts-while Zishu hated to sound rude and like they did not matter-in this specific circumstance...they just didn't. 

"Kexing, you may call me," The other said primly, before once more picking up his chopsticks. ZiShu fought a flush from his cheeks, flustered as the other maintained eye contact until he simply couldn't stand it any longer, and his own eyes dropped to his plate. 

Perhaps eating would cleanse himself of these sinful thoughts.

Chapter 6

Eating definitely did not cleanse the thoughts from his mind. Rather, it made them worse. Seeing Kexing before him, and the way he was so careful, delicate, but wary...It did something to him. Zishu knew that this was not appropriate, he had things to do, people to watch, reports to witness and write and send to his prince, but a part of him just could not help but keep up with the distraction that Kexing seemed to pull from him. A wary official, so young and yet so entrusted by the King himself. Was he perhaps the son of the King? That was possible, after all he knew there were females in the Ghost valley, and he can't say that they would care all that much if children were running around as a result of that. He would have thought them above such crude measures, but perhaps...the King had fallen for someone? 

Who was he kidding? The Ghost Valley masters were all the most ruthless sort. They clung to power like a leach, just like some of the sect leaders. It was almost pitiful. The master of the valley changed hands regularly, it was why everyone was surprised at how long the current one seemed to manage. They had to be a special type of ruthless for that. Zishu was not entirely sure how he had come to power, unlike some of the other kings, this information hadn't managed to be leaked out of the valley. In fact, very little information seemed to have managed that with this newer king. It spoke to the ghosts being more frightened of him than they were of the other kings. He was not sure that was a good thing, because that meant he had to have done something truly despicable for them to be scared of him. He morbidly was curious as to what it was, even though he knew that it was not something he should want to know. 

Curiosity killed the cat, as they always said. His eyes trailed over Kexing once more. There was something different about him, something hidden underneath the sarcastic veneer. A danger, though all the valley ghosts could be dangerous, this one seemed...a bit more so. As though the very air in the room could drop should he truly decide. Though, Zishu glanced towards the teenager besides them happily chatting at Kexing, who simply nodded ever so often and hummed (ZiShu had thought he was not paying attention, but at one point he had asked a rather pointed question so now he was uncertain of that). Surely if Kexing was capable of that sort of thing, this boy would be frightened of him. Though they did not know how it was that he had saved Chen Ling, and it could have just as easily been Chen Ling's desire to worship his savior that overrode any rational fear he may have of the man. After all, it was obvious the boy was not the brightest. 

"I am afraid the time has gotten away from us," Kexing said finally, placing his chopsticks down. Kexing noted that he seemed to know proper ettiquite. Nobility? High born? Perhaps he was not a son of the valley king after all, or perhaps the valley king was the one who was from nobility and got chucked down. Many people were displaced during the war, and quite a few notable figures had been lost not to be found again. IT wasn't really impossible for this to be the case, though it was unlikely. "I must return to the inn, I am afraid." Zishu jumped up as the mystery man stood to leave. 

"I-I will escort you, it is getting late, and..." Kexing flicked his fan open once more to hide his expression, but the confusion and wariness in his eyes was visible all the same as the edges of his fan hit the high cheekbones under his eyes. 

"Ah yes, the gentleman," Another wave of his fan had it closed and tucked behind his back. A slight bow, as he moved away, allowing Zishu to move in front of him. "Well, then, I shan't deny of course, Perhaps we should escort the cretin as well?" It came as a question, but Zishu, for some reason, was able to know that it wasn't. He gave a curt nod, dragging the boy up as well. He seemed a bit flustered, but nothing more than a squeal of shock pulled itself from the boy as he obediently came to walk besides Kexing. 

How such a naive boy was the son of one of the leaders, Zishu did not know. It was almost baffling to witness, and not something he wanted to dwell on. 

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 13 of not on my wattpad
• Part 1 of Wen Kexing Fics
• Part 20 of Unfinished