Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was Yin Yu’s job to manage the beings of Ghost City. He was the one the ghosts saw around the city, he was in the public view more than Lord Chengzhu himself, despite his talent for blending into the background. Whenever there was a disturbance that was serious enough to affect the normal flow of the city, Yin Yu would be the one dealing with it.

Yin Yu would be there to settle disputes between vendors that caused a whole street to be packed with spectators for hours on end. Yin Yu was the one patrolling the streets of the city keeping an eye on any unwanted guests from Heaven that got a little too cocky for their Chengzhu’s taste. Yin Yu was the one who would fend off the Green Ghost’s minions when Chengzhu didn’t feel like dealing with them personally.

But he did most of his work out of public view.

Yin Yu had two important jobs that Hua Chengzhu had assigned. One, Yin Yu was to take care of His Highness's temple if Chengzhu was unavailable. Yin Yu was the only other person besides Chengzhu and His Highness himself to be allowed to enter the temple dedicated to His Highness, and even though he was only allowed in to make sure none of the offerings had rotted and to check if the temple had maintained its level of cleanliness, it was still a honor to even be able to set eyes on the temple. Even Lord Black Water had not set foot in the temple as far as Yin Yu was aware. Yin Yu was unsure that the majority of Ghost City was even aware of such a place.

His second job was to follow any rumors that may possibly lead to His Highness. Any rumors of a wandering cultivator being unusually kind, stories from ghosts about a man in white Daoist robes who seemed especially unlucky, to a tale from an old man who swore he saw a traveler with a weimao who could command a white dragon with a wave of his hand.

He was following one of such rumors today, but soon found out that the man described was not the one he was looking for. The story was about a man who was wearing white robes covered in mud who had saved a group of travelers from a river of water ghouls with his bare hands, near a small village in the central plains.

When he got to the village the tale originated from, the locals told him that the man had left right after sunrise that morning, heading towards the west. Given that it was not even midday, it was quite easy for Yin Yu to catch up with the man after thanking the villagers for their information.

It was quickly realized that the man was not His Highness. The man was nearing his sixties and had graying hair, was too tall, and had more dull-gray eyes than the amber color he was used to seeing from Hua Chengzhu’s artwork. Apparently the man was a cultivator in his youth and the water ghouls were weak enough that any amount of force with some qi behind it was enough to dissipate them for long enough to escort the travelers to the nearest village. 

Yin Yu thanked him for his time and returned to Ghost City, he wasn’t too disappointed with the results, the rumor was too generic and he got used to not finding what he needed to on these types of missions. Still, it was tiring to be out without his mask on, he couldn’t wear it in the mortal realm unless he wanted to be mistaken as a demon, or be recognized as the Waning Moon Officer. In Ghost City, he didn’t have to worry about his facial expressions, in fact, a few of the beings he talked to during his stay didn’t even have faces, and it was quite normal for people to wear masks in the city. The sun was also something he slowly began to realize he had a problem with. Compared to how dark and cool Ghost City was, it was like staring into a lantern constantly, which made his face scrunch uncomfortably. It was also really too hot to be wearing the many layers in the dark colors he favored.

Yin Yu was ready to go back to his office in Paradise Manor and start on the paperwork for repairing a section in the east branch, when he was greeted by the sounds of destruction and angry ghosts.

Yin Yu let out a quiet sigh to himself and made sure his mask was in place before turning towards the commotion and another sleepless night.

—

It turned out easier than Yin Yu expected to subdue the ghost that was destroying the many stalls that held either food or carved trinkets. The ghost was recently dead and still held on to a lot of resentment from being killed by its cultivation partner. The ghost had flown into a rampage when it came across a visiting cultivator that looked too much like its own cultivation partner. Thankfully, the cultivator had not been injured, or else they might have demanded to be compensated, which would have caused even more paperwork for Ghost City’s Officer.

The same could not be said for the dozen of stalls destroyed in said rampage. Once Yin Yu had subdued the ghost and led it to the outskirts of the city where it would cause less damage if it started to rampage again, he made note of each stall and who they belonged to. Since some of the surrounding buildings were damaged as well, it was Yin Yu’s job to go fetch the spirits who had been hired by Lord Chengzhu to fix this sort of thing. 

Once he was done explaining the situation to the spirits, he headed back to the damaged stalls and buildings to oversee the beginning of the repairs, and to make sure none of the ghosts who had their stalls destroyed would cause their own rampage. It had happened before, and it would be surprising if it didn't happen again this month.

He had just made the decision to head back to the manor to make a report on the situation before a voice called to him from behind.

“Excuse me, dear”

Yin Yu turned to see what looked like an old woman, with gray hair pulled into a bun and a kind smile that could easily turn cruel. Her eyes were closed, and they didn’t seem like they would be opening any time soon due to the subtle film covering the top half of her face. Yin Yu couldn’t tell from this angle whether she had a very flat and small nose or if she had no nose at all, just two slits for nostrils in the center of her face. As he turned completely to face the woman, he could see a long, black, reptilian tail connected to her upper half. He could also see that she was carrying a pouch in a hand that was dotted with black scales. 

“What may this one do for you Madam?” Yin Yu asked, hoping that whatever she requested could be dealt with quickly.

“Oh, dear, no, this old lady needs nothing from you,” Yin Yu raised his eyebrows under his mask, “Our dear Waning Moon stopped this one's stall from being completely destroyed, here, take this as a show of appreciation” 

Yin Yu relaxed, realizing it wasn’t another task to complete, but a gift instead. That had happened on a few occasions once the residents grew used to his presence around the city. Most of the time, Yin Yu would put whatever gift in storage in Paradise Manor, he didn’t need any of the gold or jewels he normally received, Hua Chengzhu provided all he needed, and he didn’t have much to spend it on anyways. If it was an artifact of some sort, he would carefully wrap it and take it to Hua Chengzhu to see what it did, and if it was of any use for the search of His Highness, he would leave it in one of the halls to be tested at a later date.

Yin Yu thanked the woman and gratefully accepted the pouch that was handed to him. The pouch was a dark purple, nearly matching color of his robes, the ones he wore most often around the city,  when he wasn’t sent on missions to the mortal realm. It was tied with a black leather string. Yin Yu learned quickly that it was best not to question what type of leather the ghosts were using, so he held his tongue from asking a question he did not want the answer to.

Yin Yu noticed that the pouch was a lot lighter than he expected, thinking it was currency of some kind in the pouch. He could also hear the could of wood clacking together softly instead of the jingling of coins or stones.

As if sensing his confusion, the old woman quickly explained, “This one figured giving you money would be worth nothing, given how I never see you buy anything. So I decided to give you something straight from my stall, go ahead and take a look”

Yin Yu opened the pouch to find an assortment of wooden blocks with carvings on each of the faces, like a fancier version of those blocks children would play with. The block at the top depicted the character for ‘love’, which by itself wouldn’t be too different from any human children's blocks, but above it was a pair of clawed hands holding out a bleeding human heart to the viewer, which fit in more with the perception Yin Yu had of what types of things demonic children would like.

Hearing the blocks clack against each other brought back memories of his own childhood, the blocks were much simpler back then, just cut into rough cubes and sanded down so he wouldn’t hurt himself accidentally. Those couldn’t compare to the intricate details carved into each side of the blocks he was holding now. Yin Yu felt the strong urge to dump out the blocks on the ground and start sorting them. What other characters were there? What type of images would accompany each one? Did each block have the same faces? Yin Yu pushed the thoughts and strange urges out of his mind in favor of thanking the old woman and finally making his way towards Paradise Manor.

—

Yin Yu glanced over to the cat that was walking calmly in between and underneath the various ghosts making their way through the market of the day. Shouts of vendors calling out their goods, sounds of chatter as ghosts tried to bargain with said vendors, and the constant noises of the shuffling crowd invaded Yin Yu’s ears, giving him a headache. He was usually good at blocking out the background noise, but today he seemed to have trouble focusing. Luckily it was only a routine patrol, and anything that truly needed his attention would cause enough noise to be heard over the crowd, so he decided it wasn’t worth forcing himself when he knew there was no point.

The cat on the other hand was gracefully striding between two stalls selling human parts, one roasting a leg on a spit, one with a bubbling pot with a hand sticking out of it, seemingly unbothered with the chaos surrounding it.

Throughout the years Yin Yu had noticed that most normal animals would be spooked or become vicious  when encountering a ghost, but cats seemed to get over their first instinctual jump quickly. Cats were always the first to notice him if he wanted to be seen, and they seemed pretty comfortable hanging around all sorts of demonic and resentful creatures.

The cat's calm attitude was not what drew Yin Yu’s attention to it though, it was the markings of the cat. At first, he assumed it was a plain black cat, but as it turned to doge under a cart, he could see that there was a white splotch surrounding its left eye. It reminded him of the cat that would show up occasionally in the neighborhood he grew up in.

There were a few differences though, for one the cat in the neighborhood had a white splotch surrounding its right eye, not its left. Also, the cat wandering through the stalls had a singular blue eye on its left, whereas the cat he remembered had two yellow eyes. It was still enough to pull Yin Yu into old memories from before he even joined a sect, much less starting to cultivate.

The cat would frequently visit the few houses on Yin Yu’s street, looking for a few bites to eat. The neighborhood children were always happy to give any leftovers they had to the cat, some of the older boys went as far as hunting a couple of small birds to feed it. None of the families ended up adopting the cat, it seemed to like going wherever it pleased, and there would have been a riot among the children if one got to keep the cat permanently. Though Yin Yu did notice that the cat would often turn up at the window to his own bedroom more often than any of the other houses, he felt some pride in that.

For what seemed like the longest time, at least to a child, the cat did not have a name. It took weeks for the children to come up with a name, they were all set on having their name be the one the cat chose, but each suggestion was shot down for one reason or another. Some of the names were deemed too cutesy, some just didn’t make sense, and others were deemed more fitting of a battle axe than a cat.

Yin Yu wasn’t sure who exactly suggested it, but they all agreed on calling it Xiao Mao instead. Xiao Mao also seemed to like its name decently enough, but it was also pretty indifferent to any of the other names suggested. One meimei kept insisting on calling it Maomao, so that was the second name that stuck.

Yin Yu had left to join a sect soon after though, so he wasn’t aware of what happened to Xiao Mao, he hoped that the other children took care of feeding the cat and caring for it while he was away.

Noticing that the cat had finally disappeared into an alleyway, Yin Yu decided that he spent enough time spacing out. He pushed the memories of his childhood cat out of his mind to continue on his patrol

Nearing the end of his patrol, he noticed there was a stuffed cat halfway hanging off a stall at the end of the street. Not a live cat that was stuffed to look realistic, or one to eat, but one that was made of cloth and fur. It was a black cat that had white markings around its left eye, like the one he saw earlier on his patrol. It was on a stall selling things from the mortal realm, seemingly pushed off to the side in favor of other wares, but Yin Yu had eyes only for the little stuffed cat. 

Yin Yu at first tried to ignore it, he still had to finish walking the last of the eastern district, but it left him feeling strangely unsettled just leaving the stuffed cat there where it could fall off the stall at any moment. Realistically, he knew that it wasn’t a real cat, and therefore didn’t have any emotions regarding its situation, but he couldn’t help but feel the stuffed cat would be sad if he didn’t buy it. 

So, stealing himself for unplanned social interaction, he made his way over to the stall.

“How much for the cat?” Yin Yu asked, gesturing to the stuffed cat, not bold enough to pick it up just yet.

“Officer! You out buying presents for the kids again?” Just then did Yin Yu realize the owner of the stall was a ghost he bought from many times before. Never for himself, but for a few of the newly dead ghost children that wanted a reminder of home. Yin Yu would sometimes help the newly dead children adjust to life in Ghost City, he knew from experience that it was a bit of a culture shock when first introduced to the eccentrics of the city. He had found that the transition was easier for the children if they had something familiar to hold on to. Because of this, a few of the children had taken to calling him Yue-gege whenever they saw him.

Yin Yu let out a non-comental hum in response to the vendor's question, he didn’t feel as though he could lie convincingly if he tried to give a proper response, which was strange, given how deception was a part of his job. 

“Well then, you can just take it! That old thing has been hanging here for weeks now, and not a single soul has taken interest in it. It will do better for whoever you give it to than just laying here gathering dust.” The vendor seemed to take his hum as affirmation, and Yin Yu didn’t feel the need to correct them.

Despite this, Yin Yu snuck a few coins onto the cart when the vendor started talking with his next customer. He quietly thanked the vendor, not that they could hear him due to the conversation slowly turning to an argument, and picked up the cat to cradle it in his arms. He quickly decided to name the cat Xiao Mao, after the one from his childhood.

Realizing he was cuddling the stuffed cat like it was a favored toy that got lost and was now returned, he quickly stuffed the toy into his sleeves before deciding to end his patrol there, the noise of the argument in front of him was starting to make his headache worse. He winced as the vendor let out a particularly loud shout, and left the market for the day, deciding that if it was urgent he would hear about it later and deal with it then

—

The forest Yin Yu found himself in was quieter than he expected it to be, there was no humming of bugs despite it being the middle of summer, and he could hear no birds or other small creatures rustling in the leaves. This would be more concerning if not for the fact Yin Yu could feel the oppressive resentful energy that seeped through the forest.

Yin Yu had been sent on a mission to retrieve an artifact for Hua Chengzhu, the artifacts last known location was some old lords manor that was far away from other settlements. The manor had also been abandoned for about two hundred years at this point. Well not completely abandoned, based on the amount of resentful energy he sensed coming from the direction the manor was in.

As for what the artifact did, Yin Yu had no clue, he assumed it would be helpful in Chengzhu’s search for His Highness, but he didn’t know exactly how the artifact might prove useful.

Yin Yu was a little disturbed at the thought, he was usually good at remembering the small details of any mission he was sent on, so it was slightly concerning that he couldn’t even remember what the artifact did. Not enough for him to believe there was something serious affecting him, but it left him feeling unsteady. 

Although, It may have something to do with how his mind has been feeling clouded these past few days, he had felt it stronger when being presented those wooden blocks, or when he had bought the stuffed cat earlier in the week, but it didn’t seem to affect his work to much, so he assumed the feeling would reside in a few days, but it hadn't yet. Maybe it was time to take that break that Hua Chengzhu kept offering him.

He shouldn’t get distracted, he was on a mission for Chengzhu. He shouldn’t start thinking about how nice it would be to be in his room with Xiao Mao for a bit, reading, not having to worry about Ghost City possibly being burned down if he was away for too long, … maybe playing with his blocks for a bit?... He didn't know why that seemed so appealing, but it was, and it was something he should think about at a later date, because he had a mission to complete.

He followed the resentful energy to the source, taking care to mask his presence from whatever may be inside, he was prideful of his abilities to do so. For a martial god, who were known to strike first, ask questions later, he did surprisingly well with sneaking about, one of the few things he was naturally good at. But he wasn’t a martial god anymore, where being noticed was as important as actual ability, he had to remember that he worked for Lord Chengzhu now and not being noticed was a useful ability to have.

His mind drifting, he didn’t notice he was right outside the manor until he heard a movement from inside the walls. It was a slithering sound, almost like a snake, but it was mixed with the sound of fabric moving against itself, almost layered one on top of the other. He gave a little jump when a sound of claws across stone sounded in his ears. He promised himself to be more diligent to not be caught unaware during the actual retrieval process. 

Now able to pinpoint the direction of the sound, he made quick work of scaling the walls. The sounds were coming from the right wing of the manor, so he headed in that direction. Jumping on the roof tiles that were barely hanging on, he made sure not to slip and land in a hole, or to cause too much noise while heading to a courtyard where the sounds were coming from. 

From the rooftop he got a good view of the creature that was letting out such a large level of resentful energy. It was big, able to lay horizontally across the courtyard to cover it completely, curled around what seemed to be a fountain that had all of its water dried up. It was a large lizard-like creature, a deep green that faded into black near the ends of its limbs. It had a pair of front legs, but no back legs, and it had three tails slowly whipping back and forth. There were bits of what seemed like shadows waving in the wind similar to a type of sheer fabric he had seen a few ladies wear in Ghost City. The claws on the front limbs were big, but its teeth seemed even bigger, a few of them were jutting out of its jaw at an awkward angle.

Despite all of this, Yin Yu was confident he could take it on, it looked strong, and being caught by those teeth and claws would cause grievous injuries, not to mention being wiped by any of those tails, but it seemed slow, and that was enough of a disadvantage for Yin Yu to prepare for the upcoming battle. He didn’t know how sharp the beast's senses were, but it would be easier to search the manor for the artifact without it wandering about. 

Just as he was preparing his scythe to make a sneak attack on the beast, a bright light shone down from the sky. Thankfully not over him, but over the beast instead. Yin Yu could only watch as a shadow descended over the beast's stomach before a person landed and the beast let out a sharp cry of pain, or outrage, Yin Yu couldn’t tell.

‘Must be a martial god who got a prayer about the beast messing with the hunting in the surrounding forest’ Yin Yu thought, deciding to wait until the god beat up the beast before searching the manor. Now he didn’t have to fight the beast and waste more energy than needed.

That was until he saw which martial god had descended to fight the beast. He saw curly hair as the god stood up from the beast's side. He saw the face of the god twist in frustration, or possibly anger, a face he used to see full of joy, a face he saw so empty, so blank, the last time he came across it.

He was so stupid, he was in the west, of course the current Martial God of the West would be the only god coming down to take care of such a beast. He should have left as soon as the god descended, he could have come back for the artifact later, but he instead waited around like an idiot for the god to do his work for him. Chengzhu had warned him about handling many different gods he may come across on his missions, but nothing about this particular god.

He's so glad that he knew that this god didn’t pay attention to anything other than the fight he was currently in. Now was the perfect time to leave so he wouldn’t get caught. But that meant not getting the artifact that Chengzhu wanted. Logically, he knew the man would understand, but the thought of disappointing Hua Chengzhu in any way after all he had done for him, made his insides twist with discomfort.

He was torn between getting away from the martial god as quickly as possible, and disappointing Chengzhu, or searching for the artifact and risking being caught by the god. Luckily, the choice was made for him as a crash shook the walls, almost causing a piece of the loose roof to fall on Yin Yu’s head. 

The beast had been thrown through about three sets of walls, opposite of where Yin Yu was frozen. Yin Yu could feel the resentful energy fading as the beast was dispersed by the impact. The god made quick work confirming there were no other beasts hiding in the area, Yin Yu more thankful than ever for his skill in hiding, and promptly ascended again.

Yin Yu surveyed the courtyard, it was more rubble than anything resembling a courtyard now. Yin Yu was about to leave to search the rest of the manor for a vault or something that the artifact would have been kept in, when something caught his eye from where the drained fountain had been. 

Getting closer, he could see something metal poking out of the debris. He soon realized that it was the artifact he had been looking for, examining it further, it looked like a glass ball with a bit of green powder swirling about in it, it also had what seemed to be an iron web carefully welded around it so the ball wouldn't fall out of its hold. It matched the description that Chengzhu had given him perfectly, he may not know what it did, but he made sure he would at least be able to recognize it when he came across it.

With shaking hands, he picked up the artifact and carefully placed it in a bag that would prevent any excess energy from leaking out in case the artifact was damaged in some way. He then made sure it was secure in his sleeves before making the trip back to Paradise Manor.

—

Presenting the artifact to Chengzhu was a bit of a blur, he wasn’t exactly thinking of anything, he kept his mind carefully blank as he made his way to his room. He considered going to his office to write a report of the events, but he didn’t want to face what had happened just yet, or try to explain his thought process. Besides, his hands were shaking enough that he wasn’t sure he could even hold a brush properly, much less write. He really hoped Chengzhu hadn’t noticed, or didn’t care enough to make a big deal about it. His gut twisted thinking his Chengzhu wouldn’t care about him, but that was a selfish thought, he didn’t need Chengzhu to care with how much kindness he had already received from the man.

He gripped his sleeves in a feeble attempt to stop his hands from shaking. He blinked when he realized he had already passed his door. He quickly turned back and slipped into the room, hoping that no one saw him act like a fool.

He made his way over to his closet for some sleeping robes, it was late enough to go to bed without it being weird, right? He also hasn't had more than five hours of sleep this entire week, maybe that was the reason he felt so fuzzy? Was fuzzy the right word? He didn’t know, so he went with fuzzy. He tried to ignore the fact that the fuzziness was now accompanied with a different type of feeling, like a headache was coming on.

As soon as he was properly dressed for bed, he glanced over at Xiao Mao who was sitting on his bedside table along with the pouch of blocks he hadn’t gotten around to storing. He walked over and grabbed Xiao Mao, holding the toy tight to his chest, noticing his hands had stopped shaking once he had threaded his fingers through the toy's fur. 

He mummered “Maomao” into the toy's soft fur, a little surprised about how soft and tired his voice sounded. He was also a little confused on why he felt compelled to call his cat such a childish name, but it felt right so he decided not to dwell on it.

He kept whispering “Maomao, Maomao” under his breath as he climbed into the bed, liking the way the name settled in the back of his tongue. He crawled over to the center of the bed, thinking that it seemed a lot larger than normal. He rubbed his cheek against Maomao’s fur, finding the feeling comforting, as he pulled the blanket over his head. He whined as he buried his face against the cat's back, all of the emotions from the day, and the exhaustion from all week, seemed to crash into him all at once. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to put a stop to the wave of emotions taking over him. Normally, he would be able to tough it out, but the emotions seemed much bigger than before. In fact, everything seemed much larger than it was supposed to be.

He gave out a small sob, unable to stop the tears from pouring out. He pulled Maomao tighter as he started to cry. Tears were falling down his face into Maomao’s fur. His face felt sticky and gross, and he hated that he was getting Maomao’s soft fur dirty. He could also feel how his hair was partially undone from its usual braid, and how some strands were sticking uncomfortably to his face, and some were tugging at his scalp from being trapped under him. He couldn’t find himself to care though, his body was exhausted, especially now after he started crying, and moving felt too difficult of a task to take on.

His only comfort was Maomao, and that his room was soundproofed like many other rooms in the manor. With that thought, he drifted off into a fitful sleep.

—

Yin Yu felt terrible when he woke up, his arm felt numb because he had fallen asleep on it, and the sheets had wrapped around him while he was sleeping, causing indents to form on his legs. His throat felt sore and he could feel the dried tears on his cheeks, along with some hair that had found its way into his mouth sometime during the night. Worst of all, he couldn’t find Maomao.

The toy cat was in his arms when he fell asleep, he was sure of it, but now as he sat up and looked around the bed, it was nowhere to be seen. He felt tears well up in his eyes at the thought of losing his favorite toy, not that he had any other toys other than the blocks, but Maomao was still his favorite.

He got out of the bed too quickly and his head started spinning. The headache he could feel earlier was now throbbing behind his eyes. He wobbled a bit before sitting back down on the bed to try and stabilize himself before making another attempt to stand up. Once he felt as though he wouldn’t fall on his face if he got up, he slowly stood to look through the sheets again at a different angle. He untangled the sheets and Maomao fell out of them, landing on the floor with a soft thud and rolling underneath the bed.

Yin Yu let out a noise of triumph as he had found his cat again, and got down on his knees to grab the toy that had fallen a moment prior.

He made sure to stand up slowly, as he was still feeling a bit wobbly, and held Maomao close.

“Sorry for droppin’ you Maomao” Yin Yu said softly to the cat “I didn’ mean to”  he continued before giving the toy a small kiss on the forehead.

Now content with the toy in his arms, the panic he briefly felt disappeared, replaced with all of the uncomfortable feelings he had when he first woke up. He wanted to get rid of the feeling of grime on his hands and face, but he knew that would require getting to the bathroom to wash up. He knew the bathroom was just in the other room, he didn’t even have to go into the hallways where other servants could see him given how there was a door connecting it to his room, but leaving his room at all made dread coil in his stomach.

He knew it was irrational, but he couldn’t help but feel that someone would see him in this terrible state if he left, even if it was just to the bathroom. He didn’t think he would care if his own reputation was the one to take a hit, but he was worried about how it might reflect on Chengzhu if someone saw his worker in such a disheveled state.

He had made his decision: he wasn’t going to leave his room until the fuzziness went away. Because it was because of the fuzziness that he didn’t, couldn’t, leave his room. 

He even had everything he needed right there in his room. He had his bed so he could try to sleep off the fuzzy feeling, he had Maomao with him, and he was sure if he was able to calm himself, he would even be able to move to the bathroom to wash up. And, he had eaten before his mission yesterday, so he wouldn’t even need food for a good while.

Reminding himself of the mission yesterday came with two thoughts. He didn’t even know if the mission was yesterday, he didn’t know how long he had slept. He was sure that it hadn't been more than a day, someone would have woken him if so. His heart clenched with the thought that it had been more than a day and no one cared enough to wake him up, or he was just so unimportant that they didn’t need him anymore.

But more importantly, the second thought was that he still had work to do. He was supposed to finish the report on the mission yesterday, and didn’t do it because he was so tired, and Chengzhu shouldn’t have to wait for him just because he was being idiotic and not getting his work done.

It was really difficult to start moving his way to his wardrobe to get dressed, but he needed to get his work done for his Chengzhu. He decided it would be easier to wear simple robes for the day, and he hadn’t planned on going out into the city today anyways, so it shouldn’t be too much of an offense.

It was more difficult than usual tying his sleeves up, but if he didn’t do it now he was sure to forget and get ink stains on the nice but simple robes Chengzhu had given him. 

His hair was also tangled from his rough sleeping, he didn’t have the energy to brush it out and braid it again by himself, so he put it in a low ponytail without brushing it, it was better than not doing anything at all. He definitely couldn’t leave it down for anyone to see.

For a moment he questioned his low level of energy, had the artifact had a curse on it? Was that why his head felt so fuzzy? But he had been feeling slightly fuzzy all week, so maybe it wasn’t the artifact? He knew he was feeling it less than before he fell asleep, but the feeling was still there. Chengzhu would have noticed if he was cursed, or sick, or poisoned, he was good at knowing about all sorts of things, so he definitely would have known if it was affecting Yin Yu too much. So maybe it was just him? If that was the case, then he just needed to ignore it and get his work done as usual, then it wouldn’t be a problem. 

It did make him tired though, tired enough that he couldn’t even brush his hair, but his work would take more energy than that. He decided that it was more important that he did his work for Chengzhu than to look good while doing it, so he didn’t bother with anything tedious. He did make sure to attach his mask to his belt though, in case he needed to interact with anyone, he didn’t want anyone to see how disheveled he looked and the mask would help hide that.

He glanced over to where he had put Maomao down next to the pouch of blocks on the bedside table. He frowned, he didn’t want to leave Maomao in his room. What If Maomao got lonely? He wouldn’t like it if one of his friends left him alone with nothing to do while they worked. It didn’t feel fair taking Maomao but leaving the blocks. They were just blocks though, but they were also a gift, and they were comforting in a similar way Maomao was, even if he hadn’t really played with them yet. He could easily hide both of them in his robes, and take them out again once he got to his office.

He gave one last hug to Maomao, made sure that the pouch was secured and none of the blocks would fall out, and made his way to the door.

It took him another hour until he was able to step out into the hallway.

—

There was a lot of paperwork sitting at his desk. A whole new stack had appeared since the time he had left yesterday. 

He sighed, and made his way over to the desk. He was careful to take out the pouch of blocks and set them on the edge of the desk, far enough away to where it wouldn’t fall off if he knocked it over. At the same time, he sat down and placed Maomao on his lap where he could easily pet the toy while working.

Making sure that he wouldn’t get ink on Maomao, he pulled the first stack of paperwork closer and got to work.

Over the next few hours his headache grew worse as he slowly made his way through forms and reports, approving and denying requests, and making note about what he needed to report to Chengzhu. He wasn’t getting through as much as he wanted to, and he needed to reread things multiple times to have any idea on what was being written. His brushstrokes were not as clear, and he kept making simple mistakes that frustrated him to no end.

He kept glancing over at the pouch sitting innocently on his desk whenever he had to restart writing. He felt his mind keep drifting to the idea of taking them out and laying them on the floor, laying Maomao next to him as he sorted and built little towers with the blocks, like he used to do as a child.

It wouldn’t hurt to… take a break for a bit, right?

For the first time since he had received the blocks, he opened the pouch, once again marveling at the craftsmanship that was needed to make such small details in the wood. He looked at the desk which had gotten cluttered as he worked, trying to figure out where to put the blocks. Deciding that his first idea was best, he picked up Maomao and moved to the floor in front of his desk.

He dumped the blocks on the floor, there was a rug in front of his desk, so each block made a small thud as it hit the floor. The pouch must have been sewn with space-compression talismans, because about two dozen blocks fell scattered on the ground, much more than would usually be able to fit in that sized pouch. The blocks weren’t too small either, he could fit four in his hand with ease, but five was too much.

About half of the blocks were a warm reddish-brown color, the rest were a mixture of woods that varied in brightness, but they all had a reddish tint to them, like they all came from the same tree but different parts. A couple were even so dark that it was hard to make out the patterns in the dim office.

He laid each of the blocks out, keeping track of what type of carvings each one had. As he was deciding how each of the blocks were to be sorted, he slowly got more and more excited, and he could feel the fuzziness settle around him like a blanket. Not leaving him disoriented like the night before, but like a warm comfort. 

Each block had a theme corresponding to what color the blocks were. The majority of the blocks had simple characters with small carvings relating to said character, the lighter ones had weapon images and names on each side, the darker ones had animals carved into them, well, the ghostly mutated ones anyways. The darkest of them all even had a few basic cultivation terms carved into their sides. Each side was unique, there were no repeating characters. Except that each block had a snake coiled into a spiral on one of their sides, Yin Yu figured it was a branding thing, or to know which blocks were a part of a set.

One thing that confused him though, on each block there was an almost blank side, only with a few lines carved up to the edges of the block. None of the sides matched, but it looked purposeful. He set the block he was examining down, feeling frustrated that he couldn’t figure it out. Until he noticed that some of the lines could connect to lines on other blocks.

He started looking through the pile of blocks, finding matches to each side, slowly laying them out on the ground side by side. It was like a puzzle, he noticed that the edge pieces didn't have any lines running off the side, so once those were set in place, it was easy to put each block where they belonged. 

Once all of the blocks were laid out, they made a six by four grid. The image they made was a simple one, just a repeating pattern of different shapes, squares, circles, triangles, and the like. But Yin Yu was proud of being able to figure it out by himself. An unconscious smile appeared on his face, he wanted to show Chengzhu his hard work, he was sure that Chengzhu would be proud that he could do it by himself, he was happy when Yin Yu was able to figure out other things by himself without help, surly this wouldn’t be any different.

He was caught up in his own thoughts, not noticing the soft knocks or the door opening.

“Yin Yu?”

Chengzhu! Chengzhu was here now, Yin Yu could show him the pattern in the blocks.

Yin Yu turned and looked up to where his Chengzhu was standing in the doorway, glancing up to the desk, and back down to where Yin Yu was still on the floor with his blocks. Hua Chengzhu seemed much bigger now that he was looming over Yin Yu, but it didn’t matter to him, the fuzziness seemed heavier now that his Chengzhu was here.

As Hua Cheng continued to stand in the doorway, Yin Yu realized that he wasn’t at his desk doing work like he was supposed to be doing. How long had it been since he got the blocks out? He felt bad for not doing his work like Chengzhu would expect him to be doing.

Hua Cheng moved closer to the desk, and closer to Yin Yu.

“Yin Yu, why are you on the floor?” Hua Cheng asked, slowly making his way to where Yin Yu was still on the ground looking at him with wide eyes.

Yin Yu made a sound in the back of his throat, “Sorry Chengzhu,” he said, his voice coming out much smaller than he intended.

Hua Cheng just furrowed his eyebrows at that.

Yin Yu looked to where there were still stacks of paper piled on his desk, “Couldn’t write, too hard”

It was best to be honest, Chengzhu didn’t like when people lied to him, and this was something that he could find out about easily. Yin Yu hoped that Chengzhu wouldn’t be too upset with him.

At that moment Hua Cheng seemed to have a revelation as he looked to where Yin Yu was still sitting, with Maomao next to him and blocks laid out in front.

“Yin Yu” Hua Cheng waited until he looked up again, “I'm going to ask you a few questions, try to answer to the best of your ability”

Yin Yu felt a little nervous at that, he didn’t know what kind of things would be asked, and he didn’t know what kind of answers his Chengzhu was looking for, but he still nodded. If Chengzhu wanted to ask him questions, he would do his best to answer them.

 “Do you feel a sort of fog in your mind?”

Yin Yu pondered the question for a moment, he was feeling fuzzier, and he could see how it would be described like fog, so he gave a small nod.

His Chengzhu smiled at that, and it wasn’t a cruel or cocky smile he had seen directed at the ghosts in the Gamblers Den, it was soft, like when he was looking at the calmer paintings of His Highness.

Hua Cheng drew closer and sat down next to Yin Yu, making sure he wouldn’t disturb the blocks or the toy cat.

“Was Yin Yu feeling like this when he came back yesterday?”

Yin Yu gave another nod. It was something similar, except that yesterday, instead of everything feeling softer around the edges, he was feeling floaty, disconnected, like he was watching himself in a play.

“Do you know why you're feeling like this?”

Yin Yu shook his head this time. Was he supposed to know? He knew that it made everything else feel bigger than it probably was, or made him feel smaller, he wasn’t quite sure which. He also knew that the fuzziness made him do things he normally wouldn’t. But he didn’t know why .

Hua Cheng seemed to be expecting that answer though. Did Chengzhu know why? It would make sense if he did, he knew a lot of things, more things that Yin Yu could ever dream about knowing. And Chengzhu was the best at figuring something out on the rare occasion he didn’t already know everything he needed to.

“... Is it Yin Yu’s first time feeling like this?”

Yin Yu thought back, he knew that he had felt the fuzziness before, but he was always able to push through it, or something would happen that would distract him from the feeling until it went away. It was the first time that he felt it so heavily though, so he nodded.

At this point Yin Yu had a question that he had been worrying over for the last few minutes.

“Is it bad?” Was he sick? Cursed? Poisoned? Was there something wrong with him? Were all questions he wanted to ask, but getting all of those words out seemed difficult with the fuzziness weighing on his mind.

Yin Yu glanced up to Chengzhu just in time to notice him opening his mouth, preparing another question.

He quickly averted his eyes from Chengzhu’s frowning face. Was he not supposed to ask questions? Was Chengzhu upset that Yin Yu interrupted him? Would Chengzhu just ignore him? Or would Chengzhu reprimand him for speaking out of turn?

Yin Yu was thrown out of his thoughts by a soft voice.

“No,” Hua Cheng replied, with no trace of anger or annoyance in his voice “No it’s not bad, it’s good for you in fact.”

Yin Yu let out a quizzical noise at that, “But I can’t do work” How could something that prevented him from repaying Chengzhu not be bad?

The concerned look reappeared on Hua Cheng’s face “Not everything is about work, this is your mind telling you that you need a break”

“I will explain more later,” Hua Cheng continued “but I have one last question”

Yin Yu made a sound of acknowledgement.

Hua Cheng hesitated, looking at Yin Yu as if he was searching for something.

“Do you know what caused you to feel like this?”

—

When the Waning Moon Officer returned from a mission late one night, Hua Cheng didn’t think anything of it at first. It was possible there were a few unforeseen circumstances that kept him from retrieving the artifact quickly. It shouldn’t be too dangerous, so Hua Cheng didn’t worry, and Yin Yu could always contact him through the communication array if things got out of hand.

When Yin Yu returned though, he seemed worse for wear. There was a distant look in his eyes, and his hands were shaking. But it was obvious that Yin Yu was trying to hide it, he let his sleeves fall down his arms to cover up his hands, and he avoided eye contact, which was normal, but the officer was also avoiding looking at his face altogether, which was not.

That wasn’t as concerning as it could have been though,  Hua Cheng had learned over the past few decades that Yin Yu was stubborn, at least with attempting to not let others see his weaknesses. They were similar in that regard. It never worked on Hua Cheng though, but he let it be if whatever it was didn’t seem to hinder Yin Yu in any way. So, assuming that this was another minor incident, Hua Cheng let Yin Yu get away with escaping to his room.

Later, when he was walking towards his own room, he heard faint sobs coming from Yin Yu’s room. The rooms were soundproofed, yes, but this was still his Paradise Manor, and as it was created with his energy, he always had a faint idea of what was occurring inside each room. He tried not to pry into anyone's personal business as a general rule, but that courtesy mainly extended to his Waning Moon Officer.

Most of the servants in the Manor worked in shifts, and went to whatever home they had in the city when they were not working. Any other spirit that resided in the manor full-time only did small manual tasks, and did not have any sentience. Yin Yu was the only being that was one, alive, two, sentient and living in the manor full-time, so Hua Cheng tried to make the Manor as comfortable as possible for the banished god. That included respecting his privacy.

But tonight for whatever reason, Hua Cheng was pulled closer to the door separating him and his right hand. He debated alerting Yin Yu to his presence, but felt it might have been uncomfortable for him to bring awareness that he heard the other crying, especially when Yin Yu tried to hide from him just a few minutes ago.

As the sobs grew steadily quieter, Hua Cheng decided that he would check in on the other in the morning.

—

Even though there was no true “morning” in the Ghost Realm, Hua Cheng tried to keep a schedule of the day and night cycle, if he didn’t he was sure he would lose himself for days at a time. That being said, he had been working all night on a new portrait of His Highness.

It was easy to get lost in the brushstrokes and colors of the painting, but he was stuck on his worry for his officer, so he kept it simple with only a few sketches. The portrait wasn’t up to his standards in the slightest, he wouldn’t be showing this one to anyone, especially not His Highness. The nose was slightly off centered, and he couldn’t get the light reflecting in His Highness's eyes the right shade. He ignored that the only other people that would ever see his art of His Highness were the only two who would not criticize him for the slightly off proportions.

Taking time to gather his supplies so they wouldn’t be damaged by leaving them out, he set his work to dry and headed towards Yin Yu’s office.

As he was walking, he could tell that Yin Yu had not left the Manor yet to patrol the city, that was good. He wanted to make sure that his officer was alright before anyone had the chance to make it worse. But as he passed by Yin Yu’s room he realized that Yin Yu had not left his room yet either.

Hua Cheng could tell that Yin Yu was awake due to the shuffling he heard, but decided it was best not to disturb him just yet. If he was still in his room at this hour, then he probably wouldn’t be up for a conversation, and Hua Cheng didn’t have an excuse to enter Yin Yu’s room. He would never enter Yin Yu’s room unless he gained permission, or there was an emergency, so it felt wrong using an excuse to get in without any real reason.

Hua Cheng would wait until later to check up on his officer. For now he donned a disguise and headed into Ghost City to oversee the residents. He wouldn’t make a big deal out of his presence, he would just be another ghost in the crowd. He could do more productive things besides looking at the odd trinket or dish. He could search for His Highness. But he didn’t want to stray too far from where Yin Yu was.

From the way Yin Yu acted after he returned from the mission, to what he heard last night, and including how Yin Yu still hadn’t left his room despite how late in the morning it was, Hua Cheng didn’t like what that implied for whatever happened during the mission. That was the only explanation, something must have happened for his officer to have reacted so badly. He would make sure that whatever happened would not happen again.

He was sure it wasn’t some kind of curse or spell, he would have sensed that as soon as he saw Yin Yu, and he didn’t seem physically hurt either, he would have felt the damage to his own energy, as he shared it with Yin Yu now that the other could not access his own. But something was making his right hand upset, so he would eliminate whatever was causing him such grief, he would make sure it would not affect Yin Yu again.

He ignored the fact that it was possible that there was nothing that could be done. He wasn’t going to let one of the only people who even somewhat understood him get hurt in such a way.

—

He returned to Paradise Manor only a few hours later, just past midday. He immediately made his way to Yin Yu’s office, changing into a more familiar appearance as he did. The office wasn’t far from Hua Cheng’s own room, which wasn’t too far from Yin Yu’s room. Yin Yu’s current room was actually one of the first rooms that he had constructed for His Highness to stay in, but he considered that His Highness may not want a room so close to his own. So he decided to create rooms of varying luxury scattered around the manor. He never told anyone who the room was originally for, but he was sure that Black Water had a guess based on a look from the other calamity he received one night while Yin Yu was first settling into the manor.

He could hear the soft thuds of wood on wood from behind the door, and soft mutterings, it just made him curious as to what his officer could be doing. 

He knocked on the door and waited for a few moments, it was unlike Yin Yu to not notice his approach, much less ignore his knocking, intentionally or not.

“Yin Yu, I’m coming in if you don’t respond” He called, making sure he could be heard from behind the door, but not loud enough to startle the other.

He waited a few more seconds, it was unlikely that Yin Yu was harmed in any way, especially not in the Manor he created with his own energy, but that didn’t stop the worry that was slowly starting to grow as the seconds ticked by.

He would be the last to admit to anyone that he cared for anyone but His Highness, but he was slowly starting to accept that both He Xuan and Yin Yu made him feel better just by being around them. He believed for centuries that he wouldn’t let down his guard for anyone but His Highness, but then the only other Calamity came into being, and he found it harder to keep up his walls. Soon followed by Yin Yu, freshly banished, reminding him a bit too much of both himself and His Highness. Who simply accepted his status as a Ghost King, despite being from both a righteous sect, and from Heaven itself.

Neither of them used the knowledge of His Highness to torment him when he grew brave enough to reveal his reason to continue on as a ghost, even if they could have easily attempted to do so, not that it would have worked, but they still didn’t make a hint at doing so. Neither of them cared about his obsession, because that’s the only good word to describe what it could be, in fact, He Xuan had an obsession for a god on his own, even if it wasn’t the same type.

He knew that He Xuan had seen the statue of His Highness in the Kiln, he even trusted Yin Yu to take care of His Highness's temple when he was away. Both of them had also trusted him with secrets of their own, which made his own secrets easier to share. Though it was harder to accept that he cared about He Xuan, once he did so it seemed he was less weary of accepting that he could care about other people, rather than just His Highness. 

But he did care about them, so he was concerned when Yin Yu still did not acknowledge his presence after a few more moments.

He opened the door, surprised to not find Yin Yu at his desk like he expected, but on the floor. His hair was a mess, and not in its usual braid, the robes he wore were of a simpler variety, and the only accessory was his mask strapped to his belt. He also noticed how the other's face was slightly dusty, and what appeared to be tear tracks on his cheeks. Had Yin Yu not had enough time to clean himself after his mission?

“Yin Yu?”

He then noticed the stuffed cat sitting next to Yin Yu, halfway hidden behind his leg. At this angle he could also see that the wooden slab laid in front of him was in fact a grid of wooden children's blocks. 

…Was Yin Yu regressed?

No, he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Just because he had those items, doesn’t mean he was currently little, much less a regressor. Just because his eyes lit up like A-Xuan’s did whenever he saw the red ghost while regressed didn’t mean anything. He should gather more information before letting his mind wander too far.

He could see Yin Yu glance to his desk that was piled with paperwork and back to him. He could see his eyes widen a fraction. It was much easier to read him once he didn’t have his mask on.

Hua Cheng took a careful step forward, “Yin Yu, why are you on the floor?”

Yin Yu made a sound in the back of his throat, he seemed worried? Upset? Scared? For a moment, then he said in a voice so soft Hua Cheng doubted that he could have heard it if he were still mortal, “Sorry Chengzhu”

Hua Cheng furrowed his eyebrows. More evidence to suggest that was regressed, he was now almost sure of it. Did he not want Hua Cheng to know? 

“Couldn’t write, too hard” Yin Yu looked like he was upset with himself more than anything. Hua Cheng noticed he was speaking in quicker, shorter sentences, like he couldn’t make himself speak more complicated words.

…It was possible that either this was Yin Yu’s first time regressing, or he just didn’t know what regression was.

“Yin Yu,” He called to the (supposedly) mentally younger “I'm going to ask you a few questions, try to answer to the best of your ability” He tried to convey that he wouldn’t be upset if he didn't know the ‘right’ answer. He knew that Yin Yu stressed about getting things done correctly and efficiently. 

Yin Yu’s face scrunched up, as if thinking about what answer to give, but still gave a resolute nod after a few seconds. 

Hua Cheng would try to keep the questions simple, he didn’t want to overwhelm the other if he was proven correct in his assumptions.

“Do you feel a sort of fog in your mind?” He started off, better to get that question answered straight away. Though, he didn’t know if Yin Yu knew what regression was, so he phrased it to how He Xuan described the feeling. He was aware that different people would describe it differently, but figured it was a good place to start.

There was some hesitation, but he eventually got a nod. Hua Cheng moved to sit closer to the younger, careful not to disturb any of Yin Yu’s toys.

From then on he asked a few more questions, he found that Yin Yu had been regressed since he came back from the mission. He felt his stomach drop when he got that answer, he let a child cry themself to sleep last night, and it was very likely that Yin Yu wasn’t even aware of what was happening to him at the time.

Along with finding out that Yin Yu was not aware of regression, he also found out that this was indeed Yin Yu’s first time regressing, or at least his first time being aware of it. Hua Cheng felt a bit of selfish pleasure learning that he was the first to realize Yin Yu was regressed, but feeling guilty that he hadn't talked to the younger sooner.

Hua Cheng was aware that they would need to have a better and more thorough conversation about this when Yin Yu was in the right headspace, but for now he needed to know what had upset the little. It was either something on the mission itself, or something happened as he was returning to the manor. It was not positive whatever it was though, it clearly upset Yin Yu enough to trigger his regression.

Before he could ask what had happened, Yin Yu interrupted him, “Is it bad?”

What was left of Hua Cheng’s heart broke a little more at that. 

He could tell that Yin Yu was spiraling more and more the longer he didn’t answer.

“No,” Hua Cheng reassured him, trying to show how sincere he was, “No it’s not bad, it’s good for you in fact.”

Yin Yu didn’t seem to believe that.

“But I can’t do work”

Did Yin Yu automatically categorize his regression as bad because he couldn’t finish his reports? Did Yin Yu believe that his work was more important? Hua Cheng knew that line of thinking was not a healthy one. Hua Cheng used to have a similar line of thinking, if it didn’t help His Highness, then it was useless at best, a threat at worst.

“Not everything is about work, this is your mind telling you that you need a break” He needed to let Yin Yu know that it was alright for him to regress, he couldn’t have stress building up on his Officer without any outlet.

“I will explain more later,” Hua Cheng continued “but I have one last question”

Yin Yu made a sound of acknowledgement.

Hua Cheng hesitated, he didn’t want to distress the little by making him relive the memories if they affected him as much as Hua Cheng thought they might, but he needed to know what had happened, he needed to keep his officer safe.

“Do you know what caused you to feel like this?”

Hua Cheng was expecting some distress, but he didn’t expect Yin Yu to start crying as soon as he finished the question. Hua Cheng never did like children crying, and this was a kid he had left alone the night before, he still felt guilty for that.

He moved directly in front of Yin Yu, making sure to move slowly so as to not startle him.

“Hey, it’s alright” He made sure to soften his voice “You don’t need to answer if you aren’t able” best to get that out of the way so Yin Yu didn’t get worked up again about not responding.

He carefully grabbed one of Yin Yu’s hands from where it was bunched in his robes, not reaching for the other hand which had found its way into the fur of the toy cat.

“Here, breathe with me” He tried to get the little to follow his fake breaths, Yin Yu still needed to breathe after all.

He exaggerated his breathing to puff out his chest so the pattern would be easier to follow. He murmured small words of encouragement as Yin Yu’s breathing slowed and steadied.

“There you go Xiao Yue, it's alright, you're doing just fine” Hua Cheng didn’t expect the nickname to slip out so easily.

Yin Yu let out a small whine, and moved so he was pressed against Hua Cheng’s side. The toy cat has found its way into Yin Yu’s lap, where the younger still had his hand bunched in its fur. Yin Yu hesitantly laid his head on the ghost's shoulder, relaxing more as he was not shaken off immediately. Yin Yu’s sobs had quieted into the occasional hiccup, and the hand Hua Cheng was holding slowly moved to clutch at his sleeve.

Yin Yu gave a small tug at his sleeve, Hua Cheng hummed in acknowledgement.

“‘Wanna answer” Yin Yu’s voice was slightly more rough now.

“You don’t have to” Hua Cheng should have known that Yin Yu would try to answer anyway. He also knew that if he said he didn’t want to hear it, Yin Yu would immediately stop trying to tell him. Hua Cheng really did want to know what happened though, and discouraging him now may lead to Yin Yu not telling him important things, like whether he was hurt or not, in the future.

“But…” Yin Yu hesitated, he seemed conflicted, he obviously wanted to answer properly, but if it made him so upset just thinking about it…

“How about this,” Hua Cheng proposed “I’ll ask a few more questions, and you can just nod or shake your head”

Yin Yu took a moment to think, but nodded in the end. He pressed into his side harder, getting as close to Hua Cheng as possible.

“Would you like to move to the couch?” Hua Cheng asked “It would be more comfortable there”

Yin Yu glazed over to the couch that was placed in the corner of the room, it wasn’t used very often, only for when Chengzhu stayed in his office for longer than a few minutes. Chengzhu was right, it would be more comfortable than on the floor. Getting up seemed difficult, but if Chengzhu wanted to move, he would do it, so he gave another nod.

Hua Cheng gently pried himself from Yin Yu’s grasp, even if Yin Yu had agreed, he was hesitant to let go. As soon as Yin Yu let go of his sleeve, he stood up to move to the couch, but Yin Yu hadn't moved. He had a look of concentration on his face, his eyebrows were furrowed, it was honestly rather adorable.

Hua Cheng stretched out his hand for Yin Yu to grab. The short walk to the couch was a little clumsy, and Yin Yu was going slower than his usual quick steps. Although his footsteps were as silent as ever, it must be a subconscious thing at this point.

Hua Cheng sat down on the couch, still holding Yin Yu’s hand. “Xiao Yue?”

He then noticed Yin Yu glancing to the opposite end of the couch, and back to him.

“Xiao Yue can sit wherever he wants to” He tried to reassure the little one.

Yin Yu looked at him with hopeful eyes before moving to sit directly next to him, a mirror of their previous position.

“Ah,” Hua Cheng gave a small grunt as he was squished against the arm or the couch. “How about this instead”

Hua Cheng had an idea, he would immediately backtrack if Yin Yu didn’t like it of course, but if he was right, the little might be more comfortable, and that was the reason he carried on in this world. To keep the people he cared about safe and comfortable, originally it was just His Highness, but it had grown to include He Xuan, and now Yin Yu as well.

Hua Cheng moved Yin Yu until the little was settled sideways on his lap, his head leaning on his shoulder. Hua Cheng settled one of his arms around Yin Yu’s waist so he wouldn’t fall off, but loose enough that Yin Yu could move away if he wanted to. His other hand began to slowly ease the knots out of Yin Yu’s hair.

Yin Yu had frozen for a moment, looking at him with wide eyes as he was moved, but as soon as he was settled, he became completely boneless.

Hua Cheng moved his hand to gently scratch at Yin Yu’s scalp “Is this alright baobei?”

Yin Yu pushed his head back into his hand and gave a short hum. One of his hands was now holding onto the front of Hua Cheng’s robes, the other gently holding the toy cat in his own lap. His eyes were now half-lidded, he seemed more relaxed than Hua Cheng had ever seen him, he hated that he would possibly ruin it just to get answers.

“Do you still want to tell me what made you so upset?” Hua Cheng asked, waiting to get confirmation before continuing.

Yin Yu hummed again

“I’m going to need you to nod or shake your head” Hua Cheng said, he wanted to be sure he wasn’t pushing the little.

Yin Yu gave a short nod, “‘don’ know when to start”, his words were now slower and a little slurred.

“That’s why I’ll ask the questions, you just need to nod or shake your head” Hua Cheng reassured him.

“Did something happen during your mission yesterday?” Hua Cheng started with, mapping out the area in his mind.

Yin Yu gave a nod and buried himself more into the shoulder he was leaning against.

“Did you get hurt?” Even if Yin Yu was prone to hiding his injuries, if he was directly asked he wouldn’t lie.

Yin Yu gave a shake of the head this time.

Good, Hua Cheng didn’t sense anything, but it was best to make sure.

“Did you have trouble finding anything, the forest, the manor, the artifact?” Hua Cheng knew Yin Yu would get frustrated at times if he couldn’t find everything he needed during a mission. Hua Cheng kept trying to teach him that missing a few small things was not going to be the end of the world, but it had only gotten marginally better since Yin Yu had first started working for him. Yes, Hua Cheng knew he was a hypocrite. 

Yin Yu shook his head again.

“Did something unexpected happen?” Yin Yu was trained to expect unexpected things to happen, that was part of the reason he was such a good worker, he was able to work around or even with the strange things around him. But it was possible something threw him off guard if he wasn’t fully aware, it was possible he had been partially regressed when he had started the mission.

Yin Yu nodded this time.

“Did you come across someone?” If he wasn’t physically hurt, then it was unlikely a creature caught him off guard, a person where they were not supposed to be on the other hand…

Yin Yu nodded again

Hua Cheng felt anger boil in his heart, if it was a mortal who upset his Xiao Yue, he would kill them and make it hurt. If it was a Ghost, demon, spirit, whatever, he would make it the most painful dispersal process any being had experienced yet. That is if Yin Yu hasn't already done so himself.

 If it was a god, maybe it was time to restart his habit of burning temples.

And if they were being purposefully cruel to his Xiao Yue, they would be unable to enter the reincarnation cycle once he was done with them.

Hua Cheng didn’t remember the last time he felt anger on the behalf of someone other than His Highness, He Xuan could take care of himself, and would be upset if Hua Cheng stepped in where he wasn’t needed. On the other hand, he felt an overwhelming urge to protect Yin Yu as long as he was able.

He took a breath to calm down, he didn’t need Yin Yu to think he was angry at him.

“Was it a mortal?”

A shake of the head

“A ghost?” Any ghost should at least recognize Crimson Rain’s power on the officer, even if they didn’t recognize Yin Yu himself, but some were too cocky for their own good

Another head shake.

Hua Cheng’s eyes darkened at the last remaining option “... was it a god?”

There would only be one god that Hua Cheng would be happy for Yin Yu to encounter, but His Highness wouldn’t leave anybody upset unless they deserved it, and Hua Cheng knew that Yin Yu would give no reason to deserve it.

Yin Yu whined and hid his face against Hua Cheng’s neck, clutching tighter at the man’s robes. That was all the confirmation Hua Cheng needed. He wanted and needed to be with Yin Yu right now though, but that doesn’t mean his revenge wouldn’t be had.

… he still needed to know which god it was. 

“Don’ hurt him,” Yin Yu said, words muffled “please don’, Chengzhu”

Oh, he wouldn’t hurt the god directly, but a few of their temples wouldn’t be missed.

But if Yin Yu was asking directly, he had a good idea who the god was.

“You don’t have to call me Chengzhu, you can call me whatever you want when we're alone” Hua Cheng said instead of making any promises he couldn’t keep. 

“Chengzhu is Chengzhu” Yin Yu replied resolutely.

Alright, they would talk about that later then, Hua Cheng hoped that Yin Yu wouldn’t feel the need to call him so formally, but he wouldn’t force him.

“... It was him wasn’t it” It wasn’t a question this time, but Yin Yu still froze before giving a small nod.

Hua Cheng knew about Yin Yu’s grief with his shidi, maybe more than a few temples needed to be burned.

He opened the communication array

Black Water

Silence

He Xuan

I’m busy

Who was that kid in the Brocade Immortal incident 

Qi Ying, current martial god of the west, his personal name is Quan Yizhen

Alright

… May I ask why?

Some temples may start disappearing in the west

You’re telling me about this later

If you want to add to your debt to pay for the information, sure

I hate you

Love you too

“...Chengzhu?” His attention was brought back to the little sitting in his lap.

“Fine, I won’t do anything about it, for now” Hua Cheng said, but he knew he would be visiting the gods' temples soon.

“Did he see you?” From the stories he had heard, the god wouldn’t ever hurt Yin Yu on purpose, but he knew the god could be a lot to handle.

This time, Yin Yu shook his head with more force than necessary, leaving him dizzy. He gave a small whine before hearing a soft chuckle from Chengzhu.

“Very good,” Hua Cheng praised him “Xiao Yue is very good at not being seen when he doesn’t want to be”

Yin Yu was stunned for a moment having such a soft smile directed at him from his Chengzhu. Yin Yu smiled back reflexively, and gave a short hum in agreement.

“Thank you for telling me Xiao Yue” Hua Cheng said “How about we get you cleaned up, I can’t imagine it being very comfortable having dirt on your face for so long. 

Yin Yu blushed with embarrassment before nodding. Then freezing again as he realized he would have to move out of his office to do so, where others could see him. 

As if he could read his mind, Chengzhu said “I've already sent the servants out of this wing, no one will bother us unless we call for them, or if it’s an emergency”

Yin Yu lifted his head from where it was planted on Hua Cheng’s shoulder and looked around the office. Noticing the blocks still laid out on the floor reminded him that he still had not shown Chengzhu his completed pattern. He immediately perked up at the thought of Chengzhu praising him for his hard work.

He tugged where his hand was still bunched in the front of Chengzhu’s robes, “Blocks”

“You want to show me your blocks before we go?” Hua Cheng asked, immediately getting what he was trying to say.

Yin Yu nodded, moving to get off of Chengzhu, before he was startled by being picked up by the man into a bridal carry. Hua Cheng shifted him until Yin Yu was being held up by one arm under his legs. At first, Yin Yu thought the new position was to allow one of Chengzhu’s arms to move freely, but that idea was refuted by said arm coming to cradle him closer to Hua Cheng's chest. Yin Yu wrapped one of his arms around Hua Cheng’s neck to keep himself stable, the other hand still holding Maomao.

The fuzziness seemed heavier now, but not in a bad way. It was surrounding him like Chengzhu was, like a soft, warm, blanket.

As they moved closer, Yin Yu pointed with hand still holding Maomao, “Look”

Chengzhu glanced down at the blocks, “Oh, I see! They make a pattern when all connected, right?”

Yin Yu smiled and then pointed to himself, and because Chengzhu knew a lot of things, he knew what Yin Yu meant, “Did Xiao Yue figure it out all by himself?”

Yin Yu’s smile brightened and he gave another nod. He wanted to explain how he figured it out, because Chengzhu always liked when he explained his thoughts. But at the moment speaking seemed like a difficult task, he was glad Chengzhu was happy if he just nodded or shook his head, because he didn’t know if he would be able to say more than a few simple words. If Chengzhu saw no problem with it, then Yin Yu wouldn’t either.

“Would you like to take them with us back to your room?” Hua Cheng asked, checking to see that Yin Yu wouldn’t be too upset about having his work undone.

“And Maomao” Yin Yu replied with a nod.

“Maomao?” Hua Cheng questioned, before his sight was filled with the image of the cat toy that Yin Yu hadn’t let go of since he first came in.

“Ah yes, is Maomao the name of your cat?” Hua Cheng checked to see he wasn’t misinterpreting anything. 

Yin Yu furrowed his eyebrows, thinking hard about what to respond, before settling on “Xiao Mao is Maomao”

“Let me guess,” Hua Cheng said “It’s name is Xiao Mao, but you call it Maomao?”

Yin Yu nodded in confirmation, Chengzhu was good at getting what he meant, even if Yin Yu couldn’t explain himself properly.

“That’s a good name for a toy cat” Hua Cheng nodded back seriously.

During their short conversation, Hua Cheng had used a small bit of energy to carefully pack up the blocks into their pouch.

Once he had secured the pouch to his belt, he moved towards the door before he was stopped by a short whine from Yin Yu. Was he uncomfortable? Did he get hurt while Hua Cheng wasn’t looking? He glanced back up to Yin Yu to see the little looking down at the floor where the blocks had been a moment before.

“Don’t worry Xiao Yue, I have the blocks with me” He reassured Yin Yu.

Yin Yu relaxed at that, he still couldn’t see where the blocks or the pouch that was keeping them were, but Chengzhu had no reason to lie to him about something so simple.

Hua Cheng made another move to leave the office, this time uninterrupted. The walk to Yin Yu’s room was short, and Yin Yu was content with leaning his head against his Chengzhu’s chest. The gentle rocking motions of Hua Cheng’s steady steps left Yin Yu feeling tired, remembering the rough sleep he got last night.

Yin Yu’s eyes only opened again when he was placed down on a stool in the bathroom. He made a distressed noise when he felt Hua Cheng move away from him, reaching out to grab the others' sleeve so he wouldn’t leave.

“It’s alright Xiao Yue, I’ll only be gone for a moment,” Seeing that Yin Yu still had not let go of his sleeve, he continued, “Here, this butterfly will watch over you”

He summoned a silver butterfly, one that he usually used to watch over Ghost City with. It fluttered a bit before landing on Yin Yu’s nose, he became cross eyed as he tried to focus on it.

Hua Cheng smiled at the adorable sight, and moved quickly while Yin Yu was distracted. When he came back, he saw that Yin Yu had not moved at all, and was breathing shallowly so as to not disturb the butterfly.

Hua Cheng placed the bowl of water he had gathered on the counter, and dipped the edge of a small cloth into the bowl.

At this point the butterfly flew away from Yin Yu’s nose, Yin Yu’s eyes followed the movement and brightened when he saw Chengzhu in front of him again. He reached out his hands and made grabbing motions at the man. Unable to refuse the little’s silent request, Hua Cheng moved closer and held out the hand not currently occupied for Yin Yu to hold.

“See, I wasn’t gone for too long” Hua Cheng smiled at Yin Yu, where he was currently trying to put Hua Cheng’s fingers in his mouth.

Hua Cheng booped Yin Yu with the hand he was trying to eat, Yin Yu’s nose scrunching up adorably.

Hua Cheng noticed that Yin Yu was acting significantly younger than He Xuan would when he was regressed, he assumed that Yin Yu had slipped into a younger mindset due to all of the stress on the poor kid. It was also possible that Yin Yu naturally was younger when regressed, and only settled into it when he finally felt comfortable.

Hua Cheng had the thought of introducing them one day when they were both regressed. He dismissed that thought for the time being, he had promised He Xuan that he would tell no one else about his regression, and he would extend the same courtesy to Yin Yu when they had a proper conversation at a later time. It was possible for it to happen one day, it wasn’t like the two didn’t get along, but it was not for the time being.

Hua Cheng quickly wiped the dirt and tear tracks from Yin Yu’s face, using one of the softer cloths, and dried his face just as quickly. All the while Yin Yu was making little disgruntled grumbling sounds.

Once he was done, Hua Cheng glanced over Yin Yu one last time, taking note that Yin Yu’s hair was now mostly untangled from his previous comb-through with his fingers, but it was still messier than he had ever seen from his officer. 

“All done, Xiao Yue” Hua Cheng stood back up from where had leaned over Yin Yu to get a better angle.

Yin Yu just blinked at him owlishly.

“Let’s move somewhere more comfortable, yeah?” Saying this, he picked up Yin Yu again to move him to the bedroom.  As there were no protests from the one in his arms, Hua Cheng picked up a simple comb on his way out.

Hua Cheng stepped into the bedroom and paused for a moment, the bed was unmade, some of the sheets and blankets were strewn across the floor, but other than that the room was perfectly clean, exactly as he remembered it. As he remembered it from when it was first built. He frowned when he realized there were no personal touches to the room, he would rectify that later.

Hua Cheng placed Yin Yu in front of a low table and set the pouch of blocks in front of him. Hua Cheng sat on the couch behind him, and slowly started to undo the ponytail Yin Yu’s hair was in.

It took Yin Yu a few moments to readjust to his new position on the floor, but soon he placed Xiao Mao on the table beside the pouch of blocks, and dumped out the blocks on the table to play with.

For a few minutes it was quiet, Hua Cheng brushing Yin Yu’s hair, and Yin Yu playing with his blocks, until Yin Yu let out a small giggle when he pushed a small tower he made over. Hua Cheng gave a light chuckle as well, remembering his fondness for knocking over gold foil palaces. 

His chuckle seemed to encourage Yin Yu, as he started quietly babbling as he built another tower. Sometimes he would point at the side of one of the blocks, and turn slightly to Hua Cheng, as if asking him a question.

Hua Cheng would always hum in response, sometimes giving small words of encouragement. Yin Yu seemed satisfied with this, and would turn back to his blocks shortly after.

Hua Cheng had finished putting Yin Yu’s hair into a loose braid, when he noticed that the little’s babbles were occasionally getting interrupted with small yawns. He slowly stood up and gave Yin Yu a pat on the head.

“I’m going to fix the bed for you, then you're going to sleep, alright?” Hua Cheng said.

Yin Yu looked at him and just babbled in response, and turned back to the blocks he was currently sorting. Hua Cheng had seen the types of things that were carved on the blocks, and thought that they might be too gruesome for the little, but Yin Yu didn’t seem disturbed in the slightest, so he let it be.

Hua Cheng moved to the bed and quickly righted the sheets, folding a few blankets at the foot of the bed incase Yin Yu wanted them later. Yin Yu seemed content, as long as Hua Cheng didn’t leave his line of sight, so a few more moments were spent in silence, only occasionally broken by Yin Yu’s babbling or small yawns.

Once Hua Cheng was done, he turned back to Yin Yu, who had his eyes closed and was holding Xiao Mao to his chest, no longer playing with his blocks. Hua Cheng gave a soft smile as he walked over. 

“Time for bed Xiao Yue” Hua Cheng said, causing Yin Yu’s eyes to flutter open as he gave another yawn.

Hua Cheng picked up the little, leaving the blocks on the table to be cleaned up later, and brought Yin Yu to the freshly made bed. He sat Yin Yu on the edge and helped the other take off the mask that was still clipped to his belt. He also took off Yin Yu’s shoes and outer layer of robes so the other could be comfortable while he slept.

“There you go, now lay down and get comfortable” Yin Yu didn’t seem to comprehend words as the point, so he gently pushed the other down until he was laying on his side facing Hua Cheng.

Yin Yu clutched Xiao Mao tighter to his chest and rubbed his face on the cat’s head, softly mummering while doing so. Hua Cheng carefully tucked the sheets around Yin Yu, making sure he was comfortable before pulling back. As he was leaning away, Yin Yu grabbed his sleeve again, Hua Cheng moved so he was holding his hand instead. Yin Yu was still staring at Hua Cheng through half-lidded eyes.

“You can go to sleep Xiao Yue, I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise” That seemed to be what the little one wanted to hear, even if he couldn’t properly understand it. His eyes fell closed and his breathing slowed, his grip on Hua Cheng's hand going slack.

Hua Cheng stayed in that spot until he was sure Yin Yu was asleep and wouldn’t be disturbed if he moved. He took a few moments to clan up the pile of blocks left on the table, putting the pouch on Yin Yu’s bedside table. He brought a chair over next to the bed and sat in it, grabbing Yin Yu’s hand again in a loose grip so he could pull away in his sleep if needed. He would stay right there until Yin Yu woke up, he wasn’t one to break promises.