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Chapter Text

How was this goodly Architecture wrought?
Or by what means were they together brought?
They err that say they did concur by chance,
Love made them meet in a well-ordered dance.

Orchestra, Sir John Davies.

Da Qing sat silently on the leather couch in the living room, contemplating the picture in his hands with solemnity. It had been a little bit over a month since Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei had disappeared from his world, leaving nothing to remember them by except for a few photographs and an abandoned, empty apartment. Da Qing had struggled with the decision to stay in the apartment he had shared with his long-time friend and long-lost master, but he had opted to continue living there and maintain the small room as a reminder of the man who had so fully inhabited it. Whenever Da Qing closed his eyes, he could almost hear Zhao Yunlan’s laughter echoing in the room, affectionately calling him “fat cat” and petting his hair out of habit when he was feeling affectionate.

Da Qing hadn’t had the heart to pack up Zhao Yunlan’s things, nor clean up the mess that the SID Chief had left behind. If Da Qing focused on pushing aside his grief, he could pretend that things were normal like before; that Zhao Yunlan would walk into the apartment with a silly smile, carrying in hand cup noodles and case files for them both to review and flopping down on the couch with his shoes still on. In this way, the home that they had shared still held the warmth of the man who had left it behind for a whole new world—one where Da Qing couldn’t follow no matter how much he wanted to. Zhao Yunlan’s favourite motorcycle jacket hung by the door, a silent reminder that he hadn’t thought to wear it that day, rushing out to save his lover instead.

Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing had enjoyed a fun and peaceful life for several years and, when the mysterious Professor Shen Wei had walked into their lives and straight into Zhao Yunlan’s heart, Da Qing had gladly made room for him in his, accepting Shen Wei as a second master and recognizing his place in their home. Da Qing had spent a considerable amount of time either setting them up or acting as a go-between whenever things became tense, but Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei had a way of gravitating towards one another that nothing and no one could have stopped. The two had been bound to each other for centuries, and no one could have interfered with their relationship—truly, only death could separate the two who had spent an eternity by each other’s sides. Now, Shen Wei’s stacks of university papers lay next to Zhao Yunlan’s work on the coffee table, and Da Qing couldn’t find the strength to put them away.

Da Qing felt lucky to have been privy to their love story, and he felt privileged to have known them intimately. When people asked him about ‘Zhao Yunlan’—his Zhao Yunlan, not the Dixingren lookalike who had taken over his body—Da Qing was proud to say that the man he called his saviour and best friend was the greatest man of all. As for the gentlemanly Professor Shen Wei, Da Qing could boast that he had been by the Black Cloaked Envoy’s side and had seen first-hand how the great warrior had dedicated his life to goodness and justice, sacrificing his happiness for the sake of all Haixingren and Dixingren.

Now that he had regained his memories, Da Qing could comfortably say that he had known Zhao Yunlan the longest—ten thousand years to be exact—and, in that time, he had come to know the man hiding inside the Guardian persona, which was why he wasn’t surprised by his ultimate act of self-sacrifice and his desire to right the wrongs of men alongside the ever-steadfast Shen Wei. When Zhao Yunlan had assumed the role of ‘Kunlun’ in ancient Haixing, he had immediately bonded with a young Da Qing and Shen Wei and, as a trio, they had fought for the good of the world.

Naturally, this didn’t mean that Da Qing didn’t feel a deep pain gnawing at his inside like an incurable disease—the grief was all too real for him to simply shrug off—but he couldn’t feel mad at his master for what he had done. Having known both Kunlun and Shen Wei from thousands of years ago, he knew just how much they valued world peace and the well-being of everyone over their own safety and lives.

However, Da Qing couldn’t shake off the impression that Zhao Yunlan had ultimately given up on his own salvation the moment his love had perished in front of his eyes. Da Qing couldn’t imagine what Zhao Yunlan must have gone through, seeing Shen Wei being repeatedly beaten and stabbed, unable to do anything except scream and thrash against his bonds, and although Da Qing hadn’t witnessed it himself, his friends’ accounts of what had happened were chilling enough to cause him to well-up at the thought of his two favourite people trapped in a terrible cycle of torture and death.

Staring at the picture frame in his hands through blurry eyes, Da Qing broke down and wailed loudly for the first time since everything had happened. Yes, he had cried when he and the rest of the SID had brought his friend’s body back from Dixing, but this time was different—this had a finality to it that Da Qing understood with every fiber of his being. ‘They’re not coming back. They’re never coming back!’ he repeated in his mind like a mantra against the backdrop of Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei’s intermingled screams of despair, fabricated by his mind but oh-so-real in his heart. All Da Qing could see in his mind’s eye was Zhao Yunlan’s limp body draped over Lin Jing’s shoulders—lifeless, bloody, and cold. As for Shen Wei, he wasn’t afforded the same luxury of being brought back home to be properly mourned—no, instead, Shen Wei’s body had vanished from this world along with that of his twin’s, as if he had never existed.

Through his keening that ripped his heart right out of his chest, Da Qing failed to hear the sound of the front door opening and bags crashing to the ground followed by hurried footsteps in his direction, but he felt the warm embrace of arms around his shoulders, pulling him to come and lean against a familiar body.

“Shh, it’s okay,” said Lin Jing as he hugged and soothed his friend as best as he could.

Lin Jing had come in at the right moment, grocery bags in hand to cook for the dejected Da Qing, and had dropped everything to come and cradle the sobbing young man. It was his first time seeing Da Qing completely lose it, but he couldn’t blame him for his reaction. Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei had been like parents to him, loving and nurturing. Even though Da Qing was a ten-thousand-year-old cat deity, he had the mind and personality of a young kit, and he had clung desperately to Zhao Yunlan and, later, to Shen Wei, too. Even though everyone at the SID were heartbroken over their loss, the pain in Da Qing’s heart was unfathomable to others.

“Lin ge,” started Da Qing in between sobs. “Why did they have to leave? Can’t you bring them back? Please, Da ge, please!”

Lin Jing held back his tears for Da Qing’s sake and petted his soft hair instead. “They left doing what they loved the most—protecting Haixing and Dixing and ensuring peace would reign for the next thousands of years. You know that, right?”

Da Qing nodded against Lin Jing’s chest, his shoulders still trembling from the violent sobs that ran though him.

“Prof Shen died heroically,” continued Lin Jing, remembering the gentle man’s last words, his face and body covered in blood; a painful, visual reminder of the torture his own brother had put him through.

I believe in him.

Lin Jing closed his eyes against the images as they flooded in his mind—Shen Wei’s desperate plea for Lin Jing to kill him, his wide-eyed terror at the prospect of his one true love being hurt by his brother, and his unmatched strength reduced to dust. Shen Wei had lain bloodied and broken, but his hope had burned brightly, and his love had never wavered.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Jing steadied himself before continuing.

“He died to protect everyone,” he concluded as Da Qing tightened his hold on him. “As for Zhao Yunlan—” he paused “—he fought bravely the whole way through, even after I…”

Da Qing looked up from Lin Jing’s chest and saw all his turbulent emotions swirling in his eyes. “Da ge…”

“Even after I told him his soulmate was gone,” he resumed as tears now ran freely from behind his glasses.

Where’s Shen Wei?

“He never flinched. He was the bravest of them all,” finished Lin Jing with a cracked sob.

For all the pain that Da Qing felt, he hadn’t stopped to think about how Lin Jing was doing after having witnessed the whole thing—and partaken in it, too. He couldn’t imagine his friend’s turmoil at having to drive Ye Zun’s icicle into Shen Wei’s still-beating heart, and then face Zhao Yunlan with the knowledge that he had contributed to his lover’s demise.

“Da Ge, I’m so sorry for what you had to do,” said Da Qing, weighing each word carefully.

Lin Jing sniffed and swallowed his hurt, laying his chin on top of Da Qing’s head.

“It’s okay, what’s done is done,” he said, brushing aside his feelings and, pulling away from Da Qing to look him in the eye with a smile, he added: “come on, that’s enough for one day. I bought all sorts of goodies for tonight, okay? Will you help me out in the kitchen?”

Da Qing nodded and, wiping away the remainder of his tears, followed Lin Jing into Zhao Yunlan’s kitchen to prepare their meal. The two worked in tandem, pulling plates from cupboards—neatly stacked by the professor, no doubt—and cooking in blackened pots—a remnant of the Chief’s hazardous experimental cooking. Lin Jing and Da Qing shared stories about the pair until they settled on the kitchen bar stools and ate their food with heavy hearts.

That evening, after everything had been cleared away and restacked—just as how Shen Wei had liked it—Da Qing curled up on the leather couch against Lin Jing’s arm—like he had used to do with Zhao Yunlan—waiting for his grief to abate. Remembering Shen Wei from when he used to bring home stacks of paper from the university, Da Qing suddenly thought of all the times he and Lin Jing had worked together at the SID’s laboratory, conducting experiments and testing out new theories. Suddenly, Da Qing had a thought—a crazy little idea that seeded in his brain and that screamed ‘all is not lost!’

“Lin ge,” he started excitedly, pushing away from Lin Jing to hold him round the shoulders instead.

“Huh?”

“You worked with Prof Shen, no? You often spent time in the lab together,” he stated.

“Yes, why?”

“Because… what if, and I truly mean ‘if’ here—what if we could open up the void again?”

“Da Qing… no way…” replied Lin Jing, shaking his head and pulling away from his friend.

“But Prof Shen did it before, I saw him!” he explained, feeling more and more frenzied by the thoughts that swirled in his mind. “You can open it, can’t you? I’m sure you’ve worked with him on this topic… this is absolutely something a bioengineer would be interested in.”

“Da Qing, there’s no way. Do you know how difficult—how dangerous—it could be? Prof Shen always said to never, under any circumstances, play around with the fabric of spacetime.”

Da Qing perked up at Lin Jing’s comment and smiled ear to ear. “You do know how to do it… I knew it!”

Lin Jing bit his lip, regretting his words and the effects they had had on his impressionable friend.

“You don’t understand, it’s too risky! Besides, what would opening the void accomplish?”

Da Qing signalled for him to wait a minute while he ran into Zhao Yunlan’s bedroom and rummaged until he found a scrap piece of paper and a pen. Then, running back to Lin Jing who looked like he’d rather avoid this conversation entirely, proceeded to put a plan in place on how to rescue his beloved masters.

“Okay, look. Remember when Lao Zhao went into the void?”

“That was by accident though…”

“I know, I know, but this time it wouldn’t be,” replied Da Qing with a mixture of excitement and impatience. “Lao Zhao explained that when he had been in the void, he had seen all sorts of things floating around in there—lost objects and memories—and then, he had landed in ancient Haixing and met me and Shen Wei.”

“Alright, so? Maybe he just got lucky…” proposed Lin Jing, but Da Qing was determined to see his new plan through.

“No, I don’t think so. You see, Lao Zhao had a mission to accomplish; he had to go there to meet Shen Wei and set their future—this future—in motion.”

“Wait, stop,” pleaded Lin Jing as he stilled Da Qing’s hand that had been furiously scribbling notes. “There’s no guarantee of any of this. We could go into the void and get lost, die, or even worse, mess up the whole spacetime continuum and ruin the future. Prof Shen said—”

“—said to never mess with that stuff. I know, I get it, but what if, Da ge, what if?”

As much as Lin Jing wanted to resist this plan and change Da Qing’s mind, he couldn’t shake from his heart the possibility that maybe, just maybe, they would be able to go back in time and save Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. However, saving them probably meant losing the final battle against Ye Zun, which would endanger the whole world. Lin Jing could never, in good conscience, destroy what the Guardian and the Black Envoy had worked all their lives to protect. The safety of the world was much more important than two small lives… right?

“Lin ge, please, can’t we at least consider it? We could talk about it with the others and—”

“Da Qing, listen to me,” interrupted Lin Jing with his most serious, professorial voice. “What you’re suggesting, although wonderfully brave and selfless, remains incredibly dangerous and unsure. We may do more harm this way than if we just leave things as they are.”

“Zhao Xinci,” replied Da Qing as if that was the clearest answer of all.

“What? What does Boss Zhao have to do with anything?”

“Zhao Xinci—well, the Dixingren who lived in his body, actually—can help us.”

“You mean… Zhang Shi?”

Lin Jing hated to admit it, but Da Qing had a point. The Dixingren who had lived in Zhao Xinci’s body for so long, and who now possessed Zhao Yunlan’s, might actually have some insight as to how the rest of the SID could save their bosses.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but alright,” conceded Lin Jing with a sigh as Da Qing broke into a wide, happy smile.

“Really? Thank you, Lin Ge, you’re the best! I knew you would agree!”

“Let’s just get everyone together first before I agree to anything else, and then we’ll see.”

Da Qing enthusiastically agreed with Lin Jing’s proposition and, after planning to meet up with everyone else in the morning, the pair turned in for the night with a newfound hope in their hearts. Da Qing didn’t dare to think too much about the possibilities lest he be disappointed, but he couldn’t keep his mind from imagining a hundred different scenarios in which Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei were back in the apartment, safe and sound, and very much alive.

The following day, Da Qing and Lin Jing rushed to greet their teammates at the SID, still buzzing with joy over the half-constructed plan from the night before. Upon entering the headquarters, Da Qing found Guo Changcheng preparing for the day ahead alongside Chu Shuzhi. Since Zhao Yunlan’s demise, Guo Changcheng had been promoted to section chief and everyone agreed that he was doing a marvelous job at keeping the SID running smoothly. Guo Changcheng had grown a lot during their ordeal, and the team was proud of his progress and happy to follow his lead.

“Xiao Guo,” called out Da Qing, drawing the other’s attention away from the files he had been placing on each member’s desk.

“Da Qing? Good morning! You didn’t have to come in today, you don’t have any tasks for the moment,” explained Guo Changcheng with a gentle smile. “Go home and rest,” he suggested, but Da Qing dismissed the idea with a wave of the hand.

“No, it’s fine. I’m here to discuss something important with you,” replied Da Qing, “with all of you,” he specified when other SID team members approached him with curiosity in their eyes. “You see, Lin Jing and I had an idea last night…”

A few minutes later, following Da Qing’s rapid explanation, Zhu Hong collapsed in her chair, looking sickly, Chu Shuzhi frowned and paced nervously back and forth, and Guo Changcheng paled three shades, suddenly feeling nauseous because of the whole thing.

“You can’t be serious… the void??” questioned Zhu Hong from her desk.

“Da Qing, that’s absolutely insane,” added Chu Shuzhi once he had recovered. “However, I’m willing to try anything if it means we can get them back.”

“Chu ge, you can’t risk your life like that…” started Guo Changcheng, his voice laced with worry. “Nor anyone else, for that matter.”

“What’s going on?” came the voice of Zhang Shi as he rounded the corner.

The team instantly fell silent at the sight of ‘Zhao Yunlan’ in his typical blue jeans and khaki jacket, and yet so very different that there was no denying it wasn’t the same man everyone had known and loved. Since possessing his body, Zhang Shi had upheld the image of the SID Chief in the eyes of the public, keeping up morale and hope for those outside who weren’t aware of what had happened in Dixing but, inside the compound’s walls, everyone felt uncomfortable with this strange clone that walked and talked like their boss, but was in actuality completely different.

“Zhang Shi, good timing,” spoke up Da Qing after he had swallowed the lump that had immediately formed in his throat at the sight of his old friend’s face.

“How can I help?”

“We’re thinking of opening the void to go back in time and prevent all of this—” he motioned with his hands in wide gestures “—so that it doesn’t have to happen. We want to save our friends. Will you help us?”

Zhang Shi thought about how he should reply, running a hand through the short stubble across Zhao Yunlan’s face, his eyes dancing with an eerie golden glow.

“I’m not sure exactly what I can do, but if this is truly what you want, then I’ll do my best to help. I promised Zhao Yunlan that I would look after you and maintain his duties here in his place. I also promised him to take care of Zhao Xinci in his place, so I think it’s reasonable to assume that the Chief would want to come back if he knew there was a way.”

Da Qing exchanged a look with Lin Jing and beamed at both his teammate and the Dixingren.

“I saw Zhao Yunlan grow up… he was like a son to me. I want to bring him back too, selfishly perhaps, but nevertheless.”

“Then, you’ll help us?”

“Yes, as long as it doesn’t endanger the safety of the citizens in both Haixing and Dixing,” specified Zhang Shi.

“Great. Just what I needed!” said Lin Jing, throwing his hands in the air. “What’s the use of being the eldest if no one will listen to me?”

“I think that honour goes to Da Qing, actually,” chuckled Zhu Hong, earning herself a wink from the cat Yashou as a thank you.

“Exactly! And, as the eldest, this is what I want us to do. Now, Zhang Shi, from what Lin Jing and I figured out, the best solution would be to go back ten thousand years through the void when Lao Zhao had gone to visit, meet up with that version of him and Shen Wei, and warn them of what is to come.”

“Mm, I don’t think that’s a good idea, little one,” replied Zhang Shi as he beckoned everyone to follow him to the whiteboard. “You see, if you tell them about the future, you’ll be disrupting the flow of time,” he explained while he drew complicated equations on the board. “You can’t interact with them in the past at all—imagine if you meet the Shen Wei from back then as you are now, and then he meets the you from back then… wouldn’t that be confusing for him? If there were two of you walking around, you’d run the risk of causing panic in ancient Haixing.”

“Oh… I hadn’t thought of that,” admitted Da Qing sheepishly. “What do you suggest, then?”

“Instead of going back to when Zhao Yunlan arrived in ancient Haixing, you need to go back to when the war between Haixing and Dixing erupted,” explained Zhang Shi, drawing a timeline on the board to show everyone.

“You mean, back to when the planet was created? The Big Bang?” asked Zhu Hong, positively horrified by the implications of such travels.

“No, not quite that far, but as far as when the aliens landed on the planet and the Dixingren went underground to form their own society. You see, there was once a great meteor that crashed on Haixing and caused an imbalance in nature. Dixing started to run out of resources, and Haixing struggled to survive. When some dissident Dixingren decided to invade Haixing and fight the humans and Yashou for their territory, the people of Haixing crafted the four Hallows from meteorite fragments and defeated the invasion by driving the Dixingren back underground.”

“Thanks for the history lesson, but how does that solve our problem?” asked Chu Shuzhi, arms crossed and already annoyed with these discussions—he was a man of action after all, not of words.

“That’s where, or rather ‘when,’ we need to go back—to when the meteor crashed on Haixing and the Hallows were created,” explained Zhang Shi with infinite patience as a contrast to Chu Shuzhi’s short temper. “It was at that moment that something went wrong…”

“The wick…” whispered Lin Jing to himself as he remembered Zhao Yunlan’s final sacrifice—losing his life so that his soul could burn for all eternity, providing light and warmth to the world.

“That’s right, the wick. Without it, the Guardian cannot light the lantern. Without it, a live sacrifice is needed so that it may burn continuously,” concluded Zhang Shi.

A deep chill ran through everyone as Zhang Shi’s words were left hanging. To have ‘Zhao Yunlan’ speak of his own demise due to the cursed lantern gave everyone an instant whiplash straight to the heart as each one remembered their personal pain and struggle with the reality of what had happened in Dixing—of when their Zhao Yunlan had died for the greater good, while this Zhao Yunlan paraded around town as a façade to hide what had come to pass.

“Then… we need to find the wick, right?” asked Guo Changcheng who had been silently taking notes during their impromptu meeting.

“Yes, ideally that would be the right solution. Unfortunately, we don’t have the wick—we never have. In fact, there never was one.”

“What are you saying? That it was always meant to work with a sacrifice?” said Chu Shuzhi through gritted teeth. “Which sick bastard devised that plan?”

Zhang Shi shook his head and smiled sadly to the gathered group of humans, Yashou, and Dixingren alike—a haphazard group of unlikely comrades who had no differences to speak of.

“You don’t understand because you weren’t there back then. You are all much too young, but I know—I saw the horrors of that time first-hand. When the Hallows were created, everyone agreed that there had been so much hatred, prejudice, racism, and misunderstandings between the different factions, that only pure love could ever destroy that amount of evil. We knew that a being of light had to sacrifice himself for the good of the world—that only the most valiant, the bravest, the most genuine soul could ever accomplish this task, and that was, without the shadow of a doubt, Zhao Yunlan.”

“How could you possibly know back then that Zhao Yunlan would be your wick? He wasn’t even born yet—heck, his timeline is so far removed that it’s like a small blitz in time compared to the grand scheme of things!” said Chu Shuzhi, anger and hurt pouring through him despite his initial desire to stay level-headed during the discussions.

“We didn’t know… we had to wait for the right hero to show up and, when Zhao Yunlan appeared before Ma Gui and Fu You, they knew they had found their saviour,” replied Zhang Shi apologetically.

“You used him,” cut in Zhu Hong, seething. “You used him like a guinea pig, and then you forced him to die. He didn’t know what was coming, none of us knew, not even Shen Wei! How could you! How could you,” she trailed into a sob, burying her face in her hands.

Guo Changcheng hurried to soothe her, but her loud sobs hit everyone squarely in their hearts as their own pain and grief reignited with each shed tear and each strangled cry.

“I’m sorry,” said Zhang Shi, “but the greater good—”

“Screw the greater good! What about Zhao Yunlan? What about Shen Wei?” replied Zhu Hong as fiercely as she could manage in between the tears and hiccups.

“Alright, look,” started Da Qing to break the mounting tension between Zhang Shi and the rest of them. “What’s done is done, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try and change what happened. Zhang Shi said we should go back to when the Hallows were created, so that’s where we’ll go.”

“What do we do about the wick?” asked Guo Changcheng with a quaver. “We don’t want to sacrifice anyone else for this…”

“Definitely not,” agreed Chu Shuzhi, reaching over from his seat to pat Guo Changcheng on the shoulder.

“I might have a solution,” proposed Lin Jing much to everyone’s surprise. “What if we create a wick? After all, we have the technology to do it… Prof Shen and I had been working on harnessing various powers. I’m sure we could do it.”

“Yes… it just might work,” said Zhang Shi as he turned back to his whiteboard to scribble some new equations and hypotheses. “If we can create an artificial wick that would contain the equivalent amount of power as Zhao Yunlan’s willpower and pure desires, then we just might be able to avoid this tragedy entirely.”

“Wonderful! When do we start?” piped up Da Qing, springing from the couch out of excitement.

“Not so much ‘when,’ but rather ‘how’ do we start…” replied Lin Jing sourly. “Zhang Shi, you wouldn’t happen to know how to create fake virtue now would you?”

Zhang Shi spared a dry laugh, “no, I’m afraid not, but Shen Wei might have had some notes about it somewhere in his belongings. He was, after all, the world’s leading bioengineer and had been studying Dixingren powers for ostensibly ten thousand years.”

“Good point. We should start by looking through Prof Shen’s publications, journals, articles, notes, etc.” declared Lin Jing as he rose to his feet to get started on this new task. A lot of work had to be done if they had any hopes of changing their friends’ destinies.

“Xiao Guo, could you go to Shen Wei’s old apartment and his office? Collect any and all files and notebooks you can find and bring them back here,” said Zhang Shi. “Chu Shuzhi, you go with him and ask the other professors in the department if they have any clue about Shen Wei’s research,” he added as Chu Shuzhi stiffly nodded his agreement. “Zhu Hong, if you could start planning for a trip through the void, it would be much appreciated. We need to eliminate as much of the risk as possible. As for Lin Jing and myself, we’ll be in the lab, working on creating a wick for the lantern.”

Even though Zhang Shi was not really their boss, it still felt natural to everyone to take orders from ‘Zhao Yunlan’ and so, once they had each received their instructions, they set off in different directions to accomplish their new tasks.

The day passed by in a blur as everyone was busy with their assignments. Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi came back to the office in the late afternoon, pushing a cart full of books and manuscripts salvaged from Shen Wei’s now vacated office and apartment—a sad reminder that the professor would never be able to return to his work—and, as soon as they unloaded everything onto the central table in the office, the whole team diligently picked their way through the mountain of information—some works published in illustrious academic journals, while others carefully written in Shen Wei’s immaculate hand.

“What about this here, Chu Ge? Do you think it’s useful?” inquired Guo Changcheng after a while of reading through complex scientific papers.

“Mm… the powers of the typical Dixingren are intrinsically linked to the manipulation of natural elements in Haixing. By combining parts of the DNA of plants and animals on the surface, it would seem that powers can be generated—or even created—within certain stable laboratory conditions,” read Chu Shuzhi out loud for everyone to hear.

“That’s sort of what we’re looking for, no? How to create powers?” asked Zhu Hong, leaning over the Dixingren’s shoulder to read the rest of the article:

The genes found in living things seem to have mutated the alien’s genetic structure, enabling them to develop an array of nature-based powers: controlling thunder, moving water, displacing earth, etc., which caused a split in the alien race: this is how Yashou were formed. As for the more obscure powers—those of a metaphysical nature such as light bending, mindreading, and absorbing other’s abilities—they have developed after the initial mutation as a secondary mutation over time. According to Dr Ouyang Zhen’s research, it is therefore plausible that injecting recombinant DNA into subjects’ cells would force a mutation to occur and, potentially, help the subject develop latent powers in their system.

“Isn’t that what Dr Ouyang used on himself?” questioned Chu Shuzhi, remembering the report he had read after the scientist’s body had been found.

“Yes… as well as myself, and Zhao Yunlan too, back then in Dixing. He injected himself before facing off against Ye Zun,” replied Guo Changcheng.

“This is all too complicated for my brain,” complained Da Qing as he pinched the bridge of his nose against an incoming headache. “Is this what Lin Ge needs?”

“I don’t know, this talks about injecting a living organism with genes from another lifeform. What we need is to attach a power to a non-living thing,” explained Zhu Hong. “Still, that mad scientist over there might find this useful. Let’s put it aside for now and keep looking. Prof Shen is bound to have written extensively about this topic.”

The group continued on with their reading, sorting through stacks of notes and articles and separating the useful from the superfluous. Unsurprisingly, Shen Wei had written a lot of material, and had done countless hours of research both inside and out of the lab. It came as no surprise to everyone gathered that the professor had been prolific in his field.

At some point during their research, Lin Jing joined the rest of his teammates and poured over the papers that his friends had diligently put aside for him while Zhang Shi continued to prepare the lab for their work.

“Hey, listen to this one guys,” spoke up Da Qing after a long period of silence. “It reads: in recent years, some work has been done in terms of creating new lifeforms within laboratories.”

Lin Jing grabbed the article from Da Qing’s hands and excitedly read through Shen Wei’s words, drinking in each element carefully and interpreting them:

By combining various cell parts, it might be possible to create a cell from scratch—a non-living, laboratory specimen that could then be modified at will with rDNA and thereby accelerate the engineering of Dixingren powers outside of a human host. This would allow for the creation of powers depending on specific industry requirements. For example, farmers wanting to increase their yearly output of crops could use supercharged plants that would be able to reproduce a lot faster through the usage of dark energy.

“This is cutting edge stuff guys, seriously. I’m in awe at Prof Shen’s brain,” declared Lin Jing, eyes shining like a child in a candy store. “This is exactly what we need to create the wick! With the help of Prof Shen’s notes, I can engineer a new type of cell that will be able to carry virtue in its structure. I will, however, need to tap into your abilities, Xiao Guo…”

“Me?” squeaked Guo Changcheng, suddenly frightened by Lin Jing’s experiment.

“It won’t hurt, I promise,” replied Lin Jing preemptively when he caught Chu Shuzhi glaring at him. “I just need to hook you up to our energy sensor and bottle up a bit of your virtue to use later. I’ll also need a blood sample…”

Guo Changcheng gulped nervously but agreed nonetheless with an unsure nod. “I-if it helps boss Zhao and Prof Shen, then I’m willing,” he replied.

“Attaboy, what a way to set an example,” praised Lin Jing with a bright smile. “Come on Xiao Guo, let’s take care of you first so that you can go back to your regular work, and then I’ll start working on constructing a cell.”

Even though only Guo Changcheng was required in the lab, the whole team followed him and Lin Jing into the other room with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Now that they had established a clear plan on how to create the wick thanks to Shen Wei’s research, everyone felt more confident with the daunting task ahead but, more importantly, everyone’s hope of saving their beloved friends had increased by tenfold.

Six months came and went, and research was moving along fairly rapidly considering the task at hand. Lin Jing had since enlisted the help of some graduate students from Dragon University, led by Li Qian who was now at the head of the bioengineering department as its leading researcher. Li Qian, who had worked with Shen Wei for years and had followed him in each step of his research, was well-versed in his theories and could help Lin Jing and the others when they hit a roadblock.

On a clear, sunny morning when everything was quiet in the SID office, loud cheers of success erupted from the confines of the lab, drawing Da Qing and his teammates to rush in with their hearts in their throats.

“What is it? What’s happening?” he asked as he crashed into the lab with Zhu Hong close on his heels.

“We did it! We managed to build and stabilize a non-living organism!” exclaimed Lin Jing, running around the lab to hug and shake hands with his fellow researchers.

It had been a long period of trial and error, but the team had finally succeeded in their mission and everyone was elated by this new discovery.

“Do you know what this means?” said Lin Jing emphatically as he grabbed Da Qing and crushed him into a hug. “All of the possibilities! We could use this technology to cure diseases, to improve the quality of life on Haixing, to turn around the lives of Dixingren—the sky is the limit!”

“Lin ge, that’s wonderful, congratulations,” replied Da Qing with reservations. “I’m so happy for you, don’t get me wrong, but what does this mean for Zhao Yunlan?”

Lin Jing pulled back from his old friend to beam at him through the tears. “It means we can try and save him now, finally. We can bring him—them—home.”

“Yes,” cut in Zhang Shi who had been watching over the whole scene from the corner of the room. “Now, we can create the wick, and one of us will have to travel through the void to plant the wick somewhere where it can survive for the next ten thousand years… until Zhao Yunlan needs it to save the world.”

“I’ll go,” proposed Chu Shuzhi as he walked in with Guo Changcheng in tow. “I’ll go and save them. I would do anything to bring back the Black Envoy to this world, and that clown of a Guardian isn’t half-bad either,” he added with a grin.

Zhang Shi shook his head, “no, I’m afraid that won’t do. You’re a Dixingren… that could destabilize the equilibrium between the worlds. Plus, once you get there, you could be mistaken for an enemy and be killed. That would be disastrous on all accounts. Instead, we need a Yashou or a human to go.”

“Then, I’ll go,” said Zhu Hong while Chu Shuzhi scowled from Zhang Shi’s reply.

“As the new leader of the Snake Tribe, you have much more important duties here,” explained Zhang Shi. “What would happen to your tribe if something went wrong out there in the void? No, it’s too risky.”

Despite her usual fierceness, Zhu Hong softened as Zhang Shi’s words combined with Zhao Yunlan’s face pulled at her heartstrings. Of course, she knew that he wasn’t truly the man she had loved, but the body in front of her still held power over her regardless of what her brain told her.

“I’ll do it,” declared Da Qing, stepping up past Zhu Hong to stand in front of Zhang Shi. “I’ve known Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei the longest—I even have these bells to prove it,” he said, fisting his hand around his necklace as emphasis.

“Da Qing, no, you can’t!” cried Lin Jing, but Zhang Shi raised his hand to still any arguments before speaking.

“Little one, do you really think you’re up for the task?” questioned Zhang Shi.

“Definitely,” answered Da Qing unwaveringly.

“It’s going to be very dangerous you know. There’s a high possibility you won’t make it back.”

Da Qing scoffed derisively, “ha, that doesn’t bother me. I’m the only member of my tribe, so I don’t have anyone to look after, and my master is currently dead, so I have no home to return to. If I don’t make it back, at least I’ll be comforted by the fact that I’ll meet Zhao Yunlan again on the other side.”

“Da Qing, don’t say that. You have us you know,” said Zhu Hong with a heartfelt smile that shone through her tears. “You’ll always have a home with us here, at the SID.”

“I know Zhu jie, but I need to do this,” declared Da Qing. “They’re waiting for me—I know they are. I need to save them like they saved me so many eons ago.”

“Then, if we’re all in agreement with Da Qing’s decision, we should prepare for his departure,” replied Zhang Shi.

Despite everyone’s reservations, it was decided that Da Qing was indeed the best candidate for the job, and that he had the highest chance of success since he was a Yashou who had already lived through ten thousand years of turmoil. When Da Qing had still been a young kit without much power, he had seen the old war with his own two eyes and had fought in it alongside Fu You and Ma Gui and then, later, by Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan’s sides.

Da Qing had seen the horrors of the Great War and had seen Ye Zun destroy half the world in his quest for the Hallows. If Da Qing could return to a moment in time just before that, when the artifacts had been created, then he had a chance of reversing the effects of time and changing the course of history—of saving Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, allowing them to live their story to the fullest.

The following day, Da Qing walked into the lab with a decisive spring in his step, sporting a backpack prepared by his friends filled with his favourite dried fish treats—as a reminder of home—a few weapons for self-defence, and a portrait of Zhao Yunlan, carefully drawn by Shen Wei himself and taken from a secret compartment at the bottom of his desk drawer… Guo Changcheng had found it and given it to Da Qing to hold onto.

“Are you ready?” asked Zhang Shi when Da Qing appeared somewhat shaky in front of his teammates.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he answered with a nervous chuckle but with determination blazing in his eyes, nonetheless.

“Alright, stand right here beneath the lights,” indicated Zhang Shi.

A space had been cleared out in the middle of the lab to make way for a short platform surrounded by an array of machines with hundreds of wires and tubes jutting out of them and crisscrossing the floor and space above Da Qing’s head, locking him into a mechanical cage that glowed an eerie blue. Da Qing had never experienced this before, but he trusted his friends implicitly and so he had no difficulty in adjusting to the strange setting.

“Here, this is the wick Lin Jing created for you,” said Zhang Shi as he handed Da Qing a small glass box containing the object in question.

“Is that… a shoelace?” asked Da Qing bewilderedly as he examined the wick through its encasement.

“It’s all I had on hand, okay?” replied Lin Jing with a shrug, causing a ripple of laughter to course through the rest of the SID. “Don’t worry, it’ll work just fine when the time comes. All you need to do is smash the glass, place the wick in the lantern, and it’ll catch on fire on its own. The organism we attached to the shoelace is capable of self-sustaining itself for at least half a million years as long as it stays in its enclosure. The minute it comes into contact with air, its powers will ignite, and it will burst into flames.”

“Sounds easy enough,” replied Da Qing as he carefully tucked the box into his backpack, making sure it wouldn’t knock against anything that could damage the casing. “And once it starts to burn,  how long will the flame last for?”

“Since it’s been stuffed to the brim with Xiao Guo’s virtue—the purest form of energy we have—it should burn for all eternity as the organism continues to multiply itself and replicate its power. It’s a self-sustaining process.”

“Good… because we wouldn’t want to have to go through all of this again after an hour or two,” jested Da Qing. “I’m ready,” he added after a few last adjustments of his new clothes—a set of brown and red robes and leather straps to better blend in once in ancient Haixing.

“Now remember,” said Lin Jing from beyond the latticework of wires, “You need to go back to when the Hallows were created. Don’t divert from that plan. According to Zhao Yunlan’s report when he had returned from the void, you’re going to see and experience all sorts of things out there in the vacuum—illusions, memories, visions—and you need to ignore them all and focus on your mission. Search for the right moment in time and jump through it.”

“Alright…”

“Once you’re done, we have no way of bringing you back—unlike with Zhao Yunlan who had Ye Zun and Shen Wei’s help to travel through the void at will, we cannot reproduce that amount of power in the lab so you’ll have to live through time all over again,” explained Lin Jing with a heavy heart.

“Yes, I know.”

“You can’t come back to this time period, Da Qing. Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want to do?”

Da Qing closed his eyes for a moment to shut out the image of all the worried faces around him. This was by no means an easy task. In fact, this was the single most difficult thing Da Qing had ever done in his long life thus far… and yet, he knew in his heart of hearts that this was what he was meant to do; this was what he had been born to accomplish. If Zhao Yunlan had been fated to sacrifice himself for the good of the world, then Da Qing was fated to save him by risking his very existence.

Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei, I’m coming for you. Wait for me, he thought as a single tear rolled down his cheek and splashed on the ground at his feet.

“I’m sure,” he said as he reopened his eyes to take in the soft blue glow on his friends’ faces, their expressions flitting between pride, awe, and fear at the prospect of his departure.

“Okay… good luck out there my friend,” replied Lin Jing solemnly and, with the press of a few buttons on his computer, the machines around Da Qing roared to life, pumping dark energy into the wires like blood into veins.

Da Qing managed a final smile for his friends before being engulfed into a searing white light. The space above his head crackled with life and, in one deafening bang, matter split open before his eyes, causing a visible rift in spacetime inside the confines of the laboratory. For a brief second, Da Qing could see the whole universe expanding and collapsing in an amalgam of gases, lights, and stars; for a single moment, Da Qing’s heart swelled at the sight and his mind suddenly understood the magnitude of the world as it opened up before him.

After the initial blinding flash, Lin Jing and the others unshielded their eyes from the harsh light the moment it receded and searched the lab for their friend.

In the center of the room, beneath a canopy of swirling dark stars, Da Qing was no more.

End of Chapter 1.

Chapter Text

What if to you these sparks disordered seem
As if by chance they had been scattered there?
The Gods a solemn measure do it deem
And see a just proportion every where,
And know the points whence first their movings were;
To which first points when all return again.

Orchestra, Sir John Davies.

Da Qing had never been to the void, but he now knew that all of Zhao Yunlan’s late night stories about his adventures in the rift could not compare to the real thing. Within an instant, the comfortable, familiar scenery of the lab inside of the SID had been replaced by the swirling purple and blue hues of the matter and antimatter colliding together in gaseous encounters. Da Qing had never been one to understand the deep inner workings of the universe—he had never taken a particular interest in the wonders of the world beyond the surface of the earth, but now, standing in a non-place, surrounded by galaxies as they formed, expanded, and died in front of him, he had to admit the place had a particular charm and beauty.

From what Shen Wei had explained one evening when all three were on the couch in Zhao Yunlan’s apartment—after dinner, blankets strewn across their laps, loosened ties and discarded jackets—the void was a space in between worlds. The professor had spent a great deal of time explaining the mechanisms behind it in laymen’s terms, but Da Qing had nodded off midway through the conversation, prompting the pair to chuckle softly and leave him to sleep on the couch as they retired for the night.

Still, Da Qing remembered that this space acted as a buffer between dimensions—controlled by space and time and completely unpredictable and random, which was why pretty much anything could happen in the void at any given moment. Moments after his arrival in the void, Da Qing understood what Lin Jing had said about memories and illusions because already he could hear voices from the distant past—old friends and family having gone past the veil of death eons ago. Da Qing swallowed down his urge to search for the source of the phantom voices, knowing full-well that he couldn’t afford to be sidetracked from his mission.

Regardless of his resolve, Da Qing found himself straining his ears for the familiar warm timbre of Shen Wei’s voice, or the peal of laughter born from Zhao Yunlan’s permanent good humour. Unfortunately, Da Qing couldn’t distinguish the voices from one another as they melded into a cacophony of indefinite sounds.

Forgetting about his unfulfilled hope to hear his friends’ voices once more, Da Qing focused on navigating the void like Zhao Yunlan had explained: there were small pockets or ‘windows’ scattered haphazardly throughout the void with seemingly no rhyme nor reason to how they were organized. Each window offered a short look into a specific moment—a small vignette into various epochs across time.

The first window that Da Qing looked into featured a bustling downtown Haixing, complete with miniaturized people moving around along the main street. Da Qing thought he recognized the fruit vendor and his wife from before his unfortunate dealings with the Merit Brush, meaning that this window went back about two years in time.

Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei were alive then, pondered Da Qing as sadness and melancholy for a time long gone gripped him in full force. Blinking tears away as they started to form in his eyes, Da Qing moved on to the next window, and the next after that until he found a semblance of ancient Haixing in soft hues of greens and swaying shapes of fir trees. Overlooking the scenery through the shimmering window, Da Qing saw a few Haixingren fighting with other tribes, but he wasn’t sure whether this was the exact time and space he needed to be in—there was no clear marker for which time period he was looking at.

What Da Qing hadn’t realized before leaving was that finding the right time period was a guessing game, except that he didn’t have much leeway in terms of error-making. Da Qing had to find the right window and fast before the effects of the void drove him to insanity. By now, the voices had grown much louder, and Da Qing could now distinguish certain words being spoken seemingly right into his ear. Some disembodied voices seemed encouraging, while others were telling him to turn back and give up—something that Da Qing was dead-set on ignoring.

Then, right when Da Qing felt like he would take a leap of faith into the window he had chosen, he suddenly caught sight of two familiar shapes moving away from him across the void. Da Qing couldn’t tell if he was seeing things or if his friends were really there, but in that moment, the only thing he knew for sure was that he needed to catch up to them before they vanished completely.

“Zhao Yunlan! Shen Wei!” he yelled out into the void, but the two retreating figures continued on their leisurely walk, unaware of his presence.

“Stop, wait!” he tried again as he tried to run and catch up to them, but the air in the void was like a strange sticky, syrupy substance that kept him from moving too quickly just like in a nightmare.

By some strange miracle, Zhao Yunlan half-turned to look over his shoulder, locking eyes with Da Qing and nudging Shen Wei to turn and look too. Da Qing stood stuck with his feet firmly glued to the ground as his two friends turned on their heels to come back towards him.

“Lao Zhao! Shen Wei!” yelled out Da Qing as loudly as he could, but the sounds didn’t travel through the air from his mouth to their ears within the vacuum of space. Still, the pair looked straight at him with benign expressions on their faces and soft smiles on their lips.

Remembering Lin Jing’s words about illusions and visions in the void, Da Qing tried to tell himself that they weren’t really there in front of him—that they were figments of his imagination caused by his pained heart, but Zhao Yunlan’s friendly smile looked so real, and Shen Wei’s gentle eyes conveyed a myriad of things that Da Qing was sure was not an hallucination.

“Zhao Yunlan…” repeated Da Qing as the three suddenly stood face to face.

Against the basic principle of Lin Jing’s theory about mirages in the void, Zhao Yunlan outstretched his arm to encircle Da Qing in a comforting embrace, while Shen Wei patted his head in a loving way. The sensations of their hands and arms definitely felt real to Da Qing despite the fact that no one seemed to be able to speak apart for himself. Fat, hot tears ran down Da Qing’s face as his two favourite people—his very reason for existing—silently reassured him, surrounded by the stars all around them.

Da Qing could all but hear them say it’s going to be alright, Da Qing. Carry on without us. We’ll always watch over you, but Da Qing wanted more than guardian angels—he wanted his family back in one piece, living, breathing.

Artwork by Rekkatsu

Then, as abruptly as they had appeared, Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan left Da Qing on his own in the void. Da Qing watched in horror as the comforting sight of Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei’s backs disappeared out of view and, just as he was about to renew his efforts in trying to call out to them, Da Qing felt the world tilt beneath his feet and send him tumbling headlong into a window that had appeared out of nowhere between himself and the ghosts of his friends.

Moments later, Da Qing found himself flat on his back in a grassy field, staring up at a murky sky far above his head and the narrowing rift between this world and the next. Da Qing blinked a few times to get his bearings and let the last few tears slip past his cheeks before sitting up to take in his surroundings: empty, vast plains and an endless sea of green trees. Somehow, he had made it to ancient Haixing, but when was the real question that burned in his mind.

Da Qing took a moment to bury his friends’ images in his mind, putting aside his pain in order to focus on his work instead. If he had any hopes of saving them, then he needed to focus all of his attention on the here and now.

“Well, so much for ‘careful planning,’” scoffed Da Qing as he rose to his feet to dust himself off. Then, remembering the precious parcel in his bag, he hurried to check its contents and felt instant relief at seeing the glass box containing the wick still intact.

Gathering his courage along with his belongings, Da Qing started picking his way through the field with no clear direction in mind. He had no idea where nor when he was, so he figured his first step should be to find other humans and Yashou to get a better sense of what he should do. After what seemed like eons of walking through thick forests and wide, empty fields, Da Qing felt exhausted by his trek and, with each new step he took towards uncertainty, he felt his heart shake with fear, regret, and despair at the thought that he may be lost for all eternity—far from the only home he had ever known, and still sadly unable to save his best friends from death.

With that last thought in mind, Da Qing collapsed from fatigue and slumped against a large tree, wishing that he were back in his apartment with his master, surrounded by his things and well-loved by all.

“Lin ge…” he whispered, thinking of his old friend and regretful he couldn’t see him right now.

Da Qing closed his eyes, strangely comforted by the familiar scent of pine all around him as it reminded him of nights spent cuddling on the couch between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei.

The next time Da Qing opened his eyes, he found himself inside a dimly lit cave, warm beneath layers of pelts with a cool hand flitting against his brow. Jolting to his senses, Da Qing locked eyes with a pretty young woman he instantly recognized from his past life—Fu You.

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed with relief. “Thank goodness, I thought you might not make it. You’ve been unconscious for three days.”

“I… what…”

“It’s okay, you must be disoriented after such a harsh fever. Here, have some water,” she offered, placing a cold metal cup against Da Qing’s parched lips.

Da Qing drank in long gulps, relishing in the sensation as the fresh spring water ran down his throat and cooled him down instantly.

“What… happened,” he managed after a second cup of water, gratefully refilled by the young woman at his side.

“You were found in the forest, about two miles from the nearest village. When the hunters found you, they brought you to me right away,” she explained, then added as an afterthought, “my name is Fu You, I’m a Yashou like you. I’m the leader of our faction. Can you tell me your name? Maybe I can alert your tribe and let them know you’re here.”

“I’m Da Qing, cat tribe, but there’s no need to contact anyone—I’m the only one of my kind.”

“Really?” replied Fu You with a look of pure surprise. “I’ve never heard of a cat tribe before. I’m sorry to hear that… you can stay here with me until you recover if you want,” she offered with a kind smile that reached her pretty eyes.

“Thank you… may I know what year this is…?” questioned Da Qing, trying not to sound as crazy as he must have looked.

“Year? Maybe your memory was affected during the fever…”

“Maybe…”

“It’s the 5th month of the 11th wheat year,” she answered, checking his skin again for signs of a resurging fever.

Da Qing wracked his brain to try and remember the timeline Zhang Shi had provided him with prior to his departure. Thinking through the various months and years of ancient Haixing, Da Qing calculated that he had somehow ended up exactly when and where he needed to be—it would seem that the Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei he had met in the void had guided him to the right time period.

Thank you, thought Da Qing, directed at his two ghostly friends before addressing Fu You once more.

“That’s good… then, have you heard of a great warrior named Kunlun?” asked Da Qing after a beat.

“Kunlun? No, who is that?”

“He’s a powerful warlord,” explained Da Qing. “Could you pass me my bag please? I’ll show you.”

Fu You did as she was asked and brought the modern-looking backpack to Da Qing who then proceeded to rummage around until he pulled out a neatly rolled portrait of his old friend.

“See? This is Kunlun,” said Da Qing as he showed Fu You the soft black graphite drawing of Zhao Yunlan.

“Oh, and this man can help us win the war?” she asked with a sudden spark of excitement showing in her eyes. “Da Qing, may I borrow this drawing? I’d like to show it to my friend—he’s the chieftain of the humans.”

“Yes, but please bring it back to me after!”

Fu You chuckled at Da Qing’s earnest reply. “He seems very important to you,” she mused.

“He’s… my master,” replied Da Qing with a gentle smile.

Fu You nodded in understanding and, after having checked that Da Qing was comfortable and had another cup of water nearby, she left his side to meet up with her friend in another part of the cave. After a few minutes of sitting listlessly in bed, Da Qing had had enough and decided to explore the cave instead. Based on his original memories about his time in ancient Haixing, Da Qing vaguely remembered the layout of the cave—as well as where the Hallows were kept.

Beelining for that section of the cave, Da Qing soon found the makeshift laboratory which featured pieces of the infamous meteor that had struck Haixing a few years before. Set on a low ledge built into the rock near the back of the room, Da Qing found the Hallows—inactive and incomplete. He figured that Fu You and Ma Gui hadn’t included the meteor fragments yet, and so the artifacts were more so decorative at this point than useful.

Searching around the cave for a nook in which to hide the wick that Lin Jing and the others had entrusted him with, Da Qing found the perfect little spot in the far corner of the room: a crack at the base of the wall just wide enough to accommodate the glass box and Da Qing’s forearm.

Da Qing took the time to rub the glass clean with the hem of his robes, turning the little box this way and that, making sure there were no cracks in the glass—everything he had done so far would have been for naught if the wick were to be damaged now. Da Qing spared a thought for his dear friends back in modern Haixing and wondered how everyone was getting along now that he was gone from their lives. However, he was confident that if he succeeded in this mission, Da Qing would get to see his friends once more. Now with the wick in place, all Da Qing had to do was to remember where he had put it and survive the next ten thousand years so that he could then give it to Zhao Yunlan in the future.

“Da Qing? Where are you?” called out Fu You as she rounded the corner of the antechamber with Ma Gui in tow.

Da Qing hurried to pull his arm out from the rockface and cover the crack with a few strands of ivy before calling out to her.

“Here!”

“Ah! I was worried you had wandered off too far outside! It’s dangerous out there you know,” chastised Fu You in a motherly tone.

“Sorry… I was just curious and wanted to take a look around,” replied Da Qing sheepishly.

“Well, I guess you are a cat after all,” she laughed. “This is my friend, Ma Gui,” she added, introducing the man by her side. “He’s been helping me a lot in this war.”

“Hello, Da Qing, right?” questioned Ma Gui with a warm smile and a rough handshake. “Fu You showed me your friend’s portrait. Do you really think he can help us win this war?”

“Oh, most definitely. He’s the best warrior there is!” gushed Da Qing.

Da Qing couldn’t hide his excitement at the fact that everything was going according to plan. He had successfully arrived at the right moment in time in ancient Haixing, he had hidden away the wick for safekeeping, and he had even alerted Fu You and Ma Gui to Zhao Yunlan’s existence. Da Qing was proud of his accomplishments so far, and he could hardly wait for his reunion with Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. According to his calculations, Zhao Yunlan was set to arrive very soon by ways of the void, and Da Qing would finally get to see his real friend in the flesh—not a copy of him eerily walking around the SID while his soul burned for all eternity in the accursed lantern.

“What are these things?” asked Da Qing, pointing to the Hallows to get the conversation going in that direction.

“These are holy tools Fu You and I have been working on. We just need to add small pieces of the meteorite to each one and that should activate them. With these tools, we should be able to turn the tide of the war and give our people the upper hand against the invading Dixingren,” explained Ma Gui.

“Then, will you be completing your work soon?” pressed Da Qing, anxious to set his plan in motion.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, we were planning on doing it today. Would you like to stay and watch?”

Da Qing nodded eagerly and found himself a seat near the Hallows to see their activation first-hand. Fu You and Ma Gui chuckled at Da Qing’s youthful enthusiasm and proceeded to choose four small pieces of meteorite to add to each holy tool. As the pair worked at incorporating the fragments into the Hallows, Da Qing observed the process with mounting anticipation—this was the single most decisive moment in history, and he could hardly believe that he was lucky enough to witness it.

What was more, Da Qing knew that soon, very soon, he would get to meet Zhao Yunlan, to see his goofy smile and hear his rich voice once again. It took everything Da Qing had not to burst into tears of nervousness right then and there as the excitement intermingled with the very real fear of failure. The reality of his mission weighed heavily on his mind, and Da Qing knew that there was a possibility that all of this had been for nothing—that Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei would remain immaterial and inaccessible beyond the veil of death.

“Ma Gui, I think this is it!” exclaimed Fu You, pulling Da Qing out of his grim thoughts and back into the present with them.

Da Qing saw how the Hallows suddenly glowed with life, casting a strange light onto the walls of the antechamber. While Fu You and Ma Gui rejoiced at their successful completion, something that echoed Lin Jing and his team’s joy at making a new discovery, Da Qing found himself being pulled in by the strange magnetism of the lantern. The object seemed to call to him, and Da Qing found it hard to resist it. Maybe it was because the lantern was so closely linked to Zhao Yunlan’s life, but Da Qing suddenly wanted to grab the floating object and smash it into a hundred pieces to prevent what had already taken place. If there was no lantern, then there would be no need for Zhao Yunlan to die…

“Da Qing, don’t!” yelled out Fu You when she realized what was happening.

Da Qing touched the shimmering surface of the golden lantern and was immediately thrown back by the force field of the object and sent crashing into the opposing wall with great violence.

“Da Qing!!”

Da Qing felt a sticky wetness drip down his back and pool in his collar, giving him the vague realisation that he had been gravely injured. Suddenly, all went dark behind Da Qing’s eyes and the world coloured by the glowing Hallows in front of him vanished into a crushing darkness.

Da Qing blinked slowly into a waking state, taking in the rock ceiling above him and the warm bedding beneath his back. Da Qing tried to get his bearings, but everything was blank in his mind. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t seem to remember where he was nor who he was, for that matter. Next to him, dozing on a chair, was a young woman with long braided hair and beads about her neck. Behind her, at a makeshift wooden table, slept a man beneath a heavy coat of fur, his dark hair scattered across the surface of the table with a single candle burning low as a silent vigil.

“Who…” croaked out Da Qing, stirring from his bed with much effort.

“…?”

“What…”

“Da Qing! You’re awake! Thank the heavens. Ma Gui, wake up! Da Qing is alright!” exclaimed the young woman when Da Qing’s awkward moving around had roused her from her light sleep.

“…”

“Da Qing, how are you feeling? Do you need anything?” asked Fu You as she fussed around him with the blankets and pillows. Meanwhile, Ma Gui rushed to light a few lamps in the room and brought his chair closer to sit next to Fu You.

“Where am I?” asked Da Qing bewilderedly. “Who… who are you?”

Fu You’s smile fell away at Da Qing’s words. “Don’t you remember? I’m Fu You, the leader of the Yashou? And this is Ma Gui, the human chieftain…”

“Yashou…? What’s going on? Where is this? Who am I?” replied Da Qing, panic rising in his chest at the realization that he couldn’t remember anything at all, not even his own name.

“Your name is Da Qing,” explained Fu You with infinite gentleness and care. “You’re from the cat tribe… you’re the last of your kind.”

“I… I don’t understand… what do you mean? I—”

“Shh, it’s okay,” soothed Ma Gui, “take it easy. It’ll come back to you in due time.”

Da Qing clutched at his head with both hands, pulling at the long, soft hair out of despair. Who was he? What was he doing here? What was he supposed to do? Da Qing felt something stir at the back of his mind—a mission of some sort, a warm pair of brown eyes—but he couldn’t hold onto the small feeling that nudged at his memories.

“Look at this, maybe it’ll help?” suggested Fu You as she placed a portrait in Da Qing’s lap.

Da Qing looked at the man in the drawing and pushed his memories to his limits. “Who…?”

“You said he was very important to you. You said his name was Kunlun and that he was your master,” replied Fu You with a sad smile. “It’s okay, Da Qing, we’ll help you recover. Don’t push yourself to remember.”

“Okay…” agreed Da Qing, holding on to the portrait like a lifeline. Even though he didn’t recognize the man, at least he knew that if he met him, he’d probably get his memories back. Surely, Kunlun would help him remember.

Months came and went in ancient Haixing, and still Da Qing struggled to remember the minutest of details from his previous life prior to the accident. Fu You and Ma Gui had explained that the Hallows had injured him, and that the war between Haixingren, Yashou, and Dixingren was getting worse and worse. Knowing that Kunlun was the answer to their troubles—and to Da Qing’s memories—Fu You and Ma Gui sent Da Qing out on a mission to find the missing warlord and bring him back to their cave. Before leaving, the two leaders instructed Da Qing to tell Kunlun three simple words on their behalf: take his place.

Da Qing didn’t understand any of it, but he was more than happy to set out into the world and search for his missing master and hopefully regain his memories. One day, after having spent the day combing through the forest for the hundredth time, Da Qing happened upon a strangely dressed man, sitting alone on a rock and far from everything. Approaching him carefully—Haixing was a dangerous place after all—Da Qing’s stomach flipflopped when he recognized the man in front of him from the drawing he carried in his robes at all times.

“Kunlun?”

The man looked up from his hands to stare at Da Qing through keen, intelligent eyes.

“Da Qing? Ha!” exclaimed the man as recognition dawned on his face.

“How do you know my name…?”

“Of course I know your name, I’m your master, aren’t I?”

Da Qing stared blankly at the strange man, but his heart kicked into high gear as the words resonated with what Fu You and Ma Gui had told him. It was true, then, that Kunlun held the key to his memories! Clearly, Kunlun knew him, so Da Qing was sure to find the answers to his questions if he spent time with the warrior.

“Wait, what did you call me?” asked the man with a laugh.

“Kunlun. You’re Kunlun, aren’t you?” said Da Qing as he pulled out the portrait to compare the living man with the charcoal drawing.

“That… that’s definitely me—and in modern clothes, too. This is so weird,” replied Kunlun with another laugh that warmed Da Qing’s heart, triggering soft feelings he didn’t fully understand.

“Come on, Fu You and Ma Gui will want to meet you,” said Da Qing as he helped Kunlun up. “Oh, and, they said to tell you ‘take his place,’ whatever that means.”

Kunlun gave him a puzzled look but followed him nonetheless to meet with the two leaders in their cave. After a brief breakdown of what was currently happening in Haixing, Fu You and Ma Gui dismissed Da Qing to talk privately with Kunlun.

When Da Qing came back to the cave, Kunlun had changed appearances: wearing blue robes, a fur collar, and sporting long, braided hair. Da Qing found Kunlun deep in conversation with the mysterious Black Cloaked Envoy, having returned from a mission from gods knew where. It was unusual for the Black Cloaked Envoy to be seen happily chatting with anyone, so Da Qing was surprised to find that he had an immediate connection with Kunlun—my Kunlun, he thought jealously.

Over the months, Da Qing had had very little contact with the Black Envoy, only seeing him come into the cave to report to Fu You and Ma Gui, and then heading out again just as quickly. The only thing Da Qing knew of him was that he was a ruthless fighter with a cold heart, always hiding his face behind a black mask of twisted metal and a heavy cloak to obscure his features. Da Qing didn’t like the Black Envoy all that much and, seeing him next to Kunlun who gave him a strangely warm and intimate smile full of meaning made Da Qing angry with the Envoy.

The Black Cloaked Envoy laughed softly at something Kunlun said, and Da Qing’s heart twisted in his chest with a visceral possessiveness for the warlord’s affection. While it was true that they had just only met as far as Da Qing was concerned, and Kunlun had indeed recognized him as Fu You had promised, Da Qing wanted to protect and safeguard what precious little connection they had to foster his recovery.

Still, Kunlun had more than enough smiles for everyone present, and when he saw Da Qing, he gave him a heartfelt wave of the hand and a happy, lopsided grin from next to the intimidating Black Cloaked Envoy who only directed his steely gaze at the rock wall behind Da Qing’s shoulder.

“Da Qing, come here,” beckoned Kunlun, and Da Qing obliged despite the gloomy presence of the Envoy.

“Can I assist you with anything?”

“No, nothing like that. I just thought we could hang out, just the three of us,” explained Kunlun with a squeeze of Da Qing’s shoulder and a wink at the Black Cloaked Envoy who looked as though he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

“Hang … what?” repeated Da Qing, not understanding the strange dialect—surely it was Kunlun’s native tongue coming through.

“Erm… I mean, spend some time together,” he explained with a laugh. “Come on, why don’t you show me around this place? After all, I’ve only just arrived and I don’t know much about erm, this part of Haixing.”

The Black Envoy looked aghast next to Kunlun as if he’d been slapped across the face and, hurrying to bow to the warlord, he fell into a series of apologies for his oversight and offered to play the guide if Kunlun wished it.

“Aiya, you don’t have to bow like that to me,” said Kunlun, clearly uncomfortable by the display of reverence. “Please, we’re all friends here…”

“My Lord, please forgive me, I should have suggested it earlier,” replied the Black Envoy, ignoring Kunlun’s protests to drop the overly polite language.

“If Kunlun wants a tour of the place, then I’ll do it,” interjected Da Qing, earning himself a look of surprise from his master and a light glare from the Envoy.

“… we can go all together,” tried Kunlun, sensing the animosity between the other two. “If you guys knew just how well we’ll all get along… later” mused Kunlun with a strange faraway look in his eyes.

“Of course, if that’s what my saviour wants,” replied the Envoy, sparing Da Qing a slight curl of his lips in a sign of good faith.

“Yeah… sure,” concluded Da Qing as he didn’t want to seem unreasonable in front of his newfound master.

“Great! Let’s get to it!”

Da Qing proudly led the way and showed his home to Kunlun while the Black Envoy explained various tactics that they had been employing in their fight against the Dixingren. Even though Da Qing was far from being fond of the Black Cloaked Envoy, he wasn’t petty to the point where he couldn’t admit that the man was a brilliant strategist and possibly the best fighter that Haixing had ever known. As the Envoy explained things to Kunlun, Da Qing listened in with interest and curiosity, taking mental notes of weaponry, strategy, and warfare.

Over the next few months, time passed in amiable company, and Da Qing felt more and more at peace with the part of himself that he had forgotten. To him, the present and future were much more important than a stack of old memories from a time gone by. Since Kunlun’s arrival in their encampment, there was never a dull day, and Da Qing greatly enjoyed his new life and identity as the only surviving member of the cat tribe, and Kunlun’s friend. Over time, Da Qing even warmed up to the brooding Black Cloaked Envoy—now referred to as ‘Shen Wei’ thanks to Kunlun—and Da Qing understood that it didn’t have to be a competition between the two for Kunlun’s affection.

Da Qing had come to learn that the Envoy wasn’t as callous as what people made him out to be. On the contrary, Shen Wei was a gentle, tender young man who cared deeply for his comrades and who sought justice in a world devoid of love and compassion. As for who Kunlun loved, Da Qing didn’t feel threatened anymore by Shen Wei’s presence in their lives. In fact, the three formed a formidable trio out on the battlefield and, against all odds, a warm little family come nightfall.

“Move over, fat cat. You’re taking up so much space that Shen Wei is going to freeze to death in his corner,” exclaimed Kunlun one night as the three were huddled over a small campfire on a particularly cold night.

“Shut up old man, why don’t you move? That way, Shen Wei and I can stay warm and you can go howl with the wolves to keep you busy,” retorted Da Qing with a rough shove, which quickly turned into a tussle between himself and Kunlun.

“I’m all right…”

“How dare you speak like that to your master? No more fish for you, fatty!” replied Kunlun, ignoring Shen Wei’s feeble interjection.

“Master my foot! A real master would sacrifice his comfort for his loyal friend!”

“In what universe??”

Shen Wei looked onto the scene with a fond smile as the pair bickered for the umpteenth time since they had set out on a new campaign. With a subtle flick of his wrist, Shen Wei set the flames in the firepit roaring with renewed intensity, casting a golden glow over Kunlun and Da Qing’s face.

“Shen Wei, don’t be so conciliatory,” whined Kunlun. “I’m trying to teach this dumb cat of ours a few good manners.”

“Who are you calling dumb, idiot?”

“Kunlun…” tried Shen Wei, giving Da Qing an apologetic smile, “look, it’s all settled now. No one will be cold.”

Kunlun sighed in defeat and, scooting away from Da Qing after one last kick, he moved next to Shen Wei to lay his head against his shoulder in front of the dancing fire.

“Ah, what would we do without you, Xiao Wei,” he said happily, snuggling in Shen Wei’s embrace and closing his tired eyes against the glare of the flames. “Thank goodness one of us has good sense in his head.”

Shen Wei ducked his head shyly to hide his chuckle, but Da Qing saw how his expression softened now that Kunlun was resting against his arm, how his breathing slowed to match Kunlun’s when the latter fell asleep in that posture, and how his eyes shone with adoration and respect for the man whose head gently lulled against his chest, secure in the knowledge that he was safe.

Da Qing smiled to himself, happy to be a part of their lives, and happy that Kunlun and Shen Wei had found each other in amongst all the fighting and killing they had to do. It was a small miracle in itself that two pure souls such as theirs had managed to find peace and solace in one another during wartime, and Da Qing was truly happy that the three formed a solid band against the outside forces that sought to tear them apart.

When it was time for Kunlun to leave—something that both Shen Wei and Da Qing had grappled with for months leading up to the departure—Da Qing felt sorry to see his best friend and master disappear from his life, not understanding that Kunlun had a mission of his own to accomplish. How could anything ever be more important that himself and Shen Wei? Hadn’t they been through thick and thin together? Da Qing couldn’t see the ‘bigger picture’ as Kunlun had put it, and he was surprised that Shen Wei didn’t have a stronger, physical reaction to Kunlun’s departure. Instead, Kunlun praised Shen Wei for his maturity and grace, but Da Qing could see the unfathomable sadness in his eyes, half-hidden behind the ugly mask of his alternate identity.

Da Qing had offered up his cat bells to Kunlun—the only reminder he had of his past life—but Kunlun had refused them, placing them around Da Qing’s own neck instead as a symbol of the unshakable trust between the two, and the bond that tied them to one another across space and time. Despite his sadness and confusion, Da Qing held onto the hope in his heart that Kunlun would come back to get him one day—both him and Shen Wei—and that they could resume their happy life together until death claimed them. Unbeknownst to him, the same hope reigned in both Shen Wei and Kunlun’s hearts too, keeping the three united in their desire to meet again in the future.

The goodbyes were cut short by the arrival of Ye Zun—Shen Wei’s wicked long-lost twin—and his band of ruffians. The trio fought tooth and nail against the invading force, but Ye Zun was just too strong, matching Shen Wei’s might blow for blow, and easily deflecting Kunlun’s attempts to attack him in tandem. Da Qing saw how Shen Wei fought half-heartedly against his brother, holding back in the hopes that he could save him instead of destroying him, which was ultimately his downfall.

During the confrontation with Ye Zun, Da Qing watched in horror as his two friends received a thrashing from the White Lord—Shen Wei knocked unconscious nearby, and Kunlun helpless in the face of the most powerful Dixingren on the planet. Da Qing gathered his courage and flung himself at Ye Zun to protect his master, but he was no match for his might and so, the last thing Da Qing saw was his friends strewn across the battlefield as darkness enveloped him.

By the time Da Qing woke up, Shen Wei and Ye Zun had disappeared, the Hallows had vanished, and Kunlun was gone from this world, never to be seen again.

End of Chapter 2.

Chapter Text

Knit and united with eternal hands;
Among the Stars their double image stands,
Where both are carried with an equal pace,

Together jumping in their turning race.

Orchestra, Sir John Davies

“Da Qing, don’t let the intern struggle on his own like that. Go help him out.”

“Aw come on Lao Zhao, why me?”

“Because you’re a cat and you’re not afraid of heights?”

“Fine,” drawled out Da Qing as he peaked over the edge of the windowsill.

“Hey kid, are you alright?” he called out to a young man currently hanging onto the ledge for dear life.

“H-help…”

Da Qing sighed and resisted the urge to call out unsavoury jokes to the poor intern who looked as though he was in a life and death situation. That morning, the SID had received a phone call about a murder that had taken place on campus at Dragon University. Zhao Yunlan had set out early with Da Qing and the recruit Guo Changcheng, and now the latter found himself dangling several feet above ground because of his nonchalant chief and his unorthodox investigative methods.

“Student, what are you doing up there?” called out an unknown voice from below the window.

Zhao Yunlan looked over the edge to see who it was as his line of sight crossed with that of a young bespectacled man, no doubt a professor at the university where they were currently working on a case.

“Dammit, me and my bad karma” swore Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing scoffed from next to him. “Come on cat, let’s go downstairs and greet this man—then get on with our job.”

Da Qing transformed into his cat form to be less conspicuous while Zhao Yunlan slapped on his best fake-friendly smile and spoke with the man called Shen Wei. Immediately, Da Qing noticed how the professor’s expression shifted from shock, to recognition, to longing within the space of a few seconds. The change went by unnoticed by his boss, but Da Qing couldn’t help but feel as though this mysterious encounter was much more important than it seemed at first glance.

Zhao Yunlan laughed easily and petted his head focusing on his ears, while the professor scratched his chin and called him ‘friendly’—but everything seemed strangely like a bubble just about to burst. Da Qing felt like he was on the cusp of remembering something very important—but what was it exactly? Shen Wei’s warm hand felt so comfortable and personal, as though Da Qing had been in a similar situation before…

Where had he seen this Shen Wei before? Why did he seem so familiar, as though they had spent a lifetime together a long, long time ago?

Da Qing felt Zhao Yunlan nudge him along, so he got up from his crouch and went to hide in a bush nearby to continue his observation. When Zhao Yunlan left with Guo Changcheng, Da Qing saw how the professor stood frozen in place for much too long, staring in the general direction of where Zhao Yunlan had left. Da Qing’s hairs rose on his back out of fear and worry for his master’s safety, but something about Shen Wei didn’t seem all that threatening—the gentle squint of his eyes as he watched the empty spot in front of him with yearning told Da Qing that this man didn’t pose a danger to Zhao Yunlan.

Shutting his eyes tightly, Da Qing racked his brain to remember, but his memories were too fuzzy for him to pull anything useful out of them. Still, there was something about the way in which the scene had unfolded in front of him—Zhao Yunlan speaking in low tones with a mysterious figure, a shy and gentle man unable to look him in the eye for too long. Something about this encounter felt like a déjà vu, but Da Qing just couldn’t put his finger on where and when he had seen this moment unfold.

A few hours later, Da Qing found himself outside an office within the university after having regained his human form, guarding the door while Zhao Yunlan and Guo Changcheng interrogated their suspect. Da Qing half-listened to the conversation, still thinking about the strange man from before.

“Why do I have to guard the door,” complained Da Qing just as Shen Wei arrived from another corridor.

Da Qing looked at Shen Wei suspiciously while the other smiled benignly all the while Zhao Yunlan continued his interrogation inside the room and the student’s responses floated out into the hallway, cutting through the tension as Da Qing eyed the professor. Even though Shen Wei felt familiar to him, Da Qing wasn’t in the habit of trusting just anyone, especially since he couldn’t remember much from his life before meeting Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei may not have been a direct threat to Zhao Yunlan, but maybe he was one for Da Qing instead.

“Do we know each other?” asked the gentle professor when Da Qing had been staring at him for longer than what was considered to be polite.

Now that he really thought about it, there was definitely something about Shen Wei that triggered something in his memories—a warm laugh, a shy smile, long flowing hair and black robes—

“Da Qing, can you help me? Do you think Kunlun will like these new boots? I had them specially made for our next trip.”

“Da Qing, Kunlun said to start eating before him. He caught the fish himself this morning and I roasted it for you.”

“Da Qing, I’m so glad you can accompany Kunlun whenever I can’t. Please protect him if ever I can’t. I trust you.”

“Da Qing, you know he has to leave one day, but it’s okay. We’ll have each other afterwards, and we’ll find him again, together.”

All of a sudden, Da Qing remembered everything in one blinding flash. Observing Shen Wei now brought back memories of another lifetime—of the Black Cloaked Envoy and Kunlun chatting comfortably in Ma Gui’s cave, so many eons ago, of Shen Wei and Kunlun fighting side by side, and of the two young men sleeping soundly together in front of a dying fire and Da Qing’s fond gaze.

“Young man?” pressed Shen Wei, snapping Da Qing back to reality.

“… sorry. My boss is inside if you want to talk to him,” replied Da Qing, hoping his voice wouldn’t betray his emotions.

Shen Wei looked at him a bit curiously despite his polite smile, drilling his sharp eyes straight into Da Qing’s face, trying to figure him out. Da Qing looked away and made way for Shen Wei to pass, breathing a sigh of relief when the other didn’t pursue his silent inquiry.

While the others continued to work on their current case, Da Qing struggled to control the flow of memories as they poured back into his brain from a long-forgotten part of his mind. Miraculously, Da Qing remembered every single detail of his old life: meeting Kunlun, fighting with him in the war, chatting with Shen Wei at night, spending time with Ma Gui and Fu You in the cave… but better still, Da Qing remembered a time from before ancient Haixing—a machine with whirling and clicking sounds, hooked up to wires and shining an eerie blue glow, friends huddled around him in one final goodbye, the crackling noise of matter splitting open, and then the vastness of the void.

Da Qing clutched at his head as the images overlapped one another, confusing him as to what was reality and what was his imagination. How could he have known Lin Jing and the others before meeting Shen Wei and Kunlun? Time was linear—this made no sense! What was more, Da Qing was pretty sure he could remember meeting Shen Wei and Kunlun twice, which was really mind-bending to think about.

Da Qing’s memories were suddenly stretched to their limits, threatening to break his mind as tens of thousands of years came rushing in all at once, flooding his senses in an uncontrollable way. He was sure he had been to ancient Haixing a second time to accomplish something… something of utmost importance…

The wick! thought Da Qing with a jolt. His mission had been to hide away the lantern’s wick to prevent the death of… of… Da Qing couldn’t be sure. In his jumbled memories, Da Qing saw several versions of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, each one in different situations that had already happened—or would happen. In one memory, Da Qing saw Shen Wei dressed all in black, and in another, he saw Zhao Yunlan with glowing golden eyes. Then, he was sure that Zhao Yunlan had died at some point, but his memories told him that he had still walked around the SID when Da Qing had left… unless it wasn’t him? As for Shen Wei, Da Qing could have sworn that he had seen his love-filled smile in amongst an ocean of stars in the void—

“Argh!!”

“Da Qing? What’s wrong?” cried out Zhao Yunlan when he saw his friend distraught and rushed to his side after his investigation.

“My head…”

“What is it? You have a headache?”

Da Qing nodded feebly as a response since there was no way he could talk about this with Zhao Yunlan. Amongst the mess of memories, one thing was sure: he couldn’t tell Zhao Yunlan nor Shen Wei about what he knew. Why, he couldn’t say for sure, but a single thought speaking in Lin Jing’s voice told Da Qing that they had to remain in the dark for their own safety—that the fate of the whole world rested on the secret of Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei’s previous lives.

“Come on, let’s go to the hospital,” declared Zhao Yunlan with panic in his tone.

Zhao Yunlan knew that Da Qing was prone to headaches—no doubt a consequence of his missing memories—so he didn’t want to take any chances and decided to get him checked out as soon as possible.

“Is everything alright?” questioned Shen Wei with legitimate concern.

“My deputy chief isn’t feeling well. If you’ll excuse us Professor Shen, we’ll be in contact again some other time.”

“Yes, of course…”

Zhao Yunlan drove Da Qing to the hospital and, after a check-up and a recommendation to take it easy at work for a few days, Zhao Yunlan sighed with relief and left his cat to pick up a prescription for his recurring headaches.

Alone in the waiting room, Da Qing thought back on his mission, trying to make sense of all the revived memories in his mind. After all these years… what if the wick was damaged, or worse, missing once again? Da Qing had to verify this immediately—he needed to find the wick and make sure it was still intact. From what he remembered from the initial timeline, he only had about a year to prevent Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei’s deaths from reoccurring, and he’d be damned if he’d let them perish again after so much effort.

As soon as Zhao Yunlan released him from duty that day, Da Qing used his need to prowl at night as an excuse to leave the SID and rush off into the unknown to search for the wick he had so carefully hidden ten thousand years ago.

For the next few weeks, Da Qing set out each night, combing the forests and the mountain ranges around Dragon City and in search of Ma Gui’s cave. Unfortunately for him, the landscape of the planet had drastically changed over the years. Some lakes had been drained to make way for cities while rivers had been diverted to allow for construction, and acres of forests had been ripped out to accommodate highways crisscrossing the mountains. Da Qing was having a hard time locating the exact place where he and his friends from back then had made their home. Maybe the Black Cloaked Envoy would know, but Da Qing couldn’t risk disrupting the fragile equilibrium of time by alerting him to the fact that he was aware of his identity and, more importantly, that he remembered their shared past. The consequences of Shen Wei or Zhao Yunlan finding out the truth now could jeopardize the whole world, as well as their survival, and Da Qing couldn’t risk it.

Around the sixth month since his reawakening to his past, Da Qing and his SID teammates found themselves exploring an old territory tucked away far into the mountains of Haixing—the Hanga tribe—now decimated and left in ruins. Da Qing hoped that this might be the place he needed to reach, but alas the Hanga tribe did not match with his memories, and the ancient tribe’s caves weren’t the same ones from what he remembered.

On their first evening there, Da Qing and the others gathered around Shen Wei as he told stories about the tribe and explained rituals and customs as clearly as if he had seen them himself—which in fact, was the case, but naturally only Da Qing knew that. Da Qing caught Zhao Yunlan looking on softly as Shen Wei, illuminated by candlelight, told his tales with great detail—something that echoed with a young Shen Wei from ten thousand years ago.

Back then, the young soldier had told stories of battles across ancient Haixing in which he had participated, and Kunlun and Da Qing had absorbed each excited word, enrapt by Shen Wei’s storytelling capabilities. Now, huddled together in a much more modern setting, Da Qing felt a pinch in his heart as he longed for a time long gone, and worried about an unstable future.

Soon enough, the second holy tool, the Mountain River Awl, was found as the lovers Wang Zheng and Sang Zan were reunited after one hundred long years of separation. At the same time, Zhao Yunlan became aware of Shen Wei’s identity as the Black Cloaked Envoy, so Da Qing didn’t have to tread as carefully anymore.

Da Qing knew that he had very little time left before the next Hallow was found, and that Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan would be forced to face their deaths once again. Knowing that time was of the essence, Da Qing doubled his efforts in trying to locate the wick and Ma Gui’s ancient cave, but no matter how much he searched, Da Qing couldn’t locate the final piece of the puzzle—surely, his beloved friends would be put in harm’s way again, and all of his efforts thus far would all be in vain.

“Da Qing, what are you ruminating for over in your corner?”

“Mm? Oh, nothing,” lied Da Qing, brushing aside his anxiety and worry and forcing his lips into a curl for Zhao Yunlan’s benefit.

“Then, get over here,” beckoned Zhao Yunlan, pulling open the blanket on his lap for Da Qing to sit next to him on the couch as Shen Wei graded papers from the armchair opposite them.

“Zhao Yunlan, it’s getting late,” declared Shen Wei, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“And?”

“And, I should get going.”

“Nonsense, there’s enough room for you here, isn’t that right Da Qing?” replied Zhao Yunlan jovially.

“Of course,” agreed Da Qing. “Please stay Prof Shen. Tell us some stories again.”

Shen Wei sighed fondly, knowing that he had already lost this battle before it had fully started. Bundling and stacking his papers neatly on the coffee table in front of him, Shen Wei leaned back comfortably in his chair, hands steepled accompanied by a patient smile.

“What would you like to hear?”

“Tell us about your adventures as the Envoy,” replied Da Qing with childlike wonder from next to Zhao Yunlan who nodded vigorously his approval of this type of storytelling.

Shen Wei dove into a series of colourful tales about his adventures over the years until both Zhao Yunlan and his cat dozed off happily, hearts warm with love and minds full of images of heroic warriors and justice-loving fighters. Shen Wei smiled fondly at the pair and wrapped the blanket tightly around them before tiptoeing over to the kitchen to fix them a snack for when they woke up.

In this way, the months flew by and Da Qing almost forgot about the wick since he had resigned himself to the fact that Ma Gui’s cave was probably long-gone. Over time, Da Qing convinced himself that things would be okay for him and his little family. The peace they felt everyday was so comfortable and real that Da Qing had a hard time believing his memories that showed him images filled with blood, ash, and tears.

That was, until the third Hallow was found and brought into the lab. From that point on, things developed exactly as how Da Qing remembered them: Zhao Yunlan ended up in ancient Haixing for a while, Shen Wei developed a blood illness that weakened him day by day, and Ye Zun made his apparition in Haixing, terrorizing its citizens.

When Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei returned from the void, Da Qing saw how they had changed—how their previous affection for one another had only amplified by tenfold as Zhao Yunlan ‘remembered’ their shared history thanks to his journey into the past. The relationship between Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing changed too as the former endeared himself even more to the latter, feeling guilty for the thousands of years during which he had been absent—through no fault of his own, though.

“Da Qing, what happened after we went into the wormhole?” asked Zhao Yunlan after a particularly fearsome encounter with the dream casting Dixingren.

“I tried to take the Hallows away, but there were too many things happening at once inside the SID. A lot of our people were taken or injured and, well, you know the rest.”

“At least we have the Hallows now…” replied Zhao Yunlan with a sigh.

“We might be able to defeat Ye Zun if we have them all,” interjected Shen Wei, “but the Guardian Lantern hasn’t even appeared yet.”

“What if it’s always been near us?” questioned Zhao Yunlan.

“You mean, at the SID?”

Understanding passed between the people gathered around Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei as everyone realized at once that the lantern had always been in their vicinity—never very far from its master, thought Da Qing with a chill. The lantern was uniquely linked to Zhao Yunlan and depended on him to accomplish its purpose. Da Qing knew that the lantern was attached to Zhao Yunlan’s soul and that, naturally, it wouldn’t stray very far from him even though thousands of years had passed.

With that in mind, Da Qing rushed to the SID with his friends only to find his old friend, the caretaker Lao Li, near death due to an attack from Ye Zun, and even though Shen Wei did his best to revive the old man, his injuries were too grave and caused his demise, breaking Da Qing’s heart in the process. Now with Lao Li gone, and three members of the SID killed by Ye Zun, Da Qing felt with every fiber of his being that Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei were next on the list.

Soon, Zhao Yunlan’s hunch proved right as the lantern was found tucked away in a box of discarded, broken items at the SID. However, to everyone’s dismay, the wick was missing from the artifact, rendering it useless and causing more concern than rejoicement at having found the last artifact.

“Then, we should go look for it,” encouraged Da Qing, knowing full well that the wick was somewhere in Haixing—it was only a question of figuring out where exactly it was hidden.

“It’s not that easy, unfortunately. The Hallows went through so much over the last ten thousand years, there’s no way of knowing how the wick was made, or even what it was to begin with,” replied Shen Wei. “There’s a possibility it’s still in Dixing…”

“Hold that thought Prof Shen; there’s a message from Lin Jing!” exclaimed Zhu Hong and, following her remark, everyone’s phones buzzed with the same video message from their recently missing comrade.

In the video, everyone could clearly see Ye Zun twisting Lin Jing into his service and forcing him to close redundant portals between Haixing and Dixing, thereby isolating the two nations and putting him in a particular position of absolute power over the comings and goings between worlds—even Shen Wei couldn’t stop this from happening.

“Wait a minute, what does he mean by unnecessary passageways?” asked Zhao Yunlan.

“I just remembered something!” declared Da Qing excitedly. “When Ma Gui and Fu You were in charge, they created two passageways: one beneath the locust tree and guarded by Ma Gui and the humans, the other was in a cave protected by the Yashou.”

All of a sudden, things made absolute sense to Da Qing who had been racking his brain over the last year trying to figure out where Ma Gui’s cave was located. All along, it had been on Yashou territory, but Da Qing hadn’t thought to go there, focusing instead on the mountains and valleys of the humans.

“That… that would be the sacred place guarded by the snake tribe!” concluded Zhu Hong. “I have to go back to my tribe—surely, they’ll have the answers we’re looking for.”

“I’ll go with you. I need to talk to your uncle about all of this,” said Zhao Yunlan.

“And I’ll return to Dixing through the main portal before it’s completely sealed off,” added Shen Wei.

“This might be the most crucial battle yet,” explained Zhao Yunlan in one last effort to rally his friends and give them courage. “When we come back here afterwards, our team can’t be short of anyone.”

Shen Wei shared a look with Zhao Yunlan as it was decided that he would go back to Dixing on his own while the rest of the SID would go to the Yashou, but Da Qing felt uneasy as the reality of what had once happened was looming nearer, threatening to repeat itself unless he found the wick he had so carefully hidden away.

When Da Qing left with Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong for the snake tribe, and that Zhu Hong was made the new tribe leader thanks to her boss’ help, the trio hurried to the secret cave only to find strange writing on the walls and four pedestals meant to welcome the Hallows. Zhu Hong explained that the cave not only served as a passageway between Haixing and Dixing but also as a place to activate the Hallows—something that matched Da Qing’s memories of Ma Gui’s cave to perfection.

Following his instincts, Zhao Yunlan placed the Hallows in their rightful place and, after a few moments, they reacted with one another, causing a projection of Ma Gui and Fu You to appear on the cave walls.

“Who… are you?” asked Ma Gui as Zhao Yunlan waved happily to his friends from across spacetime.

“Ah, I guess you haven’t met me yet,” mused Zhao Yunlan, earning himself a confused look from the ancient leaders.

“You should know me, though!” spoke up Da Qing.

Fu You smiled widely as she recognized her old friend even though he clearly had a different look than what she remembered.

“Da Qing? Is that you? What happened to your mission?” she asked bewilderedly.

“About that… I’m right in the middle of it,” laughed Da Qing. Finally, he felt that he would be able to complete his task and save his friends. “We collected the Hallows, see?”

“You need to fuse the Hallows to use their energy,” explained Ma Gui, “but where is the lantern’s wick?”

“We don’t know,” replied Zhao Yunlan. “Can you help us?”

“That’s easy! To find the wick, you need—” started Fu You, but the feed between the past and the present was suddenly cut off right before she could give direct instructions on how to solve their problem.

“No! Damn it, now what do we do?” exclaimed Zhao Yunlan with frustration.

“It’s okay… I think I might know.”

“Da Qing? How could you possibly—”

Da Qing spared his friends a smile before circling the cave a few times in search of a well-hidden fissure in the surface of its rock face. Finding an area particularly thick with ivy and tall grass, Da Qing pushed the greenery aside until he revealed a small crack just wide enough for an arm to fit through. Without hesitating, Da Qing plunged his hand into the dark space until he felt a smooth and cool surface beneath his fingertips.

“I think this is what you’ve been looking for?” said Da Qing proudly as he pulled out the small glass box from its hiding place, now covered with moss and dust from the earth.

“How in the world…”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” said Da Qing with a smile, eyes brimming with tears. “The only thing you need to know is that you have to take this and the Hallows to Dixing and save Shen Wei.”

“What’s wrong with Shen Wei?” asked Zhao Yunlan, panic rising in his voice. “Da Qing, if you know something, you have to tell me—"

“Just promise me Lao Zhao—that you’ll save him,” pressed Da Qing with a squeeze of Zhao Yunlan’s shoulder, “and that you’ll come back to tell the tale.”

Zhao Yunlan nodded solemnly and, thanking his best friend for his help, stowed the Hallows back into his bag along with the glass box and the ever-important wick.

Zhao Yunlan rushed to Dixing accompanied by Guo Changcheng with the Hallows snuggly stuffed in his backpack. As soon as he entered the palace, Zhao Yunlan knew that the battle for the fate of the world was now afoot. Already, Zhao Yunlan had been accosted by an assortment of unsavoury Dixingren who clearly worked for Ye Zun and wanted to get rid of the Guardian before he could tip the scale in favour of Haixing.

When Shen Wei finally appeared before him, saving him from a disloyal Dixingren, bloodied and bruised from having been tortured by his brother, Zhao Yunlan’s blood boiled at the sight and his desire to avenge Shen Wei kicked in, making him disregard his safety and their mission for the sake of protecting his beloved.

“…Yunlan, listen to me… if there comes a time when I need to exchange my life for that of every other living thing…”

“Shut up, that’s not going to happen,” roared Zhao Yunlan fiercely from next to Shen Wei’s crumpled form. “We’re getting out of here Shen Wei.”

“… listen… if it happens, I believe you will do the r-right thing…”

“Look, I have all the Hallows now, and I have the wick too. There’s no need for you to go on a stupid suicide mission to save the world,” replied Zhao Yunlan emphatically.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Zhao Yunlan couldn’t help but try to make light of it to alleviate his worry and pain at the prospect of losing Shen Wei. Seeing Shen Wei so helpless and dripping with blood awakened Zhao Yunlan’s primaeval need to protect him from harm.

“If you go, then I go with you,” he declared, ignoring Shen Wei’s feeble protests. “Come on, let’s get this over and done with.”

Helping Shen Wei to his feet, Zhao Yunlan half-dragged him back to the heart of the battle with a clear mission in his mind. Zhao Yunlan, the Guardian of the world, was going to put an end to this calamity even if it cost him his life. So long as Shen Wei and his friends at the SID were safe, Zhao Yunlan didn’t mind laying his life down in exchange for their continued happiness and survival.

Now, finally face to face with his biggest foe to date, Zhao Yunlan summoned every inch of courage he could spare to square off against Ye Zun, but the latter was still much too strong for him, and Shen Wei was of no help since his powers had been completely depleted by his blood disease.

“Look at you brother,” sneered Ye Zun as he stood over an incredibly weakened Shen Wei. “The great Black Cloaked Envoy, reduced to nothing—a piece of useless rock ready to be crushed beneath my feet, a begging dog who can only cower with fear.”

“Ye… Zun…”

“Yes, brother, beg. Beg for your life—and his,” replied Ye Zun as he threw a ball of dark energy at Zhao Yunlan who remained helplessly shackled to a pillar beneath Shen Wei’s horrified gaze.

“Leave him alone!”

“Yes, gege, that’s it… despair some more.”

Ye Zun smirked, evil dripping from his curled lips and cruel eyes, throwing yet another wave of energy and the Guardian and forcing him to cough up blood, splattering it all over his front and on the ground at his feet.

“Ha… you’ll never win, Ye Zun,” taunted Zhao Yunlan around a mouthful of blood.

“Yeah? Too bad for you, Kunlun, but I have the Hallows now—Xiao Guo! Bring me the holy tools,” he called, and Guo Changcheng appeared with a tray carrying the four artifacts.

“Of course…” mused Zhao Yunlan, thinking back on Guo Changcheng’s newly awakened powers and how they could be beneficial to Ye Zun.

Ye Zun laughed maniacally as he called forth the Hallows and had them float in front of him through the power of his dark energy. Concentrating his strength into awakening them, Ye Zun watched hungrily while the Hallows glowed with life from his ministrations but, right before the objects could complete their purpose and give Ye Zun the ultimate power he craved so much, their powers died immediately and the artifacts fell inert all around him with a loud clatter.

“Ha!” laughed Zhao Yunlan, truly elated by Ye Zun’s failure to produce results. “I told you, you can never win!”

“The wick… where is it?? Tell me!”

“Hahaha!”

Ye Zun roared with anger, rounding on Zhao Yunlan with all his might and threatening to kill him if he didn’t give him the all-too important wick to complete his quest in world domination.

“WHERE IS IT?”

“As if I’d tell you.”

“WHERE??” repeated Ye Zun, beating Zhao Yunlan relentlessly with lashes of dark energy.

When Zhao Yunlan failed to notice that Ye Zun was truly intending on ending his life right then and there, Shen Wei suddenly bolted from his sprawl on the ground in one last surge of energy and interposed himself between his brother and his soulmate, taking the brunt of the attack and sending him flying to the ground once more, now truly rendered powerless.

“Why do you always oppose me??” bellowed Ye Zun, kicking viciously at Shen Wei’s broken body. “Why don’t you just die since you’re so eager to stand in my way?”

Zhao Yunlan watched in horror as Shen Wei was suddenly and cruelly stabbed through the heart by his own brother, unable to do anything but scream in agony as the sight gnawed at his insides and ripped his very soul to shreds.

“SHEN WEI! NOOOO!!!”

Right before his eyes, Ye Zun absorbed a still semi-conscious Shen Wei into his stomach all the while laughing like a madman as his power grew from the pain experienced by Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. Truly, destroying the great Guardian and the Black Envoy was more pleasurable than gaining the powers of the Hallows.

“KILL ME,” howled Zhao Yunlan, blood and tears intermingling on his face. “KILL ME!” he repeated while his neck strained from the effort as he fought against his bonds, forming a garish scene that only amplified Ye Zun’s glee and his lust for power.

“Kill you? Patience, Guardian. Your turn will come soon enough.”

For the next few hours, Ye Zun ruthlessly tortured Zhao Yunlan with his dark energy, but the hero of Haixing was already dead inside, broken beyond repair from having lost the one person who made it all matter—the one man who had complete dominion of Zhao Yunlan’s life and heart, and this since the past ten thousand years. No matter how much Ye Zun taunted and threatened him, Zhao Yunlan was unresponsive, not even giving him the satisfaction of making a single sound out of the immense pain he was being put through. To Zhao Yunlan, physical pain meant nothing when his very heart had been cleaved clean into two. Even though Shen Wei was the one to have been stabbed, Zhao Yunlan’s heart reverberated his pain as if it were his own.

Impressed by his resilience, Ye Zun realized that no amount of torture could convince Zhao Yunlan to reveal the location of the wick, so he changed tactics and released him from his shackles, offering him comfort instead in the shape of wine and an opportunity to join hands with him.

“Work with you? Ha, I’d rather die,” retorted Zhao Yunlan.

“I can give you anything that you want, Guardian. Anything your heart desires…”

For a brief moment, Zhao Yunlan’s resolve wavered as he considered taking up Ye Zun on his offer and request that Shen Wei be brought back to him, safe and sound. Ye Zun could sense that Zhao Yunlan was near his breaking point—that the Guardian was unsure because of the weight in his heart and his desire to save Shen Wei.

“I want you to die,” replied Zhao Yunlan after his initial weakness of mind had passed and that he remembered the bigger picture; he had to save Haixing and protect its inhabitants—all of this was much bigger than just him and Shen Wei. Plus, he still had an ace up his sleeve in the form of Da Qing’s wick, and he intended to use it.

“You get one more chance,” answered Ye Zun with a surprising amount of patience and clarity.

“Mm… Thanks, but I still want you to die.”

“Very well, so it’s a race then to see who will die first between you and me.”

Again, Ye Zun attempted to activate the Hallows in front of Zhao Yunlan, and again the artifacts rejected him, resulting in him becoming injured and leaking out dark energy despite himself. Panicked, Ye Zun attempted to absorb a few loitering Dixingren guards to heal his wounds, but the work of the Hallows was irreparable and the injuries remained.

“Ha, now what?” taunted Zhao Yunlan as he surreptitiously injected himself with a vial of a DNA-changing chemical that the labs had developed recently under the orders of Dr Ouyang—Zhao Yunlan had obtained a vial from Lin Jing a while back, unbeknownst to anyone.

“Now I kill you, Guardian.”

“Not if I can kill you first.”

Zhao Yunlan sprung up and lashed out at Ye Zun with all the might he could muster, grabbing at his white garbs and throwing him wide across the room as his muscles suddenly had an amplified amount of strength.

Before Ye Zun could reply in kind by throwing dark energy his way, Zhao Yunlan fished out the box from the inside of his jacket, still miraculously unbroken, and fidgeted with the object as he searched for an opening or a hinge to release the wick from its glass prison.

Ye Zun looked horrified when he realized that the wick had been on Zhao Yunlan’s body all this time—hidden in plain sight.

“Smash it, Lao Zhao!” yelled out Da Qing as he arrived on the scene with Chu Shuzhi in tow who was already casting webs of string around the room to entrap Ye Zun in case he tried to escape.

“What?”

“Smash the glass!!”

“Oh…”

Without a second thought, Zhao Yunlan threw the box against one of the pillars with what little strength was left in his muscles as the serum’s power wore out and his normal human strength returned to his body.

The box shattered into a million little pieces, sending glass shards flying here and there, but Da Qing ignored them as he threw himself onto the now exposed shoelace and, with one swift movement, chucked it through the air at Zhao Yunlan who caught it effortlessly in his fist.

Looking down at his hand, Zhao Yunlan spared a chuckle at the odd object found within.

“A shoelace? Is that all you could manage?” he scoffed, turning the thing over in his hand a few times.

“Nevermind that, put it in the lantern! Quickly! It’s time sensit—”

With those last words uttered, the shoelace-come-wick sputtered to life and produced a few sparks, then burst into flames right in Zhao Yunlan’s open palm, burning the sensitive skin in its wake.

Zhao Yunlan nearly dropped the wick entirely out of reflex but, gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his hand, he closed his fingers around it once more and ran to the discarded lantern that lay inert a few meters away from the action.

“GIVE IT TO ME!” roared Ye Zun who struggled to maintain a grip on his consciousness as his powers poured out of him through his injuries.

“Lao Zhao! Hurry!” yelled out Da Qing as he kicked the lantern in Zhao Yunlan’s direction.

Zhao Yunlan grabbed the wayward lantern with his free hand and stuck it beneath his arm, prying the window open to make way for the wick.

“This one is for all of Haixing,” said Zhao Yunlan as he stuffed the burning wick into the lantern.

The lantern sputtered to life once more as the flame caught on stronger than before and burst with renewed energy as it fed itself on the oxygen inside the lantern. All of a sudden, the dark room of the palace was bathed with a searing white light as the lantern finally accomplished its purpose and provided light for Dixing.

“—and this one is for Shen Wei, you sick bastard!” cried Zhao Yunlan who, aiming the blinding light of the lantern at Ye Zun, forced a mechanism to take place during which Ye Zun got pierced by thousands of needles made out of rays, forcing him to lose even more dark energy and cough up his most recent victims, including—

“Shen Wei!!” yelled out Zhao Yunlan as he crawled over to the professor’s inert form to cradle him in his arms.

Along with Shen Wei, a few more people materialized back out of Ye Zun’s stomach, including the regent and the king as well as a few castle guards, but more importantly, Da Qing’s precious friend Lin Jing. After having checked on the scientist who was, for all intents and purposes perfectly fine, Da Qing shifted his attention and held his breath as Shen Wei remained unmoving despite Zhao Yunlan’s constant, frenzied calls.

“Shen Wei, wake up. Shen Wei! Don’t you dare die on me, Shen Wei. Wake up!! Please, Shen Wei!”

“Yun… lan…”

“Shen Wei!!”

Da Qing sighed with relief when Shen Wei finally stirred, and his tears and cries of joy mingled with those of Lin Jing and Zhao Yunlan as everyone huddled around the severely injured but thankfully alive Shen Wei.

“Shen Wei, how dare you do this to me…” sniffed Zhao Yunlan, wiping away some blood from Shen Wei’s overly pale cheeks and brushing aside his damp hair.

“S-sorry…” tried Shen Wei with a wry smile that sent knives of pain crisscrossing his body—but Shen Wei didn’t care because feeling pain meant he was alive, and seeing Zhao Yunlan’s warm eyes trained on his meant that he had survived against all odds.

“Zhao Yunlan… sorry to disturb this tearful reunion,” started Chu Shuzhi, “but you have something to deal with over here…” he said as he struggled to keep Ye Zun caged by his puppet strings.

“Guardian… I guess you were right. If you want to take your vengeance now, I won’t blame you for it,” spoke up Ye Zun with difficulty as energy continued to pour out of him in great waves, leaving him weak and strained.

“I’ll give you a chance Ye Zun, the same one you offered me,” said Zhao Yunlan with Shen Wei still firmly entrenched in his embrace.

“Join you? I’d rather you kill me,” replied Ye Zun, echoing Zhao Yunlan’s earlier words.

“For the sake of your brother who loves you despite everything you’ve done, I’m offering you an option B—I suggest you take it.”

“Just kill me and be done with it,” laughed Ye Zun derisively. “Stop with this fake sympathy, it makes me sick.”

Shen Wei struggled into a sitting position within Zhao Yunlan’s protective arms, propped up by Zhao Yunlan’s knee behind his back. Shen Wei breathed with difficulty and fought to maintain his consciousness long enough to finally confront Ye Zun with all of his pains and woes in a final attempt to reconcile with his long-lost brother.

“Didi… stop this. It’s been going on f-for long enough now… this hatred needs to stop,” he said in between gulps of air, each one more painful than the next.

“Ge, there’s nothing left for me…”

“Let’s go home, Ye Zun. You and I… we can go home.”

“Home?” questioned Ye Zun with a softened, scared tone as he sensed his end looming close at hand.

“…yes… let’s go—together.”

“Wait a minute,” interjected Zhao Yunlan. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Shen Wei smiled through the pain and raised a shaky hand to caress the familiar planes of Zhao Yunlan’s face.

“Yunlan, my beloved Guardian… the people need you f-from now on, but it’s the end… of the road for me,” he declared with a sad but gentle smile as he announced his impending demise to his lover, his best friend, his soulmate.

“What are you saying… you’re going to be okay Shen Wei…” tried Zhao Yunlan through a shaky voice as his fear of losing Shen Wei resurged. “I can’t lose you again, Shen Wei, I just can’t.”

“You… have to… carry on.”

“No! Not without you!”

“Yunlan… you were, and always will, be my guiding light. This life of mine… was always yours…  since that faithful day… ten thousand years ago."

"Then, let's keep going, together, for another million years!"

"Let's make a bet...”

"No bets! You're alright Shen Wei, this is nothing... you're going to be just fine" said Zhao Yunlan now frenzied with the thought of losing Shen Wei as he tried to convince himself that things would work out. "Why aren't you healing? Heal yourself!" commanded Zhao Yunlan, his words catching due to his sudden shortness of breath. "Please, for me, please."

Shen Wei spared Zhao Yunlan a final smile filled with tenderness and devotion and then, despite Zhao Yunlan’s frantic yells and his own desire to survive, he fell limp in Zhao Yunlan’s arms with one final expiration of a shuddering, pained breath.

“Shen Wei…? Shen Wei!!” said Zhao Yunlan with increasing panic in his voice.

“Lao Zhao…” tried Lin Jing, but Zhao Yunlan ignored him and any other attempt to break through his determination to revive Shen Wei.

“Shen Wei!!” yelled out Zhao Yunlan hopelessly, shaking Shen Wei’s unmoving body with force.

“He’s gone,” tried Lin Jing again around the knot in his throat.

Da Qing held back a sob as he watched Zhao Yunlan hug and rock Shen Wei’s body, tears streaming down his face. Despite his best efforts, Da Qing had only managed to save one of the two, and Shen Wei had sadly perished from Ye Zun’s brutal attacks. Da Qing blamed himself for not having been fast enough in finding the wick, for not having been swift enough in telling Zhao Yunlan what to do with it, and for not having been quick enough to prevent Shen Wei’s untimely demise. Everything that he had done—travelling back in time, losing his memories, and meeting Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei several times over—had only worked partially, and Da Qing hated himself for his failure at protecting both of his best friends.

“NO! Ye Zun, do something! You’re the only one who can save him now!” said Zhao Yunlan as he turned on Ye Zun with fire in his eyes. “Save him, and I will make sure that you are pardoned for your crimes.”

“… there’s too much bad blood between us, Zhao Yun—”

“Give it up, Ye Zun!” interrupted Zhao Yunlan with impatience. “He’s your brother for crying out loud! The only family that you have!”

“My brother and I… we’ve always had problems,” tried Ye Zun feebly as he suddenly struggled with his own grief when faced with what he had done to his only living relative.

“Put your differences aside and do something good and noble for once in your life! Your brother never hesitated in protecting you—he wanted to save you, you ungrateful bastard!”

Ye Zun recoiled at Zhao Yunlan’s words as reality sunk in and his brother’s body lay broken in front of him within arm’s reach—battered and bruised because of his actions. Shen Wei had always been adamant that he never abandoned his brother and that he had always wanted what was best for him, but Ye Zun, who had been so consumed by his own greed and desire for vengeance, had never believed his gentle brother’s heartfelt words. Instead, he had sought to destroy the only good thing in his life, and injure him beyond repair—and all for what? Vengeance suddenly seemed so petty and useless now that the target of his ire could no longer reply with kind, soothing words.

Let’s go home—together.

“Gege… my good, good brother, can you ever forgive me…” said Ye Zun brokenly as a lone tear ran down his cheek and splashed onto Shen Wei’s bloodied body.

Epilogue
One Year Later

Da Qing sat on Zhao Yunlan’s couch, looking pensively at a picture of his friend and Shen Wei, nicely framed and light in his hands. The professor’s gentle smile reached his eyes in the still image as Zhao Yunlan grinned beside him, arm strewn across his shoulders in a friendly embrace.

“Da Qing? What are you doing?” questioned Zhao Yunlan as he entered the living room, car keys in one hand, jacket in the other.

“Oh, nothing. Just reminiscing.”

Zhao Yunlan peered at the picture in Da Qing’s lap and sighed softly. “Ah, we made a handsome couple back then, don’t you think?”

Da Qing looked over his shoulder to catch his friend’s shifting expression. Over the last year, Zhao Yunlan had changed a lot. He had shaved his beard and cut his hair, and had traded the blue jeans and leather jackets of his youth for more polished fitted trousers and button down shirts.

“With my rugged good looks, and Shen Wei’s elegant beauty, we made quite the pair!” added Zhao Yunlan with a smile.

Da Qing rolled his eyes at his friend and placed the portrait on the side table next to the couch in place of pride.

“Come on, we’re going to be late,” replied Da Qing as Zhao Yunlan threw him his jacket—it was getting colder these days in Haixing.

“Yeah, today is the White Envoy’s first official visit to the SID. We have to be on our best behaviour,” explained Zhao Yunlan, leading the way from their apartment to their car.

Once at the SID, Da Qing followed his boss into the office, making sure to nod and wave at the new recruits and throw out “good mornings” to his old friends. Half an hour later, a swirl of white smoke appeared in the middle of the room and a person materialized in front of the chief and his colleagues.

“Welcome, White Cloaked Envoy,” said Zhao Yunlan, bowing to the figure whose face was half obscured by a golden mask.

“Brother Zhao, there’s no need for that,” replied the Envoy graciously.

Da Qing watched as the man pulled the hood off his head and removed his mask to reveal a crop of short silvery-white hair and a face that mirrored Shen Wei’s to a T. After the last battle, Ye Zun had worked hard to redeem himself by rebuilding Haixing and Dixing with his own two hands. As an acknowledgment of his efforts, the king of Dixing had awarded him with a newly formed position—that of the White Envoy, an emissary of peace and goodwill ambassador between Haixing and Dixing.

For all of Ye Zun’s recent good deeds, however, it still felt eerie and strange to see him walking around the SID freely, wearing Shen Wei’s face for the world to see. Da Qing’s heart pinched painfully in his chest as he recalled everything he and his friends had gone through because of this man, but for the sake of peace and tranquillity, it was best to bite his tongue and keep his head low—Zhao Yunlan wanted it that way anyway.

It was a clear, sunny morning that day and everything was quiet in the SID office as Zhao Yunlan and Ye Zun spoke in low tones about this or that issue. Suddenly, loud cheers of success erupted from the confines of the lab, drawing Da Qing and his teammates to rush in with their hearts in their throats.

“What is it? What’s happening?” he asked as he crashed into the lab with Zhu Hong close on his heels.

Zhang Shi spun around to face Da Qing with excitement as everyone else in the lab cried in happiness, dancing around the tables and clinking beakers together in celebration.

“We did it! We managed to build and stabilize a non-living organism!” exclaimed Shen Wei, running around the lab to hug and shake hands with his fellow researchers.

Lin Jing and Li Qian partook in the celebrations, congratulating Shen Wei and the other researchers on their hard work and dedication to science over the last year. Right on cue, Zhao Yunlan came in with Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng, sporting a wide smile around his trademark lollipop and beelining for his favourite professor.

“Well done! Didn’t I say you could do it?” said Zhao Yunlan as he curled an arm around Shen Wei’s waist and placed a loving peck on his cheek. “Well done, my Xiao Wei.”

Shen Wei blushed crimson beneath the watchful eyes of his coworkers and friends and tried to extricate himself from Zhao Yunlan’s death grip on his waist.

“Y-Yunlan…” chastised Shen Wei, but allowed Zhao Yunlan to do as he pleased, nonetheless.

“Ge, did you really succeed?” asked Ye Zun as he walked in wearing a warm smile bursting with pride.

“Yes, somehow…” replied Shen Wei sheepishly.

“What? Not ‘somehow’ at all! It’s because you’re brilliant,” declared Ye Zun and everyone agreed with the statement that would have sounded otherwise hyperbolic if directed at anyone else than Shen Wei.

Da Qing leaned against a table next to Lin Jing and brushed aside a stray tear as it rolled down his cheek. After everything that had happened, after experiencing death several times and cycling back through the ages to fix some serious consequences of their actions, Da Qing could be proud of his own, silent accomplishment in reuniting Zhao Yunlan with Shen Wei. Even though they had almost lost him, Ye Zun had proved himself worthy in the end and had saved his brother at the very last moment by infusing Shen Wei's cold body with his own dark energy, ensuring that Shen Wei would continue with his work as both the Black Envoy and as an illustrious scientist. Da Qing could hardly believe that, because of a hare-brained plan that had formed in another timeline by now, Da Qing and Lin Jing, albeit unbeknownst to the current Lin Jing, had singlehandedly reshaped fate and rerouted destiny so that the two greatest heroes of Haixing and Dixing could live in peace and continue to protect and guard the world they both loved so much.

With a warm smile and tears brimming his eyes, Da Qing knew that all was truly well in the world and that he, Zhao Yunlan, and Shen Wei would continue on their journey unhindered for another ten thousand years to come.

The End.

"Let’s make a bet.”

“What kind of bet?”

“A bet that no matter how long it takes, no matter where we go, there will be a day we meet again.”

“Deal.”