Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a good day for Xie Lian.

He was happily carrying his huge bag of junk on his back. Yes, it was indeed huge. An old lady had given him a ton of stuff she insisted were useless to her and would only be thrown out. Xie Lian had tried to argue since some of the stuff looked actually valuable and in pretty good condition, but the lady just shoved everything onto him and bid him a safe journey and to finally settle down somewhere where he would truly be happy. Maybe she took pity on him, Xie Lian was looking worse for wear, the previous few months hadn’t exactly treated him nicely. If that was the case, it didn’t bother Xie Lian. He was just happy that someone cared enough to help and the sentiment of settling somewhere where he was truly happy was nice, even if it was never going to happen.

Xie Lian adjusted the bag on his shoulder. He will be able to live off it for a few weeks at the minimum. Well, that is if it won’t suddenly catch on fire or mysteriously disappear like it had happened previous times. The odds of that happening were very high actually, since Xie Lian had been extremely lucky to even acquire this stuff. And the less said about his luck the better.

After a bit of walking Xie Lian decided to take a break. He sat under a tree and opened the bag. He had seen the old lady secretly putting some steamed buns in it while he “wasn’t looking”.

Xie Lian chuckled, “What a kind lady.”

He took one steamed bun out and took a bite. While Xie Lian was eating, he absentmindedly rummaged through the bag looking over his new possessions. As he was doing so, a shiny object caught his eye. It was a bracelet. A bracelet that was designed to cover half of a person's forearm similar to a vambrace. Though it definitely wasn’t a vambrace. For starters it was made out of… gold?

Xie Lian had to do a second take. Yes, that was definitely gold. An intricate design was carved out of it, adorned with glimmering red jewels. Xie Lian was once a Crown Prince so naturally he new a thing or two about jewellery, to put it lightly, and he could tell that this bracelet would cost a fortune.

Xie Lian’s mind began racing. When did the lady put it there? Was this intentional? No, it couldn’t be. The lady was very kind, but no sane person would give something like this to a random beggar.

Xie Lian had to return it. He wouldn’t repay the woman’s kindness by stealing from her.

Though… There was something odd about this bracelet. Xie Lian examined it for a moment and as he was turning it around, it opened down the middle allowing one to easily equip it. And for some reason Xie Lian really wanted to put it on. After a bit of hesitation, he decided to see how it would look on and then immediately return it after.

The bracelet easily snaped around his left forearm. Xie Lian held his arm in the air admiring the jewellery. It really was beautiful. And the size was perfect. It fitted snugly around his forearm. It was as if it was made for him.

A shiver ran down Xie Lian’s spine.

A mysterious bracelet that fitted him perfectly was definitely not a good sign. Xie Lian immediately tried to take it off, but surprise surprise just as he was reaching for it the seam of the opening sealed itself shut leaving no trace of it.

Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Just as he was starting to think what to do next, the bracelet moved up pulling him to his feet. Xie Lian only managed to grab another steamed bun as he was pulled by his arm away from the bag.

Well, that was definitely one way to lose his collected things. Xie Lian didn’t see that one coming.

Xie Lian tried to stop but the bracelet didn’t budge dragging him on further. Accepting his fate Xie Lian decided to just walk along while he thought of a solution.

The snug fit meant that he couldn’t get the bracelet of even if he decided to brake or dislocate his hand, so that was a no go. He could always cut his arm off, though… Through the years he had been drowned, burned, stabbed, suffocated, poisoned, the list goes on, but he had miraculously never lost a limb. Would it grow back? If it did would two of his left arms exist in the world? Xie Lian really didn’t want to find out.

Xie Lian sighed. That left him with three outcomes. One, he somehow manages to destroy the bracelet and is free of it. He had already tried hitting it a few times and found out that that wasn’t likely. Two, the bracelet drags him somewhere and lets him go. Xie Lian would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious what that place might be. With his abysmal luck it was probably nowhere good. Three, the bracelet just keeps dragging him forever. And because he can’t die forever really means forever.

Xie Lian sighed again. He’ll be fine. It’s not like it’s the worst thing that has ever happened to him. Far from it actually.

“…”

Hey, on the bright side he still had one steamed bun, so he won’t starve as fast if this keeps on going for too long! Well, nothing left to do but walk!

And walk he did. By now it was night and he had been walking for almost an entire day without stopping. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for Xie Lian, but he was still starting to feel tired, and his arm was starting to feel numb from being stretched out like that.

The sun was already in the sky when Xie Lian saw that he was heading towards a village. Maybe that was the destination?

Up until now the bracelet had been dragging him in a straight line only turning a bit to avoid things directly in their way, like trees. It wasn’t really a problem since they were in a forest with no one else around. Xie Lian did have to duck under some branches and jump over fallen trees but nothing major.

Now he was going through a busy street and apparently the bracelet didn’t deem people as objects. Xie Lian dodged them as best as he could but there was only so much he could do with an arm that he couldn’t move out of the way from the elbow down.

“Hey! Watch where ya going!”

“Sorry! Sorry! So sorry!”

This bracelet was proving more troublesome than expected!

Just as Xie Lian was starting to get the hang of dodging people, he saw it. He was walking straight to a vendor’s stall. Surely the bracelet would see it as an obstacle, it dodged trees after all, right?

When was his luck ever so favourable as to allow that?

Straight through the vendor’s stall he went!

Well, over it to be exact. And of course, he knocked some of the pots on display down. Listen, it wasn’t Xie Lian’s fault the stall had a roof thingy over it that prevented him from simply jumping over it. And of course, the pots broke. And naturally the vendor started yelling ‘what the hell are you doing!’ and demanding for him to pay for the things he broke. And of course, seeing Xie Lian just walk away he started cursing and running after him.

Xie Lian should run.

Even if he could stop, he didn’t have any money to pay for the things he broke, and Xie Lian was doubtful that the vendor would accept a single steamed bun as payment.

So, run he did. And miraculously his luck took a turn for the better! The bracelet actually sped up to keep up with his pace!

After quite a bit of running the shouting finally quieted down.

Phew. That was a close one.

Just as Xie Lian was about to sit down to rest the bracelet yanked him forward.

Right…

So, the bracelet could speed up but wouldn’t slow down. At least something was now known about it. You can go faster but you can’t go slower. That might mean that it actually has a destination in mind. That’s good news! The question now is how long will it take?

Xie Lian walked and walked. He was becoming tremendously tired. Collapsing on the ground and letting the bracelet drag him was becoming more and more appealing. Just as he was about to do just that the bracelet took a sharp turn and began dragging him in another direction.

That’s new.

The spark of optimism was soon put out when Xie Lian saw that they were going in the direction of a river.

The bracelet was about to drown him. Oh joy!

Xie Lian really didn’t want to drown… again.

As he was beginning to step into the water Xie Lian tried to pull on the bracelet again “Can’t we talk this out? There’s no need to do something like this. I doubt that whoever you’re bringing me to would like a soggy corpse.”

But the bracelet didn’t listen and soon Xie Lian couldn’t reach the ground with his feet. Just as he was beginning to swim the bracelet twisted forcing him to turn on his back. Oh! He was floating. The bracelet continued to drag him but now he didn’t need to concern himself with walking and could comfortably float! This was way better than being dragged on the ground!

“Thank you!” For some it might have been weird to talk to a bracelet, but not for Xie Lian. For centuries his best friend was Ruoye who is a silk band. So, it wasn’t anything new.

With the strain of walking removed Xie Lian realised that he was very sleepy. Walking for over two days straight with a dash of running would do that to a person. So, having nothing better to do he closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.

When Xie Lian woke up, he was feeling disorientated, but one thing was certain there was water around him. He was drowning again. Panic overtook Xie Lian, and he began trashing trying to get out of there. Worst of all he couldn’t move his left arm. Something was restraining him. No, no, no not again!

Suddenly something nuzzled against his cheek.

“Ruoye?” Xie Lian finally opened his eyes and the memories of the last two days returned to him. “Oh, right. That happened.” Xie Lian could still hear his pounding heartbeat, but he was starting to calm down. “Thanks, Ruoye.” The silk band nuzzled against him again and returned to its place.

For a while Xie Lian just floated like that, looking up at the blue sky.

After centuries of bad luck, he shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but this was definitely something knew. Did the old lady purposefully plant the bracelet in his bag? Was this simply a cursed item that had ben laying dormant with her unused stuff until he came along? The lady seemed so nice, though it was suspicious that she just gave him valuable stuff. She even gave him steamed buns. Oh! That’s right! Xie Lian still had one of them left! It was a bit soggy from being in the water but aside from that it was still good. And on the bright side because of spending time in the water it wasn’t hard!

As Xie Lian was munching on the bun, he examined the bracelet once more. He couldn’t sense any cursed energy from it. There were definitely traces of magic, but it wasn’t anything Xie Lian was familiar with. And because the traces of magic were so scant Xie Lian couldn’t examine it further.

He sighed. Well, there wasn’t anything he could do other then go along with the flow. Which was ironic because they were going up stream.

Three more days passed like that. Not having to walk was great and everything, but spending so much time in water wasn’t exactly comfortable either.

Suddenly, without warning, the bracelet turned again flipping him on his belly this time. Not expecting this Xie Lian inhaled some water and started coughing uncontrollably. The bracelet, as usual, didn’t care and unceremoniously dragged him out of the river forcing him to walk again.

“You could have given me a warning.” Xie Lian said while still coughing. Seriously, this bracelet should learn some manners.

So, walking again it is then. Yay…

It was the middle of the night when the bracelet suddenly stopped. Xie Lian looked around. They were in a clearing in the middle of a forest.

“Is this our destinati-?”

Before Xie Lian could finish the sentence, the bracelet pulled him forward then stopped and pulled him in a different direction then stopped again. This repeated again and again.

“If you’re lost then maybe I could suggest where to go?” Xie Lian asked. This was becoming comical.

Finally, the bracelet seemed to pick up the scent again and with new determination dragged Xie Lian along.

Suddenly the scenery around Xie Lian began to change. Strange buildings and creatures began to appear. There appeared merchants bolstering about their products, which were… was that a human leg on display? The more they walked the thicker the crowd became. And it wasn’t humans that were in the crowd, they were ghosts. With a sinking heart Xie Lian realised where they were.

This was Ghost City.

Sooo… The most likely scenario was that the bracelet hunted unsuspecting people and dragged them to its master to be devoured, or something along those lines, right?

The bracelet will be a nuisance but even with that disadvantage Xie Lian could still defeat a random ghost. So, it wasn’t the end of the world. Though first he had to deal with the crowd and the bracelets damn determination to go in a straight line.

“Hey! Watch it!” Ah, yes, this again.

“What is a little cultivator like you doing here?” Now with the added bonus of them being ghosts. Great.

“Just passing by! Just passing by! I’ll be out of your way before you know it!”

“Oi! Where are you going! That’s the Chengzhu’s residence, Paradise Manor! Do you have a death wish or something?”

That was an unexpected comment. Xie Lian looked around and yes, he was staring to leave the crowd and he could vaguely see some sort of manor in the distance.

“Who might this Chengzhu be?” Xie Lian asked politely.

“Are you daft?!? You seriously don’t know about the infamous Ghost King, Crimson Rain Sought Flower???” The ghost tried to chase him, but he soon stopped. “It’s your funeral bud, I’m not risking my life by going there without permission. Chengzhu is going to make quick work of a cultivator like you.”

That… That was the opposite of good news.

But the way the ghost spoke. It didn’t seem like this has ever happened before, so the Chenzhu probably isn’t luring mortals like this. Then… Was the bracelet just going to drag Xie Lian through a Ghost King’s house like it did with the vendor’s stall?!?

Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And the manor was only getting closer with each step.

“Maybe we could take different route. What do you say?” The bracelet said nothing and continued to drag him. Damn.

When Xie Lian reluctantly entered the manor he saw a man sitting on a black divan. He was decked out in red robes adorned with silver jewellery. His long raven black hair were loose contrasting against his pale white skin and matching the black eyepatch. Xie Lian had to admit he was very handsome. The man or rather ghost was in the middle of building a golden palace.

As Xie Lian entered the ghost raised his head. For a moment rage and superiority flashed in his eye. Clearly the look of a ruler that had just been interrupted. But in a moment, all of that was gone. His eye went wide, and his mouth gaped open. Nothing but pure shock was left on his face.

Xie Lian would find it funny if he wasn’t walking straight at the person with panic starting to rise inside of him.

While Xie Lian walked across the hall the ghost didn’t move an inch, only his eye was glued on Xie Lian.

Xie Lian was worried that he would walk straight through the ghost, but surprisingly he walked up to the divan and stopped on the ghost’s side. Then the bracelet turned him so that his back was facing the ghost and shoved him backwards.

Before he knew it Xie Lian was sitting in the ghost’s lap. Their faces inches away from each other. And to make matters worse the bracelet guided his left hand to hug the ghost.

If Xie Lian thought that the ghost looked shocked before then he didn’t have words to describe it now.

What in the world is this bracelet doing?!?

Chapter Text

“I-I-I’m sorry!!!”

This will not do! This will not do at all!

Damn it! The bracelet wouldn’t budge. Xie Lian couldn’t remove his arm from the still very much stunned Ghost King. The poor man just kept staring at him. Who wouldn’t be surprised! A complete stranger barging into your home and sitting on your lap? What kind of lunatic does that?!?

If Xie Lian couldn’t remove his hand, then the least he could do was get of the ghost’s lap. Which, considering the way he was sitting, wasn’t exactly easy either.

Oh well. It wasn’t the first time he had to dislocate his shoulder.

Without hesitation Xie Lian flipped backwards. He felt his shoulder pop out. That was expected since his arm stayed stubbornly in place. However, what was not expected was that just as he dislocated his shoulder the bracelet relented and gave him control of his arm back.

…Seriously?

That couldn’t have happened a moment earlier?

But never mind that now. He was still the lunatic that that broke into the Ghost King’s house to sit on his lap and was still standing in front of him.

Xie Lian bolted backwards away from the ghost, waving his hands in front of him. “This isn’t what it looks like.” And of course while doing that he bumped into and knocked over the golden palace. The intricate thing that probably took hours to build came crashing down. “Sorry! So sorry!”

This was going terribly!

Xie Lian hoped that the Ghost King’s stupor would last long enough for him to get out of this place and run far far away. However, he only manged to back away a few meters before the bracelet abruptly stopped him again. So, it was back at it again. Only now with the added bonus of pulling on his dislocated arm. How fun.

With his escape plan thwarted Xie Lian was left with no other choice. He dropped to his knees to kowtow and beg for forgiveness. Sure, if push came to shove he could fight the Ghost King, but said ghost didn’t do anything wrong and it was all Xie Lian’s fault. So, if there’s a chance Xie Lian could resolve this peacefully, he was definitely taking it.

The gesture seemed to finally snap the ghost out of his stupor. He jumped to his feet. “No! Your Hig-”

However, before he could finish the bracelet suddenly yanked Xie Lian back to his feet. Both Xie Lian and the Ghost King stared at the bracelet in confused silence. Xie Lian tried to kneel again only to end up with the same result.

Oh, come on!

Xie Lian started giggling nervously and tried backing away again. Unsurprisingly, he was yanked forward.

Concern appeared on the ghost’s face. He stretched his arm out and stepped forward. “Please stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.” His voice was soft and warm and full of concern.

However, as soon as The Ghost King took a step forward the pull on Xie Lian’s hand vanished and he could take a step back before the bracelet stopped him again.

The ghosts took another step forward and Xie Lian another back. Seeing Xie Lian backing away from him the Ghost King withdrew his hand and stepped back.

At the exact same time Xie Lian was yanked a step forward. He was staring to see a pattern here and he didn’t like it.

At the sight of this the ghost froze in place, not moving a muscle.

Xie Lin felt a rising need to say something, anything, explain somehow this bizarre situation. He thought that after all these years he had become immune to embarrassment, but right at this moment he could feel his face starting to burn up.

“I-I-I… This isn’t what it looks like! I didn’t want to come here! I swear!” The ghost raised his eyebrows and something flashed in his eyes. Xie Lian continued, “It’s this bracelet you see. I don’t know what it is or how it works or anything, but it dragged me here.” That sounded stupid and Xie Lian knew it.

While he was speaking the ghost had composed himself and now a teasing smile had appeared on his face. “So what Gege is saying is that it was the bracelet that made him sit on my lap?”

Okay, now Xie Lian was really burning up. “I-I-I… Hahaha… Uh…Y-Yes?”

The Ghost King chuckled, “I’m only teasing.” His expression changed and became warm and for some reason Xie Lian felt safe in the man’s presence. “Let’s just calm down and figure this out.” His gaze travelled to Xie Lian’s shoulder. “May I come closer to you?”

“Huh.” Xie Lian didn’t expect the Ghost King to be so understanding and polite. That was a welcomed surprise. “Yes, you can.”

The ghost walked across the hall and stopped in front of him. His gaze lingered on Xie Lian’s face. At that moment Xie Lian became very self-conscious. He had been walking and floating for days without any time to worry about his appearance. He must have looked awful.

“Umm…” Xie Lian started nervously shifting weight from one foot to the other.

Seeing that, the Ghost King blinked ant quickly shifted his gaze. “My apologies.” Before Xie Lian could say anything, he continued, “Is Gege’s shoulder hurt?”

“Huh? Oh, that. It’s nothing.” Xie Lian realised something. “Sorry I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Xie Lian.”

“Nice to meet you. You can call this one San Lang.” Hmmm. Ghosts usually didn’t use their real names, but it did seem weird that a Ghost King would choose to pick this name to go by. Was he lying? Or testing to see if Xie Lian knew who he was? His thoughts were interrupted. “Is Gege sure that he is alright?”

Xie Lian waved is arm. “It’s nothing you should be concerned about. It’s just a dislocated shoulder. I’ll fix it when I have the time.”

San Lang’s gaze became dark. Did he say something wrong?

When San Lang spoke next there was some of the Ghost King’s authority in his voice. “A dislocated shoulder isn’t nothing.” Then his expression and voice became soft again. “Please let this one relocate it for you. It’s the least I can do since I was the reason you got hurt.”

“What?” Xie Lian was very confused. “This wasn’t your fault. It was all me. Your really don’t have to trouble yourself…” He looked San Lang in the eye. His expression was so earnest. “…But if you really don’t mind then I would be grateful if you helped me with this.” Xie Lian relented.

San Lang’s eye brightened. He stretched his hands out and stopped before touching Xie Lian. Seeing that he didn’t back away San Lang positioned his hands. “This will hurt a bit.” He said in a soft voice.

With one sift movement Xie Lian’s shoulder was back in place. Xie Lian was amazed. San Lang said what it would hurt but he practically felt nothing. Compared to the times he had to do this himself it didn’t hurt at all.

Xie Lian moved his arm in circles to test it out. “Wow! You’re really skilled. Thank you”

Seeing the movement San Lang raised his hand as if to stop Xie Lian but stopped himself. Instead, he said, “Gege please don’t move your arm, it needs time to heal.”

Xie Lian wanted to argue and say that this was nothing, but the look in San Lang’s eye made him stop. “Okay, I’ll try to be more careful.”

San Lang let out a breath and looked relieved. After a moment he said, “I’m still a little bit confused about this situation. It seemed that you could only back away from me a certain distance. Why is that?”

“Oh, that.” Xie Lian raised his left arm. “It’s this bracelet. I really don’t know what’s its deal is but it’s the one causing this.”

“Could you let me see?” San Lang held out his hand and Xie Lian placed his own hand in it. The Ghost King examined the bracelet for a bit and furrowed his brows. He let go of the arm. “It’s got traces of magic, but I have never seen this kind of magic before.”

“I see.” If even a Ghost King didn’t know about it, then this didn’t bode well for Xie Lian.

San Lang looked disgruntled by this fact, but he soon fixed his expression. He gestured towards the divan. “We might as well sit down while we try to figure this out.”

“Alright.” Xie Lian agreed. Before Xie Lian could take a step Hua Cheng walked first and the bracelet immediately raised Xie Lian’s hand up and moved slightly forward, tugging his arm.

San Lang froze. He took a step back and the bracelet relaxed again.

Concern and confusion painted San Lang’s face. “I thought the distance it allowed was bigger.”

Xie Lian was equally confused. “It was.”

What was this stupid thing doing?!?

Xie Lian took a step back and began pulling on the bracelet. Come on! It can’t just randomly decrease the distance!

“Gege! Please stop!” San Lang raised his arm and at the same moment Xie Lian stumbled a step back before hitting the bracelets limit again.

Yet again both of them were very confused. This was becoming a trend.

San Lang dropped his hand down and Xie Lian was yanked a step forward.

The Ghost King froze. He even stopped breathing.

Neither of them said anything but it was obvious. The bracelet remained within a one meter radius of San Lang. It also looked like it counted that one meter from the part of him that was closest to Xie Lian.

Well.

That wasn’t good.

A thought occurred to Xie Lian that he was tied to San Lang like a dog to a leash. When he looked at Hua Cheng’s face he saw a myriad of emotions there. Disgust, anger, despair. It didn’t surprise Xie Lian. After all, having someone like him tied to oneself wasn’t exactly a good thing.

Xie Lian chuckled nervously. “I’ll just try walking close to you.” As he said this he took a step so as to be on San Lang’s side, hoping that it wouldn’t offend the man.

San Lang’s moves were stiff as he turned around. It looked like he wanted to take a step but hesitated.

“It’s okay. I’ll match your steps.” Xie Lian encouraged him with a smile.

They walked to the divan side by side and sat down on it.

After a moment San Lang seemed to finally calm down. He took in a deep breath and spoke, “Let’s just start from the beginning. Would you mind recounting to me how all of this started?”

Xie Lian did just that. As he spoke San Lang’s face grew darker and darker. When he finished San Lang spoke in a low voice. “You have been walking without stopping for almost a week? And you haven’t eaten during that time?”

That’s what concerned him? “Oh, I did get to float for a bit in the river and had a steamed bun. So it wasn’t that bad.”

San Lang opened his mouth to speak but closed it. Instead, he put two fingers to his temple.

“Yin Yu.”

Xie Lian assumed he was going to use the communication array. Why did he speak out loud?

“I have found His Highness the Crown Prince.”

What? San Lang’s mouth didn’t move. How was he hearing this? And more importantly, how did San Lang know who he was?

“Prepare a fitting feast.”

“…”

“Right away Lord Chengzu.” A different voice sounded in Xie Lian’s head.

“Also-”

“San Lang please stop using the communication array!” Xie Lian quickly said.

San Lang looked confused but lowered his fingers.

“I… I think I can hear your conversation.”