Chapter Text
She dodged, and the yaoguai’s claws sliced through the outer layer of her robes. Landing against a stall and tripping over the spilt vegetables, she quickly righted herself and was on the other side of the alley in just a few steps. Her hand convulsively tightened around the hilt of the sword she’d swiped from a fallen town guard.
“Zào jiá!” one of the flower-girls stuck her head out of a doorway and pointed down the street, a fear-stricken expression on her face. “The temple is about eight streets down, just past the fountains.”
Zào jiá called her thanks, pulled her torn outer robe tighter around her shoulders and sprinted down the street. What meagre spiritual power she’d managed to gather, she was hauling around her like a beacon, drawing the creature to follow her and leave the townspeople.
Her bad luck and honed reflexes were also locked in a fierce battle. She tripped over debris in the streets and managed to right herself before she fell on her face, just a few strides ahead of the yao. Zào jiá came to the steps leading down to the square with the fountains and jumped down them, groaning as the landing jostled her probably-cracked ribs. She didn’t dare to turn as most of the streets were littered with the binu and weaker yao she had fought and killed over the past two days. The viscera that littered the ground made her slip a few times, and as she scrambled upright, she felt the yao’s claws slice over her head.
There! The temple was just ahead. The ambient spiritual power that surrounded a god’s shrine should be enough for her to defeat the creature. Her stamina was flagging, and she was starting to feel the blood loss from the numerous injuries that littered her body.
Zào jiá could feel it when she breached the temple’s grounds, the aura of divinity brushing against her skin like a cat twining around the legs of its master in friendly welcome. She skidded to a stop and thrust her hand in the air, palm to the sky, focusing on the plentiful spiritual power in the air to create a protective array. The monster hit the array with an audible crack and she gleaned a few precious moments to draw another array on the sword to strengthen it. She assessed the monster as it shook its head and pulled itself out of the ruins of the building it had smashed into. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a weak spot in its armour. Summoning her remaining strength, she tightened the grip on her now-glowing sword and rushed the creatures. Like a graceful dance, she dodged two of the monster’s strikes and got in close to its neck. She jumped and stabbed the sword deep into the crack in its armour. Then she pulled it out and stabbed in a few more times, ignoring the creature’s claws raking down her back. The creature gave a great screech and toppled backwards. She let go of the sword and used the corpse as a springboard to flip to the ground. She landed in a puddle of blood and slipped, falling hard onto her backside. She immediately scrambled upright again but relaxed as she saw the creature in its death throes.
As silence fell over the town, the thunderclouds that had been steadily gathering throughout the day finally grew heavy enough and let down a torrential downpour. Zào jiá collapsed to the ground and let the rain attempt to wash away the accumulated blood and grime from her body. Her tattered clothes were soaked in a matter of minutes but she remained slumped on the ground, taking steadying breaths and trying to gather enough strength to stand up and find shelter.
Loud footsteps made her look back up and she saw the group of flower girls she had become fast friends with over the last few months of working as a guard at their brothel.
“Zào-jie!” the girls rushed over to her, holding oiled paper umbrellas and exclaiming over her state. They had edged past the monster’s corpse with wary looks and two were kneeling at her side, grabbing onto her arms and hauling her up. Her legs managed to hold her weight and she gave the girls an exhausted smile in thanks.
She caught a flash from the corner of her eye and pushed the two away, moving backwards faster than she would have thought possible in her state. Lightning cracked overhead and to her utter astonishment, she was hit by a Heavenly Calamity. She closed her eyes, willing her exhausted body to hold up to the divine trial and did what she did best…she just survived.
The world was no longer fire and excruciating pain and wet and tired. Instead, it was…bright? And light and warm.
Zào jiá opened her eyes. She was standing in the middle of a column of light in what seemed to be a glorious capital city. She blinked, the light disappeared and she collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut. Slowly, like a rolling wave, sound flowed over her and she looked up to see a crowd of resplendent people surround her.
A woman, dressed in dark robes with matching circles under her eyes and carrying a pile of scrolls under one arm, made her way to the front and stared down at her. She frowned, seemingly trying to place the bedraggled new god on the pavement of the Grand Avenue of Divine Might. Her eyes widened slightly and she spoke haltingly, unsure.
“Your Highness, the crown…prince…of Xianle?”
The assembled crowd broke out in whispers.
“The laughingstock of the three realms?”
“That plague god? The one who ascended twice?”
“Can’t be…but the last time we had such a destructive ascension was him.”
“Is he a crossdresser now?!”
“No, you idiot, obviously not, look at her-”
"-female form?"
“Is she bleeding?”
Xie Lian pulled the tattered rags of her robes closer around her, tucked some of her chestnut hair behind one ear and gave a friendly wave to the assembled gods.
“Hello everyone, I’m back.”
Ling Wen was staring at Xie Lian with a blank expression. “Your Highness, the Emperor is not here currently. Would you like to come to the Palace of Ling Wen for now? You can get cleaned up and I should have some robes that will fit.”
Xie Lian nodded with not inconsiderable relief. She was so exhausted, she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. The last thing she’d wanted was to ascend again. Never mind doing so while being half naked and covered in wounds.
Ling Wen turned as if to walk away and Xie Lian made a soft sound of distress that made the civil god pause and look back over her shoulder.
“Could I have some help getting up?” Xie Lian asked with a wry smile. Her limbs were feeling like lead.
Ling Wen motioned and two guards came forward to help Xie Lian stand. They supported her to the entrance of Ling Wen’s palace, where she was handed over to a group of zombie-like junior officials. Xie Lian wondered if the Ling Wen Palace was going through a busy time since none of the officials looked like they’d slept in a week.
With a delighted gasp, Xie Lian entered the bathhouse. She hadn’t been able to bathe in a few days due to the yao attacks and the water smelled divine. She hadn’t been in a bathhouse this nice…probably since the time she’d lived in Yong’an.
Once she’d undressed, the official took away her tattered robes and left her to enjoy the water. Ruoye unwound from her forearm and dipped one of its ends into the water as if to test the temperature. Xie Lian giggled at its antics but stopped when she heard the happy sound echoing around the room. She hadn’t laughed in a while, she realised.
“Go on, Ruoye. You deserve a wash. I’ll choose a fragrant soap for you,” Xie Lian encouraged and the silk band dove into the water, frolicking like a strange, flat eel.
Xie Lian sighed as she sunk into the water. It felt boiling against her frozen skin, but oh so good. It soothed her aching muscles and she just relaxed in the water for a few minutes.
She'd sunk into the water up to her chin when the official knocked (Ruoye diving to cover the cursed shackle around her neck) and left folded robes in one of the baskets by the wall. She unfroze from the unwelcome feeling of Ruoye curling loosely around her neck once the silk band had uncurled and started drying itself by flying through the bathhouse in increasingly complicated patterns.
Realizing that Ling Wen probably had a lot of questions and that she should probably explain everything to someone at least, Xie Lian reached for the soap and hair oil that had been left for her.
Xie Lian had pulled on the borrowed robes but it felt strange to wear black after so long wearing light-coloured clothing. And spotting her reflection made her heart jump. It reminded her of Wu Ming...The loyal little ghost had sacrificed himself for her in one of the darkest moments of her life.
She pushed away those memories and feelings, swallowed the lump in her throat (reassured by a clean and dry bandage around her neck and Ruoye in its usual spot around her forearm) and turned on her heel to exit the room. A junior official was sitting by the door, surrounded by scrolls. She looked up with a vaguely confused expression at the disturbance, then gathered up the scrolls, waving away Xie Lian’s offer of help. She led the way down a pristine hallway to what seemed to be Ling Wen’s office. The heavenly official was sitting behind a large desk piled with paperwork. The official unceremoniously dumped their pile of scrolls on one of the chairs littering the room and swiped away the cold cup of tea at Ling Wen’s office.
Ling Wen looked up at their entrance, then froze, her eyes trained on Xie Lian.
Xie Lian bowed. “Thank you for your assistance, Ling Wen Zhen Jun.”
The civil god blinked and nodded, motioning for Xie Lian to sit down on one of the chairs in front of her desk. Ling Wen tilted her head, looking like a curious bird, an unexpectedly cute gesture from the usually austere woman.
Xie Lian smiled. “I assume you’d like to know why the crown prince of Xianle is now a woman?”
Ling Wen’s stare intensified for a moment before she curtly nodded. “I assumed with your…cursed shackles…” Ling Wen’s eyes drifted to Xie Lian’s bandaged neck before snapping up to her face again. “I assumed you wouldn’t have enough spiritual power to change forms. And it's not really something associated with you…Rumours are already abounding. It would be useful to know the truth,” she allowed.
Xie Lian returned her nod. “Well, to put it simply, it’s not a different form. I’ve always been a woman.” Ling Wen’s glare now contained a hint of disbelief, but Xie Lian continued undaunted.
“Since my mother was not strong enough to bear more than one child, I was raised as a boy and taught all the skills needed for a crown prince to rule. But then I showed great promise in cultivation and my parents’ worries about my heirs were nullified. And you know my history, Ling Wen, being the keeper of knowledge for the heavens. There was never a good time to reveal my history. But during my banishment…let’s just say that circumstances changed and I decided to finally start living as my real self. And to even my surprise I ascended for a third time…this time apparently as a martial goddess.”
“Which is exceedingly rare,” Ling Wen continued. “Mortals usually put their faith in male martial gods. You may find it extremely hard to find worshippers. Or they may cause you to change form to match your original crown prince persona. As you may know, I regularly have to change to my male form for festivals.”
Xie Lian smiled serenely. “Different forms do not bother me. I know who I am.”
Ling Wen looked away and started shuffling through the papers on her desk. “Be that as it may. You caused quite a stir in the heavens and left quite a lot of damage in the wake of your ascension. To be precise, 8.88 million merits’ worth. Several palaces were toppled and a bell even fell on a heavenly official.”
Xie Lian looked unperturbed. “My apologies. That was unfortunately beyond my control. I don’t even have a 1,000th of that. But I don’t mind helping where I can. Anywhere my bad luck won’t make things worse.”
She paused, “Is the heavenly official alright?”
Ling Wen’s eyes lightened slightly as if in slight amusement. “The official is uninjured, but the bell was cut in half.” She dropped her head in her hands and sighed. “I feel inclined to assist you, Your Highness. The emperor has left me with a task that may be suited to your specific expertise.”
Ling Wen resumed rifling through the papers on her desk and made a small sound of triumph when she unearthed the right scrolls. She handed it to Xie Lian, who unrolled it and quickly scanned it.
The martial goddess beamed at her. “Yes, this does sound like something I can help with. Thank you.”
Ling Wen stood up, indicating that the conversation was at an end. “Do you need a spiritual device?”
Xie Lian shook her head. “Since my spiritual powers are still sealed, I won’t be able to use it once I’m back in the mortal realm. But don’t worry, I should be able to manage without.”
Ling Wen ruffled her brow but nodded curtly and bid Xie Lian farewell.
When a junior official came into the office with a new cup of tea, he found Ling Wen staring blankly at the doorway. He called out to her questioningly and Ling Wen shook her head, seeming to pull herself together once more.
“We’re behind on the reports from the palace of Nan Feng. Send someone to tell those meatheads to hand in their reports in the next two days or I’m sticking them all with security duty for the next six months!”