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Black Water Sinking Ships had a knack for devouring many things. His years as a prisoner had traumatised him, and ever since he’d become a ghost all he’d done is eat ravenously, swallowing anything from food to ghosts. He hungered, hungered for satisfaction, hungered for revenge.

“Ming Xiong! Ming Xiong!!”

Who was that-? Oh. Her. Or, them. Or, him. E Xuan turned around. Oh, it was him.

The Lord Windmaster ran forth, one hand waving excitedly as the other clutched a painted fan. “Ming Xionggg!! How’s my favourite bestie doing!!”

He Xuan shifted his gaze back to his food.

“I don’t know who you are. Go away.”

“Huh?? Ming Xiong, I’m your best friend of course, the Lord Windmaster!” Shi Qingxuan stood upright and pointed a proud thumb at himself. 

“Never heard of you.”

“Ming Xionggg come on!!!” Shi Qingxuan draped himself over He Xuan shamelessly, almost like an overtly affectionate golden retriever.

“Can’t you go bother someone else?”

“Huhh like who? My brother? Ooh! Ming Xiong, you know what? Let’s go out!”

The melodious voice that chattered away next to He Xuan’s ear suddenly took on a more feminine cadence. Surprised, He Xuan turned around to come face to face with a female Shi Qingxuan.

She grinned brightly, “Let’s go out! I know the mortals have opened a new restaurant recently and they seem to make pretty good wontons!”

He Xuan considered this briefly. His revenge could wait for now, he supposed. “Fine,” he got up, before he was stopped by Shi Qingxuan.

“Ahhhh wait wait wait-” she gestured wildly. “Shouldn’t we match, Ming Xiong?”

He Xuan had a bad feeling about this. “...match?”

~~~

Two new customers arrived in the newly opened restaurant. Two women, one dressed in pale blue and white and the other in purplish black. As they sat at a table, while Shi Qingxuan mused over the menu, identifying the foods that were He Xuan’s favourite, He Xuan sank her head into her hands. 

She sincerely hoped none of that Crimson Rain’s butterflies were nearby looking for his Dianxia.

“You’re so embarrassing."

“Whatever could you mean, Ming Xiong?”

“Dressing up as a woman-”

“But-” Shi Qingxuan cheekily cocked her head to one side, "aren't you doing it too?”

That was another conundrum that He Xuan, with all his scholarly wisdom, couldn’t pick apart. All it had taken was for Shi Qingxuan to wink at him and pull teasingly at his arm and he’d given in. Why did he soften at his teasing, his quirks, his demeanour?

So much for a black-hearted revenge. He Xuan couldn't lie to herself for that long. 

You know exactly why, Black Water Sinking Ships.

He Xuan flinched at her own voice, cold and hungry. That’s right, Black Water. Sink ships and devour them. Devour, swallow, and never hesitate to take and consume whatever you please.

The same way he had taken and consumed the fate that was meant to be yours.

“Ming Xiong?? Ming Xiong?? Come on, wake up!”

Shi Qingxuan leaned forward and snapped in front of He Xuan’s face a few times.

“Come on, the menu is here! Feel free to order! It’s my treat today!” Shi Qingxuan winked and smiled at He Xuan.

The coldness in He Xuan’s stomach wavered ever so little as warmth pooled in.

Remember what he did. Exact your revenge.

Hidden behind the menu, He Xuan’s pupils constricted and shook as she held back bile. 

Consume. Consume, eat until you’ve stripped down to the bones, and if that isn’t enough, chew on the dishes too. Consume your emotions and leave behind the bones of hatred.

Remember what you came here to do. 

He Xuan forced herself to look up into the eyes of the one she was meant to despise the most. Azure blue eyes smiled back at her.

“Ming Xiong!” Those sweet lips parted, exclaiming her name–no, not her name, never was her name— before resting in a gentle, ever-present smile.

“My dear friend. My greatest friend.”

~~~

Shi Qingxuan enjoyed Mingyi’s company. He knew that much. Mingyi reminded him so much of a black cat. Subtly affectionate in his own ways, the fake reluctant agreement to crossdress with him, and the way his hand never fully dropped from its cupped position when Shi Qingxuan let go of it to hold something else, usually food to give him.

Mingyi seemed cold on the outside but Shi Qingxuan thought he’d managed to worm his way into Mingyi, discovering unspoken warmth, like a pirate that had dug up great treasure.

“Ming Xiong!” She smiled at the dark-haired beauty in front of her. “My dear friend. My greatest friend.”

My beloved, she had left unsaid as she leaned over to embrace her, leaving behind a quick peck on the top of Mingyi’s head.

~~~

“Ming Xiong…?”

“Qingxuan!” 

Shi Qingxuan looked up, there was his brother, Shi Wudu. He seemed relieved that Shi Qingxuan had woken up. However, Shi Qingxuan was absolutely miserable right now. As a group of dirty madmen swarmed him, feeling him up, his skin crawled and he struggled futilely in his thick chains.

A boot suddenly crashed down on Shi Wudu’s head, forcing his head onto the ground.

Shi Qingxuan looked for the owner of the boot, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

“Ming xiong…?”

No, not Ming xiong, Shi Qingxuan reminded himself. Black Water Demon Xuan.

But did it really matter? Ming xiong or Black Water Demon Xuan, they were one and the same, weren’t they? 

And yet, why…why was Ming Xiong–He Xuan like this? Being chained up, forced to watch his brother, his proud unbending brother, get kicked to the ground?

He Xuan stared coldly down at Shi Wudu. “Kowtow.”

It wasn’t a request. It was a command.

Shi Qingxuan watched as his proud brother bent forward and kowtowed many times, and when he finally attempted to raise his head, a black boot slammed it down again.

“Did I permit you to rise?”

Shi Wudu gritted out, “...No.”

“Ge!” Shi Qingxuan called out. As insufferable as his brother could be, family was still family.

He Xuan glared at Shi Qingxuan. “Be quiet!”

He Xuan stalked over to Shi Qingxuan, and knelt down, lifting Shi Qingxuan’s head to see him face-to-face. The face that Shi Qingxuan had greeted with joy and warmth was nowhere to be found on the very epitome of a man starved for revenge.

“Is the Reverend of Empty Words scary?”

Shi Qingxuan could only stare back into those soulless, hungry eyes, his own wide with fear. Where was his beloved now? He’d feared the Reverend of Empty Words of course, but now here was the one who’d swallowed that curséd entity whole, fingers grabbing his face and tipping it up to face him. Shi Qingxuan trembled like a leaf in He Xuan’s grasp. So fragile, so breakable.

Yet, it was meant to be like this from the very start.

“He Xuan,” Shi Wudu called out. “A man must answer alone for what he has done. It was my idea to use you to ward off his misfortune; this has nothing to do with my little brother.”

He Xuan scoffed, “Nothing to do with him?”

Shi Wudu wanted to continue but He Xuan cut him off, “Your little brother, an ordinary, common mortal, obtained the ability to ascend. His endless glory was plundered from my fate; he enjoyed my divinity. And you tell me that this has nothing to do with him?”

Shi Qingxuan stood there, locked in place, aghast.

He’d done that to his Ming Xiong? He’d hurt him, hurt him without even realising, eating his food and enjoying his rights, what should have always been his. Shi Wingxuan felt sick to his stomach, like there was a massive abyss there in its stead. All warmth bled away leaving nothing but a dead cold.

Shi Wudu tried again, “You…you’ve always been by his side, so you should know very well that I’m not lying to you. He’s not one to hide anything; from start to finish, he genuinely did not know!”

He Xuan tried to ignore the lingering warmth that tried to absorb the anger and hatred that sat in his stomach for hundreds of years in vain. The man in front of him had laughed openly with him, holding his hand with a warm grasp and a gentle smile.

All the warmth fled from He Xuan’s overwhelming urge for revenge as he stared at the arrogant face of Shi Wudu. 

“That’s precisely why he’s so detestable!” He Xuan exclaimed sharply. “Why was he allowed to know nothing?!”

Shi Qingxuan looked back at He Xuan’s face, twisted with hate, but also grief, grief at the life he never had, that he should have had.

It should have been him, not me. It should have been him, not me. It should have been-

“Ming Xiong, I-”

“Shut up!” He Xuan yelled, eyes dancing with a mad bloodlust, a cold, burning fury that seemed to consume his entire being. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

He Xuan paused in his tracks, and turned to Shi Qingxuan, emitting a murderous aura.

“And what good,” he bit out, “is your apology?”

Shi Qingxuan hung his head. That’s true, he thought. What’s the point in apologising? He Xuan was already dead, dead after a life of torture and grievances, while Shi Qingxuan had lived on and ascended, enjoying a life of nothing but comfort and luxuries.

“Very well then.” He Xuan walked back in front of Shi Qingxuan.

“Are you willing to die for your sins?”

Shi Qingxuan looked into He Xuan’s eyes, and though he was trembling, his spirit had pulled together one last resolve.

If it meant his beloved would no longer suffer from his hunger for revenge, he would do it, no matter how scared he was, no matter how terrifying and unfamiliar Ming Xiong's face looked. Before he could feebly nod in response, Shi Wudu piped up.

“He Xuan! The offense was mine—mine and the Reverend of Empty Words’! Qingxuan’s sin doesn’t merit a death sentence, you…”

He Xuan glanced back at the Water Tyrant now forced under his own tyranny.

“And who in my family sinned? Who in my family deserved death?”

Shi Wudu could not find a counter-arguement for that.

“Do you see these madmen here?” He Xuan pinned Shi Qingxuan roughly against the wall, his cold breath pressed close to Shi Qingxuan’s warm pants of terror.

“Rotten fates. Contemptuous fortunes. Lives lower than an animal’s. Fates that can drive a man mad,” He Xuan explained. Shi Qingxuan slowly realised.

“Two options.” He Xuan decreed, as his fingers grazed across Shi Qingxuan’s face, wiping his tears and sweat away almost lovingly, yet the action seemed so sinister.

“Option one. Pick one individual from this crowd and exchange your brother’s fate with theirs. And then, go make yourself scarce in the Mortal Realm.”

Shi Wudu was a prideful man, there was no way he’d be willing to lower himself to a mortal while his brother suffered a fate even worse than death. “What’s the second option?” He demanded to know.

“Second option, you-” and he turned and glared pointedly at Shi Qingxuan even as his fingers daintily caressed his neck, “-I won’t touch your fate. Chop off your brother’s head. Right here.”

A rusty knife slid out of his sleeve and was thrown onto the floor right in front of Shi Qingxuan.

“And then never show yourself to me again. In return, I will pretend you never existed.” He Xuan ignored a small protest at the back of his head. Was he really capable of doing that? Capable of overwriting Shi Qingxuan’s existence in his memory?

Yet, he burned inside with a thirst for vengeance, a thirst that would have driven anyone mad within a minute. It was clear He Xuan did not intend to leave without quenching his thirst.

Shi Wudu managed to choke out a few words. “I’ll do it to myself. I’ll kill myself.”

“You have no right to bargain with me.”

“You’re asking for our lives…”

Shi Qingxuan kicked out from where he was, wrenching his face free from He Xuan’s gentle grasp. “Ge! Ge! Let’s… choose the first option. The first one.”

Shi Wudu disagreed, standing his ground about the second option. Shi Qingxuan grew agitated, “Why the second option? Can’t we both live? Ge, let’s go with the first one, I really can’t do the second…”

Shi Wudu snapped, “Quiet! Don’t you know me? You think I can do it—lose everything and be forced to watch you become a filthy wretch?! You might as well infuriate me to death!”

The proud Water Tyrant had enjoyed a fulfilling life of luxury, that was true, yet despite all of that, his pride refused to lower itself from the title he had had for the past three hundred years. The second option was mercy to him more so than the first option. He’d rather die than to live a mortal peasant's life.

Shi Wudu grabbed the rusty knife from the ground and shoved it into his brother's trembling hands. “Come!” The invitation was clear and resolute. Shi Wudu then leaned in to whisper, “...Go find General Pei. Ask him to take care of you.”

Shi Qingxuan felt the cold blade in his grasp. The freezing hilt sucked away whatever strength he had in his arms and the blade clattered to the ground. In spite of He Xuan’s chilling glare, he cried out, “Forget it, ge, forget it! Haven’t you always told me that everyone only cares for themselves, and that there’s no reason anyone would look out for us? Haven’t we always taken care of ourselves? Don’t give this thing to me, don’t give it to me!” 

“Qingxuan! Don’t be so immature! ...Your brother’s nicknamed the Water Tyrant. It’s not like you don't know that. Over all these years, I’ve raised so many waves that have shaken the world. I have nothing but enemies from heaven to hell. It’ll be easier if I die. If I die, then nothing else will happen to you. But if I survive while losing everything, that’s a fate worse than death. If I’m not the Water God, I can’t take care of you; I won’t even be able to protect myself. We probably won’t last two days out there… So take it!” And he thrust the blade into Shi Qingxuan’s hands again.

Shi Qingxuan had never been caught in such a dilemma before. Paralysed with grief and fear, all he could do was cry, “No! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, ge, I can’t, I really can’t! Don’t force me! Don’t give it to me! Help, help, help!” His voice grew unrecognisable as he began screaming in terror, eyes wide as cold sweat slicked the back of his neck.

“It’s all right!” Shi Wudu exclaimed. “Don’t be scared, Qingxuan, this won’t hurt as much as exchanging fates or stripping away spiritual power-”

He Xuan was done waiting, and he kicked Shi Wudu hard. “Quiet! Enough of this revolting brotherly love act. No one here will be moved by you.” 

Shi Wudu lay in a heap on the floor, but he suddenly shot out, wrapped his hands around Shi Qingxuan’s neck and tightened his grip.

“...Ge?”

“Qingxuan! I can’t leave you alone like this! There’s no way you’ll survive in the world if I die, so you might as well come with gege!”

Shi Qingxuan felt his vision darken as his airway was forcibly constricted. So this is his end, huh? How laughable, dying at the hands of the very one who gave him this life.

But suddenly, the strangling stopped. He Xuan stood before Shi Qingxuan, while Shi Wudu’s arms were reduced to stumps. He Xuan had torn off his forearms to prevent Shi Qingxuan from being strangled to death.

“And since when,” he bit out, “Did I give you a third option?”

Shi Wudu laughed back in response. He Xuan narrowed his eyes, “And what’s so funny?”

“I’m laughing at you! I’m laughing at how you think you’ve got the upper hand! Do you think you’ve finally gotten your revenge after so many years of waiting? Does it feel good?”

Well, Black Water? Does it feel good?

It did feel good. It felt so good, like a warmth in his stomach as though he’d just consumed a satisfying meal. Every time he turned his gaze onto Shi Wudu, the warmth turned into something burning, like a strong drink. This was his long awaited meal. 

Consume. Finish the job and consume.

“It does feel good seeing you on the brink of death.” He Xuan agreed.

“Is that right? Then let me tell you something. I feel good too!” Shi Wudu’s tone grew derisive and mocking, “Because I see you right now—so filled with rage, so filled with suffering, so filled with hate. You’re grinding your teeth so hard you’re crushing them. And yet you’re still powerless to bring your family back! You’re still nothing more than a ghost of the gutters. Be as angry as you want, they’re long gone! But me and my brother, we’ve lived for ages, we’ve been heavenly officials for centuries. Even if he can’t be one anymore, even if he can’t live anymore, he still profited. I still won! And so I feel even better than you! Ahahaha!”

Gone was the warmth of his revenge. What was initially burning up inside of He Xuan turned cold and aggressively turbulent. This shameless audacious man, taking his divinity, his fate, and now the satisfaction of his revenge.

Shi Qingxuan called out from behind He Xuan, “...Ge, don’t talk anymore,” he begged. “Can you please stop? Ge, my god, what are you saying? What nonsense are you spewing…”

He Xuan stared daggers at Shi Wudu, asking incredulously, “Have you no remorse?”

In truth, He Xuan already knew the answer. Shi Wudu, the Lord Water Master, the Water Tyrant, knew of no such word. He’d taken and consumed as much as He Xuan had, gnawed on the bones and chewed the dishes too. 

Shi Wudu continued, “Everything I have today, I fought for! I will fight for what I don’t have. I will change my fortune if fate denies me! My fate is up to me and not the heavens!” 

Such a bold and shameless claim could only serve to infuriate He Xuan further. Shi Qingxuan sobbed from where he was, “Gege, please I beg you, please. Please stop talking, please shut up. Please…”

“Well, Black Water Demon Xuan? What will you do? Kill me? Qingxuan, gege will go first. I will wait for you down below. Ha ha ha ha ha ha…”

He Xuan froze at these words. “‘My fate is up to me and not the heavens’?” He began slowly. "Very well then.” His voice dropped to a low whisper, and he turned back towards Shi Qingxuan.

“Let me make something clear to you, Shi Wudu.” He Xuan began as his fingers traced the contours of Shi Qingxuan’s neck. “If your fate is up to you and not the heavens, then what of your brother’s?”

And with that, He Xuan’s hand gently traced up Shi Qingxuan’s face, almost like a lover’s tender action. That hand wiped away Shi Qingxuan’s tears and smoothed over Shi Qingxuan’s ruffled hair as He Xuan leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to Shi Qingxuan’s forehead. In that brief moment, Shi Qingxuan saw a hint of the warmth that lingered on his Ming Xiong’s face.

Shi Qingxuan came to the conclusion: Ming Xiong and He Xuan were the same person. They were both him, his beloved. Whatever his fate was, Shi Qingxuan closed his eyes in silent acceptance.

He Xuan’s gentle hand turned vicious as it gripped Shi Qingxuan’s hair. From behind him, Shi Wudu choked on his shock, “Black Water Demon Xuan! You can despise me, you can torture me, kill me, fuck me to death if you must! The fault is no one else but mine alone! What’s it to you, should you kill Qingxuan! He did nothing to you!”

He Xuan stopped and turned his head to stare at Shi Wudu, bloodlust dancing in his eyes. “He did nothing to me? Did he? Then why,” He Xuan’s face softened ever so slightly, “Why did it take so long for me to exact my revenge? Did nothing, you say? Innocent, you claim? Then why-” He glanced almost wistfully at Shi Qingxuan, “-and how did he delay my plan for so long?”

Shi Wudu’s eyes filled with a sudden understanding while Shi Qingxuan's eyes widened with grief and heartache. 

“So that’s how it is!” Shi Wudu spat, “You unknowingly formed such a close bond with him to the point where you’re basically sworn brothers, and so you blame him for your own indecisiveness, struggling as you’re slowly consumed by your urge for revenge! Black Water Demon Xuan, how is any of that Qingxuan’s fault? Blame yourself for having such a foolish heart. A Ghost Supreme my ass! You can’t even do your revenge properly! Hahahahah! What a fool!”

He Xuan’s face darkened as he turned away from Shi Wudu, wrenching hard on Shi Qingxuan’s hair. Although Shi Qingxuan had long attempted to resign himself to such a fate, his fear of death flared up, “Ming-xiong! Ming-xiong! I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry! We’re the ones who sinned! We’re the ones in the wrong! It’s my fault—my brother only did what he did because of me! My brother’s gone mad—he’s gone crazy, can’t you see?! I…I…you…you…”

He swallowed, as though attempting to control himself. Shi Qingxuan was about to go mad from grief, fear and heartbreak, but still he forced himself to look into the eyes of his beloved, who he’d unknowingly hurt for centuries, who was now burning up with a hunger to complete his revenge, and couldn’t help but smile gently one more time. 

“Ming xiong- no. He Xuan.”

“Speak.”

“I’m sorry, my dear friend, my greatest friend.” 

And as his tears rolled soundlessly down his cheeks, He Xuan wrenched Shi Qingxuan’s head from his neck with an inaudible sob while Shi Qingxuan mouthed his last three words.

Behind him, Shi Wudu’s screams of shock and grief echoed throughout the vast, empty cavern.

~~~~~~

His revenge was exacted. He Xuan looked down at his hands, covered in the residual warmth of Shi Qingxuan’s blood. Shi Wudu’s corpse lay behind him, blood pouring out from the neck. As he stared down at Shi Wudu’s body, he was surprised to feel nothing. Not a hint of satisfaction in sight. Even as he heard Shi Wudu grasping the rusted knife and hacking away at himself, He Xuan did nothing but continue to stare blankly at Shi Qingxuan’s corpse, replaying his last few moments where his mouth had uttered those three words until Shi Wudu’s cryings ceased.

Staring back at Shi Qingxuan’s corpse, however, He Xuan slowly understood those who lamented the lack of medication for regret– 真愧世上没有后悔药. Instead of a warmth that pooled in gently as he looked at Shi Qingxuan’s face, the remains of a smile still etched on it, all he felt was an emptiness none of the banquets in the world could fill.