"Your Highness..... I know you are here to investigate, I am honoured by your presence but the ghosts who have gone missing will not be spared. I will not let you or anyone else even get a whiff of them, so it is better for you my lord, to walk ahead and just complete the formalities or return back to your realm, I can do anything but I let those ghosts go back to their realm." Liuxing said, his voice resilient and poise.
Kenji furrowed his eyebrows, " I would not go away without taking them." Kenji's voice was steady, each word deliberate.
"Your highness!" Liuxing said, taking a step further, Kenji instinctively stepped back.
"Are you trying to intimidate me Liuxing?" Kenji asked,his eyes locked on Liuxing's with quiet defiance. His finger's brushed the hilt of his sword and in one smooth motion, Kenji's flicked his wrist — a glint of the black blade flashed as it sprang forth. Kenji's other hand pushing Liuxing on the ground,the edge of his sword caught the light as it pressed coldly to Liuxing's throat. It was as if Liuxing did not even defend himself. Kenji frowned, his eyes sharp. The black blade pressed coldly to Liuxing's throat, "You should know better than to test me." Kenji said, his eyes locked with Liuxing's. Confusion fogged Kenji's mind because why was Liuxing not defending himself? Instead he was lying down with a hint of smile, the deadly blade almost cutting through his throat ready to seal his powers.
For a moment, silence reigned then, "Defend yourself or this will be your last day in the realm."
Kenji's blade hovered a grain away from Liuxing's throat,like a judgment. Yet Liuxing didn't raise his hand, he didn't flinch. Instead, he smiled.
His smile was not mockery, it was not fear, but something far more unsettling. Kenji's eyes reflected the profound confusion as he sensed admiration in Liuxing's eyes, admiration for himself. It felt as if Liuxing was
admiring Kenji but, "I must be mistaken, I must be insane, he is deceiving me and I am not to fall for it." Kenji thought.
"Strange, isn't it? That you bear the sword of a gaurdian…yet once knelt to a prayer the heavens refuses to hear." Liuxing said.
Kenji stiffened, his sword lowering not in defeat but hesitation.
Liuxing's smile deepened, "You are well aware my lord, that the blade does not always serve justice. Sometimes it just remembers." Liuxing's words fell like stones into still water,sending slight ripples through Kenji's resolve.
For a moment,neither moved but then Kenji removed his sword. Kenji got up from the ground, feeling Liuxing's words curl around him like smoke. His resolute was faltering, a distant ache surfaced. It hit like a wave, the agony in the child's prayers which he answered knowing very well he would get banished.
Liuxing bowed infront of him, "We will meet again, Your Highness."
"Wait!" Kenji unknowingly called out, it was as if, for a moment Kenji had hoped that Liuxing was him but words could be mistaken, they could be said in the same way by many and he could be deceived.
Liuxing stopped, the tension between them fraying at the edges. Kenji did not say anything. For a long time, Kenji stared at the ground and Liuxing stared at Kenji.
"I shall take my leave, your highness!" Kenji bowed again and proceeded to leave, as he moved Kenji lifted his gaze and in a blink Liuxing vanished. The white raging flames were calm now. The trees burnt and something on the ground glinted, it was catching the moonlight. A small object.
Kenji looked at it, it was lying on the ground fifteen paces away from where he was standing right now.
Kenji moved further and knelt, taking a look and then he took the object in his hand, it was a brooch. Silver, carved into the shape of looming flower. He could recognise that flower anywhere and he could recognise that piece of ornament with his eyes closed too. Tears welled up Kenji's eyes, he stared at the brooch as if it burned him.
The cold metal sat in his hand, "Is it Liuxing's ? Is it really-" he could not even think further. A choke escaped his throat before he could stop it. His breath caught, ragged and thin.
The sword slipped from his grasp,forgotten,clattering softly beside him on the ground. He clutched the brooch to his chest as if it was his lost childhood, as if it bore the love he craved to recieve from his parents,as if he found the boy he saw himself in, "Please be alive, please, please, please." Kenji whispered,a tear streaked down.
The wind was cold, providing no comfort. The heaviness in the air gone with Liuxing.
Kenji felt numb, the path binded with ghost talisman was providing a distraction for him. He moved with quick pace, "I should not let myself get distracted, I could be mistaken, maybe the brooch is not Liuxing's." He quickened his pace, clutching the brooch in his hands.
Kenji stood at the shimmering threshold between the realms,the gateway carved from a grey stone and inscribed with prayers from the earliest days of ghostly realm.
The ghost realm greeted him with silence—not peace but a thick, humming stillness that cloaked everything like mist. The sky hung like a faded memory.
Kenji's eyes narrowed, cold light seeped from the jagged bones of dead trees.
The rulers of the ghost realm were not known for their hospitability but they always respected superior gaurdian, since the heavenly realm provided them help in battles with the demonic realm which established the friendly relation between the ghost and the heavenly realm.
At the gates of the Onyx Palace, specters in armour of cursed jade stood in ranks, motionless. They opened the way without a word.
Kenji moved forward, the gate revealed the ghost emperor seated on a throne sculpted from obsidian and the ribcage of an ancient deadly beast that was slaughtered by the ghost emperor I. Draped in robes that shifted like smoke and shadow, his face was hidden behind a mask of dark smoke—it covered his eyes too.
"Lord Kenji of Heavenly Realm!" The emperor bowed.
"Your highness!" Kenji bowed in return.
"We are grateful to the heavenly realm for sending us help."
"We have not spoken since long. You come now. I did not expect a tragedy to bind our next meeting."I have heard the territories of divine realm are disturbed too, the ghost realm will always be grateful for providing us help."
"The signs point to Liuxing, your highness!" Kenji spoke, his gaze appeared solemn and his voice steady.
Ghost emperor tilted his head, "Liuxing's shadow has stirred in places even I cannot see." With a wave of his hand, Ghost Emperor summoned a spirit map, "Let us discuss over it as we provide you with refreshments, your highness, please!" The Ghost Emperor motioned Kenji to move forward towards the royal dining.