The Village of Ghosts

"I'm on my way to the ghost village," the God of Strength kindly explained, looking forward once more.

Lee's brows furrowed and pulled his travel pack over his shoulders to his chest, rummaging around inside for the map he had been given by the God of Secrets. He gave a small sigh of relief when he found it tucked inside his new cooking pot, and pulled it out into the sunlight.

Quickly tying everything back up and slinging his belongings back onto his back, Lee hopped slightly on one leg as he tried to restore his balance, making sure to carefully hold the map under one of his arms.

When he was stable enough, he took one wooden cylindrical end, and unfurled the paper, watching the single, gleaming red dot appear on the page to mark where he was in the world.

He let the end of the map fall to the floor as he tried to zoom in on where he was and followed the road ahead on the sheet, the stark white giving way to the jet black line of his path.

"Here, let me," the God of Strength called out to him, transferring the burden of pulling along his entire cart onto one hand, picking up the other end of the map with his now free hand.

Lee tried not to think about how his other arm looked, doing all that work completely on its own and effortlessly.

He kept his eyes glued onto the thin, delicate paper instead, in front of him.

"Do you see the village after the one ahead, here? You know, the one near the big lake," the God of Strength pointed out slightly above where Lee had been searching around in.

Lee felt his eyes widen as he began analysing each and every detail of the area, from the way that the lake looked more like an amorphous blob, than a circle, to the peculiar way the town itself seemed to wrap around its edges, even so far as to inject itself into the very pores of the lake.

Lee felt his eye brows rise as he ran through the weather conditions that each season would bring to the town.

Surely the houses, in those little enclaves, would be flooded every year as winter came around and brought more rain with it.

The design of the town made to real sense, looking more and more as if it was trying to merge with the lake and become one with it, but Lee couldn't be sure unless he saw it.

He traced the path over with his eyes and noticed that if he was to examine such a thing, then he would be leaving the preordained path thrust upon him. He glanced over to the God of Strength quickly, before centring his eyes back on the map.

If he was to take the path set to him, by the God of Secrets, then he would be turning to go West at the next village, rather than continuing to go North. If he actually followed his instructions, then he would be completely bypassing the Ghost Village and would be moving onto a smaller village where there was an a small, cheap inn, attached to some sort of shrine for a fox spirit - a Huli Jing.

If Lee took the path to the Ghost Town, it would be simple for him to walk back to the town that he was about to pass through, and then continue on his way.

But if he did such a thing, he would be left vulnerable to the God of War, who was allegedly seeking him out.

The God of Strength may be able to protect him though, and if he could, Lee only had the rest of the day probably half of tomorrow to convince him that he was worthy of accompanying the God upon his heavenly ordained, grandiose mission.

So how was he supposed to breach the question?

They had seemed amicable enough so far, but if he was too blunt about the situation, then Lee would come off looking a little desperate. He also couldn't begin asking about how strong the God of Strength was against the God of War; that may come across as Lee trying to incite possible tensions between them, and besides, Lee had no idea about their relationship.

He needed to approach all this by a different angle.

"Say, uhh, if we were to meet somebody on the road, what name would you give to them? I mean, uh, it wouldn't be the best idea if you went around calling yourself the God of Strength all the time," Lee managed to get out, rolling up his side of the map, and cradling it to his chest.

He might be able to use it as a baton if necessary in case of this all blowing up in his face.

"A false name, huh, Just like your Shen Lan. Call me Ran Ling if we ever encounter any emergencies on the road," the God of Strength cheerfully declared, lightly hitting Lee's ribs with his sharp elbows jokingly.

Lee had to stop and marvel for a moment at the God's seemingly eternal positivity and happiness, dumb struck by his golden halo of bliss and light, framed beautifully by the silvery clouds around him. The wind whipped up his long, silky black hair, flashing an azure blue for just a moment, in just the right way, as those reddish eyes of his swirled a magnificent, royal green, the tan of his skin remaining unchanged but gaining a soft glow that looked as if the Earth, and Lee's own eyes, were unworthy of it.

Lee held his breath and held his body still as the cart behind the God transformed into a luxurious carriage, decked out in an almost liquid looking silver and gold, millions of swirling patterns and intricacies overlaid on the structure.

And the wheels on it, no longer looking clogged full of mud and eager to escape the structure it was tied to, were firm and steady, as if the very edges of it were prepared to slice through mountains to continue on their way.

Lee could see nothing else but that ethereal beauty and kind smile before him, and he blinked rapidly to see through his tears.

"Shen Lan, I gladly welcome you on the journey to the Ghost Village to solve the issues of the Rising Mirror Lake."