Chapter 27

Tao Wu.

Hsien Lian quickly turned to the door, his hair whipping around. He froze at the sight of the King Of Gods. Fang Hai instantly pointed his dao towards the man, but Tao Wu only sighed. He slowly walked to the four men, looking down at the ghost. "I said to bring them to me, it's not good to kill people. Ghosts or not."

Chen Guo switched the dao in his hands, pointing it threateningly at Tao Wu as well. Hsien Lian grabbed XingYing, hiding him. "Very hypocritical of you, Tao Wu. You killed hundreds of thousands of humans." Fang Hai spit, glaring at the man. Tao Wu stopped, turning his head to Fang Hai. "What? What do you mean? I never killed-"

"We know what you did! We know you allowed the ghosts to be here."

Tao Wu didn't budge. He laughed murderously, shaking his head like it was a joke. Hsien Lian saw him, all three of them did. Tao Wu's hands glowed a bright gold, illuminating the dark room. "You three don't know what you're talking about." Tao Wu muttered, his eyes glowing as well. A dark breeze blew from the wind outside the shrine. Blowing all of their hanfus, besides Tao Wu's.

A bright blast attacked all of the men, throwing them back to the walls behind each of them. Hsien Lian's vision blurred for a moment, before slowly gaining focus. "Tao Wu, just stand down." Chen Guo yelled, his dao glowed with a dark fire. A purple and golden glow shined on the shrine, as Chen Guo lifted his head.

The thing about gods is they can't die. That is not the worst thing that could ever happen to one. It is way worse.

Tao Wu smiled, his hands glowing a bright yellow. "Chen Guo, so naive to what is happening in the world. So naive on all the terrible things." Tao Wu shook his head disappointedly. "I would expect much better from someone like you." Chen Guo quickly burst into flames, running up to Tao Wu with all his energy, all his aura. The young god jumped into his hands gripping his dao, his arms swinging up. A swing to the throat wouldn't kill him. But the attack would hurt him.

A god's aura is like a flame, burning brightly for eternity.

Tao Wu crossed his arms in a blocking format, A wave of gold pushed Chen Guo back, using all the force Chen Guo had applied against him. Fang Hai, who was still recovering, quickly stood to his feet in order to catch the falling god. Hsien Lian scrambled up, running over to the top. "Hsien Lian, make sure he's ok. I got Tao Wu." Fang Hai muttered, dropping an unconscious Chen Guo in Hsien Lian's hands. Hsien Lian ran to the wall, his hands glowed a crystal blue as he placed a light hand on Chin Guo's cheek. He was cold to the touch, his fiery touch had gone extinct.

But sometimes, someone might pour water on the bright flame, stealing it from the world.

Chen Guo's aura was still there, Hsien Lian could feel it, just barely. Thin and broken, but fixable. The god sighed a breath of relief. He looked around. Where was XingYing? Fang Hai glowed a deep blue, his hair waving in the wind from his cryptic aura. Fang Hai didn't hold onto his dao, instead his mystical spirit held it for him. Fang Hai threw his hand up to the air, threatening Tao Wu. However, the king didn't seem fazed.

"Fang Hai, when I first met you, I knew you would do great things. Soar high above the Heavens. But I didn't know that you'd betray me like-" Fang Hai didn't allow the other to finish, his hand going forward, The dao precisely doing the same. THe sharp blue blade sliced through the air. Tao Wu didn't have enough time to react, the dao sliding him in the side.

Tao Wu fell over, clutching his side. Fang Hai didn't say anything to the man, playing his own trick that the king had done before. He crossed his forearms, creating a dark blue globe, With a deep breath Fang Hai's hands broke to his sides harshly, the globe absorbing Tao Wu's side of the room.

Tao Wu fought back this time, just barely.

Tao Wu's golden color broke through Fang Hai's blue one, pushing through to use Fang Hai's pressure against him. Fang Hai blocked himself, but it wasn't too much. The god flew back, hitting his head on the wall. Fang Hai groaned, falling down. Hsien Lian ran over, placing a hand on his back.

Stealing an aura, to one of Heaven's Deities, is like stealing a life.

"Fang Hai, are you ok?" Hsien Lian asked worriedly. Fang Hai didn't say anything, his head tilted to the ground in disappointment. Hsien Lian sighed. He turned over to Tao Wu. His hand glowed a light blue. HIs aura wasn't as good as the others, but he'll have to try. He can't just let them go.

"Hsien Lian." That wasn't Tao Wu's voice. Hsien Lian slowly stood up, hesitant by the voice change. Tao Wu was still on the ground, his face lowered similarly to Fang Hai. A black smog surrounded Tao Wu, before fully engulfing the god. Hsien Lian froze, worried by the sudden change. Hsien Lian froze, stepping slightly closer. The smog-person slowly stood, taking the form of a human shape.

"You just have to prove yourself. Have to show that you're worthy of everything and more." The voice mutters harshly. Hsien Lian stayed quiet, reaching for his dao, he didn't have one. "Hsien Lian, you can't take a seat. You can't relax and just watch the flowers like you used to. You have to be nosey. Have to know everything."

What was this about?

Who was this person?

Slowly, the smog started to clear, a gold and black hanfu revealed. Hands painted with crimson blood. His hair long and tightened him a bun, a Royal God's crown placed on top. It was him. "You were pretending to be Tao Wu?" Hsien Lian asked. Why? Why would he do that? He wrapped his hands behind his back, holding his posture high. Like he was the King of the Gods.

But Chao Ju wasn't.

Chao Ju gripped his dao, swinging it out of his scabbard, a wave of black hitting Hsien Lian. The world seemed to freeze around him, the golden blast stopping centimeters before it hit him. Everything around him had frozen, the air and colors sparkling in the air. Hsien Lian's breath didn't though, he could still breath. Still moving. He looked around at Fang Hai and CHen Guo, they were both frozen as well. Hsien Lian quickly looked at Chao Ju.

He was frozen too.

This was Hsien Lian's chance. As he began sto step forward, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, stopping him from moving. A crimson red circle surrounded him, laying flat on the ground. Both Chen Guo and Fang Hai were still hurt to the side. So that means only one person can be behind him. Their hands were warm, creating warmth throughout Hsien Lian's body. Hsien Lian sighed, lowering his head slightly. "XingYing?" Hsien Lian asked, not turning around. A soft chuckle came from the person behind him, deep and mysterious.

A glass butterfly flutters its wings, floating to face Hsien Lian. A frozen butterfly made out of ice. Glass wings light as air, silver glitters outlining the creature's frame. Hsien Lian was breathless as he held out his own hand, the butterfly crawling onto it. Hsien Lian smiled softly.

He lifted his hand, allowing a frozen butterfly, with glass like wings and silver shimmers outlining it's frame, flutter out of Hsien Lian's hand. It's body was as light as air, flooding Hsien Lian's body with pride that he was able to hold a diamond butterfly like this one once again. It was pride and love. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Hsien Lian looked over at his shoulder, seeing a crimson glove.

"Ning Huo?"