Chapter Five: The Heaven Crossing Bridge

One night, Bai Xu shot up in a sweat after a very lucid dream. He was breathing hard, panic raising in his chest. He started slapping Bao Xian away from next to them. They had fallen asleep hugging. 

Bao Xian sat up in confusion, looking at Bai Xu in worry. He's never seen him look so panicked and scared. He reached over and placed his hand on his arm, trying to calm him down. Bai Xu was shaking, at a loss of what to do. The older boy sighed and pulled him into a hug, shushing him gently.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked, softly. "Tell me."

Bai Xu was shaking, his mind running a mile a minute. He was trying hard to make sense of his dream and if it meant something. He couldn't talk at first. He was at a complete loss for words. And who could blame him? The horror he saw in his dream was beyond his imagination. 

"Can you… Can you give your visions to someone else?" Bai Xu asked after a while. Bao Xian frowned slightly and thought it over. 

"I guess it's possible," he said. "Why? What did you see?" 

"So much fire and destruction," Bai Xu said, shaking his head. "It was scary! It was so scary!"

"Breathe," Bao Xian said softly, rubbing his back in soft circles. "It's okay. I'm here."

The prince nodded slowly, taking a few deep breaths. After calming down slightly, he looked at his friend. Bao Xian gave him a comforting smile and reached out, placing his hand on his cheek. He pressed a kiss on his forehead.

"Tell me. What happened?" he asked softly. Bai Xu sighed deeply, closing his eyes.

"All of Wuyong being taken by a catastrophic volcano eruption," Bai Xu told him. "There was no survivors. It wasn't a dream. I just know it. It felt way too real. Mount Huo Wei is going to erupt and my people are going to suffer!"

"Let's provide them with resources to help them get through—"

"I have to go tell them!" Bai Xu cried, jumping up and dressing out of his sleep robes. Bao Xian shook his head and grabbed his arm.

"We can't appear to mortals," Bao Xian told him. "You could be banished."

"Fine! Then I'll talk to Guoshi!" Bai Xu said. "I need to figure out how to stop the volcano."

Bao Xian tried to stop him, but Bai Xu was already rushing out of the room. This is what he was scared of. Bai Xu was going to involve himself somehow. If he did, things were going to go really bad for the prince. This was the event Bao Xian has been worried about. He had to try and stop him.

He quickly followed after the prince, finding him in the hall talking to the other three. He was hastily telling them about the dream and how he had to stop the volcano. The group tried to stop him, but Bai Xu wouldn't listen to reason and jumped to the mortal realm so he could contact Mao Yongxing. The four quickly followed, knowing they'd have to pull him back if he went too far.

"Guoshi," Bai Xu said, making their presence known to their master. Mao Yongxing was meditating and almost lost his mind when he heard Bai Xu's voice. He turned and came face to face with the prince.

"Your Highness," Mao Yongxing said. "What are you doing here?"

"You need to warn the people!" Bai Xu said, urgently. "Now! This volcano is going to erupt! Everything will be destroyed! You need to get the people to evacuate!"

"We can't jus evacuate with nowhere to go, Your Highness," Mao Yongxing said. Bai Xu narrowed his eyes at him. 

"Talk to my father. Make a plan. Get out," Bai Xu said in frustration. "Report back to me once you have!"

Bai Xu walked off once he was finished. Bao Xian and Mao Yongxing both let out identical sighs. The man could still feel the presence of the four vassals. After a moment of thought, he had a request for them.

"Please keep him out of this. We can handle this," Mao Yongxing said. "If he descends and gets involved, he will be banished quicker than he ascended." 

Bao Xian let out a deep sigh, knowing very well the consequences. From experience, it was hard getting Bai Xu to do something he didn't want to do. He is passionate about his Kingdom, so he was going to do everything to make sure he saved his people. Bao Xian was afraid this could be the tipping point for the Crown Prince. And he was more than sure the prince wasn't going to listen to them. 

"What do we do?" Mu Chen asked, at a loss for words. Bao Xian sighed and shook his head. He didn't know what the correct answer would be. This was their home, after all. This is something they shouldn't even be involved with. 

"I knew it," Zhong Ran said in frustration. "He's going to ruin everything for us!"

"I don't want to leave the lower court," Guan Qi said, sadly. 

"Nothing has happened yet," Bao Xian spoke up, seeing where this was going. "Come on, guys. He's really shaken up right now. He's not thinking straight. This is his home. It's our home. He has every right to be scared."

"It's precisely because it's our home," Zhong Ran said, looking at Bao Xian. "He's not going to stop at anything. You know how impulsive he is! Didn't you say so yourself? You had a really bad feeling about his ascension! And now this is happening!"

"Is this volcano thing even real? Or is it just a dream?" Mu Chen asked. "If he's making a fuss out of nothing–"

"It's real," Bao Xian told them. "Come on, guys. You need to give him a chance. You need to stand by him. We vowed to do so ever since he was a kid. Whether or not we're heavenly officials, our top priority should be His Highness. He cares about you guys more than anything, does he not? He brought you to heaven with him because of how much you mean to him."

"Bao Xian gege is right," Guan Qi said, looking at the other two with a small frown. "We're here because of His Highness. Even if we weren't Heavenly Officials, we still have had great lives thanks to him! He's our friend. He's scared and doing everything he can to protect our home. Shouldn't we be standing by his side instead of whining about it? If he wants to fix it, then we should help him fix it."

"Exactly," Bao Xian said. "We're from his palace, in heaven and on Earth. We are his vassals. It's our job to follow him."

"You're his boyfriend. Of course you'd say that," Zhong Ran said. Bao Xian frowned and shook his head.

"I'm his best friend. But I am also his servant, am I not?" Bao Xian asked. "I'm bound to protect him. It is my mission and my honor to be by his side. Yes, maybe he has his personality quirks. But that doesn't mean anything to me. He deserves someone to stand by him. If he wants to take on this trial, then no matter how much I disapprove of it, I will stay by him. If he is banished from heaven, then I will be banished with him. That's the vow I took, and I am going to stick with my word. If you guys choose to walk out, then you better leave now."

The other three stared at him in shock. They've never heard Bao Xian say anything like this before. They knew his morals and opinions on things regarding ascension. They never thought he would help out Bai Xu if it meant giving up everything he believed in. But he was right, they had taken a vow. And Bai Xu was their best friend. He was their prince. They grew up together. And Bai Xu has always believed in them.

"Alright," Zhong Ran said. "Let's go find His Highness and figure out what our next move is."

"Yes," Mu Chen said with a nod. "You're right. We have to stand by his side no matter what. He's always done everything for us. He even brought us to heaven with him."

"Even if we have to leave heaven, at least we'll be together," Guan Qi said in agreement. Bao Xian gave them a small smile. He was thankful they finally agreed. 

"Let me talk to him first," Bao Xian told them. "I want to make sure he's even ready to talk to anyone. A lot is happening. And we all know how closed off he gets."

"Will he open up to you?" Guan Qi asked him.

"Of course he will," Bao Xian said, turning and leaving the temple. "He has no choice."

Mao Yongxing reported back to Bai Xu. He had talked with the King, and His Majesty wanted to invade another kingdom. It was the only way they could evacuate all their people. What kingdom would allow an entire city of people into their home? The King had talked to his council, and everyone had agreed. 

Bai Xu frowned deeply, disagreeing whole heartedly. Invading another kingdom meant war. War meant the death of even more people. He didn't want to bring such a tragedy to someone else. How fair was that? Bai Xu told Mao Yongxing to tell them to wait to make a decision and he was going to try and stop the volcano himself. The King agreed and put the problem in his hands.

"We have to do something," Bai Xu said, putting his hand to his forehead and pacing his room in thought. "But what can we even do?"

"Do we have the power to forcibly stop it?" Mu Chen asked. 

"We can try," Bai Xu said, once again descending to the mortal realm. His four vassals followed, unsure of what he was planning. The five of them ended up at the mouth of the volcano, looking down into it. It was rumbling, meaning this volcano was going to erupt sooner rather than later. 

"What are you planning?" Zhong Ran asked, looking at Bai Xu with raised eyebrows.

"I'll seal it," Bai Xu said.

He made some hand shields and placed his hands on the mountain, closing his eyes and pouring out all his spiritual energy. His friends all joined him, putting in as much qi as they could. They pulled away after spending a tremendous amount. The volcano shook under their feet, causing the group to glance at each other. 

"It didn't work," Mu Chen said. 

"Then we destroy the magma," Bai Xu said. "We must send spiritual blasts into the center of the volcano."

"No," Bao Xian said, shaking his head. "Do you have a death wish? That could cause even more destruction. It might even cause the volcano to erupt faster!"

"Then what do you propose?" Bai Xu asked, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Drill boreholes. Put water into the boreholes. It will cool the magma and delay the eruption," Bao Xian said.

"That will give us three years," Zhong Ran said, thinking over his words. "I think that might actually work."

"Is there really nothing we can do to stop it?" Bao Xu asked them. The four looked at each other and shook their heads. The Crown Prince became disappointed at this news. 

"I'll go talk with Guoshi. Maybe with three years to think it over, we'll be able to figure something out," Bai Xu said, walking away without another word. 

The kingdom was displeased with this answer. Wasn't the Crown Prince a god? Couldn't he stop this volcano? Wasn't he all powerful? They couldn't come to terms with this decision no matter what anyone said.

And so, even though Bai Xu forbade them to do so, the kingdom sent out soldiers to invade a neighboring kingdom. Fear overtook the other kingdom, and Bai Xu received an influx of prayers. Soldiers from Wuyong had stationed themselves outside their city gates, ready to fight.

Bai Xu was beyond furious. Without warning, he descended to the battlefield so he could punish the soldiers.

The soldiers were terrified when they saw the Crown Prince before them, full of rage. Some of them were even injured. They scurried back to the Kingdom of Wuyong and reported to the nobles. This angered the King, and he ordered his soldiers to start burning down his son's temples. Whether or not Bai Xu was a god, he was still the King's son. And the King found this to be the only way to punish his son for defying him. 

Things sprung into chaos, and the people of Wuyong was terrified. They had no idea who they should believe in anymore. Their King who had always been good and strong before them. Or their god, the Crown Prince they had adored the last twenty some years. Bai Xu was even more distraught. How could his own father do this to him?

"I'm going to go see him myself," Bai Xu decided. Bao Xian frowned and placed his hand on his arm.

"Wait," he said, sounding a bit panicked. "You've already lost thousands of followers and merits for that stunt on the battlefield. You weren't supposed to hurt mortals. Or appear before them."

"Well, they had to learn their lesson!" he cried out. "I told them not to go to war! I had to stop them from hurting other people!"

"So you took the beating yourself," Bao Xian said with a sigh. "My dear Highness, we have to stop this. Let your father figure this out on his own. You'll lose everything you ever worked for. You already are losing alot. Please back off for now. We did those boreholes. They have time to escape.

"No," Bai Xu said, turning away from him. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this."

Bai Xu left him alone and made a visit to his father. The King was shocked when his son appeared before him, but then his shock turned to anger. How could this ignorant boy come to him after everything? Hadn't he hurt his own soldiers?

"What are you doing here?" the King asked, his voice full of disdain. "Why did you descend?"

"Please stop this war," Bai Xu said, his voice laced with desperation. "Father, please! This isn't who we are!"

"I have no other choice," the King said. Bai Xu let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

"I have a plan. Let me take the reins. Father, please," Bai Xu said, getting down on his knees to beg in front of his father. "I delayed the eruption. We have time!"

"And what idiotic plan do you have this time?!" the King roared.

"I'm going to bring you all to heaven," the prince said, sounding very sure of his plan. "I want to build a bridge. A bridge that will reach heaven. The whole Kingdom can cross and stay until the eruption passes and Wuyong is rebuilt."

"It can't be done," his father said, a deep frown appearing on his face. 

"It can be," Bai Xu said, kowtowing to his father three times. "Believe in me. Please."

And so the King relayed the news to the people. No one believed at first, and many people continued to riot against him. But Bai Xu had made up his mind. He started his construction on the bridge, using all his strength and spiritual energy to make this bridge unbreakable. His friends helped as best as they could.

Soon, however, Bai Xu stopped answering the prayers of his believers. All his time and energy was put into construction. People all over Wuyong kept opposing his plan. No one believed it could be done. But Bai Xu was convinced, so his friends could only support him. Bao Xian stayed by his side every day.

"I'm losing strength," Bai Xu said one day. It was starting to strain him, but he didn't want to rest. If he stopped, the bridge could fail. Bao Xian grew worried. 

"What can we do?" Bao Xian asked him.

"I need more believers," he said. "Please. Go convince my people to believe in me again."

Bao Xian only nodded, turning to leave. The four vassals worked hard to bring his believers back, but it was to no avail. 

Instead of believing that Bai Xu could save them, they turned to other gods and prayed even harder. Bai Xu kept working, but his spiritual powers failed him more and more. He planned to finish this bridge in three years, but it didn't seem to be going in his favor. He finally reached out for help from other gods, but they all just mocked him and declined to give any help. Bai Xu was officially alone in this.

"You guys can stop," Bai Xu finally said. He hated to see their efforts failing. They worked so hard, but were getting nothing in return. He felt guilty. And he was beyond tired. "Please, don't try anymore. It's… It's useless." 

"My dear Highness," Bao Xian said, worry lacing his tone. Bai Xu gave him a small smile and shook his head. 

"I'm okay, gege," he said softly. And so all they could do was stand behind him and lend their own spiritual powers as he worked.

Three years passed, and the volcano erupted.