Wen Reian

2004 years after The Long Night

Sanlín City

After being led to the section of the library that contained birth, death and marriage records, Wen Reian and his companions were each sat at a long table with stacks of books before them.

As easy as it may seem to find a single wedding among hundreds with three minds at it, the matter was complicated by the fact that none of the church’s records were organized by date. Cross-checking with the citizen census each time was making everything take twice as long, and to make matters worse, Xie De was starting to get bored...

“A’Yu should have come,” the boy sighed, flipping pages. “He would’ve loved all these books.”

Reian rolled his eyes at his friend and focused on his task, willfully ignoring the man sitting across the table whose dark eyes never wavered from his work.

I thought King’s were obsessed with wars and strategies and stuff… especially someone as young as Xie Yi-jun. Why does it feel like he’s enjoying reading all this jargon?

Before he could stop himself, Reian blurted out-

“Is it very interesting?”

Xie De’s mouth fell wide at Reian’s obvious verbal lack of respect toward the King… again!

Reian couldn’t help it! He forgot-

Xie Yi-jun didn’t look up from his book as he answered; “No, it is deathly boring.”

He raised the cover of the book for Reian to see...

Death Census of Sanlín City: 2003 Years After The Long Night

A moment later, the hint of a smile tugged at the King’s lips.

Reian swallowed.

“If your Master heard you addressing me informally, he wouldn’t be very impressed.”

Without missing a beat Reian asked what he’d been curious about all day...

“How old are you?”

Under the table, Xie De kicked him while Xie Yi-jun answered with a yawn as he turned another page; “Seven hundred and twenty four. And trust me, I feel each one of those years.”

Reian stayed quiet for a moment though his mind was racing. This was the longest conversation he’d had with the King to date, each piece of information he got making him strangely braver.

“I’m twenty,” he responded. “So, I won't call you Master.”

Beside him, Reian could feel Xie De’s face burning but he didn’t care. Wen Rei was far more interested in the frustrated yet intrigued smile on Xie Yi-jun’s face...

“Fair enough, but I am also of royal blood. Or does that not count for shit in your day and age?”

Reian’s ears turned red at hearing the man curse, especially in public, though no one was here. He thought of what to say in response, but the only thing he could come up with was-

“It counts. Do you want me to call you My King?”

Just then, Xie Yi-jun’s eyes met his.

Reian froze. Being held accountable for his words by those dark eyes was a strange feeling. Unpleasant but familiar, somehow…

Reian recognised the hurt his words had cause the man, though he wasn’t sure why.

Does he not like it when people call him King? I didn’t know.

Perhaps a full minute passed by, Reian just sitting there, nervously. Then Xie Yi-jun cleared his throat and looked down, muttering; “You can call me Yi-jun.”

Shocked, Reian frowned.

Did he just give me permission to use his first name with no honorifics? He isn’t too much older than me but it’s true that he is still a King.

The idea of saying that name felt… odd to the boy. Something inside him, a dark secret thing, urged him to call the King; Xie-jun! Even more informal! Such a nickname would be said by close family or elders only-

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“What did you just say?!”

Reian had to blink a few times before he noticed that the young King was glaring directly at him.

Oh… oh no… did I say that outloud?!

“I didn’t say anything-”

The King’s expression was grave. “No, I heard you. You said…”

“What?”

A second passed by and then the man looked away again. Tense silence followed for several minutes, and Xie De leaned over to Reian once to whisper; “You have lost all the marbles you have ever possessed in that funny little head…”

Reian was starting to agree.

Minutes turned to hours and what was once a table filled with piles of books, became a place of torture for Wen Reian, a dining table for Xie Yi-jun, and a pillow for Xie De.

Crossing another name off of his list of couples since these ones were both still, sadly, alive, Reian felt his stomach growl… glancing across the table at whatever Xie Yi-jun had gone out and bought was making his mouth water, though he refused to say.

Beside him Xie De was snoring, sound asleep. His friend had passed out hours ago leaving Reian alone with the awkward and slightly hostile tension between himself and the young King.

Struggling to make sense of the words before him, as several of the names had been scribbled out accidently, Wen Reian rubbed his temple. As he did he heard his stomach rumble.

Blinking, his cheeks flushed as he tried to pretend it wasn’t as loud as it was, but then he heard Yi-jun’s soft sigh as the man pushed another plate of food toward him.

“I was waiting for you to ask but I guess you were observing that old saying…”

Reian was already taking grateful bites out of the fried bread, which made Yi-jun smile.

“What saying?” The boy mumbled, mouth embarrassingly full.

Xie Yi-jun closed his book, “To ask for help is to concede.”

Reian wanted to argue with him, but felt it wouldn’t do any good. He didn’t think he was being proud by not saying anything, he just didn’t want to inconvenience the man. Besides, it wasn’t polite to assume he’d bought extra food...

Instead of replying, Reian changed the subject.

“We’re in a library,”

Yi-jun glanced up at him, clearly puzzled.

“...yes. We are. And?”

Wen Reian stopped eating, scooting forward a little bit to say quieter; “There are books here on everything, the history of battles, cities that have fallen and formed. Even new kinds of magic over the last seven centuries. Aren’t you curious?”

Reian hated not knowing things. He imagined if he’d awakened in a year far in the future, he’d want to know-

“No.”

“...no?”

Yi-jun pulled another book in front of him and repeated carefully; “No, I am not curious.”

Before Reian could begin to comprehend that, he felt the subtle shift of white around him and the crispness in the air of snow that always meant Jin Yu was near.

He turned to the boy as he stumbled into the room, clearly exhausted from running.

“A’Yu-”

Xie De woke up upon hearing Reian’s anxious murmur, and then all three of them were huddled together.

“A’Yu,” Xie De said. “What happened?! Why are you here?”

For a moment the boy couldn’t catch his breath, so Reian gently patted his back.

“You ran?”

Jin Yu nodded and then finally got out around gasps; “Master Hao wants you to hurry, we’ve been able to summon and contain the spirit for now but he wants Xie De to come and help.”

“He’s there alone?” Xie De’s eyes widened.

“Yes-”

“Does your Master have any clues as to the spirit’s identity?” A deep voice asked from behind them.

Jin Yu finally noticed Yi-jun sitting there, and his eyes widened slightly as he nodded.

“Easy, take your time.”

Reian was worried. The boy didn’t usually look so frantic...

“It is a young female, that’s all we know. Please, Xie Ge. Hurry!”

Upon hearing Jin Yu call his nickname, Xie De’s eyes softened that much more and he nodded, first to Reian then to A’Yu.

The two of them left quickly as Reian sat down again at the table, uneasiness stirring in his heart and a longing to be heading off with his friends to help. But he knew that what they were doing here was important too.

We might not have a lot of time… Master Hao and those two can only suppress the spirit for so long before it weakens them. Maybe it could hurt them!

“Hey!”

Reian realised Xie Yi-jun was waving his hand in front of his eyes.

“Calm down, I found it.”

The King turned the book towards him quickly, Reian’s eyes narrowing on the hastily circled name at the top...

Name: Mei Lumin

Age: 21

Date of birth: Èr Yuè Shísì 1982 Years After The Long Night

Date of death: Bā Yuè Yī 2003 Years After The Long Night

Cause of death: allergic reaction, bee sting

Place of death: Church of The Willow Song

Reian looked up at Yi-jun and nodded, “This has to be it. Everything fits, she died six months ago, right when the problems at the church began.”

Yi-jun pointed to the bottom line...

“Remember the flowers? Not a single one left untouched. I think our bride-to-be was scared they’d attract bees,”

Reian was so excited about finding the ghost’s identity that he ended up grinning ecstatically, something he definitely shouldn’t be doing in front of Xie Yi-jun of all people. What was stranger, was that the young King smiled softly back…

“Is there a next of kin?”

Yi-jun nodded. “Better yet, I think I know exactly how to uproot this spirit.”

“How?”

“Find her fiancé.”