Capturing My Demon King Costar

Before Yao Shen can say anything, he feels Xin Hulei's hand close over his shoulder. "What exactly did you see?" Xin Hulei asks Gao Wu, his attention solely focused on him.

Gao Wu shrinks a little under the intensity of Xin Hulei's gaze, probably recalling the circumstances in which they last met.

"The nightmares were usually disconcerting, like anxiety fuelled illusions," he shakes his head and frowns, as if just recalling them is enough to upset him. "To start off it was just random scenes, like being suffocated under a pile of my own talismans, or constantly falling down the window of the hotel, but never reaching the ground, being chased by cameras..."

He circles his hand in the air, indicating that the pattern went on in that vein.

All those descriptions are similar to Yao Shen's own experiences, from the cicadas to the eyes crushing him under their gaze -- except his nightmares never progress past that.

Likely due to Xin Hulei's intervention.

What would have happened afterwards otherwise?

"And then?" Xin Hulei asks, his grip on Yao Shen's shoulder tightening without him noticing.

Yao Shen can tell by the thin line of his lips how much this issue is upsetting him.

He's probably looking at Gao Wu sitting in the Wuji pavilion as a ghost and thinking that if it wasn't for that stupid blood contract, it could be Yao Shen sitting there instead of him.

Gao Wu swallows drily and looks towards Jia Hao, his eyes lowered in quiet guilt. "After that...it was always the same thing, I was sitting down on a bench in that rundown garden and Jia Hao walked up to me." He pauses and rubs the back of his neck.

"He said 'this won't hurt a thing', and then he kissed me. After that, I choked and died."

Jia Hao who has been silent the entire time sits up a little straighter, putting down his teacup with a clink. "I would never do that."

Gao Wu gives him a weak smile. "I know that, that's why I didn't want to tell you fully what happened in the dreams, just that they were...you know...a problem." He sighs. "I didn't actually think you'd end up here."

Jia Hao shrugs, unbothered. "Well, it worked out, now both of us are here." He notices the implications of his words, and corrects himself. "I mean, it's very sad that you're dead, I never wanted that to happen...but I'm glad I can be here, uh, for you."

Xie Bian clears his throat. "I know Youdu has been a mess for the past two years, even before that, but you people realise that the point isn't staying here indefinitely, right?" he asks, pointing between Jia Hao and Gao Wu. "All the ghosts in Youdu are supposed to reincarnate and its a travesty that this city just keeps growing bigger and bigger."

Fan Wujiu gives him an aggrieved look. "Bian, you can't just make souls reincarnate if they aren't ready for it." He sighs. "Actually, this used to all be decided by the ghost king courts, but I can't even remember the last time any souls were put to trial, instead of just being let to walk around aimlessly."

Xie Bian slams his hand down on the tabletop. "That's what I'm saying! This city is in shambles, and everyone has forgotten the proper way to do things."

Yao Shen refrains from pointing out that instead of doing something about it, Xie Bian decided to throw a two-year temper tantrum, because he couldn't be bothered to have a conversation with Fan Wujiu. Even if time passes differently for immortals, he considers it a bit excessive.

Xin Hulei cuts through the conversation by clearing his throat pointedly. "And in the nightmares, you saw the exact garden where you later died?" he asks, looking directly at Gao Wu.

Gao Wu nods. "That's why I was there actually. I was tired to the nightmares, and wanted to confront them once and for all...to tell myself there wasn't anything to them, besides...I don't know, my own guilty conscience or something."

Yao Shen remembers vividly telling him that one day Gao Wu would die, and on that day he would have better pray that he didn't end up on Yao Shen's court. 

Well, now he is dead, and according to Xie Bian the courts need to be put back into working order. 

His and Gao Wu's eyes meet across the room. Something passes between them that Yao Shen can't put his finger to. Maybe a recognition that not all is water under the bridge, and that one day, Yao Shen might be forced to act on the threats he made.

Xin Hulei is unaware of the tension parallel to his questioning of Gao Wu, and goes on with his analyses of his dreams.

"That must mean that the nightmares were always going to lead to your death," Xin Hulei says. "It's not a coincidence, that both you and Yao Shen were having terrible nightmares, and that you kept dreaming about dying on the exact same place you were later attacked by Bi Jialu."

Gao Wu nods. "I think so too, but what does that Si Wang have against me?"

Xin Hulei chances a brief sideways glance at Yao Shen, but Yao Shen doesn't need him to be coy about his thoughts. He has arrived at the same conclusion, as hard as it is.

"Si Wang was my brother in a past life," Yao Shen says, laying the truth bare for everyone who didn't already know. "This...I'm afraid it was all part of his plan to take revenge on me, for what happened in my first life, as well as when I became a Ghost King."

He smiles, derisively. "I suspect he hoped to achieve that in my current life, by manipulating me into hurting Xin Hulei, and then...well, I don't know what were his plans for me...but suffice it to say that I frustrated them."

Xin Hulei's hand slides down from his shoulder down to his waist and he squeezes softly.

Yao Shen meets Gao Wu's eyes again, apologetic. "I think...your death was inconsequential for him. He only wanted me to be declared guilty of it--"

Xin Hulei interrupts him. "Which means that somehow, he's in contact with some of the members of the murderers' family."

"That's very likely, it also means that like he was trying to attract Gao Wu to his death, my dreams are also designed to attract me somewhere." He looks at Xin Hulei. "It means that to know what he's planning, you'll have to let me dream on my own."

---

They return to the mortal realm without addressing Xie Bian's main complaint that there are two ghosts currently taking up space in Wuji pavilion with no interest in going somewhere else.

Yao Shen reminded him that he can always help them find a new house in Youdu, just before walking out the doorway into Xin Hulei's apartment.

It's almost jarring to return to the eerie silence of the apartment after the liveliness of the Wuji pavilion just moments before.

Xin Hulei sees the apprehensive look on his face and kisses the side of his head. "Let's shower," he says, pulling Yao Shen along with him.

That night, Yao Shen goes to bed alone while Xin Hulei sleeps in the sofa. They don't know if that distance will be enough to keep Xin Hulei out of Yao Shen's dreams but it's the first thing they try.

Yao Shen isn't aware of falling asleep. To him it's as if his head hits the pillow and he slides right through the mattress, upright, in the middle of dark maze.

There's darkness all around him, and the only thing for him to do is cross it.

Yao Shen walks for such a long time that he feels physically tired from the effort. Eventually, the maze opens up into a desolate stretch of barren land, leading up to an half-destroyed fortification.

Yao Shen makes his way there, hiding his face in the crook of his arm to protect himself against the freezing desert winds beating against his skin.

He's climbing the half destroyed fortification, scaling the wall by using the fallen bricks as steps, when his foot gets stuck in a hole.

At the same time he tries to pull his foot free, below him something pulls it down, making Yao Shen lose his footing completely. The more he scrambles to break free, the harder that unseen hand pulls him into the guts of the half destroyed wall, seemingly into the earth below him.

Finally, Yao Shen can fight any more, and all of him slips down into the darkness below him, which opens up to swallow him like a dark, hungry maw. 

Yao Shen wakes up screaming, with the vivid sensation of being swallowed alive by something primordial and bestial.

When he opens his eyes, Xin Hulei is at his side, rubbing his back gently. "You're okay, everything is fine now."

Still shaking, Yao Shen tells him everything he saw.

Xin Hulei's hand freezes on Yao Shen's back.

"I know where that place is."