Capturing My Demon King Costar

This time, when Yao Shen blinks his eyes open, he's no longer being a witness to one of his past memories.

He's laying on the dusty floor of the tunnel below the wall. A thick cloying smoke coats the air. He covers his mouth and nose in the crook of his arm and tries to make sense of what happened.

After his eyes adjust to the darkness, he immediately notices Xin Hulei and Tan Liansi laying not far from him -- their eyes also closed.

He gets close to Xin Hulei and notices the rapid movement of his eyes under his eyelids.

But is he relieving the Crown Prince's memories, as Yao Shen had been, or his own? The last time Yao Shen saw the Crown Prince's memories, Xin Hulei was there with him, so it seems unlikely.

As expected, all attempts to rouse him prove unfruitful.

This is similar to what happened when Gao Wu attacked them -- except back then Xin Hulei, Jincan and Heimao were trapped inside their own minds. Yao Shen is sure that whatever is happening here is Si Wang's doing.

It's disconcerting that he isn't here. The hairs on the back of Yao Shen's nape stand up in alarm, but there's no sign of him wherever he looks, despite the ever present feeling of being watched.

He remembers how he just stepped from behind the curtains in the brothel room, without either the Crown Prince or Xin Hulei being aware of his presence and his discomfort increases.

He should find a way to get Xin Hulei and Tan Liansi out of here, they're far too vulnerable like this. Yao Shen alone can't go against Si Wang.

Or...he could lay down next to Xin Hulei and use his ghost king abilities to slip into his dream with him.

The thought is foreign and intrusive and Yao Shen immediately rejects it. He doesn't think it would be a good idea to do that. He would just be exposing himself, and all of them, to more danger--

But he might learn some more useful information that way, he should really see what Xin Hulei is reliving right now.

The more Yao Shen fights against the intrusive thoughts encouraging him to slip into Xin Hulei's dreams the stronger the impulse grows.

Before he knows it he's already crawling on his hands and knees to lay down beside Xin Hulei's immobile body, unable to stop himself.

He looks up at the dark ceiling of the cave in apprehension, knowing that something is happening to him. Knowing that he isn't fully in control of his body right now.

His eyelids feel heavy, and he's powerless to fight the impulse to give in into this unnatural sleep.

---

Yao Shen wakes up with a gasp. All around him there's fire and noise. He's disoriented both by being in Xin Hulei's dream, as well as by all the screaming around him.

A groan near him gets his attention, and when he looks at the side, he finds the Crown Prince, bleeding profusely from several cuts on his forehead, crawling on his front towards where Xin Hulei is lying unconscious.

Ghosts are screaming and running in all directions, trying to get out of the building. Perhaps giving into learned behaviours form their lives as humans which tell them to run away from fire and to avoid danger. Perhaps they think they can somehow become "deader" than they already are.

In the meantime, the only two heavily injured people who might yet lose their lives receive no assistance.

When the Crown Prince reaches Xin Hulei's side, it becomes obvious he's still breathing, despite the gory sight of his destroyed horn, and all the fresh blood seeping through his bandages.

The Crown Prince isn't in much better state, his face is covered in soot, mixed with his own blood, and the debris of the explosion. Yao Shen can scarcely recognise him.

Si Wang, predictably, is nowhere to be found.

The Crown Prince shakes Xin Hulei, who finally opens his remaining eye.

"We need to get out of here," he says, struggling to get up to his feet.

Xin Hulei nods dazedly, and gets up to his feet as well. He and the Crown Prince support each other through the rubble of the right side of the Fragrant Peony, and out into the street, where a crowd of curious ghosts has gathered.

The crowd makes it easier for them to make their way through unnoticed, but one voice reaches them: 

"Ge? Is that you?"

Tan Liansi doesn't wait for an answer as she makes her way though the crowd, elbowing ghosts out of the way to reach them faster.

She takes hold of Xin Hulei's right arm and the Crown Prince lets go of him with a pained groan.

"You two get out of here," he says, his voice raspy and tired.

"What happened?" Tan Liansi asks, looking from the two of them up at the crumbling building.

"There's no time to explain, just go and take him somewhere safe."

The Crown Prince chances one last look at Xin Hulei, and is about to disappear into the crowd when Xin Hulei rasps out:

"Thank you."

The Crown Prince nods once, before limping towards the mass of excited onlookers.

Tan Liansi calls after him, "Hey, what's your name?", but Xin Hulei pulls down her arm. 

"Let him be, we should go too."

The memory dissolves around them as Tan Liansi drags them out of the street.

---

Yao Shen opens his eyes and finds himself somewhere very familiar. He sits up in bed, looking around at the house's clay walls in shock.

At his side, Xin Hulei is looking up at the ceiling, most of his face hidden under fresh bandages.

There's a sound outside the room, and Meng Po comes in, carrying a tray of steaming bowls. She takes one look at Xin Hulei's empty expression and clicks her tongue. "Now, now, none of that. Up, up."

His expression still as vacant, Xin Hulei sits up in bed, and accepts the tray the old woman deposits on his lap.

"How is everything?"

She grimaces. "There's nothing you can do about Modu while you are in this state. If you go there now, you'll only get yourself killed."

Meng Po takes a seat on a chair next to Xin Hulei's bed, smiling to herself like a patient grandmother looking after a particularly stubborn grandson.

"I'll say this, many have been successfully evacuated. The warnings helped."

Xin Hulei grits his teeth. "And the city?"

Meng Po's smile slips. "It's...better for you not to think about that right now."

Yao Shen knows that Xin Hulei is perfectly capable of inferring the truth from everything Meng Po isn't saying.

He eats his food listlessly, and in silence.

The two of them don't talk, until a few moments later Tan Liansi irrupts through the door, out of breath.

"The streets are still crowded with the celebrations, I don't think we'll be able to go on foot." She points at Xin Hulei. "You're too weak to teleport us inside Modu in the state you're in. Even if I could teleport us to a location nearby and we could walk the rest of the way it would be too much."

Meng Po pats Xin Hulei's leg under the covers. "You hear that? It's better for you to stay here and get your strength back. I hear eating helps with that."

"What are they celebrating today?" Xin Hulei asks, his voice raspy.

Tan Liansi sighs, hanging her head in despondence. "They've captured someone, some traitor. I don't know, I think they're going to execute him soon."

Almost imperceptibly, Xin Hulei's fingers tighten on the spoon he's holding. He doesn't say a word.

---

When Yao Shen blinks his eyes open, he's standing beside Xin Hulei overlooking the destruction of what might have once been a great city.

All around them is the rubble of destroyed constructions, entire buildings gutted as a desolate wind howls all around them. An ominous portent of the sandstorms that will one day swallow the skeleton of Modu until nothing remains of it but a memory.

Xin Hulei is looking down at a piece of ragged fabric squirming by his feet.

He pulls the fabric away, revealing the bright golden spikes of a caterpillar. It starts moving faster as soon as it notices human presence, even trying to climb up Xin Hulei's boot.

Softly, Xin Hulei picks it up from the dusty ground and holds it in the open palm of his hand, staring into its tiny eyes.

Yao Shen is unsure if Jincan is capable of human speech yet, but he knows for a fact that he'll never forget this moment. The day Xin Hulei saved him, when he thought he had been abandoned forever, was the day he truly started living.

Xin Hulei tickles the underside of Jincan's soft belly. Something akin to a smile crosses his lips, but only briefly.

"What have you got there?" Tan Liansi asks, approaching Xin Hulei.

Xin Hulei looks intently at the little golden caterpillar.. "A friend."