From the floor, Si Wang looks up at Xin Hulei in naked hatred. Yao Shen drifts to Xin Hulei\'s side, ready to defend him if Si Wang tries anything.

"Dage, are you really going to abandon me?" His eyes keep shifting around, trying to pinpoint Yao Shen\'s location.

"I don\'t remember being your Dage," Yao Shen says. His disembodied voice startles Si Wang who didn\'t expect an answer. "I saw the memories but that didn\'t make me recall them. The life you remember happened to a different person."

His words are meant to hurt Si Wang, but Yao Shen can see a muscle jump in Xin Hulei\'s jaw. He doesn\'t want the Crown Prince\'s memories. The impression he got was that he lived a sad, lonely life, brightened only by a cute little brother, but who later grew obsessive and controlling, and then experienced a brief respite of freedom from his responsibilities in that little cabin with Xin Hulei -- which motivated him to seek out his own path and forge his own happiness.

Yao Shen would like to remember those golden moments with Xin Hulei, but everything else about the Crown Prince\'s life is better forgotten..

Si Wang can\'t see Yao Shen\'s eyes, but he\'s looking directly at him when he says, "Your Dage is gone."

His words seem to break something inside Si Wang, his face crumples and he lets out a wounded animal sound. Yao Shen expects him to attack but instead he rolls to the side and covers the spinning paper lantern with his body, wrapping his arms securely around it.

In the next moment he\'s gone.

"Fuck!" Yao Shen shouts, kicking the incense burner at his feet. Hurting himself in the process and doing nothing to dispel his anger. "Now where will he find him?"

Xin Hulei picks up the incense burner and sets on top of the table, his expression unreadable.

"There\'s no way to predict his current location." Xin Hulei turns towards Yao Shen, who looks down at himself and sees that the effects of Invisibility have disappeared. "I think each ghost king has a specific skill set. In the same way as I can summon fire and Tan Liansi ice and snow."

That makes sense. Yao Shen wonders if it\'s tied to their specific roles as kings, or to themselves. If it\'s the former, maybe the Crown Prince would have had better luck choosing to be the fourth king instead.

"Regardless of where he has gone to, we should take the opportunity and attack now," Xin Hulei says.

His eyes drift towards Yao Shen, waiting for his opinion.

"What if he has warned the other ghost kings?" Yao Shen asks, chewing on the corner of his nail.

"It\'s a risk we\'ll need to take, but I don\'t think he has done that. From what you said and his actions with the spinning lantern. He wouldn\'t warn the other ghost kings, because his end goal is to remove them from the equation."

Yao Shen gives that some thought. He has long suspected that Si Wang was playing both sides, by pretending to be an ally to the traitor kings. However, his real ambitions were a mystery.

As mad as it is, Yao Shen thinks he knows what Si Wang\'s real goal is.

"He wants us to rule Youdu together," Yao Shen says, testing the words for size. "He said that he wanted the Crown Prince to be Emperor, and that he would be his loyal adviser. The Crown Prince\'s actions frustrated his plans, so he chased him down into the Underworld to make it a reality anyway."

Slowly, Xin Hulei nods. "That\'s what I think too. He suffered a blow, and must have gone somewhere to regroup, but he\'ll be back. Which is why we need to take this opportunity to release the sealed kings, and get rid of the traitors."

A cold chill of apprehension travels down Yao Shen\'s spine. It was only a matter of time until this confrontation happened, but somehow he didn\'t expect it to happen so suddenly.

Just a few scant hours ago, Yao Shen was happily lounging in bed with Xin Hulei, and now they are going to mount an attack on Youdu.

Xin Hulei sees the alarm in his eyes, and pulls Yao Shen into his arms. He wraps one arm around Yao Shen\'s waist and cups his jaw with the other. "There are some merits to Si Wang\'s plan."

Yao Shen frowns.

"I too wouldn\'t mind ruling at your side."

Before Yao Shen can wrap his head around that, Xin Hulei\'s lips descend on his own in a heated kiss.

---

Time is of the essence, and Yao Shen can\'t indulge in Xin Hulei\'s embrace as much as he\'d like to.

When Xin Hulei reminds him they have to find Xie Bian and Fan Wujiu, Yao Shen reluctantly lets go of him.

They search the entire Wuji pavilion but don\'t find neither hide nor hair of them.

"Is it possible that Si Wang killed them?" Yao Shen asks, worried that\'s the case.

"There\'s no traces of violent struggle in the pavilion, and there\'s no reason why he\'d bother taking their bodies out of the pavilion if he did kill them," Xin Hulei says, stepping out of the pavilion and into the inner courtyard.

His words make sense, and Yao Shen relaxes a fraction. He casts his eyes around the courtyard but doesn\'t find anything out of place.

"Where do you think they could be?"

Without answering Xin Hulei makes a beeline for a thicket of decorative bamboo. Yao Shen follows after him, and notices the disturbed gravel as he makes his way through.

The thicket is thicker than Yao Shen initially thought, and it takes some effort to make way through it. But as he does, Yao Shen notices broken stalks here and there.

"Your eyes are impressive," he remarks, looking up at Xin Hulei\'s back. "Is it a demon thing? Is that why you could tell where I was even when I was invisible?"

"No, that was my blood."

"Your blood?"

"My blood inside you."

Yao Shen nearly loses his footing, his mind going places Xin Hulei probably didn\'t intend to.

Xin Hulei notices his abrupt silence and when he turns around finds Yao Shen blushing furiously. One corner of his lips ticks up, amused. "I mean from the contract."

"Oh, that," Yao Shen says, laughing awkwardly. The explanation doesn\'t make the heat suffusing his cheeks abate.

"I can always feel you, if the distance isn\'t too great," Xin Hulei says, matter-of-fact.

"Oh."

For some reason, Yao Shen finds the thought comforting. "How wide is the range?"

"A few kilometers."

Yao Shen grins. "Have you used it to stalk me in the past?"

Xin Hulei shoots him a half-grin above the shoulder. "Why would I need to? If you were always sticking to my side?"

Yao Shen resents that word choice, but he doesn\'t have the time to complain about it, before they come out on the other side of thicket. They find Xie Bian and Fan Wujiu trussed up against a a scholar tree, two talismans stuck to their chests.

Xie Bian starts making annoyed noises the moment he sees Yao Shen.

With a sigh, Yao Shen crosses the distance towards them and rips the talismans out of Xie Bian\'s chest.

"I thought we were going to die here of old age!" Xie Bian growls, as soon as he\'s free. "We\'ve just met and yet your incompetence never ceases to amaze me!"

Fan Wujiu smiles warmly at Yao Shen. "Thanks for helping us." His gaze drifts towards Xin Hulei. "Does this mean we can go forward with the plan?"

Xin Hulei nods. "Now."

Xie Bian sputters in indignation. "What, right now? You made up your mind and now we have to jump when you say so?"

Xin Hulei nods again. "Right now."

Yao Shen intervenes before things can get worse. "How about we go rescue the sealed kings first and then open the gates to the demons?"

"No time," Xin Hulei says, his red eyes flashing. "Everything needs to happen at once. We need the element of surprise to get rid of the ghost kings."

Xie Bian drags his long fingers through his hair, groaning, but finally nods. "Fine, we\'ll do it your way."

"But that means we\'ll need to split up," Fan Wujiu looks at Xie Bian. "I\'m the only one who can release the seal. Bian, you should go with his Majesty and talk with the demons."

It takes Yao Shen a moment to realise Fan Wujiu means Xin Hulei. Xie Bian isn\'t thrilled by the prospect but it\'s the only thing that makes sense.

"I\'ll go with you too," Yao Shen says, looking up into Xin Hulei\'s eyes.

Xin Hulei shakes his head, and cups Yao Shen\'s cheek. "You need to go and talk with the other ghost kings and convince them to accept our terms." He lowers his mouth against Yao Shen\'s in a soft kiss. "It will only be for a while, we\'ll see each other soon."