My Little Ghost

Volume 1.3.0 — The Transmission

As the dizzying scent of unfamiliar flowers starts invading Bai Bing Wen’s senses, a comfortable coldness envelops him like a cocoon from his head down to his toes. Suddenly, the scent is no longer as intense as it has initially been, and he’s sobered up just as fast.

“What’s going on?” he blurts out, blinking his eyes.

“Another special type of martial cultivator has just arrived. The scent of the flowers is going to distort your senses so hold your breath a little... bit.” Ji Feng Huang blinks back up at him, too. “Oh. I forgot I gave you my hairpin. You should be safe, then,” he remarks, patting Bai Bing Wen’s chest with an innocent smile.

“Really,” Bai Bing Wen scornfully replies after realizing that Ji Feng Huang almost failed to warn him about the effects of these flowers. If not for the protection of the hairpin given to him, he might not be able to withstand the toxic air. Thankfully, it’s also Ji Feng Huang’s preventive measures that saved him.

Ji Feng Huang smiles some more as blue sparkles glow in his eyes. Bai Bing Wen notes that this happens whenever the smaller guy is excited. “There’s only one of each special type of martial cultivators in each generation. Brought together, they can go against a thousand warriors. So the world, or at least my world, would always look forward to seeing who the new inheritors would be.”

“Inheritors?”

Instead of answering, Ji Feng Huang uses his lightness skill to jump down from the roof and closer to the scene they’ve been watching all this time. He doesn’t forget to bring Bai Bing Wen with him, though, and the lack of warning almost makes Bai Bing Wen dizzy again.

“Explain yourself,” the cultivator says in a soft, velvet voice, binding the kid with endless vines.

“Meng Zhang!” Ji Feng Huang exclaims, running towards the cultivator that Bai Bing Wen can now clearly see standing behind the kid. Looking on, he notices that the kid has lost consciousness and is only relying on the vines to hold himself up. The green aura around him has dissipated.

The cultivator is wearing a set of robes in blues and greens with a white inner robe, and almost as tall as Bai Bing Wen. His velvet black hair is straight down to his waist. What’s eye-catching is the crown of flowers on top of his head. When he turns to look back at the owner of the voice calling out, his eyes glow a bluish green color before he quickly expands his aura to oppress the outsider.

The outsider being Bai Bing Wen.

As Bai Bing Wen prepares himself to get restricted again, he blinks up in confusion when his protective talismans fly and activate on their own. “What,” he mumbles, looking around him.

Instead of a thin golden film, this time, he sees a blue crystal-like thin walls in a beautiful formation surrounding him, following his every movement. From the corner of his eye, he notices Ji Feng Huang weakly falling on his knees, so he runs to catch him before he hits the ground. The crystal-like walls are still floating around him and this time, they protect Ji Feng Huang, too, as Bai Bing Wen takes him into his arms.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Who are you?” the cultivator with a flower crown asks, warily looking at Bai Bing Wen. The features of his face are more on the softer side. Red lips, tall nose, and jade white skin. There are bluish green scales on the sides of his neck, forming a beautiful pattern.

Bai Bing Wen doesn’t mind him but he keeps his guards up. Right at this moment, his priority is to find out what’s going on with Ji Feng Huang. “Hey, wake up. What’s going on?” he asks mildly, tickling the smaller man’s ear, in hopes that this would sober him up.

Ji Feng Huang groans lightly, a drop of blood oozing out of his right nostril. “Meng Zhang, that was too strong,” he cries out with a hoarse voice.

“You were not supposed to be affected by my oppression. What’s wrong with you? Who is this?” the man with a flower crown asks, still throwing suspicious glances at Bai Bing Wen. He’s smart enough not to approach quickly, what with the clear protective walls in between them.

“What did you do to him?” Bai Bing Wen asks, infusing a bit of his spiritual energy into Ji Feng Huang’s pulse. Surprisingly, no matter how much he tries to check on his core, a layer of protective aura is not letting him through.

“He didn’t do anything to me,” Ji Feng Huang explains weakly. “He tried to oppress you. Something that people in this world does whenever some stranger is trying to approach them. It’s a normal defense system that everyone has developed, especially when he’s not from this empire.”

The man with a flower crown kneels next to them, trying to place a hand on top of Ji Feng Huang’s forehead. Wary, Bai Bing Wen moves both him and Ji Feng Huang a little, the blue protective layer around them becoming a lot thicker the more he stays cautious.

“Stay put,” the man says, this time with a pair of kind, pleading eyes, reaching a hand out. “I’m not a threat. I just need to heal him.”

“It’s okay,” Ji Feng Huang says, catching his breath. “He’s my friend.”

At this, as Bai Bing Wen’s guards are being lowered down a little, the protective walls around them also fade bit by bit. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, but right now, it’s important that Ji Feng Huang gets healed pretty quickly since being hit by a level nine cultivator’s power isn’t easy to heal from.

“Who are you, anyway?” Bai Bing Wen asks, removing Ji Feng Huang’s headband.

“My name is Meng Zhang.”

Ji Feng Huang regains his health pretty easily after a few seconds of being touched by Meng Zhang. “You practiced well,” Ji Feng Huang remarks, stretching his limbs. He stands up and out of Bai Bing Wen’s embrace, making the other two mirror his actions. “This is my friend—Xiao Zhang,” he tells Bai Bing Wen. Then he looks back at his friend and says, “Xiao Zhang, this is the Crown Prince of the Central Empire. Huang Di.”

There’s a glint of shock in the Meng Zhang’s eyes before it turns into panic. He gives Bai Bing Wen a customary bow. “Forgive my ignorance, Your Highness. This lowly general has never seen you outside the palace alone.”

“General?” Bai Bing Wen repeats.

Then the man suddenly kneels on one knee before him. “I am the Army General of the Eastern Empire. I was sent here to be of service to the Crown Prince descendant of the Azure Dragon.”

Head filled with more questions, Bai Bing Wen turns to face Ji Feng Huang who gives him a subtle hand gesture, indicating that he would explain the matter later on. How Bai Bing Wen can easily understand him is beyond him, but at least, Ji Feng Huang clearly sees that Bai Bing Wen can no longer keep up.

“The Crown Prince of the Eastern Empire must be looking for you now, Meng Zhang. My friend and I need to be somewhere else. Please take care of this kid before the Central Empire soldiers catch him.”

Meng Zhang stands back firmly on his feet, giving another bow to Bai Bing Wen. “I’ll take care of this, Your Highness. The kid is with us and I’ll make sure that the Central Empire gets compensated for the trouble that the kid has caused,” he says, giving Ji Feng Huang a glance.

Bai Bing Wen turns to look at Ji Feng Huang to check if they’re supposed to just let that kid go after all the trouble that they have been through to catch up with him. And when he gets Ji Feng Huang’s cute little nod, Bai Bing Wen can only nod back, giving Meng Zhang a dismissive wave. “Alright, General Meng Zhang. I expect to get compensated for this. I won’t let the Emperor know of it, but make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Meng Zhang says. “If I may get the permission to speak freely to my friend here...” he trails off, this time turning to face Ji Feng Huang with concern marring his beautiful face. “How, pray tell, did you become friends with the Crown Prince of the Central Empire?”

Ji Feng Huang gives him a beautiful smile, his pointy ears moving a little. “I’ll tell you about it soon, Meng Zhang.”

As soon as Meng Zhang has taken the kid away, Ji Feng Huang activates the temporary talisman that Bai Bing Wen gave him earlier. When a thin blue film surround them, he starts explaining a few things to Bai Bing Wen who’s almost lost half of his brain trying to understand what’s going on.

“First of all, that’s the Crown Prince of the Eastern Empire,” Ji Feng Huang begins.

Bai Bing Wen can only stare dumbfoundedly at him. “Elaborate.”

Ji Feng Huang looks around them, looking a bit disappointed. “Why is it blue?”

Bai Bing Wen looks around them, admiring the frosty color of their protective layer. “It’s beautiful. This is most probably the color of your core. Don’t you like it?”

“I like yours better. The color gives off a warm glow.”

“It would mirror the color of the core of anyone who activates it. This is what my family in the future world does for a living. We do them mostly for those who do not possess a core.”

Curious as he’s mostly been about the modern world, Ji Feng Huang seems to have forgotten how he should be explaining things to Bai Bing Wen. He asks, instead, “What does that mean?”

“There are humans in our world who cannot form a core. They can only borrow spiritual energy from cultivators and store them in storage spaces to use in activating these things. Whoever lent them that spiritual energy, the color of their core would reflect on these things. It’s like they’re borrowing a cultivator’s magic.”

“That sounds... horrifying.”

“What does?”

“Not having a core. A dantian. It’s like they’re already dead.”

“Except that they’re not.” Bai Bing Wen puts back Ji Feng Huang’s headband on his head and fixes a few stray strands of hair behind his ears. “And believe me, they are living well. With the protection of those who do have cores, like us.”

“What are you protecting them from?”

“I’ll tell you more about it soon. But for now, do you mind telling me what just happened?”

Ji Feng Huang blinks up at first before realizing that he’s supposed to tell Bai Bing Wen about Meng Zhang. “There are four shadow guardians surrounding us. It would be more suspicious if they see you abducting a kid with a stranger. That’s why I need to make them think that the kid is with the Eastern Empire so that my friend can take him away without a problem. Great acting, by the way. I’m surprised you also felt the presence of the shadow guardians.”

“I didn’t,” Bai Bing Wen answers honestly. “I just chose to follow your signals well to avoid getting into more trouble. Who is that Meng Zhang, anyway?”

“I told you. He’s the Crown Prince of the Eastern Empire. I grew up in the Eastern Empire after the collapse of my own Kingdom. I’ve only ever heard stories of my ancestors from the Emperor and have been trained by him as a martial cultivator.”

“Stories?”

“Those that I told you about.”

Even more confused, Bai Bing Wen whispers a few enchantments and golden characters start appearing one by one, sticking themselves onto the blue layer of protection. “We can walk and no one would notice we’re gone until after thirty minutes.”

Ji Feng Huang looks around them, at the beautiful golden characters. “They’re so beautiful.”

“They’re going to make sure we don’t accidentally disturb the protective layer you created.”

Nodding, Ji Feng Huang tries to touch one of the characters but it moves away, expanding the blue film. “These sorceries are so useful,” he says in awe. He starts walking and Bai Bing Wen follows.

When they turn left and outside the market street, Ji Feng Huang drapes an arm around Bai Bing Wen’s waist again and on instinct, Bai Bing Wen puts his arm over the smaller’s shoulders, too. Just as he’s beginning to predict it, Ji Feng Huang uses his qinggong and they jump through trees lightly until they reach a cliff overlooking a beautiful fjord. This is when Ji Feng Huang finally decides to talk.

“Xiao Zhang was seeing your true form and you’re also seeing his true form. Inside my protective array, you’ll always be rid of illusions and evil spells.”

Bai Bing Wen stands next to Ji Feng Huang who’s now looking at the clear body of water where water demon beasts are peacefully swimming. “How is that possible?”

“That you’re safe from illusions?”

“That you can do that,” Bai Bing Wen clarifies.

“If I tell you, can you promise not to behave differently with me?”

It’s not that deep, Bai Bing Wen is almost tempted to say. But when he sees the tranquil expression on Ji Feng Huang’s face, he’s more compelled to just pacify him. “Okay. I promise.”

“The ring that you’re wearing is a symbol of a potential blood vow. With me.”

Bai Bing Wen suddenly takes interest in this, glancing at the ring on his finger. “I figured it must be something of that sort for you to be surprised at seeing it on me.”

“It’s just... It’s not supposed to act like that.”

“Like what?”

“It’s supposed to warn me that you’re in trouble after Meng Zhang suppresses your aura. It’s supposed to mirror the power of a blood vow. But it directly transmitted your suffering to me. What it did...” he purposefully tails off, looking up at Bai Bing Wen this time with a meaningful look. “It’s almost as if it’s treating you like a martial cultivator.”

Bai Bing Wen takes another look at the ring, then at Ji Feng Huang’s unreadable eyes. “I don’t understand.”

“Remember what I told you about mage cultivators and martial cultivators?” When Bai Bing Wen nods, Ji Feng Huang goes on, “And that martial cultivators can only be with mage cultivators?”

Another nod.

“Well...” Ji Feng Huang takes out a small pin and pricks Bai Bing Wen’s neck with it, surprising Bai Bing Wen. He feels a bit of frost spreading on the side of his neck before it goes quickly back to normal. His eyes widen when he sees Ji Feng Huang’s neck starting to let out droplets of blood, at the similar spot to where he’s been pricked.

“How the meat buns is that possible?”

“It means that once we pursue with the blood vow, it’s going to be effective and you can no longer turn back.”

“What difference does it make from when you started telling me this back in the palace?”

“Because if you were a mage, it would be easier to cut off the vow. The martial cultivator only has to die and the mage would be set free.”

Bai Bing Wen almost removes the ring on his finger at this. “You didn’t tell me anything about that.”

“It’s because I firmly believed you were a mage. But now... This makes things even more complicated.”

“And how is that complicated for you? Look, if I’m a martial cultivator like you suspect I am, is it even going to work for the two of us when we both have similar cultivating cores? Dantians?”

“The blood vow only works like that for a mage-martial pair. And it worked that way on us.”

Surprised, Bai Bing Wen raises an eyebrow. “Wait. Does that mean...”

“Yes, Bai Bing Wen. I am a mage.”