My Little Ghost

Volume 1.5.0 — The Theory

Bai Bing Wen is thankful that Meng Zhang has a lot to say about the Crown Prince Huang Di. Throughout the hour that he’s waiting for the Crown Prince to fall asleep, he’s mostly only asking questions that make Meng Zhang talk more, which Meng Zhang has probably figured out from the start.

They talk about how Huang Di is mostly believed to have a bit of rebellious bones in him, but in actuality, his integrity to the teachings of the Central Empire was remarkable. On the day that Meng Zhang first met him, despite his undeveloped cultivation as a mage who’s been suppressed in the palace by the then First Imperial Consort, he still stood up against Meng Zhang whose cultivation is already at the peak of the ninth level—all because according to the Central Empire’s teachings, they must not let a cultivator of another empire disgrace them for their mage dantians. The tricks that Huang Di used against him were out of this world, mostly discoveries made by the Crown Prince himself while in isolation. It reminded Meng Zhang of Bai Bing Wen’s odd talismans from the modern world.

And although Bai Bing Wen has a way to see these memories from the Crown Prince Huang Di’s perspective, hearing Meng Zhang talk about him like this makes him realize that the two didn’t just have a simple passing romance. It was a beautiful mutual understanding, and a tragic one at that. Meng Zhang saw beauty in Huang Di and loved him blindly despite the threat of the world, and Huang Di viewed him just as much.

Some might think it’s a waste of time to ask about what happened between them since Bai Bing Wen already has his own ways to understand their story, but he believes it’s more for Meng Zhang than for him. This mini therapy has proven itself effective because now, Meng Zhang is in deep sleep, with his aura steadily enveloping him to safety.

“Sweet dreams, Your Highness,” Bai Bing Wen murmurs, pulling the azure duvet that Bai Bing Wen made for him up to the Crown Prince’s chin. He stands up from the chair, ready to leave.

Miscalculating the extra fabric of his robes and his capacity for balance, Bai Bing Wen accidentally steps on the hems and trips, almost falling face first on the floor. Luckily for him, his long arm has instinctively reached for the wooden table, helping him regain his balance without making so much noise. He breathes out a sigh of relief, quietly taking a few steps towards the sliding doors.

These layers really are such a nuisance for a twenty-first century man like him.

As he walks out of Meng Zhang’s room, he notices that his robes’ arrangement has been ruined because of his ridiculous stunt so he fixes them after gently closing the door behind him.

Looking ahead along the hallway, Bai Bing Wen notices Ling Guang quietly leaning against the wall and staring suspiciously at him. His usual outfit of sophisticated style is back, leaving almost half of his chest exposed. His long hair is back to its slick brushed up style and his eyes almost burns, giving Bai Bing Wen a once over.

“Good. You’re finally done with your consort. Your empress is waiting in your room,” Ling Guang says simply before swiftly walking out on him.

Bai Bing Wen can only follow Ling Guang’s retreating back with his scowling face. “What?” he uselessly mumbles to himself.

Is Ling Guang, by any chance, talking about Meng Zhang?

When Bai Bing Wen has finally returned to his assigned room, he pauses on his steps, frown getting deeper.

That scent.

For some reasons, he gets a faint whiff of Winter Daphne by his door and that familiar sense of coldness surrounding him. When he slides the doors open, he gets astonished at the sight of the person standing by his bed in all his blue and silver glorious robes and perfectly styled long hair.

“Xiao Bing,” the man softly calls out.

As if his feet have been glued to the floor, Bai Bing Wen just stands there, staring openly at the person he feels like he’s not seen for a long, long time. He slowly closes the door behind him, trying to grab a sense of balance and keeping his eyes on the man he’s been waiting for.

He’s trying to figure out if the person in front of him is merely a figment of his colorful imagination due to his desperate intentions of wanting to rescue him. If he is, then life can’t get any crueller than that. But if this is real, does it mean that the plan to escape has been a success? Does it mean that they no longer have to endure the limitations of the imperial palaces?

Does this mean that they can just live somewhere else where people around them aren’t trying to kill them upfront or stab them in the back?

“Didn’t you miss me?” Ji Feng Huang asks with a quiet voice.

Bai Bing Wen still can’t say anything. After all, who told his little ghost to show up looking like his normal, enchanting, beautiful self? He can only watch on as Frostbite falls out of his little ghostie’s right hand, the resounding clang echoing throughout the room. And as if the world has turned to its slowest motion, Bai Bing Wen sees the shorter guy running towards him, a look of desperation and longing in his eyes.

Yes, the world has slowed down for Bai Bing Wen, and yet, the beats of his heart has doubled in pacing and the strong pounding rings to the back of his ears.

Bai Bing Wen braces himself for the impact. He’s never seen anything so enthralling in his entire life—to think that the little ghost is not even doing anything special. He’s just running the short distance from the bed towards the general direction of the door, gradient hair of navy blue to gleaming silver being blown away by the frosty wind. His tantalizing eyes are glowing the brightest, beautiful blue while his aura is bringing about a familiar, chilling sensation to Bai Bing Wen’s comfort.

And when Ji Feng Huang finally jumps into his arms, the notion sends them back to the closed entrance, making Bai Bing Wen hit his back against the door.

“Because I did,” Ji Feng Huang tells him, words almost garbled as his arms are draped around Bai Bing Wen’s neck and his face is buried onto his shoulder. He may not have noticed it yet, but Bai Bing Wen has already lifted him a bit in the air to accommodate their height difference.

“I missed you more,” Bai Bing Wen whispers against his pointy ear, hugging the smaller man’s waist closer to him.

He hears Ji Feng Huang’s little sniffles and feels him burying his face deeper onto his neck. “Don’t get yourself hurt again and don’t you dare get out of my sight from now on. Do you hear me?”

Bai Bing Wen chuckles a little, lightly biting Ji Feng Huang’s pointy ear and making him squeal in surprise. “You’re the one who forced me to leave, remember?”

“Yes, I know, but I regret it every day. I should’ve been there during your travel. I know everything that happened because you never took your ring off. But I can’t do anything back then because I was badly ill. I’m sorry. I promised to protect you and look what happened.”

Bai Bing Wen pulls away a little to look at Ji Feng Huang’s red, teary eyes and downturned lips. “You don’t have to go out of your way just to protect me. Everything you’ve done for me is enough. I think I even owe you a lot now.”

Ji Feng Huang lets go of him with a frown forming on his face. “What is that?” he mumbles to himself.

Bai Bing Wen looks on with a confused face. “What’s what?”

Ji Feng Huang starts sniffing on Bai Bing Wen, particularly his chest area. “You smell like flowers.”

“I smell like flowers? You smell like Winter Daphne and you’re telling me this?”

Ji Feng Huang steps closer to him once more, almost rubbing the tip of his nose on Bai Bing Wen’s robes. “You smell like Meng Zhang.” Then he gives Bai Bing Wen a careful once over, realizing that the sash belt of his clothes and the alignment of his robes are in complete disarray despite Bai Bing Wen’s attempt to fix them earlier.

“No, I know this would sound cliché, but it’s not what you think,” Bai Bing Wen tells him quickly.

Ji Feng Huang takes a few steps back, giving Bai Bing Wen an incredulous look. “What did you do?”

Bai Bing Wen lets out a helpless sigh, looking around them. “It’s not my story to tell. You should ask your friend when he wakes up and—”

“Where is he?”

The look of disbelief in Ji Feng Huang’s face is making Bai Bing Wen feel ridiculous. He doesn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. “He’s in his room. He—”

“Good. I’ll talk to him.”

Bai Bing Wen runs after Ji Feng Huang who’s now walking in hurried steps out of the door. He catches up to him when they’re already out in the hallway. “Look. I told you, just wait for him to wake up before you ask him. Where are you going?”

“If I wake him up now, then I can ask him sooner,” Ji Feng Huang answers, glaring at Bai Bing Wen. The blue lights in his eyes, for some reasons, look outraged.

“That’s not what I... Listen. It took us a long time in search of subjects that can become the best distraction for your friend, and it took us just as long before he can get any sleep. The least we could do is let him rest.”

“I don’t want him to rest until he explains to me what’s going on.”

“Ji Feng Huang!”

At this, Ji Feng Huang finally stops in his steps and turns to look back at Bai Bing Wen. “What?!”

“Why are you getting distracted by this? We’ve not seen each other for so long and this is the first thing you want to do? What about me?”

Ji Feng Huang narrows his eyes at him. “I’ll deal with you later.”

Seeing that his misdirection has miserably failed, Bai Bing Wen runs to block Ji Feng Huang’s way. “I told you. Ask him about it after he gets enough sleep. He’s been exhausted after everything he did for me. He healed me a couple of times, I owe him this.”

“Healing other people is good for his cultivation. If anything, he should be thanking you.”

“But there’s something I need to ask you,” Bai Bing Wen says, holding Ji Feng Huang by his shoulders. Thinking about it, Bai Bing Wen finally remembers one of his tasks. “Can we talk about it somewhere that isn’t a hallway? Like the bamboo garden outside, for example.”

 Ji Feng Huang looks conflicted for a few passing seconds, glancing towards the direction of Meng Zhang’s room. But after thinking about it hard enough, he decides to just follow Bai Bing Wen first and he’ll deal with this suspicious matter later.

Meng Zhang, that traitor, he’s probably thinking. The thought makes Bai Bing Wen smile goofily to himself.

As they reach the bamboo garden, Ji Feng Huang is still scowling sulkily to himself. He has his arms crossed over his chest and the sheathed Frostbite in his hand is glowing with an oppressive aura, lighting up half of Ji Feng Huang’s face.

“Tone it down, please. You’re hurting my core,” Bai Bing Wen tells him, pouting a little.

Ji Feng Huang gives him an incredulous look. “My aura won’t hurt your dantian in any way. I have my own cultivation protecting your dantian. But I can hit you with my hands so don’t tempt me.”

Bai Bing Wen lets out peals of boisterous laughter. “What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?”

“What did you bring me here for? You said you have something to ask me.”

Controlling his laughter, Bai Bing Wen drapes an arm over Ji Feng Huang’s shoulders and slows down their walk. He fishes out a temporary talisman and burns it with his new knowledge of controlling his fire spirit, and a thin layer of gold surrounds the two of them. Then he takes another sheet, burns it, and golden characters attach themselves onto the protective film.

“Now, no one can hear us,” Bai Bing Wen says with a low voice.

“I told you, you have to teach me this,” Ji Feng Huang says, now looking less pissed off.

Bai Bing Wen nods. “I’ll teach you a lot of modern magic starting tomorrow, like I promised. For now...” He pauses, turning to face Ji Feng Huang who stops walking, too. “How are you?”

Ji Feng Huang lets out an exasperated sigh, looking away. When he looks back at Bai Bing Wen, he uncrosses his arms and places Frostbite back into his storage space. “I want Meng Zhang’s scent removed from you. Can your modern magic do something about it?”

Bai Bing Wen doesn’t know if Ji Feng Huang is being serious or not, but he still thinks of a way. When he comes up with nothing aside from bathing and changing his clothes or burning himself with his spiritual energy, he opts to just give Ji Feng Huang a gesture for another hug. “Just shower me with your scent, then. If not, I’ll have to bathe and change my clothes and whatever I’m supposed to say to you, I’ll forget all about it later.”

Ji Feng Huang rolls his eyes. “Forget about what you’re going to say, then. Go take a bath and I’ll wait here.”

Bai Bing Wen gapes at him. “I don’t have clothes.”

At this, Ji Feng Huang’s eyes light up, looking at Bai Bing Wen again. He forms a ball of blue light in his hands with his spiritual energy and places it onto Bai Bing Wen’s chest. In a few seconds after feeling a cooling sensation all over his body, Bai Bing Wen’s clothes change.

Bai Bing Wen’s eyes bewilder, seeing the kind of clothes that Ji Feng Huang has put him in. “How...”

Ji Feng Huang makes a bigger ball of glowing blue light and leaves it in the air above their heads to serve as a light. When he sees how Bai Bing Wen looks like in these clothes, he gasps in surprise. “So it’s like that...”

“Where did you get these?” Bai Bing Wen asks in disbelief, looking at the clothes he’s now wearing. It’s the suit uniform of his school, the Cultivation Academy for Gifted Cultivators. Looking at this set brings him a sense of nostalgia—the last set of clothes he’s worn before he left the modern world.

“I extracted the appearance from the one in your memories and made them out of my spiritual energy,” Ji Feng Huang answers quietly.

Bai Bing Wen feels a pang in his chest, remembering how he might not be able to wear these again. He’s not sure if he can still make it back, and if he does, he can’t be certain if his family would still be there, given the situation of the academy before he closed his eyes.

“Ancient people really do have a lot of spiritual energy to waste,” Bai Bing Wen chokes out, chuckling to himself.

Ji Feng Huang holds him by his shoulders and smiles up at him. “Judging by look of surprise on your face and the beautiful golden glow in your eyes, I’d say it’s worth it.”

Bai Bing Wen holds onto the small hands squeezing his shoulders and nods. “They’re wonderful. Thank you.”

“You are welcome. Only mages can do something like this. Other people might be able to show you a split-second disguise, but those are a product of illusions. These...” Ji Feng Huang touches the suit gently. “You can keep them. I have your robes in my storage space which I’ll get rid of later because I don’t like the way they smell.”

Bai Bing Wen decides to steer the conversation away from having Ji Feng Huang remember the matter about Meng Zhang again. “Why did you pick these amongst all the clothes you’ve seen in my world?”

Ji Feng Huang gives him a dismissive shrug. “Because they make you look handsome.”

Bai Bing Wen turns his head to the side to see Ji Feng Huang’s face clearly. “I’m not handsome in my other clothes?”

“You look handsome in anything and nothing.”

“What?”

“I mean, you look the most handsome in these.”

Bai Bing Wen can only chuckle, seeing Ji Feng Huang’s cheeks and ears reddening. The blue light illuminating the two of them isn’t even helping to conceal his flustered face.