There was the sound of a large crackle in the air.

The three couples watched blankly, as the fourth beam of lightning was easily intercepted. An eruption clouted over the skies, and the sparks of lightning was drowned out in the sea of snow.

Out of nowhere, two nicely-built men landed on the ground. They both wore hefty and expensive black robes, with an expanse of meticulous design on the wealthy fabric. One of the two men had a strong and masculine build, with a handsome face of darker wheat skin, which seemed intimidating and yet angry.

The other man had a pretty and delicate look to him, with unblemished skin and donning cold facial features. His eyebrows were furrowed, as if something was on his mind.

"Feng Xin," Xie Lian bowed to the first, "Mu Qing." He did the same for the other.

The two men looked at Xie Lian, then both bowed simultaneously, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Feeling aghast, the remaining two couples didn't know how to feel. Hua Cheng just looked onwards, his expression as cold and plain as it had ever been.

"The heavenly tribulation has been dealt with." Feng Xin and Mu Qing looked up at the storm. Indeed, the roaring clouds had stopped and dispersed, while the vortex of the storm also lightened.

"I thank you two for your help." Xie Lian clasped his hands. "I will make sure to compensate both of you..."

"No need." Feng Xin shook it off.

"Yeah, there's no need." Mu Qing added, "Unless if you want to have a debt of over 8 million merits again... I mean, you can try."

Feng Xin shot him a glare. "What's with that attitude?"

Mu Qing rolled his eyes, "What? I merely only told the truth, based on past experiences."

The two was hostile and contemptuous towards one another, always trying to find faults in the other. They found themselves glaring at each other, until a familiar cough brought them back.

"Ahem," Xie Lian pressed a fist to his mouth. "I'd like to introduce you two to my new friends."

"This is Wei Wuxian."

"HanGuang-Jun."

"Shen Qingqiu."

"And Luo Binghe."

The two men examined the two couples, both trying to faults. "Hm." Mu Qing gave a contemptuous snort, "It seems like Your Highness is opening up to the world more."

"Are you saying he never opened to the world?" Feng Xin clashed.

"Did I say that though? Stop trying to put words in my mouth!" Mu Qing retorted.

Xie Lian nodded simply. These two generals simply just never stopped arguing. He turned towards the two couples, who were slightly speechless. "Um... I haven't really spoken about... my identity yet, so I guess you can slightly get the gist of it."

"No, we can't." Wei Wuxian blurted.

Xie Lian felt slightly flustered. How was he supposed to explain this?

"Gege is a Martial God." Hua Cheng came to the rescue. "The heavenly officials don't like to disclose their identities, for the sake of simplicity."

"Oh..." The two couples all nodded dumbly.

Xie Lian continued on, "Feng Xin and Mu Qing are also Martial Gods. Feng Xin, General Nan Yang of the southeast. Mu Qing, General Xuan Zhen of the southwest."

"Oh..." The two couples continued nodding dumbly.

"Um," Xie Lian shuffled nervously. "I know this is a lot to take in, but—"

"Actually," Shen Qingqiu interrupted. "We already knew from the beginning."

Xie Lian, "..." He blinked his eyes a couple of times, before asking, "Knew about what?"

Wei Wuxian bowed his head and continued for Shen Qingqiu, "...that you're a God."

At that moment, Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In an instant, a barrage of "You knew the entire time?" had flashed across his mind multiple times. But the Martial God didn't dare to expose his thoughts. He could only bite his lips and wear a calm facade.

"Gege," Hua Cheng wrapped an arm around his lover's waist, "Don't worry so much. It seems like everyone already knew."

Luo Binghe softly coughed. Even though he was only kind and loving to Shizun, Luo Binghe couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the scrap picker. If he himself had been trying to hide his identity as a secret for so long, and finally revealed the secret but only to realize that everyone knew the entire time... yeah, that would be a big blow on Luo Binghe's ego.

He wanted to coax the scrap picker, but Wei Wuxian wasn't making this easy for him.

"Yeah, we knew the entire time." Wei Wuxian had a blabbermouth. "At first, we had some suspicions. Xie-xiong, you kept on mentioning about heaven and heavenly officials. Who else but a heavenly official would know about this?"

Xie Lian, "..." Hearing about how he was exposed made him feel quite miserable.

"Additionally," Wei Wuxian continued. "You said that you definitely were the oldest out of us. But you look the youngest of us all, so how could you guarantee that you're the oldest?"

Wei Wuxian wanted to say more, but then, Lan Zhan quickly patted his shoulder.

Confused, Wei Wuxian looked upwards.

Lan Zhan shook his head. He nudged towards a direction. In that direction, Hua Cheng was radiating off an extremely cruel and intimidating aura. He looked like he was ready to outright murder them and create a bloodbath.

"Hahaha..." Wei Wuxian nervously laughed. "But of course, Xie-xiong, you were quite good at hiding your identity. Almost had me fooled."

Xie Lian flushed, "It's fine, Wei-xiong."

Seeing their interactions, Feng Xin and Mu Qing felt like they ought to say something. "Your Highness," Feng Xin was the first to talk, "Whose heavenly tribulation was that?"

Then, the three couples' attention had fallen onto... the black cat.

Little Snow licked its paws thoughtfully, undisturbed by all the looks it received. Finally, it looked up. The black cat froze, as it was met with the scary looks of two Generals. It's fur spiked upwards, as if it was a mouse caught in a trap.

"Little Immortal," Wei Wuxian changed his calling of the black cat's name, "It turns out that you're not a Little Snow, but a Little Immortal."

The black cat's whiskers had quivered.

"Did you know your heavenly tribulation was coming, so you came to find us for help?" Shen Qingqiu fanned himself.

The black cat's mouth twitched. It was exposed like how Xie Lian was.

"Don't you know that you almost got Square Town destroyed?" Luo Binghe was quite angry at the cat. "If we were bad people and didn't help, then you would've had to face your tribulation alone, and might've gotten an innocent village involved."

The ears of the black cat had lowered in shame.

Lan Zhan and Hua Cheng both directed ugly stares at the black cat. Seeing this scenario, Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but pamper the cat. "Alright alright. Stop scaring it."

He crouched down by the black cat, touching its ears, "Since you caused us so much trouble, in the future, could you help us with a matter?"

The black cat hurriedly nodded its head. It didn't want to offend these great masters!

"Then," Wei Wuxian piped up. "How about you protect Square Town? You will become Square Town's guardian deity! The little Immortal that all villagers worship!"

The black cat paused. These people wanted it to become the villagers' Immortal?!? Eyes bulging out of its sockets, the black cat couldn't believe what it had just heard-

Wait. It's not that difficult. It calmed down. This can be done.

The black cat nodded for confirmation.

"Great!" Wei Wuxian celebrated. He gave everyone a high-five, aside from Feng Xin and Mu Qing. The two Generals looked at him like they would kill him on the spot if he really dared to high-five them.

All of a sudden, Feng Xin added, "Your Highness."

They all turned to look at Xie Lian. "You haven't returned to the Heavenly Capital for a long time. In the past, you were in the Ghost City with Hua Chengzhu. Afterwards, you've been checking out the earthquake and hanging out with your new friends." Mu Qing rolled his eyes at the "new friends" part. In response, he was jabbed in the abdomen by Feng Xin.

"What the hell was that for?" He retorted.

Feng Xin imitated his roll of the eyes, then imitated even more, "Weren't you the one who wanted to become f-f-friends with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

Hearing that, Mu Qing was like a cat who got its tail stepped on. "You!" Mu Qing donned on a cold look, while Feng Xin responded with a stance.

The two Generals took out their choice of weapons. Mu Qing unsheathed his sword, which radiated off a cold light. Feng Xin took out his bow, instantly knocking an arrow on the string.

"Enough enough." Xie Lian had to step in between them. "Mu Qing is right. I haven't visited the Heavenly Capital for a long time. It is about time I go back."

Hua Cheng's arm instinctively tightened around his lover's waist.

The Ghost King lovingly spoke, "You don't need to force yourself to go back. Gege can stay with me at Ghost City as long as you wish."

Xie Lian couldn't help but break out in a smile, "San Lang, I'm not forcing myself."

He turned to look over at the remaining two couples, who looked back naively. Xie Lian's smile turned even more soft and gentle, appearing like a sunshine's ray upon a nurturing flower. "Since that we're all here, it'd be a shame to part ways."

Xie Lian clapped his hands together, "Why don't you guys come visit the Heavenly Capital with me?"

Feng Xin and Mu Qing, "..." Why is Your Highness talking like the Heavenly Capital is merely a tourist attraction?

"B-But..." Shen Qingqiu hesitated. The name "Heavenly Capital" sounded phenomenal and intimidating. He was afraid that it was a place that he didn't belong to...

Xie Lian shook off his worry, "Mortals can get in with the help of a heavenly official. Some heavenly officials bring their servants alongside with them."

Wei Wuxian, "So... are we your servants now, Xie-xiong?"

Upon hearing that, Xie Lian quickly shook his head. "No way! I wouldn't dare!"

"Oh come on!" Wei Wuxian decided to play the role of a servant. "If there is anything that Xie-xiong is uncomfortable with, do tell me! I can massage your shoulders, feet, and waist! Especially the latter, when you're done with the activities you're doing with Hua Chengzhu—"

"I dare you." Again, there was the petrifying aura of the Ghost King, sprawling out of control from behind Wei Wuxian. "I dare you to lay your filthy hands on Gege."

The aura was colder than the Winter of Square Town.

Wei Wuxian shuddered. "This... this servant doesn't dare to!"

He was pulled aside by Feng Xin, who solemnly told him, "To be a good servant, there are things you must be able to do. Such as washing laundry, dressing His Royal Highness... oh, and especially sweeping the floor—"

Feng Xin dodged an incoming attack from Mu Qing.

The two Generals planned to break out in a sprawl, and had to be stopped by Xie Lian(once again).

"Enough. Stop fighting." Xie Lian said. "By the time the sun rises, you guys still won't be done. If that happens, then the villagers will wake up and see you two. Then, there will be a strange conspiracy going around town... 'Crazy news! Two strange men fighting each other with real weapons! Are they terrorists or just don't know how to behave'?"

Imagining the entire scenario, Feng Xin and Mu Qing had fallen silent. They put away their weapons, and bowed their heads.

"Don't be too glum." Xie Lian smiled. "Now, let's get going."

"Do we need to bring anything?" Shen Qingqiu asked.

Xie Lian shook his head. "No need. The Heavenly Capital can provide you with all your daily necessities, no matter how extreme or wealthy your life is."

Feng Xin nodded. "Yes. They can even supply you with an infinite amount of broomsticks—"

"DAMMIT!" Mu Qing's raging roar could be heard from afar. "You damned ugly dog that only knows how to fuck women!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!" Feng Xin and Mu Qing had drawn their weapons again. They began their brawl, but after a few minutes, they found it strange that nobody was stopping them.

Looking away from each other, the three couples were already gone.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing, "..." Did they leave without us?

What will Feng Xin and Mu Qing do?

A) Find Xie Lian and the others

B) Go back to fighting

C) Board on the FengQing ship

CoolCool-Aid: What do you guys think? Comment down below? (Well, your votes technically don't matter, cuz it'll be happening off-screen 🤭)

CoolCool-Aid: I'll be going on hiatus once again 🤗 Perhaps for a couple of weeks? I'm trying to once again stack up on chapters. Thank you for your patience! 🙏🏻