38 I Know It's You

"...Junior brother Lei, you've returned!" An excited male spirit practically jumps over to the confused youth standing there, who was currently completely dumbfounded.

Fang Lei: "...."

Fang Lei has absolutely nothing to say. In fact, he is speechless—especially when he looks down at his feet to see a spiritual array of 'transferring half of one's power to another' beneath him.

If he were in a human body right now, a vein would surely be bulging from his forehead right at this moment. The King actually did this kind of thing without telling him?! Gosh, it's no wonder he was forcefully summoned back to the Spirit Realm! Since the King has done this kind of thing, it's obvious that he's to stay here until the array wears off. If he leaves the realm now, then all of the evil spirits would escape again! It's amazing that he's still able to keep the spirits contained here with only half of the King's power.

F*ck!! The King could at least ask him before doing this kind of stunt!

He was about to get a heart attack when he felt his soul leave his body!!

Suddenly, he feels arms wrapping around him, and he's finally aware of the other presence in the room with him—it was his first friend upon becoming a spirit, Wang Zhihao.

"Fang Lei! I'm so glad you're back! It's been so long, you know!" Wang Zhihao exclaims, all smiles and laughter as he hugs his companion.

The corners of Fang Lei's lips turn upward, and he can't help but feel that as always, Wang Zhihao's boundless energy is infectious.

Look! Now even he, himself, is smiling.

Damn it.

This feeling of familiarity is something he enjoys. He doesn't even mind that he's being hugged like this, because they've done it plenty of times in the past. Slowly, he returns the hug. "It hasn't even been a month, but you're already complaining about this. Idiot."

Then, he pushes Wang Zhihao away and playfully reaches up to bonk the taller male's head with his fist.

Because they're both currently spirits, they are unable to feel anything. This is why Fang Lei did not hesitate to do such a thing.

Wang Zhihao makes a face, "Hey, what was that for? Is it a crime to miss your best friend?" Of course, it's only a joke—he's not offended in the slightest, as shown by the amused expression upon his countenance.

"Shut up, stop whining. I'm only back for a few hours." Fang Lei replies with his own smile, before looking around the room to see that no one else was inside. "Did the King tell you about this?"

"En, he told me to accompany him here and ordered me to wait for you here. I was expecting you, but could it be you didn't know about this?" Wang Zhihao questions.

Fang Lei's face darkens as he says, "No, it seems the King forgot to inform me of his plans to visit the human realm. He also conveniently forgot to notify me that I'd be taking his place for the duration of his trip." He absentmindedly toes the lines of the transferral array.

"Well, how is the human realm? Did you manage to meet anyone interesting there?" Fang Lei's oldest friend peppers him with questions, which somehow seemed to align with the one thing that had been sitting at the back of his mind all this time.

It's just like him to pester Fang Lei, even now, of all times.

Fang Lei sure as hell doesn't want to tell him about the only person that manages to come to his mind at this point: Wen Po. Although he did meet Xu Jiyu and other unimportant characters that are not worthy of mentioning, he doesn't really care or know too much about them, except for the fact that they're all annoying.

Oh, Wen Po is the most annoying, though. But at the very least, he can tolerate him. He just can't tolerate Wen Po's face, Wen Po's abs, Wen Po's—

Smack!

Fang Lei slaps himself on the cheek, effectively startling Wang Zhihao out of his wits.

"Fang Lei?! What's going on?" His friend asks worriedly. Did Fang Lei meet terrible humans?! Was he absolutely traumatized from his experience in the human realm?!

Fang Lei: "...Nothing, it's nothing." He waves a nonchalant hand, rubbing his cheek. It's a good thing spirits can't feel anything, he didn't feel the slap at all. But it still managed to throw his train of thought off, thankfully.

"What human dares traumatize my friend so, and in such a manner that he turns to slapping himself?" The other spirit seethes.

Fang Lei sighs, but he does appreciate the concern. Wang Zhihao has always been a little… over-the-top. He paces around the transferral array in agitation, muttering about going to the human realm himself to "find the bastard and his mother."

"It's really fine, Senior Hao." Fang Lei of course addresses his friend correctly, because of how close they are. "It's nothing of the sort, I was just… thinking of something. That's all."

"Yes, but that 'something' caused you to strike yourself! It must have been something incredibly terrible to think about!" Wang Zhihao pauses his steps, turning to face Fang Lei. Out of nowhere, he retrieves a handkerchief and bites on it tearfully. "I'll make whoever that is pay! How dare they mentally scar my Fang Lei like this!"

Fang Lei's cheeks start to burn out of embarrassment. "I-It's not like it was something particularly bad, brother Hao! You're misunderstanding this!"

Wang Zhihao finally uses his handkerchief to wipes away his crocodile tears. "So you're saying you were thinking of something good?"

Fang Lei suddenly regrets his life choices: "....F*ck!"

---

Back in the human realm, Wen Po's battered body had already been moved to a bed and treated by a doctor.

Xu Jiyu stares at the unconscious merchant, before glancing over at the King and giving him a stern look. "Qi Shun, you took it too far. How could you do this to Wen Po?"

Qi Shun doesn't like the expression Xu Jiyu's making, especially towards himself. He frowns, displeased, as he answers rather childishly: "He started it."

Xu Jiyu stares at the King for a moment, unblinking, before letting out a sigh of exasperation. Of course, the King of Spirits doesn't understand what 'taking it too far' means. After all, he's been killing for all eternity, and it's all he's ever known. Breaking Wen Po's wrist like this was probably the most merciful thing he's done to a human.

When he thinks about the situation in the King's perspective, it makes sense. After all, Wen Po did provoke him…

Xu Jiyu purses his lips, then shakes his head. "Okay, I understand. But you're both at fault. When he wakes up, you have to apologize, okay? It's a good thing that even though his wrist is broken, it'll heal as long as he doesn't move it and keep that cast around it."

Although everything he just said was confusing to the King, he didn't question it. Instead, Qi Shun only answers with a low "mmm" of confirmation.

Suddenly, a voice from outside calls out, "Sect Leader has arrived!" The door slides open to reveal none other than Qin Jin.

Xu Jiyu immediately stands up and cups his hands, bowing in respect. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Qi Shun standing there. For a moment, he fears that Qi Shun wouldn't bow, but alas, he manages to do so by copying Xu Jiyu's actions. Thank goodness the King managed to catch on!

"Sect Leader Qin Jin, Wen Po will be alright!" Xu Jiyu says after straightening himself, attempting to reassure the older man and draw his attention away from Qi Shun.

Qin Jin's usually boisterous demeanor had changed to serious as his cold eyes land upon the King. "...So I've heard, but what I came here for was not because of Wen Po, but because of Liu Jian, who did this to my friend."

Xu Jiyu freezes on the spot. He smiles, before chuckling nervously, "They just had a small argument, it's nothing too serious. Right, Liu Jian?"

'Liu Jian' looks over at Xu Jiyu, before simply nodding.

Qin Jin watches the exchange carefully, before saying: "There's no need to act. I know it's you, King of Spirits."