After a long journey from the Grand Palace, Wang Lei and Mei Lan finally arrived at their destination. Wang Lei had changed back to the same clothes - black attire and a red cape, his jade sword hanging on his hip.
Before them stood an old hanok secluded amongst the midst of nowhere, the only surroundings being tall trees. The condition of the hanok so ruined that it looked as though a century had passed since anyone last lived there. The wooden walls were riddled with holes, and the roof had a massive opening, as if something immense had crashed straight through it.
Yet despite its ruin, the structure itself was large. Its layout, its pillars, and the remnants of carved beams clearly hinted at a time when nobles once resided here.
As Wang Lei stared at the broken Hanok intently, a weird feeling crawled inside him. He couldn't tell what it was but the house did 4not give him good vibes. It radiated a sense of nostalgia and hit of darkness that resided within its appearance. Perhaps it's been a really long time he lived in a human's house.
"I can't believe he chose a house like this!" MeiLan let out a sigh of frustration. What did she expect? So what if Wang Lei was Master's favourite? He wouldn't treat Wang Lei differently because Master Wen has never shown favouritism. Was that really the case or he only cares about himself?
"I'm sorry but you will have to live in this for today. I'll send two guards to clean this place up tomorrow. "
"...."
"Wang Lei, it's still daytime so I suggest you rest up till evening and then go for a hunt. Familiarise with the place and try to blend with humans. You were once human too, remember?"
How could he? The purpose of this mission was to help him remember what it was like when he was a human. MeiLan ignored her previous words and continued to explain more.
"For tonight, try to estimate the number of Revenants that live around. That will be your task for today. "
"...There is a weird energy here," Wang Lei slightly frowned, "Is this really Joseon?"
"Why do you ask?"
"When I stepped here first, I felt a weird energy in me. It was....strange. This house doesn't really give off a good energy either.."
Wang Lei's concern was valid. Joseon at the moment was farming with strong revenants. Their stench was quite evident and it was stronger in the area Wang Lei was going to live. He looked around and questioned again, "You said I must blend with humans but why does this place look abandoned?"
"Ah."
Even if Wang Lei was to blend with other humans, they must not know his real identity. He must live among them, help them in need and protect them at all costs. This shelter was only a base that only he must know. This hanok was chosen to be the portal that could connect him with the celestial world between human life and death.
"You can seek refuge here but no one must know your base. " MeiLan warned firmly the consequences of even accidentally exposing your true identity. It could put in stake the lives of many people. Fear would only attract more revenants and this place is in no shape for more trouble.
"The presence of those corrupted beings are so strong it's almost as if none of the Imperial Exorcists had ever come across this place."
Wang Lei was right again.
"Well, why do you think so? Joseon is known for having a strange number of Revenants and it dates back to many centuries ago.
There was a seige that displaced many people, even the nobles of high society. I don't know the details, though it was for a short time, it was quite violent. Many innocent lives gone and a lot of people dying at the time held grudges and resentments.
It was rumored that a strong Revenant influenced the Prince's mind and he went haywire, leading to attack his own people. They say he even killed his father, the king.
After the seige ended, there was never peace at Joseon. The number of deaths only increased everyday. To address this, Master Wen sent one of our exorcists and tasked him with the duty to eradicate all the revenants within this place. However...."
MeiLan bit her lip when she remembered a painful memory. Her heart suddenly stung as if she had been stabbed there. "He...never returned."
"Was there no order for his search?"
"I don't know..." MeiLan bitterly looked away, "Master Wen never updated me on it and I... couldn't bring myself to ask. Many years passed and it's almost like he never existed."
Wang Lei did not question her further. He could already see the tears Mei Lan was trying so hard to hold back. Under the sunlight, her silver hair shimmered like threads of frost. Only then did he truly notice, MeiLan was beautiful. Perhaps it was just the sunlight playing tricks on his eyes, but her naturally red lips looked soft and gentle, and her pale skin seemed as smooth as drifting cloud.
MeiLan let out a quiet sigh and walked toward the old hanok, with Wang Lei following close behind. When she pushed open the trembling wooden door, a cloud of dust collapsed downward. Before it could touch her, a tall shadow shifted in front of her. With a single flick of his palm, Wang Lei redirected the dust mid-fall as if the air itself obeyed his command.
For a brief moment, Mei Lan could not find her voice. She stared at the man who had stepped in front of her, and at such a close distance, his presence felt unreal. His head had tilted slightly from the movement, revealing the sharp line of his jaw. His green eyes glowed faintly with spiritual power, and his black hair fell just enough to cast a seductive shadow over his gaze. Even the simple curve of his neck, half-hidden by the dark fitted high-collar he wore seemed almost too tempting.
If he had still been a mortal, he would have been every woman's ideal type.
"Are you okay?" Wang Lei looked directly into her amethyst eyes. MeiLan felt a surge of warmness rise within herself. The bloodflow was so strong it reached her face, making her cheeks turn red. She immediately pushed him back and replied, "I-I'm fine. Thanks."
"Haa...This place really needs to be cleaned up. I don't think you should stay here for long."
Everytime this man opens his mouth, he always says the right thing. Right now, MeiLan really wanted to leave. She immediately stepped out and dropped the idea of looking around the house. Wang Lei followed outside and they began their conversation at the raised platform area.
"A-Anyways.." MeiLan cleared her throat, "I have something for you." She pulled a small glass bottle with a cork from the sleeves of her lavender robe.
"This is..?"
"Medicine for you to remember your past quickly and safely."
Wang Lei accepted the medicine and looked at it. The medicine looked quite ordinary and the liquid inside was transparent.
"I made this from rare and unique flowers that grows only in the Grand Palace. It has shown proven results to bring out the human affection in you. I tested this myself so you don't have to worry about the credibility."
Wang Lei smirked and let out a low laugh, "How could I ever question the credibility of your powers?"
It had been centuries since Mei Lan had witnessed such a sight. Wang Lei's smile was so rare that for a heartbeat, she forgot how to breathe. In that brief moment, it felt as though he was the very reason light existed at all.
It was definitely the medicine she tested on herself earlier that everything Wang Lei did made her skip a beat. She really needed to leave now. Averting her eyes, MeiLan continued, "Make sure to take the medicine whenever you feel comfortable but exactly when the sun sets. Not before or after.
Make sure you rest up and then go for a hunt tonight. You start work tomorrow - blend in with humans and seek information regarding the investigation of that strange Revenant here."
"..."
"If you have no more questions, I'll be leaving."
MeiLan began to leave as he watched from afar. She couldn't comprehend why she was still flustered from something that happened moments ago.
"...MeiLan." A deep voice called fromt behind. Her footsteps immediately came to a halt. She slightly turned behind to watch.
"Thank you." The words came out of him were so sincere and heartfelt that she doubted he needed a medicine to bring out his humanity. "Thank you for everything."
It was just a basic sentence but carried so much weight. MeiLan only smiled under the sunlight and began to fade away under the rays as her heart melted at the sight of Wang Lei.
It was true. Mei Lan had liked Wang Lei from the very beginning.
Back then, when Master Wen found him lying half-dead on that devastated battlefield, she had also been present. The sight had been grotesque, something that haunted her for centuries. Wang Lei's breaths were so thin that the only sounds escaping him were strange words in a foreign tongue, unintelligible to anyone. His body was drenched in blood, his face beaten beyond recognition. He had been stomped on, kicked, dragged, torn apart -- yet even in that state he held onto something with all the life he had left.
At first she assumed he was hugging himself… but when Master Wen turned him over, they discovered that he was clutching a jade hairpin. Even dying, he would not let go. The dried blood mixed with the old tears around his eyes, and the way he stared off into that far empty distance, it was as though his soul was calling out to someone who would never arrive.
That was when Mei Lan understood:
his heart already belonged to another.
The only reason his Qi screamed to survive was something connected to the hairpin.
After his rebirth, his memory should have returned little by little as all reborn celestials eventually regain fragments of their mortal lives. However, Lord Wen forcibly erased everything. He reshaped Wang Lei's mind, twisted the empty space into a single purpose, that is, absolute extermination of evil. Using that pure survivor's Qi, he tempered Wang Lei into the strongest force in the celestial world. Now, he was powerful enough to match even a Lord, yet he restrained himself out of respect and obedience alone. A puppet with a blade sharper than hell itself.
Mei Lan had hated Lord Wen for that.
For turning the boy who once begged the heavens for love…into a weapon stripped of humanity.
Pity became empathy.
Empathy slowly became love.
She knew his heart had no place for her. Yet she still wanted to save the dying man who had once held onto a hairpin as if it was his last anchor to the world.
She didn't want him to remember who that hairpin belonged to -- she feared it would destroy him but she still wanted him to feel again. To feel humanity again and to have warmth again.
That was why she dedicated centuries to creating a medicine, something that could awaken affection quietly without triggering the pain of the past.
As Mei Lan's form slowly faded into the sunlight that afternoon, she whispered within her heart,
"No matter what you do, Master Wen… I will protect him."
Wang Lei watched silently as Mei Lan's form dissolved into a swirl of purple and white petals before vanishing completely. Then he turned back toward the house and stepped past the threshold. The moment his foot crossed inside, a sudden sting shot through his chest.
…What is this feeling again?
His throat felt dry. He thought he needed something to drink. The hanok, despite having furniture, was so old and decayed that most things looked unusable. Yet the interior layout was larger than what one would expect for a lone household.
To quench his thirst, his feet began to head towards a certain room. Inside, rusted utensils and broken jars were scattered across rotting shelves.
"…"
How did I know this room was the kitchen?
Only then did he realize -- the strange ache in his chest, the faint pulse of heat beneath his ribs, the subtle familiarity that kept brushing his consciousness since he arrived.
This place and this house...
It felt as if he had been here before.