The man who used to be Li Xiangyi arrives at the beach first. The breeze is cool—the wind carries the scent of sea and salt to him.
He died there once.
Only, Li Xiangyi—Li Lianhua didn’t bury him as well as he thought he had. He knows now: the answer is not to let go of everything, but to hold tightly onto the things that make him Li Lianhua.
He stands there watching the waves until he hears, in the distance, Hulijing’s bark and the galloping of horses. He smiles, only for the sea to witness.
Di Feisheng arrives at the beach second. Fang Duobing only moments later.
Li Lianhua keeps his eyes trained on the horizon.
He hears them dismount, senses Hulijing come up to his side, excited and expectant.
“Turn around,” Di Feisheng murmurs. It’s not meant for Li Lianhua to hear, but the wind steals his voice and carries it over. “Turn around.”
Li Lianhua waits. He lived ten years on borrowed time. Now he has the luxury of sacrificing a few more seconds.
“Fight me,” Fang Duobing abruptly tells Di Feisheng. He remembers. He understood. And—Di Feisheng must turn to him with a frown—then, “Trust me.”
The impact of the first blow makes the ground shudder. The second splits the air in two.
Li Lianhua turns.
They are a whirlwind. He’s not a martial artist anymore, and his body could not follow them, but his eyes do. To watch Di-mengzhu fight, all the beauty and furious grace he first saw in their battle ten years ago—to see his Fang Xiaobao come so far, holding his own against this force of nature.
Something eases in Li Lianhua’s chest. He set up the pieces, he led them here, but he didn’t truly dare to hope for this.
Fang Duobing cannot win. Not yet, not today, but one day he will. The light in Di Feisheng’s eyes when they put their blades down means he’s seen that, too.
Li Lianhua begins to clap.
“Good! Very good!” he calls out. “Di-mengzhu, what do you think of my disciple?”
Di Feisheng’s mouth twists into a grin. “He’s got potential,” he admits. “But he needs more instruction.”
Fang Duobing stumbles a couple of steps closer to Li Lianhua, faltering and uncertain. “You sly old fox,” he says, voice thick.
“Fang Xiaobao,” Li Lianhua says. “You solved the case. Well done.”
“How?” Fang Duobing asks in a whisper.
Li Lianhua smiles and spreads his hands out, feeling the air on his face. It’s good to be alive.
“You’re a detective,” he says. “And I am a miracle physician, am I not?”
He grows more somber, looking from Fang Duobing to Di Feisheng and back. They are still frightened—naturally. He left them for three months. But he couldn’t return to them before he was certain it would be for good this time.
“For the sake of you two,” Li Lianhua says, “bringing back the dead is but a small task to accomplish.”
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Um. So. I may have uhh. Gone a little bit wild,,,
I may or may not have made two character playlists for @bamsara 's narinder and lamb, respectively.... I was just gonna do one for nari but then the lamb's one practically brought itself together, like, yesterday :'D
I sort of feel like ive gone and pinned narinder up on a wall like some sort of butterfly for this one folks,, and taped the lamb to the wall like that one meme or something
These are just how i interpreted the two of them! :D
L for Lamb and N for Narinder
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The other Oblivion beepo please
Gladly. (CW FOR BLOOD AND TALK OF HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION)
Introducing DR E. WARREN
(Just call them Warren.)
As a 16 year old desperate for cash and to get away from a bad home, Warren agreed to join a medical trial, but unknown to them it was luring from the Oblivion Project operating under the Ministry of Joy for something far worse- Experimenting with Void on human subjects.
As the only survivor, they spent years recovering from the physical and mental trauma, but they weren't catching a break yet. With the connection to the Void remaining, the Lord of Darkness had access to their mind, silently influencing them to further his own pursuits (which I talk a little more about Here).
Eventually they were free of his influence, but by that point 12 years had passed, and they found themself working as a biochemical scientist and researcher working with Oblivion, and making it to the very role of the people who experimented on them...
...They don't like to talk about their history too much, especially not those early days of working under the Ministry of the Lord of Darkness.
Now though, they act as Head of the Oblivion Project, and have been a leading force in the push for high ethical standards of practice and making strides in medical research using Void.
They also met an unfortunate demise and subsequent revival as a result of some... Encounters related to the Invitation, but does it really matter if the one in charge of Oblivion also happens to be a vampire?
Personally I don't see a problem with it.
They also have a giant Void lizard named Gus (short for Gustopher)
(Have a question about them? Have a question FOR them? Go right ahead.)
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